May 2012 Student of the Month

Postgraduate Plans:

Graduate work in International Studies.  Work with a governmental or non-profit organization.

What has been your favorite course so far?

My Latin American History course.  It is a First Year Inquiry class, so it only had about 20 students.  It was rewarding to get to know a professor on a closer basis.

How have you been so active here on campus?

I have always been a very involved student, and here at State, I truly wanted to develop my leadership skills.  I enjoy being more than just a member; it is a personal challenge to accomplish more. For example, next year I will be president of the Model United Nations Club. I will organize juniors and seniors in the group, while I will only be a sophomore. My goal will be to grow the club and take it further.

What advice would you give incoming students?

Join clubs and branch out. There is such diversity on campus - take advantage of this time to discover yourself. But also be sure to keep up with your classes so you can maintain good grades.

Forging a Sustainable Path

For some students, college is a fairly straightforward path: Choose a major you enjoy, take the required courses and eventually graduate. For others, such as Ariel Fugate, the road is full of twists and turns. Fugate, a Caldwell Fellow, forged a path that took her from zoology through wildlife and fisheries and agriculture, into a close examination of sociology, and finally, to a major she designed herself in the college's interdisciplinary studies program.

Fugate arrived on campus from Lexington, Ky, as a zoology major. She was an aspiring veterinarian. "I was pretty narrow-minded at that point, and focused on a career I knew something about", she recalls. "But then I started looking into how wildlife is affected by agriculture."

Led by her curiosity, Fugate signed up for a class in wildlife management. That course opened her eyes to the adverse effects that some farming practices can have on wildlife habitat and water quality. As she studied conservation practices, Fugate became interested in agroecology, the study of ecology on farms.

She was also intrigued by societal issues related to food and sustainability. The field of sociology beckoned.  "I wanted to know more about the social aspects of eating, and how that affects human health", she says. "I also wanted to see how our eating habits impact the environment."

As Fugate became more informed, she grew increasingly concerned about the public's lack of general awareness about these issues.  "I don't think many of us make a connection between our personal eating habits and the toll those habits take on us, on the community and on the earth", she says. "I wanted to find some ways to build awareness and to encourage people to develop eating habits that were healthier and that supported the environment."

Fugate started with a population with whom she could readily identify: students. And she chose a venue where they consumed many of their daily meals: the campus dining halls. She conducted research on NC State University's food systems, examining what was served in the dining halls, asking how the university decided what to serve and learning where that food came from.

She is proud to report that the university is moving toward a goal of ensuring that at least 10 percent of the food it serves is locally sourced by the end of 2012.

She is also encouraged by the university's response to some of her research findings. While she was an intern with the university's Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling, she conducted a waste audit of one of the dining hall's dumpsters. "We found that 70 percent of what was in the dumpster was compostable", she says. "Based on our findings, the dining halls across campus began composting. I like to think my research helped contribute to this tipping point by spreading more awareness."

Outside the dining halls, Fugate was inspired to help provide fresh, local produce to students and others on campus. Along with fellow student Eric Ballard ('09), she co-founded the Campus Farmers Market in 2009 to draw attention to and biuild support for sustainable food systems.

Farmers and other vendors set up shop on the brickyard every Wednesday during the growing season to sell their produce, meats and cheeses, body lotion and other crafts—all of which are produced in North Carolina.  The market is distinguished by its focus on education. We want customers to find high-quality affordable products, and we want to increase their awareness about how important it is to support the local economy, Fugate says.

Beyond campus, Fugate shared her passion for sustainable practices by co-teaching a "Cooking Matters" course for children at the Boys Club or Raleigh through the nonprofit Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. The course is part of a national curriculum on healthy eating called "Share Our Strength."

Fugate and another Caldwell Fellow were responsible for incorporating a gardening component into the curriculum to give the young boys a feel for food sustainability, which is something she says they genuinely appreciated. "We used something called vermicompost", she explains. "It's essentially the process of breaking food waste down through the addition of worms. The boys loved that!"

