Talk to St. Thomas graduates working in journalism, and they don’t take long to get around to it. Here’s Ryan Shaver, sports anchor at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa: “I think the only surprise was how much work the Real World is. I knew that we were going to be turning out stories, but my first day on the job I had two voice-overs and a package. I was used to having a week to turn in stuff.

“So even though the deadlines were harsh at TommieMedia, I was just not expecting the amount of work that goes into my job now.”

Shaver ’12 is among the first group of graduates from the Communication and Journalism program who didn’t have a chance to work for The Aquin, the venerable student newspaper that had operated on the St. Thomas campus since 1933. Shaver earned his stripes working for TommieMedia, the online student-operated news organization that replaced The Aquin in 2009. Shaver served as TM’s sports editor, production editor and, finally, as its director.

He and 10 other TommieMedia veterans stepped into the Real World in May 2012. Those of us who keep an eye on the Real World of journalism were a bit surprised when all 11 found jobs in their desired field.

Dana Ashby is one. She was TommieMedia’s advertising and public relations director in spring 2012, a position that did not exist with the ad-free Aquin. Ashby works as a digital media coordinator at Periscope, an advertising agency in Minneapolis.

“My boss says on a weekly basis, ‘I only hired you because you knew what media was,’ and I learned that at TommieMedia,” Ashby said. “I was doing sales at TommieMedia, and I learned what this area was because that’s what we did there.”

Her job at Periscope is “more behind the scenes of working with that ad server and being able to monitor different campaigns and being able to interact with clients immediately.”

“TommieMedia gave me those decision-making opportunities and showed me the consequences with this real living, breathing digital experience,” she said.

The Real World was a concern among those of us who laid The Aquin to rest and replaced it with the brave, new whirlwind TommieMedia, one of the first online student-operated news organizations in the country. The goal was to reflect what was happening in the Real World.

At the time, the Real World of journalism was changing rapidly. Newspapers cut staff as revenue from retail, national and classified advertising tumbled. The Pew Research Center reported that print advertising revenue nationwide fell from a peak of $49 billion a year in 2006 to about $27.5 billion in 2009, when the plot to kill The Aquin was hatched. Online advertising revenue was growing, while the cost of printing and delivering thousands of papers every day seemed less and less sustainable.

We watched thousands of dollars each year go for printing 11 editions of 2,600 copies of The Aquin for a student population of more than 11,000. Even with those few copies, The Aquin would pile up in the Murray-Herrick post office like fallen leaves.

CAS Associate Dean Kris Bunton, chair of the Communication and Journalism Department at the time, set TommieMedia in motion. We would merge The Aquin and Campus Scope, a periodic television news magazine, into one website. Campus Scope adviser Tim Scully came onboard as a TM adviser, as did I and professors Mark Neuzil for his editorial experience, Greg Vandegrift for his video reporting experience and Craig Bryan, who would lead the students in our new advertising venture. The website launched in September 2009.

We were further ahead of the curve than we thought.

Print Still Reigns

Imagine my surprise when Shane Kitzman ’10 told me that newspaper design was something he wished TommieMedia had taught him. Kitzman, the last Aquin editor and second TommieMedia director, took the job of sports editor at the Northfield News after he graduated. When he said this over sandwiches at a Northfield eatery, Jordan Osterman, current Northfield News sports editor, and Miles Trump, sports editor of the Waseca County News, nodded in agreement.

“When I went into the Real World, and when he did and he did, you had to be able to design a page,” Kitzman said. “So TommieMedia was great, but the first position that you get when you come out of school will probably have a design element. I had to learn on the fly.”

“That’s where you start,” Osterman said. “If you’re in print, it’s going to be at a weekly newspaper.”

Print operations still generate far more income in the Real World of community journalism than does online advertising. Video skills are prized, too, but print reigns.

“They love [video] at small newspapers,” Kitzman said. “They drool over that.”

“But at the same time, they didn’t hire you to do that video, to be a video person for them,” Osterman added.

“Video is like this added bonus,” Trump said, “but it’s not like this mandatory part of your day-to-day job, whereas layout is.”

The fact is, print advertising still accounts for far more revenue than the online edition.

“We hear it all the time that print is still where we make our money,” Osterman said. “And maybe somewhere down the line, it will be online, but right now, print is still the money horse.”

So did TM fail in preparing them for the Real World? No. Community journalism is the art of doing everything, and doing everything is something TommieMedia stresses. All three of these TommieMedia veterans found success at small papers. They represent the past three winners of the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s Best Young Journalist award for weekly papers.

Sean Crotty covers a men’s basketball game. (Photos by Mike Ekern ’02)

Kitzman moved from Northfield in July 2012 to become a Web producer for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. Like Shaver, Kitzman has found the TommieMedia experience to be right in line with his new job.

“I loved the print,” Kitzman said. “I loved having a finished product that could be so set in stone and so tangible.

“Now at WCCO.com, it’s just like TommieMedia again, where my work is cool for one day, but then I haven’t done anything for a day. If I don’t create a blog for one day, the next day it’s deadly. I really didn’t do much that day.”

TommieMedia provides the greatest gains for St. Thomas students interested in broadcasting, advertising and public relations. TM produces daily video news and sports reports, and weekly studio shows. Its ad people have built a growing clientele, and the PR staff does everything from signing up students for email updates to handing out TM goodies at football games.

Shaver said TommieMedia’s hands-on approach has served him well.

“I learned a lot about the basics of writing and editing,” Shaver said, “but just that we had our own TV studio, and had people like Professor Vandegrift, who had been in the business, really prepared me for what I was getting myself into. People like Professor Scully could go over my video for things that were as simple as lighting an interview.

“When I got to my real job, my bosses were really impressed that I knew how to light an interview, how to frame things like that, and they didn’t have to sit down and teach me to do all that stuff over again.”

Shaver and Kitzman agreed that for online journalism, TommieMedia gets it right. Kitzman uses the same content-management system at WCCO that he used at TommieMedia, while Shaver said KIMT’s system is much like it. And each of these alumni said TommieMedia’s emphasis on using social media is crucial.

“Twitter is one of the most powerful tools we have that we use on a day-to-day basis,” Trump said. “It’s how we engage with everyone.”

Engaging Readers … and Student Journalists

TommieMedia has been engaging people like The Aquin never could. Online analytics show that for Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, 2012, the last month of the fall semester, 24,250 “unique” visitors came to the site 50,193 times and viewed 122,026 pages. They came to the TM website from 97 countries and translated its pages into 60 languages.

The most-viewed page for the month profiled Tommie Award finalists (3,177 views), followed by the memorial service for a student who died on campus (2,678). Athletics was a big draw, topped by 1,298 viewers for the football team’s national semifinal victory and 1,004 viewers for St. Thomas’ victory in the volleyball national championship game.

Having thousands of people see your work is about as real as it gets. Finding value and reward in your work is even better. The greatest contribution TommieMedia makes might be in hooking 35 to 50 students a semester on the Real World of journalism.

“I never worked at The Aquin,” Trump said, adding that he enjoys online journalism because TommieMedia was where he “first jumped into journalism.”

“I enjoy more the fact that online, there is a sports section that can be constantly changed and updated,” Trump said, “because I just see that everything is constantly moving, that the media is constantly changing and constantly flowing, and I have this area where people can go to check the progress as these teams play. I like that.”

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

Even when discussing the financial benefits, many people, including the national media, make a serious error in focusing exclusively on the first job for which the college senior is prepared. While everyone is relieved when the graduate finds that first paid position, the most important thing about that job is that it leads to a second one, which leads to a third and so on. I am reminded of this fact on the many happy occasions when I run into a former student. Among other of their life’s details, I am always interested to learn where their career paths have taken them. While I never could have predicted in advance where their paths would lead, I am never surprised by even the most unexpected of outcomes. This is because I know that their liberal arts education has prepared them for just about anything.

As a result of their liberal arts education, students do not receive only a limited body of knowledge with which they might practice a profession. Were that the case, many people who graduated 20 years ago would no longer be employable, since the profession for which they might have thought to be training no longer exists. That they still are employable, and that students of today will continue to be employable 20 years in the future, has little to do with any job-related information they may have received and much more to do with important skills they learned. These would include critical-thinking skills, problem-solving skills and the ability to consider new ideas on one’s own – to become a lifelong learner.

I believe these learned skills, and others, are the ones that lead our students successfully along their career paths. I was reminded of this fact while reading this year’s Star Tribune feature on 10 Minnesota business leaders to watch in 2013. For those featured, the single most popular college major field of study was history, a major chosen by three of the 10. Other majors included psychology, political science and philosophy.

Obviously, liberal arts graduates do not begin their careers at the top, but the skills they learn in college help lead them there. Let’s be sure to include that fact when calculating the return on investment.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

Tonia Bock

Consider for a moment two extreme historical examples: Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolph Hitler. The degree to which each was a good person is a rather stark contrast. One worked to alleviate gross societal injustices and oppression while the other worked to instigate it. How did each get to be such a person?

We can look to historical biographical sources, of course, to help answer this question. Yet we also want a more general answer that applies not only to these two individuals but also to you and me, and our young generation in particular. How do infants become morally upright adults? Ultimately, psychologists studying morality, such as myself, want to understand moral development so that we can inform teachers how to facilitate, strengthen and support future generations’ moral character. Some psychologists (e.g., the late Lawrence Kohlberg) dedicate their entire career to advance our knowledge of moral development so that we can educate our young to be more like King and less like Hitler.

One of the first generations of psychologists studying moral development (e.g., Kohlberg) focused on understanding how our reasoning about right and wrong changes from childhood to adulthood. The psychologists believed that adults who grow to reason in morally principled ways will behave morally. Plato once said, “To know the good is to do the good.” If we know the morally principled thing to do, then we will do just this. Right? Certainly this early generation of psychologists believed as much. Many studies since have shown that the psychologists weren’t necessarily wrong – there is a positive correlation between moral reasoning development and moral behavior; however, the correlation, even though it is statistically significant, is pretty small, meaning that knowing the right thing to do does not always lead to the person doing the right thing. We have countless examples of this from history as well as from our everyday lives. We regularly see news stories about politicians and Hollywood stars who do things they know are wrong. If we look closely at ourselves, we see that we also sometimes do things we know are wrong, except that unlike the politicians and stars, our wrongdoings are not usually news headlines.

So if people know the right thing to do, why don’t they just do it? This question has inspired some psychologists studying morality to turn their attention away from moral knowledge and reasoning to a concept called moral identity. What is moral identity? It is generally defined as the degree to which moral concerns (e.g., justice, caring, generosity) are a central part of one’s identity (i.e., your sense of who you are). It is a somewhat new concept, with psychologists starting to develop slightly different conceptualizations. Regardless of how psychologists are conceptualizing moral identity, they all assume and are interested in individual differences, meaning that some individuals have a strong moral identity while others have a weak one. Individuals with a very strong moral identity prioritize moral commitments over all other nonmoral commitments, obligating themselves to live consistently with their respective moral concerns; thus, one who has a strong moral identity would feel compelled to be a good person, at least respective to his or her prioritized moral commitments. Theoretically, then, these people would not only know the good but also prioritize and consistently do the good. A person with a weak moral identity, on the other hand, would highly prioritize nonmoral commitments (e.g., having wealth, being attractive, being popular) over moral commitments; thus, he or she would be more likely to know the right thing to do but not act accordingly with their knowledge, presumably because they are more driven by their highly prioritized nonmoral commitments.

Being a psychologist who studies morality, I of course find this notion of moral identity to be quite fascinating. My particular interest in this area surrounds two specific questions: How do we think moral identity is developed over time? How do we best assess people’s moral identity? Given that psychologists are still working on their theoretical conceptualizations of moral identity, there is a lot of work to be done on answering both of these questions. I’ll briefly sketch out some of the ideas and challenges that lie ahead for us.

If psychologists presume that individuals vary in how strong their moral identity is, then they should have some idea about how these differences emerge over time; currently, it seems we have some very general ideas. Some psychologists mention the importance of parenting in early childhood, describing how parents who frequently, consistently and jointly attend to the moral dimensions of situations with their young child will help them to not only build mental images of what it means to be a moral person but also construct memories of morally relevant events and interactions.

Other psychologists have focused on the importance of moral identity formation in adolescence. According to them, adolescence is a time of unique growth in cognitive, social and personal understandings. Individuals in their teens (and early 20s) become better able to construct more complex notions of who they are, now being able to incorporate abstract ideals and traits, possibly moral, into their sense of identity. To date, the most specific theory of moral identity formation argues that individuals must simultaneously develop and increasingly prioritize the values of (a) benevolence and (b) achievement. As the theory goes, these two values are initially independent from one another. As they become increasingly prioritized, the person cannot allocate his or her attention and resources to both – the person either needs to choose one over the other or integrate them. According to this theory, those who integrate the values of benevolence and achievement in their goals and commitments are those who have the strongest moral identity. Initial research has supported such a developmental model, but there is a long road ahead to more fully verifying it. It is hoped that additional explanations and models of moral identity development will also be advanced in the near future to paint a more complete picture of moral identity development from birth through old age.

My other interest in moral identity is how we should best assess it. The currently existing assessments have faced some rather serious criticisms. A few paper-pencil surveys of moral identity exist. The advantages of this type of assessment are that they are very easy for researchers to use and participants to complete. For example, one assessment has several virtues listed at the top of the survey (e.g., caring, fair, generous). Participants are then asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with several statements about the importance of these virtues. Not surprisingly, all participants rate these virtues as being important to who they are. Individual differences exist, but they are very small.

The main criticism is that surveys such as these underestimate the individual differences in moral identity because, well, who would want to acknowledge that these virtues are not important to them? Psychologists call this social desirability bias, and it is a frequent issue in any research that deals with morality.

The other type of moral identity assessments are lengthy, intensive individual interviews. Social desirability is less of an issue because researchers ask rather general open-ended questions about how the interviewees describe themselves. The main disadvantage, though, is the time and energy it takes psychologists to not only conduct the interviews but also reliably code and analyze the data. Few researchers use this method, and when they do, it takes a rather long time to complete the entire research process.

These are just a few examples of the issues and challenges that researchers currently face in studying moral identity. I am quite confident that exciting theories and research are yet to come. I am most curious about how important researchers will find moral identity to be in doing the good. Maybe one day we can modify Plato’s saying to read, “To prioritize the good is to do the good.”

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

Five teenagers had been on a Saturday morning duck hunt on Lake Elysian in southern Minnesota. Their boat had capsized, and one was missing. Trump, the paper’s sports editor, sports reporter, sports photographer, sports columnist and sports-page designer, soon found himself in the middle of a heart-wrenching story about an athlete dying young.

Brady Hruska, 17, was a wide receiver for the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown High School football team that was to face Medford that night in the state playoffs.

“I was the one who found out that he died that morning,” Trump said. “Then I was the first one to go out to the scene, and authorities were still looking for his body in the lake.”

Trump posted reports of Hruska’s death on the paper’s website, with pictures of the search effort. After the playoff game that evening, he wrote about the community’s tribute to one of its children. His story, including a photo slide show, was a tribute as well to the small towns he serves around Waseca and to the art of community journalism.

In the next two days, he added a news story about the accident – full of the details and quotes that are the hallmark of good reporting – and a touching column about how proud he was to be part of the Waseca County community. A close reading of those stories shows why Trump deserved to be honored in January by the Minnesota Newspaper Association as New Journalist of the Year for a weekly paper.

Trump is the third TommieMedia veteran in three years to win the award. Jordan Osterman won in 2011 when he was at the Waseca County News, and Shane Kitzman was honored in 2010 when he was the Northfield News sports editor – the job Osterman now holds. They all worked together at TommieMedia in various leadership roles, and in the small world of Minnesota journalism, their lives remain intertwined.

That October Saturday, Trump did not write his usual “gamer” about WEM’s playoff victory.

“What they wanted me to do was write a community reaction story for the football game,” Trump said, “and then they needed someone to actually cover the game, because it was a playoff game. So Jordan came down.”

The Northfield News and the Waseca County News are owned by the same company, Huckle Media, and often share resources.

“You kind of have to, because for sports, especially, it’s only one guy per place,” Osterman said.

But Osterman’s stake in the story was personal, too.

“I’d covered that kid and that team the whole year before, so I knew him pretty well,” Osterman said.

As the story broke, Kitzman was working a shift as Web producer for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. One of his practices was to monitor Twitter for breaking news.

“We only found out because I was reading (Miles’) tweets that were retweeted by Owatonna,” Kitzman said. “When I saw that come down, I thought, ‘Oh boy, oh boy.’”
WCCO sent a satellite truck and reporter Reg Chapman to cover the story.

Trump grew up in Mankato, 30 miles from Waseca. Kitzman is from Northfield, and Osterman is from St. Paul. With their ties to the area and their experience at TommieMedia, the three are well-suited for the do-everything duties of community journalism. For Trump, those tasks have their own special rewards.

In a column he wrote shortly after Hruska died, Trump told about an incident at a Waseca High School volleyball game. A chant started in the student section:

“WE LOVE MILES, CLAP-CLAP, CLAP-CLAP CLAP.”

“That, I can honestly say, was one of the higher points in my life,” Trump wrote, adding that he wasn’t telling the story to brag.

“I feel blessed to have a job that’s appreciated in the community,” he wrote.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

Questions of how the nervous system influences human behavior can be traced to 3,000 years B.C., when an Egyptian surgeon noticed that soldiers suffering particular head injuries displayed specific kinds of behavioral changes. Nearly 2,500 years later, Hippocrates taught that the brain was the origin of all intellect and emotions. But without the ability to directly observe its complex inner workings, medieval physicians and philosophers discounted the impact of the brain, and attributed thoughts and emotions to other internal organs. Depression, for instance, was said to be caused by an excess of black bile in the liver. This perspective was highly influential, and it persists in some aspects of the modern world, where a Valentine’s Day card evokes feelings of love by showing a heart, rather than a brain.

Although philosophers, poets and playwrights through the centuries could draw upon introspection to gain insight into the mind, the scientific study of the brain was not possible until technology helped to solve key mysteries of its fundamental nature. At the turn of the 20th century, a few scientists applied techniques borrowed from photography, electricity and biology to carefully study the brain and nervous system. Further technological breakthroughs in physics, chemistry and computing during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s allowed nerve cells and brain circuits to be examined directly, and the seeds of neuroscience were planted.

