The Undergraduate Conference in Philosophy, which took place on November 9th and 10th in McKenny Hall, featured the work of 18 undergraduate students, who traveled from across the United States (California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington D.C.), Canada, and even Hong Kong to present their work. Two EMU students, Aleksei Alward and Jason Folk, also presented papers at the conference, which uses an anonymous review process to vet submissions. Several Eastern students served as commenters on student presentation at the weekend event, including Eli Card, Jay Christensen, Jacqueline Deinek, Priya Ghotane, Gracie Hand, and Jonah Huskey-Wright. 

For the first time, and in collaboration with A2Ethics, the organization that runs the Michigan High School Ethics Bowl, the Undergraduate Conference in Philosophy invited submissions from area high school students this year. Five high school students joined us from Ann Arbor Huron, Skyline, and Washtenaw International High Schools for the two-day event. 

The Undergraduate Conference in Philosophy is a student-led event. The Department of History & Philosophy and faculty mentor Dr. John Koolage are proud and grateful for the work of Edgar Vasquez, Aleksei Alward, Amy Gardner, Joshua Caine-Welch, Brett Jensen, Dylan Wolfe, Joshua Hunt, Wesley Bostwick, and Justin Reamer to help organize EMU Philosophy’s signature annual event. 

Geography & Geology Lecturer Emerita Kelly Victor-Burke, co-founder and co-owner of Burke Architectural Millwork and Bespoke Closets & Organized Spaces, represented her company at a prestigious White House Recognition Ceremony on October 23, 2024. The event honored the inaugural cohort of Apprenticeship Ambassadors appointed in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Apprenticeship who have excelled in their commitments as Apprenticeship Ambassadors to expand, modernize, and diversify Registered Apprenticeship programs. Since its appointment, Burke Architectural Millwork has actively promoted workforce development in the woods industry. Under Victor-Burke's leadership, the company spearheaded the creation of the first 21st century Department of Labor-approved Registered Apprenticeship in woodworking, the “Woodwork Manufacturing Specialist.” The pioneering woods industry apprenticeship approved by the DOL in 2019, aims to close the employment gap in the wood products manufacturing industry through innovative training in CAD, mechatronics, wood processing, coatings, estimating, and project management.

“We are thrilled to be recognized at this level for our commitment to advancing workforce development,” said Kelly Victor-Burke. “The Woodwork Manufacturing Specialist Registered Apprenticeship not only addresses the skills gap in our industry but also empowers individuals and businesses, especially small businesses, across the United States to thrive through competency-based training. It is incredibly impactful as a member of the woods industry to be honored at this event.” Victor-Burke’s advocacy for woods industry apprenticeships extends beyond the confines of Burke Architectural Millwork. She has spoken at major industry events such as IWF, AWFS, Wood Pro/Closet Pro, AWI-Great Lakes, Cabinet Makers Association, Association of Closet and Storage Professionals, KBIS, Women in Manufacturing & industry-related podcasts. She regularly counsels other woods industry companies on how to leverage the power of DOL Registered Apprenticeships. As a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alum and a recognized leader in manufacturing, Victor-Burke serves on various industry boards and committees, reinforcing her dedication to workforce development.

Department Head and Professor of Economics, James Saunoris, in tandem with Economics graduate with an M.S. in Applied Econometrics, Daniel Adubiri Gyimah, published an article titled: Exploring the nexus of occupational licensing and the shadow economy: Evidence from U.S. states.

Daniel was a student in the Applied Econometrics M.S. (a STEM-designated program), where students are required to complete a research project as part of their studies. To fulfill this requirement, Daniel took the course ECON 604: Research Seminar in Economics. He expressed interest in learning more about the shadow economy, which is a focus of Dr. Saunoris's research. Dr. Saunoris had recently published a paper providing longitudinal data on state-level measures of the shadow economy and suggested Daniel could use that data for his research. Daniel decided to examine the role of occupational licensing in influencing the size of the shadow economy.

After completing his paper, Dr. Saunoris reviewed it and was very impressed with both his work and findings. He discussed with Daniel the possibility of working together to expand the paper and submit it for publication, as his findings offered an important contribution to the literature on the shadow economy and occupational licensing. Together, they expanded and refined the paper to a level ready for submission, and it was submitted to Contemporary Economic Policy. The reviewers and editor responded positively, providing constructive feedback, which was then incorporated. Ultimately, the paper was accepted for publication.

Daniel has since graduated from the program and is now applying to Ph.D. programs in Economics. 