Fugate says her self-designed interdisciplinary major has been the perfect way to tie together her interests in agriculture, sustainability and sociology. Food touches many areas, so it's hard to limit it to just science or just sociology, she says. The interdisciplinary studies option gives me the ability to explore both the scientific and social aspects of food.

This semester, for example, Fugate has been conducting research in a nearby county about food environments. "We have looked at such factors as where supermarkets are located in relation to neighborhoods and to the residents' income levels", she says. "My major lets me apply what I'm learning  to the real world. I have become much more focused on how we can make a difference in communities at large."

Fugate's efforts won't end when she graduates this spring. Nor will her interdisciplinary orientation. "I intend to keep learning about food insecurity and sustainability", she says. "And I would like to keep working with interdisciplinary topics, whether it's through education or a communications position in which I could raise awareness about food issues."

By Jen Jernigan, CHASS Communication Intern

This article is reposted from the CHASS 2012 magazine, Accolades.

A Passion for Caring

From the moment she put on a candy striper's uniform as a child, Kristin Replogle knew she would have a passion for serving her entire life.

I was raised with the philosophy of 'paying it forward' to help others, Replogle says. Whether it was volunteering in the hospital as an adolescent or serving on a nonprofit's board today, service is a major thread woven throughout my life.

Replogle, a former speech language pathologist who specialized in traumatic brain injuries, recently gave the College of Humanities and Social Sciences a $25,000 endowment that will support students minoring in nonprofit studies who are working in an unpaid internship.

When I was a student at Miami University in Ohio, I was given a fellowship that really opened doors for me that I might not have been able to go through otherwise, Replogle says. I knew that when the time came, I would want to give back in the area of education because it is so important to me.

Replogle began serving on the college's Institute for Nonprofits advisory board in 2010. That's when she decided to make her gift. Once I met the students in the program, I knew this was the perfect place for me to give back, she says.

The Institute for Nonprofits enhances the capacity of nonprofit organizations by connecting the university with the community. The Institute offers a nonprofit studies minor — one of only a few such undergraduate programs in the country.

Our nonprofit studies minor requires an internship, says institute director Mary Tschirhart. Most of the internships are unpaid, and some students opt for a local internship so they won't incur the living expenses involved with an internship outside our area. Kristin wanted to enable students to choose an internship based on their passion for that organization rather than basing it on the expenses that might be involved.

Replogle's endowment specifically favors students who have shown a passion in caring for children. When I worked at Massachusetts General Hospital, I often worked with abused children, she recalls. As I got older and had children of my own, my passion for caring for children grew even stronger. And I've learned through the years that your passion will always lead you down the right path.

Replogle lives in Raleigh with her husband, John, CEO of Vermont-based company Seventh Generation. The couple has four daughters. Replogle serves on several local nonprofit organizations that work specifically to protect and support children: SAFEChild, the Girl Scouts and KidzNotes, a Durham-based organization that teaches classical and orchestral music to underserved children. Farther from home, President Obama recently appointed Replogle to the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Replogle is a big fan of the Institute for Nonprofits. I think it's wonderful that NC State has a nonprofit studies program, she says. We need so badly to prepare nonprofit leaders of the future. If we can find young folks who have a passion for service already, it is our obligation to help support them if we can.

Taylor Elkins is one of four recipients to date of a scholarship from the Kristin Gatchel Replogle Nonprofit Internship Fund. Replogle's gift allowed Elkins to intern with Outreach360 — formerly Orphanage Outreach — in the Dominican Republic during the summer of 2011.

The scholarship gave me the amazing opportunity to stay at an all-boys orphanage in the town of Jaibon, where I taught English, Spanish literacy and public health to the boys at the home, Elkins says. I was also able to work with the local community in weekly summer camps. The relationships I developed with the boys have had a huge impact on my life, and that is what I am most grateful to Kristin for.

Replogle is grateful to have found students who share her desire to give back. Because I'm so aware of the many needs of nonprofit organizations, I'm thrilled to find students who have a passion for giving back, she says. It is very gratifying to give them the support they need and watch them grow.

