UIS Professor Lan Dong in the spotlight again as Disney's newest Mulan takes center stage

Ten years after her book about Mulan was published, UIS English Professor Lan Dong, Ph.D. is still sought out for her expertise on the subject. With Disney’s live-action film, Mulan, released to Disney Plus earlier this month, Dong again found herself in the national spotlight.

She said the inquiries began in earnest when the Mulan trailers were released in 2019.

“I was interviewed by a reporter for The New York Times in February,” Dong said. “They asked questions about Mulan’s story, her trajectory moving from a Chinese heroine to a well-known name among English speakers; and of her global capacity because of the 1998 Disney animation.”

Dong went on to write an essay for History Extra, the website for BBC History Magazine, was featured in the Wall Street Journal, Vox Media, and Radio Free Asia, sat on a Kissinger Institute Panel, and conducted a radio interview with the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC.)

“In February and March, I had to remind the reporters for NYT and WSJ they had attended the premier of the movie and I hadn’t,” Dong smiled. “I could not comment on the movie itself.”

Though she was almost a Disney insider.

Disney invited Dong to sit on a panel of Chinese cultural experts in 2017 as production for the film was taking shape. Other commitments kept her from being able to join at that time.

She says she is intrigued by Disney’s choice to bypass the standard theatrical release and pave a new route by offering the film on Premier Access through its streaming platform Disney Plus.

The movie’s release came with controversy as film credits included gratitude for filming in the Xinjiang Province, which has been in the news for its alleged human rights abuses against the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. The film’s lead actress, Liu Yifei also came under fire for her support for Hong Kong Police who are cracking down on pro-democracy demonstrators. Dong said she is not surprised the film is mired in controversy.

“The U.S.-China relationship is full of tension right now. It is in a very precarious place,” Dong said.

Going back to her book, Mulan’s Legend and Legacy in China and the United States, Dong says it was published by an academic press, and has inspired additional scholarly work, but it was also written for general readers.

“I wanted the book to go beyond experts in my field,” she said. “I always wanted it to be more than that. It is meant for readers who have an interest in strong women and in Asian American culture. I’m glad to see it is still relevant. I still love her story.”

And she plans to watch it on Disney Plus soon.

UIS professors part of a $500,000 USDA grant studying the use of pesticides in urban agricultural communities

Two University of Illinois Springfield professors, in collaboration with professors at Tuskegee University in Alabama, have received a three year $500,000 United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to assess the risk of pesticide use and air dispersion in urban agricultural communities.

UIS Assistant Professor of Public Health Egbe Egiebor and Associate Professor of Public Health Dorine Brand will receive about $168,000 from the overall grant awarded to Tuskegee University.

Due to urban growth, there are greater populations at the edge of agricultural land. The study will evaluate the present methods for monitoring and modeling the atmospheric spread of pesticide pollutants under various weather conditions, identify hotspots and assess the vulnerability of affected communities.

“We are really excited to conduct this study,” Egiebor said. “It is the first time a project like this will be facilitated in two different agro-ecological zones with different production systems. This study will be conducted in two different locations, Alabama and Illinois.”

According to Egiebor, farmlands in the United States have shrunk by 215 million acres since 1954 because of urbanization. Residents living at the proximity of farmlands have reported problems with odors, noise, dust, pesticide sprays as well as health problems associated with agricultural operations.

“In particular, the use of pesticides causes contamination that is transmitted via surface runoff, groundwater and airborne residues,” Egiebor said. “Overwhelming evidence shows that pesticides adversely affect humans and other living organisms as well as the environment.”

Commonly used pesticides have been linked with birth defects, organ damage, developmental issues, psychological issues, different cancers and even death.

According to Brand, the study will explore the links between health effects and pesticides, while educating those communities most impacted by them.

“The project will contribute to sustainable air quality management for health and environment protection in the urban-agriculture interface and will improve long term planning and management of pesticide risk and its impacts on the environment as well as communities,” Brand said.

UIS graduate students will have an opportunity to take part in the research and will be mentored and trained in many aspects of the study.

“Students will gain valuable experiential learning by taking part in a federally-funded research study,” Brand said.

