academics
Research
Student Study Finds Snow Monkeys Just Wanna Have Fun
14 May 2013 by Kelly Engebretson '99 M.A. / 1 Comment
St. Thomas seniors Paige Peterson, Chelsea Mills and Alex Mathison studied six hours of recorded video footage of the Minnesota Zoo snow monkeys to discover how parental interference influences their play behavior
Are You a Good Person? The Notion of Moral Identity
02 May 2013 by Tonia Bock, Psychology Department / No Comments
To what degree is each of us a good person? Well, researchers of moral psychology want to know not only the degree to which each of us is a good person but also how we generally become good people.
The Weigh-In: A Strange and Gothic Tale of Cannibalism by Consent
17 Apr 2013 by Charles Reid Jr., Ph.D. / No Comments
Charles Reid researches the disturbing case of two German computer scientists whose actions raise critical legal issues about morality, consent and human dignity.
Feminist Legal Theory, Disability Rights and Consumer-Credit Regulation
09 Apr 2013 by Elizabeth Schiltz / No Comments
Elizabeth Schiltz has always gravitated to kids who seem to have special needs, having helped organize a volunteer tutor program at an inner-city elementary school as an undergraduate at Yale University. The kids reminded her of her older brother.
Working With Adolescents and Discovering the ‘Voice of the Youth’
03 Apr 2013 by Andrea Nesmith / No Comments
In the beginning of Andera Nesmith’s social work career, she worked with issues pertaining to runaways, homeless youth, youth with incarcerated parents and older youth in foster care. She has since discovered a common thread that attracted her to these populations — youth who were separated from their parents, either by their own actions or the actions of others.
A Scholarly Endeavor in India Marked the Start of Katarina Schuth’s Lifelong Research Journey
21 Mar 2013 by Sr. Katarina Schuth / No Comments
Sr. Katarina Schuth conducted her first significant research while completing her doctoral degree in cultural geography, which led to her dissertation, “Patterns of Literacy in Villages of South India.” After months of preparing for field work, which entailed lugging volumes of “The Census of India” back and forth from the Syracuse University library to Minnesota, she finally was ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
Wulf Kaal’s Diverse Education Informs the Work He Does – In and Out of the Classroom
14 Mar 2013 by Wulf Kaal / No Comments
KaaI’s unique background enables him to seek socially optimal solutions to real-world problems independent of political or economic pressure.
The Inspiration Behind the Faculty Award-Winning Collaboration of Stephen Brookfield and John Holst
12 Mar 2013 by Stephen Brookfield and John D. Holst / No Comments
In the field of adult education the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education is awarded annually to the English language book that exemplifies outstanding scholarship. Recently, Stephen Brookfield and John D. Holst from the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling learned that they won the 2011 World Award for their book Radicalizing Learning: Adult Education for a Just World.
Studying the Sleep Habits of College Students
08 Mar 2013 by Roxanne Prichard / No Comments
Roxanne Prichard studies how and when we sleep and the environmental, biological and psychological variables that impede sleep. Simply put, she studeies what is it that makes us go to sleep and wake up when we do and the factors that interfere with that process.
As a Master’s Student in Iowa, Dr. Heather Shirey Heard Brazil Beckoning and Followed
28 Feb 2013 by Heather Shirey, Ph.D. / No Comments
Preparing for my first semester of college at the University of Iowa, I made some decisions about my course schedule that ended up being rather fortuitous for my later scholarship. First, to fulfill my language requirement, I chose to study Brazilian Portuguese.
Two Students to Present Research at Scholars at the Capitol Feb. 19
11 Feb 2013 by Tom Couillard '75 / No Comments
Sam Jensen and Julie Rech will represent St. Thomas at the event, which will be held in the state Capitol’s rotunda.
On Meaningful Work and the Good Life
14 Jan 2013 by Christopher Michaelson / 4 Comments
Before my grandfather died, I said to him that someday I would write a book about our family. I’m not sure that the book on meaningful work that I recently began will turn out to be the book he was expecting, but I would like to think he would recognize its origins.