By Caroline Barnhill

This article is reposted from the CHASS 2012 magazine, Accolades.

 

 

Poetry Collection Brings Executed Women to Life

In last meals and lost childhoods, CHASS alum Megan Roberts reveals the haunting stories behind the crimes of 16 women executed in the United States. "Matters of Record is a collection of poems by Roberts, who earned her MFA in Creative Writing from NC State in 2010.

The book officially publishes in July, but Roberts' former teachers are already praising it. This chapbook gives voice to women executed for their crimes, says New York Times bestselling author and NC State Creative Writing faculty member Jill McCorkle. And then, with the same masterful skill, Megan gives voice to victim, jury, system. As a whole, it stands as a chorus of life and death.

Poet and faculty member Dorianne Laux agrees. "Megan brings dead women, executed women, back to life, giving them voices and gestures, earrings and memories, children and last suppers, says Laux, who has won two Best American Poetry Prizes and a Pushcart Prize for her own work. This is a murderous world not often seen, let alone in poetry.

Roberts traces the roots of Matters of Record to a conversation in 2006 with Luke Whisnant, a writer and English professor at East Carolina University (ECU), where Roberts earned a master's degree in English. Whisnant, one of Roberts' mentors, had taught English to prison inmates and was discussing Velma Barfield, who was executed in 1984 for the murder of a boyfriend. She later confessed to three other murders, including her mother's.

Barfield's harsh childhood and complicated personality – she was a nurse to two of her victims – inspired Margie and Me, the earliest poem in Matters of Record. Common threads bind the women Roberts probes in her poems.

I think a lot of these women had some resentment about their place in the world and their place in society, says Roberts. And murder was a way of controlling that.

A native of Greenville, N.C., Roberts teaches English at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. While she was in the MFA program at NC State, she won the  2010 Academy of American Poets Prize. She is currently working on her first novel, Everything's Only a Mile Away.

You can like "Matters of Record" on Facebook.

2012 Faculty Awards

Faculty from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences were recognized for outstanding accomplishments in teaching, advising, research and engagement at a ceremony held in Caldwell Lounge April 25, 2012. "The range of scholarship represented by these awards demonstrates the breadth of expertise in our faculty," said CHASS Dean Jeff Braden. "I am proud of all our faculty, and humbled to serve as your dean."

University Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award

This award is among the highest honors a faculty member can receive at the university. Ann Ross (Anthropology) received the prestigious award for 2011-2012. Ross manages the internationally-respected Forensic Analysis Lab with colleagues in the Colleges of Textiles and Agriculture & Life Sciences.Her lab has been instrumental in helping investigators use evidence collected from bones of missing persons and of murder victims, so that missing people can be identified and perpetrators of crime can be brought to justice.

UNC Board of Governors Teaching Award, CHASS Nominee

Maria Pramaggiore (English) was the CHASS nominee for the university's most prestigious teaching award. Pramaggiore has been critical to developing film studies at NC State, establishing the B.A. and M.A. film concentrations, and developing and teaching more than 20 different courses. She served as director of the film studies program from 2003 to 2006 and again in 2010/11.

The William C. Friday Award for Distinguished Service in Retirement

Jim Clark (English) received this honor which is given "for exemplary accomplishments and contributions made during retirement."  Before he retired in 2005 after a 38-year career at NC State, Clark was awarded the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal of Excellence for his extraordinary record of service to the university and the citizens of North Carolina. His activities have included board involvement with the Paul Green Foundation (President); Friends of the Gregg Museum of Art (President); Thomas Wolfe Student Prize Committee (Chair); and Habitat for Humanity of Wake County (Executive Committee), among others. Clark led the NCSU Humanities Extension Program for many years, enriching the lives of many thousands of children and adults throughout the state with courses in folklore, creative writing, philosophy, and other subjects. In retirement, he has taught Encore classes and led study tours for NC State. And he has taught Life Writing classes in area retirement communities and other locations; his workshops have produced 12 books and booklets, which Clark has edited. As a champion of the state's 4-H program, he published Clover All Over: North Carolina 4-H in Action in 1984. Last year, he published an expanded edition that covers 4-H's first century in North Carolina.

