Faculty News

Irwin Abrams, Antioch College Professor of History Emeritus, is currently co-editing an anthology tentatively titled The Iraq War and Its Consequences: Thoughts and Analyses of Nobel Peace Laureates and Eminent Scholars. The anthology will be published by World Scientific Publishing Co. (WSPC) of Singapore, London and New Jersey. A speech given at Antioch’s 2003 reunion in June by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Antioch graduate José Ramos-Horta will appear in the book.

Bob Devine, College Professor of Communications, has been elected once again to serve on the Editorial Board of Community Media Review, where he served during the early 90s. In that capacity, he has served as Editor-in-Chief for the Spring ’03 issue of the journal on the theme “Funding Diversification for Community Media.” His editorial, “The ‘Third Term’ of Community Media,” and his longer article, “Fund Development and Organizational Culture,” appear in that issue. Bob was also invited to serve as the keynote speaker at a strategic planning retreat for the Board of Directors of O’lelo Community Television on the island of Oahu, and to work with the O’lelo Board on issues of community-building as they relate to refranchising. His papers, “Community Building” and “Assessment,” appear on the O’lelo website.

Dennie Eagleson ’71, Assistant Professor of Photography, recently had a solo exhibition of photography and text, “Affinities of Spirit,” about alternative families. It hung in the Dayton Art Institute Regional Gallery. She was also part of several group exhibitions that included: the Faculty Show in Antioch’s Herndon Gallery; DVACamera II Juried Group exhibition of photography in the Dayton Visual Arts Center; the Rosewood Gallery’s juried “13th Annual Works on Paper”; the Rosewood Gallery’s “The View 2003,” an all-Ohio juried landscape exhibition for which she received an Award of Excellence; and an exhibition in the Sanctuary Art Gallery in Portland, Maine.

Eagleson also presented “Pinhole in Ohio and Havana” at the Faculty Symposium in Antioch’s Herndon Gallery and was invited to review portfolios at the annual Society of Photographic Education national conference in Austin, Texas.

Geoffrey “Jahwara” Giddings, Assistant Professor of African/African-American Studies, is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of his book Contemporary Afrocentric Scholarship: Toward a Functional Cultural Philosophy published by Edwin Mellen Press.

This study fills the void in serious, balanced analysis of the significance, origins, characteristics, goals and scope of Afrocentric scholarship. It answers the strong need for updated analysis of what Malcolm X, Maulana Karenga, William Cross, Harold Cruse and many others have seen as a cultural crisis among African Americans. The book’s special achievement is in determining how Kawaida, Black Psychology, and Afrocentricity, as systems of knowledge, have continued this cultural analysis and even advanced prescriptions in a culture-nationalist vein. The study will guide scholars and students of African-American history and culture through the varied yet consistent contributions of African-American culture-nationalist scholarship.

Gidding’s proposal, “Connecting Antioch College with the Springfield Community,” was granted a K-16 Collaboration Seed Grant by the Ohio Campus Compact, a coalition of 48 Ohio colleges and universities established to increase campus-wide participation in community and public service. The K-16 Collaboration Seed Grants provide funding for the development and implementation of academic courses, research projects, or professional service activities that engage faculty from institutions of higher education with teachers in the local K-12 school system.

Giddings also worked with Pat Linn, J.D. Dawson Professor of Cooperative Education and Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies, and Eric Miller ’81, Assistant Professor of Cooperative Education, on a successful grant proposal to the Global Partners Project. The grant will be used for exchange programs between Antioch and Maseno University in Kenya.

Benjamin Grossberg, Assistant Professor of Language, Literature, and Culture, bought a 100-year-old farmhouse, his first home, near Antioch College. Ben looks forward to transforming the old farmhouse and planting apple trees on the ten acres that surround it.

Ben is also the recipient of a 2003 Ohio Arts Council grant for individual artists and their work.

Adam Howard, Assistant Professor of Education, published four articles this past year: “Teacher Education Situated in Reflective Practice” in National Society for Experiential Education Quarterly; “Experiential Learning as a vehicle for Social and Emotional Development for Gifted Youth,” co-written with Cheryl Keen, College Professor and Dean of Community Learning, in Journal of Secondary Gifted Education; “Students from Poverty: Helping Them Make It Through College” in About Campus; and “World- Changing Work of Teachers” in Democracy and Education.

