News University of Northern Colorado

UNC Professor to Present ‘Meaning of Maps’ on April 10

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Susan Schulten, the 2013 UNC Hewit Distinguished Professor of History, will present "The Meaning of Maps" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, in the Panorama Room of the University Center, intersection of 10th Avenue and 20th Street

The lecture, open to the public free of charge, will focus on an American culture that is saturated with maps, from Google Maps to Geographic Information Systems. Schulten will examine how maps came to be used in the 19th century United States not only to identify locations and represent the landscape, but also to analyze information. Through maps of the weather, the population, the economy, disease, and even their past, Americans gradually learned to view themselves and their nation in altogether new ways.

A signing of her newest book, Mapping the Nation: History and Cartography in Nineteenth-Century America (University of Chicago Press, 2012), will follow the lecture. For more, please see http://www.mappingthenation.com/

The William E. Hewit Endowment, the UNC History Department, and Phi Alpha Theta are sponsoring the event. Schulten is Professor and Chair of the University of Denver's History Department.

UNC Writers’ Conference Features Internationally Renowned Sci Fi Author

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The 2013 Rosenberry Writers' Conference at the University of Northern Colorado March 4-6 will feature readings by an internationally renowned, award-winning science fiction author and two other writers who also have Colorado roots.

Greeley's own Connie Willis, whose 15 novels and seven collections of short stories have earned an unprecedented seven Nebula awards and 11 Hugo awards, will close the three-day conference with a reading at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in the Panorama room in the University Center, intersection of 10th Avenue and 20th Street.

The reading and a question-and-answer session, reception and book signing that follow it, are free and open to the public.

In addition to her Nebula and Hugo awards, two of the genre's most prestigious, Willis received the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's 2011 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award recognizing her lifetime achievements and placing her in the company of science fiction and fantasy writers such as Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.

Willis, a 2009 inductee of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, earned her bachelor's degree in English and Elementary Education from UNC in 1967. She last appeared at the Rosenberry Writers' Conference in 2006.

The conference's other readings will be by Dan Beachy-Quick on Monday, March 4, and Aaron Abeyta on Tuesday, March 5. Both will start at 7 p.m. in the Panorama room and also will include a question-and-answer session, reception and book signing. Free parking will be available in lots adjacent to the building.

Beachy-Quick's works include five full-length books of poetry, five poetry chapbooks and a book of interlinked essays on Moby Dick. He grew up in Colorado and after graduating from the University of Denver, he attended the Iowa Writer's Workshop. He's taught at Grinnell College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is currently teaching in the MFA Writing program at Colorado State University.

Abeyta, a Colorado native, is an associate professor of English at Adams State College. Two collections of his poetry have been published, including Colcha, which received a 2002 American Book Award and a 2001 Colorado Book Award. He won a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry in 1998 and received the grand prize from the Academy of American Poets while a graduate student at Colorado State University. His first novel was published in 2007.

In addition to the readings, the writers will hold informal discussion sessions with students and faculty from UNC's literature and writing classes.

Now in its 12th year, the conference is named in honor of the late philanthropist and English teacher Walter Rosenberry, who supported the conference and nonprofit organizations throughout Colorado.

For more information, contact conference organizer Lisa Zimmerman, assistant professor of English, at 970-351-2033 or lisa.zimmerman@unco.edu.

'Beloved' Kicks Off UNC's Spring International Film Series This Week

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Northern Colorado's International Film Series starts its spring schedule this week with the 2011 French film Beloved showing at 7 p.m. today, Feb. 14, in Lindou Auditorium in Michener Library (Michener L110). The rest of the series is:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Sweden): Feb. 20-21, 7 p.m.
The Impossible (U.S.): Feb. 27, 7 p.m.; Feb. 28, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Saving Face (Pakistan): March 6, 7 p.m.; March 7, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Wallace and Gromit (Britain): March 13-14, 6 p.m.
Headhunters (Norway): March 27, 7 p.m.; March 28, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Rocky Horror Picture Show (U.S): April 3, 7 p.m.; April 4, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Hellgate (Thailand): April 10, 7 p.m.; April 11, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
My Best Enemy (Austria.): April 17, 7 p.m.; April 18, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
The Last Flight of Petr Ginz (U.S.): April 24-25, 7:30 p.m.

All films are shown in Lindou Auditorium. Non-English language films are shown in the original language with English subtitles.

