Campus Connections

Issue Date: June 7, 2004

News and Notices

Graduate school launches doctoral program

The graduate school has established a program leading to the doctorate in educational leadership, the institution’s first doctoral offering. The program’s first cohort of approximately 18 Ed.D. students begin their studies on July 9.

“The graduate school seeks to prepare confident leaders capable of creating conditions for transforming schools, districts and other civic organizations,” says Tom Ruhl, founding director of the doctoral program. “The new program blends innovative instruction with the rigorous research necessary to improve our schools. We hope to attract a small but passionate group of leaders seeking a personal and professional challenge.”

The 60-semester-hour program in educational leadership primarily serves practicing school and district leaders who have already completed a post–master’s-degree license program in educational administration. Designed with working professionals in mind, the doctoral program can be completed in three years. Classes are offered during intensive summer sessions and as weekend seminars during the academic year. Doctoral cohort members will study in small learning teams with a faculty mentor, who will guide individuals from matriculation through their doctoral dissertation.

In addition to core courses in educational administration, the program features four distinct areas of study: foundations systems and the future of organizations; personal and organizational leadership development; communication and skill development; and action research and inquiry. Cohort members also serve as critical friends who test and hold each other accountable for effective application of newly learned course content.

Real-world learning and application are at the heart of the final dissertation, according to Ruhl. “Candidates will use action research techniques to solve problems and build solutions for the schools and work sites they are already involved with professionally,” he says. “Through this approach, the courses are made relevant to work experience, and the work products of degree candidates serve to directly and immediately improve conditions, programs or learning structures for K-12 students.” Learn more.

Campus parking and transportation strategy earns distinction in new book

Lewis & Clark is one of two campuses in the U.S. singled out for praise in a new book about transportion issues in higher education. The book, titled “Transportation and Sustainable Campus Communities,” examines how college towns throughout the country deal with cars. The book cites Lewis & Clark and Stanford University as the only two campuses surveyed that did not have a problem with transportation and parking. “At Lewis and Clark College ... incentives are given to those who leave their cars behind,” according authors Will Toor and Spense Havlick. The authors also praise the College for earmarking “houses around the campus at which people buying or leasing the houses must agree not to bring a car [to campus].” Read the book’s introduction online.

Be a weather watcher

Local weather information is now available at the click of a mouse, thanks to the efforts of Nat Chalkley ’05, a physics major from Charles City, Va. During spring semester, Chalkley installed a weather station on top of the Olin Center for Physics and Chemistry.

As a companion piece to the rooftop weather station, Chalkley created a Web site that offers real-time readings. The data include time, temperature, dew point, humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction, heat index, rainfall and times of sunrise and sunset.

To view his handiwork, log onto the physics department Web site and click on Weather Station.

Grant supports teacher mentoring

Thanks to a grant from the Oregon Department of Education, the graduate school will launch a summer institute to mentor new teachers. The $19,486 grant supports the Oregon New Teacher Initiative Summer Institute on Mentoring, developed in partnership with the Oregon Education Association and the Portland Public, Beaverton, South Umpqua and Seaside school districts.

The program will enable school teams composed of administrators, master teachers and beginning teachers to come together with graduate school teacher education faculty to develop new teacher mentor programs for their school sites. The first summer institute will be held in August at Lewis & Clark. The Oregon Education Association contributed $5,000 for follow-up work during the 2004-05 school year.

Other grant-sponsored activities this year include a pilot teacher mentor program at Beaverton's Five Oaks Middle School and a workshop on cultural competence with internationally recognized multicultural education scholar James Banks.

IT offers range of courses for summer

Information Technology offers ongoing computer training courses. During the next several weeks, these classes are available: Introduction to FileMaker Scripts, Beginning PowerPoint, Trillium, Backing Up Your Computer, and InDesign. For more information, contact IT at ext. 7020 or register online.

