{"id":8673,"date":"2019-09-04T14:40:13","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T18:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/?p=8673"},"modified":"2019-09-04T14:40:13","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T18:40:13","slug":"in-the-loop-summer-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/in-the-loop-summer-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Loop: Summer 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cKeep on defeating those mountains\u201d<\/h3>\n

Advice from commencement speaker Shireen Lewis<\/p>\n

\"ShireenDuring the 177th <\/sup>commencement exercises on May 26 EduSeed Executive Director Shireen K. Lewis encouraged the class of 2019 to take the power of sisterhood into the world and \u201ccreate a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive community for all women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis, who has devoted more than 20 years to mentoring and coaching women and girls, leads EduSeed\u2019s efforts to promote education in historically disadvantaged and underserved communities. She also founded the organization\u2019s SisterMentors program, which supports learning among women and girls of color.<\/p>\n

A graduate of Douglass College, a women\u2019s college at Rutgers University, Lewis cited the continuing importance and value of women\u2019s colleges today and \u201ctheir desire to create something new, something different, something that is more just.\u201d Referencing\u00a0 Hollins\u2019 Tinker Day tradition, she proclaimed, \u201cNobody can say that Hollins women don\u2019t know how to defeat a mountain. So keep on defeating those mountains, Hollins women!\u00a0Let\u2019s imagine and build together a world where we listen to all women when they speak the truth. Let\u2019s imagine and build together a world where not just a few women are free, but all women are free\u2014free from all kinds of harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by Sharon Meador<\/em><\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/p>\n

Setting their sights on Nationals<\/h3>\n

Winning rider and coach set high goals<\/p>\n

\"CaitlinCall Caitlyn Sheffer \u201922 a \u201cbarn rat\u201d and she\u2019ll consider it a badge of honor. To her and other student-athletes in the riding program, the moniker reflects commitment and determination, attributes that helped Sheffer earn a spot in May at the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) Nationals in Syracuse, New York. She finished fifth in Open Equitation on the Flat and seventh in Open Equitation Over Fences.<\/p>\n

Qualifying for Nationals was a pleasant surprise for the York, Pennsylvania, native. Although she thought her first year of collegiate riding would be a period of transition (she has ridden competitively since age seven), she didn\u2019t expect to go to Nationals the spring term of her first year. \u201cI had accumulated enough points to qualify for IHSA Regionals and realized Nationals was a possibility,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met with Sherri [West, head riding coach], Liz [Courter, associate director of riding], and Elise [Roschen, manager\/assistant to the director of riding] and said, \u2018How can we make it happen?\u2019 If you want something, they will do everything they can to help you get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

A trip to Nationals entailed everything from extra lessons at 6 a.m. to gym workouts with her teammates. It also required stellar performances at both the IHSA Regional and Zone horse shows. \u201cYou must finish first or second at Regionals to go to Zones, and then at Zones, you must earn first or second place again.\u201d Sheffer excelled at both events, capturing first in Open Equitation on the Flat and reserve champion in Open Equitation Over Fences at the Zone 4, Region 2 Championships in March, and in April repeating those achievements at the Zone 4 Finals.<\/p>\n

Sheffer and West returned from Syracuse with next year\u2019s goal: having the entire team qualify for Nationals. To succeed, Sheffer hopes to \u201cget all our horses performing to the max. If that\u2019s the case, then our riders who practice on them will have a better chance.\u201d Individually, her focus in 2020 will be on qualifying for the Cacchione Cup, one of the highest honors in college equestrian competition.<\/p>\n

Sheffer loves winning, but her lifelong passion for riding is based on something more enduring, a philosophy that will serve her well as she pursues a career as a professional trainer one day. \u201cEven if I don\u2019t get recognition after a phenomenal round, I will still be happy,\u201d she explains. \u201cSomeone will ask, \u2018Did you win?\u2019 and I\u2019ll say, \u2018No, it was just really good!\u2019 I love knowing that the horse is comfortable, happy, and going at their best, and I\u2019ve done all I can. It\u2019s really satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/p>\n

Faculty news<\/h3>\n

Hiring and promotion announcements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tenure-track appointments:<\/em><\/p>\n

Courtney Chenette \u201909, political science<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"CourtneyChenette, a political science and gender and women\u2019s studies major at Hollins, earned her J.D. at Pace Law School and practiced law in New York City.\u00a0She returned to Hollins as\u00a0a visiting lecturer for 2018-19 and was honored by the class of 2019 with the Senior Class Faculty Award.\u00a0She began her advocacy as a New York University Revson LSPIN Fellow, representing teenage dating and domestic violence survivors. As a civil rights attorney, Chenette litigated, trained, and counseled clients on novel constitutional questions involving government power and administration, policing, education, employment, and discrimination. She teaches constitutional law and political science courses on\u00a0civil rights; voting rights; the judiciary;\u00a0and race, class, gender, sexuality, and the law. Chenette also serves Hollins as a pre-law advisor.<\/p>\n

