Commencement is closing in, and Northeastern Illinois University has invited a tremendous speaker to address the graduates. Find out more about Maria Woltjen, the winner of this year’s Distinguished Research Professor award and more in this week’s edition of Noteworthy at Northeastern!
Around the Commons
Commencement speaker
Activist, lawyer and immigration law scholar Maria Woltjen will be Northeastern’s May 2019 Commencement speaker. Woltjen is the founder and Executive Director of The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights at the University of Chicago Law School. The Young Center’s primary work is to advocate for the safety and well-being of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children. Woltjen’s focus is on reforming the immigration system—in which children are treated as adults—into a justice system that recognizes children as children, with rights and protection needs all their own. Commencement will be streamed live at neiu.edu beginning at 4 p.m. May 6.
Research Professor Award
Professor of Psychology Ruth (Breckie) Church has been honored with the 2019 Bernard J. Brommel Distinguished Research Professor award. The late Bernard J. Brommel, Professor Emeritus, established the award to be given annually to the tenured or tenure-track member of the Northeastern faculty who best demonstrates excellence in research and scholarship. Church’s research focuses on non-verbal communication, specifically co-speech gesture in teaching contexts. She studies how teachers and students use non-verbal gestures (or talk with their hands) while they are trying to teach various concepts.
STEM preparation
Seventeen Northeastern faculty and staff members participated in an interactive workshop with visiting experts Dr. Carmen McCallum (Eastern Michigan University) and Dr. Julie Libarkin (Michigan State University) on April 12. The workshop, "From Deficit to Authentic Development: Reimagining Preparation for Prospective STEM students," was co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation-funded project "Agua en Comunidades Experimentales," and the U.S. Department of Education Title III HSI STEM Program "EXITO: Exit on Time in STEM." Participants learned about unconscious bias, anti-deficit frameworks and innovative ways to mentor first-year students in developmental courses who are interested in pursuing STEM fields.
And there’s more!
- Northeastern and the NEIU Alumni Association are now accepting nominations for the 2019 Northeastern Illinois University Alumni Awards.
- Carruthers Center Robin Harris and Education Librarian Michelle Oh presented their poster “Under pressure: Proclaiming our worth in a program prioritization process at a mid-sized public university” during the Association of College & Research Libraries Conference on April 11 in Cleveland. Oh also led a roundtable discussion with Library Graduate Assistant John Amundsen and Health Science and Physical Education Associate Professor Jen Banas titled “Academic Library Collaborations for Community Health Research and Service,” and a panel with Digital Scholarship Librarian Alyssa Vincent titled “Supporting K-12 education in academic libraries: What's in it for us?”
- Social Sciences Librarian Ed Remus will deliver a talk titled “Academic Workers: Worker-Student Solidarity” during the Socialism in our Time Conference on April 13 in New York City.
- Linguistics Professor Richard Hallett and Instructor Jill Hallett gave a presentation titled “Errors, Patterns, and Nontargetlike Forms” during the Ninth Annual International Education Summit at Harper College in Palatine on April 5.
In the media
Suicide prevention
After a tragic series of suicides within the Chicago Police Department, Northeastern Police Chief John Escalante felt the need to speak out about his own struggles with depression. As former interim superintendent and 30-year veteran of CPD, Escalante participated in a video encouraging officers to seek help when they feel overwhelmed. In a story about CPD’s efforts, Escalante told the Chicago Tribune about reaching a breaking point after a divorce and finally seeking help. “It dawned on me: How did I even get up that day?” he told the Tribune. “How am I going to get up tomorrow?”
Also in the media ...
- WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” invited Professor Emeritus of Economics Edward Stuart to discuss the economic outlook for Chicago and Illinois.
To do
Jewel Box Series
Neave Piano Trio will perform as part of Northeastern’s Jewel Box Series on April 19. Since forming in 2010, Neave Trio—violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov and pianist Eri Nakamura—has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances. Neave has performed at many esteemed concert series and at festivals worldwide, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
Coming next week!
- Graduate Recital: Gloria Orozco Dorado, 5 p.m. April 15, Recital Hall
- Earth Matters: Ethics in Action, 6:30 p.m. April 15, Auditorium
- Piano Studio Showcase, 7:30 p.m. April 15, Recital Hall
- Faculty Recital: Susan Tang, 3:05 p.m. April 16, Recital Hall
- “Mid-Century Newspaper Double Feature!” screening, 7:30 p.m. April 17, Auditorium
- Woodwind Studio Showcase, 7:30 p.m. April 17, Recital Hall
- String Studio Showcase, 3:05 p.m. April 18, Recital Hall
- Counseling Services to Help You De-Stress, 4 p.m. April 18, Carruthers Center
- Academic Honors Ceremony, 5:30 p.m. April 18, Auditorium
- “The Pillowman,” 7:30 p.m. April 18, Stage Center Theatre -“The Pillowman,” 7:30 p.m. April 19, Stage Center Theatre
- “The Pillowman,” 2 p.m. April 20, Stage Center Theatre
- View all of the University’s future events at neiu.edu/events.
#FollowFriday
Stage Center Theatre
Stage Center Theatre has debuted its final play of the season, “The Pillowman.” Follow along on Facebook for the latest news and photos from the stage!
Do you have a story tip? Let the Office of Public Relations know!
Mike Hines, Director of Strategic Communications, m-hines@neiu.edu, (773) 442-4240