University Outstanding Extension Service Award

Jim Horner (School of Public and International Affairs, photo not available) has led and taught extension, engagement, and educational programs for state and local law enforcement officers since 1995, primarily in North Carolina, but also throughout the Southeast. As director of the Public Safety Leadership Initiative, he leads  the Administrative Officers Management Program (AOMP) and the Law Enforcement Executive Program (LEEP). More than 1,200 police managers, sheriffs, chiefs, and highway patrol officers have graduated from AOMP, and hundreds have received LEEP certificates.

CHASS Outstanding Extension Service Award

Mary Haskett (Psychology) is an engaged scientist whose research extends into the fields of the family and the schools. Her recent work focuses on preventing children from being exposed to violence. She has sought to support the mental health and well being of vulnerable children who have experienced violence and other risk factors such as poverty and homelessness. She has applied her expertise in psychology and mental health and in her research specialties to advocate for safe, stable, nurturing parenting that establishes a positive trajectory for child development and mental health into adulthood.

University Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor, CHASS Nominee

Akram Khater (History) directs the Middle East Studies Program. He is also the director of the Khayrallah Program for Lebanese-American Studies, for which he has just produced a documentary on the history of the Lebanese community in North Carolina.Khater developed the college's Middle East Studies minor, for which he arranges campus visits from scholars, musicians, and poets and organizes an annual Middle East film festival. He helped organize an Egypt Study Abroad program. Khater is known as a highly energetic and enthusiastic teacher. His classes are a high-powered experience where students are challenged to move past immediate reactions and answers, to recognize the improbability or even absurdity of simple explanations in a complex world.

University Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor, CHASS Nominees

Ted Greenstein (Sociology and Anthropology) won the nomination as the 2012 CHASS Distinguished Graduate Professor. Greenstein directs the sociology graduate program, where he has distinguished himself as a responsive program administrator, a mentor, and an exceptional teacher and researcher. He is known for both his theoretical insights as well as his methodological advances. He focuses on the household division of labor, intersection of perceptions of fairness between marital partners, and gendered ideologies. He has literally written the book on how to do research in family sociology, Methods in Family Research (Sage). He has trained scores of students in sociology of family and in social psychology.  His students have gone on to faculty positions at universities such as Washington State, Oklahoma State, George Mason, and Cleveland State as well as to nonacademic positions at the Research Triangle Institute, among others, and they have become leaders in the discipline.

Chris Anson (English, photo not available) was the second nominee. Anson has distinguished himself as a graduate teacher, mentor, and researcher. He participated significantly in the implementation of the PhD program in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media. He has also created and offered 18 different graduate courses, some multiple times, all focusing on research on or the teaching of writing. As one of his colleagues wrote, Students come to NC State specifically to work with [Dr. Anson], and they are not disappointed. He has endless energy and is one of the most productive scholars I have ever met. To me, and to many other graduate students in our programs, Dr. Anson represents what we hope to be as faculty members: knowledgeable, effective, motivating, engaging, productive, and inspiring teachers and scholars.

 

CHASS Outstanding Teaching Awards

CHASS recognizes its outstanding teachers with college-wide awards. Recipients are inducted into the NC State University Academy of Outstanding Teachers. The 2011-2012 Outstanding Teachers are:

Matthew Booker (History)

 

 

 

 

 

Martha Crowley (Sociology and Anthropology)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shevaun Neupert (Psychology)

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHASS Outstanding Lecturer Award

Stephen Puryear (Philosophy and Religious Studies)

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHASS Outstanding Junior Faculty Award

Brett Clark (Sociology and Anthropology) received the CHASS Outstanding Junior Faculty Award. This award recognizes the assistant professor in the College judged to have the most significant professional accomplishments during the first years of his or her career at NC State. Other nominees were Ora Gelley (English), Daniel Gruhn (Psychology), Kami Kosenko (Communication), and Jonathan Wipplinger (Foreign Languages and Literatures).

