On April 6-7, the Eastern Michigan University Forensics team took fourth place out of fifty-eight schools at the American Forensics Association National Speech Championships held at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Over the course of the three-day tournament, 14 Eastern students competed across eleven different events including Persuasive Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, and Poetry interpretation. In total, 27 EMU events made it to the quarter-final round; 12 advanced to semi-finals. Senior Kate Inman, and Juniors Gavin Millard, Louise Engohang, and Meghan Huelsman all placed in the top six out of hundreds of students in their respective events. This marks the third year in a row that EMU has placed in the top 5 at the AFA-NST. 

On April 17, the Forensics team will finish their season with the National Forensics Association Tournament, where they hope to surpass their second place finish from last year.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded senior honors Environmental Science and Society (ENVI) major Kyle Martin a Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), one of the most prestigious science scholarships in the U.S., provides annual funding of $37,000 for three years for outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). 

The Foundation receives roughly 12,000 applications annually and approximately 2,000 of those applicants receive awards. Martin is the first athlete from EMU to receive this award and the fifth recipient overall from the university.

Dr. Katy Greenwald, Professor of Biology and Environmental Science and Society, sees Martin as a natural leader who is passionate about his areas of interest. 

"Kyle is a truly exceptional student," Greenwald said. "He is innately curious and immensely determined, as evidenced by his challenging program of study. His research involvement has demonstrated excellent critical thinking skills and strong self-motivation. Across the board, he has demonstrated an exceptional degree of initiative, persistence, and dedication, and perhaps the strongest work ethic I have ever observed in any student. I have no doubt that Kyle will succeed in graduate school and beyond. He is already working at a level that I would be pleased to see in a graduate student, so I believe his future potential is unlimited."

Martin also recently earned the Dr. L. David Mech National Wolf Fellowship, which will take him to Idaho for the summer of 2024 to study wolf populations. The International Wolf Center awards two fellowships each year to students interested in pursuing careers in natural sciences with a concentration in wildlife. Fellows receive a $6,000 stipend and up to $4,000 for field research expenses. 

Read the full story at EMU Today.

Twelve EMU APEX student members, actively engaged in designing, building, and testing a controllable weather balloon, successfully launched their scientific payload during the solar eclipse in northern Ohio on April 8, 2024 at approximately 2 PM EDT. Led by EMU faculty Dave Pawlowski (Physics and Astronomy) and Thomas Kovacs (Geography and Geology), the mission was part of a larger NASA funded Nationwide Eclipse Balloon Project (NEBP). The scientific mission of the NEBP is to study the characteristics of gravity waves created by solar eclipses for improving weather and climate forecasting and to test new technology to be able to control balloon altitude. The payload on the APEX balloon included instruments to observe atmospheric state and high energy particles created in the Earth's atmosphere by the sun. EMU APEX was also testing out instruments to measure the release of helium within the balloon. The balloon was inserted into the stratosphere and positioned above the center of the moon's shadow during the solar eclipse that began totality at approximately 3:10 PM EDT. The team received a solid data record from all of the instruments, and the team will be analyzing the results in the coming weeks.

The EMU APEX team has been featured on Detroit media, as well as on ABC World News Tonight's "Countdown to Eclipse" coverage.

• Image 1: Weather balloon, payload, and EMU APEX faculty and students just before launch in Venedocia, OH about an hour before solar eclipse totality.

• Image 2: Prelaunch meeting on morning of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse. From left to right are Jacob Morgan, Mechanical Engineering; Gianlucas Sherrill Velarde, Physics; Miles Mercier, Physics; Hamzah Al Thani Physics; Thomas Kovacs, Geography and Geology; Axel Cartin-Paez, Physics; Dave Pawlowski, Physics; Rosie Friend, Physics; Isaac Thompson, Physics; Hannah Popofski, Physics. APEX student members Olivia Tebo, Urban and Regional Planning; Allie Muschong, Physics, and Emma Ayotte, Communications were present, but not visible in the picture.