Howard edited a book, Handbook for Research in Cooperative Education and Internships, with Pat Linn, J.D. Dawson Professor of Cooperative Education and Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies, and Eric Miller ’81, Assistant Professor of Cooperative Education. The book is scheduled to be released in the fall.

He also presented six papers: “It Takes Conversation, Then Action: African-Americans in White and Affluent School Settings,” presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies; “Educating for Social Justice,” presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum; “Social Class and Experiential Education,” presented at the National Society for Experiential Education National Conference; “Teacher Education Situated in Democratic Practice,” presented at the Institute for Democracy in Education Conference; “It Takes Conversation, Then Action: African-Americans in White and Affluent School Settings,” presented at the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing Conference; and “Honoring Traditions: The Construction of Masculinity in White and Affluent School Settings,” presented with current student Bruce Parker at The Journal of Curriculum Theorizing Conference.

In addition to this good work, Howard had a scholarship named after him for students living in Cincinnati to attend the Carter G. Woodson Institute at Berea College.

Finally, this next year he will be Faculty Fellow of Education and Human Development at Colby College (teaching and researching) in Waterville, Maine and an adjunct professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, teaching graduate school in their weekend program. As an adjunct for Lesley, he will teach a course on diversity and a research methods course in their satellite program. During this year, he plans to finish his book, Privileged Aspirations, and to continue to conduct a multi-site research project on the retention of poor college students.

Cheryl Keen, College Professor and Dean of Community Learning, served on the pre-accreditation committee for the University of Massachusetts-Boston’s College for Community and Public Service. She gave an address and a day of workshops at Westminster College, in Missouri. In October, she gave the keynote for the Students’ Coalition for Action for Literacy Education and the International Consortium for Experiential Learning.

Her recent publications include “A Developmental Study of the Bonner Foundation’s Scholarship Recipients: Impact of a Four-year, Co-curricular Service-learning Model” in Engaging Youth in Philanthropy, a special issue of New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising, Winter 2002.

Pat Linn, J.D. Dawson Professor of Cooperative Education and Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies, presented three sessions at national conferences focused on experiential learning. At the Practice Oriented Education conference at Northeastern University in Boston, she offered a developmental psychology perspective on cooperative education as part of a panel organized by Mark Putnam of Northeastern. At the annual meeting of the Cooperative Education and Education Association in Nashville in April, she presented a workshop called “Theories of learning on co-op and internships: Finding your way,” and was also a member of a panel focused on using research for program improvement organized by Bruce Smith of Bowling Green University.

Robert Pryor, Associate Professor and Director of Antioch Education Abroad’s Buddhist Studies Program, was one of a group of panelists invited to speak on the subject “Buddhism Along the Silk Road,” a presentation held in conjunction with the Dayton Art Institute’s exhibit, China’s Silk Road: Fortune and Glory. At the annual meeting of the Ohio Academy of Religion, Robert presented a paper that he co-authored, titled, “Tracing Buddhism in Ohio.”

Judith Schimpf, Assistant Professor of Cooperative Education, has settled into Yellow Springs life and enjoys her new home in the Village. She spends her spare time building rock walls and putting in flowerbeds. This past year she made trips to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and several cities in Oregon to visit co-op employers and students and develop new art- and science-related co-op jobs. Recently, Judith presented at the national conference for the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA) on the topic, “Engaging Faculty Support in Developing Job Competencies That Give Students a Voice in Today’s Job Market.” Her presentation was based on interviews and surveys she conducted with the classroom faculty that accompanied co-op faculty on employer site visits last year. She also attended the Inter- national Conference for Reality Therapy/Choice Theory (RT/CT) sponsored by the William Glasser Institute. Judith was certified in RT/CT in 1996 and says the process has been proven effective in education, parenting, leadership, and management by teaching people how to satisfy their needs in responsible ways. An eleven-year veteran of cooperative education, Judith finds this to be a good tool in counseling and coaching students in co-op related matters.

Louise Smith ’77, Associate Professor of Theatre, played a major role in the locally produced and directed short film Gravel. The cast and crew feature a bevy of local talents, including Smith. Smith worked with writer/director Steven Bognar and producer Julia Reichert ’70.

Gravel has been playing at a number of film festivals, including Cleveland, Sundance, the Black Maria, and the Big Muddy. It also appeared at festivals in Nashville and Atlanta.

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