People News

Campus mourns loss of Evan Williams

Evan Williams, professor of chemistry and founder of the environmental studies program, passed away on May 24 with his wife Lise at his side. He was diagnosed with brain cancer last fall.

Williams came to Lewis & Clark from Brooklyn College in 1992 and initially served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. He later served as a professor in the chemistry department and was the founding force behind Lewis & Clark’s interdisciplinary environmental studies major.

“His love of nature and the outdoors, his tireless work ethic, his advocacy on behalf of the environment, his keen intellect, his vitality, and his gentle spirit are some of the qualities for which Evan will be fondly remembered,” wrote Paul Bragdon, interim president, in an e-mail to the campus community.

Wiliams spearheaded efforts to establish the Gamma of Oregon Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at the College and took pride in welcming new student members into the prestigious honor society.

“Evan was an inspiring and engaging teacher,” says Mark Duntley, dean of the chapel. “He was deply admired by both faculty and staff colleagues alike.”

For remembrances, the family has suggested donations to the Lewis & Clark College Tree Walk in honor of Evan T. Williams. For more information, visit the Tree Walk Web site or call ext. 7943. Plans for the campus community to gather and honor Williams’ life are pending and will most likely be scheduled after students and faculty return in the fall.

Familiar faces in new places: Graduate school

The graduate school welcomes familiar faces to new places. Camie Wiggins, formerly an administrative assistant in Student Financial Services, is the graduate school's new director of student services. She will work with admissions, registrar, and licensure offices, as well as serve as an ombudsperson for the graduate students. Reach Wiggins at ext. 6037 or wiggins@lclark.edu.

Lisa Pogue, formerly in Career Services at the law school, is the graduate school's new director of operations. Her responsibilities include oversight of the budget, facilities, and technology services. Reach Pogue at ext. 6016 or pogue@lclark.edu.

Sara Mattheisen, formerly administrative assistant to the graduate school dean, is the new director of communication and events. Reach Mattheisen at ext. 6001 or mattheis@lclark.edu.

Published, presented, honors and achievements

Faculty and staff serve as ambassadors for the College through their publications, presentations, awards, grants and other accomplishments. Recent highlights include:

Doug Erickson, college archivist and head of special collections, and Paul Merchant, bibliographic specialist, spoke about writings on the Lewis and Clark Expedition during a presentation at Southern Oregon University in May.

Robert Eisinger, associate professor and chair of political science, received a $20,000 grant from the Arkay Foundation. The grant, “Fighting Cynicism and Building Trust: The Campus Civility Project,” will fund a campus lecture series for the 2004-05 academic year.

Laura Ireland, director of the National Center for Animal Law, discussed “Pet Trends and Other Trends in Pet Law” during an April presentation in St. Helens, Ore., sponsored by the Columbia Humane Society.

In May, Robert Kugler, Paul S. Wright Professor of Christian Studies and department chair, took part in a panel discussion about “Faith, Justice and Taxes in Oregon.” The event was sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.

More listings of faculty and staff achievements can be found in our online pressroom.

L&C in the news

College faculty and staff are in the news on a regular basis. Recent mentions include:

The Oregonian: Editorial titled “A Monument in Motion” is a tribute to Evan Williams, chemistry professor and chair of environmental studies program, who passed away on May 24. “Like most terrific teachers, Williams had torrential enthusiasms that drove his students, and the college, in new directions.” May 31, 2004.

The Business Journal (Portland, Ore.): Profile of Robert B. Pamplin Jr., life trustee and former board chair. Jane Atkinson, vice president and provost, comments on the scope of Pamplin’s commitment to Lewis & Clark “not just in dollars and cents, but in spirit and energy.” May 21, 2004.

The Oregonian: Paula Abrams, professor of law, comments on a landmark 1920s Oregon court case involving the Catholic Church and the Ku Klux Klan, Pierce v. Society of Sisters. May 19, 2004.

