Faculty & Staff News

Dr. Shannon Clardy, professor of physics at Henderson State University, presented a talk at the American Association of Physics Teachers Nation Winter Meeting in Houston.

High school and college physics educators from across the country fathered to share their research in physics and physics education.

Clardy’s talk was entitled “University Physics Service Learning in an Alternative Classroom.” She presented information on implementing service learning, and specifically how her class worked with the Arkadelphia Alternative Classroom Environment (AACE).

The AACE was named a “model program” last year by the Arkansas Department of Education.

Travis Langley, Psychology, published his 10th book in his series, “Popular Culture Psychology.” Westworld Psychology: Violent Delights was released this November. The previous book, Daredevil Psychology: The Devil You Know, was just released earlier this year.

Val Gudrian, German, published three poems in Neue Lieteratur 2018/2019. They are titled “Montréal-ImLinienbus ‘161’ Richtung Outremont,” “Tropen-Vierques, Porto Rico,” and “Eureka Springs-Writer’s Colony.”

Fred Worth, Mathematics, published an essay, “Backroads and Final Destinations,” in Backyards and Ballplayers: A Collection of Famous (and Not so Famous) Professional Baseball Players from Rural Arkansas, by Jim Yeager.

Steve Listopad, Communication, co-authored with Elizabeth Crisp Crawford an article, “The Origins of New Voices USA: A Lesson in Teaching Advocacy to Improve Teaching and Learning,” in the Winter 2018 issue of Journalism and Mass Communication Educator.

Doug Heffington, Geography, led a National Public Lands Day Hike at Radnor Lake in Tennessee. Heffington is often asked to share his expertise on the area, and his hikes and lectures are always well received.

Kevin Coker, Music, published an article, “Returning to His Roots: A Conversation with Haitian-American Choral Composer Sydney Guillaume,” in the International Choral Bulletin.

The Art Department hosted its 2018 Faculty Biennial in the RFA Gallery featuring art by faculty members Aaron Calvert, Margo Duvall, Kasten Searles, David Stoddard, Katherine Strause, and David Warren. Several part-time faculty members also contributed art: Zina Al-Shukri, Heather Beckwith, Anne Greenwood, and Kimberly McIntosh.

Maryjane Dunn, Spanish, has co-edited a just-released book by Italica Press:  The Miracles and Translatio of Saint James: Books Two and Three of the Liber Sancti Jacobi (Italica Press Medieval & Renaissance Texts)

A book about the history of women in Texas by Dr. Angela Boswell, dean of the Ellis College of Arts and Sciences at Henderson State University, has been published.

Women in Texas History was recently awarded the Robert A. Calvert Prize, an award created to honor the author of one of the most authoritative textbooks in Texas history. Calvert, who was a professor of history at Texas A&M, died in 2000. 

Women in Texas History is the first book to narrate the entire span of Texas women’s history and marks a major achievement in telling the full story of the Lone Star State. Historians and general readers alike will find this book an informative and enjoyable read for anyone interested in the history of Texas or the history of women, according to Texas A&M Press.

Boswell is also the author of Her Act and Deed: Women’s Public Lives in a Rural Southern County, 1837–1873, winner of the Liz Carpenter Award for Best Book on the History of Women.

Several faculty from Henderson State University’s Ellis College of Arts and Sciences at presented at conferences and received grants for faculty development that partially subsidized their travel this fall.

Megan Hickerson, professor of history, presented the paper, “When you can’t bite, what hurt will barking do?”: Using and Losing Foxe in late-Seventeenth-Century English Martyrology,” at the annual meeting of the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference (SCSC), in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This large annual conference brings together scholars primarily in the disciplines of history and literature. Hickerson received good feedback on her work and plans to develop an article out the paper. She also chaired another session at the conference.

Vernon Miles, professor of English, chaired sessions on Literature and Psychology and also presented on the African American literature panel at the South Central Modern Language Association annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Miles is a regular attendee of this conference, organizing, presenting, and/or chairing sessions for the past six years.

Tammie Townsend, Tamara Ogden, and Carrie Flora, assistant professors of nursing, attended the Nurse Educator Update: The Best Practices in Clinical Teaching and Evaluation in Bentonville. The conference is focused on best practice in clinical teaching and evaluation in nursing. Townsend presented a poster she created with Judy Carlyle, Successful Clinical Assignment Utilizing QSEN Resource: Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback, based on an assignment they gave incoming junior nursing students. The faculty members learned about some of the latest research on clinical teaching and evaluation that supports how they teach and evaluate students in the clinical setting.  

Constanze Weise, assistant professor of history, presented a paper, “Order and Disorder: Urban Governance and the Making of a Provincial Capital in British Colonial Nigeria” and was part of the panel “Claiming Imperial Space,” at the 2018 Urban History Association Conference in Columbia, South Carolina. The paper was part of her second book project “Kaduna –Islam and Urbanism in Northern Nigeria, 1913 – 1963.” In addition to receiving feedback on her project, Weise was invited to participate in a network on “Global Urban History Project.”

Jarrod Bray has joined Henderson State University as scholar coordinator for the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program.

Bray, a retired educator, earned his bachelor’s degree in education, master’s in educational leadership, and district administrators license from Henderson. He served 25 years as a teacher, coach, and principal in surrounding school districts.

His wife, Dr. Shelly Bray, is also a Henderson graduate.

Paul Glover, associate professor of communication at Henderson State University, and Michael Taylor, professor and chair of communication and theatre arts, received the Distinguished Advisers awards at the College Media Association’s annual fall convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

These awards are given to an adviser who has five or more years experience in college student media advising, has distinguished service in a particular area, and is an adviser at the time of the nomination.

