UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Michael Andrews

UP Bioethics Bowl Team Competes at National Level

Staff and faculty portraits

The University’s inaugural Bioethics Bowl Team traveled recently to an intercollegiate competition, the National Bioethics Bowl, on April 8-10, at Case Western Reserve University. The team is a first step in extending an initiative of College of Arts and Sciences dean Michael Andrews in his role as McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics. In recent past years, the University held intramural ethics bowl events, but did not compete in intercollegiate competition.

Team members are Megan Berg, biology/ Spanish; Madeleine Boyle, philosophy/math; Emma Brooks, nursing; Savannah Collas, biology; Lucas Gushikuma, nursing; and Elisa Reverman, biology/chemistry/philosophy. Patricia McShane, philosophy, is coach of the team. Drawing on previous experience coaching successful teams at Georgetown (where she founded their Ethics Bowl program), she worked extensively with the students  to help them understand how to discuss the cases at the competition.

The UP team was the only one to go undefeated in the preliminary rounds, defeating University of Maryland Baltimore County, Ripon College, and San Jose State University, but fell to Macalaster College in the quarterfinals. Students debated a wide array of bioethical issues, including the ethics state-sponsored newborn bloodspot biobanks, medical deportation, neuroenhancement, postmortem genetic testing, and more. This year’s efforts and team travel were sponsored by the McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics, the Department of Philosophy, and the School of Nursing.

For more information contact Paddy McShane, philosophy, at 7282 or mcshanep@up.edu.

Integrative Conversations Event, Nov. 4

Staff and faculty portraitsThe second “Integrative Conversations” event will take place on Wednesday, November 4, from 7-9 p.m., in the Pilot House bookstore. Titled “A Call to Action: Pope Francis and the Integrity of Creation: The Encyclical on the Environment,” the program will be moderated by College of Arts and Sciences dean Michael Andrews and will include presentations by Christina Astorga, theology; Bill Barnes, business; Steve Kolmes, environmental studies; and Gary Malecha, political science.  Members of the Student Leadership and Advising Council (SLAC) will lead student questions and conversation. Faculty and staff are invited to attend, and are asked to encourage their students to come as well.

No RSVP is required. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served. The new Papal Encyclical can be found at this link. For more information contact Laura Hogue, college of arts and sciences, at 7760 or hogue@up.edu.

Farewell Party For Linda Lechler, May 7

New employee and staff portraitsIt is with a mixture of joy and sadness that Dean Andrews and members of the College of Arts and Sciences ask faculty and staff to join them in congratulating Linda Lechler on her new position as administrative supervisor at Oregon Metro. Linda has been an invaluable team member in the CAS dean’s office for eight years, where she has served as assistant to the dean for personnel and programs. Her farewell party will take place on Thursday, May 7, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., in the CAS dean’s office in Buckley Center room 201.

For more information, contact the dean’s office at 7760 or zajonc@up.edu.

Garaventa Center Events This Week

CorrectionLemurCroppedThe Garaventa Center will sponsor two campus events this week, according to Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center:

  • An art exhibit for The Saint John’s Bible opens in the Buckley Center Art Gallery on Monday, February 9. The exhibit Includes 10 large prints from the University’s Heritage Edition of The Saint Johns Bible. The exhibit is free and open to all and end on Friday, March 6. Information: Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center, eifler@up.edu.
  • Michael Andrews lecture, “Edith Stein: ‘Woman’ and ‘Vocation’ and Other Signs of Contradiction,” Tuesday, February 10, 7:15 p.m., Franz Hall Holy Cross Lounge. All are welcome to attend. For more information contact Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center, at eifler@up.edu.

Michael Andrews Lecture, Feb. 10

andrews-copyMichael F. Andrews, the University’s McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will give a lecture on Edith Stein in the Holy Cross Lounge on the 3rd floor of Franz Hall on Tuesday, February 10, at 7:15 p.m. His talk is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public.

Andrews will explore the life of Edith Stein in terms of her understanding of “woman” and “vocation.” Stein was a Jewish philosopher and author who converted to Catholicism before becoming a Carmelite nun, and ultimately perished in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. She was canonized in October 1998.

For more information contact the Garaventa Center at 7702 or garaventa@up.edu.

Appointment For Moentmann

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has announced the appointment of Elise Moentmann as associate dean for students, effective July 1. Moentmann is associate professor of history and has been a faculty member since August 1998. She has served as history department chair since fall 2009. She has served as director of the Summer Salzburg Session, chair of the Committee on Committees, member of the Academic Senate and the Senate Executive Committee, member of the CAS Curriculum Committee, and faculty advisor to the Phi Alpha Theta National Honors Society in History. Moentmann will succeed Jim Stemler, interim associate dean for students, who returned to his former position from retirement for the 2012-2013 academic year.

For more information contact Michael Andrews, CAS dean, at 7760 or andrews@up.edu.

Appointment For Moentmann

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has announced the appointment of Elise Moentmann as associate dean for students, effective July 1. Moentmann is associate professor of history and has been a faculty member since August 1998. She has served as history department chair since fall 2009. She has served as director of the Summer Salzburg Session, chair of the Committee on Committees, member of the Academic Senate and the Senate Executive Committee, member of the CAS Curriculum Committee, and faculty advisor to the Phi Alpha Theta National Honors Society in History. Moentmann will succeed Jim Stemler, interim associate dean for students, who returned to his former position from retirement for the 2012-2013 academic year.

For more information contact Michael Andrews, CAS dean, at 7760 or andrews@up.edu.

McNerney-Hanson Ethics Bowl

The first annual McNerney-Hanson Ethics Bowl was held on Saturday, April 20, according to CAS dean Michael Andrews. The event was sponsored by Andrews, who serves as the McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics, with additional support from the Dundon-Berchtold Ethics Grant. Two UP teams took part: one team of graduate students from Pamplin School of Business, and a second team of undergraduate students from the Speech and Debate Union. Special thanks go out to Bohn Lattin and Brian Simmons, communication studies; Richard Askay and Andrew Eshleman, philosophy; and Brian Adams, business administration.

Unlike other ethics bowl competitions, the McNerney-Hanson Ethics Bowl reflects a particular UP emphasis on ethical formation and the study and articulation of ethical theory and practice. The purpose is to expose graduate and undergraduate students to a philosophical kind of reflective, ethical thinking that allows them to apply an understanding of ethics to a particular situation or issue. For more information contact Andrews at 7760 or andrews@up.edu.