Fall Semester Wraps with Faculty Successes
The year wrapped up with several faculty members’ achievements in a variety of disciplines. No matter their field, BVU faculty spend much of their free time pursuing research and professional development opportunities around the world and bring their expertise back with them to their classrooms.
Bhattacharyya to Participate in Pedagogical Working Group
Dr. Swasti Bhattacharyya will work with IFYC and Wabash Center to further discuss topics surrounding interfaith
Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Dr. Swasti Bhattacharyya, has been invited to participate in an Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) and Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion in January. The group will be working on “Pedagogies of Interfaith/Interreligious Studies.” Dr. Bhattacharyya will be one of 25 scholars of religious studies who will convene to talk and think about topics concerning interfaith and interreligious pedagogies. This group will share effective pedagogical strategies in an effort to achieve student learning goals as well as foster a community of educators that will support experimentation in Interfaith and Interreligious Studies. This meeting will help to guide the IFYC and Wabash Center in their future collaboration and programing.
Pattie Named Outstanding New Teacher
Pattie receives 2018 award from the Iowa Communication Association
Linda Lain of Central College, president of Iowa Communication Association, presented the 2018 Outstanding New Teacher award to Brian Pattie, instructor of communications and
strategic public relations at BVU, for his work in the classroom and challenging student learning. The award was presented at the Iowa Communication Association Conference in Ankeny. His focus is interpersonal communications, and he has presented work at the National Communication Association Conference.
BVU at Iowa Communication Association Conference
BVU faculty talk about their experiences on a panel at ICA Conference
BVU was well represented by many of its professors at the 2018 Iowa Communication Association Conference in Ankeny. Professor of Communication Studies and Program Director of Organizational Leadership, Mary Gill arranged a panel at the conference that included presenters Brian Pattie, Dr. Andrea Franz, Mary Donato, Dr. Ashley Farmer-Hanson, and Deb Lenhart. The panel was titled “Multiple Means of Building Bridges of Understanding” and included each professors insight on specific aspects of their work with their students. The aim was to gain a greater understanding of self and others. Dr. Bryan Kampbell, professor of communications studies, participated in another panel at the conference titled “Do You Really Want to Go There: Building Bridges to Uncomfortable Places in the Communication Studies Classroom.”
Hart to Present Work at Writer’s Festival
Dr. Gwen Hart is asked to read her works of poetry at a festival held by Luther College
Dr. Gwen Hart presented her own poetry at the Luther College Writers Festival in September. She was part of a panel titled “Flash Fiction and Poetry ‘Less is More: Working in Short Films.’” Dr. Hart is a professor of English composition and has presented her poems and stories in many literary journals/anthologies. She has published two books of poetry; the second of which received the X. J. Kennedy Award from Texas Review Press.
Expanding Literacy Through Game Based Learning
Education Professors pull together their years of experience to present about learning through games
Assistant Professors of Education, Dr. Leslie Haas and Dr. Jill Tussey, successfully co-proposed and presented at the Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium (MISIC) Conference in October. Their session was titled “Expanding Literacy Instruction Through Game-Based Learning” and explored student examples of instructional games at both the K-12 and higher education level. The session was created from their combined 30+ years of teaching experience as well as experiences and information learned at the Irish Game-Based Learning Conference in Cork, Ireland. MISIC serves more than 160 school districts in Iowa and its surrounding states. They are dedicated to serving K-12 students by improving their curriculum.
Goodfriend Publishes Journal Article
Dr. Wind Goodfriend’s work on victims of domestic violence, is published in prominent academic journal
Dr. Wind Goodfriend, professor of psychology, has been published in the peer-reviewed journal “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.” The paper, titled “Cognitive Reframing of Intimate Partner Aggression: Social and Contextual Influences” covers Dr. Goodfriend’s research on victims of domestic violence and how they re-interpret their partners’ actions as a coping strategy. It was co-authored by Ximena Arriaga, another psychology professor from Perdue University.