“Spotlight” Series Showcases Grant-Funded Research & Student Opportunities

MACOMB, IL — A five-year, nearly $1,000,000 project that helps future teachers in Illinois serve the state’s large population of English language learners. A $500,000 alternative crop research project that provides students with plant-breeding internships, as well as future green-energy career possibilities and has implications for helping displace many petroleum-based products. A $240,000 grant that helped to enable the construction of a new facility at a biological research and teaching station on the Mississippi River, which has allowed scores of students, PreK-college level, learn and experience how human activities impact ecosystems.

These projects, with the help of the Western Illinois University Office of Sponsored Projects, are ones that WIU’s innovative faculty members have carried out (or are currently working on) and support the University’s core values of academic excellence, educational opportunity, personal growth and social responsibility.To showcase these projects, and ones like them at WIU, the Office of Sponsored Projects and University Television (UTV3) are co-producing the “Spotlight” Series, designed to highlight the grant-funded work of Western’s faculty and staff. Conceived during a casual conversation between Michael Thompson, UTV associate director, and Beth Seaton, the director of the WIU Office of Sponsored Projects, the series is comprised of 30-minute programs hosted by Seaton.

“There are a lot of people on campus who are doing some amazing research and public-service projects that fall outside of what we think about when we think of the traditional college classroom experience,” Seaton explained. “Oftentimes, these projects have the ability to vastly enhance student learning through opportunities for hands-on research and outreach to the community and schools.”

Three of the programs showcased in the “Spotlight” series can be viewed on WIU’s YouTube Channel, via the “Spotlight” playlist at www.youtube.com/playlist?listPLA66837035BA8F66B, as well as on WIU-TV3 in the Macomb area.

Project Estrella

In the “Spotlight” episode covering Project Estrella—the five-year nearly $1,000,000 project funded by the U.S. Department of Education—WIU Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies (EIS) Professor and Project Co-Director Gloria Delany-Barmann explains how the grant funding serves WIU students enrolled in the bilingual/bicultural education, as well as how funding is also available to in-service teachers seeking Illinois Bilingual Teacher Certification and ESL (English as a Second Language) endorsements.

“I would say over 75 percent of that money goes to student support, in terms of tuition. They get up to $2,000 a semester in tuition waivers. We provide them a $300 per month stipend. We also have a significant amount of our budget dedicated to professional development for the students, such as field trips, and we visit model programs, too,” Delany-Barmann explains.

“The undergraduates receive the largest portion of the financial support [through Project Estrella]; however, the graduate students also receive $450 for every WIU course they take that goes toward their bilingual or ESL endorsements.”

In this “Spotlight” episode, Delany-Barmann tells Seaton that Project Estrella provides a wonderful opportunity for undergrad students on the Macomb campus, as well as for graduate students who are studying outside of Macomb.

“We offer courses in the Quad Cities for graduate students, as well as here in Macomb. We also have some onsite courses that we do with different cohorts. We just finished up a cohort in Beardstown [IL]. I think practically every teacher in that school who works with English language learners has gone through our program,” she tells Seaton.

Also interviewed in this “Spotlight” episode are Project Estrella Co-Director and WIU EIS Professor Carlo Paciotto, as well as in-service teachers in the Beardstown school district who have benefited from the project.

The episode can be viewed on Western Illinois University’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?vuRnZgL22pck.

Alternative Crop Research

In the “Spotlight” episode about alternative crop research at WIU, School of Agriculture Professor Win Phippen talks about a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded grant that is helping him research the possibilities of the alternative crop pennycress and is providing students with practical in-field opportunities to learn about plant breeding.

“It’s very unique. It’s not a hard-core science research project; it’s more plant-breeding education, with a component of science related to it. And the real neat thing about it is that is has lots of opportunities for students,” Phippen explains in the episode. “A lot of private seed companies, especially for corn and soybeans, are trying to get students re-energized about the field of plant breeding. This grant allows for students to do internship projects, during an entire summer, at these private companies, as well as at other universities in Illinois and Iowa.”