Jeromy Hopgood, Professor of Entertainment Design & Technology in the

School of Communication, Media, and Theatre Arts, is being presented with

the 2025 Distinguished Achievement in Digital Media Award from The United

States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). The award, presented at the

USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo from March 5-8, 2025 in Columbus,

OH, recognizes an individual who has established a meritorious career

record in a specific field of expertise in any area of design or technology.

Michigan native and EMU alum Janan McDougal (BA06) graduated with a degree in Language & International Trade and transitioned from a top-producing Investment Executive to a seven-figure business owner. Founder of The Printheadz, she's on a mission to teach youth entrepreneurship through creative design with her nonprofit, The Printheadz Universi-Tee, as well as her rapidly growing podcast 'My Black Job The Podcast,' where she interviews and learns from other entrepreneurs who have taken the journey of entrepreneurship.

She advises others, "Never underestimate the power of a leap of faith. The journey from a corporate career to entrepreneurship is one of courage, resilience, and vision. Remember: it's not just about stepping out—it's about stepping up and creating a life aligned with your true purpose."

For the week of October 20th-26th, 2024, the Department of Chemistry hosted several events to celebrate National Chemistry Week and Mole Day. The first event, “From Lab to Life: A Chemistry Career Exploration Event,” took place on October 21st and included a seminar where keynote speaker and EMU alumn Michelle Brooks (American Chemical Society) described diverse career opportunities in chemistry. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring Gerald Artman (Sionna Therapeutics) and Dani St. Germain (Cayman Chemicals). Immediately afterward, the Department hosted a Chemistry Information Fair, where students could converse with representatives from various local chemistry industries, receive advice on career paths from EMU alumni, learn about various EMU campus resources and organizations, such as the Chemistry Club, and enjoy chemistry activities while eating free pizza. This event was co-sponsored by the ACS Huron Valley Local Section, the EMU Foundation, and the Alumni Engagement Office.

On October 23rd, students from the Eastern Michigan University Chemistry Department attended the ACS Program in a Box for Mole Day. The theme of the online event was "Picture Perfect Chemistry: Laboratory Imaging and Photography." The event began with a social mixer featuring nachos with salsa and queso, cookies, and a refreshing punch. This was followed by a broadcast from the American Chemical Society, which included a "ChemClash" trivia contest focused on photography. Experts from The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Virginia provided tours of their facilities and presented a novel imaging technique for biological samples called cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM).

Student feedback from these events were overwhelmingly positive:

“I really liked that I was able to get some first hand advice from people who currently work in fields I am interested in”

“I liked the fact that there were so many Eastern Alumni to talk to’

“I got a lot of advice about what I need to start doing now to gain skills and experience that will help meet pursuing possible careers.”

“The testimonies of people who were involved in both Industry/Academia [and] the varied perspectives and paths they took was refreshing to see. 

After nearly nine months in the making, the EMU Marching Band welcomed The Temptations to campus for an unforgettable halftime show in front of nearly 17,000 fans at Rynearson Stadium on Saturday, October 12. The halftime show featured the legendary singing group performing with the EMU Marching Band on a number of their most famous hits, including “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” “Just My Imagination,” “My Girl,” and more. As the band exited the field, the EMU fight song was sung by EMU Alum and Temptations member, Jawan M. Jackson. The band’s performance and The Temptations visit was led by School of Music & Dance faculty member and Director of the EMU Marching Band, Dr. J. Nick Smith. 

The University Library, University Archives, and the College of Arts and Sciences will kick off the celebration with a special seminar that will delve into the University’s storied history and lasting legacy. The seminar will feature speakers, archival presentations, and insightful discussions about the institution’s pivotal moments, achievements, and enduring impact on the community.

Following the seminar, guests are encouraged to visit the Halle Library Gallery on the first floor to explore a thoughtfully curated exhibition highlighting key artifacts, photographs, and documents from EMU’s history. According to event organizers, the primary goal of the seminar and exhibition is to offer attendees a comprehensive understanding of EMU’s rich history, using a variety of perspectives beyond written records. 

"While this seminar would be important in any year, celebrating such a milestone anniversary is the perfect moment to delve into EMU’s legacy,” said Alexis Braun Marks, university archivist and associate professor. "We aim to bring people from all areas of the University community to reflect on and better understand the evolution of our institution."

The seminar will connect participants with the exhibition on display in the gallery, offering additional visual context and archival materials related to EMU’s history.

"We’re elated to partner with the University Library and key departments like the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education for this event,” said Braun Marks. “This is not only a look back at our past but also an opportunity to understand how that history shapes our present and future."

