14 faculty hires made possible by Madison Intiative for Undergraduates

The College of Letters & Science is proud to announce that fourteen faculty have accepted positions at UW-Madison.  This is only the first round of new faculty hires. 

These hires were made possible by the Madison Initaitive for Undergraduates which was approved last spring.  This supplemental tuition charge is being phased in during the next four years to improve the quality and long-term value of undergraduate education while also providing funds for need-based aid.

The fourteen L&S hires represent an opportunity for the college to meet pressing needs in high-demand majors. 

The ability to recruit new talent — at a time when many of our peers cannot — is an exciting chance to grow and enhance the undergraduate education and meet our teaching and research mission.

The faculty, areas of study and start dates include:

• Catalina Toma (Communication Arts, 2010-11)
• Karma R. Chávez (Communication Arts, 2010-11)
• Chao Fu (Economics, 2010-11)
• Kenichi Fukushima (Economics, 2010-11)
• Xiaxia Shi (Economics, 2010-11)
• Joseph Dennis (History, 2010-11)
• Sana Aiyar (History, 2010-11)
• Leonora Neville (History, 2010-11)
• Christopher F. Wells (Journalism & Mass Communication, 2010-11)
• Alexander Tahk (Political Science, 2010-11)
• Bas Rosker (Psychology, 2010-11)
• Paula Niedenthal (Psychology, 2011-12)
• Marcus Brauer (Psychology, 2011-12)
• Maurice N. Gattis (Social Work, 2010-11)
  

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L&S scores a second grand slam at the Distinguished Alumni Awards

The College of Letters & Science scored a grand slam for a second year with a sweep of the 74th Distinguished Alumni Awards.

All outstanding award winners were L&S alumni with liberal arts degrees in English, Political Science, History and Economics.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the the highest honor bestowed by the Wisconsin Alumni Association and celebrates outstanding UW-Madison graduates whose professional achievements, contributions to society, and support of the university exemplify the Wisconsin Idea.

The College continues to produce top alumni who are movers and shakers around the world as demonstrated by these awards.

Watch video of the ceremony on the Wisconsin Alumni Association's YouTube Channel.

The honorees are:

• Robert Barnett '68, English  and Rita Braver '70, Political Science:  Barnett is a leading Washington, D.C. attorney who represents authors, television news anchors and producers, and government officials, and has worked on eight presidential campaigns. Braver is an award-winning senior correspondent for CBS News, where she reports on topics ranging from arts and entertainment to politics and foreign policy for Sunday Morning.  Both serve on the Board of Visitors of the Department of Political Science.

• Haynes Johnson MS'56, History; and Kathryn Oberly ’71, Political Science JD’73: Johnson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, one of America’s leading voices on current politics, and the author of more than a dozen books of political analysis and modern history. Oberly is an associate judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals; her first official act was to swear in Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State.
  
  

• Arnold Weiss '51, Economics and Political Science LLB'53: German-Jewish immigrant and decorated World War II U.S. intelligence officer, Weiss discovered Adolf Hitler's last will, now in the National Archives. Having witnessed the war's destruction, Weiss dedicated his career as an investment-bank attorney to building, and his efforts brought social and economic progress to many developing nations.
  

For more information:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/17941

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La Follette School to host discussion about modern-day slavery

A prize-winning author known for his global research on modern-day slavery will deliver a free public lecture this month at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as part of a daylong symposium on human trafficking.

Madison native E. Benjamin Skinner, author of "A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery," will speak at 4:30pm on Friday, April 30, in Ebling Auditorium in the Microbial Sciences Building, 1550 Linden Drive.

Skinner, a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy of Harvard Kennedy School and a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University, went undercover, when necessary, to infiltrate trafficking networks, slave quarries, urban child markets and illegal brothels.

His work received the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for nonfiction, as well as a citation from the Overseas Press Club in its book category for 2008.

"We are excited to host Ben to bring awareness to the global issue of modern-day slavery," says professor Carolyn Heinrich, director of UW-Madison's La Follette School of Public Affairs, which is organizing the lecture and symposium.

"Modern-day slavery touches on many public policy issues, including international trade, legal, human rights, social welfare, labor, public health, economic and education," she says. "Yet, due to legal, territorial and institutional barriers-not to mention culturally ingrained practices -- it is a very difficult problem to address and resolve."

Skinner will also be part of the symposium, which will be held from 8:45 a.m.-4 p.m. in 8417 Sewell Social Sciences, 1180 Observatory Drive. Both events are free and open to the public. No registration is required.  

[Read More]

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History program, Suri profiled in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

History Professor Jeremi Suri was recently featured in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about his History 102 course and related research on April 10th, "UW history professor takes students on a Cold War ride."

"Students have a hunger for narrative," Suri says. "They don't want sound bites. They want someone to tell them an extended story. That is what history is. You're telling meaningful stories."

Read the full story:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/90547059.html

Category: Humanities & the Arts
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Four L&S faculty receive development grants

Four L&S faculty have been awarded development grants from the Provost's office. 

Congratulations to the recipients!

• Profsesor Mara Loveman (Sociology) who will use demographic methods on approaches to modeling racial and ethnic population changes
  
• Profsesor Basil Tikoff (Geoscience) who will develop syllabi for new courses designed for general science introduction for pre-service teachers
  
• Professor Gillermina De Farrari (Spanish and Portuguese) develop two new course on Caribbean literature, theory and visual culture 
• Professor Stephen Kantrowitz (History) will retrain in Native American History in order to develop an undergrad research seminar
  

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New year brings in awards, accolades

Here's a round-up of all of the recent awards and honors to faculty, staff and students in L&S:

• Four L&S faculty receive development grants
• Bement wins Kellet Mid-Career Award
  
• Anderson receives National Ground Water Association Award
• Five classified staff members receive Excellence Awards 
• Four from Hebrew Department receive Teaching Awards
• Schatzberg, Nyhart win scholarly publication awards
• Severn wins 2010 Presidential Honorary Membership for work with DARE
• Hall, von Schneidemessner named Fellows of Dictionary Society 
  

Send in your news to LSNews@ls.admin.wisc.edu

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Awards, awards, awards!

‘Tis the season and L&S faculty and students are racking up the awards – congratulations to all!

• Phillips-Court wins publication award from Modern Language Association
• Foundation funds child well-being research of two faculty members
• Communication Arts professor to address William T. Grant Foundation
• Gruffat takes top awards in filmmaking 
• Lucas named NCA 'Distinguished Scholar'
• DeLamater receives Distinguished Service Award
• Dresang receives 'Champion Award' from Women's Philanthropy Council
• Sahai elected a Fellow of Mineralogical Society of America 
• Six honors undergrads receive Trewartha Senior Thesis grants
• History student receives Mark Mensink Honors Senior Thesis Research Award 
• Rodriguez receives 2009 Roberto G. Sánchez Award
• Computer Sciences team heads to world finals of programming competition

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