STEAM Working Group

Announcement from the WMU Center for the Humanities STEAM Interdisciplinary Working Group

Fall 2014

During the Fall 2014 semester, the Western Michigan University Center for the

Humanities will host a series of discussions on the integration of the humanities and arts into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and research at Western Michigan University. Moderated by Dr. Maria Gigante (English), Dr. Steve Malcolm (Biological Sciences), Dr. Jocelyn Steinke (Communication), and Dr. Gwen Tarbox (English), this interdisciplinary working group will facilitate discussion among graduate students, staff and faculty related to a number of STEM to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) initiatives, including:

•    developing or redesigning interdisciplinary courses according to STEAM

values;

•    promoting educational and professional opportunities in STEAM for

students;

•    broadening participation of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM through STEAM transformations;

•    discussing and disseminating tools and techniques from the Arts to enhance

the effective communication and understanding of STEM topics; and, 

•    showing how an understanding of STEAM enhances life-­‐long learning in a

world full of complex technologies.

The STEAM interdisciplinary working group will meet 4 times during the semester to assess opportunities for developing STEAM projects at WMU and to provide recommendations for supporting these efforts.

Session 1: Practical Applications of STEAM for Instructors and Students

Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 1:00 – 2:30 pm

3025 Brown Hall

 

At our first meeting, participants will discuss selected readings on STEAM and explore the STEAM initiatives that are already underway at WMU. During the second half of the session, participants will engage in a brainstorming session to generate potential interdisciplinary STEAM projects (educational and research) and strategies for integrating writing and argumentation into the science classroom.

Session 2: “Science on the Campaign Trail: Climate Change in the Clements-­‐ Upton Congressional Race”

A Speech and Q&A with Paul Clements, WMU Political Science Professor

Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 1:00 – 2:30 pm

University Center for the Humanities, 2500 Knauss Hall

WMU professor Paul Clements will discuss the interconnectedness of humanities and STEM fields as he recounts the way that he has used rhetorical practices to convert economic theory and environmental science into information that he can use to communicate to area residents as he runs for the US Congress for the MI Sixth District.

Session 3: STEAM Funding Opportunities

October 28, 2014, 1:00 – 2:30 pm

University Center for the Humanities, 2500 Knauss Hall

The working group will discuss funding for STEAM initiatives at WMU. Guests from the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s office will provide participants with information on external and internal funding related to STEAM projects.

Session 4: STEAM Initiatives at WMU in 2015

Tuesday, November 11, 1:00-­‐2:30 pm

University Center for the Humanities, 2500 Knauss Hall

For its final session the STEAM interdisciplinary working group discuss suggestions for STEAM initiatives that could be implemented in 2015. The group will also determine whether it should continue to meet during the Spring 2015 semester.

Faculty, staff, and graduate students are welcome to attend and participate. Questions and RSVP: maria.gigante@wmich.edu. As part of your message,

please indicate which session(s) you wish to attend.

New Issues Poet Khaled Mattawa Named 2014 MacArthur Fellow

  Congratulations, Khaled Mattawa!

From PBS: MacArthur Foundation Announces 21 New Geniuses

The 2014 MacArthur Fellows

From the LA Times:
"The poet, translator and University of Michigan professor won admiration from the MacArthur Foundation for 'rendering the beauty and meaning of contemporary Arab poetry to an English reader and highlighting the invaluable role of literary translation in bridging cultural divides.'"


Khaled Mattawa's most recent collection of original poetry, Tocqueville, was published by New Issues Poetry & Prose (2010).

Ecclesiastes

The trick is that you're willing to help them.
The rule is to sound like you’re doing them a favor.

The rule is to create a commission system.
The trick is to get their number.

The trick is to make it personal:
No one in the world suffers like you.

The trick is that you’re providing a service.
The rule is to keep the conversation going.

The rule is their parents were foolish,
their children are greedy or insane.

The rule is to make them feel they've come too late.
The trick is that you're willing to make exceptions.

The rule is to assume their parents abused them.
The trick is to sound like the one teacher they loved.

And when they say "too much,"
give them a plan.

And when they say "anger" or "rage" or "love,"
say "give me an example."

The rule is everyone is a gypsy now.
Everyone is searching for his tribe.

The rule is you don't care if they ever find it.
The trick is that they feel they can.

Khaled Mattawa was born in Benghazi, Libya in 1964 and immigrated to the U.S. in his teens. He is the author of three previous books of poetry, Ismailia Eclipse (Sheep Meadow, 1995), Zodiac of Echoes (Ausable, 2003), and Amorisco (Ausable, 2008). Mattawa has translated eight volumes of contemporary Arabic poetry and co-edited two anthologies of Arab American literature. He is currently a Chancellor for the Academy of American Poetry, and has received a Guggenheim fellowship, an NEA translation grant, the Alfred Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the PEN American Center Poetry Translation Prize, and three Pushcart Prizes. Mattawa teaches in the MFA (Creative Writing) Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.