Admission is free for UNC students and $3 for all others, unless special circumstances dictate a small admission charge for students or sponsorship of a film by another UNC entity allows it be shown for free to all. Parking is free in UNC lots after 5 p.m.

For more information about the IFS, including movie synopses, visit the series' website.

UNC's Spring International Film Series: 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest'

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The International Film Series continues this week with the Swedish version of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, showing at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, and Thursday, Feb. 21, in Lindou Auditorium in Michener Library (Michener L110). The rest of the series is:

The Impossible (U.S.): Feb. 27, 7 p.m.; Feb. 28, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Saving Face (Pakistan): March 6, 7 p.m.; March 7, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Wallace and Gromit (Britain): March 13-14, 6 p.m.
Headhunters (Norway): March 27, 7 p.m.; March 28, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Rocky Horror Picture Show (U.S): April 3, 7 p.m.; April 4, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Hellgate (Thailand): April 10, 7 p.m.; April 11, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
My Best Enemy (Austria.): April 17, 7 p.m.; April 18, 7 and 9:15 p.m.
The Last Flight of Petr Ginz (U.S.): April 24-25, 7:30 p.m.

All films are shown in Lindou Auditorium. Non-English language films are shown in the original language with English subtitles.

For more information about the IFS, including movie synopses, visit the series' website.

A Day in the Desert

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

UNC Professor Emeritus Earns Award for BLM Work

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

UNC Professor Emeritus and University Research Fellow Bob Brunswig will receive an award from a resource management organization for his work with the Bureau of Land Management.

Brunswig and his colleague Frederic Sellet of the University of Kansas are the recipients of the 2012 Project Team Award from the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (RM-CESU). The organization, a joint partnership of academic institutions in the Rocky Mountain region and federal land management agencies, will honor the two researchers during the RM-CESU fall meeting Oct. 4 in Denver.

Since 2003, Brunswig has been involved with the BLM and excavations in North Park near Walden that revealed the earliest prehistoric Ute Indian site in the Rocky Mountain region. The digs have yielded well-preserved Ute Indian artifacts ranging from 500-1,000 years old (artifacts as old as 10,000 years from previous occupations have been recovered) and provided clues about their culture and rituals.

More about RM-CESU at: http://www.cfc.umt.edu/cesu/NEWCESU/Background/default.htm

Can You Dig It?

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Students from UNC and local public schools now have a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience and build their skills in the field of archaeology thanks to a grant and a collaborative effort between the university and the Poudre Learning Center.

A Community Foundation Littler Youth Fund grant awarded to the PLC and Andrew Creekmore, an assistant professor of Anthropology at UNC, is being used to develop a simulated archaeological dig site at the center west of Greeley.

The reusable mock archaeological excavations will fill a void left by a lack of real dig opportunities, especially ones that don't require an expedition and extended periods of time.

UNC Anthropology major Adrien Hoff, who interned at the PLC in 2010, brought together Creekmore and PLC staff to develop the project that she's now helping build.

"It's important because it will help many UNC students as well as younger students understand more about archaeology," Hoff said.

In the first phase of the project, UNC archaeology students spent several spring days building mock excavation sites under Creekmore's supervision. Artifacts from different time periods were replicated and buried so they can be excavated and reburied again and again.

The site will open this summer and will be used both by K-12 students who visit the PLC and by UNC students enrolled in an archaeological research methods class offered each spring.

After learning about key principles of archaeology in the classroom, students will then use what they learned to excavate the dig site. After the excavation, they'll take their findings back to the classroom where they can interpret them.

"Through this three-part activity the students will experience local heritage first-hand and develop a deeper sense of the place in which they learn, play and live," Creekmore said.

The second phase of the project, which will get underway in June and continue into the summer, will be the development of an archeaogeopysics test site at the PLC.

The site will be used for learning and demonstrating geophysics methods such as ground-penetrating radar that make it possible to analyze archaeological remains without large-scale excavation. The test site will be the first step in creating a similar lab at UNC for student and faculty research.

"This activity will promote an ongoing, mutually beneficial experience to students in the local community," Creekmore said.

The Poudre Learning Center uses labs, activities and trips designed to reinforce concepts taught in local classrooms, and to help students study and understand the environment around them.

For more information, contact Creekmore at 970-351-2761, or Poudre Learning Center Directory Ray Tschillard at 970-352-1267.

