New Growth on Old Vines
I was lucky to inherit a garden with fantastic bones. Planted with careful intention by the couple who built the house that my family and I now call home, my role at this point is largely as caretaker: watering, spreading compost and adding nutrients when needed, tending, and ultimately getting to enjoy the beauty of a lush, verdant space. There is a pattern to this annual cycle that is both routine and surprising. May and June are the season when I get to marvel at the resilience of this space, watching the green shoots emerge from well-established vines and branches, stretching out leaves to catch the light, ultimately producing flowers, fruit, and nuts that feed a whole assortment of fauna. Every year is a little bit different. It always seems to get better. I never get tired of seeing it flourish.
Brooks College isn’t so different. As we emerge from a year of establishing new processes as part of the reorganization and prepare to welcome our largest ever cohort of new faculty along with new staff, I am daily reminded that this would not be possible if it weren’t for our well-established root system of faculty, staff, and alumni leadership, strong trunks of shared, guiding values, and rich intellectual soil.
In order to grow stronger each year, most plants also need to have periods of rest. I hope that for many of you, that is exactly what you are able to do over the next couple of months and that the change of pace brings opportunities for reflection, enjoyment, and new ideas as we look forward to the start of next academic year in August.
Thank you for all that you do. Happy summer!
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Melanie Shell-Weiss, Associate Dean and Professor of Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies
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Save the Date: Fall Startup |
Before we know it, the fall semester will be here! The Brooks College Fall Startup will be held at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 14. The School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) Startup will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 12. Keep an eye on your email for further details as we approach August.
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Torri Blue received her Integrative Studies degree through LEADS in Spring 2024. Torri has been keeping in touch with her mentor Denise Goerisch (Director of Integrative Studies). Denise shared that Torri has published her INT 495 senior seminar capstone thesis, My Mind is a Forest: An Autistic Wandering Through the Language of Silence and the Poems of Mary Oliver in Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture (Volume 5, Issue 2, 2024).
Torri is a proud queer autistic poet, writer, lyricist, administrator, and founder of NOTESONTHEWAY, a small custom poetry and art business.
"This fall I'll be joining the University of Guelph's MFA in Creative Writing program where I hope to continue my work in autistic poetics," said Torri. "I am looking for fulfilling work opportunities that will allow me to leverage my diverse skill set and passion for the arts in a dynamic and collaborative literary environment. I look forward to connecting with other artist-scholars and neurodivergent researchers professionally in the years to come."
Well done, Torri! We look forward to future updates on your bright future.
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Denise Goerisch and Torri Blue
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Created by StoryCorps, One Small Step is an effort to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree. The initiative brings strangers with different political beliefs together for a 50-minute conversation—not to debate politics—but to get to know each other as people.
WGVU and their valued partners: Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse; Kaufman Interfaith Institute; Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies; Seeds of Promise; and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, as well as StoryCorps, invite you to take part in One Small Step, an effort to bring communities together, one conversation at a time.
WGVU is one of just seven stations selected nationally to host One Small Step in 2024.With participant permission, these conversations will be preserved for future generations at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
We’re teaming up with civic organizations, churches, and other community groups and leaders to spread the word and connect West Michigan residents from all backgrounds who are ready to take One Small Step. Do you want to get your group or organization involved in the effort? Contact Phil Lane at lanep@gvsu.edu or (616) 331-6791 for more details.
We invite you to meet someone new.
Click here to express your interest in participating!
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Joel Stillerman, professor of sociology and faculty-in-residence in the Frederik Meijer Honors College, received a Fulbright Scholar Award and plans to spend the upcoming fall semester at the Universidad Central de Chile, where he will co-teach a doctoral class on economic sociology and conduct research. Joel was also featured in this GV Next article with the other two GVSU recipients. Go to the article to read more details from Joel on his research.
Congratulations, Joel!
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Brooks College School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) has six new affiliate faculty members we are excited to have joining us in Fall 2024:
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Jeffrey Courtright (he/him) - Dr. Courtright holds a PhD in Philosophy from Loyola University, Chicago. He has extensive experience teaching critical thinking, ethical reasoning, world religions, and gender studies at the undergraduate level. Dr. Courtright comes to us from Collin College in Plano, Texas, and held previous appointments at Mississippi University for Women, the University of Dayton, Ohio Dominican, and was formerly a visiting faculty member in GVSU's Philosophy department.
