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UNL Today Archive

Wed, Feb 16, 2005

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FEBRUARY 16, 2005


NEBRASKA UNION BALLROOM, 11AM - 5PM
Spring Blood Drive Continues Today

Fall Blood Drive  
In conjunction with the Community Blood Bank of the Lancaster County Medical Society, the University of Nebraska - Lincoln will be holding a spring blood drive in the Nebraska Union Ballroom today and tomorrow from 11am - 5pm daily. You can register on the web for a time that suits your needs best, and walk-ins are also welcome.

As a proud member of America's Blood Centers network of 500 community-based blood centers in 46 states, the CBB distributes a portion of the blood supplied to more than half of the nation's 6,000 hospitals. In fact, through this affiliation with America's Blood Centers, CBB has helped respond to some of our nation's urgent calls for blood; the Oklahoma City bombings, the Columbine shootings, and the attacks on the World Trade Center.


BLOOD DRIVE REGISTRATION
 
Freshman Campus Leadership Associates Presents Funniest Story Contest
FCLA WEB SITE
FCLA Presents Funniest Story Contest

The Freshman Campus Leadership Associates is now taking entries on their website for a funniest freshman story contest. All current UNL students are eligible to enter the contest, but the embarrassing story, joke, or experience should be about freshman year. The story must be under 500 words and entries can be made on the FCLA website.

Up for grabs are over $700 in prizes from a variety of Lincoln businesses, and the winner of the contest will be selected by members of the Freshmen Campus Leadership Associates. The deadline to submit an entry is Friday, March 11. Entries with lewd or offensive language will not be accepted.


FCLA
 
 
LENTZ CENTER FOR ASIAN CULTURE, UNTIL MAY 8
Lentz Exhibits Japanese Sword Collection of Prof. Peter Bleed Ph.D.

 
Tsubas (sword guards)

Tsubas (sword guards), Japan from the Collection of Peter Bleed, Ph.D.
The Lentz Center for Asian Culture is happy to announce its winter exhibition, "Steel Art: Japanese Swords from the Collection of Prof. Peter Bleed, Ph.D.," beginning February 15 through May 8th. An opening reception, free and open to the public, will be held on Saturday, February 19th, from 2:00-4:30 pm.

Professor Bleed is an Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Professor of Anthropology. He has been involved in studying Japan since his graduate school days at the University of Wisconsin when he wrote his dissertation on early Japanese ceramics. His studies have included numerous stays in Japan.

Well known as a sword collector, Professor Bleed has not shown his swords at the Lentz Center for more than a decade. During that time he has added to the collection. The exhibition will include a sword from the Han Dynasty in China (206 BCE-222 AD) and one from the Nara Period in Japan (645-749 AD). Most of the swords are from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The collection includes long and short swords, various types of blades, fittings and tsubas (sword guards). A samurai helmet and matchlock pistols will also be on display. Other relevant objects from the Lentz collections will be on exhibition as well.

Professor Bleed aided Donald and Velma Lentz in their founding and early management of the Lentz Center for Asian Culture and is a member of the Center's Policy Advisory Board. We are especially happy that he is sharing his collection with the museum.

The Lentz Center for Asian Culture recognizes the rich and varied cultures of the many diverse peoples of Asia. As an entity within the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, the LCAC's unique collection provides a singular opportunity for enhancing instructional programs on the campus as well as enriching the cultural environment of the citizens of the State of Nebraska. It is dedicated to the enrichment of knowledge and understanding of Asia, and is the only institution in Nebraska devoted solely to Asian art.

The Lentz Center is located in the lower level of the Hewit Place building, across from the Lied Center for Performing Arts, at 1155 Q Street. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Friday, 11 am to 5:00 pm Saturdays and 1:30 to 4 pm Sundays. It is closed Mondays.


LENTZ CENTER FOR ASIAN CULTURE
 
Amy Goodburn, Paul Savory, and Amy Burnett
UNL CAMPUS
UNL's Peer Review of Teaching Project Wins National Recognition

A ten-year-old program to improve teaching at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has won national recognition. UNL's Peer Review of Teaching project received a TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award Certificate of Excellence. The award was announced Feb. 14 in Washington, D.C., at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education. UNL's program was one of only three that were selected by the judges to receive a Certificate of Excellence in the competitive award. The grand-prize winner, Wagner College, received $25,000. The U.S. Military Academy (West Point) and the University of Wisconsin System also received Certificates of Excellence.

The TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award recognizes exceptional faculty development programs designed to enhance undergraduate teaching and learning. Named in honor of Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, the award is given annually program judged to have best met the three award criteria: significance of the program to higher education; appropriate program rationale; and successful results and impact on undergraduate teaching and student learning.

Project co-directors Paul Savory, Amy Burnett and Amy Goodburn along with Dave Wilson collected the award. Savory is an associate professor of industrial management. Goodburn is an associate professor of English and women's studies. Burnett is an associate professor of history. Wilson is special assistant for faculty development in the UNL's office of academic affairs.

The UNL project is an intensive year-long program in which faculty deeply examine and reflect with others on how their teaching supports student learning. Through conversations, writing and analysis, participants document, test and assess their teaching using a model similar to that used when conducting scholarly research. The model validates the notion that teaching is an intellectually rigorous activity, Goodburn said.

"It allows you to represent the intellectual work that goes into developing and teaching a course," she said.

UNL started the peer review of teaching project in 1994 when five faculty members attended a meeting sponsored by the American Association for Higher Education. A grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education along with funding from Academic Affairs funded the project from 1995-1998. In 1999, UNL landed a $750,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, and $120,000 from the Hewlett Foundation to disseminate the model to four partner campuses. All along, Academic Affairs has provided funds to continue the on-campus effort.

Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, praised the work of the co-directors.

"This faculty-driven initiative emphasizes the intellectual and scholarly work of teaching, an effort that supports our faculty and helps ensure that our students have the best educational experience that we can deliver," she said. "We are proud of the excellent work done by Amy Burnett, Amy Goodburn, and Paul Savory and the many other faculty members who have participated in this project for bringing this honor to UNL."

Since its inception, 101 UNL faculty members from 28 departments in eight different colleges have completed the project. A national conference last spring attracted nearly 200 faculty from across the country. And a book, The Peer Review of Teaching: Excellence in Student Learning Made Visible, is under contract with Anker Publishing and is due out next fall.


PEER REVIEW OF TEACHING PROJECT
 
lecture circuit  
HOWELL THEATRE, 11:45AM
UAAD - 'What's So Funny?: Basics of Shakespearean Comedy'
Stephen Buhler, UNL professor of English

GREAT PLAINS ART COLLECTION, 3:30PM
Paul A. Olson Seminar in Great Plains Studies - 'Mary Hallock Foote: A Pre-Raphaelite in the West'
Jon Nelson, Curator Emeritus, Great Plains Art Museum, UNL

L.W. CHASE HALL, 3:30PM
UNL School of Natural Resources Research Seminar - 'Inert Gas Tracers in Groundwater'
Kip Solomon, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

E103 BEADLE CENTER, 4PM
Biotechnology/Life Sciences Seminar - 'Regulation of MAP Kinase Signalling in S. cerevisiae'
Dr. Malcolm Whiteway, National Research Council, Montreal, Canada