UIS student Natalie Kerr presents her research at the international Falling Walls Lab competition in Berlin, Germany

Natalie Kerr, a senior majoring in chemistry at the University of Illinois Springfield from Washington, Illinois, recently presented her research at the international Falling Walls Lab competition in Berlin, Germany on Nov. 8, 2019.

She earned the all-expenses-paid trip after winning the Falling Walls Lab Illinois competition to earn the title of Illinois Young Innovator of the Year.

In Berlin, Kerr presented her research on “Breaking the wall of nutrient pollution,” where she proposed an environmentally friendly solution to curb the problems created by excess nitrates carried via agricultural and urban runoff.

“The people that I met throughout the whole conference were all there to better the world and support current research and innovation,” said Kerr. “My fellow competitors taught me so much. The compassion, support, and lifelong bonds that we built despite being each other’s ‘competition’ said a lot about the international and interdisciplary collaboration that is being advocated for and that is becoming more and more necessary in our world.”

The Illinois Falling Walls Lab competition was presented by the Illinois Innovation Network, a group of 15 university-based hubs across the state that aims to boost Illinois’ economy through entrepreneurship, research and workforce development.

Kerr won the Illinois Young Innovator of the Year title against a field of 12 finalists, young researchers and entrepreneurs who represented five of the state’s public universities.

Falling Walls Lab is a fast-paced contest where competitors have just three minutes to propose and answer questions on a research-based solution to a global problem. A total of 100 students from all around the world presented at the international Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin.

Before the competition, participants got to talk with editors from the academic publishing company Springer Nature, the German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD and prominent German research institutions.

Watch Kerr's presentation at the 2:55 mark
Direct Link

UIS student Katie Brethorst helps to excavate 1908 Springfield Race Riot site

University of Illinois Springfield senior history major Katie Brethorst spent her summer helping to unearth important historical artifacts from the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot, located along the 10th Street railroad tracks and Madison Street in Springfield.

Brethorst interned with Fever River Research, an archaeology company based out of Springfield, which was tasked with excavating five homes that were burned during the riot. The riot served as a catalyst for the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

On the evening of Aug. 14, 1908, a mob of white Springfield citizens became enraged when the county sheriff would not hand over a black man accused of raping a local white woman. For two days, Springfield was the scene of violence directed at the city’s black citizens, resulting in the destruction of more than 40 buildings by fire, and the lynching of two innocent black men. The black man accused of the crime was later acquitted after his accuser recanted her story.


During the excavation, Brethorst helped unearth the foundations of the forgotten homes and uncover important relics, such as rings, crosses and pieces of clothing.

“I learned about hands-on archaeology,” she said. “I learned about how you can connect an artifact that you're finding to historical documents. I learned a lot about the history of the people who lived here and I learned about the specific processes you have to go to make sure history is presentable to the public.”

Brethorst, who wants to become a museum curator, describes unearthing the artifacts as both an emotional and education experience.

“There were some days when you would find something and realize someone lost everything in this fire,” she said. “Someone had to completely uproot their life because of this one event and here I am holding the remnants 111 years later. It was just so powerful some days that I'd have to walk off and just think about it for a little bit.”

The site where Brethorst worked is now being recovered with dirt and will soon be home to railroad tracks as part of the Springfield Rail Improvement Project. However, there are still more houses to excavate under a parking lot next to the site.

“This site is nominated to become a national historic location,” she said. “Hopefully it will become a monument and we’ll be able to excavate more houses. That's the dream!”

Brethorst credits her experiences inside and outside of the classroom at the University of Illinois Springfield for helping her land an internship she’ll remember for a lifetime.

“I don't think anyone else is going to be able to say that they got to help unearth one of the biggest disasters in American history. And to me, that's what it is,” she said. “I got to help be the person to uncover it and to find the artifacts. It was absolutely amazing!”

UIS Associate Professor Hinda Seif spends summer examining the role of museums in civic life in Washington, D.C.

Seif learning about the work of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative.

As part of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant, University of Illinois Springfield Associate Professor of Sociology/Anthropology and Women/Gender Studies Hinda Seif spent the month of July exploring museums and curated cultural collections around Washington, D.C.

During the NEH Summer Institute for College and University Teachers, Seif lived and worked at Georgetown University and the Smithsonian Institution with 24 colleagues from across the nation.