True to these roots, modern neuroscientists approach some of the most intriguing questions in biology and human behavior from a wide range of perspectives. Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary endeavor in which scientists weave webs of collaboration through seemingly distant fields. Molecular biologists who study DNA collaborate with psychologists who use carefully crafted behavioral experiments to explore how genes affect memories. Even the Dalai Lama has paired with functional anatomists to help investigate how meditation impacts the brain. Such a wide range of perspectives and collaborations can bring about insights into human thought and behavior that would not have been possible a decade ago; however, this complexity also can make neuroscience a difficult subject for undergraduates to explore.

Evolution and Growth

At the University of St. Thomas, undergraduate study in neuroscience can trace its origins to a “behavioral neuroscience” concentration first offered by the Psychology Department in 1990; however, this early program did not reflect the interdisciplinary nature of modern neuroscience. As psychology professor Roxanne Prichard noted, “The major did not require much biology, chemistry or advanced math.” Upon being hired in 2006, one of Prichard’s first tasks was to make sure the program addressed the breadth of the field and prepared students to compete for positions in top neuroscience graduate programs. The result was the creation of a new interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, jointly administered by the Biology and Psychology departments. The program began in 2008, offering a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience. Three faculty members were officially affiliated with the fledgling program, and one student graduated with a neuroscience major that year.

The low initial numbers masked tremendous growth the program would soon face. Two more faculty members were hired in 2009 (one each in biology and psychology), and as word spread about the new program, it quickly gained popularity for its interdisciplinary approach. Sibel Dikmen, now a senior, recalled being attracted to the program her freshman year: “I liked that the neuroscience major adds diversity to the sciences. From an educational standpoint, the Neuroscience Program forced me to broaden my horizons.”

A student works with a microscopic section of brain tissue at a Cryostat machine during a neuroscience class. (Photo by Mark Brown)

Evan Eid, a 2010 graduate who is now a researcher with the Environmental Protection Agency in Duluth, Minn., said the Neuroscience Program provided him with the motivation and focus to complete his studies. “When I heard about the neuroscience major, I jumped at the opportunity. Neuroscience opened up such a fascinating world for me,” Eid said. “I saw my professors’ passion for the subject and that really motivated me to try harder.”

Appealing to a group of students whose interests span traditional disciplines, the program now counts more than 200 degree-seeking students, making neuroscience the university’s largest interdisciplinary program and one of the most popular majors in the College of Arts and Sciences.

In response to this rapid growth, several changes were made to the Neuroscience Program. In 2012, the faculty approved a new structure for the major that brings more cohesion to a body of interdisciplinary coursework that might otherwise feel disconnected. This curricular overhaul also added eight new courses to the neuroscience major that strengthen the program by helping students unify their foundational coursework in biology, chemistry, math and psychology within the framework of neuroscience. The breadth of coursework might seem overwhelming, but Prichard sees it as a clear advantage, particularly for students interested in the health professions. “The program has really given students more choice in their course plan,” she said. “Many students are interested in the body and human health not just from a biological standpoint but also from chemical and psychological perspectives. The Neuroscience Program exposes students to multiple ways of investigation and problem solving.”

Students agree. Adam Wieckert, a senior who transferred to the University of St. Thomas after learning about the Neuroscience Program, said, “The program adds an interdisciplinary approach to understanding life. I think the program is headed in the right direction.”

The rapid increase in numbers of students and courses has raised some challenges. Almost immediately, the Biology and Psychology departments had to hire several new faculty members to support the program. For these newly hired professors, the Neuroscience Program was a significant reason for joining the College of Arts and Sciences. Sarah Heimovics, a behavioral neuroendocrinologist hired by the Biology Department in 2012, was particularly attracted by the opportunity to help build a strong Neuroscience Program. “I was thrilled to join a university where student interest in neuroscience has grown,” she said. “There is a community of faculty trained in the neurosciences, there is strong support for the program at the administrative level, and there is a large pool of bright, motivated students. These are the primary reasons why I accepted a position here.”

The Neuroscience Program also attracted Sarah Hankerson, a behavioral ecologist who joined the Psychology Department in 2012. “The presence of the program and the strong support by the administration showed a lasting commitment to interdisciplinary education,” she said. “It also demonstrated the ability of the university to adapt to the rapidly changing face of science.” Hankerson, whose own work encompasses both biology and psychology, pointed out the value of this interdisciplinary approach: “Our students gain an understanding of how biological processes impact our daily lives, social interactions and mental health. Being a part of the Neuroscience Program allows me to fully embrace the interdisciplinary nature of my work.”

The College of Arts and Sciences faculty affiliated with the Neuroscience Program reflect the diversity in modern neuroscience. For example, Heimovics might be out in the field observing birds one day and in the lab looking at neurons under a microscope the next. Students benefit from this diversity in approach. As Heimovics remarked, “Moving forward, our students will understand the nervous system at multiple levels of analysis, making them better prepared and more competitive in their chosen careers.”

Making Connections Through Student-Faculty Research

As a result of recent hiring, 10 faculty members from the Biology and Psychology departments are now associated with the Neuroscience Program, and it is an active group. These professors conduct cutting-edge research, attract external scientific funding and publish their work in prestigious scientific journals. But most importantly, these faculty members are committed to involving undergraduate students at every stage of their research programs. Each year, dozens of undergraduate students gain research experience by working alongside professors in labs and during field studies. These opportunities give students the chance to experience modern neuroscience as it happens, often in the role of a scientific colleague. Jadin Jackson, a computational neurophysiologist who joined the Biology Department in 2011, emphasized the quality of these experiences: “The laboratory experience that students gain is on par with specialized graduate student workshops offered at the national and international level. Students gain hands-on experience with neuroscience techniques that deeply enhance and enrich the topics covered in the classroom.”

Professor Sarah Heimovics, right, works with student Carissa Libbenga and St. Catherine University student Margaret Miller (standing, left), at a Cryostat machine during a neuroscience class. (Photo by Mark Brown)

In addition, some students earn competitive research grants awarded by the University of St. Thomas to conduct their own projects in collaboration with a professor. Chloe Lawyer, a junior who conducts research in neuroscience, has experienced all aspects of scientific projects. But when she started, she wasn’t sure she was interested in research. “When I started working in the lab, I was uncertain about my future,” she said. Lawyer began working on a project in Kurt Illig’s lab in the Biology Department, investigating whether the chemical dopamine impacts memory formation in the brain. Dopamine is widely known as the neurotransmitter that is activated during pleasurable events, like eating chocolate.

Dopamine also is activated by drugs of abuse such as cocaine, and this activation may be the reason such drugs are addictive. After working on this project, Lawyer’s uncertainty cleared. “I quickly realized that I had a passion for research,” she said. Lawyer continued to collaborate with her professor to conduct experiments to discover how the dopamine system changed during adolescence. With experience on two projects, she was ready to design and carry out experiments of her own that would help determine whether the changes in the dopamine system during adolescence might contribute to the prevalence of drug addiction in teenagers.

Working with two other undergraduate students in the lab, Lawyer examined the brains of developing laboratory rats, which are used as a model for human brain development. The students started out by looking at the levels of dopamine receptors – the part of a neuron that receives messages from other cells – and found that these levels were low in juvenile and adult rats, but were very high during adolescence. Genes that encode these receptors were activated more during this time, too. But did this spike in receptor levels have any behavioral relevance? To complete this project, the students conducted two more sets of experiments. In the first, they showed that adolescent rats had a more difficult time learning new information than juvenile or adult animals. In the second, they showed that learning in adolescent rats could be improved by using low doses of drugs that specifically target the activity of dopamine receptors. Finally, in February 2013, the paper detailing their work was published in the high-profile, peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS One. Lawyer and the two other undergraduates are co-authors on the study.

The project took almost two years to complete, but the hard work paid off in a number of ways. Lawyer reflected, “Research has allowed me to form close relationships with the faculty at St. Thomas, and also has connected me with neuroscientists throughout the country.” Neuroscience students make these connections by presenting their findings at national and international meetings, including the Society for Neuroscience and the Association for Chemoreception Sciences conferences. Lawyer plans to use these connections next year as she begins to identify programs where she can pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience, but she said the experience has been about more than networking: “Most of all, it has been an incredible learning experience, and the St. Thomas faculty do a fantastic job at developing students’ skills as researchers.”

Betsy Smith, a junior neuroscience major, also conducts independent laboratory research. She said this has been her best experience at the University of St. Thomas. “It is an incredible opportunity that has allowed me to learn more than I would have in a classroom alone. The collaborative student-faculty research programs are unique because they focus on students being the primary investigators in the lab, allowing them to explore their own interests.”

By working closely with professors on innovative research, students learn how to critically analyze problems and pursue innovative solutions with modern scientific tools. Many recent graduates of the Neuroscience Program have continued their education in medical, dental and graduate schools. Brittni Peterson, a 2010 graduate and co-author on the PLoS One study, is now a Ph.D. student in neuroscience at the University of Minnesota. She credits the research experience she had as an undergraduate with helping her find her career path. “The research experience at St. Thomas is exquisite, because it allows for direct, one-on-one interactions between students and faculty,” she said. “At a larger university such as the University of Minnesota, it is uncommon to have these close interactions. I would not be where I am today without the St. Thomas Neuroscience Program and its faculty members.”

In just five years, the Neuroscience Program has made a positive impact on CAS students. With new courses in the curriculum and a larger, more engaged community of faculty and students, the program is in position to support further collaborative learning; however, new challenges can limit these opportunities. As Prichard said, “We have expanded with new faculty hires, but we really need to expand our teaching and research space to provide a high-quality experience.” Psychology professor Uta Wolfe agreed: “Most of us temporarily set up our projects in shared spaces. More research would get done if rooms could be set up permanently.”

Another challenge is that faculty members in the program are split between two departments that are housed in separate buildings at different locations on the St. Paul campus. This physical separation limits the opportunities to work together to foster cross-disciplinary relationships. As Hankerson said, “A closer connection between departments would enhance our communication and collaboration, both in the classroom and in the lab.” Such enhanced collaboration would lead to more and better opportunities for students; “the closer the connection among faculty, the stronger the program.”

The ongoing challenges and changes facing the Neuroscience Program do not diminish the strength of its approach, however. “The future of the program looks bright,” said Dr. Greg Robinson-Riegler, chair of the Psychology Department. “Interdisciplinary study holds the key to answering the ‘big’ questions, and there really are no bigger questions than the nature of the biological mechanisms underlying consciousness and behavior. The Neuroscience Program puts students on the cutting edge of science. I’m proud that UST is one of only a handful of comparably sized institutions to have a rigorous Neuroscience Program.”

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

It wasn’t really planned. The first degree was a product of wanting to continue my education and see where things would end up. Then I got a fellowship from Harvard to study in Vienna for a year, and so I decided to pursue that a little further and ended up staying for personal and professional reasons longer than expected. When I started the joint Ph.D.-M.A. program at Boston University, I knew that I wanted to be in academia, and I knew that I wanted to be in philosophy. Throughout this time, the studies were never really a burden; I was just happy to wake up each morning doing what I was doing. I’m glad where I ended up.

Did your St. Thomas experience help set you on the path to this advanced study?

Yes, it most certainly did. In addition to the kind of skills and knowledge that I acquired at St. Thomas, my experience with the liberal arts and my study of economics really just ignited a classical desire to know. The nice thing about St. Thomas is that I also had an environment where I could take risks and maybe even make some mistakes and pursue this quest in an environment that was ultimately supportive.

You are a professor of philosophy at the University of Scranton, a Jesuit university in Pennsylvania that enrolls some 6,000 students. Does your experience there remind you of St. Thomas? How does it feel to be teaching the liberal arts now, instead of studying them?

It very much does remind me of St. Thomas. It’s about the same size; the students come with a similar background, interest, perhaps potential capacity, etc. Perhaps the people who brought me here saw or kind of felt that there might be some similarities in my undergraduate education and the education they offer here. In terms of teaching versus studying, I would almost undermine the distinction a little bit and just say that I still feel as though I am studying the liberal arts. I’m just leading the group that’s studying them in the classroom and, on occasion, I do the same here with the faculty in various interdisciplinary seminars and reading groups.

Which aspects of your St. Thomas education do you wish to pass on to your own students? 

Well there are the basic things; you just want to have them be more knowledgeable about your subject matter and learn the skills of critical thinking and writing and expressing oneself. But what you are really trying to do is get them to open up to the pleasures of both learning about themselves and the world, and to link that in some sense to a project of self-development as not just, let’s say, a basketball player or musician or an engineer, but as persons and then to take that project of self-development and link it up to something greater than themselves like the surrounding community, the world or even God. I say at the beginning of my syllabi that I’m trying to make each of my students a philosopher in the original sense of the word, which is ultimately a lover of wisdom, and so maybe that’s my goal.

As your former economics professor, I was of course interested to watch on YouTube a talk you gave at the University of Scranton that focused on self-interest, greed and corruption from ancient to modern times. Do you think your interest in this topic can be attributed to your training in economics?

What was interesting was the interplay that I would get between my training in economics, which seemed to rely on certain assumptions about what human beings pursue, and then to read philosophers who presented alternative ways of thinking about the human being. In the end, I learned that it is important to think economically about buying butter, flat-screen TVs, cars and so on, but what a long tradition of philosophy suggests is that we might want to resist applying this type of thinking to all aspects of our lives.

Your first book, Reading Nietzsche through the Ancients: An Analysis of Becoming, Perspectivism, and the Principle of Non-Contradiction, is scheduled to be published this year. Congratulations. How are you linking Nietzsche to the ancient Greek philosophers?

The purpose of the book is just trying to figure out what Nietzsche is up to and to clarify what his philosophical positions are. What the book ends up saying is that Nietzsche’s philosophy is largely a revival of views that can be found in the pre-Socratic philosophy and poetry of ancient Greece. One important upshot of this reading, I think, is that the debates that Nietzsche’s philosophy has initiated are not actually that new, but rather very, very old, and therefore it turns out that the study of the history of philosophy is always a timely and relevant affair.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

An exhibition seminar differs from a regular graduate seminar in that, in addition to working on individual research projects, students produce a coherent exhibition with that research. Unlike typical graduate courses, having an exhibition focus in a course provides opportunities for student research to find a real-world audience beyond the classroom – the exhibition visitors who see the artworks, read the wall labels, and peruse the catalogue.

In 2007 I led a similar seminar on national identity and the historical design of printing types. The students’ research for that course resulted in a 2008 exhibition held at Minnesota Center for Book Arts titled “Face the Nation: How National Identity Shaped Modern Typeface Design, 1900-1960.” Their research is still accessible at the exhibition’s website (www.stthomas.edu/facethenation). I knew from that experience that another exhibition seminar would be a rewarding experience for students and teacher alike.

The objective of a seminar built around the Fiterman collection was for students to undertake original research and share what they found, both in the scholarly format of a journal article and in the functional format of wall labels and exhibition catalogue entries. Putting this in practice would lead us to ask this fundamental question: How does one undertake and present research about modern art effectively, engaging with complex ideas yet producing a report that is of practical use and limited length, and is coherent for a given audience? This is a question of great importance for the two traditional subdomains of the art history discipline: the academy and the museum. Neither is served by the notion that intellectual and pragmatic approaches to talking about art are strangers to each other. We would need to develop strategies and skills for integrating these approaches.

From Handling Artwork to Writing Museum Labels

For students to experience the full spectrum of research challenges, I required that each investigate both well-known and lesser-known, or even unknown, artists. For well-established artists, a bulk of existing scholarship should be consulted and synthesized in order to advance knowledge on the topic. On the other hand, for little-known artists, the challenge is not too many sources to consult but too few.

Whether there was a wealth or dearth of available information about a particular artist, students had the extraordinary experience of having direct access to the artworks themselves. Once the artists were assigned, preliminary research conducted and best practices for the physical handling of artworks reviewed, the seminar moved from the classroom to the art storage space that had been set aside in the Murray-Herrick Campus Center. For three weeks in the middle of the semester, students took turns presenting their research-in-progress and showing their works to the class.

Art History graduate students Brady King and Lauren Greer take some measurements as they hang art in O’Shaughnessy Educational Center. (Photo by Mark Brown)

Working with artworks directly is a special opportunity. In typical art history classes, students experience works of art as digital images projected on a classroom screen. With the actual art in front of us, we could perceive subtleties of color, texture and, of course, scale that are lost in a photo on a screen. In addition, as unique artifacts of human creation, artworks have what German cultural critic Walter Benjamin famously called an “aura,” which is lost or compromised in photographic reproductions. This artistic presence also added to the excitement of our class meetings in the storage space.

After conducting preliminary research on three artists, each student chose two artists to pursue further. I encouraged students to build persuasive arguments for their projects using ideas first advanced by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams in their book The Craft of Research. Analyzing the key parts of a research argument – the claim that the author wants to prove, the reasons for believing the claim, and the evidence that can demonstrate the persuasiveness of those reasons – we discussed how these parts manifested not only in scholarly articles but also in other formats: lectures, exhibition labels and exhibition catalogue entries.

Using feedback from me and from each other, students refined their arguments and entered the last stage of the seminar: expressing their research results in very different formats. For each project, students were required to write an essay suitable for an academic audience, and also a museum label and catalogue entry that would be suitable for an on-campus exhibition. Faced with this challenge, students acutely felt the differences between these two worlds. Readers of academic journals expect exhaustive research, clear citation of sources and a patient layout of a complex argument. Exhibition visitors, on the other hand, seek engaging and accessible written guidance for viewing the work of art in front of them. They are likely to skip labels that do not provide that guidance concisely. While the academic articles could each be 12 pages long, the museum labels could be no more than 150 words each.

Museum label writing is a specialized skill. The brevity and straightforwardness of the resulting text belies the effort required to make it work well. One of my favorite seminar meetings happened late in the semester, when Erika Holmquist-Wall, a curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (and a 2006 graduate of our master’s program) visited our class to consult students on professional practices of writing effective museum labels. In small-group discussions that resembled professional label-editing workshops, Holmquist-Wall guided students in revising their texts to speak more effectively to museum visitors.

