Why We Must Love Louder
By Jen DiLallo in Social Sciences and Education, Teaching and Students

Walking into the Kingian Nonviolence Training through the Nonviolence Legacy Project, I was rather unsure of what to expect. I had heard about the training through Advocates Coming Together (A.C.T.), a UA Residence Life group focused on social justice in its variety of forms. 

I decided to sign-up.

One of the key selling points for Kingian Nonviolence is that a person can learn Martin Luther King, Jr.’s six principles and six steps of nonviolence, and also how to apply them to daily life. At the time, this was especially relevant because it was the weekend before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and many of us from A.C.T. were interested in learning about the figurehead that King represented throughout the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. 

I chose the training in the hopes of it guiding me in my own peaceful protesting endeavors. Specifically, since I had transferred to the UA last fall, one feature of campus life that has repeatedly grabbed my attention was and still remain the preachings that take place on the hill outside of the Student Union Memorial Center.

Given that religion is an interest of mine, I would stop occasionally to listen to what exactly each speaker would scream out to the audience, often be surprised by the brashness of their words. I noticed how people of specific identities were targeted, whether for their supposed religious affiliation, sexual activity, sexual orientation, gender, or any other variety of reasons.

Based on my own interest in creating a communally beneficial response and what I gathered from the Kingian Nonviolence training, I have since been working on forming on a collaborative group called Love Louder.

Based on the concept of agape love, as detailed in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “On Agape Love,” the group aims to support diversity within the campus as a whole by withstanding intolerance on behalf of others.

Specifically, we want to create signs and shirts that have affirming messages, so as to visually represent a positive influence in a typically negatively charged area.

All the same, I recognize that such a group cannot operate based on one person’s vision and without support from others; in that sense, I have had the honor of working with the Angel.

Project, Harry Potter Alliance, Secular Student Alliance, and A.C.T. – just for starters – in order to collaborate on an inclusive group for next semester.

The Kingian Nonviolence training has been critical to my way of thinking, because instead of antagonizing anyone or wanting to control their actions, it teaches people how to live peaceably – actively and considerately.

The notion that you can only control your behavior and hope for it to inspire others is what makes peaceful protest both a supremely brave a daringly respectful form to respond to conflict. I hope to continue in this instruction as I pursue making Love Louder an official group. If you have any interest in participating or sharing your thoughts in the process, please visit the Facebook page “Love Louder” or e-mail me directly.

Thank you, and be sure to love louder.

An open meeting will be held at the UA April 28 at 2 p.m. in Room B315 of the Main Library. Students are invited to attend. Love Louder is a group that is dedicated toward presenting visual, positive messages in response to social injustice occurring on campus. It is not religiously or politically affiliated in any way nor does it aim to antagonize those performing unjust acts. Feel free to represent your own identit(ies) in support of diversity on campus.

Jen DiLallo is a double major studying speech, language and hearing sciences and also linguistics. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, DiLallo transferred to the UA from Washington University to pursue a career in bilingual speech-language pathology. Her organization, Love Louder, is scheduled to launch during the fall semester of 2013. For more information, visit Love Louder on Facebook or e-mail DiLallo at jdilallo@email.arizona.edu.

Tags:
Students, Student Life, Education, Outreach

New Venture Competition and Showcase to Highlight UA Student Innovation
By McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship in Business and Law, Teaching and Students

After a year of imagining and developing viable, comprehensive plans for new business ventures, the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program class of 2013 will present their ideas at the fast-paced and exciting McGuire New Venture Competition and Showcase.

The April 26 showcase will be held 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Eller College of Management's McClelland Hall.

The public is invited to get an early look at these innovations and meet the bright, young burgeoning entrepreneurs who developed them.

The McGuire New Venture Competition and Showcase will feature 23 new ventures developed by 90 UA undergraduate and graduate students. Each team will present three-minute pitches before a judging panel of entrepreneurial elite as well as display and discuss their ideas during an interactive trade show.

Innovations include biomedical devices, fitness products, agricultural technology, ecommerce websites, social apps, children's educational products and much more. Full descriptions of each of the 23 teams and new ventures are available online.

The McGuire New Venture Competition and Showcase is free and open to the public. In fact, the audience is invited to participate by helping decide the People's Choice Award for best booth and presentation. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony, where more than $5,000 in prizes will be distributed to deserving teams.

A survey of the class of 2013 shows that 90 percent of students plan to start their own business after finishing the McGuire Program and almost half plan to launch their businesses in Tucson or Arizona.

For more information on the McGuire New Venture Competition and Showcase, visit the website, or contact Julie Forster at forstejm@email.arizona.edu or 520-626-3030.