“We grappled with questions such as: what is the role of museums in building robust civic culture in the United States today?” said Seif. “We also discussed how museums can better serve groups that historically have been objectified by museum practices yet marginalized in their leadership, and the opportunities, challenges, and potential pitfalls of integrating digital resources into museums.”

Seif was selected for the NEH Summer Institute because of her research, writings and teaching on women artists of Mexican ancestry in Chicago, which includes their relationships to the city's museums.

Seif with other faculty at the National Museum of American Indian.

The NEH group toured the National Museum of African American History and Culture and met with interim director Spencer Crew. They also discussed the social and economic value of humanities education with NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede and toured the Cultural Resources Center for the National Museum of the American Indian, where they learned how staff care for one of the world’s most expansive collections of Native objects.

“The institute helped me think more deeply about the ‘decolonization’ of Chicago's museums, and I am sharing some of my new Smithsonian contacts with Chicago artists,” said Seif.

“Our discussions on how to make museum decisions based on the cultures and interests of young visitors are highly relevant to my teaching. I plan to bring what I learned to the classroom at UIS, including information from special exhibits on women's suffrage, student activism related to the history of slavery at Georgetown University, and discussions about native peoples,” she added.

UIS faculty help to organize workshop on Urban Sustainability focused on water, energy and climate change

Two faculty members from the University of Illinois Springfield recently helped to organize a National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on Urban Sustainability, with a focus on water, energy and climate change, as part of the University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (CURES).

During the one-and-a-half-day workshop in Chicago, more than 130 stakeholders from across the country, representing municipalities, private industry, non-profit organizations, utilities, universities and national laboratories came together to establish the foundation for a new multi-disciplinary multi-stakeholder research network that can deliver actionable research-based, cost-effective solutions to the challenges that urban communities of many sizes face.

The workshop was designed to include a broad set of stakeholders so that issues and potential solutions would be discussed from not only from scientific, engineering, and policy perspectives, but from government, city planning, business, non-profit, economic, and other arts, humanities and social science perspectives.

At the workshop, participants identified critical gaps in the implementation of solutions for sustainability challenges in energy, water and climate in a range of different types of urban systems – urban, suburban, rural – and across city sizes – small, medium and large.

UIS faculty members Anne-Marie Hanson, assistant professor of environmental studies, and Carolee Rigsbee, assistant professor of management, were part of the workshop organizing committee that helped to plan the event. Hanson was the moderator for a panel of social science, arts and humanities scholars speakers. Among the panelists was Devin Hunter, UIS assistant professor of history, who explained how retelling of history can inform community perspectives on climate change issues.

“An important message repeated at the workshop is that we have 11 years to address climate change related causes and be better prepared for its disastrous effects. Doing so is shockingly urgent- we need to act and change behaviors now,” said Rigsbee.

The workshop produced a series of projects aimed to generate and implement solutions to help address/prevent impending energy, water, and other climate change impacts in Illinois and more generally across the Midwest. CURES is now planning to apply for major funding to help move many of the identified projects forward. In the meantime, several attendees are continuing to collaborate to detail the project requirements and next steps.

Other UIS faculty members to attended the workshop include Keenan Dungey, associate vice chancellor for research and institutional effectiveness; Kamau Kemayo, associate professor and chair of African-American studies; and David Szabo, chemistry lab manager.

Learn more about the workshop and its outcomes

Four UIS students present their work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Four students from the University of Illinois Springfield are presenting their work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. The three day conference began on April 11, 2019.

Students submitted abstracts and were selected in a competitive process by the UIS Undergraduate Research Steering Committee. They were later approved by the national conference committee. The students represent multiple programs and colleges.

Students presenting include Benjamin Schulte (Psychology), Brendan Mitchell (Public Administration), Rebecca Smith (Chemistry) and Natalie Kerr (Chemistry).

The 33rd annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research is a program of the Council on Undergraduate Research. Approximately 4,000 students from around the country are presenting their research and creative activities.

The students are being accompanied on the trip by Anette Sikka, assistant professor of legal studies, and Keenan Dungey, associate vice chancellor for research and institutional effectiveness.

