In This Issue

"This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.”

― Taylor Swift

Adjusting our teaching to help students use AI tools well. Incorporating digital literacy into our syllabi and assignments. Adapting to a new Workday finance or Workday student platform for so much of our work. Change, for educators, is of course a constant. It’s also what attracted many of us to university work in the first place: the regular opportunity to “turn the page” with the start of a new academic term, or the chance to welcome in a new generation of students with different expectations or previous experiences.

Hoping that this summer of 2025 has afforded you the opportunity to embrace change in positive ways—for yourself, as well as for your work. Here in the Brooks College Dean’s Office, this has been a summer of tremendous change. In July we welcomed two new colleagues. First, our new interim Associate Dean, Julia Mason; Julia started as we bid a (temporary) farewell to Melanie Shell-Weiss so she could serve as the interim Dean for University Libraries. We also welcomed Samantha Rypstra to the team, who returns to the college as a Brooks College alumna (BA in ENS, 2023). We’re about to welcome Abby McClure to our key Administrative Assistant position here in the Dean’s Office, after we wished long-time colleague Noreen Savage a wonderful retirement. And we are still working on hiring a new C4 colleague to the position vacated by now retired—and missed—Lynnette Keen.

Change is hard. Change is awesome. Our students expect it and we’re up to the task of helping them thrive amidst it. Thanks for helping us change for the better!

Dr. Samuel Yoon is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Grand Valley State University. He will be teaching courses across the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and the Integrative Studies Program. He earned his PhD from the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. His current manuscript, Cruelty Counts: Anti-Asian Violence and Its Queer Afterlives, explores how queer Asian/American visual and performance cultures confront and reimagine dominant ways of documenting anti-Asian violence. His work is forthcoming in Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas and Amerasia Journal.

Fiona Dougherty has been teaching for GVSU since 2019 after graduating with her MA in Comparative Religion from Western Michigan University. Fiona is dedicated to student centered teaching and learning and is thrilled to be joining the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies in her new Visiting Faculty position this academic year! After growing up on the east side of Michigan, she currently lives in Kalamazoo with her husband and two cats and commutes frequently to Grand Rapids for community events and activities as well as ongoing research projects on 'Spiritual But Not Religious’ communities, practices, and beliefs. She is looking forward to deepening her connections with both students and faculty at GVSU this year.

Abby McClure is a new Professional Support Staff member in the Brooks College Dean’s Office. Abby is a proud GVSU alumna, having graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Language and Literature with a minor in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. Abby returned to GVSU in 2023, as a member of the Alumni Relations team, where she built lasting relationships with fellow alums and campus partners. She is also currently pursuing her Professional Master of Arts in Social Innovation. Abby looks forward to the ways her new role in Brooks will allow her to give back to the learning community that helped shape her.

Samantha Rypstra is a new Professional Support Staff member in the Brooks College Dean’s Office. Samantha graduated from GVSU in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies through Brooks College.  Before joining the Brooks College staff, Samantha worked at the GVSU Padnos International Center, where she supported global learning experiences for students.

On July 11th, Anthony Meyer and the GVSU Sustainable Agriculture Project coordinated an in-hive honeybee veterinary clinic with Michigan State University (MSU) at the GVSU apiary. Participants were provided with a certificate of attendance that veterinarians in Michigan can submit for continuing education credits.

Photo courtesy of Anthony Meyer.

Emmy Scott, ’21, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) grant to teach English classes in Argentina during the 2025-2026 school year. 

Scott was a dual major, earning bachelor's degrees in Global Studies and Social Impact, and Spanish, in addition to a minor in Latin American Studies. 

Ashtyn Gluck '25 , the ENS Excellence in a Discipline Awardee for 2024-2025, had the privilege to be a part of a very selective Summer 2025 NASA Develop Research Team. The team focused on on how satellites can help track greenhouse gas emissions. They presented their research titled "Using Earth Observations to Quantify Methane Concentrations Produced by Landfills in New Hampshire," on August 7th. 

Click Flyers to view additional Event Details!