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Eric Covey (he/him) - Dr. Covey holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. His research and writing centered on issues related to mercenary force and imperialism during colonial eras, the Third World, and the Global South. Dr. Covey most recently was a visiting faculty member in GVSU's History department, and he previously held appointments at Texas A&M, The University of Abuja (Nigeria), and Miami University (Ohio).
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Sarah Cox (she/her) - Dr. Cox holds a PhD in Educational Leadership, Research, and Technology from Western Michigan University. She has expertise in adult learner, special education, and first year student pedagogy, and most recently held the role of visiting faculty in the GVSU College of Education, working in their partnership with the W.K. Kellogg/Battle Creek Public Schools program, where she taught INT 100 to students at BCHS. She previously held appointments at WMU, Aquinas College, and Coleg Glan Hafren (Wales).
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Jenna Lyons (she/her) - Dr. Lyons holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Kansas. Her teaching and research interests include women, gender, and sexuality studies; popular culture representations of identity; public memory and systems of power; heritage tourism; and nostalgia as a tool of identity-making for American small towns. Most recently, Dr. Lyons was a visitor in SIS and has also taught at the University of Kansas, Southern New Hampshire University, and Southwestern Michigan College.
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Ariel Mokdad (she/her) - Prof. Mokdad holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Poetry from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC and an MA in English and Creative Writing from Wayne State University. She is also trained in dance, and is an active choreographer, performer, and dance teacher at dance and ballet schools across the state. Prof. Mokdad also works as the Education Director for the National Writers Series non-profit in Traverse City. Previously, she was a visitor and adjunct in the IRIS department, as well as having taught at Wayne State, and Northwestern Michigan College.
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Joy Schaefer (she/her) - Dr. Schaefer holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies from Stony Brook University. Her areas of specialization are in gender & sexuality studies; race & decolonial studies; French & Francophone studies; immigration & diaspora; disability & affect studies; and transnational feminism. Dr. Schaefer most recently was an adjunct in several SIS programs, and has held previous teaching appointments at Ferris State, Grand Rapids Community College, Kendall College of Art, and Fordham University.
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The 2024-25 Cohort is composed of nine outstanding individuals we are very excited to welcome to Brooks College as tenure track faculty in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) starting Fall 2024:
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Bertha Amisi (she/her): Bertha is already known to many of us and we have really appreciated her work as a visiting faculty member in SIS this past year. Prior to joining our faculty, Bertha was an Assistant Professor of Humanities at Nova Southeastern University in Miami, Florida. She holds an MA and PhD in Political Science from Syracuse University, MA in Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame, and BA in French and Government from the University of Nairobi (Kenya). Bertha’s research and teaching interests include: Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Leadership Studies, Youth Studies, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and African and African American Studies, among others.
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Pratitsha Sané Bhattarai (they/them): Sané joins us from Duke University where they are completing their PhD in Literature along with a Graduate Certificate in College Teaching. They also hold an MS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a BA in Mathematics and Computer Science from Smith College. Sané’s research and teaching interests include: Literary Theory and Criticism, Postcolonial and World Literatures (with a focus on Caribbean Literature), History and Theory of the Novel, Postcolonial and Empire Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Digital Humanities, and Critical Pedagogy Studies, among others.
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Max Counter (he/him): Max is also known to many of us as he has been an affiliate faculty in SIS (and formerly in IRIS) since 2021 and has directed the SMART Lab since 2023. Max holds an MA and PhD in Geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a BA in Spanish and Religion from Colgate University. His research and teaching interests include: Land politics and environmental change in Latin America, social justice, with a focus on LatinX, Black and Critical Disability Studies, Human Rights, Genocide Studies, and post-conflict reparations; and Virtual Exchange and Collaborative Online International Learning, among others.
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Israel Dominguez (he/him): Israel joins us from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he is completing his PhD in Religious Studies. He holds an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Israel’s research and teaching interests include: Curanderismo as a framework for decolonization; healing and religion in the West, decolonial discourse and pedagogy, Latin American Studies and LatinX identities, Queer Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, among others.
