Spring 2020 Semester Highlights
Even with instruction moving from the classroom to a virtual campus, UW-Parkside students and faculty continued to make headlines.
Sky Hopinka Exhibit
The UW-Parkside College of Arts and Humanities hosted a series of videos showing the works of Sky Hopinka, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and a descendent of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. The announcement of identity is important to his work, revealing the layered strata of information, presence, confusion, and history.
Dr. Peggy Kendrigan
Criminal Justice Department Associate Lecturer Dr. Peggy Kendrigan was recognized by the Milwaukee Coalition of Justice for her work in Mississippi in 1966. She became involved with the James Meredith March Against Fear, and helped to register residents to vote. Dr. Kendrigan met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when she, along with many others, marched with him into Philadelphia, Miss., for a memorial service honoring three civil rights workers killed in Philadelphia by the KKK for engaging in voter registration.
Criminal Justice Winterim
The UW-Parkside Criminal Justice Department offered a unique course during Winterim titled “Critical Thinking in Death Scene Investigation.” Led Dr. Jana-Marie Truesdell, the course contained an interactive recreation of a life-size death scene in collaboration with the UW-Parkside Theatre Arts Department. Leading the design and creation of the scene in the UW-Parkside Black Box Theater were set sesigners Nate Stamper and Josh Christofferson.
Cybersecurity Master's
A new online master’s in cybersecurity is being offered in by UW Extended Campus in collaboration with eight UW System campuses including UW-Parkside. The online cybersecurity master’s draws upon diverse faculty expertise in the fields of computer science, engineering, communications, economics, and mathematics.
Parkside Day II
UW-Parkside and the UW-Parkside Foundation hosted Parkside Day 2020 presented by HARIBO of America on March 5 to raise funds for student scholarships and other projects. More than 470 donors made gifts totaling $144,000 to support a variety of scholarships, Ranger Athletics, and the Future Focus Scholarship, a special fund for UW-Parkside seniors who have exhausted their financial aid options and need additional support to complete their final semesters and graduate.
Big Ideas = Big Wins
UW-Parkside students participated in the Big Idea Innovation Challenge, an annual competition designed that provides funding for students to develop innovative ideas and start-ups. After extensive review, Mariana Nelson won first place, and second-place honors went to Thomas Stirrat, Venu Rajyaguru, and Holden Whitledge.
Adam Schemm
The Health, Exercise Science, and Sport Management (HESM) Department honored Adam Schemm with its prestigious “Alumnus of the Year” award. Schemm was originally scheduled to serve as a panelist during the Sport Management Conference, which had to be cancelled this spring.
Dr. Theresa Castor
UW-Parkside Communication Professor Dr. Theresa Castor co-edited and contributed a chapter to the recently published “Water, Rhetoric, and Social Justice: A Critical Confluence.” The book examines how individuals and communities have responded on a global scale to present-day water crises as matters of social justice.
in Memory - John D. Buenker
UW-Parkside said good-bye to a founding faculty member History Professor Emeritus John D. Buenker. His courageous battle with cancer came to a close April 4. Now, his lifelong passion for history lives on in hundreds of award-winning and nationally recognized publications. Among many accomplishments during his 33-year career at UW-Parkside, Dr. Buenker served as chairman of the UW-Parkside History Department, as director of the university’s Center for Ethnic Studies, and as acting director of the Archives and Area Research Center.
United Way Honors
UW-Parkside Community Engagement Specialist Amy Garrigan and Community and Business Engagement Director Debra Karp honored by United Way of Racine CEO Ali Haigh as Employee Campaign Coordinators of the Year.
Read More: Employee Coordinators of the Year
Newman Civic Fellow
Tavyonia Davis, a UW-Parkside psychology and sociology major was named a Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education.
WiSys Ignite Grant
UW-Parkside faculty members Dr. Francis Mann, assistant professor of chemistry, and Dr. David Higgs, associate professor of biological sciences, had research proposals selected for funding by the WiSys Ignite Grant Program for Applied Research. Dr. Mann’s project, “Generation of Carotenoids for Animal Feed and Pigmentation” (Dr. Natalia Taft, associate professor of biological sciences, is a co-principal investigator), and Dr. Higgs’ project, “Genetic Analysis of Nitro Algae: A New Algal Strain with Improved Biomass Yield on Reduced Nitrogen,” received close to $90,000.
Read More: Ignite Grant Program
Root Magazine
UW-Parkside students in Assistant Professor Kristen Bartel’s digital photography class partnered with downtown Racine businesses to create the premiere fall issue of The Root Magazine, named after the city’s historic river. UW-Parkside photography students used their creativity to help showcase the unique aspects of local businesses. The nonprofit initiative Visioning a Greater Racine invested financial support for the design and printing of the magazine. Students in Lecturer Tannette Elie's writing for multimedia class collaborated with Bartel's students for the spring issue of The Root. Students in Assistant Professor Sarah Pina's class provided a Spanish translation of the spring edition.