Alumni CLASnotes Spring 2005

Around the College

CLAS Welcomes New Associate Deans Anthropology Professor Allan Burns is the new CLAS associate dean for faculty affairs, succeeding Criminology and Sociology Professor Ron Akers. Burns had served as chair of the anthropology department since 1998 and is an affiliate faculty member with the Program in Linguistics and the Center for Latin American Studies. Burns received his BS in sociology from Iowa State University in 1968 and his MA and PhD from the University of Washington in anthropology in 1970 and 1973. He came to UF in 1977, and his research has focused on the Mayan language and culture in the Yucatán region of Mexico, Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, and among Guatemalan refugees in Florida. He is the director of the Yucatán program at UF, which sponsors a six-week summer study abroad experience for undergraduate and graduate students in Merida, Mexico at the Universidad Autonóma de Yucatún. Angel Kwolek-Folland is the new CLAS Associate Dean for Centers, Institutes and International Affairs. This new half-time position includes oversight of the college’s interdisciplinary research institutes and centers, the International Committee, agreements with other institutions outside the United States, and liaison with UF’s International Center on issues of interest to the college. Kwolek-Folland first came to UF in 2000 to assume the directorship of the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research. She earned her PhD in women’s history from the University of Minnesota in 1987, and before coming to UF taught at the University of Kansas for 13 years. She teaches courses in history and women’s studies. Her research focuses on US women’s history, women’s labor and business history, gender studies and material culture studies. Currently, she is researching international dimensions of contemporary gender rights categories, particularly sexual rights.

Faculty Receive FBK Awards During the UF homecoming festivities in November, three CLAS professors were honored for their outstanding service and dedication to the university with a 2004 Distinguished Faculty Award from Florida Blue Key. Psychology Professor Brian Iwata, History Professor Angel Kwolek-Folland and Chemistry Professor Martin Vala were three of four faculty members chosen from across campus to receive the honor. The winners were recognized at the 75th Annual Homecoming Banquet, the highlight of which was an appearance by former US Senator Bob Graham (BA, Political Science, 1959). They also were honored at a special event, Education Celebration, designed specifically to thank distinguished faculty for their hard work throughout the year, and had the opportunity to ride in the homecoming parade.

NEH Fellowship Funds Literary History The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies Trysh Travis a 12-month fellowship. Travis will use the $40,000 award to complete her book, The Persistence of Sentiment: Contemporary American Literature and the Culture of 12-Step Recovery, a work of interdisciplinary literary history focused on the print culture of the 12-step recovery movement, which began with the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. It traces the development of the program and explores the material and intellectual influence of the recovery movement on contemporary literary culture. “As academics, we publish books and articles for each other, and then wonder why the public is skeptical of our ambitions and the legislature wants to cut our funding. I hope to write a book that, I think, the average person will want to read and will be able to understand—one that makes a contribution to the culture at large, not just to scholarly knowledge.” Travis received her PhD in American studies from Yale University and specializes in 20th-century American reading and publishing history. She joined UF in 2004. Travis received one of 193 fellowships this year out of 1,470 applications, a success rate of 13 percent.

Fulbrights Awarded to CLAS Students Six CLAS students have been named 2004–2005 Fulbright Scholars by the Institute of International Education. Sponsored by the US Department of State, the Fulbright US Student Program offers opportunities for recent college graduates, post-graduate candidates and developing professionals and artists to conduct career-launching study and research abroad. A total of 10 students were chosen from across campus for their outstanding academic performance, record of community service and interest in international scholarship. Listed below is each scholar in the college, the country they will study in, and the department in which they either earned their degree or currently are enrolled as a graduate student. Karen Harmel, Ireland, political science; Stephen Marr, Botswana, political science; Paula Paoli, Honduras, anthropology and political science; Samuel Pierce, Spain, history; Jonathan Smith, Japan, African and Asian languages and literatures; Bryan Williams, Brazil, political science.

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Friday, 13-Aug-2010 14:22:20 EDT