In the program, Phippen tells Seaton that the grant has enabled the WIU School of Agriculture to create a new minor in plant breeding, which educates students about traditional plant breeding and new biotechnology plant breeding. Phippen also explains how the grant is funding the scientific research he and scientists at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture are doing with pennycress, a cover crop that can be planted in Illinois’ corn and soybean fields in the late fall and that grows throughout the winter months.

“Not only does pennycress provide off-season production, but it also gives benefits back to the field for growing corn and soybeans. It gives us field coverage, so we don’t get a lot of erosion in the fields during the winter months. In addition, pennycress seeds have a lot of oil, about 40 percent oil. So the intent of this is to help displace a lot of petroleum-based products. That could be fuel—it could be crushed to get out the oil to make a bio-diesel product. Or you can take this seed and add it to, let’s say, plastics and other petroleum-based products. It’s not going to alleviate us completely from the dependency on foreign oil, but it is certainly a step in the right direction,” he tells Seaton.

Also shown in this episode of “Spotlight” is a pennycress field day event at WIU.

This episode can be viewed on Western Illinois University’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?vzwGRnyEtL-Q.

Kibbe Life Science Station

In the “Spotlight” episode about WIU’s biological research and teaching station on the Mississippi River, the Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Station near Warsaw (IL) is showcased. Seaton interviews WIU Biological Sciences Associate Professor and Director of the Kibbe Life Science Station Sean Jenkins, who gives Seaton a bit of background about the field station, as well as tells her about how a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) helped fund an expansion of the original facilities at Kibbe.

“Alice Kibbe was a botanist like me. She was a biology teacher at Carthage College in Carthage [about 20 miles east of here]. She was also chair for quite a few years during the 35 years she taught there. She initially bought the first 215 acres out here and used the land as a natural laboratory for her classes. She would bring her students out here, and they would stay in the Frank House, which is our oldest building on the facility,” Jenkins explains to Seaton. “In 1962, the college administration decided they were going to move the college to Wisconsin, so when it moved, she donated the land to Western Illinois University, with the understanding that we would open up a field station for the education of the children in the area and for college students at Western.”

Jenkins goes on to explain to Seaton that the NSF Field Station Marine Laboratory Directorate grant has helped the biological sciences department construct a multi-use building at the Kibbe field station, where meetings can take place and where students can stay when they are taking courses at Kibbe.

In the episode, Seaton also interviews Jim Lamer, the field station manager, as well as WIU students who take courses at Kibbe. Seaton, Lamer and the WIU students also take a boat ride on the Mississippi River, where Lamer shows Seaton how they conduct long-term monitoring of the species and habitat along this part of the Upper Mississippi River.

You can view the “Spotlight” episode about Kibbe on Western Illinois University’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?vFnhn46JWn7A.

Seaton added that these funded grant projects — which are conceived by faculty members, who then apply for competitive grant funds — are a testament to the faculty members’ work.

“Many times, their ideas are funded because they are doing something really important to the external agency’s mission of research or instruction, or the projects have some sort of public benefit. We have some really great faculty members involved in some very innovative and interesting things, and ‘Spotlight’ is a great way to showcase them, their work and the opportunities they provide for WIU students,” Seaton said.

For more information about the Office of Sponsored Projects and the research projects that it helps administer at WIU, contact Seaton at (309) 298-1191
or via email at B-Seaton@wiu.edu, or visit the Office of Sponsored Projects website at www.wiu.edu/sponsored_projects.

For information about upcoming “Spotlight” programs on UTV Channel 3, contact Thompson at (309) 298-1880
 or via email at MR-Thompson3@wiu.edu. Learn more about University Television at www.wiu.edu/UTV.

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MACOMB, IL – Ember Keithley, an academic adviser for the College of Business and Technology at Western Illinois University, has received the Outstanding Academic Adviser Award for 2011.

Keithley received a $250 award from the Office of the Provost, as well as $250 in line-item expenditures and a plaque from Western’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research (CITR). Selection for the annual award is made by the CITR director, the previous year’s recipient, and representatives from the Faculty Senate, the Council of Academic Advisers and the Student Government Association. Her application packet will be submitted as Western’s entry to the National Academic Advisers Association (NACADA) competition. Keithley, who has been an academic adviser at WIU since July 2000, has served as the School of Agriculture adviser to more than 330 students since June 2009.