Christopher M. Florio, history<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ChristopherFlorio received his B.A. from the University of Richmond in 2009 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2016.\u00a0Before coming to Hollins, he was a Mellon Research Fellow in the Society of Fellows in the Humanities at Columbia University.<\/p>\n

Florio\u2019s teaching and research interests include the history of slavery and emancipation, the history of capitalism, intellectual and cultural history, African American history, and the history of the U.S. and the world.\u00a0He is at work on a book manuscript titled Poor Freedom: The Problem of Poverty in an Age of Slave Emancipation<\/em>, under contract with Yale University Press.\u00a0An article stemming from his current research, \u201cFrom Poverty to Slavery: Abolitionists, Overseers, and the Global Struggle for Labor in India,\u201d received the Louis Pelzer Memorial Award from the Organization of American Historians and was published in the Journal of American History<\/em> in March 2016.<\/p>\n

Caroline Mann, psychology<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"CarolineMann earned her Ph.D.in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee in 2010 and has worked in both clinical and academic settings since that time.\u00a0She served as assistant professor at Brevard College, Randolph College, and Meredith College.\u00a0Her passion for teaching and lifelong learning was sparked by her liberal arts education at UNC-Asheville. She has published and presented numerous studies on the topics of mental illness stigma, implicit bias, and empathy-based interventions to reduce prejudice.\u00a0She served as a post-doctoral fellow and licensed psychologist at Appalachian State University\u2019s Counseling Center, where she specialized in working with clients around LGBTQ or cultural issues, trauma, and interpersonal difficulties.\u00a0At Hollins, Mann will focus on establishing a clinical\/counseling track within the major.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Turner, sociology<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"JenniferTurner received her B.S. degree in sociology from James Madison University in 2010, her M.A. (and a graduate certificate in women\u2019s studies) from Old Dominion University in 2013, and her Ph.D. (and a graduate certificate in women\u2019s and gender studies) in sociology from Virginia Tech in 2019. Her research focuses on the intersection of race, class, and gender in the lives of low-income African American single mothers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jessie van Eerden, creative writing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"JessieVan Eerden is the author of two novels, Glorybound, <\/em>winner of the Foreword <\/em>Editor\u2019s Choice Fiction Prize, and My Radio Radio<\/em>, as well as the portrait essay collection The Long Weeping<\/em>, winner of the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award. Her work has appeared in Best American Spiritual Writing<\/em>, Oxford American<\/em>, Willow Springs<\/em>, Image<\/em>, Blackbird<\/em>, and other magazines, and in several anthologies, including The River Teeth Reader and Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia. She received the Gulf Coast Prize in Nonfiction, the Milton Fellowship, and a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Fellowship.<\/em> Van Eerden holds an M.F.A. in nonfiction from the University of Iowa and directed the low-residency M.F.A. program at West Virginia Wesleyan College.<\/p>\n

Tenure and promotion:<\/em><\/p>\n

Elise Schweitzer, associate professor of art<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"EliseI believe that painting is just about the best thing anyone can do with her time. When I\u2019m working at an easel I am alive to the world around me, more aware of light, form, and color. At Hollins I teach painting and drawing, technique and theory, and also patience, perseverance, and new methods for interacting with the world around us.<\/p>\n

Beginning drawing and painting students start by working from life, but learning to draw or paint isn\u2019t just about making realistic images, it\u2019s about changing how we see. Try to draw a portrait and you\u2019ll recognize just how complicated our noses are. Paint a shadow on Tinker Mountain in the fall, and you\u2019ll see sunlight in a whole new way. Draw a shadow or mix a color and you\u2019ll understand and remember that nose or that sunny afternoon.<\/p>\n

Making artwork can bring to light connections and convergences. During Short Term trips to Italy, I teach students to draw on location everywhere, from cathedrals to neighborhood cafes. Drawing in her sketchbook, a student can camp out in front of Botticelli\u2019s painting of Venus for an hour and really look at the painting, at the glints of gold in the water and all the flowers flying through the air. She might start to wonder, Doesn\u2019t Venus look like that other Botticelli painting of Simonetta Vespucci? Is she related to Amerigo Vespucci? The one who made the maps of America? Incredible!<\/p>\n

Daniel Derringer, professor of chemistry<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"DanDan Derringer received degrees in chemistry from Kalamazoo College (B.A.) and Purdue University (Ph.D.). Helping students learn is one of his preeminent joys. In addition to teaching courses for chemistry majors, he has taught a variety of courses for nonmajors, including The Chemistry of Art and Archaeology; Chemistry and Cooking; Contribution of Science to Global Issues; and Earth Science, Leadership, and Expedition Behavior. One of his favorite courses for nonmajors is Learning Navigation Skills, which draws heavily on his experiences as a hiker, a scuba diver, and an airplane pilot. As a researcher, Derringer makes and characterizes compounds of transition metals. At present he and his student assistants are investigating the structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical properties of several new compounds they have synthesized. He believes the best way for students to put into practice the theories they learn in the classroom is to involve them in laboratory research. Derringer is a firm believer in the liberal arts, especially the emphasis it places on lifelong learning. He is enrolled in a master\u2019s-level course in philosophy. He says this course is teaching him to be a better thinker, a quality he knows he can pass on to his own students. When he is not teaching or taking classes, he is spending time with his family.<\/p>\n