For more information, contact Dungey at 217/206-8112 or kdung1@uis.edu.

Three UIS faculty members travel to Mexico to discuss research collaborations and academic exchanges

UIS faculty members Hinda Seif (left), Lucia Vazquez (second from left) and Adriana Crocker (far right) visit the University of Colima in June 2018.

Three faculty members from the University of Illinois Springfield recently traveled to Colima, Mexico to discuss research collaborations and academic exchanges with faculty at the University of Colima.

Lucia Vazquez, associate dean of the UIS College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Adriana Crocker, professor of political science and U of I presidential fellow; and Hinda Seif, chair and associate professor of women and gender studies and sociology/anthropology, represented UIS during the early June visit.

The trip was made possible by a Discovery Partners Institute International Travel Grant aimed at building bridges with universities in Mexico and Israel.

“Faculty at University of Colima share many research interests with UIS faculty,” said Vazquez. “The administrators at the University of Colima are interested in developing collaborations with the University of Illinois Springfield including faculty and student exchanges, internships, dual degrees and co-teaching of courses.”

The UIS team also discussed possible research collaborations addressing the links between urban waste activities, agriculture, and tourism in Illinois and Mexico; gender and politics in Latin America; and increasing the transnational visibility of women in the arts in Colima and women of Mexican ancestry in the arts in Illinois.

“Given that three women faculty were selected to represent UIS, we were especially impressed by the dedication to their campus and profession, innovative teaching and research, and interest in collaboration of many women faculty who worked with us during our visit,” said Seif.

Although the University of Colima is more than twice the size of UIS, it also has many first-generation college students and is a public university focused on developing leaders to strengthen their state socially and economically.

“The University of Colima has also been working to strengthen international ties between its faculty, students, and the state of Colima,” said Seif.

During the visit, Professor Crocker was chosen to serve as keynote speaker for the University of Colima’s Model United Nations, which was held the week they visited. Crocker was invited to discuss her research on gender parity and the role of the UN and other international organizations in promoting gender equality in the world and more particularly, in Latin America.

“The hospitality of the people we met was unbounded,” said Crocker. “Academically, we had a very full agenda organized by our colleagues at the University of Colima, which was very much connected to the goals of this trip to re-energize our partnership.”

The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) is an interdisciplinary public-private research institute located in Chicago, and is a hub of the Illinois Innovation network (IIN), a set of virtually connected clusters across the state. Led by the University of Illinois System with partners across the state, the DPI and IIN are the foundation for new partnerships and approaches that catalyze economic growth. World-class faculty, students, and companies will work side-by-side at the DPI to develop solutions, promote entrepreneurship, and empower inventors of the future.

UIS faculty members publish “Living Out Loud”, a new textbook in LGBTQ+ studies

University of Illinois Springfield faculty members Michael Murphy, associate professor of gender and sexuality, and Brytton Bjorngaard, assistant professor of digital media, have published a new textbook entitled “Living Out Loud: An Introduction to LGBTQ History, Society, and Culture”.

Murphy severed as the overall editor for the book, authoring two chapters, while Brytton produced all original figures and illustrations, and oversaw the image permissions process.

According to the book’s publisher, “Living Out Loud” is the first narrative textbook designed to support college-level “Introduction to LGBTQ Studies” (and similar) courses. Students enrolled in such courses are typically sophomores and juniors, with a range of motivations, interest levels, educational preparation, and academic majors. They may identify (or be on the way to identifying) as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex or other types of gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQ+). Or they may have LGBTQ+ friends or family members who they wish to better support through learning more about their lives, experiences, issues, and accomplishments.

“The goal of ‘Living Out Loud’ is to introduce students to the exciting field of LGBTQ Studies and provide a broad, multidisciplinary foundation for subsequent, more-advanced academic work,” said Murphy.

Unlike many text readers or collections of conference papers in this subject area, which can employ advanced concepts and vocabularies, “Living Out Loud” offers an accessible, student-friendly text with content, tone, language, and design that is appropriate for lower- and mid-level college and university students. It introduces students to foundational topics, concepts, terms, and debates in the rapidly expanding field of interdisciplinary LGBTQ+ Studies.