Henderson was the only university attending to have two advisers receive awards at the ceremony. 

Scott McKinnon, lecturer of communication, conducted a session on drones. Steve Listopad, lecturer of mass media communication, also presented a session.

The multi-day convention included networking opportunities, informative panel discussions, hands-on tutorials, and access to media professionals.

The event covered all aspects of college media, from rapidly changing multimedia platforms to newspaper, broadcast, yearbook and magazine journalism. Advisers were offered special programming focused on their specific challenges.

Shari Valentine, assistant professor of sociology, human services, and criminal justice, has been named Henderson State’s new Institutional Review Board (IRB) coordinator. Her office will be located in the Smith-Garner House.

Henderson’s IRB reviews research protocols to ensure that individuals who volunteer for or are compensated for their participation in research are treated with dignity and care for their welfare. The IRB helps the university to be confident that research conducted here is ethical, fair, and safe for participants. It also helps researchers be confident that their research has been reviewed for issues that they may not have considered.

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• Aaron Calvert, Art, was included in UALR High Lights from the Permanent Collection catalog and exhibit, was a juror of the Virgina P. Weaver Spring Art Show at the Malvern National Bank, and had his work, bio, and statement included in The Idle Class magazine.

Calvert also had his work chosen for display at the 60th Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. Calvert received an honorable-mention award with his glazed stoneware sculpture Always Facing South Bear. He was featured  in the Tri-Lakes edition of Arkansas Democrat Gazette: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/jun/17/area-artists-show-works-annual-delta-exhibit/  After the show, the Arkansas Arts Center purchased the piece for their permanent collection.

• Paul Glover, Communication, will receive the Distinguished 4-year Broadcast Adviser award from the College Media Association at its convention in October. Michael Taylor, Communication, will receive the Distinguished 4-year Newspaper Adviser award. “It is very rare for two faculty members from the same university to win awards in the same year,” said Dr. Angela Boswell, dean of Ellis College.

Taylor has also received a prestigious award from the National Speleological Society. The 2018 National Speleological Society’s “Spelean Arts and Letters Award” was presented to Taylor Aug. 3 at the NSS annual convention in recognition of his many contributions to the society. The annual convention, held this year in Helena, Montana, is the premier annual gathering of cave explorers in the U.S. In addition to receiving the award, Taylor ran an all-day writers workshop on Friday for those wanting to write about caves, talked with cavers about his book in progress, Hidden Nature, to be published next year by Vanderbilt University Press, and attended some microbiology sessions to seek advice on a joint cave research project he is conducting with Dr. James Engman and his students.

• The paintings of Katherine Strause, Art, were the focus of The Avenue — Art & Wine Dinner in Hot Springs. Strause discussed her work and inspiration with guests who enjoyed both her art and a five-course dinner with wine pairings from Executive Chef Casey Copeland.

Strause has been chosen to exhibit in Woman Made Gallery’s “21st International Open,” an exciting exhibition in Chicago which includes 44 works of art by 40 artists, spanning six countries. These artists explore conceptual and material boundaries through video, photography, mixed medium assemblage, collage, painting and sculpture. 

Strause is also the painter behind the the cover of  the Little Rock magazine, Soiree, “Bow & Arrow.” [Read more…] about An update on Ellis College faculty activities

Don Benton, assistant professor in educational leadership at Henderson State University, has been named the new assistant commissioner for research and technology for the Arkansas Department of Education. Benton will assume the role on Sept. 17.

As assistant commissioner, according to a news release, Benton will oversee technology initiatives and resources such as ADE’s Ambassador Academy, Arkansas Digital Sandbox and Student GPS dashboards. He also will oversee the Arkansas Public School Computer Network, which includes eSchoolPlus.

Benton has been the director of the Hot Springs Technology Institute since 1998 and founded Schools Without Walls, which provides professional development for technology leaders and educators.

He previously served as the director of technology and information, information technology security officer/disaster recovery, technology plan developer and E-Rate coordinator at the Hot Springs School District.

Benton has a Bachelor of Science in Education (Vocational Business Education), a Master of Science in Education (P-12 Building Level Leadership) and an Education Specialist in District Level Leadership from Henderson. He currently is pursuing a Doctor of Education in Educational Technology from Boise State University in Idaho.

Q&A with Don Benton

Henderson State University welcomed 22 new faculty members for the 2018 fall term, which begins Aug. 21.

The new faculty includes:

• Cheryl Bates, assistant professor of elementary music education
• Andrew Burt, instructor of English
• Kevin Coker, director of choral activities
• Wanda Dardenne, assistant professor of Educational Leadership
• Carrie Flora, assistant professor of nursing
• Leah Hasley, instructor of business
• Margaret Hoskins, professor of accounting
• Don Kelly, assistant professor of social work
• Brad Launius, STEM Center mathematics specialist
• Kelsey Malone, assistant professor of art history
• Tamara Ogden, assistant professor of nursing
• Jiyoung Park, assistant professor of sports management
• Markum Reed, associate professor of data analytics
• Susan Santiago-Turner, assistant professor of counselor education
• Drew Smith, assistant professor of English
• Lim Tchoi, assistant professor of applied music
• Heather Thayer, assistant professor of horn/aural skills
• Trae Warner, instructor of mathematics
• Orven Williams, STEM Center science specialist
• Zahra Zamanipour, assistant professor of engineering
• Matt Herndon, instructor of aviation