Students Present at Great Books Symposium

"O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world
That has such people in't!"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 5.1

On April 6, 2011, the Jeremy Marks Memorial Intercollegiate Student Symposium was held at Wright College,  Each year for the past several years, students from Harold Washington College, Wright College, and Oakton College have come together to present their own papers on a specific Great Book.  This year students presented essays on the topic of illusion in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.  

Two Harold Washington students from Literature 211 (Honors Shakespeare) participated as presenters, Collette Hudson with “Illusion in The Tempest:  An Exploration of the Unreal in Theater and in Life,” and Jessica Brandau with “The Tempest as a Fairy Tale.”  Jennifer Thanos served as a discussant, posing a question to all six presenters at the close of the session. 

Thank you to Professor Ruzicka for bringing this to my attention.

 

Student Presents Stem Cell Research

Ryan Patwell participated in the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement Washington Symposium and Capitol Hill Poster Session in March 2011. The three day event brought professionals from multiple fields together for the purpose of sharing new ideas on how to make science education more accessible. The first two days consisted of multiple presentations and panel discussions from various institutions describing their work. The topics presented included sustainability, preservation, alternative energy, and civic engagement. On the last day Ryan met with a congressional representative from Illinois to discuss his project. His final event was a poster session on Capitol Hill, where Ryan presented his project on stem cells to the other attendees.

Ryan credits Dr. Farah for inspiring him to apply and participate. He is now participating in the Undergraduate Research Collaborative at Harold Washington College.

Shining Star

Almost immediately upon my start here at Harold Washington College, I was asked to welcome Secretary of State Jesse White to our college. I asked who had arranged the visit of this illustrious guest and was told Professor Caroline Shoenberger. Shortly after that, I was asked to welcome Marc Schulman, CEO of Eli's Cheesecake, to campus as a guest lecturer. The professor who arranged this? Professor Shoenberger. 

I was beginning to think she was everywhere. Then I received this notice:

"City Colleges of Chicago proudly announces the recipients of 2011 CCC Star Award, bestowed in recognition of their efforts to enrich the student experience at CCC and make their colleges and communities better places to live and work."

You can probably guess the first Harold Washington College recipient of the CCC Star Award - Professor Shoenberger. 

    
Caroline sets a high bar as our first college recipient. I am in awe of what she does for us and for the community.

She runs the Immigration Project at Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc., which was founded in 1981 by two new lawyers, Executive Director Ed Grossman and Board President, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki. There are seven locations throughout Chicago, including Harold Washington College.

She has taught Business Law, Business Ethics, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, International Business and Introduction to Business courses at Harold Washington College.

Caroline is also involved in many outside activities, including:  

• Co-chair of the Media Committee for the Chicago Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers' Association; 
• Advisory Board Member for the Schiller, DuCanto and Fleck Family Law Center at DePaul University College of Law; 
• Advisory Board Member of the Advocacy Committee of the American Heart Association; 
• Member of the Catholic Committee for Immigration Reform; 
• Member of the French-American Chamber of Commerce;
• Member of the Paris Sister City Committee for the City of Chicago. 

In her spare time, Caroline works with Kids-in-Danger and A Silverlining Foundation on various fund-raising activities. Additionally, she participates as a Lecturer each Christmas in the Inns of Court Program in London with Loyola Law School. Her lectures usually involve a legal/business issue, such as Comparative Data Protection laws and their Impact on Marketing. 

Congratulations to Professor Caroline Shoenberger. She is a role model for all of us and a most deserving recipient of this award. 

Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone?

EducationNext just published an article that highlights the efficacy of lectures over class-based problem-solving time. From the article: 

Contrary to contemporary pedagogical thinking, we find that students score higher on standardized tests in the subject in which their teachers spent more time on lecture-style presentations than in the subject in which the teacher devoted more time to problem-solving activities. For both math and science, a shift of 10 percentage points of time from problem solving to lecture-style presentations (e.g., increasing the share of time spent lecturing from 20 to 30 percent) is associated with an increase in student test scores of 1 percent of a standard deviation. Another way to state the same finding is that students learn less in the classes in which their teachers spend more time on in-class problem solving.