• Image 3: Ground station students Axel Cartin-Paez, Hamzah Al Thani, and Miles Mercier getting a quick lunch after setting up the ground station to communicate and receive data from the weather balloon in Carey, OH.

• Image 4: Photograph taken by EMU APEX student Miles Mercier at the ground station in Carey, OH during the nearly 4 minutes of totality around 3:10 PM EDT April 8, 2024. 

Five CAS students have been granted Gold Medallion Awards for 2024. The most prestigious student award presented by the University, the Student Gold Medallion is awarded in recognition of significant contributions to the success of institutional programs, activities, and services. 

The CAS recipients are:

• Kyle Martin, Environmental Science and Society, The Glenna Frank Miller Award for Collegiate Leadership

• Shayla Mostyn, Sociology, Eagle Ambassador

• Christina Trotta, Data Science & Analytics, Outstanding Mentorship by a Student

• Jaliyah Wiggins, Communication, Outstanding Professionalism by a Student Employee

• Naomi Barbour, Political Science, Outstanding Volunteerism by a Student

In addition, the Outstanding Student Organization Program award has been given to the Rain Garden Planting initiative of Sierra Club EMU, a CAS-led organization.

As they approach their graduation from Eastern Michigan University, senior Neuroscience majors and Presidential Scholars Ravel Ray and Hind Al Khashali take satisfaction in having made significant contributions to the field of neuroscience through their participation in undergraduate research at EMU. Their research focuses on Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and provides insight into how anti-cancer treatments modify the risk for AD and assist in developing future therapeutic approaches for the prevention and treatment of both cancer and AD.

Ray has been a co-author on eight articles published in peer-reviewed national research journals and anticipates publishing one more in March. He has a passion for helping others and wants to play a part in searching for medical cures. Ray has enjoyed the research opportunities that he has had working in the Cellular and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry lab (CMBB) with Dr. Hedeel Evans, Professor of Chemistry and Co-Director of the EMU interdisciplinary Neuroscience program. 

"Being able to participate in high-level research as an undergraduate student is rare, so I am grateful for the opportunity to partake in that," states Ray. "When I was invited to join Dr. Evans' lab, I was excited because cancer research is such a broad and important area of research."

Al Khashali has also published eight articles in national research journals and is currently working on one more with Evans' research team. Prior to enrolling at EMU, Al Khashali had no experience in research. Working alongside supportive faculty and peers has allowed her to grow as a researcher and scientist. She attributes much of her success to Dr. Evans.

"Thanks to Dr. Evans' continuous support, I have been able to excel as a researcher. My time at the CMBB will help me tremendously post-graduation, as I plan to attend medical school, where I hope to continue my journey in research," said Al Khashali. 

Read the full EMU Today feature.

By Jack Monk for the Eastern Echo

One of Eastern Michigan University's art students had the opportunity to showcase her talent by displaying her own art exhibition in the Student Center Art Gallery on Sunday, March 24, from 5-8 p.m.

Nia Crutcher, who intends to graduate in Fall 2024 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and then later pursue a Master's, hopes to display the skills she's learned from her time at EMU. 

"I've been dabbling more and like surreal art styles, too. More specifically, we are talking about how hair, nature, and how we as Black women and nature all like to fit together, and how it's similar in how we care for ourselves," Crutcher said.

Read the full Echo feature.

Second-year Presidential Scholar Rowan Moxley – who plans to pursue the BS/MS combined program in Quantitative Economics – was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan during the summer of 2024. The CLS program receives approximately 5,500 applications annually from across the country and only 500 of those applicants receive the scholarship. 

Moxley has been studying Chinese for many years and received a similar scholarship before he entered EMU as a senior in high school to spend summer 2022 in Taiwan. Moxley was fascinated by Chinese, but he also recognizes the practical value of learning the language. 

