The Academic Minute for 2019.11.11-11.15

The Academic Minute from 11.11 – 11.15

Monday, November 11th
Jennifer Gauthier – Randolph College
Indigenous Media
Dr. Jennifer Gauthier is professor of Communication Studies at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she teaches courses in rhetoric, media studies, and gender studies and coordinates the minor in Film Studies. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History from Vassar College, a Master’s in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University and a PhD in Cultural Studies from George Mason University. Her interdisciplinary background has led her to pursue research on global Indigenous media and its role in challenging discourses of identity in settler nations. She is the recipient of two Fulbright Awards to Canada and lectures around the world.  Her research on Indigenous media and cultural policy, gender, and sovereignty movements has appeared in national and international scholarly journals and edited collections. Her current project examines the media work of Indigenous women in Canada.

Tuesday, November 12th
Angie Mayfield – Vincennes University
Mixed-Age Students
Angie J. Mayfield, PhD is a Professor of English and Department Chair of Humanities at Vincennes University in Jasper, Indiana, where she has taught English Composition I & II, Developmental Writing, and Creative Writing for 12 years. She is the author of three books and a columnist for Boomer, Growing in the Heartland, and Mules and More magazines. Mayfield presented her research at the National Peer Mentoring Conference in October. In her spare time she enjoys trail riding and has ridden in all 50 states and 6 countries and from rim to rim of the Grand Canyon and back across in four days on her mule, Sonny.

Wednesday, November 13th
Mimi Benjamin – Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Living-Learning Communities
Benjamin’s interest in student affairs began at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where she served as a resident assistant, orientation leader, and graduate assistant in Housing/Residence Life. Although she considered a career in student affairs at that time, instead she pursued her interest in teaching high school and taught at her alma mater for a year. During that time, she realized how much she missed and enjoyed working with college students, so she enrolled in the College Student Personnel program at Ohio University and began her “official” student affairs career.

Thursday, November 14th
Dustin Albright – Clemson University
Sim[PLY] System
Dustin Albright’s research and teaching revolve around building tectonics, structural design, and advanced wood and timber building systems. He is particularly interested in leveraging digital production technologies to explore prefabricated solutions of varying scales. This work has been applied to numerous built projects and service-learning opportunities. He has received funding from the USDA and the U.S. DOE, among other supporters. His collaborative work on the Sim[PLY] light framing system earned a patent in 2018, and he has been honored with both the CAAH Creativity Professorship and the W. Reaves McCall Professorship while at Clemson. Dustin is a licensed architect and works professionally on a range of project types with Hanbury, a multi-disciplinary design firm based in Norfolk, Virginia.

Friday, November 15th
Chris Spicer – Morningside College
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Chris Spicer is an associate professor of Mathematics and is currently serving as interim Vice President for Academic Affairs at Morningside College. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and his Ph.D. from North Dakota State University in Fargo. In his 10 years on the faculty, he has been a three-time recipient of the college’s Sharon Walker Faculty Excellence Award; a two-time recipient of the college’s Dr. William C. Yockey Assessment Award for efforts to improve learning; and a recipient of the college’s Omicron Delta Kappa Faculty Person of the Year Award. He also received the Iowa Section Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics from the Mathematical Association of America.

His mathematical interests lie in the fields of algebra, graph theory, and combinatorics, and is really interested in any math that can be found in popular culture. To that end, he has published papers written with students on topics ranging from the mathematical game of Cops and Robbers to poker, and even the TV show “The Big Bang Theory.”