In April 2023, TESOL (Teaching English to speakers of other languages) graduate students Ahmed Almosawi and Christa Niemann conducted a hybrid workshop for first-year university students at Muthana University in Muthana, Iraq. While Ahmed led the in-person workshop, Christa joined remotely over Zoom. The primary objective of the workshop was to educate students about the potential of generative AI and its impact on academic writing. Given ChatGPT's growing popularity, there are differing opinions within the education sector on this technology. The session focused on providing students with a clear understanding of ChatGPT, including its potential applications and limitations for academic writing, through practical guidance and suggestions. The key takeaway for students was that while the ethical and responsible use of ChatGPT and other AI tools can be highly beneficial, they should never serve as a replacement for a student's original thoughts. Instead, they are to be used as a tool to aid in the writing process.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Dr. Kristopher Phillips has won the 2023 Prize for Excellence in Philosophy Teaching from the American Philosophical Association. Dr. Phillips, who is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Pre-College Philosophy and Public Practice, joined the Eastern Michigan University faculty in August 2023, having previously held a tenure-track position at Southern Utah University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. 

Dr. Phillips states that he aims to foster a classroom environment wherein students are active participants in rigorous, critical, but mutually supportive dialogues about topics of philosophical interest. "By framing my courses in terms of the cultivation of intellectual and dialogical virtues, I encourage students to see education as more than a means to a promising financial future - instead it is a way to become a more thoughtful interlocutor, a better reasoner, and a more intentional and reflective learner."

Considering philosophy education in terms of an ongoing dialogue highlights, Dr. Phillips says, "that (a) students learn better through active participation, (b) when students feel a sense of ownership, they are motivated to think carefully and critically about course content, and (c) by engaging in thoughtful dialogue with one another, students actually do philosophy, rather than merely learn about philosophy."

In addition to helping students learn philosophical material, Dr. Phillips "draws attention to specific virtues both by modeling and highlighting student behaviors in class which embody intellectually or dialogically virtuous behaviors. By reminding students that we are working together in pursuit of a virtuous dialogue and encouraging everyone to be excellent interlocutors, students quickly internalize and increasingly exhibit intellectually virtuous behaviors."

Dr. Phillips's research lies at the intersection of early modern philosophy, philosophy of education, and precollege and public philosophy. He is the co-founder of two philosophy summer camps for high school students, the Iowa Lyceum and the Utah Lyceum, and is currently developing another Lyceum program for Eastern Michigan University.

Associate Professor of Psychology Adam Briggs has been named the recipient of the 2024 B. F. Skinner Foundation New Researcher Award for his outstanding contributions to applied behavior analysis.

The B. F. Skinner Foundation New Researcher Award recognizes innovative and significant research in behavior analysis conducted within the first ten years of receiving a doctorate. Briggs' exceptional work in the assessment and treatment of severe forms of challenging behavior has garnered him this prestigious honor.

"I am honored to receive the B. F. Skinner Foundation New Researcher Award," said Briggs. "This recognition inspires us to continue our work in applied behavior analysis and reinforces the importance of addressing challenging behaviors to enhance the quality of life for individuals and their communities."

As part of the award, Briggs will join other distinguished researchers in delivering an address at the American Psychological Association's 2024 convention on Saturday, August 8.

Read the full EMU Today story.

Dr. Dara Walker (BA, Africology and African American Studies, 2009) will be the Dennis M. Beagen Keynote Speaker for the 44th annual Undergraduate Symposium, on Friday, March 22, 2024. 

Walker, who graduated with a major in Africology and African American Studies and a minor in Social Science, is a two-time Symposium presenter. An Assistant Professor of African American Studies, History, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Pennsylvania State University, Walker earned her PhD in History from Rutgers University. 