"After earning my degrees at EMU, I intend to pursue a Ph.D. in economics and then become a research econometrician at the Federal Reserve," Moxley said. "Speaking Chinese will be one of the most useful skills going into my future. In both speaking Chinese and having connections and cultural experience in a Chinese-speaking nation, I bring a level of expertise that any firm dealing with Chinese issues of American concern would value. Being a Chinese-speaking econometrician with a Ph.D. positions me as a prime candidate to research monetary policy in China and its impact throughout the world."

Senior Psychology major and Presidential Scholar Rana Aabed has been named a finalist for the Fulbright Scholarship and has received an English Teaching Assistant Award to travel to Turkey in 2023-24. The grant is a reflection of Rana's leadership and contributions to society. 

Aabed applied to the program for the opportunities associated with the scholarship. Those opportunities include promoting cultural exchange, challenging herself, enhancing her language skills, and gaining exposure to living and working abroad. 

"This experience allows applicants like me to immerse themselves in a new culture, gain a deeper understanding of global perspectives, and foster cross-cultural connections. Teaching English abroad to Turkish students, as a U.S. ambassador with my Palestinian American heritage, will serve as a great global and collaborative experience," stated Aabed. 

Read the EMU Today feature. Since this feature was published, Aabed has been awarded the English Teaching Assistant Award.

Junior Political Science major and Honors student Naomi Barbour has been selected as a Harry S. Truman Scholarship finalist. This scholarship is awarded to individuals who show outstanding potential and plan to pursue a career in public service. 

This year the Foundation received 709 applications from 285 institutions. The Truman Foundation's Finalist Selection Committee narrowed down the applicant pool to 191 applicants from 136 institutions. 

Barbour applied for the Truman Scholarship because she strives to make the world a better place by helping reform the public service and public policy system. 

"Witnessing injustice at a young age propelled me to understand the root causes of reform, and I developed a desire to make the system more just and equitable. This exposure sparked a problem-solving mentality, driving me to find solutions and improvements through public service and public policy," said Barbour. 

Read the full EMU Today feature.

Preservation Studies graduate students have curated a new exhibit, "Let's Get Physical: EMU's Pioneering Efforts in Athletics and Sports." The class is the culminating project of GHPR 633 Developing Museum Exhibits, taught by Professor Nancy Bryk. Students were responsible for all aspects of the exhibit, including primary source research in the EMU Archives, selecting objects for display, and writing and proofreading labels. 

"We're going to be talking about maintaining access within sports and athletics on campus and in the community, and then we'll have different groups talking about three different ways EMU has maintained access or hasn't maintained access," student Akaiia Ridley told reporter Sarah Rigg. "We'll be talking about some of the change-makers that have come through EMU. For example, we're going to be talking about Lloyd Olds, who invented the referee uniform, and some women change-makers who advocate for women's inclusion in sports."

Read the Concentrate feature.

Seven CAS students have published their research in the 2023 EMU McNair Scholars Research Journal. The annual journal, which serves as a platform for McNair student researchers to showcase their hard work, was released on Thursday, February 15, 2024, and can be accessed through the Halle Library Digital Commons website. 

The CAS authors and their publications are:

• Sydney Dhue, Psychology, "Psychology, Social Thinking and Pay Inequities," Mentor: Dr. Rusty McIntyre

• Coreena A. Forstner, Psychology and Criminology, "Exploring Gender Disparities in the Overcriminalization of Psychiatric Illness and the Treatment of Mentally Ill Incarcerated Individuals," Mentor: Dr. Kimberly L. Barrett

• Jua'Chelle Harmon, Psychology, "The Impact of Food Insecurities on the Development of Psychopathology in Childhood and Adolescence: A Literature Review," Mentor: Dr. Jamie Lawler

• Ryland B. Lambert, Anthropology and History, "The Impact of Hormone Replacement Therapy on the Clavicle," Mentor: Dr. Megan K. Moore

• Thairu Moore-Petinak, Psychology and Criminology, "Promoting Treatment Seeking Among Individuals with a Pedophilic Orientation Via Narrative Humanization: A Preliminary Analysis," Mentor: Dr. Eamonn Arble

• Tierra Tresvant, Public and Nonprofit Administration, "Critical Race Theory in Education: A Political Battleground with Teachers as the Casualties," Mentor: Dr. Barbara Patrick

• Lisbette Zavala, Secondary Education Language, Literature and Writing, "Therapeutic and Recreational Experiences from Psilocybin Ingestion," Mentor: Dr. Charles Graham

Read the full EMU Today feature.

