Faculty & Staff News

Robert Webb has joined Henderson State University as assistant director of Sorority and Fraternity Life (SFL).

Webb will oversee sorority and fraternity activities at Henderson, ensuring the support, growth, and development of all chapters. He will be a key member of campus-wide initiatives, such as Welcome Week, homecoming, and Battle of the Ravine.

Webb previously served as an education specialist for TRIO/Talent Search at Texarkana College. He has also served as a graduate assistant and tutor/residential counselor at the University of Arkansas-Monticello (UAM).

After earning his bachelor’s degree in general studies from UAM in 2013, Webb received his master’s degree in college student personnel from Arkansas Tech University in 2016.

Webb has served as chapter advisor for Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Southern Arkansas University, and intake coordinator for Kappa Gamma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. in Texarkana.

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, was named the co-winner of the Liz Carpenter Award at a recent meeting of the Texas State Historical Association meeting.

The Carpenter award is given in recognition of the best book in Texas women’s history published the preceding year.

The book, Women in Texas History, had also received the Robert A. Calvert Prize, an award created to honor the author of one of the most authoritative textbooks in Texas history.

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.

Dr. Bryon Martin, assistant professor of recreation at Henderson State University, was invited to participate and present his research paper at the Eighth International Social and Applied Gerontology Symposium at Akdeniz University located in Antalya, Turkey, last fall.

Martin’s paper, “Recreational Boating and Lifespan Enhancement: Strategies for Practitioners,” focuses on community recreational boating programming for aged citizens grounded in the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft theory by Tonies. Martin was the sole invited participant representing the United States.

Upon return, Martin linked the scholarly, multicultural experience with his Henderson program and course teaching.  In class, Martin facilitated visual messaging and dialogue, some in Turkish, which was exchanged between Leadership in Recreation class students and students from Akdeniz University in Turkey.  The students had much in common.

[Read more…] about Martin presents at symposium in Turkey

When Randy McCauley arrived for his retirement reception on Jan. 31, he was totally unaware that bigger plans were in the works.

About 15 minutes into the reception, a small group arrived with balloons and a large check. It was then that McCauley had realized he had received the Staff Award of Excellence for this quarter.

McCauley has served Henderson as the Information Systems Coordinator Specialist for the past 13 years. His primary responsibility has bee to support faculty, students, and technology in the classroom.

The reception was held in the Garrison Center Jones Room foyer.

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)

[Read more…] about Spotlight on Ellis College faculty accomplishments

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.