The book is divided into nine chapters, each focused on a discrete disciplinary or interdisciplinary area of academic study. Care has been taken to include entire chapters or chapter sections from the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The book is unique in its inclusion of chapters on LGBTQ+ Sexual Behavior & Sexual Health; Literature & Visual Arts; Education; Relationships; and, Globalization. Chapter authors have been mindful to address LGBTQ+ racial and ethnic diversity, and better integrate bisexual and transgender people, topics, experiences, and themes.

Murphy has been a faculty member at UIS since 2009. He holds a master’s degree and doctorate in art history and archaeology (with a graduate certificate in women, gender, and sexuality studies) from Washington University in St. Louis.

Bjorngaard has been a faculty member at UIS since 2013. She holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and a master of fine arts degree in graphic design from Iowa State University.

The textbook was published by Routledge and is available for purchase on the publisher’s website at www.routledge.com and from other popular stores and websites including Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Reviewer copies may also be ordered on the publisher’s website.

For more information about the book, contact Murphy at 217/206-8510 or mmurp4@uis.edu or Bjorngaard at 217/206-7547 or bbjor2@uis.edu.

UIS emeritus professor writes a book tracing the history of the Upper Delaware Forest

Robert McGregor, emeritus professor of history at the University of Illinois Springfield, has written a new book on the historical significance of the forests along the Upper Delaware Valley.

The book, published by McFarland Press, is titled “The Story of a Forest: Growth, Destruction and Renewal in the Upper Delaware Valley.”

McGregor said the book grew out of his passion for teaching environmental history at UIS coupled with his dissertation research from 35 years ago.

“The book traces the development of forests along the Upper Delaware River in New York and Pennsylvania, beginning at the close of the last glaciation,” said McGregor.

 McGregor’s book is an analysis of how the forests were first modified by Native Americans to promote hunting and limited agriculture, followed by the disappearance as Europeans clear-cut farmland and fed sawmills and tanneries.

Railroads accelerated the demand and within 30 years, industry had left barren hillsides.

The book goes on to explain the forest’ subsequent recovery nearly a century and a half later.

McGregor taught environmental history, early American history, and the history of popular culture, before he retired after 26 years of teaching at UIS, in 2012. He now lives in Corning, New York.

UIS faculty chosen to participate in inaugural Teaching Fellows Program

Ten faculty members at the University of Illinois Springfield have been chosen as the inaugural class of Excellence in Teaching and Learning Fellows.

The program, which began this year, is an effort to encourage faculty to engage with high impact teaching practices that can transform their teaching.

The group will meet monthly to discuss educational psychology and research-based practices.

Participating faculty will read and discuss literature that has been shown to improve student learning, as well as engagement practices from fellow UIS professors.

Fellows that participate in seven or more of the ten sessions will be eligible to apply for competitive implementation grants and travel grants to a conference targeted at improving teaching practices.

Faculty chosen to participate include: Angela Doehring, Carlee Beth Hawkins, Elizabeth Kosmetatou, Andrea Scarpino and Richard Stokes from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Carol Jessup and Sudeep Sharma from the College of Business and Management; Tiffany Nielson, Denise Bockmier-Sommers and Cynthia Wilson from the College of Education and Human Services.

The fellows were chosen by a committee made up of faculty and administrators representing each college.

UIS professor part of a research study that finds new biological sequencing method less effective

Michael Lemke, professor of biology at the University of Illinois Springfield, is part of an international research team led by the American Museum of Natural History that has found that a next-generation DNA sequencing method is less effective at microbial diversity description than originally thought.

Next-generation sequencing has given biological scientists the ability to sequence millions to billions of small fragments of DNA in parallel, revolutionizing the field.

In a study, published this week in the Nature research journal “Scientific Reports”, scientists compared two next-generation sequencing techniques – called amplicon and shotgun – on water samples from four of Brazil’s major river floodplain systems. Less than 50 percent of phyla—a category for a very broad group of related organisms—identified via amplicon sequencing were recovered from shotgun sequencing, challenging the belief that shotgun recovers more diversity than amplicon-based approaches. Amplicon sequencing also revealed about 27 percent more families.