In March, Physics major Luna Hennig and Earth Science major Logan Carney visited the Sturgis Moraine in southern Michigan with Geology Professor Eric Portenga to collect rock samples that will be dated and used to understand the beginning stages of ice retreat from the Great Lakes at the end of the last Ice Age. This work is funded by the National Science Foundation-supported Advancing Geochronology Science, Spaces, and Systems program for Dr. Portenga's proposal, "From Metro to Moraine: Individualized authentic geochronology research experiences in southeast Michigan for two undergraduate students from underrepresented groups." 

Prof. Portenga was also recently interviewed by Michigan Public's Stateside program on Thursday, March 28, 2024 (31:29 minute mark) to discuss the glacial history of the Great Lakes region in light of recent findings that Prof. Portenga recently published in the no-paywall journal, Geochronology. In this study, Dr. Portenga and his colleagues showed that glacial ice last covered Isle Royale in Lake Superior only 10,100 years ago, after which ice melted from the Great Lakes region completely.

One of the highlights of the Formosa Quartet's second week of residency as the 2023-4 McAndless Distinguished Professors in the Humanities was the American Mirror Project Music Therapy Symposium. Music Therapy students created bold, beautiful musical responses to the question, "What does America mean to you?" 

Their compositions and arrangements expressed their lived experiences of reverence for our country's beauty and freedom, the polarization of our times, and marginalization due to race, religion, and gender, among others. 

The students workshopped their compositions with the Quartet and then performed their works in a public showcase on April 6.

See the concert program for a full list of performances. Click on the video link for a clip of student Andrew Bedard performing his arrangement of Mira Gratia with the Quartet.

Three CAS faculty members were awarded Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Awards for 2024. The Collins Award is the University's highest award for faculty. The CAS recipients are: 

• Amanda Maher: Distinguished Teaching I Award (History and Philosophy)

• Marisol Garrido-Gutierrez: Distinguished Teaching II Award (World Languages)

• Christine Neufeld: Distinguished Faculty Award for Service (English Language and Literature)

Vanessa Gardner, Academic Advisor in the Francine Parker Advising Center, was given a Staff Distinguished Achievement Recognition Award for Outstanding Innovation.

Anne Casper, Professor of Biology, won The Honors College Faculty of the Year Award. Every year, this award is given to a member of the EMU teaching faculty who has demonstrated a record of superior accomplishment in teaching, and specifically, enthusiasm and skill in meeting the learning needs of members of the Honors College.

Dyann C. Logwood, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Co-Director of the Mentor for Success Initiative, is the EMU recipient of the Mid-American Conference's Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success.

Dr. Dyann Logwood is an educator, activist, poet, and writer whose commitment to enhancing the lives of marginalized populations is demonstrated in her teaching, research, and service at Eastern Michigan University. Before becoming a professor, she was the first African American director of the EMU Women's Resource Center. Her current academic endeavors include providing students with the opportunity to mentor middle school youth through her Mentoring Youth in Urban Spaces course, as well as writing on Black feminist mentorship, belonging, and critical classroom practices. She is also the chair of the Annual Women of Color Symposium. She recently created the Mentorship for Success Initiative, which is designed to address cultural deficiencies in meeting the needs of underserved students by creating a learning community of ethnically diverse faculty—who now work as interdisciplinary co-mentors of vulnerable students. Due to her mentorship and equity work, she was recruited by the Faculty Senate Task Force on Campus Climate, Race, and Diversity Issues to work on the three-part series, Creating a Culture of Belonging at EMU. Other efforts include leading student diversity listening sessions, hosting numerous Faculty Development Center workshops, and expanding mentorship access to area youth. As result of her labors, EMU has expanded efforts to enhance the lives of underserved communities.