 

 

 

2012 Staff Awards for Excellence

The college held its annual Awards of Excellence luncheon on April 18, 2012, to recognize and honor CHASS staff, whose efforts, competence, and enthusiasm for their work keep the college functioning.Nominations for the Awards for Excellence are based on achievement in outstanding service, innovation, public service, safety, heroism, and human relations. This year's CHASS nominees demonstrate the very best in commitment to service, quality of work, and dedication to excellence.

Julia Matthews-McClain, who serves as the Department of Psychology's executive assistant, received the CHASS SPA award for excellence. Department Head Doug Gillan said Julia brings "innovative ideas ... and has been essential in helping develop new workflow in the department," particularly during the last year's reorganization of college business services. She brightens the department with impromptu celebrations, decorations, cards, and other little touches. And outside her work, she has founded Julia School, Inc., a nonprofit to teach children life skills.

Other SPA nominees for the CHASS Award for Excellence were Donise Benton, Dept. of Psychology; Allen Emory, Dean's Office; Lillie Kirby, School of Public and International Affairs; Stephanie McBroom, Dept. of English; Jamarian Monroe, Dept. of Social Work; Ann Rives, Dept. of Philosophy and Religious Studies; LaTonya Tucker, Dept of History; and Faye Walker, Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

Justin Daves, director of CHASS IT and CHASS facilities coordinator, received the CHASS EPA award for excellence.Justin's office is responsible for networking support, desktop computing, software installation, hardware repair, class tech support, and other IT-related challenges. Supervisor Tom Birkland says Justin's  "hard work, commitment to the college's mission, his remarkable professionalism, and his calm, clear and competent demeanor" inspire trust and set a strong  ethic of supporting the research and instructional mission of the college.

Other EPA nominees were Billy Poindexter, Dept. of Social Work, and Missy Seate, CHASS Research Office.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.

 

Many thanks are due to the program committee, pictured at right (left to right): Trace Reid, Kathy Whaley, Neko Everett, Crissy Williams-Brown, Sonia Meeks, Michelle Branch, and Bob Kadle. Not pictured is Susan Gasman.

 

 

Stellar Students Win National Scholarships

CHASS students continue to raise the bar. Here's a sampling of the prestigious scholarships our students have earned:

Alexander Gloss (Psychology) won a National Science Foundation fellowship for graduate research. Alexander is a doctoral student in psychology who came to NC State from the University of Colorado-Boulder. His fellowship includes three years of support and an annual stipend of $30,000, a cost-of-education allowance, TeraGrid Supercomputer access and international research and professional development opportunities.

Heidi Klumpe (English and Chemical Engineering) was one of four NC State students to earn a Goldwater Scholarship of up to $7,500, awarded to outstanding students preparing for careers as scientists, mathematicians and engineers. Heidi, who's from Murfreesboro, Tenn,  is a Park Scholar and a member of the University Honors Program.

Alex Martin (International Studies and Business Administration) won the Binational Business Internship Fulbright Scholarship to Mexico. Only nine such awards are made. Alex is a Caldwell Fellow and a Hamilton Scholar who was featured in NC State's Bulletin for his entrepreneurial efforts on behalf of a local fair trade store.

Matthew Ostrowski (History and Chemical Engineering) also won a National Science Foundation fellowship for graduate research. Matthew, a senior from Durham, is a member of the University Honors Program. He plans to attend the University of California at Berkeley.Like Alexander Gloss, his fellowship includes three years of support and an annual stipend of $30,000, a cost-of-education allowance, TeraGrid Supercomputer access and international research and professional development opportunities.

Lindsey Pullum (Political Science) was one of four NC State students to earn the highly prestigious Mathews Medal that recognizes seniors who have made significant contributions based on leadership and service. Lindsey, who's from Wilmington, N.C., was elections chair for student government. She founded the university's first Arabic Club. As a resident adviser, she organized educational and cultural programs for other students. She also mentored an elementary school student and a number of incoming NC State freshmen.