According to the award committee, “Ember’s dedication to those students is like that of a parent to their child. She continues to help her students achieve their goals every day. She is fully invested in her students’ success and overall growth.”

Nominator Chris Ramsey, director of the CBT Advising Center, noted that “Ember’s insight as an adviser, instructor and former business person in the banking industry is invaluable in her work with advising agriculture students. Student evaluations demonstrate that Ember listens, provides resources and options, encourages and assists students to gain the confidence they need.”

In one nomination letter, a student wrote, “She will do anything for her 300 kids.”

Beyond her adviser duties, Keithley has taught AGRI-320, “Success Strategies in Ag” and AGRI-420, “Ag Leadership and Personal Development.” She serves as the adviser for the Ag Vocators and is co-adviser for Sigma Alpha sorority.

Another student nominator wrote, “Ms. Keithley was called upon this spring to advise Sigma Alpha because they were in need of extra guidance. She took on this challenge with enthusiasm and passion. She has dedicated every Monday night and countless hours to this organization.”

“She is caring, proactive and shows excellent dedication in everything she does. Ember works diligently to build strong relationships with her students, the faculty and staff. She goes above and beyond what is asked of her, including serving on search committees, mentoring a graduate student, serving on a scholarship committee and as an ag panel representative for WIU and completing a book review,” Ramsey added.

Keithley received her bachelor’s degree in finance from WIU in 1994 and her MBA in 2001.

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Safe Trick-or-Treating

MACOMB, IL — For a haunting, howling and spooky good time, area children are invited to Western Illinois University’s Macomb campus for a safe trick-or-treating event Monday, Oct. 31.

Children ages 2-12 are invited to ask for treats, play games and meet other “goblins” in a safe environment. Guides will be provided through the residence halls; however, all children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Trick-or-treating will be held at the following halls from 7-9 p.m.: Thompson Hall (enter through the Thompson main lobby); Tanner Hall (enter by Tanner circle); Lincoln/Washington/Grote halls (enter through Grote Hall); and Bayliss/Henninger halls
(enter through the Henninger basement).

The students of Higgins Hall will present a haunted house suitable for younger audiences. The “Not-So-Scary Haunted 19″ will be open from 5-6:30 p.m. Families and guests can enter through the Higgins main lobby.

While the trick-or-treat events are free of charge, the Higgins Hall haunted house admission fee is $5 or $3 with canned food item.

“This is a great way for kids to trick-or-treat in a safe environment and parents don’t have to worry about bad weather,” said Tera Monroe, director of residence life at Western. “Plus, our students and staff see this as a great opportunity to give back to the community while having fun dressing up and sharing Halloween activities with the children.”

The event is sponsored by Western’s Inter-Hall Council (IHC) and University Housing and Dining Services (UHDS).

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MACOMB, IL – The Socks for Soldiers drive, sponsored by Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity at Western Illinois University, has moved the 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 collection site to the front of Farm King for easier community access.

On-campus collection is still scheduled from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday Oct. 25-27 in the Western Illinois University Union Concourse.

All socks donated will be sent to the U.S. Marine Corps, 2nd Battalion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Socks must be new and in regulation colors white, black, gray, brown or Army green.

Kappa Pi’s Delta Delta WIU chapter president Liz Bystry (Kewanee, IL), a senior art education major, said her brother PFC David Bystry treasures receiving a new pair of socks.

“The simplest things we take for granted mean so much to them,” Bystry said. “My brother told me he is out in the field for two weeks without a shower, and a clean pair of socks is a God-send.”

Individuals who need sock donations to be picked up should contact Art Professor Susan Czechowski, phone (309) 333-7455. For more information, contact Czechowski or email Bystry at ED-Bystry@wiu.edu.

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MACOMB, IL – You may have noticed a bag hanging on your front doorknob last week. Placed there by volunteers from Western Illinois University, these bags were distributed so Macomb residents can make non-perishable food donations in them for the “Trick the Town” part of the “Stuff the Bus” 2011 event (slated for Nov. 9).