Professors of Mathematics Stephanie Casey and Ovidiu Calin have been granted Fulbright Scholar Awards for 2024-5. 

Casey's research proposal, "Secondary Students' Interpretations of Modern Big Data Visualizations," focuses on analyzing secondary students' understanding of data visualizations, a critical skill in today's data-driven world. Her research aims to develop effective techniques for teaching data literacy globally. She will conduct her research at the STEM Education Research Center at the University of Canberra, Australia.

"This research will equip students with the tools to navigate the ever-increasing volume of data they encounter," said Casey. "Data literacy is essential, and this project will contribute significantly to its effective instruction."

Calin plans to research jointly with two faculty members from the Department of Physics at the University of Bucharest. Given his alma mater is also the University of Bucharest, there are no cultural challenges, ensuring a smooth transition. Calin plans to divide his time at the University of Bucharest between teaching at the University and research. 

"We are all very familiar with the Artificial Intelligence tools, which have changed our work recently, but there might be other architectures out there, which can further improve life," said Calin.

Read the full EMU Today feature. Since this article was published, Dr. Calin has been granted the Fulbright Award.

Several CAS alumni are profiled in the Spring 2024 Eastern Magazine. Please see this online publication to read about these outstanding alumni:

• Bruce Lynn (MS, Historic Preservation, 1998)

• Julie Eadeh (BS, Area Studies - Middle East and North Africa, 1999)

• Andrew Mascharka (BS, Journalism, 2019) and Ashley Strauss (BFA, Graphic Design, 2008)

• Brian James Egen (BA, History, 1992)

Dr. Joey Quiñones will be the 2024-2025 McAndless Distinguished Professor Chair in the Humanities. 

A nationally recognized artist and scholar, and the Head of Fiber at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Dr. Quiñones will join EMU as a visiting chair beginning in September of 2024, and is scheduled for several campus wide and community events from January-April, 2025.

Quiñones plans to engage with EMU through the Marking Place project, launching in Fall of 2024 at Eastern Michigan University. The Marking Place project includes a series of discussions, interactive assignments, public lectures, an ekphrastic poetry reading, major exhibitions and use of the forthcoming Windgate Arts Complex on our north campus. Activities will include EMU faculty, students and the wider community of Ypsilanti. 

The starting point will be the study of the existing sculptures on EMU campus and throughout Ypsilanti to consider ways students can open dialogues and offer multiple narratives through art. "In the past decade, there has been substantial discussion on the role of statues, monuments, and memorials, and how they reflect (or don't reflect) the people, histories, and events of a place," says Dr. Quiñones. The Marking Place project invites students from all disciplines to consider: "What do we as a community need to remember? How do we honor multiple histories in a public space? And, what are alternatives to the idea of 'the monument'?"

Quiñones' mixed media sculptures focus broadly on issues of race, class, gender and sexuality, and recent work specifically examines how narratives of the domestic, family, and womanhood are complicated by a history of slavery, stolen labor, and racism. As a queer Black artist, Quiñones has a distinctive vantage point from which to probe these consequential issues, and indeed reflects the ideals of the CAS position on diversity, equity, and inclusion. While Quiñones's work has achieved impressive recognition in the art world, we are excited by how their work and engagement at EMU will impact our uniquely diverse student body. Quiñones' Marking Place project will investigate local monuments and sculptures as a way of exploring multiple narratives – a direct reflection of EMU’s commitment "to more fully account for the contributions or counter-narratives of previously neglected or marginalized groups."

EMU community members interested in participating in the program and instructors interested in integrating the Marking Place project into their winter 2025 classes may contact Associate Dean James Egge or Professor Margeaux Claude.

Preservation Studies presented a program on "Black Heroes of Detroit's Eastside" at the Detroit Historical Museum on April 7. The presentation drew on Preservation Studies' recent work to preserve and promote important sites in Detroit, including the Ossian Sweet House, a home where Malcolm X lived, and the Sarah Ray Project.