For a sampling of how and where Lewis & Clark is mentioned by media outlets across the nation and around the globe, visit the online pressroom.

Events

Compelling storytelling at the heart of writing culture workshop

Five prominent writers and anthropologists will share their literary and cultural expertise during the Writing Culture Summer Institute at the graduate school. The institute runs June 21–27. Participants include Francisco Goldman, Alma Gottlieb, Philip Graham, Judith Barrington and Evelyn C. White.

“Our goal is to bring together a richly varied group of teachers and students to explore new ways of writing and thinking with an emphasis on cross-cultural understanding,” says Joanne B. Mulcahy, institute director. The institute, part of the Northwest Writing Institute at the graduate school, is a conference designed for writers in varied genres, including journalists, fiction and nonfiction writers, poets, teachers, students, anthropologists, folklorists and workers from related fields.

More information about the four workshops is available online.

Authors offer free readings

As part of the Writing Culture Summer Institute, author participants will give two evening readings and take part in an afternoon panel discussion. The authors will read from recent and forthcoming works.

Wednesday, June 23, 7:30 p.m. Reading: writers Judith Barrington and Evelyn C. White, Albany Quadrangle, Smith Hall.

Judith Barrington’s book “Lifesaving: A Memoir” won the Lambda Literary Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the category Art of the Memoir. She is the author of “Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art,” three volumes of poetry titled “Trying to Be an Honest Woman, History and Geography,” and the forthcoming “Horses and the Human Soul.”

Evelyn C. White is the author of “Chain Chain Change: For Black Women in Abusive Relationships,” coauthor of the photography book “The African Americans” as well as editor of “The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves.” She was a staff reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle and her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Essence, Ms. and Smithsonian magazines. White will read from her biography of Alice Walker, which will be published in September.

Thursday, June 24, 1:30 p.m. Reading and panel discussion: authors Alma Gottlieb, Greg Simon and Francisco Goldman, Albany Quadrangle, Smith Hall.

Alma Gottlieb will read from her newest book, “The Afterlife Is Where We Come From: The Culture of Infancy in West Africa.” Following the reading, a panel discussion will focus on the role of the anthropologist as cultural translator.

Gottlieb is coauthor with Philip Graham of the book “Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa.” She coedited a collection of essays with Thomas Buckley titled “Blood Magic: The Anthropology of Menstruation.” Gottlieb is professor of anthropology, African studies and women’s studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently president of the Society for Humanistic Anthropology.

Portland poet and translator Greg Simon will read from his translation of “Poet in New York: Federico Garcia Lorca” and discuss other works he has translated from Spanish, Russian and Croatian. Author Francisco Goldman will discuss how translation impacts his work as a novelist.

Friday, June 25, 7:30 p.m. Reading: Philip Graham and Francisco Goldman, Anne Hughes Kitchen Table Café, 400 S.E. 12th St.

Philip Graham and Francisco Goldman will read from forthcoming works. Goldman’s novel “The Long Night of White Chickens” won the Sue Kaufman Award for First Fiction. The Hungry Mind Review named his novel “The Ordinary Seaman” one of the best 100 American books of the century. Goldman’s articles and reviews have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books and The New York Times Magazine. He holds the Allan K. Smith Chair in Literature at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. Goldman’s novel “The Divine Husband” is forthcoming.

Graham is the author of two short story collections, “The Art of the Knock” and “Interior Design,” and the novel “How to Read an Unwritten Language.” He is coauthor with Alma Gottlieb of the memoir “Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa.” Graham’s fiction and essays have been published in The New Yorker, North American Review, Fiction, the Washington Post Magazine, Missouri Review, The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. He is a professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is the fiction editor of the literary journal Ninth Letter.

NOTE: Dinner immediately prior to the June 25 reading (6:15-7:15 p.m.) is available for a cost of $11. For meal information, contact the café at 503-230-6917.

Upcoming

Visit the campus Web calendar for events coming up in June and July.