According to Eva Galbraith, marketing manager for Sodexo Campus Services at WIU (sponsor of Trick the Town and Stuff the Bus food drive), in place of bags of candy, these WIU volunteer “trick or treaters” are seeking your help in filling bags with non-perishable food items, which will be stuffed on a Go West bus on the WIU-Macomb campus on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Galbraith noted this is the sixth year Sodexo has organized Western’s part in this Helping Hands Across America event and the fourth year Sodexo has implemented the event with the “Stuff the Bus” theme.

Galbraith said the WIU students, representing 19 student organizations, will return to your porch sometime between 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 to pick up the bags that are (hopefully) filled with your donations. All the food collected during the Trick the Town event will be donated to three great causes.

“The Resident Assistant Council at WIU needs groceries to prepare the annual Macomb’s Salvation Army Thanksgiving dinner, and Western’s Black Student Association works with local organizations to compile a list of local families in need and then assembles astounding Thanksgiving baskets, complete with turkeys and all the fixings, to create a wonderful Thanksgiving feast that every family should be able to gather around the table for,” Galbraith explained.

She added the remainder of the food will be donated to Macomb’s own Loaves and Fishes, Etc., food pantry. Galbraith also noted that Trick the Town is only the first portion of the upcoming Stuff the Bus 2011 event.

“Go West has been the venue for this event for the past four years, and during that time more than 50,000 pounds of food have been collected,” Galbraith said. “Sodexo Campus Services, the food-service provider on Western’s campus, sponsors the event and our management team works closely with the students living in the residence halls and with campus affiliated organizations for Stuff the Bus. Last year, we had 400 volunteers staffing tables at area businesses collecting donations.”

For more information, contact Galbraith at (309) 298-1982 or eva.galbraith@sodexo.com, or visit Sodexo Dining Center at Western Illinois University on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sodexodining.wiu.

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MACOMB, IL – - Susan Power, an award-winning fiction writer and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, will be on the Western Illinois University-Macomb campus this week as the Department of English and Journalism’s Fall 2011 Fred Ewing Case and Lola Austin Case Writer-in-Residence program.

Power will give an interview/Q&A session at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct 19 in the WIU Writing Center, Simpkins Hall 341, and a reading at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20 in the Sherman Hall Auditorium (third floor).

A native Chicagoan and graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Power is the author of three books, “The Grass Dancer,” a novel; “Roofwalker,” a story collection; and the forthcoming novel, “Our Lady of a New World.” Her short stories and essays have been widely published in journals, magazines and anthologies, including “The Best American Short Stories of 1993,” “The Atlantic Monthly,” “The Paris Review,” “The Southern Review” and “Granta.” She lives and teaches in Saint Paul, MI.

Power’s novel “The Grass Dancer” was awarded a PEN/Hemingway prize in 1995, and “Roofwalker” earned a Milkweed National Fiction Prize in 2002. Her fellowships include an Iowa Arts Fellowship, James Michener Fellowship, Radcliffe Bunting Institute Fellowship, Princeton Hodder Fellowship, and a USA Artists Fellowship.

For more information, contact Erika Wurth, associate professor of English at (309) 298-1212 or ET-Wurth@wiu.edu.

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WIU Fashion Merchandising Students Bust Out “Bras for a Cause”

MACOMB, IL – If you were on the second floor of Knoblauch Hall on the Western Illinois University Macomb campus this week, you may have noticed a display case full of bras. It was hard to miss them — after all, these are no ordinary bras. A rhinestone “bedazzled” bra, a Madonna-inspired “busting out for breast cancer” bra, a pink-bowed beauty of a bra, a “blue-bombshell” bra and a beach-bedecked bra, these brilliant brassieres were the creations of a class of fashion merchandising students, who were tasked to design and create them just this past Tuesday.

This bra-beading (and -bedazzling) exercise was the brainchild of Dana Moon, the instructor for the “Basic Concepts of Merchandising,” FCS (family consumer sciences) 272 course offered in the dietetics, fashion merchandising and hospitality department (DFMH) at WIU. She said she came up with project for her students to coincide with the Macomb Area Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Corporation Paint the Town Pink (PTTP) committee’s Bras for a Cause! project. The Chamber and PTTP committee asked members to dream up and decorate bras in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Paint the Town Pink event in Macomb (October 7 and 8; see www.macombareachamber.com/Event_Calendar/Paint_the_Town_Pink.html for more information).