"Such places should stand as venerated sites where stories of community and collective action can inspire today’s activists and future generations," Professor of Preservation Studies Dan Bonenberger told reporter Ken Coleman. "Although few people realize it, Detroit must be recognized among America's great centers of Black civil rights."

Read the Michigan Advance story.

In January of 2024, EMU Professors Eric Acton and Ashley Johnson Bavery debuted a new course entitled "Jewish Michigan" to a room of twenty eager undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Acton is a linguist and Dr. Bavery is a historian of U.S. immigration. This class is the first in the history of the university to be cross listed between linguistics and history. Each week, students learn about how language changes within communities and how this has affected Jewish Michigan, while also exploring the topics of Jewish immigration, gang life, antisemitism, and suburbanization. Together, Drs. Acton and Bavery hope to give students the tools to analyze how language and culture has changed within immigrant and ethnic communities in the United States. The class, which is comprised of about ten linguistics students and a dozen historians, asks students to think outside the boundaries of their chosen discipline, while also exposing them to important themes in Michigan's Jewish life. Highlights have included exploring the Detroit Jewish News digital archives for discussions of Yiddish in the early 1900s and listening to and analyzing episodes of Andrew Lapin's podcast, "Radioactive: The Father Coughlin Story," and taking a charter bus for a tour of Jewish Detroit led by a guide from the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan. The tour excited students so much that many are planning on conducting final projects on the sites visited: Detroit's historic Schvitz, the Downtown Synagogue, and Temple Beth El to name a few. Ultimately, the class offers an exciting opportunity for EMU students to understand more about the dynamic and complex history, language, and culture of Jewish Michigan. Not only that, the class has brought together one of the most excited groups of students either Drs. Acton or Bavery have ever had and is generating interest in history, linguistics, and Jewish Studies. 

The French Program has signed an agreement to cooperate with the Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès. The French program plans to create a study abroad program in Toulouse, southwest France. Toulouse is a vibrant, student city and the fourth biggest city in France. It is particularly famous for its rugby team, its foie gras, and the Airbus industry. 

The city has three major universities and many engineering / aeronautical / applied sciences schools. EMU students will study at Université Jean Jaurès, which has a close partnership with Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier (computer science / sciences / engineering).

The French program also sends students to this region to teach English as a Foreign Language in high schools through the French / American embassies program Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). With the Study Abroad contract with Jean Jaurès, the French Program hopes to expand its offerings, including internships with local companies.

On April 12, EMU Bands will host The Great Lakes Concert Band Festival, a regional affiliate of Music For All, sponsored by Yamaha. The Great Lakes Concert Band Festival offers concert bands an opportunity to showcase their musicianship in a non-competitive environment focused on learning, exploring, and sharing. Void of ratings, scores, or rankings, GLCBF is committed to providing a unique and memorable experience for students in concert bands of all levels and sizes—middle school through high school. 

Participating bands will have the opportunity to perform free of repertoire restrictions for an audience of their peers, friends, families, and a panel of nationally recognized conductors/music educators. In addition to performing in beautiful and historic Pease Auditorium on the campus of EMU, each band will receive a performance video recording, adjudicator recorded comments and a 30-min. educational clinic, and enjoy performances by other ensembles, including the EMU Wind Symphony. An added feature of the Great Lakes Festival is that directors may elect to also receive personal video commentary containing tips and conducting suggestions for their individual professional growth. This event will bring approximately 1500 public school music students to EMU's campus. 

In fall 2024 the College will offer two new courses on cannabis: CHEM 179 The Chemistry of Cannabis, taught by Professor and Department Head of Chemistry Harriet Lindsay, and URP 479 / 592 Canna-planning: Marijuana Legalization and Land-Use in Michigan, taught by Assistant Professor of Urban Planning R. J. Koscielniak. 

"Cannabis legalization has transformed a lot of places in Michigan — some changes are good and some changes haven't been necessarily positive," said Koscielniak. "We get to talk about all that and really have a chance to make sure legalization benefits everyone."