- Elizabeth Same, Senior Journalism Major

The Story Behind 'Glory'

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

University of Northern Colorado Professor George Junne spent more than two decades researching the African-American regiment depicted in the award-winning movie Glory. The result is the most comprehensive book ever written about the famed Civil War unit.

Little did Junne know the project was about to start when he and three students screened Glory in 1990, shortly after the film's release. While crediting the movie for bringing widespread recognition to the 180,000 black soldiers who served during the Civil War, Junne came away perplexed that the notes he had prepared for a movie review in his local paper conflicted with what appeared on screen.

He decided then to tell the real story, which he's titled A History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Colored Infantry of the Civil War: The Real Story Behind the Movie Glory.

Today, on the doorstep of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which "kicked open the door" the same year of the creation of the famed 54th regiment, Junne accomplished his mission. His 645-page book released this month covers the conditions leading up to the Civil War, the war itself, including how the 54th was formed, and the aftermath.

He chronicles skirmishes, such as the famous battle at Fort Wagner as the 54th infantry led the assault on the Morris Island (S.C.) stronghold.

There also are accounts of Col. Robert Gould Shaw and Col. Edward N. Hallowell, who was appointed to lead the 54th after Shaw was killed at Fort Wagner. The cover of Junne's book features a photograph of a bronze memorial to Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, created for a Boston park by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Junne also writes about Frederick Douglass, whose sons decided to enlist (one was in the 54th and the other in the 55th regiment) instead of emigrating to Africa; and Massachusetts Gov. John Andrew, who was credited with helping form the 54th and who also happened to be a former student of anti-slavery poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Interestingly, Junne was able to get a "portrait of the men" in the regiment by determining what happened to 1,100 of the 1,280 soldiers who served from 1863-65.

Junne points out that in battle the 54th saw the heaviest action among the African-American units that the regiment blazed a trail for. "They were never on the winning side, but they were the ones who held off the South when Northern troops retreated."

Also, an important historical distinction to make, according to Junne in the book's introduction, is that the people of African descent have "fought in every military campaign since the French and Indian War."

Junne, who teaches in UNC's Africana Studies program, said the book is written in a way to engage all audiences. Next spring, he plans on presenting at the Western Social Science Association conference. Leading up to that, he's planning to organize New Year's Eve readings of the Emancipation Proclamation to mark the 150th anniversary of its issuance by President Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863.

For more information about the book, visit: http://mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=8635&pc=9

Junne to Receive National Award
George Junne's interests go beyond Africana studies and history. The Council of the Paleontological Society has named Junne as the winner of the 2012 Strimple Award for his contributions to the field.

The award recognizes outstanding achievement by someone who doesn't make a full-time living in paleontology. Since 1981, Junne has been involved in archaeological work, primarily in Wyoming's Bighorn Basin.

Among his discoveries are new species that have been named after him, including:

Macrocranion junnei — from a six-millimeter fossil of the carnivore's jawbone and set of teeth that Junne found in the basin.
Arfia junnei: A ground-dwelling carnivore. Junne found a microscopic fossil of the animal.
Calcardea junnei: A type of heron. Junne found a partial skeleton of the bird.

The council will present the award to Junne at its annual meeting Nov. 4 in Charlotte, N.C.

- UNC News Service

UNC Faculty Member Honored at National Leadership Symposium

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A University of Northern Colorado faculty member was recently honored as a rising young professional at a national leadership symposium.

Travis Boyce, assistant professor of Africana Studies and Social Sciences, was honored as one of 100 rising young professionals in academia, government and industry during the 20th annual national symposium of The Leadership Alliance, a consortium of 32 institutions of higher learning that includes leading research and teaching college and universities.

The designation recognizes fellows from the alliance's Summer Research Early Identification Program who have earned a Ph.D. or an MD-Ph.D. degree. The program encourages students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences, social sciences and humanities to consider research careers in the academic, public, or private sectors.

The symposium was held on July 27 in Hartford, Conn.

Boyce was a 2001 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow at Yale University. He finished his Ph.D. at Ohio University and joined the faculty at UNC in 2009.

"The Leadership Alliance taught me the importance of maintaining a research agenda and showed me the various career opportunities one can pursue with a Ph.D.," Boyce said. "Today I incorporate these ideals in my pedagogical approach and encourage my students to use issues and literature raised in class to write research papers for professional presentation and possibly publication."

More information about The Leadership Alliance is available on its website at http://www.theleadershipalliance.org/Default.aspx.