“When I saw the bras on the Chamber Facebook page, I thought that my FCS 272 students might have fun with a project like this. I want to give the students as many opportunities as possible to be creative and think outside the box as many successful designers do, so I proposed it to the students as an optional activity,” Moon explained. “I called Kathy Waters, who coordinates Paint the Town Pink, and let her know about my idea. She was all for it, so I purchased the bras, and the students provided some of the materials. We also used supplies available from the DFMH department.”

Along with some of the bras the Chamber’s PTTP committee “commissioned,” the student-created bras will be available for auction at the PINK Party (5-7 p.m. Friday, October 7 at the West Central Illinois Arts Center, 125 N. Randolph, Macomb). Other bras created for Bras for a Cause! are available to “rent” to display at area businesses throughout the month of October. (Contact the Macomb Area Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Corporation for more information at 309-837-4855 or Chamber2@macomb.com.)

Moon noted that she was pleased with the students’ commitment to the project and that many worked several hours in order to get the bras ready to be displayed in Knoblauch Hall.

Megan Hodges, a transfer student from Colona (IL) who was part of the team that designed the display case presentation of the bras, said making the chest pieces for the Bras for a Cause! project was an enjoyable class exercise and a great way to make a contribution to the community, as well as the breast cancer cause.

“It wasn’t so much about the grade or trying to get it perfect. It was about working in groups and being creative. We were able to relax and have fun. Overall, everyone involved was enthusiastic about being able to do this project,” she said.

Debby Perta, a junior from Des Plaines (IL), said she worked in a group of eight to create a bra adorned with several pink breast cancer ribbons and noted that teamwork played a key role in the completion of their particular bra.

“When we first started sewing the bows on, we realized that it was going to take way too long. So we worked together to come up with a way to complete the bra. Several of us made bows, and then a couple of us finished by gluing them on the bra. It turned out great,” Perta said.

Moon noted that in addition to the creative and community service aspects of the activity, helping her students and WIU’s DFMH department contribute to Bras for a Cause! was rewarding for both professional and personal reasons.

“This is a cause near and dear to me. While I was in college, two of my best friends’ mothers were diagnosed with breast cancer, and I went through their trials and tribulations with them and tried to be as supportive as I could. Their moms are now survivors,” she explained.

Students in Moon’s class who participated are: Alice Baglin (Rockton, IL); Megan Borges (Elmwood Park, IL); Caroline Bryant (Naperville, IL); Jessica Burke (Good Hope, IL); Michelle Campos (Chicago, IL); Daisy Carrera-Rocha (Round Lake Beach, IL); Alexis Cooper (South Holland, IL); Ty Davis (Chicago, IL); Samantha Duffield (Fairview, IL); Melissa Foerster (Hoffman Estates, IL); Skyler Ford (Macomb, IL); Justine Hagen (Jerseyville, IL); Megan Hodges (Colona, IL); Ciara Isley (Rushville, IL); Amber Johnson (Evanston, IL); Jamie Linville (Canton, IL); Amanda Mast (Stillman Valley, IL); Molly Mattox (Des Plaines, IL); Shayley Norris (London Mills, IL); Justine Olson (Cornell, IL); Beth Peifer (Peoria, IL); Debby Perta (Des Plaines, IL); Kelsey Sleezer (Lena, IL); Karla Susnjar (St. Charles, IL); Chris Taylor (Quincy, IL); Dorian Turner (Milwaukee, WI); Samantha Underwood (Tinley Park, IL); and Terese Washington (Sauk Village, IL).

For more information, contact Moon in the WIU College of Education and Human Services, at (309) 298-1690 or at DM-Moon@wiu.edu.

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4th Annual Cohen Lecture Oct. 25; UMN Professor to Cover Psychological Impact of Sport Injury

MACOMB, IL – Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, director of graduate studies and an associate professor in the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Kinesiology, will deliver the fourth annual Cheryl J. Cohen Lecture Tuesday, Oct. 25 at Western Illinois University. Wiese-Bjornstal will present, “Understanding the Psychological Story of Sport Injury” at 7 p.m. in the University Union Sandburg Theatre. A reception in the Sandburg Lounge will follow the lecture, which is open free to the public.