The McGuire Entrepreneurship Program is part of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship in the Eller College of Management.

Tags:
Eller, Students, Research, Education

Q&A: Docents Serve as Face, Voice of Art Museum
By La Monica Everett-Haynes in Arts and Humanities, Teaching and Students

Museum docents hold a very special place in the effort to share social, cultural and political knowledge and history documented through the arts.

At the University of Arizona Museum of Art & Archive of Visual Arts, the first docent program began in 1979. Today, a group of 45 people volunteer to serve as docents, facilitating tours and workshops both on and off campus about the body of work housed at the UAMA.

Ed Warner, who has served as a volunteer docent with the UAMA since 2006, said he is "still thrilled to be able to be this close to the art." Warner, notes that some visitors arrive with great disbelief at the authenticity and age of some of the museum's holding, said he takes great pleasure in "working with a great bunch of fellow docents and a wonderful group of staff members. They all make it fun to be at UAMA."

Katharina Phillips, who has been a UAMA docent for nearly three years, became involved with the museum after moving to Tucson. 

"I was a docent before, and I have been an art lover all my life," Phillips said, adding that volunteers provide "essential services" that ensure the success of museums. 

Warner and Phillips answered some of our questions about their service work as docents and what contributions the UA's museum is making in the lives of community members. This is the fourth feature in a six-part series exploring the history of the UA School of Art and UA Museum of Art.

Q: Why did you initially decide to serve as a UAMA docent, and what has been most meaningful to you in your time of service?

Warner: I was first taken to a docent meeting by Abby Root, who served as a docent for more than 20 years, and I wanted to have the opportunity to learn more about art and, then, share that knowledge with visitors to the museum. I watched as she would give tours to various groups and paid attention to how they learned and enjoyed their visit. I now give the tours, and it is extremely rewarding to see children, adults and college students get a better understanding of our paintings and how they fit into our history and even our contemporary lives.

Q: One initiative within UAMA has been to expand the level of outreach, particularly with more of an emphasis on offering programs in the community and with community needs incorporated. In your view as a community member and volunteer, why is such community-based programming so important? 

Phillips: The residents and visitors of Tucson are known for their interest in the arts. But the community is diverse. There are many resident artists, there is a large school system, there are many retirees, part-time or year round. How to prioritize among these groups, and how to engage the University community in the process? The UA Museum itself has limited funds and limited exhibition space, but there is no other resource, including expertise in art history and treasures of art works like it, in the state of Arizona.

Q: Docents are revered for their contribution for preserving and advancing cultural and historic understandings. How would you describe the contribution you try to make in the lives of UAMA visitors? And based on your experiences, what impact does community-based art education have?

Warner: With the volume of media available today, it is no less important to see how we got here. Having discussions with visitors about painting made during the Renaissance or in 20th century America helps them connect to the past in a way that discussions alone cannot. I am a photographer by training  and I have been involved with that my whole professional life.  However, I have always had a passion for art and I found that being a docent is a great way to learn, renew and pass on that passion. 

Phillips: There are many ways to demonstrate the impact of art in and on a community. Some will cite medical studies that show how the exercising of both sides of the brain benefits people at all stages in their lives. Others will talk about the eyes of a child lighting up when he or she suddenly experiences something new or recognizes something that matters a great deal in his or her own life. Adult learners often seek to enjoy art as one of the aspects of life on which they never had time to spend while they were still working. Yet others are interested in a deeper understanding of the various art periods, or in delving into the intricacies of different art media. Some like to fill the gaps between art experiences they had while traveling in the U.S. or abroad. In this context, it is important to remember that the impact of the arts is not restricted to formal art education. Indeed, the UAMA's outreach activities always try first and foremost to elicit individual response and to succeed in creating an arts experience, rather than offering lessons. 

Q: What are some of your favorite pieces in the UAMA collection, and why?

Warner: Almost the whole Samuel H. Kress Collection. I am fascinated by our ability to be this close to the painters of the Renaissance and their connection to the Spanish world of Isabella and Ferdinand, the Catholic kings. We have an image of their daughter Juana in one of our paintings, and the Retablo was painted during their reign.

Phillips: When you become a docent, you start to look at art somewhat differently than before. There is still that personal affinity, that immediate response of delight in the craft, the theme and the execution of the piece you look at. As a docent, you also take delight in art that allows you to help others to enjoy the art you love. You seek out pieces that allow you to demonstrate the state of mind of artists at different time periods, and art works that show the intricacies of their craft as they explore different media. One gets fascinated by the emotion artists experience as they prepare their work and how they use composition and color to make their point. You understand the power of "ugly" paintings and the intrinsic value of understanding art that shows horror and pain to which we would otherwise close our eyes.

