Professional notes
Dr. Jean Birbilis, Graduate School of Professional Psychology, has been invited to be a member of the American Psychological Association's Division 29 Education and Training Committee. The committee's upcoming tasks include reviewing competencies and minimum criteria for psychotherapy training.
Dr. Kenneth Goodpaster, College of Business, gave the keynote address to the annual meeting of the Minnesota Risk and Insurance Management Society Feb. 2 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. He spoke about two imperatives that emerge from recent scandals inside and outside the insurance industry. The first has to do with managing risk ethically, i.e., avoiding an occupational hazard of business competition that can undermine a company's culture. The second imperative has to do with managing ethical risk, i.e., placing a "moral hazard" into the conventional portfolio of risk management, not only in relation to reputation but also in relation to organizational integrity for its own sake.
Dr. William Kinney, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, is the author of a teaching resource, "Artificial Norms and the Influence of the Mass Media," published in the American Sociological Association's Teaching About Mass Media in the Classroom, edited by Heather Laube and Sarah Sobieraj. The resource is designed to show students how to view components of the popular culture analytically, thereby revealing how cultural and personal norms may be shaped or altered by influences from the mass media.
Dr. Pamela Nice, Faculty Development Center, is the translator of a play by Zakaria Lahlou, "The Opposite Program," published by the Moroccan Cultural Studies Centre of Fes, Morocco. Nice and Lahlou developed the play last year at the national theater institute of Morocco, ISADAC, where it was performed in Darija (Moroccan Arabic). The play is about male-female relationships in Morocco, as well as the place of the artist in society, focusing on those who do not follow the "program" of cultural expectations.
Nice also received an Artist's Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board for editing of her documentary on Moroccan youth, "Dreaming in Morocco," which she filmed during her Fulbright year in that country.
Joe Plante, Development Office, has been named to the board of directors of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. MSHS is a 140-year-old organization that exists to "serve northern gardeners through education, encouragement and community." Primary activities of the society include seminars, community gardening programs such as Minnesota Green, collaboration with gardening clubs throughout the state, and production of award-winning Northern Gardener magazine.
Dr. Jeri Rockett, Personal Counseling and Testing, is co-author of an article, "Enjoying the Roller Coaster Ride: Directors' Perspectives on Fostering Morale in University Counseling Centers," published in the Journal of College Student Psychotherapy. Other co-authors were colleagues from Cornell University, the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and DePauw University. The article was invited by the journal and based on a presentation the group made to the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors at its annual conference in October 2004.
James Rogers, Center for Irish Studies, is author of a personal essay, "Roads, Stories, Indians, Air," published in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Vol. 12, No. 2 (summer 2005). The essay, which concerns the Pilot Knob site in Mendota Heights, cites the work of Irish cartographer and writer Tim Robinson, among others.
Dr. John Spry, Economics Department, is co-author (with Philip Coelho and James McClure) of a paper, "The Social Responsibility of Corporate Management: A Classical Critique," reprinted as Chapter 3 of Corporate Social Responsibility: Contemporary Insights, edited by Sumati Reddy and published by CAFAI Press, Hyderabad, India.