Provided to WIU through an endowment from Cheryl Cohen, WIU kinesiology professor emeritus, the Cheryl J. Cohen Lecture is the first endowed lecture series for the College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) at Western. It is scheduled to occur every fall semester and kicked off its inaugural year in 2008.

Wiese-Bjornstal’s area of expertise encompasses kinesiology, sport and exercise psychology, and her specific topics of academic interest include sports medicine psychology and youth sport science. Since 1994, she has served as an affiliated scholar for the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport and has authored chapters covering sport and exercise psychology, as well as introductory and concluding chapters, for the Tucker reports on “Developing Physically Active Girls” (1997 and 2007). As the director of graduate studies in the UMN School of Kinesiology, she develops, teaches and oversees undergraduate and graduate courses, advises graduate students and serves on graduate committees.

Her research has been published in a variety of sport and exercise psychology and sports medicine scholarly journals, i.e., Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, The Sport Psychologist and the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. In early October, she served as an expert for a CNN Heroes piece about female athletes and concussions (see cnn.com/2011/US/10/04/cnnheroes.sports.injuries/). Wiese-Bjornstal earned her B.A. in physical education from Luther College (Decorah, IA); her M.S. in physical education from the Springfield College (Springfield, MA); and her Ph.D. in physical education from the University of Oregon (Eugene).

In addition to the Oct. 25 public lecture, Wiese-Bjornstal will present a lecture to invited students studying in WIU’s kinesiology department during the afternoon of Oct. 26.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Wiese-Bjornstal on campus this year. She is a widely known and respected scholar in the kinesiology/sport psychology field. Her Cohen lecture on Tuesday evening [Oct. 25], and her presentation to graduate students in kinesiology the following day, will enrich our department and campus community,” said Janet Wigglesworth, chair of the kinesiology department.

Cohen Lecture History

The focus of the annual Cohen Lecture alternates each year between exercise physiology and sport psychology. In 2010, the Cohen lecturer was Melinda Millard-Stafford, professor and associate chair of the School of Applied Physiology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The inaugural year of the lecture featured WIU alumna and Roseville (IL) native Ellen Evans, associate professor in the kinesiology and community health department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and director of UIUC’s bone and body composition laboratory.

“Although Cheryl retired in 2006 after nearly 30 years of service, with her endowment, she continues to provide Western’s kinesiology faculty, staff and undergraduate and graduate students, as well as community members, with a preeminent learning opportunity on Western’s Macomb campus every year,” said Jennie Hemingway, director of development for the COEHS.

For more information, contact the kinesiology department at (309) 298-1981 or kinesiology@wiu.edu.

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Bard in the Barn Oct. 8 at Flack Barn

MACOMB – “Unrehearsed Shakespeare” returns as the 6th annual Bard in the Barn festival, sponsored by Western Illinois University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, will be held Saturday, Oct. 8 at the historic Flack Barn located at 1600N – Hwy. 136 in rural Macomb. Performances include a history and a tragedy – “King John” at noon and “Timon of Athens” at 3 p.m.

The concept of unrehearsed Shakespeare includes performance techniques that help create a relationship between the actors and the audience, according to Bill Kincaid, WIU theatre professor and head of acting.

“Unrehearsed Shakespeare performance attempts to recreate what it may have been like for Elizabethan audiences and actors to experience the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The experience relies on a new understanding of the relationship between actors and audience, and a deep appreciation of the clues hidden in an acting text, which allow the plays to be performed without rehearsal,” said Kincaid.

“The actors receive scrolls, with only their lines and their cues on them. The actors study their roles, from these ‘rolls,’ or cue scripts, and use them in performance. The plays are performed without intermission and the audience is encouraged to move around if they want a better view, bring food, talk if they want, and certainly interact with the actors. In a theatre that originally held large crowds of unruly people, plays were designed to communicate with all elements of that audience. This includes cheering and jeering. In our 21st century attempt to recreate that dynamic, actors are trained to be fearless and daring in their work – and they have to be,” Kincaid added.

Audience members are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets and food.

Bard in the Barn originated in 2006 when Kincaid wrote a grant to the University Research Council, that gave him the ability to offer his students the opportunity to perform Shakespeare unrehearsed. That grant was followed by Performing Arts Society grants. Since then, Bard has become such a popular performance opportunity for the students that the theatre and dance department has initiated a class in unrehearsed technique for the first time this fall.

