Welcome to ForUM, the e-newsletter for University of Montana staff, faculty and administrators. ForUM is published weekly during the academic year except during scheduled academic breaks.
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2010 Homecoming Events Scheduled
The community is invited to join the festivities at UM's 2010 Homecoming, which takes place Sept. 19-25 with a full schedule of traditional events. This year's Homecoming theme is "UM -- We Are The World" in honor of the alumni from all over the globe who will return to campus to reconnect with old friends and classmates.
Homecoming Week kicks off Sunday, Sept. 19, with a celebration from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Southgate Mall Clock Court. Missoula's 102.5 Mountain FM will host a live remote radio broadcast from the event.
The Homecoming Art Fair runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23-25, in the University Center Atrium.
UM's Homecoming Parade will take place Saturday, Sept. 25. Parade marshal is Jim Caron, co-founder of the Missoula Children's Theatre, joined by honorary marshals UM President George M. Dennison and Jane Dennison. The parade entry fee is $30. The parade application deadline is Friday, Sept. 17.
Events during the week include:
Friday, Sept. 24
- Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony and reception: 6 p.m., UC Ballroom.
- All-Alumni Social and Dance: 7:30 p.m., Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park.
- Yell Night Pep Rally: 8 p.m., UM Oval.
Saturday, Sept. 25
- Homecoming Hustle 5K race: 9:55 a.m., intersection of Higgins and Broadway.
- Homecoming Parade: 10 a.m. Begins at Higgins and Broadway, traveling south on Higgins to University Avenue.
- Homecoming football game: UM vs. Sacramento State: 1:05 p.m., Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
- Alumni Homecoming TV Tailgate: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Adams Center, East Auxiliary Gymnasium.
For a complete schedule of Homecoming events, visit the Office of Alumni Relations website.
Office of Alumni Relations
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UM Researchers Participate in NIH Grant
Researchers at UM and Montana Cancer Institute will benefit from a $10 million National Institutes of Health grant to improve access to personalized drug therapy for underserved populations in the Northwest.
UM investigators, with leading researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, the Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, Puget Sound Blood Center, and tribal communities in Alaska and Montana will create a new center as part of the NIH Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN).
The nationwide network of researchers in the PGRN study the ways genes influence how a person responds to particular drugs, such as those used to treat cancer, heart disease, asthma and other conditions. This area of research -- pharmacogenomics -- aims to increase the safety and efficacy of drug therapies and holds considerable potential to impact the ways that drugs are prescribed and used.
The newly formed Northwest-Alaska PGRN, funded at a combined level of $10 million, includes researchers from UM and the Montana Cancer Institute, who will receive $1.4 million to support their research. Erica Woodahl, assistant professor in UM's Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, serves as the lead investigator for the Montana-based project. Collaborators are Mark Pershouse and Elizabeth Putnam, UM associate professors in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Dr. Patrick Beatty, an oncologist and president of the Montana Cancer Institute; Dr. LeeAnna Muzquiz, a physician from the Tribal Health and Human Services Department of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; and Kevin Howlett, department head of Tribal Health and Human Services.
Read the Full News Release
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Mansfield Center Launches New Initiative
New federal appropriations will allow the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at UM to launch the Public Service and Leadership Initiative.
The initiative works to foster interest in and dialogue on public service and stresses the importance of civic leadership in our society. It supports scholarships, college courses, internships, research projects and community lectures.
The University also will launch some public service scholarships and upcoming lectures in honor of Pat Williams, the U.S. congressman from Montana during 1979-97 who worked with Sen. Max Baucus to sponsor the federal legislation establishing the endowment that helps support the Mansfield Center. Williams has taught at UM for 14 years and is an emeritus Senior Fellow of the UM O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West.
The University will award the Pat Williams Scholarships on a competitive basis to UM students pursuing internships and research related to public service in education, the environment, Native American issues, health care and the arts.
In addition to student scholarships, the initiative currently is funding a public leadership seminar taught by Missoula Mayor John Engen. This school year the initiative also will fund five UM classes, a Mansfield global seminar for top Missoula high school students and their teachers, and Congress to Campus visits.
Read the Full News Release
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Plan Now for Day of Dialogue
UM will host the fifth annual Day of Dialogue on Thursday, Oct. 28. The event features a campus symposium designed to engage students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and community members in a daylong discussion concerning diversity, including race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, ability/disability and employment hierarchy.
The success of the event hinges on the support of the campus community. Supervisors are encouraged to allow release time so staff members can participate subject to maintaining adequate coverage. This year, a special session of Day of Dialogue will be dedicated for the benefit of UM employees. The session will take place from 8:10 to 9 a.m. in the University Center.
Participation in Day of Dialogue can include one or more of the following:
- Encourage students to attend and participate in the event by including the day in syllabi and curricula and allowing students to attend the learning opportunities in lieu of the class meeting time.
- Recognize those who attend and/or present sessions. Students, faculty, staff and administrators will have the opportunity to present during sessions that engage a range of topics relevant to Day of Dialogue.
- Host an open house in your department. Consider sharing the ways that your department welcomes diversity, tackles issues of multiculturalism and honors all of its members.
For more information, visit the Day of Dialogue website, call 243-5622 or e-mail dayofdialogue@mso.umt.edu.