Results

The research projects that the seminar students accomplished were remarkable, and hearing about their findings made me doubly excited about the gift of the Fiterman collection to St. Thomas. I was introduced to new artists and learned more about familiar ones from the diligent historical exploration my students undertook.

Fiterman played a major role in the Twin Cities art scene, and so it comes as no surprise that some of the creators represented in the collection were artists of local renown. I enjoyed learning more about the paintings of Aribert Munzner, the prints of Eugene Larkin, and the sculptures of Harriet Bart, for example. The hard-edged, high-saturation prints by Peter Busa looked familiar in style to me, and then student Marquette Bateman-Ek explained why: Busa also painted the bright, crisp murals on the Valspar building in Minneapolis.

Several projects expanded my understanding of the artworks by decoding their subject matter and symbolism. What was going on in Miriam Schapiro’s silhouetted version of a “Punch and Judy” puppet show? Student Kate Tucker deciphered the work, noting references to artist Frida Kahlo and unveiling the collage as a feminist effort both to address domestic violence and to point to an ancestry of female artists. What accounted for the spiraling shapes in the prints and drawings of Nigerian artist Uche Okeke? Student Lauren Greer discovered that those shapes were derived from uli, an art form used by women of the Igbo culture for body decoration and wall painting. Was there purpose to the seemingly random objects – nails, shoeprints, sunglasses – that appear in Pop artist James Rosenquist’s print in the collection? Bateman-Ek explained that they actually reflect an autobiographical story of a traumatic era in the artist’s personal life.

Greer and Ivanova check the fit of a piece from the Dolly Fiterman collection. (Photo by Mark Brown)

In addition to these decryption keys, student research uncovered the processes employed by artists whose works are in the Fiterman collection. French photographer Georges Rousse is represented in the collection by several photographs of messy, graffitied interiors. Student Carin Jorgensen explained Rousse’s method of entering a building slated for demolition, painting figures on its walls, and taking a photograph as the enduring memory of the doomed space. Student Barbara Quade-Harick traced the source of Nancy Graves’s brightly dotted abstract prints from the early 1970s to NASA maps of the moon. Artist John Raimondi is represented in the collection by two very different works: a realistic color drawing of wolves and a tabletop-size model of his monumental abstract sculpture “Cage.” In interviews with the artist, student Brady King discovered his manner of addressing human emotional concerns through a process of moving from realistic animal imagery toward ever more abstract visual language.

Some students particularly impressed me with the originality of their research. Alyssa Thiede learned that one of her artists, local painter Ta-Coumba Aiken, thought of his art-making as a healing process. Thiede considered this idea not only through typical art-historical methods, such as decoding the traditional symbolism of the paintings; she also looked into the very different field of health studies to gauge whether forms such as those in Aiken’s paintings fit with what current studies have concluded about the therapeutic effects of art in health care settings. Abby Hall looked into a late print by painter Milton Avery, and made a persuasive case that it reflected influence from his fellow New York artist and former student Mark Rothko, the noted abstract expressionist; heretofore, scholars had observed influence that Avery had on Rothko, but Hall proposed that late in his life it appears the influence went in the other direction as well, as indicated by both visual and biographical evidence. Would I believe that Avery the teacher could learn something from Rothko the student? After learning so much from the students in this seminar, I had no doubt that was possible.

The donation of artworks from Fiterman has added valuable, beautiful and interesting works of contemporary art to the collections of the University of St. Thomas. The “Insights into Modern Art” exhibition (on display in the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center lobby gallery through May 26) offers a chance for the public to see choice works from this collection. At the same time, it serves as a showcase of the pedagogy that this gift has enabled. The students in my seminar learned valuable lessons about working directly with contemporary art, a kind of professional training that was made possible by the donation. I look forward to future opportunities both to display the university’s modern collections in dynamic ways and to teach future students via such hands-on learning.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

First, how would you describe a liberal arts education and what value it has today?

A liberal arts education is a lot more than getting people to think critically. It is also about inspiring the desire to observe the world around us and to place events and ideas in proper context, to understand where things have come from historically, and then to think about where we are going in the future. We need to build upon old knowledge and ensure that we’re taking “new” knowledge and turning it into wisdom. Certainly a liberal arts education should be about sparking desire to serve others and to empower people for the greater good.

When you served on the search committee for the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, what answers resonated with you?

On the Dean’s Search Committee, I was looking for a marriage of functional and strategic, both day-to-day management abilities and painting a vision about the future of liberal arts education. I was interested in hearing about areas of opportunity that St. Thomas should explore. Finally, I wanted to see how the candidates would defend a liberal arts education in a world where ever-higher priority is placed on function. I learned more from their answers than I had anticipated and, interestingly enough, I’m convinced that a liberal arts education is more important than ever. We’ve got to resolve this strange disconnect in the world: While function and specialization are the headlines, research says creative thinking is more important than ever and drives the modern economy. My hope is that CAS will address and help resolve this disconnect.

Your profile on the CAS Board of Advisors includes words such as “software,” “technology,” “finance,” “marketing,” “start-up,” and also “public policy,” “arts,” “connector.” How do you connect these words that many people would describe as belonging to different worlds?

They’re really not different worlds. Like most people, I simply have a wide range of interests. Of course, if you just list one’s interests and activities on paper, they often look like disconnected silos. In reality, they are simply a few of the details that make up the person. I don’t think that I’m particularly unique in that regard. Healthcare is complex and evolving.

What are the most rewarding aspects of your work in this area?

I work with software designed for the outpatient care setting – a doctor’s office. I focus on process change: What we did yesterday won’t work well in tomorrow’s world. What I find rewarding is getting a health care setting from where it has been to where it will need to be. We still need to heal patients; we still need caring, compassionate providers who are world-class diagnosticians. But we need to deliver services more efficiently and effectively, and we can’t do that with yesterday’s technologies and processes. This means change, and how we achieve that without disrupting the patient-provider relationship is important to me.

Could you mention courses that made a lasting impression on you, or shaped your outlook on career and community?

Most of the courses that made an impression on me came from the core curriculum. I think if you poll most students years after they graduate, you’d find some of their favorite classes were in the core curriculum. My interesting courses were all over the map. I really enjoyed music lit., English, history, and some of the introductory theology and philosophy courses. You know, the introductory classes have high value and often leave lifelong impressions. I hope that faculty recognize the impact they have on students.

What is it like becoming so actively involved with CAS, years after graduating, and what are some of the best experiences so far?

It’s been rewarding because St. Thomas has a wonderful sense of community. A few areas stand out in particular: I’ve had the privilege to spend time with a number of  department chairs and faculty members and am struck by their talent, dedication and enthusiasm. That translates to a healthy learning environment, and I think the faculty should be very proud of what they’re building. Recognizing the job that CAS faculty are doing in educating future leaders who can find solutions has been very rewarding. I’ve enjoyed learning more about the opportunities and challenges facing CAS, the university, and more broadly, higher education in general. As well, I’ve found that working with the talented and enthusiastic people on the Board of Advisors has been really fulfilling. Finally, it’s been wonderful to see how UST’s profile has grown within the broader community, and for all the right reasons. That points to a dynamic and thriving organization that’s successfully serving its core mission.

Looking ahead to the next decade, what would you like to see happen at CAS and UST? How might other alumni get involved with the future of CAS and make a difference?

It’s critical that CAS be highly strategic in pursuing opportunities. It can’t be everything to everybody, so it must have a firm grasp on the core fundamentals – its reason for being – and stick to them. It must have a clearly defined identity, both on campus and within the broader community. Finally, it must be outward looking and vigorously pursue and defend its core liberal arts mission. Alums can get involved in countless, good, formal ways, but I would also encourage them in unofficial ways. Your interests can drive your involvement. Let your interest be your guide and feel free to raise your hand. Rest assured that you’ll find someone at St. Thomas welcoming you.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

As senior biology majors, Schmura and Houserman are lead student researchers for “Team Turtle” in collaboration with Biology Department chair Tim Lewis, a wildlife ecologist whose research involves monitoring the turtle population at Lake Judy. Lewis believes field research is a necessary element to becoming a scientist, and he has been taking St. Thomas students into the field since 2009, when he came to the university.

“Learning science is a lot like learning a musical instrument,” Lewis said. “Somebody can talk to you about playing the French horn forever and you won’t learn how to play. You have to pick one up; you have to have somebody take you and mentor you through the process. It’s the same way in science. You need to go do it.”

Students such as Schmura and Houserman are treated like professionals in field-based research collaborations because their work is done at a professional, and often, publishable level.

“You get to experience the life of actual biologists and ecologists,” Schmura said. Houserman quickly agreed, adding, “There’s something about being out there with the organism you’re studying. In a lab you’re with your organism and you’re studying it, but you can’t see it interact the way it normally does. In field-based research, you’re playing in their ball field.”

In the College of Arts and Sciences, faculty and student collaborative research projects such as this occur in many departments. Much of the drive to foster undergraduate research comes from a faculty commitment to the St. Thomas mission statement, which calls for educating students to become “morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely and work skillfully to advance the common good.” As well, a commitment to student-faculty collaborative research is one of the priorities listed in the vision statement of the College of Arts and Sciences. In focusing on these commitments, some St. Thomas science professors are placing an emphasis on research that surrounds one of Minnesota’s most precious resources: water.

Studying the Results of an Oil Pipeline Burst

One of the reasons geology professor Jennifer McGuire came to St. Thomas in 2008 was the interdisciplinary nature of the environmental science program. McGuire’s research focuses on examining what happens to chemicals when they are released into the natural environment, such as in an oil spill. With her student researchers, McGuire asks questions to determine where the chemicals will flow and how fast those chemicals might get into the drinking-water supply.

“For me, it’s really easy to get excited about the importance of clean drinking water,” McGuire said. “It’s fundamental to life. I’m obviously passionate about that, and it’s pretty easy to get students thinking that [working toward] access to clean and safe drinking water is an important contribution to society.”

McGuire believes it is her duty to foster a strong student connection to the environment. “Part of it is getting over this idea that what’s good for the environment is somehow a sacrifice you have to make,” she said. “I think we have to move away from this model that the environment is something that is external, outside of us. The environment is our parking lots. The environment is our backyards. It’s where we eat, and we are part of it.”

When McGuire takes her students just west of Bemidji, Minn., to the site of a 1979 oil pipeline burst, the students have the opportunity to work with her and with  professionals from all over the world.

“The students are thrilled to have this kind of opportunity,” McGuire said about the two-week, on-site stay. Here, students work with her to understand the types of chemical reactions that can happen when two separate water sources come together in an area affected with a crude oil spill. Students are able to look at points where an aquifer discharges and flows into a wetland. They test the changed chemistry of the water and help determine if there are any threats to local drinking water sources. When they are not working directly with McGuire, students are able to meet other professionals. The students’ help in the field is often in high demand, McGuire said. “It makes connections, gives them models for UST portfolios. It’s everything – connections and figuring out where your own interests lie.”

Analyzing Antibiotics in the Minnesota River

When professor Kris Wammer came to the St. Thomas Chemistry Department in 2005 she was excited to see the students’ enthusiasm in and out of the classroom. “All the work I do is involved with undergrads. That’s what I wanted to do – go to a school where I could do good, real research with undergraduate students,” Wammer said.

One of her current projects takes students off campus to Minnesota’s streams and ditches to analyze and understand what antibiotics are present in the water, and where they come from. A typical day in the field for Wammer’s students involves everything from going inside water treatment plants to leaning over the edge of a boat landing or standing in a freezing cold stream to collect water samples. Over the past few summers, Wammer and her students have found clear sources of both antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes affecting the Minnesota River. Because of these findings, next summer Wammer and her students will start examining drinking-water sources in the Mississippi River to determine whether there is a potential human health threat from similar antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes.

Wammer describes working with undergraduate researchers as not just “a professor-student thing.” Of her experience working with chemistry majors and environmental science majors, Wammer said, “When we’re out slopping in the mud, you get to really know each other.”

Determining the Effect of Contaminants on Turtles and Fish

Biology professor Kyle Zimmer came to St. Thomas in 2003 because he wanted to conduct research with undergraduate students. He said he had experienced working with undergraduates while getting his doctorate and he saw St. Thomas as a place that didn’t just say, “We value undergraduate research,” but actually supported it.

Zimmer’s research focuses on aquatic ecology. He and his students seek to understand how ecosystems work in shallow lakes and wetlands, and what humans are doing to influence “the smaller and shallow” water sources, such as ponds and swamps, all over Minnesota. Zimmer and his students are collaborating with other St. Thomas professors and their students: with Lewis and his team of turtle ecologists, with biology professor Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt and her fish physiology team, and with neuroscience professor Kurt Illig and his student team, which examines the health of the ecosystems in Minnesota waterways. The research explores how contaminants of watersheds might influence the biology and physiology of turtles and fish. When the water drains into Minnesota lakes and streams, contaminants in the water have the potential to make hostile impacts on the ecosystem, such as exposing fish and turtle populations to higher levels of environmental estrogens, which could result in reproductive changes. The end goal of this research collaboration is to develop strategies for reducing the effects of contaminants.

Zimmer believes that this research exemplifies the St. Thomas mission to educate students to work for the common good. “I personally feel that [when we] identify problems in the environment [and] try to come up with ways to manage and alleviate that, we make advances for the common good,” Zimmer said.

Connecting With the Community

Undergraduate research allows St. Thomas science programs to be more than an “ivory tower of learning,” Zimmer said. Each summer his students drive to outstate Minnesota in search of what most people would call a slough, and drag canoes out of the cattails and into the water. For the next eight hours they combat heat and everpresent mosquitoes, collecting samples and on occasion, answering questions from local farmers.

“A lot of times (students) will be standing by the side of the road, getting ready to push the boat out onto the lake and the farmer across the street will stop,” Zimmer said. “They get a chance to explain what they’re doing.”

“It’s really interesting running into the farmers around our lakes and having them ask us why we’re out there,” said Rachel Rockwell ’12, who has worked with Zimmer. Senior Christine Buelt agreed, saying that collecting water samples connects her to the research and the community affected by her findings. “We all take a personal interest [in the research] because we’ve been to these places,” Buelt said.

Buelt is interested in studying the intersection of ecology and environmental science as it is concerned with public health, and she hopes to go to graduate school. Rockwell plans to apply to pharmacy school. Both agree that they fell in love with research because of their fieldwork and community interactions. Of her project on the effect of bugs on the decomposition of plants in shallow lakes, Rockwell, said, “It was a really stinky job, but fun.”

Because their field research is current and practical, the students’ and professors’ main goal is to publish their research and get the information out to the public.

Research led by biology professor Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt takes her students to waste-water treatment plants in Minnesota. This research is part of a project sparked by a call from the Minnesota legislature to determine the effectiveness of waste-water treatment plants.

“Probably the most beautiful part about something like this is that your data is actually published and is part of a government report,” Martinovic-Weigelt said. “Those types of activities really grow that liberal arts student we hope to grow.”

Student researchers also grow when they are able to present their research at national and international conferences. Eight of Zimmer’s students attended the 2012 annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Portland, Ore. Two of his other students attended the 2012 annual meeting of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography in Lake Biwa, Japan.

Gaining More Than a Bullet Point on a Résumé

Undergraduate students are driven to field-based research projects for many reasons. Summer or year-round undergraduate research may appeal to many students applying to graduate or medical school. That extra bullet point on a résumé or project in the portfolio can do a lot for students, sometimes even landing them a spot in a graduate program. But talk to any of the St. Thomas students or faculty involved, and it becomes apparent that a student needs more than a desire to fill a résumé to become an undergraduate researcher.

Grant Schmura said his spot on “Team Turtle” was achieved by “annoying” his professor, Tim Lewis, on a regular basis. “There are so many other students who will do the same thing as you,” Schmura said. “You have to single yourself out. Always ask questions; that’s a big thing.”

Lewis looks for three things in student researchers: how smart they are, and how hard working and reliable they are. “Frankly the world is run by the hard-working people, and if they’re hard working and smart, it’s a killer combination,” Lewis said. “Brilliance never hurts, but brilliance alone is worthless.”

Lewis believes that research will benefit all students, regardless of what they plan to do after graduation. He lists problem solving as the most important skill a student gains in doing research because it is the first thing “everybody in the world” is looking for in an employee.

Schmura agrees. “If you don’t know what the answer is going to be, you have to figure it out yourself,” he said. “You leave school [and go] into the real world where there are no clear-cut answers.”

McGuire believes students transform into scientists when they begin to ask questions on their own. “[Then] everything is really curiosity driven,” she said. She also notes how lucky she is as a researcher to have a constant connection to the energy of the next generation of scientists.

Challenging the Next Generation

In the College of Arts and Sciences, there is no shortage of professor or student enthusiasm for going out and doing field-based research. Zimmer believes that by methodically “plowing through” the course material required to fully grasp the field-based research, students become independent thinkers and are transformed into young scientists.

“I tell students the goal for all faculty is not to produce people that are as good of scientists as we are. Because if we do that, then society is just status quo,” Zimmer said. “Our goal is to have them leave St. Thomas far better prepared, far more knowledgeable, far better citizens than [we] were at that age – to keep moving forward.”

Back out on Lake Judy, Lewis’ student Schmura and a few undergraduates moved forward in their research as they returned from checking the turtle basking traps. The researchers shed their life jackets, stowed their canoes and began examining the day’s turtle haul. After weighing, measuring and determining the sex of each turtle, Schmura attached a pit tag (used for tracking) to the turtle’s shell before returning it to the water.

Now it’s the turtle’s job to swim and the students’ job to dive back into their research.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

“For some reason or another, [Menssen] thought I would make a good editor,” Clemenson said with a chuckle. After some consideration, he said yes. The department applied for the opportunity, and by October 2008 the journal was under Clemenson’s guidance. While considering the editorship, Clemenson said he reflected on one of the key responsibilities of any professor: service. “Every faculty member is expected to not only do research and teaching, but also service. That can take a variety of forms. I thought this was one of the best fits for me. I’ve always been research oriented, and [editing] involves something very close to research.”

A commitment to service and scholarly endeavors is deeply rooted in the College of Arts and Sciences, which encourages faculty to enrich the community through “discovery, artistic activity, integration and pedagogy.” This mission gives Clemenson and other faculty members the encouragement to put in extra hours every week editing academic journals that become dear to them.