“It is not a matter of setting back sequencing research,” said Lemke. “Sequencing is an amazingly effective tool for understanding what exists in the microbial world, but every tool does not fit the need for every job, and here, we really have a variation on the same tool. Many parts of microbial world remain unknown, and the unknown portions are even more mysterious when there are less studies, for there are less data that has been contributed to building a database.”

Lemke, through a collaboration with the Universidade Estadual de Maringá in Brazil, helped collect samples and extract DNA used for the data in the present study. He was on site to collect water samples from the Amazon and Paraguay Rivers during two trips in 2011 and 2012. These samples, along with those from the other river systems, were sequenced using both amplicon and shotgun methods.

“In the case with the Brazil large rivers study, the study that came out represents evidence for a ‘better’ way to use the sequencing tool in this case,” said Lemke. “You can think of the work led by Michael Tessler and Mercer Brugler as having two different (sequencing) flashlights used to look into the microbial black boxes we retrieved from Brazil. It turns out that the amplicon flashlight shed double the light into the box than the shotgun flashlight.”

Lemke’s work continues as a research associate for the American Museum of Natural History with the DeSalle Lab, part of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics.

“I’m preparing the last samples from a nine-year study on The Nature Conservancy’s restoration project at Thompson Lake (located near the Emiquon Preserve in Fulton County) to take to the Museum for sequencing yet this summer,” he said. “Application of sequence technology is a big issue in our work.”

Other researcher partners included in the American Museum of Natural History study are the City University of New York (CUNY), Weill Cornell Medicine and Instituto Cesumar de Ciȇncia, Tecnologia e Inovação.

This study was supported in part by the Korein Foundation, the Gerstner Family Foundation, the Irma T. Hirschl and Minque Weill-Caulier Charitable Trusts, the Bert L. and N. Kuggie Vallee Foundation, the WorldQuant Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (grant #OPP1151054), and the Brazilian National Council of Technological and Scientific Development.

For more information, contact Michael Lemke, UIS professor of biology, at 217/206-7339 or mlemk1@uis.edu.

UIS professor to study a historic women’s conference during a summer seminar in Texas

Hinda Seif, University of Illinois Springfield associate professor and chair of the Department of Women and Gender Studies, was recently selected for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminar at the University of Houston.

Seif is one of two dozen NEH summer scholars from around the country who will spend a week exploring 20th century U.S. history through the lens of the National Women’s Conference, which was held in Houston in 1977.

The 1977 National Women’s Conference was the only federally funded conference of its kind in U.S. history. Approximately 130,000 elected delegates participated in the lead-up state conventions. The main conference in Houston created a National Plan of Action to present to then President Jimmy Carter.

The NEH Summer Seminar will explore overarching themes in the conference including political/party realignment, states’ rights, the Vietnam War and many other subjects.

At the 1977 Conference, participants debated key issues that faced over 50 percent of U.S. population, such as women’s role in the military, equal rights, child care and the family, reproductive rights and sexual orientation. Women who attended included Rosalyn Carter, Betty Ford and Coretta Scott King.

“In 2017, these issues are as important as ever,” said Seif. “Participating in this NEH seminar will energize my women’s studies courses. It’s a great opportunity for me to work with faculty from across the country.”

The conference will address issues that Seif is writing about from her recent sabbatical research on Diana Solís, a Chicana Mexicana artist and activist from Chicago who participated in and photographed women and their organizing efforts in her Pilsen neighborhood during the 1970s and 1980s.

The NEH Summer Seminar runs from June 12-18 at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas.

Eleven UIS students present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Eleven students from the University of Illinois Springfield presented their work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at the University of Memphis on April 6-8, 2017.

Students submitted abstracts and were selected in a competitive process by the UIS Undergraduate Research Steering Committee. They were later approved by the national conference committee. The students represent multiple programs and colleges.

Students presenting include Marquiera Harris (Social Work), Elizabeth Karras (Sociology & Anthropology), Eli Hahn (Psychology), Alex Skarr (Sociology & Anthropology and Political Science), Shyleen Frost (Biology), Gabriel Broughton (Business Administration), Ebony Forslund (Psychology), Amanda Monke (English), Turner Clark (Business Management), Allie McIntire (Psychology) and Nhan Khanh Le (Business Administration).

