Accomplishments - October, 2021
“Sting Like a … Butterfly?” a short animated film by John Reid Perkins-Buzo, associate professor, School of Media Arts, was recently awarded the UnReal Fellowship in Virtual Production by Epic Games. The production was chosen from an international cohort of professional artists and educators in the areas of visual effects and virtual production and the fellowship provides generous funding for the film.
“You Can’t Call Clouds Clouds Because They’re Always Moving,” an exhibit by Mark Pease, associate professor of digital media, School of Art and Design, is on display through Dec. 11 at the University of Evansville’s Krannert Art Gallery. A reception and lecture begin at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11.
The university’s Chinese program in the School of Languages and Linguistics has received a $59,000 grant from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to promote the Chinese language and culture education on campus and in the region. The grant, administered by associate professor Shu-Ling Wu, supports a visiting instructor to teach at SIU, offers scholarships for SIU students to study Chinese language and culture in Taiwan, and provides funding for promoting Chinese language and culture education. SIU is one of 23 universities in the United States, including Harvard, Duke, Purdue and the University of Michigan, selected to partner with 10 leading Taiwanese universities as part of the Taiwan Huayu BEST (Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talents) program.
Father Joseph Brown, professor, Africana Studies, will discuss “The True History of the 1917 East St. Louis Race War” at noon Nov. 7 at the St. Alphonsus Liguori “Rock” Church, 1118 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis. The discussion will center on three days of mob violence in East St. Louis in July 1917.
Jennifer Smith, associate professor and chair, Languages, Cultures, and International Studies, recently discussed her research on the 19th-century Galician author Emilia Pardo Bazán with a reporter for the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia.
On behalf of SIU Carbondale, Meera Komarraju, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, presented “Supporting Students’ Learning Renewal and Academic Success: Rethinking Developmental Education” on Wednesday, Oct. 13, to the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s annual leadership conference, with board of trustees members of all 12 Illinois state universities. SIU was one of only three universities asked to present on this topic. Komarraju showcased the excellent work being done by faculty in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences over the past 20 years. They have developed a co-requisite model for students who are less prepared to successfully complete college algebra, due to innovative pedagogy, an early warning system and an effective placement test.
Camille Davidson, SIU School of Law dean, will be among four panelists fielding questions from students interested in pursuing a legal education during a virtual “Ask the Law School Deans” webinar at 1 p.m. Oct. 20. The free webinar is hosted by the Law School Admission Council.
“The Lottery Ticket,” an animated and live action short film by Pirooz Kalayeh, assistant professor, School of Media Arts, premiered at the “New Faces, New Voices” festival at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in Brooklyn, New York, on Sept. 28. Kalayeh attended the event and discussed further opportunities for faculty and students at the Sept. 30 awards ceremony.
John Reid Perkins-Buzo, School of Media Arts, recently gave a virtual presentation on “Teaching Under COVID: What Have We Learned?” as part of a panel discussion at the Association for Computing Machinery/Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (ACM/SIGGRAPH) Conference in Los Angeles.