Clemenson is one of several College of Arts and Sciences professors who were nudged toward or sought positions as editors or publishers of scholarly journals. (See a list of journals on Page 17.) Philosophy professors W. Matthews Grant, Christopher Toner, Gloria Frost, Timothy Pawl, Mark Spencer and Joshua Stuchlik are part of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly’s faculty editing team, which is supported by department staff member Ann Hale, who is the quarterly’s managing editor. Sociology and Criminal Justice professor Lisa Waldner co-edits Sociological Quarterly, while Art History professor Mark Stansbury-O’Donnell publishes Pacific Arts Journal, and English professor Alexis Easley edits Victorian Periodicals Review.

Increasing Expertise and Personal Growth

For Easley, the most exciting part of her editing work is the development of a deeper understanding of her subject. Easley is a scholar of Victorian journalism. When she began editing Victorian Periodicals Review in spring 2012 she did not expect to develop a new and strong connection to her research.

“It’s giving me insight into [Victorian] editors,” Easley said. “It’s giving me solidarity with these individuals.”

Easley has been a member of the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals since 1998. She credits the society for mentoring her throughout graduate school. The society was founded in 1968 by scholars who were interested in Victorian journalism and studied the magazines, newspapers and journals of “every stripe” from about the 1780s until World War I, she said.

“It’s an international group of scholars. It’s pretty amazing and wonderful that we (St. Thomas) have this journal,” Easley said. “It’s quite a plum.”

Most of Easley’s work is concerned with editing the submissions, much as the philosophy faculty editing team members have their hands full with the editing and extensive review process behind the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly.

The quarterly was founded in 1920 under the title New Scholasticism as a response to a call from Pope Leo XIII for a renewal of Catholic philosophy and theology. While the journal’s name has changed since then, its spirit of bringing reason and faith together in the area of philosophy has remained.

This mission is constantly on the editors’ minds as they process submissions to the journal. As do all academic journal editors, the St. Thomas editors seek experts in the subfields of their disciplines to act as referees who determine if each submission is worthy of publication. But before that process can begin, Clemenson and Toner dig through the submissions and determine each one’s level of appropriateness for the journal.

“Part of the beauty of philosophy as a discipline, because you’re dealing with fundamental questions, is that you can’t afford to limit yourself to a narrow specialization,” Clemenson said. The greatest benefit of editing the journal, he said, is the countless chances he is given to enrich his intellectual life by reading submissions and interacting with authors and referees.

“It’s important not to put the blinders on, but to keep perspective,” Clemenson said. He sees this branching out to learn about subfields in philosophy as a wonderful scholarly opportunity.

When Waldner was seeking new scholarly opportunities, she never dreamed of applying to a journal as prominent as Sociological Quarterly. That is, until her doctoral adviser and mentor, professor Betty Dobratz of Iowa State University, asked her to apply jointly to the Midwest Sociological Society’s call for a new editor in 2011.

After a rigorous application process, the pair was chosen. They began editing the journal in March 2012.

“Sociology is so broad, and there are some things that I know more about or that she knows more about,” Waldner said. “We thought a team made sense.” The pair’s broad knowledge base is very important for a journal such as Sociological Quarterly, which focuses on “a whole gamut” of things that sociologists study, including family, crime, politics and gender topics, Waldner said.

Waldner and her co-editor face the challenge of working together across a physical distance. Video chatting plays a big role in the editorial process, with weekly Skype appointments to discuss papers submitted to the quarterly that deserve a second look. Editing is a challenging and time-consuming process after which only about 10 percent of submitted articles are published. But to Waldner, the outcome and personal growth attached to the process make it well worth the challenge.

Waldner said the most exciting part of the editing process is when a paper goes out for review. A referee is generally at the top of his or her field and an expert on the submitted paper’s topic. “I really enjoy that it has given me an excuse to contact fairly prominent sociologists and say I’m the editor of The Sociological Quarterly,” Waldner said. “It’s providing [me] an opportunity to learn.”

It gives her the opportunity to read about almost every subfield of sociology and to identify additional topics she and Dobratz believe will be of interest to readers. Waldner said they identified Occupy Wall Street and the 2012 elections as special section topics for upcoming issues, and they regard the special topics as the perfect way to increase readership while keeping the journal, and themselves, current in sociology.

Mentoring the Next Generation

Professors are not alone in receiving new opportunities with the presence of scholarly journals on campus. Students benefit, too. They gain from the increased knowledge shared by professors in their classes.

Clemenson said he brings new articles from American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly into the classroom and finds his expanded knowledge of the field a benefit when it comes time for his students to write papers, because he can direct them to the best scholarship in the field.

“Being an editor of this journal broadens my perspectives, and keeps me from being narrowly focused on my own set of interests,” Clemenson said.

Waldner noted that expanding her knowledge outside her specialty in sociology helps her in the classroom. She believes working with the journal increases her critical-thinking skills, which she can then pass on to her students. “Folks that are involved in creating knowledge are the best to impart knowledge,” Waldner said.

The more insight the professor has, the more easily students are able to access information. Easley sees editing as a natural extension of her research and teaching. “The big picture is to bring the richness of Victorian culture to the next generation,” she said.

Some of the journals, including Victorian Periodicals Review, also provide tangible opportunities for students. English graduate student Rachel MacDonald is the first of an expected long line of students to receive an editorial assistantship with Easley.

“The experience [has] confirmed my belief in the revision process as the place where good writing becomes great writing,” MacDonald said. She was surprised at how much work goes into each issue, she said. The editing is extensive, but much of the work has “nothing to do with editing, but marketing, branding and business.”

The position allows MacDonald to be integrated in every part of this editorial process.

Pacific Arts Journal also provides a graduate student position, which is currently filled by Rachel Simmons. The journal is published and produced by members of the Art History Department under the leadership of department chair Mark Stansbury-O’Donnell. Simmons hopes to make her career working with Pacific art in some way, and Stansbury-O’Donnell believes work on the journal is an excellent opportunity for her to network in the art community.

The journal publishes articles on the art of Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines and the Pacific islands. This focus may seem very far away from Summit Avenue, but with the recent establishment of the American Museum of Asmat Art on campus, the Art History Department is showing itself as an impressive resource for Pacific art.

“She’s been brilliant,” Stansbury-O’Donnell said of Simmons. “Not everybody wants to or can teach in a classroom or curate in a museum. A publication is another place. Copy editing is not specifically an art history skill, but you could get a job editing art history journals.”

As a strong advocate for mentorship of students and recent graduates, Waldner seeks to pull her former students into Sociological Quarterly.

“I reach out to my [former] students and provide them with opportunities,” Waldner said. The newest member of the journal’s editorial board is 2004 St. Thomas graduate Valerie Clark. Clark is a research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Corrections. “It gets her professionally engaged, and it’s something she can put on her résumé,” Waldner said. “I look forward to inviting more [students] in the future to give them experience.”

Providing Visibility

Each of the scholarly journals edited or published in the College of Arts and Sciences provides new information and exciting opportunities to the faculty who work on them. Editing a journal also brings recognition among other scholars. Clemenson describes the responsibility of housing a scholarly journal at St. Thomas as a true “vote of confidence” by a scholarly discipline.

“Our institution was entrusted with this responsibility,” Clemenson said. “That speaks well of our department.”

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

For three days in January, three theology professors from St. Thomas – Dr. Terence Nichols, Dr. Michael Hollerich and I – sat around a table in Izmir, Turkey, and discussed the topic of religious freedom with 25 of our counterparts from Dokuz Eylul University.

Dokuz Eylul, a national Turkish university, hosted what was to be a unique experience for the participants: a rare occasion when Roman Catholic theologians and Sunni Muslim theologians dedicate time together to discuss issues of mutual interest. More challenging than the religious, cultural and language barriers among us was the topic of conversation itself: religious freedom. For both religions, religious freedom has had a controversial and convoluted history.

At the same time the theologians were discussing their scriptures and traditions on religious freedom, 24 students led by another member of the Theology Department, Dr. Adil Ozdemir, also were traveling in Turkey studying modern Islam. Along with the study of the history and divisions in Islam the students visited the homes of several Muslim families. The area of Turkey they visited often is referred to as the “Cradle of Christianity.” (In biblical times Turkey was known as “Asia Minor.”) It was the birthplace of many early Christian saints and the home to the first eight councils of the Church, including Nicaea and Ephesus. Most Christians would recognize the names of those ancient cities from famous texts that bear their names, the Nicene Creed and St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

Muslim-Christian Dialogue

The Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church (1962-1965) opened the door for the Church and theology to engage in interreligious dialogue. Pope Paul VI established what is now known as the Pontifical Council on Interreligious Dialogue in 1964. Much has changed in substance and method in interreligious dialogue over the past 50 years, and work at St. Thomas today represents the best of current thinking and practice.

Indeed, St. Thomas has a strong history of such dialogue. In 1985 Monsignor Terrence Murphy, then president of St. Thomas, and Rabbi Max Shapiro of Temple Israel in Minneapolis, started what is now called the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning and the Theology Department soon offered courses on Judaism. About 20 years ago, the Theology Department began offering a course on Islam to complement its course on Judaism.

In 2007, the Theology Department officially started the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center (MCDC). The work of the center is grounded in Catholic theology and follows the lead of the Pontifical Council on Interreligious Dialogue. According to the council, “Dialogue is a two-way communication. It implies speaking and listening, giving and receiving, for mutual growth and enrichment. It includes witness to one’s own faith as well as an openness to that of the other.” Since its inception, the center has sponsored a variety of talks and theological dialogues on the local, national and international levels. The center’s purpose is theological, rather than political, dialogue. The objective of the center is grounded on four tasks: to reflect on things Muslims and Christians hold in common, to honestly identify points of difference, to work to clarify misunderstandings and misconceptions, and to highlight points where further discussion would be fruitful. Both the January workshop at Dokuz Eylul and the January-Term course developed from the work of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center.

Religious Freedom

Christianity and Islam hold that faith is essentially an actstemming from the basic freedom of the person. In other words, no one can be forced to believe. The groups of theologians who met at Dokuz Eylul acknowledged, however, that each religion historically has struggled with this belief. Each has had a history of both supporting and suppressing this doctrine; both have histories of toleration and coercion.

The workshop highlighted more than this commonality. Like pulling that piece of thread, in the conversation on religious freedom, the theologians from each group saw the connections between their religions on many levels. The theologians witnessed how the other group “does” theology. The discussions of religious freedom lead to conversations about the use and authority of scripture, traditions, as well as the historical inculturation of each religion.

A stunning moment in the discussion came when St. Thomas’ Dr. Terence Nichols, the co-director of the MCDC, pulled out his Bible and a copy of the Quran and read a verse from each.

Acts 10:34: “Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’”

Quran 2:62: “All those who believe – the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians – all those who believe in God and the last day, and do what is good – will have their reward with their Lord. [There shall be] no fear for them, nor will they grieve.”

The recognition that these verses made the same point presented a moment of cohesion as well as tension in the conversation. The common ground here was so evident that it pushed the distinctiveness of the two religions into the background – for a moment. Yet the commonality here was based on the “heart” of each religion, the scriptures, the very basis of the distinctiveness of the two religions.

For the final session of the workshop each group wrote a short essay reflecting on the conversation and endorsing religious freedom. These essays were read at a public event in the auditorium of the university. Copies of the essays are available on the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center website: www.stthomas.edu/mcdc.

Some Catholics do not think we ought to have religious dialogue with Muslims. Indeed, some Muslims do not think they ought to have religious dialogue with Christians. Yet there are a few important reasons why dialogue should occur. Many would argue that given the contemporary global situation, it is imperative, politically and economically, to have such conversations. While this was certainly in the background in Izmir, it was not the dominant reason why people were around the table. It was the shared opinion among the theologians that their faith and religions encouraged, if not demanded, such dialogue.

One of the Turkish theologians at the workshop remarked that the visit by the St. Thomas professors had “opened the world to us.” The St. Thomas professors themselves were opened to new ideas and possibilities.

Students in Dialogue

Islam in Turkey was one of five January-Term study-abroad courses offered by the Theology Department. (The others were Theology 101 in Rome, Pope John Paul II in his Polish Context, The Church in Latin America, and Pilgrimage in Italy.) Students in the Turkey course were immersed in dialogue with Muslims under the supervision of theology professor Ozdemir. They learned firsthand the things shared by Muslims and Christians, as well as the elements of the traditions where there will always be disagreement. For example, student Michael Oolman, who is completing an individualized major in Arabic, noted a common morality. “Both religions,” he wrote, “have core beliefs in giving to the needy, treating others with respect, and abstaining from worldly indulgences.” He also commented, however, that Muslims do not believe some central tenets of Christianity, namely that God is a Trinity and that Jesus is both human and divine. Islam, he noted, “teaches there is a distinct separation between God and creation so the concept of a God-man is impossible.”

Senior Adam Miller, a political science major, left Turkey with the sense that his Christian faith was taken seriously and respected, and he noted a big difference between his daily thinking and that of the people he met. He wrote, “Muslims are much more open about their faith, and every conversation that we had involved how God is central to everything in their lives.”

Student Bryce Werkmeister, an engineering major, identified a key issue in interreligious dialogue, namely that the conversation partners must see the other as an equal. He said his discussions with younger Muslims were more dialogues than were his discussions with elders. In these latter conversations, “knowledge seems to be only ‘given’ by the elder and ‘received’ by the younger.” He wrote, “All people are more likely to listen once you have actually listened to them. If you can convince them that you understand them and appreciate their point of view, they will be far more likely to listen to your point of view and actually understand it.” He, like other students, was surprised to see the varieties of “strictness” in religious practice among Muslims.

Senior Nick Mahowald, an engineering and business major, recalled that many Muslims in Turkey had strongly held preconceived notions of what they thought Americans thought about them. Many Muslims felt that Americans did not have enough knowledge about Islam and that Americans were very fearful of Muslims. Thus, he said, many people the St. Thomas students met tried to defend Islam and at the same time wanted the students to know that Muslims were not to be feared. He recalled a very moving moment when the students met a woman who started crying when she realized that they were Americans who wanted to learn more about Islam.

Both Oolman and Mahowald observed how their encounter with Muslims affected their own faith. For Oolman, the “selflessness” of Muslims impressed him. “I realized that my main approach to my faith should be selfless rather than trying to find what I can receive from having faith.” Mahowald was impressed by the sincere hospitality of the people, the strong communal nature of their faith and the fact that they all prayed five times a day.

For our St. Thomas students, the world at once got bigger with the realization of the vastness of Turkey and the depth of Islam, and at the same time it got smaller as they realized the things they had in common with Turkish Muslims.

Interfaith Dialogue With Iranian Theologians

Within weeks of returning from Turkey, Nichols received an email message from Dr. Taher Golestani of the Muslim Christian Interfaith Dialogue Committee in Qom, Iran. Golestani’s message, addressed to multiple people around the world, was in search of possible partners in dialogue. Nichols, ever the advocate, responded. He saw a unique opportunity to meet and work with people living in that isolated country.

Islam, like Christianity, is divided by denominations. The vast majority of Muslims in the world are Sunni, as were our hosts in Turkey. The second largest group is Shia. Anyone who follows world news knows that there are significant tensions between the two groups and that Iran is a Shia country. Nichols had over the years organized and participated in Catholic-Shia dialogues within Minnesota among Americans, and he wondered what a Muslim-Christian dialogue would be like with Iranian Shia theologians.

You would be hard pressed to meet a person more eager for this sort of encounter than Nichols. After many emails, meetings and phone calls, in June he, Hollerich and I were off to Rome, a neutral location midway between the two countries. Joining us this time was Odeh Muhawesh, a Shia cleric who studied in Iran and is now an American businessman. Muhawesh teaches part time at St. Thomas.

Participants in the interreligious dialogue in Rome presented papers on some fundamental theological topics of mutual interest. While most conversations were on a general get-to-know-you level, at two points the dialogue heightened – more pulling of the thread – and illustrated the purposes and benefits of dialogue. The first was a discussion of what Jesus meant by “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39). These words from the Sermon on the Mount raised important questions about the religious justification or rejection of violence and the priority of nonviolence. This is a question that thoughtful Christians and Muslims face every day, living in societies threated by war and oppression.

A second moment of creative conversation arose in a discussion of the religious justification of political authority, what we in America would call “church-state” issues. The “separation” of religious authorities and political authorities is understood very differently in Muslim Iran and American Catholicism. This highlights how interreligious dialogue is distinct from political dialogue; the objective here is not compromise or change. The objective is understanding.

One of the many highlights was when the entire group met with Monsignor Khaled Akasheh, the Vatican’s point person for dialogue with Islam. He serves as head of the Office for Relations with Islam at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, where the meeting was held. The Iranians learned a great deal about Catholicism from the St. Thomas theologians and the conversation with Akasheh, as well as from the visits to St. Peter’s Basilica and other sacred places. We learned a great deal as well, and it was knowledge that cannot be learned from books.

Future Conversations

Reflecting on the two experiences, Nichols commented, “Our dialogue partners in both Turkey and Iran are among the intellectual leaders in their countries. They are doing in their world what we do in ours: trying to teach others about God. We hope and pray that our efforts as Christians and Muslims to work together will bring fruits of peace and understanding to each of our countries.”

A second meeting with the Iranians, either at St. Thomas or in Qom, Iran, is hoped for next year, but given current political conditions (the U.S. Department of State has had Iran on its Travel Warning list for many years) it seems uncertain. On the other front, several theologians from Dokuz Eylul University are scheduled to come to St. Thomas in January 2013 for a second workshop.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

For the past three summers, graduate students and beginning professors of philosophy and theology have traveled from around the world to attend the St. Thomas Summer Seminar in Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theory, which is led by Rota and coorganizer Dean Zimmerman of Rutgers University, and funded by the Templeton Foundation. The seminar they developed focuses on often neglected, yet widely sought after, contributions to a much disputed field of philosophy: philosophy as it relates to religion. Rota says it has been more than 20 years since a seminar of this magnitude was held.

The presence and popularity of the seminar marks a key change in the relationship between mainstream philosophy and religion. “Forty years ago if you were, say, a committed Christian, you would not mention that [as a philosopher],” Rota said.

But today, graduate students and faculty in top-tier philosophy programs are more open to addressing religious issues, Rota said. Theism, which always has been recognized by philosophy programs at Catholic universities, is now taken as a “serious contender” of relevant importance to all philosophers, he said, so young philosophers and theologians are jumping at the chance to attend a seminar that fills the theistic gap.