UNC Professor Covering London Olympics for Chinese TV Network

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

University of Northern Colorado Journalism professor Gary Swanson is serving as a commentator for English-language China Central Television during the Summer Olympics in London.

Swanson worked in the same capacity for CCT at the Beijing Olympics and previously was a field producer and cameraman for NBC's coverage in 1992 of the Barcelona Olympics.

In London, he's working for both "Dialogue," a CCT talk show and CCTV-9 News. CCTV-9, a 24-hour news channel providing coverage of the games to more than 1 billion in China and 45 million subscribers worldwide is available on Dish Network, channel 265, and DirecTV, channel 454.

The assignment required first traveling to Beijing for meetings with the shows' producers.

A three-time Fulbright Scholar, Swanson is currently UNC's Mildred S. Hansen endowed chair and distinguished journalist-in-residence. During his 30-year career as an educator, producer, editor and director, he's worked with "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw," NBC's "Today Show" and prime-time magazine shows.

He's covered three presidential campaigns, the World Series, college and pro football playoffs and the Kentucky Derby. In 1992, he was a field producer and cameraman for NBC's coverage of the XXV Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

His numerous awards include Emmys for producing NBC investigative pieces titled "The Silent Shame," "Military Medicine" and "Hotel Crime." Before coming to UNC, Swanson was professor and director of television for nine years at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

UNC’s ‘One Day University’ Saturday Offers Free Classes

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Professors from the University of Northern Colorado's College of Humanities and Social Sciences will offer free "mini-classes" open to the public during the annual One Day University event on Saturday, July 28, in downtown Greeley.

Six 50-minute classes ranging from Chinese for travelers to Shakespeare's influence on past and present society to how water is shared among different geographic areas in the West will be offered.

The One Day University schedule is:

10-10:50 a.m.

Chinese for Travelers - Michelle Low, Professor of Chinese
Shakespeare in the Park - Tracey Sedinger, Professor of English

11-11:50 a.m.

Reading the Reich: Interpreting Nazi Propaganda - Joan L. Clinefelter, Professor of History
Allocating Water in the West: Would YOU Change the Rules If You Could? - Mark Eiswerth, Professor of Economics

12-12:50 p.m.

Confucius Says? Traditional vs. Modern in China Today - Adam Fong, Professor of History
Berlin Yesterday and Today - David Caldwell, Professor of German

All classes will be held in the Greeley Recreation Center, 651 10th Ave., west of Lincoln Park during the Arts Picnic. Registration is not required.

For more information, including course descriptions, visit http://hss.unco.edu/assets/images/ODUcombo.pdf or call Deborah Borelli at (970) 351-2707.

Telling Tales

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

With the help of a group of UNC students, a local public school district program for immigrant and refugee students and their families has published a book that's bridging gaps in the families - and in the community.

Telling Tales: Immigrants' and Refugees' Stories of Transition, Resilience and Hope is a compilation of 40 stories and photographs of 30 families that immigrated to the Greeley area from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Somalia, Kenya, East Africa, Burma and Thailand.

The genesis of the book was El Teatro, a theater program that's part of Weld County School District 6's Newcomers program. El Teatro offers students of refugee and immigrant families a chance to share their life stories - and improve understanding of their native cultures and the challenges they face living in a new one.

Those stories, often handwritten by students and parents as part of a family literacy project incorporated into the El Teatro program, prompted Greeley West High School teacher and Newcomers facilitator Jessica Cooney to propose that each family's story be photocopied into a book.

When UNC Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies Deborah Romero heard the idea, she proposed taking things one step further with the creation of a professionally published book.

"As part of the Newcomers program, the teachers had begun to develop a series of family literacy events following the El Teatro program," Romero explained. "Teachers would work with parents to help them better understand American culture and as part of that, the families shared stories about their journey to the United States."

Undergraduate students from Romero's classes at UNC attended the family literacy events, recording each family's story on paper. Depending on each family's level of English, students would either help the family write the story or simply act as a scribe.

Romero, who served as the book's editor, said that UNC students served as a "real" audience for the families - the more interested in the stories her students were, the more each family opened up to share more information.

Parents and students worked together throughout the literacy events, which ultimately brought the families closer together.

"Teenage kids oftentimes pull away from their parents, no matter what culture they're in," said Cooney. "But with refugee and immigrant students, their parents represent the old culture. Students become Americanized, and this book was a way to connect parents and students together again."