Morgan Wilson, professor of biology<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MorganThe son of a biologist and naturalist, Wilson received degrees in biology from Hampden-Sydney College (B.S.), Virginia Tech (M.S.), and the University of Mississippi (Ph.D.). He enjoys studying and teaching about how things work biologically\u2014physiological and behavioral mechanisms, to be exact\u2014especially in organisms in their natural environment. He teaches courses in Hollins\u2019 biology and environmental studies programs, including human physiology, ornithology, human anatomy, invertebrate zoology, and human biology. He and Hollins biologist Renee Godard frequently lead Short Term trips to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands to explore marine diversity in the Caribbean, environmental concerns, and cultural history. With Hollins biologist Elizabeth Gleim \u201906 and students, he explores tick ecology in Southwest Virginia and its possible connection to the risk of Lyme disease. Other research has taken him to the edge of the Arctic, the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi Delta, and the prairie pothole region of North Dakota. He has published various articles on topics ranging from the migration of the blue-winged teal to the causes of stress in male yellow warblers breeding at high latitudes. Put him in nature, be it a marsh, meadow, or mountain, and he is a happy man. In his spare time, he enjoys fly fishing, canoeing, trail running, waterfowling, bow hunting, hiking, and spending time with his family.<\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/p>\n

Open eyes and heart<\/h3>\n

Student art and writing enliven public transportation<\/p>\n

\"Art<\/p>\n

In April, the university joined\u00a0RIDE Solutions, the Roanoke Arts Commission, and the\u00a0Greater Roanoke Transit Company\u00a0in presenting the annual Art by Bus and Writer by Bus programs, which this year showcase the talents of Hollins undergraduate and graduate students.<\/p>\n

\"JM

JM Lamb in front of her work \u201cWishes,\u201d chosen for the Art by Bus program<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWishes,\u201d by\u00a0Horizon\u00a0student JM Lamb, was chosen to be displayed on half of a Valley Metro bus. Lucy Marcus, who is pursuing an\u00a0M.F.A. in creative writing, was selected as this year\u2019s Writer by Bus. She rode various buses throughout last spring to produce literary works about her experiences, the people she met, and the neighborhoods she visited. Her chronicles can be followed on the\u00a0Writer by Bus Facebook page. Marcus\u2019 final works will appear on the RIDE Solutions webpage this fall.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy

This year\u2019s Writer by Bus, Lucy Marcus<\/p><\/div>\n

Artist Lamb\u2019s intention \u201cwas to create an image that invokes memories and feelings that instill joy, transcending age, race, and cultural differences, as well as socioeconomic class inequalities. \u2026 When most of us think of dandelion seed \u2018puffs,\u2019 we can mentally scroll back to childhood and the hours spent stalking the yard for an intact \u2018puff\u2019 to blow in the wind. The thought of this playful task produces a smile on most of our faces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus noted, \u201cI feel very lucky to live here, where our city workers and elected officials who do the difficult and vital work of keeping the transit circulating also create such rich programming to integrate and support the arts. I look forward to riding and writing with my eyes and heart open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos by Mary Daley ’19<\/em><\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/p>\n

Google Applied Computing Series coming to campus<\/h3>\n

Hollins one of 11 colleges selected<\/p>\n

Google has selected Hollins to be a partner institution to implement its Applied Computing Series, an initiative focusing on computer science education. Associate Professors of Mathematics Julie Clark and Steve Wassell spearheaded the effort to bring the program to Hollins, one of only 11 colleges and universities nationally that have been accepted this year.<\/p>\n

Semester-long Applied Computing courses will be offered to students who haven\u2019t previously had the opportunity to study computer science or data science.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle and we see these courses as appropriate for students of\u00a0all\u00a0<\/em>majors who are interested in applying data science techniques to their fields of study,\u201d says Clark.<\/p>\n

Google administers the course content and platform for free. Clark and Wassell took part in faculty training this summer. Google\u2019s Applied Computing I, offered this fall, introduces students to computer science through an easy-to-learn programming language called Python. The course emphasizes such skills as problem solving; data analysis; design, implementation, testing, and analysis of algorithms and programs; formulating problems; thinking creatively about solutions; and expressing solutions clearly.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Applied Computing II, launching in spring 2020, explores the topic \u201cHow to Think Like a Data Scientist.\u201d The course is designed to help students make informed, data-based decisions with machine learning in combination with tools such as spreadsheets, Structured Query Language (SQL), and Python.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cKeep on defeating those mountains\u201d Advice from commencement speaker Shireen Lewis During the 177th commencement exercises on May 26 EduSeed Executive Director Shireen K. Lewis encouraged the class of 2019 to take the power of sisterhood into the world and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,6],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-8673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-in_the_loop","tag-summer-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8673"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8691,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8673\/revisions\/8691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}