The researchers looked at eighth grade students. According the the paper, the results are statistically robust. 
    

These findings contradict recent discussions I have had on campus - and my own gut feel - about the value of active-learning strategies. I would appreciate colleagues weighing in. Am I missing something or making a false comparison? Do we have other studies? What is our own experience? To borrow from my esteemed colleague, what do we think and know and what can we prove?

Quantum Leap

Spring break is here. The building is quiet. And while my schedule does not seem to have lightened, the mood is different and with so many faculty off to far-flung lands I find my own mind wandering to thoughts of travel. 

Then I saw this post and my mind started racing. I am a sci-fi fan, with time travel and teleportation as my two favorite themes. It seems the day when one can leave the office and have dinner in Beijing is drawing closer. 

Enjoy the rest of spring break. See everyone on April 25, the launch of Spirit Week. 

Happy Birthday, Mayor Washington

I know Mayor Harold Washington's birthday is April 15, but our students have chosen to observe it on the 14th. I write this post in his honor to coincide with our students' observance.

Mayor Washington is one of the reasons I chose to make Chicago my home, and why I am so proud to lead the institution named in his honor. I loved Mayor Washington because he loved Chicago more than I do. Some people want to be Mayor because they want to fix things, or help accomplish things for the voters. Others seek the power for less salutary reasons. In my opinion, the greatest Mayors seek the office because with all of their heart they love the city and its citizens. Mayor Washington was one of those Mayors. 

Mayor Washington was a man of courage. Two decades before President Obama chose to believe that Americans could see past race and elect a man based on the content of his character, Mayor Washington believed that about Chicago. Chicago, arguably one of the segregated cities in the nation, and among the most racially divided at the time of his election, rose above those issues and elected its first black Mayor. In the face of that resistance, he chose, at great risk, to rise above the racial politics and become Mayor of all Chicagoans. He had lived through the insults and the anger of what some believed was his "presumptuous" run for Mayor. He was called names and insulted and threatened in parts of this city. His quote from our lobby, after you know this history, brings home how much he spoke from experience: I dare you to become great. I challenge you to reach the outer limits of your ability to learn, think and achieve. I dare you to suffer against the odds to work, suffer, and sacrifice to make your dream come true. After his election, even with Council Wars and the rancor, he kept loving Chicago and kept believing in our better angels. Mayor Washington fought to make Chicago a greater city, and Chicago is greater for having him as our Mayor.

I was a college student when Mayor Washington was elected, and I was so happy to be a Chicagoan that election night. I called my friends and family in other cities to tell them, in wonder, "Did you see what Chicago did tonight? Did you ever believe this could happen in Chicago?" I decided then that I wanted to be a part of this great city, not just a visitor. I lived for a short while across the park from Mayor Washington's apartment building in Hyde Park. I would walk by with friends and point out to them "where our Mayor lives. He lives in MY neighborhood."

Today, I bring friends and family to tour our campus, eager to show off the students and faculty and staff who work hard every day. Upon occasion, I pause to read the quote on the poster on the right side of the lobby, the one with him reading the Sun-Times. It reminds me of what our faculty and staff do every day for our students: That which we do to help others succeed, aid our own success. On this, the eve of Mayor Washington's birthday, I thank the faculty and staff of Harold Washington College who work hard every day to help our students succeed. I know Mayor Washington would be proud of you. I am.

President's Gallery in the News

Chicago Tribune reporter Lauren Viera has written a thoughtful review of the Shaila Christofferson exhibit in the President's Gallery on the 11th floor. It has been a delight to see these sculptures each day as I come and go to the office.

Check out the show before it closes April 15.