Faculty + Staff News / February 5, 2013

Molly Beestrum and Amy Wainwright (Library), and former colleague Kerri Willette, have been invited to present "When Social Media Fails to Inspire: Transforming your Library's Social Media Presence" at the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) conference in April in Indianapolis.

Jerry Brindisi, Philippe Ravanas, and Justin Sinkovich (AEMM) co-wrote a case study on Pitchfork Media, which will be published in the winter 2013 edition of the International Journal of Arts Management (IJAM). IJAM is the preeminent peer-reviewed publication in the field, distributed in 40 countries and read by academics and practitioners alike. 

Mort Castle's (Fiction Writing) short story Altenmoor, Where the Dogs Dance was produced as a short feature film titled Elysium. Also, Castle's story New Moon on the Water is up for a Bram Stoker Award. Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury is also up for a Bram Stoker Award, which was edited by Castle and Sam Weller (Fiction Writing).

Jonathan Choe (Journalism) reviewed the news during the week of January 25 on the "Morning Shift with Tony Sarabia" on 91.5 WBEZ. 

Wilfredo Cruz (HHSS) was quoted in a story that appeared in the January 1 issue of The Chicago Reporter. He commented on the 2009 case of bartender Karolina Obrycka, who was beaten by an off-duty Chicago policeman, and the code of silence in the police department.

Ken Daley (English) had his essay, “Pater's Books and the Collected Works Digital Archive," published in issue 61/62 (Spring/Fall 2012) of The Pater Newsletter. The newsletter is published twice a year by the International Water Pater Society. 

Tom Dowd (Interactive Arts + Media), Michael Fry (Television), Michael Niederman (Television), and Joe Steiff (Film + Video) coauthored Storytelling Across Worlds: Transmedia for Creatives and Producers. The book serves as a guide for writers and producers making the jump to working across various creative mediums. The book will be published in March by Focal Press.

Dean Deborah H. Holdstein (School of Liberal Arts and Sciences) participated in several panels January 3-6 at the annual conference of the Modern Language Association in Boston. In addition to moderating a session on "Rhetoric and the Virtues," Holdstein was a panelist in a session titled, "How I Have Changed My Mind as a Scholar-Teacher of Writing." Holdstein also serves on the eight-member Publications Committee of the organization.

Jeff Jacobson (Fiction Writing) signed a two-book deal with Kensington Corp. The first novel, Sleep Tight, will be released in September 2013, and the second (untitled) will be released in fall 2014. 

Allan Johnston’s (English) new book of poems, Departures, is being published by Finishing Line Press to be released this spring. The book addresses the richness of growing up in Southern California. 

Eric May's (Fiction Writing) novel was accepted for publication by Akashic Books in New York with an expected release in early 2014. May says the story concerns "a guy who is terrorizing his neighbors with the Word of God." 

Nami Mun (Fiction Writing) will be the keynote speaker at events for three organizations: the Night Ministry, WBEZ Neighborhood Writing Alliance, and Literature for All of Us. Mun will also be a visiting professor at City University of Hong Kong and a visiting lecturer at Vermont Studio Center, Cleveland State University, and Fresno State University. She will serve as a judge for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and will present at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual conference in Boston, along with several of her Fiction Writing Department colleagues. 

Onye Ozuzu (Dance) and Brian Posen (Theatre) were listed by Newcity on its list of 50 Chicagoans who "bring us the best theatre, dance, comedy, and opera in the nation." 
 
Dominic Pacyga (HHSS) was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune for its December 25 story “Small-Town Church Built with Pieces from Chicago Parishes.” He provides a historical perspective to the story, which discusses how items from two historical churches were used in the construction of a Lake County church. 

Michael Robbins (English) had his new book, Alien vs. Predator (Penguin Books, 2012), reviewed in The New York Times’ “Sunday Book Review” section. His book was also named an Editor’s Choice in the Times. Greil Marcus, a prominent author, music journalist, and cultural critic, wrote about Alien vs. Predator in his monthly column in the magazine The Believer.

Carol Lloyd Rozansky (Education) presented "From Reading to Writing: Helping Students Comprehend Challenging Texts" as part of the Writing Across the Curriculum Faculty Seminar January 2-3 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. As one of the two introductory presenters, she created writing assignments within the context of reading since most writing assignments depend, in varying degrees, on text.

Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa's (Film + Video) documentary Jerry and Me screened at Rotterdam International Film Festival and Glasgow Film Festival. 

David Trinidad’s (English) poem "from Peyton Place: A Haiku Soap Opera” was selected to appear in the 2013 edition of The Best American Poetry. The poem is from his new book, Peyton Place: A Haiku Soap Opera, which is due to release in the fall.

Tracy Ullman (Film + Video) recently finished writing, directing, and producing a new program in the series Deadly Sins for Investigation Discovery. 

Cynthia Vargas's (Alumni Relations) Open House won a 53-word story contest January 24 on Press 53.

Guy Villa Jr. (Art + Design) gave two presentations—"Reinterrupting the Book" and "Thematic Poster Design"—January 18-20 at The Society of Typographic Arts' annual winter retreat. The presentations included examples of books and posters, created by students for class assignments, from typography courses Villa teaches. 

Stan West (English) talked with teen reporters connected with ColumbiaLinks about journalists who give back to the community. West also will screen his documentary, Mutilated Rest, February 8 at Hales Franciscan High School. 
 
Nicole Wilson (English) had her poem “Cow in a Cradle” published in Booth, a Butler University publication. Wilson’s chapbook, Amazing Face, is forthcoming from Phantom Limb Press.


Jonathan Keiser, Director of Evaluation and Assessment in the Senior Vice President’s Office, is leaving Columbia College Chicago to become Executive Director of Academic Development at the City Colleges of Chicago.  Keiser’s last day at Columbia will be Tuesday, February 19, 2013.

For close to five years, Jonathan oversaw many evaluation projects and directed college-wide processes such as Learning Outcomes Assessment, Student Course Evaluations, and policy and training for Part-time Faculty Teaching Evaluations. He helped make these efforts more transparent through the development of an Evaluation and Assessment website (www.colum.edu/evaluation) and focused on ensuring this work was used to improve learning and teaching at Columbia. He also taught courses in the Science and Mathematics Department and the Education Studies Department.

All inquiries regarding the Evaluation and Assessment Office should be directed to Andre Foisy (afoisy@colum.edu), Assistant Director of Evaluation and Assessment.