Day of Dialogue
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Brown Bag Lecture Series Under Way
UM and area community members can learn about places such as Italy, Thailand, Israel and Australia at free events of the International Brown Bag Lecture Series. Lectures in the series, hosted by UM International Programs, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Old Journalism Building Room 303.
The next lecture in the series, "Of All Things Italian: Teaching and Researching in Brescia" by Associate Professor Michael Braun, UM Department of Management and Marketing, will be held Wednesday, Sept. 15.
For a full lecture series schedule, visit the International Programs website. For more information, call 243-2288.
International Programs
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Lecture Examines Nature as Religion
Donald Worster, a distinguished professor of history at the University of Kansas, will present the 2010 A.B. Hammond Lecture in Western/Environmental History at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, in Gallagher Business Building Room 123. The lecture, titled "John Muir and the Religion of Nature," is free and open to the public.
Worster will address the origin of a modern American sensibility crucial to environmentalism -- the idea that the natural world is sacred. John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, was perhaps the purest American practitioner of the concept of nature as religion, and Worster will examine this idea and how it has played out throughout the nation's history.
Worster is the author of several books, including "Rivers of Empire," "A Passion of Nature: The Life of John Muir" and "A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley Powell."
For more information, call Bill Farr, associate director of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, at 243-7700 or e-mail farr@crmw.org.
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
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Consul General of Turkey to Speak at UM
The World Affairs Council of Montana will host Hakan Tekin, consul general of Turkey, as part of the organization's Distinguished Speaker Programs on Tuesday, Sept. 21, at UM.
The event, "Bridge between East and West: Trends in Turkish Foreign Policy," will begin at 7 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. It is open to the public and free for students and WAC members. General admission for nonmembers is $5.
Tekin will discuss recent shifts in Turkish foreign policy and the nation's rising influence on the global stage. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Turkey represents a strategic geopolitical nation both to the United States and around the world. Bordering eight nations, including Iraq and Iran, Turkey remains a critical Middle East ally for the United States politically and economically. As a fast-rising economic power, Turkey continues to exert itself as a respectable power in the region.
World Affairs Council of Montana
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Enjoy 'Chamber Music in Action'
The UM School of Music and the Alex Morrison Family Foundation will host "Chamber Music in Action" from 2:10 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, in the Music Recital Hall.
The event, which is free and open to the public, features Eric Zivian, piano; Tanya Tomkins, cello; and Ian Swensen, violin.
The trio also will perform for a Faculty and Guest Artist Series event at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, in the Music Recital Hall. Admission to the performance is $10 for the general public and $5 for students and seniors.
For more information, e-mail music Professor Fern Glass Boyd at fern.glass@umontana.edu.
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Regional Learning Project Closes
Map Sets, DVDs, Teacher Guides Available
The Regional Learning Project at UM is closing its doors. During the decade the project was part of UM Continuing Education, the group, under the direction of Sally Thompson, collaborated with tribes throughout the region to bring authentic voices and perspectives into classrooms through documentary films, websites and other innovate curricular materials.
Project websites will remain active through various hosts. They include Time Travelers: Teaching American History in the Northwest, Trail Tribes, Montana Tribes and Tribal Legacy, which will be launched soon.
Historical map sets for Montana and the Northwest, DVDs and teacher guides will be available at close-out prices on the project's website or at The Bookstore at UM. For more information or to place an order, visit the website or call 243-5890.
Regional Learning Project
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News About U
 Anthropology Associate Professor Ardeshir Kia was awarded an honorary doctoral degree and an honorary professorship from Nasser Khosrow State University, Tajikistan.
Anthropology and Native American studies Professor Neyooxet Greymorning, was an honored guest at the July 14 Canadian Indigenous Language and Literacy Development Institute's 11th year celebration banquet. Greymorning also facilitated a three-day language instruction and acquisition workshop during the first week of August for the Heiltsuk Indians of Bella Bella on Campbell Island, roughly half way between Juneau, Alaska, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
A feature story about dance Professor Karen Kaufmann's research with Montana's Model Dance Education Project was included in the August 2010 issue of the newsletter Dance Teacher. The story, written by Katie Rolnick, is titled "Montana Moves, Karen Kaufmann is Changing Education in Missoula, One School at a Time."
Journalism Assistant Professor Ray Fanning was selected to attend the Center for News Literacy's Summer Institute for Teachers. The intensive two-week program took place in July at New York's Stony Brook University and focused on developing curriculum for teaching news literacy to high school and college students. Over the summer, Fanning also produced, edited and acted as voice talent for an audio version of the Rural Institute's textbook "Living Well With a Disability." The digital recording of the 258-page text will be a resource for visually impaired students and instructors who take or teach the course.
While on sabbatical leave during spring semester 2010, mathematics Professor Thomas Tonev gave lectures and talks at colloquia and meetings at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan; Niigata University, Niigata, Japan; Yamagata University, Yonezawa, Japan; the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; and the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
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Submissions must reach University Relations, 317 Brantly Hall, by noon Tuesday for inclusion in the following week's newsletter. Be sure to note that the submissions are for ForUM. E-mail submissions may be sent to campnews@mso.umt.edu. Items will be included as space permits. For more information, e-mail Brenda Day, ForUM editor.
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