Rota sought the Templeton grant because of his interest in the work of Alvin Plantinga, who was a leader in unapologetically Christian philosophical thought. The Templeton Foundation, created by philanthropist Sir John Templeton, supports projects that involve academics asking “big questions” about human purpose. Templeton projects have been funded at several universities, including Notre Dame, Georgetown, Columbia and Oxford. The $709,000 Templeton grant to Rota’s seminar began in 2009.

In 2012, 164 applications for the seminar were received and 21 participants accepted. Applicants must be within five years of receiving their Ph.D.s, and about half the participants are graduate students and the other half junior faculty. All are among the best and the brightest philosophers and theologians from top universities around the world.

Charity Anderson, a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University, was one of the participants last summer. “The seminar provided a unique opportunity to learn from philosophers doing cutting-edge work in the field,” Anderson said. “The sessions were stimulating, but I also enjoyed the many conversations that took place over meals and down time.”

The three-week seminar brings top academic names to St. Paul to present discussions on a variety of topics in philosophy and religion. “Most [students] of the elite programs in philosophy don’t have the opportunity to take classes in philosophy of religion,” Rota said. “Many of these students are interested in questions about God. So we want to give them a chance to learn from people who are doing the best work in that area.”

Presenters have included Alvin Plantinga of Notre Dame; Hans Halvorson and Thomas Kelly of Princeton University; Eleonore Stump of Saint Louis University; Roger White of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Linda Zagzebski of the University of Oklahoma.

The seminar has covered discussion topics as specific as reductionism and the philosophy of biology, and as open as the problem of evil.

Each session begins much like a lecture, with each expert presenting a view on the topic. Generally philosophers of opposing viewpoints are chosen to present their positions, and a debate follows. Rota said summer 2012 highlights included a discussion focusing on neuroscience and philosophy by Jeffrey Schwartz, UCLA School of Medicine, and Hans Halvorson, Princeton University. Another highlight was a session on human freedom and divine foreknowledge by Linda Zagzebski, University of Oklahoma, and David Hunt, Whittier College. Rota said this puzzle is thousands of years old. “The problem of freedom and foreknowledge has to do with the question, ‘if God knows what you are going to do in the future, how can you still be free?’” Rota said, explaining the topic with enthusiasm. “How can it really be up to you if he already knows what you will choose?”

These provocative questions and expertly led debates keep enhancing the reputation of the seminar and the competitive nature of applications to participate.

Philosophy Department chair Sandra Menssen believes the seminar is a wonderful opportunity for both the St. Thomas community and scholars from around the world. She said members of her department are able to sit in on the discussions. “Rota has done a wonderful job assembling an internationally renowned group of presenters for the summer seminars,” Menssen said. “He’s brought in the best philosophers of religion in the English-speaking world to lecture.”

The seminar will return in the summer of 2014 with a fresh group of philosophers and theologians.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

Hiring new faculty is one of the most important things that we do at St. Thomas, and at times last year it felt like the only thing we were doing. Literally thousands of qualified applicants from across the country and around the world applied for these open positions. We interviewed hundreds of semifinalist candidates at national meetings or remotely via telephone and Skype. We brought close to 100 finalists to campus for two-day interviews before making our final selections. All of this effort was well worth it to successfully hire our wonderful new colleagues.

However, our work is not done. Now that the new hires have arrived we must devote time and energy to orienting them to their new home. The University of St. Thomas is a special place, unlike anywhere they have worked or studied before. The same is true of the College of Arts and Sciences, and we want our new faculty to understand us and to become  part of us. But first we need to understand ourselves. What makes us special? This is an answer I know well, although I have a difficult time expressing it in 25 words or less. (I am told I need an “elevator speech” designed to impart this information quickly, before my audience gets off at the next floor.)

Structurally, the College of Arts and Sciences is 22 academic departments and 14 interdisciplinary programs. Functionally, the College is the liberal arts heart of the  university. All new undergraduate students at UST matriculate to the College of Arts and Sciences. They receive from us instruction in the core curriculum required of every St. Thomas student. Some “leave” us at the end of their sophomore year when they declare majors in engineering or social work or teacher education or business, but many choose to “stay” when they declare one or more of the dozens of majors we offer in the humanities, the fine arts, the social sciences, the natural sciences or in one of our more professionally focused programs.

But what makes us special cannot be found in this short description of our structure and function. I believe that it can be found in the stories that we share with you in the pages of this magazine. In this issue are more examples of the people and the activities that distinguish us. I hope you enjoy learning more about them and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Read more from CAS Spotlight.

His singing is melodious and booming, and his body language is expressive, almost like he is on stage, were it not for the radiator, fluorescent light and walls of music books crowding the office. He drowns out the old building’s noises, and finally the piano seems to have meaning.

Glass has arrived for his voice lesson fresh off the Ordway Musical Theater stage, where he finished his second performance in the Minnesota Opera’s production of “Silent Night,” in which he played a named role as a French soldier.

With encouragement from his voice teacher, music professor Alan Bryan, Glass auditioned for the opera last May. He was cast in three productions for the season but due to scheduling conflicts with his St. Thomas choir commitments, he only could perform in two: September’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” and December’s “Silent Night.”

“I was the youngest one in both productions,” he said. “There are people who have master’s degrees working toward doctorate degrees, and I haven’t finished my undergraduate (degree), but I’m here.”

Glass found himself working beside well-known performers, which made singing onstage “nerve wracking” but also gratifying and fun. “It was an incredible experience to be in a professional setting where this is (my) job,” he said. “I’m getting paid to be inrehearsal.”

December 2011 graduate Mark Thomas also was contracted for three operas and agrees with Glass that the experience was an exciting opportunity.

“It’s hard to call it work,” he said.

Thomas, a liturgical music major from Texarkana, Texas, performed in “Silent Night” with Glass, had a small named role in January’s “Werther” and will perform in “Madame Butterfly” in April.

“The first couple of rehearsals, I was in heaven,” Thomas said. “You all sing with your full voice because that’s the sound that they’re going for. It’s just a loud chorus of male voices and gorgeous music, so it’s amazing.”

Auditioning for the Minnesota Opera According to Bryan, the Minnesota Opera is a well-respected musical organization, and a few St. Thomas undergraduate students have participated previously. However, he said he cannot remember anyone as young as Glass being cast in a named role.

Glass and Thomas were among 88 people cast from the 178 people who auditioned, said Floyd Anderson, Minnesota Opera artistic relations and planning director. What he looks for at auditions varies from season to season. “I am mostly looking for vibrant solo singers,” he said. Glass and Thomas fit that profile.

Undergraduate students are cast every season, Anderson said, but the Minnesota Opera has not had too many St. Thomas students in the past. Glass and Thomas came “highly recommended,” he said. “It was a pleasure to work with them.”

Music Department Chair Matthew George said, “For our undergraduates to be involved in a professional production is a great thing for them [because] we’re trying to prepare students to become professionals.”

Thomas participated in Liturgical Choir and Chamber Singers while at St. Thomas, but he said performing on the Ordway stage is a different sort of experience. “The performance is more alive because you get reactions and realize that what you’re doing is affecting people for whatever end – if they’re laughing or getting caught up in the story,” he said.

“It’s fun to get caught up in what you’re doing. Even though there’s an audience, it doesn’t change how you’re going to act or how you’re going to sing,” he added. “You are trying to sing in your purest form.”

“Silent Night” was commissioned by the Minnesota Opera and was based on the true story of World War I soldiers from France, Germany and Scotland who called a truce on Christmas Eve 1914. The men came out of the trenches in France to celebrate together and developed friendships with their supposed enemies.

Glass said “Silent Night” rehearsals were more exacting than those for “Cosi Fan Tutte” because the world premiere opera’s librettist, composer, director and conductor were at every rehearsal. “Rehearsals got pretty intense,” he said. “It was war. We were running around shooting each other [on stage].”

Glass and Thomas felt an emotional connection to their roles.

“It’s amazing that people our age went off to fight some king’s war,” Thomas said. Thomas was a Scottish solider in the chorus and thought he could understand the reality of the situation.

“It wasn’t difficult at all to really catch yourself in this situation and think, ‘Wow, that is what I would be thinking (in that situation),’ and then transfer it vocally,” he said.

Thomas learned some of this technique from Bryan, his voice teacher since fall 2007.

Learning From an Opera Expert Bryan could be considered an opera expert, because he has sung more than 50 lead roles professionally. He has been challenged to exude many different emotions while singing.

“It’s a privilege to explore the human spirit in yourself in this totally safe environment called the stage,” Bryan said. “You can pull out all the stops and really explore grief or really explore anger or passion.”

He said opera, like ballet, requires a lot of “training, technique and technical ability.” One might start at a young age, but it takes serious practice, dedication and maturation.

For almost 30 years, Bryan has taught vocal lessons to St. Thomas students such as Glass and Thomas. He passes on his knowledge and draws from his experiences when teaching. St. Thomas no longer has a musical theater or opera program, so for students to acquire a contract with the Minnesota Opera is similar to an internship. Thomas and Glass are gaining performance experience in a professional setting while still in school,Bryan said.

Back in Loras Hall, Bryan’s opera experience is evident. While Glass sings the aria “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from “Die Zauberflöte,” the “Magic Flute” opera, Bryan sits with his hand close to his mouth, singing silently. He listens intently and seems to have a performance of his own while sitting at his desk.

“I really love coming to work every day,” he said. “It’s (because of) the wonderful young people I get to meet with one-on-one and get to know well and kind of live with them for four years.”

Abruptly, he stops Glass, who smiles and listens to constructive criticism. The two work on vocal and facial adjustments before continuing.

“Singing is like the Goldilocks story. It can be too hot or too cold,” Bryan says with a laugh. “We want it just right.”

He shows Glass how opening his mouth a certain way can affect the sound. Bryan then asks Glass to translate the German piece. Bryan said most opera singers need to be proficient in at least three languages, usually German, French and Italian.

Glass, a German minor, studiously tries to decipher the foreign text. Together the professor and student sift through the pronunciation, meaning and emotions for the song. Bryan becomes a director as he starts blocking the scene, telling Glass where tostand, how to hold his hands and cock his head. Glass absorbs the comments gracefully and enthusiastically returns to singing with Bryan standing nearby. Glass applies the minor adjustments to his technique and resonates an even purer sound.

The teacher and student continue to work on this process, which seems more like an opera rehearsal than a vocal lesson.

Backstage at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, Mark Thomas ’11 prepares for his role in the opera, “Werther.”

Practice, Practice, Practice While Glass and Thomas have only one lesson a week, they practice several hours each week.

Glass said during a normal rehearsal week, he could put in 20 hours of singing: 12 hours of rehearsal, four and a half hours of choir rehearsal and his own three and a half hours of practice. With opera performances added, that’s 30 to 35 hours of singing.

“Singers are like sprinters,” Bryan said. Training prepares them to sing for short, intense periods of time, but it can be strenuous, even damaging, without proper training or care.

Thomas said he had three performances in December followed by rehearsals on Sunday and Monday for his senior recital.

“[I] was quite worried that my voice would not be at full strength in time for Tuesday’s recital due to so much rigorous singing and a very difficult recital,” he said.

Glass had a similar weekend in November with three opera performances and a dress rehearsal with the Chamber Singers where he performed two arias. “After [it] was done, my voice was exhausted,” he said. “I took vocal rest, no serious singing, for about a week and a half after that, and only started singing again because we hadthe St. Thomas Christmas concert.”

But Glass thinks all the hard work is worth it. He said music always has been a part of his life. His father, Tom ’84, is the director of planned giving at St. Thomas, and his mother attended St. Catherine University. Both were in Liturgical Choir, and Glasssaid he cannot remember a time when they did not share music at home.

Glass, from Edina, Minn., came to St. Thomas interested in the music business program or journalism. “I talked to some people in the Music Department, and I was sold,” he said. “I wasn’t really thinking of [majoring in] music anywhere.” But after taking amusic theory class, Glass said he knew music was what he wanted to do.

A vocal music education and music performance double major, Glass had hoped to go into teaching after graduation, but his time with the opera has made him think about new possibilities. He is looking at graduate programs and wants to continue performing.

Thomas said he started to get serious about music when his voice cracked. It wasn’t until he started auditioning for colleges while in high school that he started to consider studying music.

He had a connection to St. Thomas through St. Kate’s “Music Ministry Alive” summer program, which he participated in for three summers. At the camp he met Rob Strusinski, the former St. Thomas Liturgical Choir director who retired in 2010.

“He gave me a tour of the campus after my final there, and I had to choose between a very Catholic-oriented music school and a more performance-oriented school,” Thomas said. St. Thomas offered more spirituality and theological education, which he felt was important.

“You can get music training anywhere, but I wanted to get something more,” he said. “I wanted to continue my faith life, so a Catholic college is where that happened for me easily.”

Thomas has applied to four graduate schools, two in performance and two for sacred music. Before that, he will have performed in two additional Minnesota Opera productions and appeared as Frederick in the St. Kate’s spring production, “Pirates of Penzance.”

Music Faculty Are the Key Glass and Thomas are only two distinguished majors of a music program that continues to grow.

Department Chair George said, “A lot of students play professionally in various venues and may not be as high profile as the Minnesota Opera.” The department has seen “fairly consistent” enrollment numbers and “steady growth” in the past few years. About 120 minors and majors are enrolled, and a combined total of about 400 students participate in the various ensembles. Between 280 and 300 of those students are non-majors, George estimated.

He attributes the growth to “very active recruitment, improved quality of the programs that we offer, and mostly … the dedication and excellence of our staff.”

George said he is proud of his music students’ accomplishments. Thomas and Glass are also proud of their accomplishments and those of their fellow music students, despite the challenges posed by limited practice spaces.

Glass calls the Music Department a “hidden gem,” and noted that students keep enrolling in the program. “People are drawn to excellence,” George said.

George and Bryan said students mostly are attracted by the professors and quality of the liberal arts education that other music performance programs may not offer.

“I think when students come to visit, they have to meet faculty and staff here who give the impression to students that this is a very favorable place to come to,” George said. “It’s one thing to have that impression, but it’s another thing to be able to sustain that. We’re able to do both.”

Bryan said, “I think we have strong, ambitious people on the faculty, and they just don’t settle for mediocrity or being set back by limited facilities.”

Thomas and Glass agree that professors make the program stand out. Both said they have developed close relationships with their professors and consider this a high point of their experience with the Music Department. The professors “all genuinely care about you as a person, as a musician, as an individual, about your growing,” Glass added. “You’re not a number here.”

Bryan said he is able to develop a close relationship with his students because he works with some students for their whole undergraduate career.

“It’s an interesting journey,” he said. “That’s just part of being a young person and developing. You see their ups and downs.”

Back in Loras Hall, Bryan starts the lesson by asking Glass how he’s doing and what’s new in his life. After a short discussion, Bryan asks Glass, “What can I help you with?” Glass says he would like some feedback on pieces he is preparing for an audition.

The student helps drive the lesson. Glass announces the name of each piece before starting and nods to his accompanist when he’s ready to start. Bryan’s full attention remains on Glass throughout the lesson. After the final aria is sung, amended with Bryan’s suggestions, Glass receives warm applause from his teacher.

Glass said if he knew where he would be today when he was a freshman, he would have been “very surprised.” In the past six months, he said his experiences have totally changed his outlook. He wants to continue performing and learn more about the history of music and musicology.

Reflecting, Glass said, “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of the operas without the incredible support I received from my professors. I am forever grateful to them for allowing me to step up to the big leagues for a little bit.”

Click here to listen to Mark Thomas sing “Ach so fromm” from the opera “Martha,” accompanied by Kevin Seal.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

I have spent much of the last 12 years teaching various topics in statistics, research methods and measurement to undergraduate and graduate students at St. Thomas and elsewhere. My students typically have been hard working and eager to learn. They came to class and took notes. They learned the steps of important processes. Their nodding heads indicated that they understood the material as it was being presented to them. And yet, these bright and capable students often had difficulty applying course material in novel or ambiguous but true-to-life contexts. Despite the clarity of my explanations or the number of times I demonstrated how to apply concepts and processes, students often didn’t know what to do with what they knew.

I came to understand that remembering and understanding are necessary, but not sufficient, for the kind of “knowing” that allows one to think critically and solve complex problems. This realization seemed particularly problematic, as it is precisely this type of“knowing” our students need now, in our increasingly technical and competitive world.

While this need for knowing exists in all disciplines, it may be especially urgent for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In 1996, the Advisory Committee to the National Science Foundation, responding to a call to improveundergraduate STEM education, published “Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology.” One of its recommendations called for faculty teaching undergraduate STEM courses to “build inquiry, a sense of wonder and the excitement of discovery, plus communication and teamwork, critical thinking, and lifelong learning skills into learning experiences.”

At St. Thomas, STEM faculty members have taken to heart the call to actively engage students through critical thinking and collaborative problem solving.

In spring 2010, Kris Wammer, associate professor of chemistry, organized a two-day workshop on the use of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) in entry-level STEM courses. PLTL involves groups of six to 12 students who take the same course (e.g., Chemistry111) and work with trained peer-facilitators to address problems that facilitate conceptual understanding of course material and the development of problem-solving skills. The workshop was well attended by biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer and information sciences, geology, physics and engineering faculty. At its conclusion, faculty decided to initiate a PLTL program for students taking introductory STEM coursesat St. Thomas.

After an intense summer of planning, the PLTL program was ready to launch: A program structure consisting of a coordinator, four departmental liaisons and 16 to 20student peer-facilitators was agreed upon; shortterm funding to support a program coordinator and pay peer-facilitators for the 2010-2011 academic year was secured from the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Biology Department; discipline-specific peer-facilitators were recruited and trained; concept-focused, problem-based activities were developed by departmental liaisons for use by peer-facilitators in small-group sessions; formal PLTL program evaluation procedures were devised; and a name for the PLTL program was created: the STEM Learning Community (LC) Program.

In fall 2010, STEM LCs emphasizing collaboration, active learning, problem solving and critical thinking were introduced. Each semester since then, STEM LCs have been offered to about 300 chemistry students, 200 biology students, 130 calculus students and 90 statistics students, most of whom are first-year college students at St. Thomas. Between 180 and 240 students participate in the STEM LCs each semester.