Interested in volunteering with the UAMA under the Docent Program? Visit the volunteer page for more information and to fill out the application, or call Olivia Miller, UAMA's curator of education, at 520-626-9899.

Photo credit: Patrick McArdle/UANews

This is the fourth feature in a six-part series exploring the history of the UA School of Art and UA Museum of Art.

 

Tags:
Q&A, Outreach, Education, The Arts

UA Community Completes the Moving Mural Project
By Vince Redhouse in Arts and Humanities, Campus News, Teaching and Students

When I was younger, I was an avid reader. In particular, I especially took to poetry and spent many summer days memorizing line after line of Pablo Neruda, George Santayana, W. B. Yeats and others. I and would recite them aloud as I walked through the grassy fields of a nearby park.

Of all the thousands of poems I sifted through, there is one passage that has always stuck with me. It came from the great American poet Robert Frost: "'Men work together,’ I told him from the heart, 'Whether they work together or apart.’"

In two simple lines, those words encompass everything that I wanted the Moving Mural Project to be, and everything that it has become.

For this project, the murals traveled across campus with stop at UA's African American Student Affairs, Asian Pacific Student Affairs, Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs, Native American Student Affairs, the Disability Resource Center, the LGBTQ Pride Alliance, the Women’s Resource Center and the V.E.T.S. Center – a very diverse set of participants.

What I saw happen during this project was not diversity, but similarity. You see, even though everyone wanted to paint their own unique square, I often noticed similar patterns or designs across the murals. Less salient than the paint on the mural was the similarity of the people that chose to participate.

Despite differences in race, culture, gender, sexual orientation or anything else, the people who came together to make this project work all had a common trait: a willingness to be open. What I heard was encouragement and compliments between the students, faculty and staff who came to work on the project.

One reason the project is so valuable is that it allowed people to open themselves up; to not be afraid. Once that happened and the paint began the dry, the murals begun to take shape.  

In the end, the murals came to represent those old lines by Robert Frost because they showed people in those centers and around the campus that there are people just like them; people who struggle to fight, to persevere, to fit-in, to continue each and every day. And like themselves, those people fight for a better tomorrow; an equal tomorrow.

Knowing that there are so many people out there just like you is something that the students who view these murals and the students that participated in these murals will always be able to take solace in. The next step is to ensure that the dialogue between these centers remains active so that we can continue to work together.

One last note, a special, special thanks to UA art professor Alfred J. Quiroz for making this happen. Words cannot describe my gratitude and appreciation for that man.

Photo credit: Beatriz Verdugo/UANews

Vince Redhouse (Navajo) transferred to the UA from Pima Community College to pursue a degree in the Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law with a minor in Spanish. With help from UA art professor Alfred J. Quiroz, Redhouse launched the campus-wide Moving Mural Project Feb. 4 at the African American Student Affairs.

Tags:
Students, Student Life, The Arts, The Wildcat Way

UA Community Gives Thanks to Faculty
By La Monica Everett-Haynes and Jessica Carlson in Social Sciences and Education, Teaching and Students

About this time every year, the UA community, along with others across the nation, celebrate the contributions of teachers, professors and other educators.

Among the UA faculty are those who have helped us to find our life's path, who encouraged us to think bigger and better, who have supported and encouraged us through challenges and crises and who helped to remind us of our humanity. When was the last time you gave thanks to your UA faculty member, or any educator? Take the time now. (Photo credit:  FJ Gaylor)

In advance of the third annual Teacher Day at UA on April 27 and National Teacher Day on May 7, we asked members of the UA community to share stories of some of their favorite faculty members at the UA. Some of the responses are below:

"My favorite professor was JoAnne Behling (English) because she is about fostering a students passion for writing. Her sternness and compassion with her students helps them to succeed and grow. She helped to rejuvenate my love of writing. Her work with the southern Arizona writing project has also inspired me to give back to communities who need it. In large part due to her influence, I will be working as a Teach for America corps member. Thank you for helping me find my way." -Paige K. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Dr. Kathy G. Short (right, teaching, learning and sociocultural studies) because she has challenged me to think critically about children's literature and teaching practice as a teacher educator. Also, she has stood by me as a lifelong mentor." -Jeanne F. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Dr. Bruce Bayly (mathematics) is surely a professor who has had a very positive impact on me, younger generations – middle school and high school students – and organizations. He is currently my differential equations professor and teaches with such passion and dedication to each student. Aside from teaching Dr. Bayly focuses in many outreach events for middle school and high school students as well as college students from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. He is a role model to me and many others!" -Erick Leon Gastelum, a UA junior studying systems engineering and executive vice president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