At first, many of the high school students couldn't quite grasp the concept of their stories being published into a book people could actually buy. Now that they've seen the finished product however, more and more students are writing stories to also share with the community.

"I have had several students come up to me with their story already written, asking if they can be in the next book," said Cooney. "The level of enthusiasm the kids are showing towards the book is really amazing."

The book allowed the students to express themselves in ways they weren't able to before; to share what it's like to leave your home because of war, to learn a new language, to face discrimination.

"There is sometimes racism towards us and our families because people don't know about where we come from," said Juan Moncada, a senior at Greeley West. "Everyone has a right to say what is right, which is one of the reasons why we chose to write the book."

Amina Abdi, a junior at the school, found writing the book to be therapeutic for herself, her classmates and their families.

"We hope that once people read our stories, they will finally know and understand who we are."

To purchase the book, go to http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2894879. Proceeds will be used to help fund the school district's family literacy projects and classes in its Newcomers program.

- Katie Owston, Junior Journalism Major

UNC to Host Conference on Historic African-American Community

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Northern Colorado will host a conference Saturday, Feb. 18, focusing on current preservation efforts at Dearfield, the once-thriving African-American agricultural community 23 miles east of Greeley.

The first-ever Dearfield Dream Conference, which is free and open to the public, will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Columbine Suites at the University Center, intersection of 20th Avenue and 10th Street. Free parking will be available in adjacent lots.

The conference will feature speakers and displays on Dearfield's historical background and presentations on ongoing studies in archaeology, analyses of historic documents and photographs, the gathering of oral histories of former Dearfield residents and their descendants, and measures being taken to preserve physical remains of the historic site.

Public participation and discussion on the historical importance and preservation of Dearfield as a valuable Colorado heritage resource will be welcomed.

UNC also will host a free preview showing of "Dearfield: Remnants of a Dream," a documentary by film producer Charles Nuckolls, at 7 p.m. in Michener Library, intersection of 14th Avenue and 20th Street. Free parking in UNC's B and C lots will be available.

The conference and film are among a variety of activities at UNC in February celebrating Black History Month.

Founded in 1910 to establish economic self-sufficiency and social justice for African-Americans, by the early 1920s Dearfield was home to nearly 70 families who produced barley, strawberries, potatoes and more.

Like many other communities, Dearfield was unable to survive economically during the drought of the late1920s and resulting Dust Bowl in the early 1930s, and eventually became a ghost town and point of curiosity for travelers along U.S. Highway 34.

The Dearfield Dream Project is a collaborative research program of the Dearfield Heritage Preservation Committee under the Black American West Museum in Denver. UNC, Colorado State University and Texas A&M University are partners in the project, along with the city of Greeley, Weld County, the Greeley Tourism Office, Colorado Preservation Inc. and community volunteers.

UNC Students to Design Archaeology Experience, Research Site to be Established

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

University of Northern Colorado students will now have another opportunity to gain hands-on experience and build their skills in the field of archaeology thanks to two grants recently awarded.

- A $4,185 grant from The Community Foundation Littler Youth Fund awarded to the Poudre Learning Center, in conjunction with Assistant Archaeology Professor Andy Creekmore, will provide support to create mock excavation trenches at the center. The simulated field experience will feature planted replicas of artifacts from different time periods and will be re-excavated repeatedly by students as an educational activity. UNC students will work with the center's staff to develop, construct and test the activity this spring. It will be ready for participants this summer.

"By completing this activity the participants will obtain a better understanding of what archaeology is all about, and gain a greater appreciation for the importance of proper recovery and interpretation of archaeological materials," said Creekmore, who was approached by UNC anthropology major Adrien Hoff, who interns at the center, to develop the idea with the center's director Ray Tschillard.

- The second grant, a $2,497 award from UNC's Faculty Research and Publication board, provides support to establish a local UNC research site at the Poudre Learning Center. Students and faculty will learn and demonstrate various geophysics methods, such as ground penetrating radar, that make it possible to identify and analyze archaeological remains without large-scale excavation.

For more information, contact Assistant Archaeology Professor Andy Creekmore at (970) 351-2761, or Poudre Learning Center Director Ray Tschillard at (970) 352-1267.

All in the Family

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

After a divorce eight years ago, Laura London made a list of things she wanted to do. One of the things was to earn a bachelor's degree.

"One of the other things was to join the Peace Corps," London said. "And I had another goal to live on an island."