Research on the use of collaborative learning strategies in undergraduate STEM education suggests that they are a highly effective strategy for promoting the kind of “knowing” that is expected of STEM professionals. Evaluation of the STEM LC programat St. Thomas indicates that benefits for participants and peer-facilitators are many: learning effective study skills; acquiring depth of understanding; gaining skills in collaboration; and developing confidence in problem-solving abilities. As one STEM LCparticipant noted, “I learned different ways of approaching a problem, and if I didn’t understand something, the group was able to help.” Another participant stated, “I study more efficiently and more often” as a result of this experience.

Mithra Marcus, clinical professor of chemistry, is excited by the impact of the STEM LC program on her students. She noted, “This program has helped my students think critically about course material rather than just focus on memorizing facts.” Such an emphasis has translated into improved learning outcomes for participants. Significantly higher exam scores have been achieved by LC participants in all of the courses in which LCs are offered. In the case of chemistry, STEM LC participants scored more than five points higher, on average, than their peers on a standardized, nationally normed chemistry examination.

Through my own involvement with the STEM LC program, I am reminded that my job is not to simply tell students what is important to know. If I truly want my students to beactive learners, critical thinkers and effective problem solvers, I must find ways for them to connect with one another and with the material in deep and meaningful ways. The STEM LC program appears to offer an effective strategy for doing just that.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

The American Culture and Difference minor, originally known as American Cultural Studies, was introduced in 1998 through the efforts of a group of faculty led by professor Bill Banfield of the Music Department. Among this initial group were colleagues from across the disciplines, including professors Bernard Armada (Communication and Journalism), Christopher Kachian (Music), Paul Lorah (Geography), Steven Lybrand (Sociology), Andrew Scheiber (English), and me (English).

These faculty members created a minor that consisted of a mandatory course in the Foundations of Cultural Studies and five other elective courses across the disciplines. These courses were offered in three prescribed areas: 1) history, sociology and politics; 2) literature and the arts; and 3) mass culture, pop culture and communication media. To ensure that students would have as wide an interdisciplinary education as possible, the curriculum was designed so that they would select courses from all three areas and take no more than two courses from a single department.

Under Banfield’s direction, the minor gained visibility and coherence, especially with visiting keynote speakers such as professors Henry Louis Gates Jr. and John Wright, and with faculty workshops and sessions designed to articulate a critical pedagogy for American Cultural Studies classes. Within the first few years, several dozen studentsminored in the program. They came to us from various disciplines: art history, communication and journalism, English, history, justice and peace studies, and political science, to name a few. Even in these early years, students were actively engaged in the minor, with some presenting their work at national conferences.

In 2005, Banfield departed for the Berklee School of Music. At this point, I was appointed interim director for a year by Dean Tom Connery, and then professor Todd Lawrence (English) took the reins for another year while I was on sabbatical. During this period of transition, particularly in the spring and summer of 2007, the minor wasrevised by a faculty group comprised of professors Lawrence, Kachian, Buffy Smith (Sociology and Criminal Justice), and me, with the support of Marisa Kelly, who was then dean. This revision articulated “difference” as a crucial component of the minor.

The Word ‘Difference’ Kelly and the faculty thought that even as the minor introduced students to the broad swath of American culture, it was important to distinguish our minor from cultural studies and American studies programs at other universities. We wanted to highlight the experiences and struggles of communities that have been historically marginalized because of their class, gender, racial or sexual identities. This emphasis, we believed, also would fit in with our university’s commitment to cultural diversity. However, rather than using the more popular term “diversity” to represent our emphasis on marginal cultures, we felt that “difference” offered a more nuanced understanding of cultural complexity, acknowledging the myriad ways in which courses in the minor interrogated homogenous notions of American culture. The goal of the minor was both to re-examine and to reread epresentations of mainstream American culture, as well as the productions of alternative and oppositional cultures. Fundamentally, we wanted to position American Culture and Difference as an interdisciplinary minor that offered students a critical perspective on the diversity of “American culture.”

In its present formation, then, the minor provides the opportunity for students to experience the benefits of a truly interdisciplinary education. Students are encouraged not only to make connections among disciplines but also to engage in complex analyses: They are asked to explore links and tensions between vernacular and elite culture, as well as to examine connections and conflicts among multiple cultural identities and affiliations. Drawing from a range of participating departments, the minor explores the full range of symbols, mythologies, practices and histories that contribute to the complexity and diversity of the American experience. Students consider ways inwhich music, film, advertisements, folklore, literature, television and art shape daily life in the United States, form cultural and national identity, construct racial and ethnic identity, and create a sense of “high” and “low” culture.

Indeed, this attempt to break down the traditional boundaries of the high and low is a formative feature of the minor. In the cultural studies tradition, all forms of cultural work offer ways to understand elements of a social formation. Oftentimes, the criticism of this approach involves questions of value. One might inquire, “Surely there is more value in analyzing a Toni Morrison novel than there is in exploring an episode of HBO’s “The Wire”? Yet value is contextual, residing in our reading of a text – our critical analysis of it – not merely in some frozen, timeless version of that text. In the aboveexample, both narratives have fundamental things to say about our world and offer points of illumination that are relevant to our understanding of, say, power formations and their evolution within certain social contexts.

More generally, courses in the minor pose critical and thoughtful questions about the way our world works through the production, circulation and consumption of cultural texts. How, for instance, are certain notions about femininity constructed through 50 years of Disney films? How can we read a 9/11 memorial or an Oklahoma City memorial as a comment on the nature of American democracy? Why did Andy Warhol’s paintings of soup cans change the definition of art? Why is Martin Luther King Jr. celebrated as a national hero, but not Malcolm X or Huey P. Newton?

The minor in American Culture and Difference lays the intellectual groundwork for helping students to explore such questions even while they are themselves immersed in the social and political history of American culture. This process of critical engagementwith everyday culture, along with an in-depth study of historical and political documents, helps students develop valuable critical thinking skills, enabling them to analyze the diverse texts that make up our world.

And because the minor provides a window into a wide array of American experiences and lives, focusing especially on historically marginalized communities, students also can find themselves rethinking mainstream appraisals of American culture. In American Culture and Difference courses, they are encouraged to ask new questions in new ways, challenging social, cultural and political assumptions that often are thought of as “common sense.” Ideally, then, this is a minor that attempts to connect the reading and research students do in the classroom with the world that surrounds them.

“The minor has given me the opportunity to have conversations with people who are different from myself about the issues in the world that matter the most, such as inequalities between races and genders in society.” – Shanea Turner-Smith ’14

Professional Paths In the last several years, our students have chosen an array of professional paths and have spoken about the continuing influence of the minor on their careers and on their attempts to make meaningful contributions to society. Ben Nebo, who graduated from St. Thomas in 2008 and is continuing his studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies as a Master of Public Administration candidate, is concentrating in International Management and Mandarin Chinese. Nebo recently observed that “the analytical skills taught in all ACD courses enabled [him] to excel at graduate-level research.” According to Nebo, his “understanding of American history, folklore and myth-narratives proved indispensible when [he] served as a Peace Corps volunteer promoting mutual understanding in Malawi. The interpersonal and crosscultural communication skills taught in American Culture and Difference also came in handy when advising Malawian social change organizations engaged in HIV impact mitigation.” As a recently returned Peace Corps volunteer, Nebo trusts that the “critical thinking and writing skills [he] honed as an American Culture and Difference minor will enable [him] to satisfy the Monterey Institute’s graduation portfolio requirements.”

Nebo’s eclectic interests and his desire to connect the work he did in the minor with his vocation are echoed by current minors, Shanea Turner-Smith ’14 and Theresa Malloy ’13. Turner-Smith has suggested that the American Culture and Difference minor provides a unique and valuable learning experience. The minor, in her words, has given her “the opportunity to have conversations with people who are different from myself about the issues in the world that matter the most, such as inequalities between races and genders in society, and the wealthy versus the poor.” As a major in social work,Turner-Smith feels that classes in the minor have given her knowledge of other cultures, as well as the “skills to be more open minded and a better-rounded person when it comes to understanding the injustices in society.” Turner-Smith concludes that she would like to “think of [her] knowledge as a collage that is forming with open holes so that [she] can always add to [it] and allow different perspectives to shape [her] ideas. …”

Malloy, a junior, took the American Culture and Difference Foundations class as a first-year student. She recalls the class as “probably the most diverse one” she has taken at St. Thomas and asserts that the “provocative conversations” from that class have stayed with her. Subsequently, Malloy notes, the minor has enhanced her work in her major area of study, communication and journalism (COJO). As a COJO student, she finds herself constantly immersing herself in the lives of others and sharing their stories. Malloy says that she has “learned to listen, respect and appreciate” a range of American cultural voices because of the minor. Moreover, because the minor is interdisciplinary, it enriches her learning experiences across the liberal arts curriculum. She hopes that after graduating she will use the skills acquired in these classes to “produce stories that are not always reported and [to] ask tough questions related to the field.”

Our minors’ words are a great source of encouragement for faculty in the program because it is really in students’ development as scholars and intellectual citizens that we can measure the value of the education we provide. Their commitment to an ethicalpath of working in areas connected to social justice is also something that we faculty welcome. In the end, the critical skills honed in the classroom become more meaningful when they inform the way our students choose to follow their dreams.

“My understanding of American History, folklore and myth-narratives proved indispensible when I served as a Peace Corps volunteer promoting mutual understanding in Malawi.” – Ben Nebo ’08

Key StrengthsA key strength of the minor is the extremely talented faculty and staff (especially our administrative assistant, Lois Dament) who support, encourage and educate our students. A pool of 15 active, allied faculty members from nine disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences teach in the minor, and other faculty on occasion offer courses that are appropriate for the minor. The eclectic range of our faculty is reflected in the wide array of courses available to our students. Courses have included such topics as Art and Culture of Modern Mexico, The Bible and American Politics, Jazz in America,Modern American Rhetoric, Native American Literature, and Social Inequality: Privilege and Power. These diverse offerings are brought together by the Foundations course, which introduces students to the theoretical concepts that define the field of cultural studies, as well as its methods.

As faculty in the minor, we benefit as well from our students’ interdisciplinary perspectives. Art history professor Heather Shirey alludes to this point: “‘We just talked about this in my other class!’ is one of my favorite things to hear from students during a class discussion. This statement, which I often hear from ACD students, demonstratesan ability to see that any one discipline is part of a broader discipline that stretches across the humanities and extends outside of the academy. From the Foundations course on, the interdisciplinary nature of the ACD program really encourages this kind of thinking.”

This emphasis on interdisciplinarity is enhanced by a variety of activities outside the classroom that expose students to the diversity of intellectual work being done in the disciplines. These activities include frequent film screenings, talks by both St. Thomas faculty and visiting speakers, and discussion panels. In the last year, the minor has invited Erika Lee, director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Minnesota, to speak about her new book, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America, (with Judy Yung, Oxford University Press, 2010); local artist Ricardo Morales has been on campus to share his artwork with students; and local Native filmmakers have brought their films to campus for screening and discussion. On campus, we actively engage with departments throughout the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as with organizations such as International Education, the Luann Dummer Center for Women, Student Diversity and Inclusion Services, and Service Learning, just to name a few, so that our students are always a part of interdisciplinary conversations.

By the end of this academic year, American Culture and Difference will complete five years in its new incarnation as an interdisciplinary minor. We see our primary task as providing an interdisciplinary space for students to write, research and engage in critical discussions about the continually changing role of American culture. Students continue to come to us from disciplines such as communication and journalism, English, justice and peace studies, social work, and sociology, to name a few, choosing the ACD minor with the conviction that it will supplement their work in their major field of study. We welcome these students with the hope that the minor truly will offer them a way to challenge themselves and change their world.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

What made you want to major in Communication (now part of the Communication and Journalism Department)? How did your communication training prepare you for professional life?

I came to St. Thomas dead-set on pursuing a career in journalism. However, sometime during my first year I learned that although I was interested in stories about people, what really intrigued me was the interaction between people. When I took courses in rhetoric, persuasion and small-group communication, I became fascinated by how people craft messages to build relationships and influence others in productive ways. Majoring in communication was the logical next step. I also double minored in quantitative methods and computer science, and theology, so you might say that I had the quintessential liberal arts education: something for the right brain, something for the left brain and something for the soul. I received a wonderfully well-rounded education that has helped me succeed in so many areas of my life.

The skills I acquired in my communication major are a vital part of my daily life. As director of development for MacPhail, my main objective is to inspire everyday people to donate some of their personal funds to the organization. My team and I try to frameMacPhail in a way that motivates potential donors and, hopefully, convinces them of the value of giving a gift of their own money to a nonprofit organization like ours. Of course, I also rely upon the skills I learned in Small Group Communication every day, whether I am managing my development team or balancing group dynamics whenworking with the many volunteers who make up MacPhail’s board of directors.

What are the three most meaningful things you’ve done since graduating?

On the academic side, I continued the liberal arts training I received at St. Thomas by earning a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies at Hamline University. I specialized in fiction writing and wrote a screenplay under the direction of playwright John Fenn.

Professionally, I am fortunate to be living my dream of being involved in the arts as development director at the MacPhail Center for Music. It’s been very rewarding to be in a position to move the organization forward and develop new programs that provide music education to students throughout the Twin Cities who otherwise might not have such opportunities.

As for my personal life, I married my college sweetheart, B.J. Nodzon ’99, so I believe it’s safe to say that St. Thomas has been good to me in more ways than one. I’m also proud of the many friendships I made while at St. Thomas. I was involved in a lot of campus activities such as student government (vice president of my class), Liturgical Choir (president), Student Alumni Council, Communication Club and Campus Ministry. It was terrific to be involved in so many things because I met a lot of great people whom I still keep in touch with today. I’m proud that I’ve been able to maintain so many of the relationships that began when I was at St. Thomas. As you can see, St. Thomas is near and dear to my heart, which is also why I enjoy giving back to the university by serving on the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors andthe Alumni Board of Directors.

The Communication and Journalism Department is offering a new course in social media that reflects the rising importance of Internet sites such as Twitter and Facebook. I hear you’ve also been putting your social media skills to use with a Twitter feed, @TrueStPaulite, which reflects your love of the city of St. Paul. What prompted you to create it?

I realized the important role social media sites could play in advancing the fundraising goals on behalf of MacPhail. I decided to first start a Twitter feed about a non-work-related interest and then apply my newfound skills to my fundraising objectives at MacPhail. I created the @TrueStPaulite feed to share my love of all things St. Paul, such as Grand Old Day, the Winter Carnival and all the other great things the city has to offer. I also wanted to draw attention to the gems hidden throughout the city that some people might not know about. It started very humbly with me just posting things Ithought others might be interested in, but it now has over 350 followers who share my love of St. Paul.

What’s the most valuable piece of advice you would give to St. Thomas students?

My best advice is to study rigorously but also get involved and build relationships. Some of the best things have happened for me both personally and professionally because of the relationships I built while at St. Thomas and the experiences I sought outside of theclassroom. The combination of academic rigor and extracurricular involvement really helped me develop into a well-rounded person. So, study hard but get involved and really get to know other students and faculty members. Only good things can happen. I had the best time in college because I embraced my four years at St. Thomas andrecognized at the time what an amazing experience it was to be able to attend a private, four-year university. And I had a lot of fun. I had a ridiculous amount of fun.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

Young-ok An (English), has been appointed the new director of the Luann Dummer Center for Women, to begin July 1, 2012. She will succeed Corrine Carvalho (Theology).

Bernard Armada (Communication and Journalism), received the Outstanding Book Chapter Award from the African American Communication and Culture Division of the National Communication Association. He won the award for his chapter, “(Dis)placing the Dissident Body,” which appears in the book, Places of Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials, edited by Greg Dickinson, Brian L. Ott and Carole Blair (University of Alabama Press, 2010).

The Chemistry Department has been named one of five U.S. colleges and universities to receive a prestigious Jean Dreyfus Boissevain Lectureship for Undergraduate Institutions. The lectureship grant, worth $18,500, will bring one celebrated speaker from the chemical sciences to speak to St. Thomas chemistry students for two to three days next fall. Part of the grant also will be used to support the summer research of two undergraduate students.

Craig Eliason (Art History), participated in a “Cross Talk” event at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Sharing the stage, Eliason and Twin Cities artist and type-designer Chank Diesel led a conversation on the inspirations behind type designs.

Simon Emms (Biology), Tim Lewis (Biology), Paul Lorah (Geography) and student Theresa Wondra received a $15,000 Campus Sustainability Fund grant for “Student Restoration of Oak Forest: Analyzing Carbon Storage in a Recovering Landscape.” Under the grant, students will work in partnership with Great River Greening to restore 10 acres of oak forest in the Fish Creek Natural Areas Greenway, located 20 minutes from the St. Paul campus. An outdoor lab will be created that will allow students to study and document the effectiveness of restoration efforts.

Elizabeth Kindall (Art History), (2011). “Envisioning a Monastery: A Seventeenth-Century Buddhist Fund-Raising Appeal Album.” T’oung Pao, 97: 104-159. She also presented, “A Painted Geo-Narrative as Quest Toward Sagehood,” Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, Macalester College, Oct. 28.

Amelia Kritzer (English), (2011). “The Absence of Wealth in Recent British Plays about Business” in To Have or Have Not: Essays on Commerce and Capital in Modernist Theatre, ed. James Fisher. Macfarland. She also wrote “Revolution and After: Heroism and Violence in Early National Plays about the American Revolution,” in Violence in American Drama, ed. Alfonso Ceballos Munoz, et. al., Macfarland, 2011.

Kelli Larson (English), worked with four students Jennifer Graffunder (’11), Emily Koenig (’12), Paige Patet (’13) and Samantha Schwab (’13), who served as interim bibliographers for “Current Bibliography,” appearing in the Hemingway Review, 31.2. (spring 2012).

The Twin Cities Math Teacher’s Circle, led by Mathematics Department faculty Melissa Loe, Brenda Kroschel and Cheri Shakiban, was featured in the winter 2012 issue of MTCircular, a publication of the American Institute of Mathematics. The article explained the work St. Thomas faculty members are doing with local school math teachers to improve the teaching of problemsolving skills.