"Don McCarthy (astronomy) because he is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. He widened my perspective of the universe. Every time I look up into the night sky, I think of all the things I learned in his class. Best. Professor. Ever." -David H. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Suzanne Eanes (left) from the Department of Russian and Slavic Studies! She's extremely passionate about her field and was a big part of the reason I switched my major to Russian Studies." -Joseph S. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Favorite professor by far is Prof. Gerald J. Swanson!! His 8am Econ 101 class was the reason i majored in it! even at that ungodly hour he was amazing, funny, intriguing, motivating and incredible. thank you SWANSON!!!" -Hilary K. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Susan Quinn Williams (dance), she inspired me to be better than I thought I could be. She was a mentor and inspiration and instilled a passion and confidence in me about dancing and just who I am that I had never experienced before. She changed my life." -Kristin P. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Cody Patterson (mathematics) because he challenged us to think critically. We really learned the material instead of memorizing it. I can apply what we learned to my other classes easily. He made vector calculus my favorite class, if you can believe that. Thank you, Dr. P." -Becca Levy, a UA student studying astronomy and physics

"Thank you Dr. Kathleen Wells (UA South, family studies and human development)... by graduation I was fully prepared to take on the dynamic role of high needs case manager for kids and families with intense needs." -Markie C. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Cindi Gilliland (right, management), because she actively participated in the refugee community in Tucson, and inspired her students to do likewise. She was truly an inspirational teacher." -Jayne T. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Professor Steven Reff doesn't just teach economics at the UA. In his class, you basically become enrolled in Reff University: he always has life lessons and open ears available for everyone. I know I'm not the only whose college experience has been greatly improved having had Steven Reff as a professor." -Kelley Carson, a political science sophomore with a concentration in international relations

"@UofA definitely Dr. David Gibbs (left) in the history department. Only class I ever wanted to write down every single word the prof said." -Nick B. via the UA's official Twitter page

"I hate science, but the great Prof. Steven Leavitt (Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research) has made his class so fun and interesting that I'm always excited to go to his lectures. Mr. Leavitt is by far one of the best science professors I have had at the U of A; he is smart, considerate, and super fun.  He is the reason why I love that global change class so much." -Graciela Morales, a UA sophomore majoring in elementary education.

"Paul Ivey in Art History! So passionate and engaging and knowledgeable. I took all of his classes every semester. He made some of the deepest concepts totally accessible." -Suzanne S. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Dr. Steve Wright (right, physiology) has been an outstanding teacher to me in the classroom and as my research mentor. I have been an undergraduate research assistant in his lab for two years and I am so grateful that he entrusted me with my own research project and helped me analyze and articulate my results, which we published and presented at multiple big conferences. His faith in undergraduates to step up and be scientists themselves has been foundational in my growth as a professional throughout college. Dr. Wright has taught me more about physiology and the scientific process than I ever could have imagined and I am grateful he is here at the UA teaching our future doctors and researchers. I am graduating in May and going on to medical school, and I know my research experience with Dr. Wright was a huge part of getting me there." -Jaclyn Harper, a UA Honors College senior majoring in physiology and political science

"Professor Deborah Hughes-Hallett (left, mathematics) because she not only taught the class but stayed late in her office to help her students succeed." -Janelle C. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Patti Harada (right, psychology). She was an amazing teacher. She taught so many life skills that were so valuable. She always had a waiting list to get into her class and after having her I knew why. She completely changed my view of death and how to deal with it. (Psychology of death and loss)." -Melissa H. via the UA's official Facebook page

"I LOVED Professor John W. Olsen (anthropology)!!! He always held true to his office hours and was willing to accommodate students if their schedules did not match up with his available times. I met him a few times for a critique of my papers for the class and his feedback was genuine, analytical and always provided useful and meaningful suggestions. His passion for Anthropology helped me to determine that Anthropology would be minor and I have loved it!!" -Katy B. via the UA's official Facebook page

"Henry Perkins from the AME department and Miklos Szilagyi from the ECE dept. They would make class both attainable and enjoyable. In addition, they would spend some time talking about issues/topics not related to class which would be a nice break from the lecture and also add personality and liveliness." -Michael D. via the UA's official Facebook page

The UA is hosting, along with Tucson Values Teachers, its third annual Teacher Day at UA on April 27 to coincide with National Teacher Appreciation Week celebrations. The luncheon is full, but other events are open to all educators at no cost and will include networking opportunities, professional development opportunities centered on the Common Core State Standards and an expo offering information on UA programs and resources. The day of events begins at 8:30 a.m. at the UA College of Education and the Flandrau Science Center.

Tags:
Education, Faculty, Students

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