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Rachel Fox (she/her): Rachel joins us from the University of California at San Diego where she is completing her PhD in Communication, Science Studies, and Critical Gender Studies. Rachel holds an MA in Communication from the UC-San Diego, MS in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University, and a BA in Biology from Wesleyan University. Her research and teaching interests include: Fat Studies, Science & Technology Studies, Feminist Studies/Critical Gender Studies, Disability Studies, Weight Stigma, Representation, Culture, & Semiotics, Narrative Medicine/Health Humanities, and Qualitative Research Methods, among others.
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Hector Valero Lopez (he/him): Hector joins us from Florida International University where he has been a postdoctoral associate supervising the History Department’s Writing Tutors Program. He holds a PhD in History and MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Florida International University along with a Master of Law and Juris Doctor from Universidad ICESI in Columbia. Hector’s research and teaching interests include: Latin American Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Legal History, Discourse Analysis, and the construction of subaltern identitiy and subjectivities, among others.
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Janelle Malagon (they/them): Janelle joins us from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where they are completing a PhD in English. They also hold an MA in English from the University of Minnesota at Duluth and a BA in English from the University of Central Florida. Janelle’s research and teaching interests include: Indigenous Environmental Justice Studies and Activism; Digital and Media Studies; Environmental Video Game Studies; Latine/a/o Studies; Anti-racist and Decolonial pedagogies; and Digital Rhetorics and Literacies, among others.
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Lidia Ponce de la Vega (she/her): Lidia joins us from the College of William & Mary in Virginia where she is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow for the Diversification of the Environmental Humanities. She holds a PhD and MA in Hispanic Studies from McGill University and a BA in Hispanic Language and Literatures from the Natoinal Autonomous University of Mexico. Lidia’s research and teaching interests include: Ecocriticism and Animal Studies; Digital Environmental Humanities; Latin American Literature and Culture; Digital Cultures; Archival and National Heritage Studies; and Gaming Studies, among others.
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Malik Raymond (he/him): Malik joins us from Skidmore College in New York where he is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Black Studies. He holds a PhD in American Studies from Purdue University along wtih a BA in History from Georgia Southern University and AA in Psychology and General Studies from East Georgia State College. Malik’s research and teaching interests include: African and African American Studies, Nature as Spiritual Practice, Women’s and Gender Studies, Environmental Humanities, Environmental Justice, Writing and Linguistics, and Gaming Studies, among others.
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Save the Date: 11th Annual Civil Discourse Symposium |
2024 Civil Discourse Symposium
Gen Z Voices: If We Were President
Thursday, November 21, 2024
6:00 p.m.
Seidman Center Forum
50 Front Ave SW,
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students all welcome!
The 11th Annual Padnos/Sarosik Civil Discourse Symposium is planned for November 21, 2024 and will be led by Dr. Greg Warsen, Endowed Professor of Civil Discourse and Graduate Program Director for the Educational Specialist in Educational Leadership.
Save the date! More details to come.
Contact Information
Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse
Email: civildiscourse@gvsu.edu
Phone: 616-331-8044
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Log 12942-2023. African/African American Studies Curriculum Change to Africana Studies.
Details: Change Program Electives, Change Program Other (Name Change), Change Program Requirements.
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As we enter the lull of summer, there will be no Brooks College newsletter for the month of July. As you enjoy your summer, please consider submitting some photos of your summer fun. Whether you are enjoying your garden, fishing, hiking in the Alps, or catching a great concert, we would love to see your summer shares!
Email your photos to Maureen Strand by no later than August 26, if you would like them included in the Summer Share section of the September newsletter.
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June 17: Classes End - 1st 6 weeks
June 18 - 19: Final Exams - 1st 6 weeks
June 24: Classes Begin - 2nd 6 weeks
June 24: Grades due by 12:00 p.m. - 1st 6 weeks
July 4: Independence Day Recess
August 2: Classes End - 2nd 6 weeks
August 5-6: Final Exams - 2nd 6 weeks
August 12: Grades due by 12:00 p.m. - 2nd 6 weeks
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1 Campus Drive
224 Lake Ontario Hall
Allendale, MI 49401
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