At the University of Northern Colorado's undergraduate commencement ceremonies Saturday, she'll not only be accomplishing her final goal, she'll also be graduating with both of her fraternal twin daughters, Katie and Kelly Coomes.

After receiving her associate's degree from Pikes Peak Community College in 2006, Laura joined the Peace Corps years and traveled to the Pacific island of Palau to teach English, while her daughters started their undergraduate degrees.

Kelly enrolled at UNC on a track and field scholarship. Her active lifestyle was a natural fit for the degree in Sport and Exercise Science with a Physical Education teaching concentration that she began pursuing.

Katie started out at the University of Wyoming, but joined her twin in Greeley after a year. With a passion for teaching, Katie started working on an Elementary Education degree.

When London returned from Palau after her two-year assignment, she decided to go for her bachelor's degree and joined Katie and Kelly at UNC.

With their schedules filled with school and a variety of extracurricular activities, the girls didn't share classes with their mom, or even each other.

Kelly spent a lot of her time outside class representing the Bears in track and field. In May she broke the school record for the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.99 seconds.

Katie's interests took her to intramural volleyball and a study abroad experience in Dublin, Ireland. She and her mom both worked at Michener Library.

London, who will receive her degree in Communication Studies, was an officer with Mortar Board and was involved with Lamba Pi Eta, the communications honors society.
"The three of us are very close, we joke that we triple date, but I rarely saw them on campus," London said. "They've been on their own for a while now, but they would come over for dinner once a week."

The girls both did their student teaching at Academy District 20 in Colorado Springs during their final undergraduate semester.

Kelly is applying for her teaching license and plans to begin teaching physical education next fall at her alma mater, Rampart High School in Colorado Springs.

Katie is looking for jobs in the Colorado Springs area, and plans on attending UNC's Teacher Employment Fair in April.

London will leave in January for a short Peace Corps assignment working at a library in the Guyana rainforest for six months.

After that she plans on attending graduate school, and hopes to work as a foreign services officer for the Department of State.

For now, the three of them will be enjoying the satisfaction of all their hard work paying off.

Kelly will be graduating cum laude, Katie magna cum laude and London, who of course had to set an example for her daughters, summa cum laude.

- Elizabeth Same, Junior Journalism Major

More information about commencement and the graduating class

Holocaust Scholar to Teach Workshop at UNC

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Northern Colorado will co-sponsor and host a day-long workshop Aug. 21 led by an internationally renowned Holocaust scholar and designed to help middle, high school and pre-service teachers incorporate accurate information about the Holocaust in their classes.

The Institute for Teaching the Holocaust, scheduled 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on the UNC campus, will feature Ephraim Kaye, director of international seminars at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, in Jerusalem.

Kaye, who holds degrees in modern Jewish history and the history of the Holocaust from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has led more than 200 seminars with participants from over 25 countries in 10 different languages.

The workshop also will include a presentation from 3 to 4 p.m. by Holocaust survivor Jack Adler, who as a youth was imprisoned in the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps, where his parents and both sisters perished. His talk is free and open to the public.

Breakout sessions facilitated by Ephraim and UNC faculty will provide practical tools for teaching the Holocaust across subject areas.

The cost for teachers and educational administrators is $20 and includes curriculum materials, continental breakfast and a box lunch. The cost for student teachers to attend is $5.

The institute is coordinated by UNC professor of English Jeri Kraver, one of 18 university educators in the U.S. invited to attend a two-week seminar on the Holocaust earlier this year at Yad Vahem's International School for Holocaust Studies.

Other sponsors of the institute are the Anti-Defamation League, the Holocaust Awareness Institute, Yad Vashem and the Shoah Foundation Institute at the University of Southern California.

For more information, visit the Anti-Defamation League website.

UNC Conference to Address Issues of Family Violence

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Professionals and volunteers who work with victims and offenders of family violence will have an opportunity to gather next week at a working conference organized and co-sponsored by the University of Northern Colorado.

"Safe at Home: Addressing Issues of Family Violence" will run 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, March 31, in the University Center, intersection of 10th Avenue and 20th Street.

Multiple breakout sessions and feature presentations will tackle issues such as indentifying problems with and improving current practices used in responses to family violence incidents, and developing ideas on how to work more effectively with those involved in family violence situations. Attendees will create action plans to carry forward ideas generated during the day.

