Notes: Ortiz, Harris, Harris, Gurung, Damkoehler
The Neville Public Museum announced this week the recipients of awards in the 64th Art Annual, on display at the Museum through Feb. 1. Winning the Artistic Merit Award was Prof. Toni Damkoehler ’92 of New Franken, for Tchotchke Holiday (Diptych #1) and Tchotchke Holiday (Diptych #2).
Prof. Regan A. R. Gurung, Human Development and psychology (and colleagues from across the nation, Kerns, Ansburg, Alexander, & Johnson) just got an article published in the special issue of the Teaching of Psychology titled, “The scholarship of teaching and learning in psychology: A national perspective.”
Jay Harris of International Projects was the featured “CineForum” presenter following a screening of the Jordanian film, Captain Abu Raed, at the annual Middle East Studies Association (MESA) conference FilmFest. Harris was also an invited conference panelist on the topic of “Using Middle Eastern Film in the Classroom: Curriculum Development, Strategies & Teaching Tools.” While in Washington, D.C., Harris met with officials at the American Councils for International Education and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The film Captain Abu Raed has now won 21 awards worldwide — best director, best actor, and other awards, including various audience awards (the biggest one being the Sundance World Cinema Audience Award). It is Jordan’s first-time entry for the Academy Awards and is rumored to be a strong Oscar contender for foreign language films.
Victoria Harris, a water quality specialist based in Green Bay with UW Sea Grant Institute, was guest speaker at an Alumni Café Learning Series program Dec. 1 hosted downtown by the Brown County Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Her topic was “The State of the Bay” with an environmental report card on the health of Green Bay’s ecosystem. She is also involved in a new program to reduce nutrient and sediment loading to the lower Fox Valley and Green Bay in an effort to lessen algae blooms and improve water clarity and quality.
A measure of the intense international interest in this year’s U.S. presidential election was an invitation extended to Prof. Cristina Ortiz (Spanish and Humanistic Studies). A native of the Basque Country in northeastern Spain, she was contacted to write an article on the election for the Basque journal Bake Hitzak (Words of Peace). We’re told her piece, titled “Unforgettable,” was very well received, including favorable comments from the Basque president, Juan Jose Ibarretxe.