The 31st annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research is a program of the Council on Undergraduate Research. Around 4,000 students from around the country will present their research and creative activities.

The students were accompanied on the trip by Tiffani Saunders, UIS Sociology/Anthropology lecturer, and Keenan Dungey, associate professor of chemistry and director of the Undergraduate Research Support Program.

UIS historical document editor wins research award

Ed Bradley, a University of Illinois Springfield employee and assistant editor of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, has been awarded the 2017 Kate Broocks Bates Award for Historical Research from the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).

Bradley received the $4,000 award on Friday, March 3, 2017, at the TSHA’s annual meeting in Houston.

The Bates Award is given annually for a significant piece of historical research dealing with Texas history prior to 1900. Bradley was chosen for his book, “We Never Retreat: Filibustering Expeditions into Spanish Texas, 1812-1822”, which thoroughly recounts the targeted invasion of land in Spanish Texas by private military forces.

Bradley’s book examines the motives of American participants, as well as the extent to which the U.S. government was either involved in or tolerated the expeditions. 

“We Never Retreat” makes a major contribution placing the expeditions within the context of the Mexican War of Independence and international relations between the United States and Spain.

“I am very grateful and honored to receive this award from the Texas State Historical Association,” said Bradley.

The book was published by Texas A&M University Press and is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other websites.

For more information, contact Ed Bradley at ebradley@papersofabrahamlincoln.org.

UIS Professor publishes first-of-its-kind textbook on LGBT politics for the college classroom

Jason Pierceson, associate professor of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield, recently published the book, Sexual Minorities and Politics: An Introduction, with Rowman & Littlefield publishers.

The book provides an overview of the history of the movement for LGBT rights and examines contemporary political and legal issues, such as LGBT candidates for elective office, public policies supportive of the LGBT community, opposition to LGBT rights, and litigation aimed at expanding LGBT rights. This is the first such comprehensive and up-to-date textbook in the field of political science on LGBT politics.

Primarily for use in the college classroom, the book is also an excellent and accessible introduction to the issue for the general reader.

According to a reviewer, the book is “well written, comprehensive, and compelling. It is no exaggeration to say this is the best sexuality and politics textbook on the market.” Another noted that the book combines “history, theory, and empirical evidence from the latest research.”

Pierceson is also the author or co-author of five additional books on LGBT politics, in addition to numerous articles and book chapters on the subject.

For more information on the book, contact Jason Pierceson at 217/206-7842 or jpier2@uis.edu. Visit the publisher’s website for more information about the book.

History Professor Elizabeth Kosmetatou named 2015 University Scholar at UIS

Elizabeth Kosmetatou, associate professor of History at the University of Illinois Springfield, has been named University Scholar for 2015.

The award, considered the university’s highest faculty honor, recognizes outstanding teaching and scholarship. Only one faculty member receives the annual award at UIS.

“Elizabeth has garnered praise from students as well as colleagues for her enthusiasm, energy, and creativity as a teacher, and for the encouragement she provides to her students,” said Lynn Pardie, UIS Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost.

Kosmetatou is regarded as an expert on the period in Hellenistic history between the deaths of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and of Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE. Her scholarship involves the interdisciplinary study of the story of the Attalids of ancient Pergamon, the votives of the temple of Artemis, and the epigrams of the poet Poseidippus of Pella.

“The depth and range of Professor Kosmetatou’s scholarship is a testament to her many academic skills and strengths,” said Pardie. Some of those skills include expertise in several areas of specialization, such as the analysis of ancient coins, inscriptions, literary and historiographical texts, and ancient politics. She is also fluent in English, Modern Greek, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish languages, and she has a reading knowledge of classical Greek, Latin, Biblical Hebrew, Coptic, and Pharaonic Egyptian.

Kosmetatou has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has additional work in progress, including projects titled The Votives in the Delian Artemision and History and Society in the Classical Period. She has also delivered numerous scholarly presentations at national and international conferences, organized international conferences in her field, and given invited guest lectures at universities in the U.S. as well as abroad.

At UIS, Professor Kosmetatou teaches courses online and on campus, and she received the Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award in 2012.

She obtained her doctorate in Classics from The University of Cincinnati. Previously, she served as a lecturer of Ancient History in the Department of History at Ohio State University. She has participated in numerous archaeological digs in Greece.