CAS speakers include:

• Mackenzie Kortes, Graduate Student, History

• Finn Vincent-Fix, Graduate Student, Preservation Studies

• Kat Hacanyan, Graduate Student, Preservation Studies

• Margeaux Claude, Assistant Professor of Ceramics

• James Egge, Professor of Religious Studies

• John McCurdy, Professor of History

The seminar is free and open to students, faculty, alumni, and the public. Registration is not required. For more information, visit the event website or email abraunma@emich.edu.

Visit the event website for more information.

Eastern Michigan University Theatre is pleased to present Silent Sky. Written by acclaimed playwright Lauren Gunderson, and featuring original music by Jenny Giering, Silent Sky is the beautifully told story based on the life of female astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and her incredible contributions to science at Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s. Performances will take place November 21-23 at 7 p.m, and November 23 & 24 at 2 p.m. in the Legacy Theatre, located in the Judy Sturgis Hill Building at 1030 East Circle Drive on EMU’s Ypsilanti Campus. Runtime is approximately 2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission. The production is suggested for audiences ages 12+.

Ready for adventure amongst the stars but relegated to a desk instead, Henrietta becomes one of several female “computers” doing math and charting stars for male astronomers too busy for such tedious chores. She quickly learns that, as a woman, she is forbidden to touch a telescope or offer an original idea and must sacrifice personal time to pursue research of her own. Her passion to measure the stars & solve mysteries of the night-time sky are pitted against her dedication to family and threaten to eclipse a future with the man she loves. Directed by guest artist Jennifer Goff, Silent Sky is presented through special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service Collection.(www.dramatists.com)

EMU Theatre is thrilled to have guest artist, Dr. Jennifer Goff, joining us as the director of Silent Sky. Dr. Goff is an actor, director, scholar, and improviser. She is directing and teaching for EMU this fall, while on sabbatical from her position as Chair of the Theatre Program at Centre College in Danville, KY. She holds degrees from University of Portland, University of South Carolina, and Wayne State University. Favorite directing credits include The Grown-Ups (Ringwald), John Proctor is the Villain (Centre College), Trouble in Mind (Wayne State), and The Learned Ladies (The Distracted Globe). www.jennifergoff.com

Playwright Lauren Gunderson has been one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015, topping the list thrice including 2022/23. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in Theatre Award, the Lanford Wilson Award and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She is a playwright, screenwriter, musical book writer and children's author who lives in San Francisco. She graduated from NYU Tisch as a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. LaurenGunderson.com

The EMU Preview performance on Thursday, November 21 is a sneak peek of the final dress rehearsal before the official opening on Friday. The preview performance features a talkback with the company and an opportunity for audiences to share their input following the show. Audience members who do not have an EMU parking permit should park in the Alexander pay lot for this performance or at metered parking, Ford Lot is not available for Thursday events.

Ticket prices for Silent Sky are $12 for students, $15 for seniors, and $20 regular admission. EMU Theatre encourages audiences of all abilities to attend Silent Sky. Fidgets, headphones, sunglasses and large print programs will be available for every performance at the Access Services desk. Tickets may be purchased online at emich.ludus.com, by phone at 734.487.2282, or in person at the EMU Ticket Office in the Judy Sturgis Hill building. Box Office hours are Monday-Friday from 10am - 6pm and 90 minutes before showtime.

Parking on EMU’s campus is available through LAZ Parking for a fee. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday performance parking is available in the Alexander Pay Lot and Ford Commuter & Staff Lots. Payment can be made with a debit card or credit card. Non-EMU guests attending the Thursday Preview performance should park in the Alexander Pay Lot. Those with an EMU parking permit may park accordingly. Visit www.ParkEMU.com for more details about parking on campus.

For more information about EMU Theatre, our season, and directions to our theatres, visit www.emich.edu/emutheatre, fan us on Facebook: Eastern Michigan University Theatre; or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok: @emutheatre.

For more information on Henrietta Swan Leavitt:

Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Britannica

AAVSO

EMU applied and was accepted to the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTEP) in 2020 as the lead institution of the Transformative Eastern Michigan Math Educators (TEMME) team. The team consists of EMU mathematics and math education faculty, teacher education faculty, university supervisors of student teaching, and administrative leaders in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Teacher Education, and the College of Education; plus mathematics faculty and administrators at Washtenaw Community College, Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium, Washtenaw Technical Middle College, and Washtenaw Intermediate School District. 

As an MTEP member, EMU and TEMME are committed to understanding and addressing how issues of social and racial justice supports our work and diversifies the mathematics teacher pipeline. As a result, TEMME has been recognized by MTEP as the October 2024 Team of the Quarter. Read the full article that recognizes EMU and TEMME for making strides in addressing program development and equity, using the power of collaboration, continuous learning, and improvement science to drive change. 

