Please see the TechTalk blog for our February post on updates and new features in Zoom. Happy Zooming!
Monthly Zoom Announcement: February 2023
02-20-2023
Fr. James Martin SJ: Building a Bridge Talk Now Available
If you weren’t able to attend the webinar conversation with Fr. James Martin on practicing Gospel inclusion with the LGBTQ+ community, or would like to re-visit the event, the video link is now available here. Fr. Martin also gave us permission to share the conversation with all who might be interested in the topics explored that evening. Questions? Contact Karen Eifler, eifler@up.edu.
DEI Series: The Urban League and UP
A staff hero. From 1968–1980, Vernon Chatman’s role in shaping the UP student experience as DEI counselor and advocate was both visionary and effective. He came to the University precisely to make a difference. Building programs and bridges with community organizations in the city of Portland, Mr. Chatman made the UP community stronger and better. For a brief sketch of his story and impact, check-out the new PortLog entry from Archives & Artifacts in our DEI article series.
For more information, contact museum coordinator Carolyn Connolly at museum@up.edu.
Inaugural Cohort of Inclusive Teaching Scholars
The Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce the inaugural cohort of Inclusive Teaching Scholars. This diverse team of faculty will work to grow as inclusive teachers and serve as leaders for inclusive teaching techniques, ideas, and approaches across the campus. Each member will identify a project of interest to be completed over the course of the year with the intention of contributing to the knowledge of best and inclusive practices within our current campus environment. The program is expected to be run annually with a call for new scholars fall ‘23. The new scholars are:
- Claire Costin, Business Administration
- Deirdre Hon, Education
- Kala Mayer, Nursing and Health Innovations
- Jeff Kerssen-Griep, Communication and Media, CAS
- Katherine (Kate)Trumbo, Nursing and Health Innovations
- Gordon Williamson, Nursing and Health Innovations
If you have any questions, please contact them or Terence (Terry) Favero of the Center for Teaching and Learning.
UP’s First Lilly Faculty Fellows to Explore Faith Formation in Academia
Two years after University of Portland joined the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities, two faculty members are the first on the UP campus to be awarded Lilly Faculty Fellowships.
Rachel Hutcheson, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and David Turnbloom, associate professor of theology, will participate in a two-year Lilly Faculty Fellows Program, which includes four conferences in Indianapolis and Chicago. They will also receive $8,000 in start-up funds to inaugurate a Lilly Faculty Fellows Program at the University.
The Fellows Program provides opportunities for mid-career faculty to engage in conversation with other academic leaders to study the intersection of Christian thought and practice. As members of the 2023-25 Faculty Fellows Cohort, Hutcheson and Turnbloom will explore faith formation in the context of academia.
Turnbloom, a UP faculty member since 2015 specializing in liturgical and sacramental theology, traces his study of faith formation to early Christians—who held that daily activities shaped their beliefs and moral values.
“Institutions of higher education can benefit from paying closer attention to our academic habits of our bodies, our teaching rituals,” Turnbloom says. “The Lilly Faculty Fellows program will feed my hunger for sustained conversation about the role academic pedagogy in the formation of faith.”
Hutcheson, who joined UP’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2015, approaches the Fellows Program from a lifelong scientist’s perspective of “looking with wonder and awe at the complexity of and the connection between living things.”
“My desire is to help create a community that seeks to develop pedagogies to support faculty, staff and students on their own journey of faith formation,” Hutcheson says.
University Interim Provost Elise Moentmann serves as one of three campus liaisons for the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities.
“I am so pleased Hutcheson and Turnbloom are able to take advantage of our recent alliance with the Lilly Network to further the University mission,” Moentmann says. “I am especially excited by the interdisciplinary partnership between a scientist and a theologian.”
Founded in 1991, the Lilly Fellows Program seeks to strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher learning through the Faculty Fellows Program, postdoctoral teaching fellowships, and support for graduate students exploring vocations in church-related higher education. The Lilly Fellows Program is based at Christ College, the interdisciplinary honors college of Valparaiso University in Northwest Indiana.
New to The Bluff: Brandon Wood, Help Desk Specialist, Information Services
Information Services would like to announce Brandon Wood as our newest Help Desk Specialist. He joined us in December, having previously worked at the Help Desk at Biotronik in Lake Oswego. Brandon is a life-long Portlander and enjoys taking advantage of the hiking available in Washington Park and our other beautiful local areas.
He is settling in and enjoying getting to know the community here at UP. Should he be your next agent at the Help Desk, please feel free to give him a warm welcome. He’s looking forward to helping you!
New Faculty and Staff Photos (Mar. 28)
Are you a new faculty or staff member who has not yet had their professional photo taken for the UP directory? The Office of Marketing and Communications has scheduled a professional photographer for photos on Tuesday, March 28, in the afternoon. Please email Suzanne Frey at freys@up.edu to schedule a five-minute headshot session.
Michael O’Loughlin Author Talk: Hidden Mercy (Feb. 22)
Author Michael O’Loughlin provides insights from Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear. Co-sponsored by the English Lecture Series. Brian Doyle Auditorium (Dundon-Berchtold Hall), 7 p.m. Free and open to all. Info at up.edu/garaventa or 503-943-7702. ADA compliant event.
Music That Makes You Laugh—A Beckman Humor Project Event (Feb. 23)
Vocalists and instrumentalists of UP’s music faculty and selected students perform pieces meant to bring smiles, chuckles, and sometimes subvert the status quo. Bistro-style bites and drinks served after the concert. Mago Hunt Recital Hall and Lobby, 7 p.m. Free and open to all. A Beckman Humor Project event. Info at up.edu/garaventa or 503-943-7702. ADA compliant event.
Imagining New Courses: A Focus Group Discussion on Interdisciplinary Teaching (Feb. 24)
Have you been curious about developing a new Core Exploration course but haven’t yet taken the plunge? Do you feel like you understand interdisciplinarity as a concept, but not how to put it into practice in the classroom? The Core Curriculum (Andrew Guest) and the NEH “Core Humanities” grant team (Jen McDaneld and Molly Hiro) would love to get your insights on these and other questions at a focus group discussion over lunch (on us) at the Teske Room/Holy Cross Dining Room on Friday, Feb. 24, 11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m. (you’re welcome to join for just part of this time if you’re teaching). We’ll discuss new ideas you may have for courses, support UP might provide, and opportunities for making innovative classes happen. We’ll also offer a mini-preview of the pilot Engaged Humanities institute Jen and Molly will be leading in May (which will come with a $1,000 stipend for participants). Please email Andrew Guest (guesta@up.edu) to reserve your spot; faculty from all schools and ranks are welcome!