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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Art Professor Receives USA Fellowship
When United States Artists announced the recipients of its prestigious 2009 Fellowships in December, Professor Beth Lo of UM's School of Art was named a USA Hoi Fellow.
A renowned artist who works in ceramics and mixed media collage, Lo was one of 50 chosen from across the visual, literary and performing arts to receive a USA Fellowship. The fellowships, presented annually, include unrestricted grants of $50,000.
Lo was born in Lafayette, Ind., to parents who had recently immigrated to the U.S. from China, and her work revolves primarily around issues of family and her Asian-American background. Key elements in her works, which have been exhibited nationally, are cultural marginality and blending, tradition and Westernization, and language and translation.
Lo received a master of fine arts degree from UM in 1974. In 1994 she received a fellowship for visual art from the National Endowment for the Arts. She also is a past recipient of a Montana Arts Council Individual Artist Award.
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Study Shows Climate Change Stresses Forests
Leading UM researchers have released results of a new study that shows climate change will increase drought stress in northern Rocky Mountain forests, leading to increased potential for insect infestations and risk of more frequent and severe wildfires.
The peer-reviewed study, conducted by UM forestry researchers, finds that longer periods of drought will stress the forest ecosystem that includes areas in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, with increased insect epidemic and wildfire disturbances. The economic impact of highest concern is the potential of a catastrophic wildfire in the region, which could affect more than 360,000 people who live in homes in the forest-urban interface that are valued at $21 billion.
"As temperatures rise, we will see about two months of additional drought stress each year by late this century," said study author Steve Running, Regents Professor of Ecology in UM's College of Forestry and Conservation. "And the worse global warming gets, the more significant the consequences for forests."
Read the Full Release
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UM Celebrates Chinese Culture Week
In honor of the official inauguration of the Confucius Institute at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, UM will celebrate Chinese Culture Week Monday through Friday, Jan. 25-29.
A six-person delegation from Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing, China, led by Zhang Guolin and Deng Chaoxi, will join UM President George Dennison, Mansfield Center Director Terry Weidner and Confucius Institute Co-director Qin Jie for a ceremony to mark the occasion. Representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., also will attend.
UM will host events during the week that are free and open to the public:
- 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26: A professional dance troupe from Southwest University will perform in the University Theatre.
- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27: Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre will hold a Chinese dance workshop in the University Center North Ballroom.
- 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29: Chinese movie night in UC Room 330.
The Confucius Institute promotes Chinese language and culture education in Montana through distance learning, lectures, performances and more. It is part of a worldwide network of sister institutions funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education. For more inforamtion, call Jeri Jacobsen of the Mansfield Center at 243-2988 or visit the Mansfield Center Web site.
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center
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Thought-Provoking Exhibition At MMAC
A traveling exhibition featuring artists from across the United States who used white supremacist propaganda to create thought-provoking works of art is currently on view at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture.
"Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate" will be at MMAC through Saturday, March 6. The exhibition is traveling through the Museum of Art Gallery Directors Association of Montana. It was developed as a partnership between the Holter Museum of Art in Helena and the Montana Human Rights Network.
In 2004, MHRN secured more than 4,000 volumes of white supremacist propaganda from a defecting member of the World Church of the Creator, including numerous pamphlets and other literature written by church founder Ben Klassen. Rather than destroy the material, messages of intolerance and hate were transformed into a collection of objects intended to promote civic dialogue.
Three public events will take place in conjunction with the exhibition:
- 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29: Travis McAdam, MHRN executive director, will speak about human rights and the making of the exhibition.
- 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4: Lecture by Katie Knight, curator of "Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate," at the Masquer Theatre in the PAR/TV Center.
- 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25: Panel discussion featuring artists Dana Boussard, Stephen Glueckert and Lisa Jarrett at the Montana Theatre in the PAR/TV Center. Panel moderator will be former MHRN Director Ken Toole.
For gallery hours and more information, visit the MMAC Web site.
Montana Museum of Art & Culture
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Longtime MTPR Programmer Retires
After more than 35 years shaping classical music sojourns for Montana Public Radio listeners, Terry Conrad, music director for "Morning Classics," retired Jan. 1. Conrad retired as the station's program director in 2000 but maintained his posts as music director and host of the popular "Jazz Sessions" program on Thursday afternoons. He will continue his jazz disc jockey shift.
Hired as KUFM program director in 1973, Conrad began such programs as "Music at Dawn," "Bach and Before" and "Keyboard Masterworks" -- programming all of them from KUFM's small library of LP discs. Years later, with the addition of nationally syndicated programs such as "Performance Today," Conrad confined his local programming to "Morning Classics," now heard each weekday between 9 and 11 a.m.
Susan Israel, a "Morning Classics" host, assumes the music director duties. She has a bachelor's degree in music from Queens College, City University of New York, where she studied violin. She said following in Conrad's footsteps is a challenging opportunity.
"I'm excited," she said. "I hope to follow the tradition of Terry's programs, creating a wide range of programming that many people can enjoy."
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President Dennison's Office Hours
Each semester, President Dennison welcomes members of the campus community to meet with him to discuss issues and topics of their choice. Please call 243-2311 or e-mail prestalk@umontana.edu to make an appointment to meet with President Dennison during these times.
The president's office hours for spring semester are:
- Wednesday, Jan. 27: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 4: 9-11 a.m.
- Friday, Feb. 12: 10 a.m.-noon
- Tuesday, Feb. 16: 2-4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 24: 9-11 a.m.
- Tuesday, March 2: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Friday, March 19: 1-3 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 23: 9-11 a.m.
- Thursday, April 8: 9-11 a.m.
- Monday, April 12: 3-5 p.m.
- Friday, April 23: 10 a.m.-noon
- Tuesday, April 27: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
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Publications
Ipsen, Catherine, Tom Seekins, and Craig Ravesloot. 2010. "Building the Case for Delivering Health Promotion Services within the Vocational Rehabilitation System." Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 53(2):67-77.
Jabour, Anya (co-editor). 2010. Family Values in the Old South. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Kusche, Brian R., Adrienne E. Smith, Michele A. McGuirl and Nigel D. Priestley. 2009. "Alternating Pattern of Stereochemistry in the Nonactin Macrocycle Is Required for Antibacterial Activity and Efficient Ion Binding." Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131(47):17155-17165.
Sriraman, Bharath (co-author). 2010. "Tracing Students' Modeling Processes in School." In Modeling Students' Modeling Competencies. (Eds.) R. Lesh et al. Springer Science. pp. 119-129.
Sriraman, Bharath (co-author). 2010. "Theories and Philosophies of Mathematics Education." In Theories of Mathematics Education: Seeking New Frontiers. Monograph 1 in the series Advances in Mathematics Education. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Science. pp. 7-32.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. (co-author). 2009. "Noriphyllia, a New Tethyan Late Triassic Coral Genus." Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 83:467-478.
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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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