Paul Lorah (Geography), attended the 2011 West Lakes Association of American Geographers annual conference with a group of junior and senior geography students in November 2011. Anne L’Heureux and Julie Rech presented their research, “Land Change in Puerto Rico: Using GIS to Discover the Underlying Processes of Forest Recovery.” Chia Lee presented “Health Accessibility in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Hmong Community.” Nicholas Yannarelly and Rech presented “Discovering the Buffalo Commons: Using GIS to Target Optimal Lands in the Great Plains for Large Scale Restoration.” Lorah presented his research, “Landscapes of Prosperity: Commodities, Amenities and Development in the Rocky Mountain West,” and served as a judge for undergraduate and graduate student scholarship competitions.

Raymond MacKenzie (English), (2011). Translated Emile Zola’s Germinal (Hackett Publishing).

Shelly Nordtorp-Madson (Art History), (2011). Keynote address, “Scandinavian Medieval Dress: Continuity and Change,” Nordic Spirit Symposium, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Roxanne Prichard (Psychology), (2011). In collaboration with Vanessa Cornett-Murtada (Music), won the Editor’s Choice award for “Outstanding Neuroscience Pedagogy Article” from the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education for their article “Music and the Mind: A New Interdisciplinary Course on the Science of Musical Experience.”

Mary Reichardt (Catholic Studies), is the editor of the literature section of the recently published New Catholic Encyclopedia − 2011 Supplement (Gale/Catholic University of America Press). Besides editing the literature section, Reichardt wrote the essay on Literature and Catholicism. UST contributors of entries include Ray MacKenzie (English), Martin Warren (English), David Foote (History), Jane Tar (Classical and Modern Languages), Rev. Michael Keating (Catholic Studies), as well as James Rogers (Center for Irish Studies), David Deavel (Catholic Studies) and Andrew Leet (English).

Julie Risser (Art History), contributed chapters on Africa and Pacific art to The Art Museum, published by Phaidon Press.

Heather Shirey (Art History), (2011, July), presented “Pierre Verger’s Candomblé Imagery in A Cigarra,” International American Studies Association Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Kevin Theissen (Geology), published an article, “What Do U.S. Students Know About Climate Change?” in the Dec. 20 issue of the international weekly geoscience journal EOS. The article discusses Theissen’s and other recent research on climate change misconceptions and misinformation in undergraduate classrooms.

Victoria Young (Art History), (2011, December), presented “Modern Catholic Monastic Architecture and Gender: Marcel Breuer and the Benedictines.” Modern Catholic Space conference in London, England.

St. Thomas graduates, share your news with the Alumni Association at http://alumni.stthomas.edu  

Read more from CAS Spotlight

As a media ethicist interested in issues of journalism and society, I couldn’t let a charge like this go unexplored. So I’ve spent the past two years examining the role that blame does and should play in the news and how that role can influence the way our entire culture engages with blame.

How Pervasive Is Blame in the Media?Let me begin with what I found in the news. Using the Project for Excellence in  Journalism’s weekly News Coverage Index, I studied the top national news stories of 2010. These are the stories that anyone in America who follows the news – via whatever outlets – would recognize. For 2010, the stories included the economy, themidterm elections, Afghanistan, the Gulf oil spill, the health care debate and 68 others. In my analysis, I examined the prevalence of blame within those stories as well as the nature of that blame. This analysis led to several observations and three key themes.

Theme 1: Blame in the news has become ritualized.The idea of ritualized blame is adapted from linguist Deborah Tannen’s concept of ritualized opposition – what she calls agonism – where almost any issue or problem is approached in an adversarial way. An agonistic response lacks a moral underpinning; it is habitual, automatic and disinterested. In reviewing the top news stories of 2010, I found something similar happening with blame. Blame, too, has become ritualized.

Of the 73 top stories for [2010], two-thirds featured blame. What’s more, no particular group had a monopoly on blame.

What’s the evidence for blame’s ritualization? In 2010, audiences encountered blame in the news every week, and during some weeks, every one of the top stories featured blame. Of the 73 top stories for the year, two-thirds featured blame. What’s more, noparticular group had a monopoly on blame. Ideologically leaning media, mainstream media; newspapers, television stations, radio stations and websites; reporters, analysts and sources; conservatives and liberals – all were both givers and receivers of blame.

The typical response to being blamed was to turn the tables and blame someone else. What’s more, although blameworthiness is a necessary correlative to blame, in many of 2010’s top stories, the link between the two was either unclear or tenuous, or was missing altogether. Put simply, blameworthiness often played a negligible role in assigning blame.

Consider this example: In 2010, the economic crisis was the year’s top story. Regardless of the story’s complexity and the likeliness that a number of factors had contributed to the economy’s delicate state, much coverage consisted of politicians, citizens and members of the media taking turns casting blame on a single person or single group. Targets for blame included, among others, the White House and former White House, Democrats, Republicans, the government generally, the Federal Reserve, big banks, Wall Street, economists and citizens. Even when a story focused on potential solutions or positive economic news, it typically featured someone first casting blame.

This story and others like it imply that blame has become more of a knee-jerk condemnation than a heartfelt judgment. But this kind of ritualization is dangerous. Legitimate, necessary and constructive blame can get lost.

Theme 2: From blame’s ritualization emerges a meta-narrative that says “We must blame.”Literature professors John Stephens and Robyn McCallum call meta-narratives “totalizing cultural stories” that order and explain knowledge and experience. Because the media are important agents of socialization, these stories also can be prescriptive; they can tell us what to believe and how to act. My analysis of blame in the news revealed one of our totalizing cultural stories: We must blame.

Because of journalism’s central role in managing the symbolic arena, blame’s ubiquity in the news helps infuse our culture with news, we become part of a media-constructed reality that says assigning blame is the norm. We see people in the news routinely handing out blame, and we notice that one of the first questions journalists ask is “Who’s to blame?” Even if we’re not sure someone is blameworthy, we observe that we should blame that person anyway. If we don’t have someone to blame, we should  seek out someone. But if we’re blamed for something, we see that our response should be to cast blame ourselves. All of these lessons help ensure blame’s ubiquity and its  perpetuation.

Theme 3: Blame is often used to stigmatize, marginalize and exclude.People who cast blame in the news typically are communicating to readers, viewers and listeners, not to the subjects of their blame. In other words, those assigning blame are saying “I blame him” rather than “I blame you.” Likewise, recipients of blame aren’tregularly given the opportunity to respond through the story in which they’re blamed. Although the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics advises journalists to “diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond toallegations of wrongdoing,” blame – likely because of its ritualized nature – appears to be exempt from this clause. Therefore, blame becomes a pronouncement rather than an interchange. And that lack of authentic conversation – the give and take of real discourse – means that blame leads not to change, but simply to more blame.

Blame’s tendency to stigmatize, marginalize and exclude is reinforced by the toxic nature of much blame that appears in the news. So often the generosity of spirit that philosopher T.M. Scanlon says should accompany blame is replaced by acrimony. Toxic blame – some of which serves to vilify, humiliate and shame – effectively puts those being blamed outside our communities of care and concern, and it strips them of their moral agency. They become the objects rather than subjects of blame.

These three themes provide a portrait that depicts blame in the news as habitual, self-perpetuating, exclusionary and often toxic. They help us understand the role blame is playing. But for an ethicist, that’s just part of the work. Beyond asking what blame in the news looks like, I can’t help but ask if it looks the way it should.

Blame doesn’t have to be toxic. . . . Blame is intended to hold people up to morality’s demands, not to damage their dignity through vilifying, humiliating or shaming them. 

Blame Has a Legitimate PurposeAfter being immersed in a year’s worth of non-stop blame in the news, it was tempting to argue that we should just jettison blame altogether. A world without it would be a much more harmonious – not to mention a kinder – place. In fact, supporters of a therapeutic ethos take this position, contending that we ought to refrain from casting judgments against other people.

But is abandoning blame realistic or even desirable? Most philosophers would say no. In fact, theories of the good, the right and the virtuous – the three primary traditions in Western philosophy – each contend that if we are to have a system of morality, weneed a mechanism for addressing instances when moral principles have been flouted or ignored. That mechanism is blame.

For utilitarians, who are concerned with outcomes, blame is moral criticism with a pragmatic aim, and blame’s purpose is influencing a person’s future conduct. For Aristotelians, who are concerned with virtue, blame relates to a flawed character, and one who is blamed is viewed as having a moral stain on her character. Likewise, one who blames unjustifiably is seen as lacking virtue. And for deontologists, who are concerned with duty, blaming someone is an indication that he has failed to live up to a moral obligation, and it leads to withdrawing good will from that person. For each of these traditions, therefore, blame is implicit in the question “Why be moral?”

A world without blame would seem very strange. Nevertheless, blame doesn’t have to be toxic. Even philosopher George Sher, whose book is titled In Praise of Blame, says we would do well to “lower the condemnatory volume.” Blame is intended to hold people up to morality’s demands, not to damage their dignity through vilifying, humiliating or shaming them.

The news media have untapped potential to help shift our culture away from blame.

What Can Journalists Do?It’s clear that we have a disconnect between the prescriptive and the descriptive – between the role that philosophy sets out for blame and how we actually see blame expressed in the news. But can journalists do anything about it? After all, it’s a journalist’s job to tell us what’s happening in the world; if the public sphere is full of blame, the news should be full of blame as well. Right?

Not exactly. The problem with this argument is that understanding news as simply a reflection of reality fails to capture both the power and the potential of journalism.

The news media, like all media, reflect society, but they also shape it. Going one step further, many media scholars argue that the media help create reality. Through the stories they tell, the media give meaning to the world and help us make sense of thatmeaning. If this is true, the news media have untapped potential to help shift our culture away from blame. And journalists – as people who tend to care about making the world a better place – can take the lead in confronting blame’s ritualization, its exclusionary and toxic nature and its tendency to make us believe that we must continue the cycle.

To encourage this shift, I offer a set of four conditions that would make blame in the news ethically justifiable. These conditions apply to journalists in their work with sources, as well as to journalists who provide their own analysis or commentary or whospeak on behalf of the public.

Condition 1: Journalists are ethically obligated to do what they can can to ensure that the person (or organization) being blamed is blameworthy.Reporting blame without confirming blameworthiness helps turn journalism from a practice committed to verification into one that hangs on assertion. This isn’t acceptable. It’s not enough to accurately report that one person is blaming someone else. We need to know that the person being blamed actually deserves it. As veteranjournalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel assert, a commitment to verification is what separates journalism from other forms of media: “Journalism alone is focused first on getting what happened down right.”

Of course, verifying or validating someone’s blameworthiness isn’t easy, particularly when we consider the kind of complex stories that often involve blame. But even so, journalists shouldn’t be let off the ethical hook. Far too often, journalists don’t even attempt to find out where culpability lies.

The key question a journalist ought to ask someone who casts blame is: “What makes this person blameworthy?” Asking a source to articulate the evidence for blame – getting at the particular moral principles that were flouted or ignored – will help a journalist determine whether that blame should be reported. Perhaps a source offers compelling evidence; perhaps it’s clear that the person being blamed is, in fact, blameworthy. In those cases, the first condition for including blame in a news story has been met. If, however, a source can’t provide the evidence, journalists become obligated to investigate and test the claim.

Condition 2: Journalists are ethically obligated to end news discourses that become a blame game.Much of today’s news is filled with blame that is simply passed from one party to the next. What results is a blame game in which people continually respond to charges of blame by casting their own. This kind of circular debate rarely accomplishes anything.Instead, it tends to create frustration, inhibit decision making and obstruct problem solving. Therefore, journalists are obligated to end news discourses that become nothing more than perpetual blame shifting. What’s more, they are ethically obligated to intervene when they recognize blamers using blame to take a negative spotlight off – or shine a positive spotlight on – themselves.

This obligation applies even when conditions of blameworthiness have been met. If blame is deserved, it should be given. But that blame doesn’t have to be passed along in perpetuity. When this happens, progress toward repairing relationships, solving problems, and moving forward stops. If journalism ought to be a practice that helps communities live, work and govern together, news discourses must move out of unproductive back-and-forth blame and into conversations that lead to something.

Condition 3: Journalists are ethically obligated to hold discourses of blame to a standard of civility that helps maintain mutually respectful relations.Journalists are facilitators of society’s conversations, but they also can serve as moderators. When blame takes an ugly turn, a good moderator intervenes, calls a “time out” and then helps move the conversation from hostility to civility.

Civility’s meaning can be murky, but as political scientist Virginia Sapiro points out, one sense of it deals with good manners. While civility can’t rest on etiquette alone, the level of etiquette is important if we are to move to civility’s next level, which deals with constructive engagement. Therefore, journalists should insist that their sources control their behavior and exercise restraint. When blame turns toxic, journalists can remind their sources of a centuries-old list of French Jesuit rules that ends with this imperative:“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”

Of course, journalists often do the blaming, and they can be just as guilty as their sources of fostering a culture of blame in the news. Therefore, journalists must apply to themselves the same conditions they apply to their sources.

Condition 4: Journalists are ethically obligated to ask, listen and think beyond the blame.Spending just enough time with a source to find out where the blame lies isn’t good enough. While morality requires that journalists respect well-considered and well-justified blame, they shouldn’t stop there. Instead, journalists should go on to seek suggestions, solutions and other responses that foster genuine democratic  argumentation and contribute to problem solving.

A journalist’s first question to a source should never be “Who’s to blame?” Doing so serves immediately to frame the story in terms of blame. It serves to oversimplify what is often a complex issue. And it, of course, serves to foster blame’s ritualization. Instead, journalists should get beyond what editor Cole C. Campbell called categorical thinking (Who’s the villain? Who’s the victim?) to engage in expansive thinking grounded in a world of ideas.

My conditions aren’t intended to imply that blame should be handed down with kid gloves. Journalists must respect their own and others’ strong convictions, but they should simultaneously ask: What will this blame accomplish? Will it lead to constructiveengagement? Will it build relationships of mutual concern? Will it effect change? Or will it lead to a shouting match or even silence? Even if the conversations of our culture are infused with blame, journalists have the opportunity to refine that conversation into onethat is constructive rather than damaging. The challenge becomes expressing the kind of blame that carries with it the required moral force but doesn’t overwhelm with condemnation. Blame should be done with an acknowledgment of mutuality that, when it works properly, can achieve what morality needs of it. And if we can get blame right in the news, perhaps we have more chance of getting it right beyond the news.

Wendy Wyatt’s monograph, “Blame Narratives and the News: An Ethical Analysis” will be published in Journalism and Communication Monographs.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

Cognitive Psychology by Greg Robinson-Riegler, Psychology, and Bridget Robinson-Riegler (Allyn & Bacon, 2012).

Cognitive psychology refers to the scientific study of mental processes like attention, memory, problem solving and decision making. This textbook presents fundamental principles, theories, and empirical findings in a variety of research areas. Special attention is given to how cognitive processes operate in everyday/applied contexts. For example, what happens to attention when people multitask? The authors outline answers that have emerged from research.

The New India by Kanishka Chowdhury, American Culture and Difference (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

This book looks at various constructions of the Indian citizen from 1991 to 2007, the period when economic liberalization became established government policy. Liberalization generated complex social and economic tensions, and Chowdhury reveals how these tensions shaped images of the citizen in cultural narratives of the time – in films, literary texts, corporate advertisements, political documents, and citizens’ response to the privatization of public space.

Literary Celebrity, Gender, and Victorian Authorship, 1850-1914 by Alexis Easley, English (University of Delaware Press, 2011).

This study examines literary celebrity in Britain from 1850 to 1914 and focuses on a variety of Victorian authors, including Charles Dickens and Harriet Martineau. Easley demonstrates the role of the celebrity author in forming British national identity. For example, by reading sensational accounts of writers’ lives, Victorians were able to reconsider conventional gender roles and domestic arrangements.

The Spiritual Senses: Perceiving God in Western Christianity by Pavel Gavrilyuk, Theology, and Sarah Coakley, eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Is it possible to see, hear, touch, smell and taste God? How do we understand the biblical promise that the pure in heart will see God? Classic Christian authors have approached these questions by appealing to the concept of the “spiritual senses.” This book analyzes how the spiritual senses relate to mind, heart, emotions, will, desire and judgment. The book includes two essays by St. Thomas theology faculty member, Mark McInroy.

Learning the Chants of the Missal, Part I, four CDs sung by J. Michael Joncas, Catholic Studies, and The Order of the Mass: A Roman Missal Study Edition and Workbook by Michael S. Driscoll and J. Michael Joncas, Catholic Studies (Both by Liturgy Training Publications, 2011).

The CD provides the tools to study and learn the musical tones provided in The Roman Missal. This a cappella collection, will help priests become more comfortable with the new texts and musical notations. The workbook is a resource for priests, musicians, seminarians and liturgists as they prepare to celebrate liturgy. Is gives tips on how to pray, proclaim and sing The Roman Missal fully.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

Each time we plan an issue of CAS Spotlight we must decide where next to shine that light. Our choices are made difficult by the many outstanding projects and accomplishments that could easily fill more than two issues of this publication each year.

In each issue we make a point to include a feature article on the research agenda of one of our 250 full-time faculty members. We shine a light on faculty research because of its importance in a university community. Research expands our understanding of the world, informs our teaching in the classroom and is the perfect venue for engaging students academically outside the classroom.

Recent issues have featured research studies on topics as varied as domestic terrorism, environmental psychology, a Croatian archeological dig, Mexican film, musicians recovering from breast cancer and the “New India.” In this issue, Dr. Wendy Wyatt looks at the role that news stories about blame play in our culture. Future issues might give you the chance to learn about Dr. Magdalena Stolarska’s mathematical models of cancerous tumor growth, or the ongoing investigation by Dr. Kris Wammer and her students into levels of prescription drug residue in Minnesota waterways, or an award-winning study by Dr. Roxanne Prichard on the sleep habits of college students, or Dr. Heather Shirey’s study of artwork associated with the little-known African-Brazilian religion of Candomblé. Or perhaps we will feature one of hundreds more research projects that the faculty are pursuing.

Unfortunately, you will never read about most of those research projects because magazine space is limited. In the Highlights section, we summarize dozens of books, book chapters and professional journal articles that CAS faculty members have published, not to mention the many other ways in which they continue to engage in the work of their disciplines.