As an undergraduate researcher, Walker explored interests in African American and African diaspora history and culture, gender and sexuality, language and literature, and the Black radical tradition. Joining the EMU McNair Scholars Program and the Honors College supported her involvement in research. Dara wrote a senior Honors thesis, "We Were Fighting For Self-Determination and Power: Black High School Student Activism and the Black Power Movement," and her article "Report on Information Literacy and the Mic: Teaching Higher Education Students Critical Research Skills Using Hip Hop Lyricism" was published in the first volume of the McNair Research Journal. 

Dr. Walker's research and teaching interests include African American history, urban history, the History of Education, and the history of childhood and youth. Dr. Walker is currently writing her first book, High School Rebels: Black Power, Education, and Youth Politics in the Motor City, 1966-1973, which examines the role of Black high school student organizing and political study in the development of Detroit's Black Power movement. She is also the author of "Moving Beyond the 'Dark Africa' Narrative: Black Girls, Black Power, and the Battle for a Culturally Relevant Curriculum" in The Global History of Black Girlhood by Corinne Field and LaKisha Simmons. Her research has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University, the National Academy of Education, and the Spencer Foundation. Dr. Walker's writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Black Perspectives, The Journal of African American History, and Feminist Studies. In 2024, two of her forthcoming articles will appear in print: "'Tomorrow's Citizens': Black Youth Organizing, Education, and the Politics of Urban Renewal in Detroit during the Black Power Era" which will be published in the Journal of Urban History and "'Music That Moves Me' Preliminary Thoughts on Music Education in the Era of Black Power," which is a part of a special issue in The Black Scholar.

A recent profile in the Echo tells how Chris Kaufman (BFA, Graphic Design, 2007) has built a rapidly growing online marketplace. Kaufman along with co-founders Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, and Greg Schwartz created StockX, a Detroit-based online sneaker resale site worth $3.8 billion. 

Kaufman told Aaron Hughes of the Echo, "For me, graphic design was always this perfect intersection of art and business because largely graphic designers are solving problems that involve some kind of economic model. Whether that is brand design or product design, websites, apps, things like that. I've always been really interested in both of those things." 

Kaufman credits the Graduate Design faculty for helping him develop knowledge and skills that he has been able to use in his career.

"The three professors that I had were Ryan Molloy, Leslie Atzmon, and Andy Maniotes. It was still the same three people running the program 20 years later. What they do is they bring unique perspectives to the table where they are thinking about these things," Kaufman said. "I think the program at EMU has a history of doing a really good job at that. That was my experience and I know that continues to be the experience of the program."

Read the Echo feature.

In 1955, Albert J. McQueen, a 28-year old veteran pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Michigan, quietly made EMU history by becoming the first African-American member of Eastern's faculty. 

Department Head Simon Fagerstrom chronicled this milestone. "I feel confident that no research is necessary to justify the assertion that Professor Albert J. McQueen is the first Negro teacher on the Michigan State Normal College faculty," Fagerstrom wrote. "I am pleased to be able to make the statement that he has been received by students and faculty without the least disturbance."

McQueen served on the Sociology faculty for two years as Instructor and for two years as Assistant Professor. During this time he completed the research for his doctoral dissertation by interviewing Black residents of Ypsilanti, whose help in launching his academic career he graciously acknowledged. "The anonymous persons who showed such marvelous trust and friendliness in allowing me—a stranger—to enter their homes and look searchingly into their lives will probably never hear of this study. In my memory they shall remain selfless and engaging persons, the silent, unknowing partners of research to whom I shall always be deeply indebted."

In 1959 McQueen left Eastern to pursue research in Nigeria with grant funding from the Ford Foundation. In 1966 McQueen joined the Sociology Department at his undergraduate alma mater, Oberlin College, where he served until his retirement in 1995. When McQueen died in 2019 at the age of 91, Oberlin College remembered him as a leader of the Oberlin community. "As the second tenured African American faculty member at the college, McQueen was founder and chair of the African American Studies Department and was instrumental in establishing Afrikan Heritage House. McQueen also was an active participant and mediator in faculty councils and committees."