In January 2025, the Department of Women’s & Gender Studies turns 50! Eastern Michigan was the first university in Michigan to offer a minor in Women’s Studies. Since its origins in 1975, the program has expanded to include a robust repertoire of courses, a major and a graduate program, and a minor in Queer Studies.

Since EMU was such an important leader in the interdisciplinary field of Women’s Studies, the university has been a major destination for acclaimed academics, artists, poets, politicians, and writers. Looking at the programmatic activities of the department offers a fantastic snapshot into women’s history and culture, from the 1970s to the present. Over the years, luminaries, such as the poet Audre Lorde and the writers bell hooks, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Marge Piercy read from their work. Politicians such as United States Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (D: Washington, D.C) and Pat Schroder (D: CO) and Senator Carol Moseley Braun D-IL) spoke about pressing political matters affecting women. And many scholars came to campus, discussing women’s history, literature, art, and cultural criticism. These distinguished guests were only one part of the department’s roster of rich programmatic activities. Over the years, the department also sponsored consciousness raising groups, workshops, potlucks, breakfasts, and film series. WGST at EMU fostered a unique culture balancing activism with intellectual engagement.

In March, WGST will hold a 50th Anniversary celebration. But in the meantime, the WGST Department is reflecting on this history in a rotating 10-year timeline. Every two months, stop by the WGST Department on the seventh floor of Pray Harrold to interact with the activities of EMU’s Women’s Studies program and learn about Women’s History at the university, one year at a time! This timeline may “pop up” on other parts of campus in Winter 2025 so stay tuned!

Please join us for a talk by Dr. Akram Khater, Professor of History, University Faculty Scholar, and Khayrallah Chair in Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University. 

Until recently Arab immigrants have been absent from the history of the Middle East, and equally elided from the story of America. They appear fleetingly as they leave their original homes, and then perhaps again momentarily as they cross into new lands. Yet, through their movements these immigrants have weaved, over decades and even centuries, transnational networks along which traversed peoples, ideas and commodities. In doing so they intimately connected the Middle East with the Americas, and in the process shaped both regions in profound ways. This talk will highlight these issues and explore the critical role archives play in preserving and unearthing these hidden histories and connections, and re-centering the role Arab Americans played in the history of the Middle East and the US.

Wednesday, November 13 at 5:30pm in the Student Center Auditorium. Please join us for a reception at 4:30pm in the Student Center Mezzanine.

This event is generously supported by the Dr. Janice Terry Middle East History Guest Speaker Fund. For more information, contact Professor Walter Lorenz at florenz@emich.edu  

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the Office of the Dean awards more than $75,000 in scholarships annually, and CAS departments and schools award more than $625,000 in scholarships.

Students may now apply for 2025-26 scholarships through the College website. Applications are due February 3, 2025, and recommendations are due February 10, 2025.

Undergraduate students may apply for these scholarships: 

• Richard Albrecht Memorial Scholarship 

• Melvin and Hazel Cant Scholarship

• College of Arts and Sciences Endowed Scholarship

• Carl D. and Peggy G. Pursell Scholarship

• Reed Family Endowed Scholarship for STEM

• Gregory W. Stevens Scholarship

• Dr. James C. Waltz Endowed Scholarship in the Arts and Sciences

• Frances R. Warren Scholarship

Click Here to Apply for CAS Undergraduate Scholarships

The following scholarships are awarded to undergraduate and graduate students, and applicants may be from any college at EMU:

• The Father Bernard J. O'Connor Scholarship in Civic Engagement 

• The Stonewall Endowed Scholarship 

• The Adelson-NSDAR Scholarship

Graduate students may apply for these CAS scholarships through the Graduate School:

• The Bob Holkeboer Symposium/Graduate Research Conference Scholarship 

• Bruce K. Nelson Scholarship 

• Robert Neely Endowed Scholarship

Undergraduate Symposium Scholarships will be awarded through a separate process. Students are also encouraged to seek out scholarship opportunities in their school or department.

On November 8, the EMU School of Music & Dance welcomed over 300 area high school musicians to Eastern to participate in our current events: the EMU Honor Choir & Choral Festival and the Honor String Orchestra. These students learned in large group and sectional rehearsals and clinics, as well as spending time collaborating with EMU faculty and students. The events culminated with a combined evening finale concert in Pease Auditorium. Each of the three honor groups performed musical selections they had learned that day, and the concert finished in with a flourish as the last piece featured faculty voice soloists, Dr. MeeAe Nam and Dr. Robert Peavler. The events were led by School of Music & Dance faculty: Dr. Brandon Johnson, Director of Choral Activities; Dr. Chad Hutchinson, Director of Orchestral Activities; and Prof. Jillian Burgam, Lecturer of Choral Music.