Every day, our faculty are creating and extending knowledge into many realms. I hope that you enjoy reading about some of these research activities. All of the stories that you read, and so many more, are reasons that I am proud to be the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Following a national search, Dr. Terence Langan was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and holder of the Al and Mary Agnes McQuinn Distinguished Chair, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

This summer’s physical renovation of the quad added new sidewalks, trees and shrubs designed to complement our two newest buildings. However, that transformation is not the only change that occurred at St. Thomas. More importantly, but less noticeably, we experienced many faculty and staff transitions within the College of Arts and Sciences. After five years of lasting contributions as dean, Marisa Kelly left St. Thomas to become provost at Ithaca College. Following 21 years of service, initially in the Department of Economics and more recently as associate dean, I was asked to serve as interim dean for this academic year while we conduct a national search for our next dean.

This summer we also saw the retirement of nine faculty members: Mary Anne Chalkley (Psychology), Winston Chrislock (History), Joseph Fitzharris (History), John Kemper (Mathematics), Joseph Komar (Computer and Information Sciences), Thomas Redshaw (English), Kurt Scholz (Mathematics), Thomas Sturm (Computer and Information Sciences) and Thomas Sullivan (Philosophy). We wish them fulfillment in their retirements. Tragically, we also mourned the deaths of two veteran faculty members from the Department of Health and Human Performance. Daniel Carey served his students, both in the classroom and in his Exercise Physiology laboratory, for 23 productive years. John Rohwer came to St. Thomas more recently, but made lasting contributions as department chair.

One might question how the College will weather the loss of 11 influential faculty members and a dean who offered 375 combined years of service to St. Thomas. However, as special as these colleagues were, the College copes with this issue to a greater or lesser extent every year. Hiring new individuals is one way to deal with the loss of faculty. This fall we welcomed 14 new CAS faculty colleagues. Searches are in progress for 23 new and replacement faculty positions. It will be years before these new hires are in a position to make the same level of contributions as the faculty we have lost. Until then, we will continue to rely on the talent of the 228 returning members of the faculty, with their combined 3,050 years of service, to carry the College forward.

Every year these faculty members make important changes to the education we offer our students. Just as students from 15 years ago are unlikely to recognize the transformed quad, they are equally unlikely to recognize the courses they took. Our professors continually update the content of their courses to reflect their changing disciplines and re-think their teaching methods to match our changing students. While 2011-2012 is a year of transition, based on my observation it is the 22nd consecutive year of transition for the College of Arts and Sciences. I remain confident in our ability to educate morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely and work skillfully to advance the common good.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

Leandra, can you tell us a bit about your life after graduation from St. Thomas? What have you done and where are you headed?

I graduated from St. Thomas with a B.A. in Catholic Studies and music. My original plan was to attend graduate school (in classical guitar performance) immediately upon graduation, but I decided during my senior year to first take a year off from school.

I lived in the Twin Cities last year while working as a freelance musician. My primary job was directing a Lutheran church’s vocal choir and handbell choir. I also taught private guitar lessons and gave various performances. A good portion of my time was spent applying to graduate programs, and I traveled to four schools to audition. I was accepted at all of those places and in the end I chose to attend the University of Arizona in Tucson. This fall, I began pursuing a master of music degree in guitar performance, which is a two-year program.

I am seriously considering getting a doctorate in music, with the intention of one day teaching at the university level while also having a private guitar studio; however, it is all in God’s hands and I will have to see where He leads me.

Many students in Catholic Studies at St. Thomas are double majors. You combined Catholic Studies and music majors. Can you tell us a bit about why you chose these majors and how they shaped your undergraduate experience?

When I was visiting colleges during my junior year of high school, two of my criteria were that I could study guitar and Catholic theology/religious studies.

At St. Thomas, I majored in music because it had been part of my life for so long that I couldn’t imagine dropping it in college. I chose Catholic Studies because I had begun to delve into and examine the Catholic faith in high school and I had a strong desire to have a more structured look at Catholicism. I also was very intrigued by the Catholic Studies’ Rome program, which I participated in during the fall of 2008. Both of my major departments were relatively small, which enabled me to develop close relationships with professors and fellow students. These communities were influential in shaping me as a person.

My Catholic Studies experience particularly showed me how faith permeates all facets of life. My classes went beyond academic knowledge and ingrained in me a deeper understanding of the vitality of Catholic thought and culture. The interdisciplinary nature of Catholic Studies helped me form a more holistic view of the world, where faith is grounded not only in academic studies but in every aspect of life. Faith became no longer an abstract concept, but a concrete reality that I could, and should, live out.

What were highlights of your Catholic Studies academic experience and student life?

One of my best Catholic Studies experiences was the time I lived and studied in Rome. It was there that I formed some of my closest friendships, and that semester was the most steeped I had ever been in Catholic culture. I was surrounded by classmates who shared my faith, and we not only lived near Vatican City, but also in a country where the life and culture are closely intertwined with Catholicism. Those four months were an amazing experience, and I am incredibly thankful for my time there.

Another highlight of the Catholic Studies program for me was taking the course, Woman and Man. I find the topics of masculinity and femininity fascinating, and this was my favorite class in the program. The course covered some of the most controversial issues our culture is facing today, including sexual equality, the role of women in the Church, sexual ethics, and feminism, and it explored and explained the reasons behind the Church’s teachings on these and similar issues. The readings and in-class discussions were eye-opening and engaging, making me eager to delve into the issues at hand.

Along with perhaps any liberal arts degree, one often hears students ask what they can “do” with a Catholic Studies major. Perhaps, in the long run, it is less a matter of “doing” than “living.” How has your Catholic Studies major been influential in your life?

I think that the distinction between “doing” and “living” is excellent to note and is, in fact, the difference between my music and Catholic Studies majors. Of my two majors, music is definitely the most “practical” in terms of what I can “do.” I love music and with my music major I am equipped with the tools to accomplish my music goals, such as teaching, performing and attending graduate school. But my Catholic Studies degree taught me how to live.

Through my many Catholic Studies experiences and the examples of my professors, I learned that the meaning of life is found in doing God’s particular will for me, and that I can only fully thrive by genuinely living out my faith. For me, the value of my Catholic Studies degree cannot be measured necessarily in terms of money or practicality. Instead, its value is in how it has taught me to live an authentic Catholic life. My Catholic Studies major has been instrumental in forming me and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

You can hear Leandra play classical guitar by searching “Hubka” at www.tommiemedia.com.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

This knowledge drives the way I teach the Introduction to Art History course. In the first unit on domestic space I expect students to read and understand how people from different cultures, races and economic backgrounds live. We analyze photographs, plans and drawings in order to understand the visual element of the home. Students also consider why certain things such as paint color, lighting, architectural details and landscaping are important choices for a homeowner. Students then combine all this research and discussion into a final project that asks them to describe their childhood home in both words and floor plans.

But why am I so interested in having my students understand domestic space before tackling the work of artists like Michelangelo, Georgia O’Keefe or Jackson Pollock? Because not only is this exercise effortless for my students to relate to, it also provides me with an indication of who they are as people and what they think is important about the way they live. The house becomes a tool for two-way learning.

But would most of us think about our house or home as an art object? Not likely. Some of us might live in homes designed by architects but others seek shelter in places designed by an unknown artisan, maybe one’s great grandfather or local builder. So, when does a house become art? When it moves beyond the purely functional. Enter the Winton guest house, designed by architect Frank Gehry and contructed from 1983 to 1987 for Mike and Penny Winton, and most recently owned by local real estate developer Kirt Woodhouse until he gave the property to the University of St. Thomas in December 2007.

An Unusual Gift

The gift required that the house be relocated from its original site near Lake Minnetonka in Orono, Minn., to the University’s Gainey Conference Center in Owatonna, Minn., as space was not available on the Minneapolis or St. Paul campuses for a piece of art 2,300 square feet in size. Woodhouse, who had purchased the property from the Wintons in 2002, offered the house to several groups in the Twin Cities, but none was able to accept the gift.

The entrepreneurial spirit of St. Thomas’ development office made the gift a reality. As the architectural historian in the Art History Department, I knew that this would be a huge opportunity to showcase an understanding of architecture as art, as Woodhouse wanted. He said, “Art of this caliber is meant to be shared and enjoyed by the public. My intent with this donation is to inspire those who visit the home to have a greater appreciation and understanding of modern art and how it comes in many forms, including a house.”

What I did not know was just how complicated the process of making the house available to our students and guests would be. Complicated, yes, but also very educational.

Another Way to Look at ArtThe Art History Department prides itself on a broad understanding of art with our eight full-time faculty members specializing in topics including narrative and Greek vase painting; medieval costume, shape-shifting and syncretism; ancientMexican sculpture and manuscript painting; 17th-century Chinese landscape painting; the history of type design; politics and identity construction in the African-Brazilian religion Candomblé; Asmat art; and mid-20th century Catholic church architecture. And our approaches to art are as varied as the media. Some base their scholarship on theory while others find archaeology, patronage and religious issues important.

If it seems difficult to think of a building as art, one needs only look at the forms of Gehry’s Winton guest house to sense a different understanding of domestic space at play. On the exterior, the 35-foot tall pyramidal-shaped living room is finished with black painted metal as is the shed-roofed bedroom. An additional curving bedroom is covered in local dolomite limestone from southern Minnesota (the same stone was used on many St. Thomas buildings). A cubical fireplace room is faced in the same brick as the original house on the site. A loft is covered in stainless steel sheet metal and a rectangular-shaped garage/kitchenette is covered in a graphically patterned mixture of Finnish plywood and aluminum strips. The forms could stand on their own as each piece barely touches another, and the forms are kept pure as no exterior joints, hardware or utility boxes are visible.

Although these different spaces function as livable elements of a house, they are inspired by art. At the time of the house construction, Gehry was well known in the Los Angeles area art scene and his friends included pop artist Ed Ruscha and sculptors Claes Oldenburg (who created the Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden) and Richard Serra, among others. The strongest influence on Gehry’s work for the Winton project came from the 20th-century Italian artist, Giorgio Morandi. Gehry has talked repeatedly about the importance of Morandi’s still-life studies of bottles, boxes, cups and vases on Gehry’s work of this period. As Gehry told Barbara Isenberg during an interview for her 2009 book, Conversations with Frank Gehry: “When I discovered the pictures of Giorgio Morandi, I just went nuts because Morandi was drawing bottles which were essentially one-room buildings and creating villages of bottles. I liked that.”

And once the comparison is made to the Winton guest house, the influence is stunning. From certain vantage points, the house appears as a sculpture with no windows or doors visible. The house rests right on the ground, further accentuating its role as sculpture.

The rise of architecture to art was noticed by many including Time magazine, awarding its house-of-the-year status to the guest house in 1987. In the same year, House and Garden featured the building in an article “The House as Art,” stating, “What makesthe Winton guest house wonderful cannot be easily recommended for application elsewhere, but that has never been the point, strictly speaking of avant-garde architecture.” Gehry was breaking new ground in domestic design. Architecture was art.

Moving the House in 10 Sections Over 10 MonthsNormally when a piece of art is donated to the university one or two people can carefully move it to a useful location. But what if the art is a house? And what if the useful location is 110 miles from your main campus as was the case for the Winton guest house? Enter Stubbs Building & House Movers, the company responsible for relocating the historic 2,900-ton Shubert Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. Because of the unique shape of this house and the height of the living room tower, Larry Stubbs and his team dismantled the structure into 10 pieces – the heaviest was the 80-ton stone bedroom – hoisted most of them onto steel carrying beams and transported the sections on flatbed trailers down side roads in the middle of the night to the Gainey campus.

It is rare to see an entire house dismantled in order to move it. But in many ways, this is one of the most exciting and the most instructive parts of this project. Construction successes and failures and material wear became readily apparent. The biggest surprise came when Stubbs’ crew removed what they thought were stone slabs creating the patios adjacent to each door. They found, instead, two-foot diameter boulders buried in the ground – the visible slabs were only the tip of the iceberg! The rebuild, led by contractors Casey & Groesbeck and architects Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates, provided a chance to fix problems and utilize 25 years of advances in the building field in order to make this structure more solid than it has been in years.

Education via Architecture

Buildings teach us about the culture of a given time frame, as well asabout the people who designed, owned and used them. Just as I ask my undergraduates to write about their childhood home, I wanted the Winton guest house to share its journey, in this case, through a permanent exhibit in the house. The stone bedroom will showcase the relationship between the Wintons and Gehry, the garage will highlight the design and construction of the house, and the metal bedroom will feature the relocation of the building. Construction documents and letters between the Wintons and Gehry’s office, most of which have never been seen before, will be accessible to the public. Oral histories supplement these documents. The Wintons, Gehry, the local builder Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, and others have donatedpapers related to the project and interviews, and together with my students, we can study these documents and draw new conclusions about this building. This will aid students in their role as tour guides of the house.

At least 10 students have played a role in the creation of the exhibit, most notably graduate students Katie Czarniecki Hill and Marria Thompson, who gave up three days of their 2011 spring break to lay out the exhibit and write label text on what they called their “Gehry Gone Wild” break. Other students have conducted research and interviews, edited label text, taken photographs for the exhibit, secured materials, and critiqued plans and designs.

Many people have cited the importance of the guest house in Gehry’s career, tying it directly to his Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota (1991) and Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (1997); and now we can teach our students about Gehry’s inspirations and his evolution as an architect.

We will start this process in the spring of 2012 in my graduate class, Gehry and his Contemporaries, which will feature the archives of the Winton guest house (such as letters between the client and architect, blueprints and photos) as key instructional material, along with a weekend stay at the Gainey Conference Center to study the house and its context more carefully. Fortunately, Owatonna is a living architectural history book, with many different styles and buildings types present, including the Gainey house, a French Norman revival house completed in 1953 by noted Minnesota architect Edwin Lundie for then president of Jostens, Daniel C. Gainey, and Louis Sullivan’s early 20th-century bank building in downtown.

Sharing Gehry and the Winton Guest House With the World

By most accounts, Gehry is one of the most popular living architects in the world. He has parodied himself on an episode of “The Simpsons,” helped “Arthur” and his friends design a tree house on the PBS show, been the subject of several documentariesand films including Sydney Pollack’s 2006 “Sketches of Frank Gehry,” and designed a hat for Lady Gaga, and watches and jewelry for Tiffany and Fossil. But he is also one of the most innovative and respected designers in the profession. His computer-aided design processes enable the majority of his projects to come in on time and on budget. He has won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and a National Medal for the Arts from President Bill Clinton. He has takenarchitecture to a new artistic level, prompting noted architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable to call him the “most staggeringly talented architect since Frank Lloyd Wright.” Gehry was not the acclaimed architect he is today when he started working on the Winton guest house. The Wintons gave a relatively unknown designer the freedom to create space and form in new and clever ways.

The Winton guest house is Gehry’s only domestic project open to the public. Please visit www.stthomas.edu/gehrywinton for more information. A public tour schedule will be set up for the non-winter months, and the house will be open by appointment throughout the year.

Read more from CAS Spotlight

Because many people choose the same password for multiple websites, learning someone’s login information for one site gave hackers access to that person’s accounts at numerous other sites. What followed were reports of pranks that included changing Facebook profile pictures to disturbing images, and buying and having random items delivered to unsuspecting victims whose accounts had been used for the purchases.

Lulzsec hackers claimed they posted the information and encouraged its misuse “for the laughs,” as well as to prompt users and organizations to implement better security practices.

The widely publicized attacks from Lulzsec are just one example of a growing problem: the susceptibility of organizations to data breaches. Concerns about the security of sensitive information sent over the Internet have existed for years, yet those fears have too often been focused on what happens to information in transit. The recent attacks and the hundreds of data leaks that are reported every year make it clear that the larger issue is what happens to personal data after it reaches its destination.

When you provide valuable information such as a credit card number to an organization, you often have no way of knowing if the organization is storing this data and what steps (if any) it is taking to prevent the data’s theft. Often, you only find out that an organization was storing your information insecurely after receiving a letter notifying you its database was hacked or one of its employees lost a laptop containing sensitive data.

Clearly, many organizations are not doing enough to protect their customers’ information. While few details of the Lulzsec attacks are known, it has been widely reported that some of the compromised websites were poorly designed and vulnerable to simple SQL (structured query language) injection attacks. These attacks, which allow attackers to execute database commands simply by submitting data (e.g., through a Web form) with carefully placed special characters such as quotation marks, give hackers access to entire databases of customer information.

Making matters worse, it appears that in many cases sensitive information was simply stored “in the clear” instead of being encrypted first. This means that once attackers had access to the databases, they were able to immediately see actual customer information instead of only seeing unintelligible, scrambled data. Users also share some of the blame, having reused usernames and passwords at multiple websites, despite the well-known dangers of this practice.

Solving the Problem Through Education

What can be done to prevent these types of attacks from happening repeatedly in the future? A key step toward solving the problem is better security education for everyone involved, but most importantly for those designing and managing the computer systems that interact with sensitive customer information. With reliance on the Internet continually increasing, it has become essential that anyone working in computing be knowledgeable in information security.

To address this growing need for security education, the St. Thomas Department of Computer and Information Sciences created a major in information security in 2008 and has begun offering two new security courses, with more offerings to come.

Our information security curriculum is designed to teach students essential technical skills such as how to prevent SQL injection attacks and properly use encryption, while also teaching them “how to think like an adversary” so that they can better anticipate newthreats. As a result, our majors, when faced with designing or evaluating a system, will be able to foresee potential security issues and will have the technical skills needed to address them.

Additionally, the CISC Department also requires all computer science majors, not just those in the new information security major, to take a course in information security early in the program. This is in contrast to computer science programs at most other universities, which either do not teach a security course at all or only offer it as anupper-level elective.

Making security a required course ensures that all our computer science graduates are knowledgeable in current attacks and defenses, and placing the course early in the major gets students thinking about security issues right from the start of their college education. It is tempting to think, based on the well-publicized attacks from Lulzsec and others, that the information security field is in a dire state. While it’s true that many organizations have inadequate security, it’s actually a good thing that leaks have been in the news.

The publicity undoubtedly will lead to more security awareness in average users, spur governments to enact tougher regulations and ultimately force organizations to take precautions to protect customer data.

Our graduates, with their training in information security, will be well-positioned to fill the accompanying need for security expertise.

Read more from CAS Spotlight