A Passion for Alternative Energy That Crosses Borders
10 Jan 2013 by Greg Mowry / 1 Comment
There is a great need for social entrepreneurship with the goal of developing economical and robust systems that provide fresh water and electricity. The engineering challenges are significant but surmountable. It simply takes will and funding.
From the Assembly Line to the Classroom
03 Jan 2013 by Chad Brinsfield / No Comments
How this professor’s business experience impacts his teaching and research.
Experience in the Field Compels Jessica Toft to Explore the Role of Citizenship in Helping the Disenfranchised Class
18 Dec 2012 by Jessica Toft / No Comments
In the course of every year while growing up, I lived in three different settings: city, suburb and rural and small town. Although my parents lived close to each other in St. Louis, Mo., those few miles covered a broad range of socioeconomic and racial ethnic differences.
Survey Finds ‘Somewhat Pessimistic’ Outlook Among Leaders in the Field of Commercial Real Estate
14 Dec 2012 by Shenohon Center for Real Estate / No Comments
St. Thomas’ ongoing survey of 50 commercial real estate industry leaders found that the slight optimism in 2010 and 2011 has shifted to slight pessimism in the spring and fall of 2012.
Kristine Wammer and Her Students Take on a Major Source of Environmental Pollutants
14 Dec 2012 by Kristine Wammer / No Comments
Chemistry professor Kristine Wammer studies the effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment. “I am a ‘farm kid.’ I grew up on a corn and soybean farm in southern Minnesota that truly was the middle of nowhere, with the nearest town (Butternut) having a population that hovered around a dozen. Having no kids nearby meant that my brother Todd and I had to come up with creative – if slightly dangerous – ways to entertain ourselves.”
Junior Jane de Lambert and Her ‘Rockin” Geology Research
12 Dec 2012 by Kelly Engebretson '99 M.A. / No Comments
Jane de Lambert researched the geologic history of the Lovell Wash area of the Upper Horse Spring Formation in the Lake Mead region of Nevada last spring and presented her findings in October at the Geological Society of America’s national conference in North Carolina. She is among the first to research this remote formation in southern Nevada.
Defending the First Amendment Right of Diverse Religious Groups
09 Dec 2012 by Thomas Berg / No Comments
Religious liberty, my chief research interest, often has been a subject of controversy, but never more so than in recent months.
The Weigh-In: Tommies and Johnnies – Artistic Associates
05 Dec 2012 by Victoria Young, Ph.D. / 1 Comment
We all know about the competitiveness we have with Saint John’s in sports. What you might not think about when you hear UST and SJU in the same sentence however, are the ties that bind us together. Both schools are anchored in the Catholic intellectual tradition and have a shared belief in the importance of the arts in a humanities-based education.
Testing the Waters: Undergraduates Leave the Lab and Plunge Into Research
28 Nov 2012 by Emily Koenig ’12 / No Comments
Most weekdays last summer Grant Schmura and David Houserman left the biology lab around noon and drove to Lake Judy in Shoreview, Minn. Before each of those days was done they would spend five hours gathering and tracking painted turtles.
A Collaboration Focused on the Education of Children With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
27 Nov 2012 by Shelley Nielsen Gatti, Todd Busch, Char Ryan and Kimberly Adams / No Comments
From Exemplars: Faculty and graduate research at the University of St. Thomas.
You Can See For Miles and Miles and Miles at the St. Thomas Observatory
26 Nov 2012 by St. Thomas Newsroom / No Comments
The university observatory will open its doors for public observing on Nov. 28 and Dec. 12.
The Meaningful Life and Work of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the St. Joseph Worker Program
20 Nov 2012 by Dr. Karen Westberg / 3 Comments
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet developed the St. Joseph Worker Program in 2002. Women in the program spend a year in service, living in intentional community and working 36 hours each week at nonprofit organizations throughout the Twin Cities.
Giving Voice to the Multiracial Experience: A Conversation With Shanea Turner-Smith
19 Nov 2012 by Kelly Engebretson '99 M.A. / No Comments
Turner-Smith led a 90-minute workshop on her McNair Scholars research project, “The Multiracial Experience,” Friday, Nov. 16, at the Overcoming Racism conference held at Metro State University in St. Paul.