Rainbow Briefs
Brigid Aslin (they/them) won the STAR (Staff That Are Remarkable) Award for Outstanding New Program for the Leadership & Success Seminar.
Shana Border (she/her) successfully defended her thesis and graduated from ISU with a Ph.D. from the School of Biological Sciences. She is now a visiting assistant professor in the Biology Department at St. Bonaventure University in New York.
Paul W. Borg was interviewed for Milner Library’s oral history project. Now retired, Dr. Borg was chairman of the Academic Senate during a difficult time in the late '90s. "I think the QC activities are a wonderful change from when I was a faculty member!" says Paul.
Ruth Burke (she/they) received the Harold Boyd Endowed Professorship from the Wonsook Kim School of Art. She also won a grant from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) Program, fully funding her proposal, “Re-Integration of Mixed-Power Systems in Agroecological Intensification.” Their work was highlighted in Milner Library’s exhibit What Water Feeds (February-March 2024) and their solo exhibition Of Love: A Labor was on display at Co-Prosperity in Chicago from June to July.
Celeste Calkins (she/her) coauthored “Academic Graphic Communications: Revising the Taxonomy,” which appeared in the journal Visual Communication.
Jimmy Chrismon (he/him) directed the School of Theatre and Dance’s production of Keetha B’s Princess Fearless. He recently received his certification in Mental Health Coordination in Creative Spaces from the Association of Mental Health Coordinators. Additionally, he signed a contract for his book, Trauma-Informed Practices in 9-12 Theatre Education. It will be out in summer 2025 through Routledge.
Edcel Cintron-Gonzalez (he/they) published "I Saw My Other Self at the Zoo": Internal Focalizers and Illustrative Spaces in Zoo Narratives" in Creativitas: Critical Explorations in Literary Studies, vol. I, Sapientia, June 2024, pp. 18–38, doi:10.5281/zenodo.13313119. Edcel’s TEDxNormal talk, "A poet's approach to hurricane narratives" is available on YouTube via TedxTalks.
Kelly Clemens (she/her) published "The desire for side-effect information in pain treatment: an experimental analysis of contextual and individual difference factors" in PAIN (Feb 2024), which received positive commentary.
Julien Corven’s (he/him) project proposal, “Experiences and Agency of Historically Underrepresented STEM-intending Students in Calculus Courses: Phase I of the Envisioning a More Equitable System of Calculus Project” received funding from ISU’s Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship Program.
Byron Craig was named ISU’s Interim Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. He also won a 2023 Outstanding University Teaching Award, 2023-2024 Service Initiative Award, and the 2024 David A. Strand Diversity Achievement Award. In June he presented on “Confronting America’s Legitimacy Crisis: (Dis)Trust, Precarity, and the Necessity of Democratic Reforms” with Steve Rahko as part of the Extending Empathy Project and American Democracy Project’s colloquia series.
Audrey T. Heffers (she/they) authored What Blooms in the Dark, an anthology of short stories available from ELJ Editions “where nature is magic, queer love transcends universes, and relationships pulse with the fear of inevitable grief. Capitalism preserves ghosts and produces cyborgs. Women are inspired by cicadas’ screaming songs and sparrows that transform into light. Each story puts into question the circumstances of the character’s life and what that means about their connections with everything around them, from the minutiae of flora and fauna to the very mechanics of the universe itself.”
Rebecca Laible (she/her) won a 2024 Impact Award. She is an advising specialist in University College and the Children’s Studies minor advisor. She plans to graduate from ISU with her master’s in teaching and learning in 2025 – making her a double alum!
Xan Daggett (they/them) graduated from ISU with a M.S. in English and a graduate certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in May 2024. That same month they also presented on their thesis Digital Safe Spaces: Nonbinary Community Building on TikTok at the WGSS and Triota end-of-year celebration.”
Kurt LaShure (he/him) was promoted to Business Administrative Associate in the Dean of Fine Arts’ Office. He was also nominated to be a bell ringer at the 2024 Founder’s Day Bell Ringing ceremony. Kurt will be starting a new educational journey in ISU’s MBA program this fall.
Christa Lawhun (she/her) was profiled in the Civil Service Spotlight.
Megan Patterson (she/her) was profiled in the Civil Service Spotlight.
Joshua Newport (he/him) is excited to be a new faculty mentor for the Rainbow Floor Themed Living Learning Community at Watterson Towers.
Derek Sparby (they/he) won a 2024 College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding College Researcher Award.
Ela Przybyło (she/they) curated an exhibit of black-and-white photography titled Queer and Trans on Campus which was on display at the Rachel Cooper Art Gallery from February 15 to August 1, 2024.
Amy Scovel (she/they) moved to the Department of Technology from the Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development and was profiled as a new staff member there.
Melody Rosche (they/them) was inducted into Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Honor Society of Sociology and interned at the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) through the Stevenson Center Applied Community and Economic Development Fellows program. They are continuing to work at IFB part-time while finishing their graduate capstone on Urban Farmer Support Organizations in the U.S. Melody joined IFB and COUNTRY Financial’s Pride employee group.
Gracen Lukoskie (they/them) was profiled in the Civil Service Spotlight.
Amy McNamara (she/her) performed as a trumpet soloist in the November 15, 2023, Wind Symphony concert. In August, attended the International Women’s Brass Conference. Dr. McNamara presented on her qualitative research "Behind their Desk: The Collective Experience of Non-Male Trumpet Professors," and she performed the flugelhorn chair with the Athena Brass Band. Also in August she received promotion to associate professor.
Dr. Natalie Shaheen (she/her) won a 2023-2024 Outstanding University Researcher Award and a 2024 Impact Award. She also received a $1.5 million NSF CAREER grant.
Kate Sheridan’s (she/her) project proposal, “Methamphetamine, Opioids & Fentanyl in Rural Illinois: An Ethnographic Exploration of Current and Emerging Issues” received funding from ISU’s Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship Program. Dr. Sheridan also received a grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Infectious Diseases, HIV/AIDS, STIs and Viral Hepatitis Section to measure the proportion of populations in Illinois at increased risk of HIV infection, including men who have sex with men and persons who inject drugs. Such information is critical to public health entities to inform prevention and intervention spending.
Bridget Sundin (she/her) won a 2023 Impact Award and successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis, “I Adore You Forever”: The Performative Past of Mercedes de Acosta and Marlene Dietrich.
Stephanie Thompson (she/they) received a promotion to Assistant Director for Residential Case Management.
Rachel Waring-Sparks (she/her) co-led four International Seminar Series sessions on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Eric Willey (he/him) won the 2023 Outstanding College Service Award for Milner Library.
Gavin Weiser (they/them) was named interim director of the Graduate School.
Darcy Allred presented working project, "Renewing Relations in Petun Country & Wyandot(te) Critiques of Queer + Feminist Studies" for the English Studies Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam (and passed, woo!) and also at the 26th Annual WGSS Symposium.