The cost of the conference is $20, which includes lunch and parking. Registration is required by Thursday, March 24. The conference's complete schedule and information about online registration is available at http://www.unco.edu/summerconf/Register/Family%20Violence.html. Questions about the conference can be directed to Mary West-Smith at (970) 351-2900.

Conference Sponsors
- UNC Div of Continuing Education & Academic Outreach
- UNC Women's Resource Center
- Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (COVA)
- Weld County Sheriff's Office
- Banner Health
- UNC Dean of Students
- UNC Criminal Justice Department
- Greeley Police Department
- Evans Police Department
- Ehrlich Motors
- Women's Fund of Weld County
- UNC Assault Survivors Advocacy Program (ASA

UNC Writers’ Conference Features Authors of Diverse Genres

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Northern Colorado's 2011 Rosenberry Writers' Conference beginning Monday, March 21, will feature acclaimed authors of very different genres, including one who teaches at the university, and an award-winning poet.

Readings and classroom discussions will be part of the conference, themed "The Things I Imagine Become Real." All readings, which are free and open to the public, will be at 7 p.m. in the Panorama Room in the University Center, intersection of 10th Avenue and 20th Street. Refreshments will be provided.

The schedule of readings and presenters are:

Monday, March 21: Nic Brown, an assistant professor of English at UNC whose work includes the short story collection Floodmarkers, which was selected as an Editor's Choice by The New York Times Book Review.
Tuesday, March 22: Craig Childs, naturalist, adventurer, desert ecologist, author of four books and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio's "Morning Edition."
Wednesday, March 23: Arda Collins, whose poems have been published in journals and magazines including The New Yorker and The American Poetry Review, and winner of the 2008 Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition for her collection The Waker's Corridor.
Thursday, March 24: Daniel Wallace, author of Ray in Reverse, The Watermelon King and 1998's Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, the basis for the Tim Burton film Big Fish.

More information about the writers is available at http://www.unco.edu/writersconference/authors.html via links to their websites.

UNC's writers' conference is named in honor of the late Walter Rosenberry, a longtime English teacher and philanthropist in Denver. In 2001, he established the Walter S. Rosenberry III Cumbres Scholarship to provide scholarships for Hispanic teacher candidates accepted into the Cumbres teacher training program at UNC.

Sponsors of the 2011 Rosenberry Writers' Conference are Barnes & Noble Booksellers, and UNC's College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of English Language and Literature.

Long-Distance Learning

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Even though Saara Schmidt moved to Durango after earning a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from UNC, she’s close to finishing a UNC master’s degree without setting foot in Greeley.

The 2007 graduate with an unusually-spelled first name is able to achieve her goal of earning a master’s degree in Criminal Justice despite living almost 400 miles from the school’s Greeley campus, thanks to UNC Online.

In addition to a variety of individual courses, UNC Online, part of the university’s Extended Studies division, also includes bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. Some are offered completely online; others combine online curriculum with summer on-campus experiences.

Schmidt’s quest for her master’s in Criminal Justice was aided by the fact that UNC offers the only online program of its type in the region. The program was designed for people with full-time jobs, families or other obligations to juggle.

“It’s good for independent learners,” Schmidt said of her online educational experience.

Another reason she jumped at the opportunity to continue her education at UNC is the caliber of faculty.

“The Criminal Justice program is great and the professors are awesome,” she said.

Many of the same faculty who teach on campus deliver most UNC Online courses and programs. These are experts who keep up to date with the latest advances in their fields.

UNC’s online programs and faculty utilize national quality standard for the design and delivery of online courses to ensure that they are following high academic standards equivalent to face-to-face courses.

Through her online program, Schmidt has discovered her passion for working with at-risk youth and as part of her curriculum, she’s working with a juvenile center to evaluate its effectiveness.

"I want to help get them out of the system before they are adults because I believe it is harder for people to get out as adults,” she said.

Schmidt is in her second year of the two-year program and is scheduled to graduate in May 2011. Unlike some of her classmates in the program, she’s planning to attend the commencement ceremony.

Online classes can also be used to catch up on credits or get ahead. UNC’s interim session, which begins Dec. 13, is a good way to do either. A variety of online classes are offered in most departments to help students reach their academic goals.

UNC Online has a new website that compiles all the online coursework offered at UNC. For more information, visit http://unconline.edu.

- Brittany Sarconi

Of Note
The University of Northern Colorado has been offering quality distance education since 1902 and was an early adopter of the online education model, beginning with the offering of its first online program over a decade ago.