As University Scholar, Kosmetatou will receive $15,000 a year for three years to support research and other scholarly activities.

Faculty do not apply for this award; they are nominated by their peers. A committee of senior faculty makes the final selection.

For more information on the award, contact Derek Schnapp, director of public relations at 217/206-6716 or email dschn3@uis.edu.

Karen Swan to be inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame

Karen Swan, the University of Illinois Springfield James J. Stukel Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership, has been selected for the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame at the University of Oklahoma.

Swan is recognized as a leading researcher in the nation when it comes to the effectiveness of online teaching and learning.

She has received numerous awards, including the Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award from UIS in 2014 and the Columbia University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010.

Swan was in inducted into the inaugural class of Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Fellows and in 2006 received the OLC Award for “Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning by an Individual.” The award recognized her for national innovation, research and service in online learning.

Swan’s research is in the area of media, technology and learning on which she has authored over 150 publications, several hypermedia programs and two books and given over 300 presentations. Her current research interests center on online learning; in particular, the development of social presence and learning community in online and blended courses, online course design/redesign; MOOCs, and how taking online courses affects students’ retention and progression.

Swan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Connecticut, a Master’s of Education in Curriculum & Instruction from Keene State College, and a Master’s of Education and Doctorate of Education in Instructional Technology from Columbia University.

She will be inducted during a special ceremony held in conjunction with the American Association for Adult Continuing Education’s 64th Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, November 18th.

Undergraduates get active learning opportunities at UIS

As a freshman, Stephen Salvador never thought he’d be working with real world samples in a college laboratory. He’s getting that opportunity at the University of Illinois Springfield.

“It was something I hadn’t experienced in high school,” said Salvador. “To see the final result was satisfying.”

For five weeks, students got hands-on experience working with various types of rock ore to extract the chemical element copper. The students treated the experiment as if they were running a copper mining operation.

“We push them to think like scientists, we engage them in the laboratory to get them to think about what they’re doing,” said Keenan Dungey, UIS associate professor of chemistry.

Angelica Adduru, a non-degree seeking student, took the General Chemistry 2 course to prepare for medical school. The hands-on laboratory taught her how to work as part of a team.

“I learned how to deal with other people, because this is the first lab we actually had to work with a group of students,” she said.

Dungey says it’s important for students to engage in hands-on research because it teaches them analytical reasoning, critical thinking, and communication skills.

“Here in lab they can actually take those concepts (that they learn in the classroom) and apply them to a real world problem,” said Dungey.

Seven UIS students to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research

For the first time, the University of Illinois Springfield is sending a contingent of seven students to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research April 3-5, 2014 at the University of Kentucky.

Students were selected to submit abstracts from UIS in a competitive process by the Undergraduate Research Steering Committee. All seven students were accepted by the national conference committee.

Jesse Britz, a chemistry major from Divernon, studied the use of iron nanoparticles for removing nitrate pollutants with professor Keenan Dungey. Nathan Hoyle of Jacksonville used geographic information systems to map tree diversity on campus with Environmental Studies professor Dennis Ruez.

Wesley Hill, a psychology major from Decatur, worked with professor Carrie Switzer to study the spread of urban legends. Sophia Pham, a chemistry major from Chicago, working with biology professor Hua Chen, studied the greenhouse gases at Emiquon.

Two students will present from the research group of professor Frances Shen in psychology. Brittany Sievers of South Jacksonville studied the role of religious commitment in college student stress. Brianna Werner of Carrollton studied the perceptions of the college experience by veterans. Nicholas Decker, a biology major from Peru, Ill. explored enzyme inhibitors with chemistry professor Layne Morsch.

The 28th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research is a program of the Council on Undergraduate Research. Around 4,000 students from around the country will present their research and creative activities. UIS is an institutional member of CUR.

The students will be accompanied by Keenan Dungey, director of the Undergraduate Research Support Program, which co-sponsored the students’ travel. Rachel Tohme, a graduate student in the Human Development Counseling program, will also participate in the trip. Further support was provided by a Student Life Conference Travel award.

For more information, contact Keenan Dungey at 217/206-7345 or kdung1@uis.edu.