This year, among the 19 out-of-town guests coming to Macomb to perform in “King John” and “Timon of Athens,” is a cast of theatre alums including: Zack Meyer (BA ‘09), Jared McDaris (MFA ‘10), Nicholas Schell (MFA ‘08), Mike Speck (MFA ‘05), Erin O’Connor (BA ‘11), Zachary Roberts (MFA ‘11), Glen Wall (MFA ‘09), Joshua Murphy (MFA ‘09) and Ashlee Edgemon (MFA ‘10). Faculty members DC Wright and Carolyn Blackinton will also participate. The annual unrehearsed Shakespeare event draws participants from as far away as Florida and Washington.

Individual tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students for one play or $8 for adults and $5 for students for both plays. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 201 S. Lafayette, or at the College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean’s Office, Browne Hall 117. They will also be available before each performance at the Flack Barn. All proceeds will benefit the Lori Haney Memorial Scholarship Fund for the Western Illinois theatre and dance department.

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International Student Follows in Father’s Footsteps at WIU

MACOMB, IL – When it came time for Dong-jin Kim from South Korea to select a university for his master’s degree, Western Illinois University was at the top of the list thanks to the Kim family’s history with the Midwestern school.

Kim, who is a first-semester master’s degree student in the educational leadership program at Western this fall, actually spent a few of his formative years at WIU while his father, Dr. Hyuk-Jong Kim, who has served as the president of Gwangju University since May 2003, attended graduate school. Hyuk-Jong and his wife Sook-nam Song lived in Macomb from August 1985 until 1987. Though the family returned to Korea briefly for Dong-jin’s birth, they returned to Lamoine Village on the Macomb campus, which Dong-jin now calls home once again.

“I heard a lot about Western when I was growing up,” Dong-jin said. “My parents had positive experiences here, and I feel fortunate that I had a chance to come here.”

Western’s relationship with the Kim family continued to flourish following Hyuk-Jong’s graduation. He has been instrumental in supporting Gwangju University students who participate in Western’s summer program, which allows students to improve their English skills and learn more about America. In addition, Hyuk-Jong hosted 12 Fulbright Group Study Abroad educators, led by WIU faculty Siyoung Park and Patti Jones, at Gwangju in 2005. In Spring 2010, Dr. Kim was named the inaugural recipient of the WIU International Alumni Achievement Award.

On a recent visit to Macomb, Kim’s mother recalled how friendly the faculty and staff were to her family, as well as to other Korean students who were studying at WIU.

“Our family became good friends with [the late President Emeritus] Leslie Malpass,” Sook-nam said. [The late English Professor Emeritus] Jai-Hyon Lee was like a godfather to many Korean students at Western.”

During her time here in the 1980s, Sook-nam took printmaking classes through the art department, and during her most recent visit to Macomb, she donated two of her prints to Western.

Prior to Hyuk Jong Kim’s and Sook-nam Song’s arrival at Western in 1985, Dr. Kim’s father, In-Kon Kim, was honored in 1983 with an honorary doctorate from WIU. Dr. In-Kon Kim, referred to at Gwangju University as Founder Kim, endowed a special scholarship for Korean students at WIU because of his friendship with President Emeritus Malpass.

“It was a pleasure to meet Dong-jin and Sook-nam, and to hear of their family’s longstanding connection to Western Illinois University and the important relationship between Western and Gwangju University,” said President Jack Thomas. “We are also grateful to Sook-nam for her donation of two beautiful prints to Western’s permanent art collection.”

Dong-jin has nothing but praise for Western faculty and staff who work with international students.

“Everyone has been very kind to me and to all international students, especially (Professor Emeritus of Geography) Dr. Siyoung Park and Patti Jones (WESL Director Emeritus),” Dong-jin said.

Just like his father, Dong-jin earned his bachelor’s degree in education and English literature at Sungkyunkwan University, one of the oldest and most prestigious Confucian institutions in Korea. And now he is proud to continue that same legacy as his father did by pursuing his master’s degree at Western Illinois University.

Copy By: WIU