Lindsay remarked, "Understanding the science of how cannabis products are made, tested for adherence to regulations, and how they interact with the end users is even more important now that legalization is expanding across the country."

Read the Detroit Metro Times feature.

CAS's College in Prison program has forged a new partnership with the University Writing Center to extend tutoring and writing support to incarcerated students at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility, an institution exclusively for women located in Washtenaw County. This initiative aims to provide incarcerated students with access to the same academic resources available to their counterparts on EMU's main campus.

"We aim to faithfully recreate the student experience, ensuring equitable opportunities for all of our students," said Meghan Lechner, Director of the College in Prison Program and Returning Citizens Fellowship. "This endeavor necessitates ongoing dedication to enhancing and expanding resources tailored to our incarcerated students."

The College in Prison program has long been dedicated to providing incarcerated individuals with educational opportunities, offering classes taught by EMU professors that count toward bachelor's degrees. By equipping students with valuable skills and knowledge, the program seeks to enhance employability prospects and reduce recidivism rates, thereby fostering positive societal outcomes.

Read the full EMU Today feature.

On Thursday, April 4, the Department of World Languages hosted a Careers and Cultural Diversity Fair in the ballroom of the Student Center. This interactive and informative event brought together fifteen professionals from various professional backgrounds across southeastern Michigan to speak with students, faculty, staff, and administrators about the importance of being multicultural and multilingual in today’s workforce. Among the invited guests were the German Honorary Consul for Michigan as well as professionals from engineering, healthcare, science, business, law, the Michigan Department of Education, the Peace Corps, and ambassadors for language and cultural organizations. Members of the EMU community were able to interact with the invited professionals and learn about how they use multicultural and multilingual skills in their respective careers. The Department of World Languages would especially like to thank the Faculty Development Center for the opportunity to make this event possible through the winter 2024 program grants.

Annette Martin, Ph.D., bid farewell on March 19, 2024, the first day of her 84th spring, with Carole Huston, her partner of 47 years, by her side.

Annette was nationally recognized for artistic and academic excellence during her four-decade career in Interpretation & Performance Studies at Eastern Michigan University. The curriculum she developed drew undergraduate and graduate students from across the country. Her critically acclaimed body of creative, challenging, and frequently controversial original and stage adaptations of non-dramatic literature won numerous awards.

Annette earned a B.A. from Eastern Michigan, a master's degree in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin, and a doctorate from the University of Michigan.

She adapted and directed productions based on novels by Faulker, Bronte, feminist author Kate Millette, and Pulitzer Prizing-winning poet W. D. Snodgrass, who called her production of his "The Führer Bunker" "brilliant."

She directed existing plays as well as writing and staging unique and original productions, several with feminist themes, which won multiple "Best of" Awards for drama, direction and acting. While her work sometimes "pushed the envelope," she was considered "brilliantly insightful," "incredibly bold," "a directorial genius."

In addition to the EMU Celebration of Faculty Excellence-Artistic Recognition Award, Annette received the National Communication Association’s prestigious Irene Coger Award for Distinguished Performance based on her contributions as an artist, director, scriptwriter and teacher; and EMU's Distinguished Faculty Award for scholarly and creative activity, which she considered the two most meaningful awards of her career.

Upon her retirement in 2002, EMU Board of Regents granted her emeritus status (1963-2002), citing her "relentless and uncompromising artistic and academic standards instilled in those, her students, and a desire to challenge, question, and create."

In lieu of flowers, gifts honoring Annette's legacy may be made to Eastern Michigan University Foundation, Interpretation & Performance Studies, P. O. Box 972057, Ypsilanti, MI 48197 or to a charity of your choice.

In words from Toni Morrison's Beloved: "Some things you forget. Other things you never do….even if I die, the picture of what I did, or knew, or saw is still out there. Right in the place where it happened."

A gathering to "rememory forgotten moments" will be held at a future date.

Online condolences may be made at www.bolesfuneralhome.com