Drew Rothenberg (Psychology) was a finalist for the Gates-Cambridge Scholarship -- a feat in and of itself. This scholarship is awarded to outstanding applicants who want to pursue postgraduate work at the University of Cambridge, England. The program "aims to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others." Drew spent last summer in the UK on a research project involving child abuse. Read about his experience in the Park News. Drew plans to continue working with children and obtain his Ph.D. in clinical child psychology. He's also considering the possibility of divinity school after he completes his doctorate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philosophy Student Shows Strength in the Face of Loss

Sophomore Josephine Yurcaba hasn't had it easy this semester. The Philosophy and English double major learned over the Easter break that her terminally ill mom likely has only a few months left to live.

Josephine and her family are being very intentional about the time they have left together, as a recent Technician feature article describes. Read  Paris to Paris  to get a sense of Josephine's strength and her positive attitude in the face of great loss.

Josephine's family issues have not diminished her capacity to keep her grades up or to write high-quality articles for Technician, where she has served as the Life and Style editor.

The same edition of NC State's student newspaper includes an article written by Josephine about Associate Professor of Philosophy Timothy Hinton. Yurcaba's article on Hinton, which is part of a center-page feature on service and activism, describes Hinton's experiences as an outsider on the inside of Apartheid South Africa.  The South African native says that growing up under apartheid fostered his interest in political philosophy and ethics.

Study Shows that in Restaurants, Race Matters

A new study from NC State University shows that more than one-third of restaurant servers discriminate against African-American customers.

Sarah Rusche, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at NC State, co-authored a paper describing the study with CHASS alum Dr. Zachary Brewster of Wayne State University, who earned his doctoral degree in sociology in 2009.

Many people believe that race is no longer a significant issue in the United States, Rusche says. But the fact that a third of servers admit to varying their quality of service based on customers' race, often giving African-Americans inferior service, shows that race continues to be an issue in our society.

NC State News Services issued a news release about the pair's research findings. News outlets around the globe have picked up on the story, including UPI, CBS Local, the Daily Mail (UK),the Digital Journal, and BuzzFeed.

 

Prof Shevaun Neupert Named Outstanding Teacher

The NC State Alumni Association is honoring Shevaun Neupert, associate professor of psychology, as one of seven Outstanding Teachers. Enjoy this chat that Alumni Association writer Bill Krueger recently had with Dr. Neupert about the keys to being a successful teacher and what gives her the greatest satisfaction as a professor.

Neupert's research focuses on individual differences in the way people respond to stressors across the adult lifespan. She works with graduate and undergraduate students in her research lab, has invited undergraduates to academic conferences, has seven undergraduates who are authors on published journal articles, and she sits on 28 graduate student committees.

Although grad students often find statistics courses extremely challenging, Neupert makes the subject matter accessible by using an innovative, hands-on workshop style that creates a dynamic and interactive environment. And students report she has the special gift of being able to simplify complex material. As a result, her students gain confidence and can incorporate her methods into their own research. As one of her colleagues tells it, "Shevaun conveys and lives the idea that statistical methods are fun, fascinating and super cool. Her excitement is contagious.

 

Winning Student Filmmakers Head to Hollywood

Three NC State undergraduate students are heading to Hollywood this summer with the short film they wrote and produced. The Strong One won Best Picture, Best Directing, and Audience Choice awards in the 2012 Campus Movie Fest (CMF) held at NC State University this spring. Next stop: the Campus Movie Fest International Grand Finale competition in Hollywood.

"The Strong One" has had nearly 3,000 views on the CampusMovieFest website. The five-minute film follows a young boy as his imagination takes him on adventures with a friendly brontosaurus who helps him deal with the struggles of growing up. The creature will look familiar to viewers who have ever been to Durham's Museum of Life and Science.

The film is based on the poem, Jurassic Parking Lot, written by Tim Reavis, a senior in English with a concentration in creative writing. Reavis served as the film's writer and also appears in the film. Josh Bielick, a Poole College of Management senior in business administration, was cinematographer. Nicholas Sailer, a senior in industrial design in the College of Design, served as director and screenwriter.

Read the full story about the project--written by student intern and English major Justin Lee-- on the College of Management's site.