Monday, August 18th

8am-12pm

Kirkhof Center 2250 (Pere Marquette Room)

Join us for the Annual Brooks College Start-up Meeting. We will introduce new faculty & staff, discuss the upcoming academic year and strategic plan and get an opportunity to hear from President Mantella and Provost Drake. Breakfast will be served at 8:00am and the program will begin at 8:25am.

Thursday, August 14th

8am-3:30pm

Eberhard Conference Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus

Join us for the 31st Annual Conference on Teaching and Learning, featuring two expert keynotes: Dr. Peter Felten on Relationship-Rich Education, and GVSU Provost, Dr. Jennifer Drake, on Narratives of Today's First-Year Students. Visit our Fall Conference website for more details.

Wednesday, September 3rd

12pm-3pm 

Kirkhof Lawn (By the Clock Tower)

All staff and students are welcome to join us for lawn games, international music, snacks, and other activities in front of the clock tower!

TIE-DYE! FOOD TRUCKS!LIVE MUSIC! 

Friday, September 12th 

12pm-2pm 

Grand River Room, Kirkhof Center

 

A pizza party and a resource fair all in one, this event is a great opportunity for SIS students to meet one another, faculty and advisors. Students can find out about internships, study abroad opportunities, career prospects and everything the School of Interdisciplinary Studies has to offer in a relaxing and fun open house atmosphere.

Wednesdays

10am- 1pm

GVSU Allendale Clock Tower

 

 

Produce grown by students at the Sustainable Agriculture Project will be for sale near the clock tower on Wednesdays, June through September, from 10am-1pm. 

Wednesday, October 8th

1pm-4pm

Library Multipurpose Room (LIB 030)

Join us to learn strategies and skills for handling family political differences in constructive ways. Though serious in topic, the workshop also aims to be fun!

Hosted by the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse and facilitated by the national bridge-building organization, Braver Angels, this workshop is open to students, staff, faculty, and community members. 

October 8th

The Celebrating Women Awards has been an ongoing tradition for GVSU for many years, and a longtime collaboration between the Women’s Commission, Positive Black Women, the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program and the Center for Women and Gender Equity.

The award nomination form is open. The awards given out are The Emerging Professional Award, Maxine Swanson Award, Unsung Hero Award, and the Jennifer Palm Community Impact Award.  If you have someone to nominate or know of someone who might, please feel free to share the link: https://www.gvsu.edu/wcommission/celebrating-women-awards-22.htm

Nominations close September 1st!

Ellen Adams, Associate Professor of Art History in the Frederik Meijer Honors College gave a presentation at the conference of the Midwest Art History Society. Her talk was titled "Cultural Patronage in the New Deal: Georgette Seabrooke and the Harlem Hospital Murals."

Becky Williams, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies has integrated her research into many of her classes with a goal to impart critical hope into her students and empower them as they become the next generation of environmentalists.

Read more about it HERE! 

Alisha Karabinus, Assistant Professor of Writing & Interdisciplinary studies had her edited collection "Histographies of Game Studies" released this summer. It is an open collection in game studies reflecting on the formation and trajectory of game studies, featuring authors from all over the world.

You can find more information about the book HERE!

Krista Benson, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, co-authored Reproductive Justice, Adoption, and Foster Care. Understanding practices of family separation and child removal necessitates considering the impacts of globalizing capitalism, colonialism, empire building, and the normalization of systemic racism. This book explores those connections and the political, social, and personal impacts. 

You can find more information about the book HERE!

August 13th-Summer second 6 & 12 week grades available to students

August 15th-Fall Payment Deadline

August 25th- Fall Classes begin 

August 29th- Last Day to Add, Register, or Pay  

August 29th-100% Tuition Refund Deadline (by 5PM* ) 

August 31st-September 1st- Labor Day recess

September 19th-75% Tuition Refund Deadline ( by 5PM*)

October 6th-10th- Mid Term evaluations

October 19th-21st-Fall Break

Note: partial term courses have different tuition and refund deadlines. View additional deadlines in the course index. 

We have created this LinkedIn page as a place for faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members to connect. We hope to promote happenings and successes across Brooks College and the community as well as connect Brooks students and alumni to jobs, internships & research opportunities! 

Please follow our page and encourage colleagues, students, and community partners to follow as well!  

Have an event or opportunity you want featured on our page? email brookscollege@gvsu.edu! 

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