NIU Today

Anne Hanley

Anne Hanley, associate professor of history and interim director of the Center for Non-Governmental Organization Leadership and Development (NGOLD), has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Award to continue her research on how the first census and the adoption of the metric system affected Brazil’s economy.

“This project opens an investigation into the history of Brazil’s domestic economy, where most Brazilians lived and worked, and where government initiatives had the greatest potential to affect their quality of life and standard of living,” she explained.

Her work is part of a new book-length project, “1872: Standardizing the Brazilian Nation,” chronicling Brazil’s domestic economic development.  This project follows quickly on the heels of her most recent book, The Public Good and the Brazilian State: municipal finance and public services in São Paulo, Brazil 1822-1930, which will be published in March 2018 by the University of Chicago Press.

“The economic consequences of state initiatives like the standardization of weights and measures have not been studied in Brazil,” she said. “Scholars who examine these initiatives in Brazil have focused predominantly on their social and cultural meanings, an approach informed by the events’ strong associations with racial and social prejudice.”

Brazil’s export economy has been widely researched since it produces the wealth, said Hanley, an expert on the Brazilian economy. Following the completion of this leg of her research, she will begin exploring the economic impact of these policies on the domestic exchange of goods and services and on the national economy.

She saw her research as an opportunity for students to contribute and get valuable hands-on experience. Justin Suggs, a fall 2014 URAP apprentice and a history major who went on to complete his master’s degree at the University of Chicago, researched the implementation of censuses in North America and Europe to understand the historical uses and designs of the census in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Rachel Jacob, currently a senior history major, researched the history of weights and measures in North America and Europe supported by the Student Engagement Fund in fall 2015. Jacob’s work included how nations implemented the metric system in order to understand how Brazil’s measurement system worked, how it compared to systems elsewhere and the rationale policymakers used to move to the metric system.

Journey Steward, a history Ph.D. degree candidate, joined the project as a Great Journeys research assistant during the 2015-16 academic year, thanks to funding by the Graduate School. Steward assisted Hanley in laying the foundation for her research – from identifying funding agencies and sources to honing research questions and developing funding proposals. Research by José Soto Jr., a master’s student in economics, and by Meagan Phillips, a master’s student in philosophy, round out the team that has contributed to this project. Soto and Phillips dug into the primary sources to help figure out which bodies of data were likely to yield the best results.

Hanley, who has taught at NIU since 1999, is the author of “Native Capital: Financial Institutions and Economic Development in São Paulo, Brazil 1850-1920” (Stanford 2005).

On Monday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m., New York Times best-selling author Jeff VanderMeer will speak at the DeKalb Public Library. The talk, hosted by Northern Illinois University’s STEM Read and the Friends of the NIU Libraries, is free and open to the public.

Jeff VanderMeer is the writer and editor of numerous books of speculative fiction and a three-time winner of the World Fantasy Award. His Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation, Authority and Acceptance) prompted the New Yorker to call him “the weird Thoreau.” The film adaptation, starring Natalie Portman, will be released this fall.

Gillian King-Cargile, STEM Read director, is excited to bring VanderMeer to the area. “I love the way VanderMeer presents landscapes that are familiar and at the same time very alien and unsettling. I think his talk is going to be out of this world!”

King-Cargile says it’s fitting that he’s visiting just after Earth Day because his books often describe the destruction of the earth and incorporate real elements of nature and ecology. Everything from a flower to a dead mouse to a giant sea star might become an agent of destruction. “In Annihilation, the threat isn’t coming from flying saucers with flashing death rays,” says King-Cargile, “it’s creeping in, inch by inch, like an invasive species, a vine you can’t keep from growing.”

STEM Read has chosen Annihilation as an official selection and will be exploring the book and concepts of worldbuilding in speculative fiction with high school students, writing experts and ecologists at NIU earlier in the day. The program will also post lesson plans and activities related to the book online at stemread.com in the coming weeks.

VanderMeer’s forthcoming book Borne was named one of the most anticipated books of 2017 by The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Book Riot and Publishers Weekly. The book will debut on April 25, but organizers are pleased to announce that they have exclusive permission to sell copies of the book a day early. Those planning to attend can purchase the book during the event or pre-order copies from Anderson’s Book Shop.

To learn more about these events or find additional resources to explore the science behind fiction books, go to stemread.com or contact Gillian King-Cargile at gkingcargile@niu.edu.

It’s time once again for the best 5K of the season. The College of Law wants you to dust off your running shoes, stretch those legs and get ready to hit the road! The 2017 edition of Race NIjUdicata, now being hosted by the NIU Student Bar Association, is coming up on Saturday, April 22, at 10 a.m. and will be held at the NIU College of Law, Swen Parson Hall.

We are looking for runners, volunteers and sponsors to help continue this College of Law tradition.

Registration includes entry into the race, a light lunch and a T-shirt (T-shirts will be provided while supplies last). Prizes will be awarded in several categories. Please note that there are separate prices for full-time students and non-student adults. If you are a full-time student of the NIU College of Law or another institution, please do not sign up for the adult registration, as there is an additional charge and a separate runner category for students.

Registration for adults is $35; full-time NIU students is $25; a team of five people is $25 per person and children 4-12 years old are $15.

Online registration and waiver forms are available and all online registrants must fill out a waiver and bring it to check-in.

All adults must fill out a separate registration for organizational purposes, including spouses and team members. You may, however, put yourself and your children on the same registration.

On-site registration at Swen Parson Hall will be available on Friday, April 21, from 4:30-6 p.m. or Saturday, April 22 from 8-9:40 a.m. For questions, contact Melody Mitchell at mmitchell@niu.edu.

On Friday, April 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the NIU College of Law will co-sponsor “Immigration in the First 100 Days,” a symposium held at Aspen Hall (room Rubloff 150), 375 East Chicago Avenue on the campus of the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago.

The symposium will be examining the Trump administration’s immigration policies, the effect these policies have had on the practice of immigration law, and how lawyers, students and community organizations have responded to these policies. The event will also feature a community organization fair for those interested in volunteering or learning more about ways to advocate for and support immigrants.

The event is sponsored by area law schools including the NIU College of Law; the Children and Family Justice Center and the Public Interest Law Center at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; DePaul College of Law; the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights at the University of Chicago Law School and Valparaiso University Law School.

The event is free and open to law students, lawyers and community members and CLE credit will be available for Illinois attorneys.

Please RSVP online by Wednesday, April 19, or you can participate in the event via livestream. You can join the event from your own webcam, through an internet browser, with Lync or by using Cisco Jabber Video. You can also join the event by phone by dialing 408-740-7256, 888-240-2560 or 408-317-9253 and then entering the conference ID number 166539072. If you need help joining the livestream, go to the BlueJeans.com support page.

NIU’s production of The Good Person of Szechwan provides a glimpse into a world where the structure of society has fallen and everyone is doing what they can to survive in the slums. Director Kendra Holton sets the scene in “stylized China, but really anywhere. All places where man is exploited by man. Maybe here. Maybe soon.”

The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht, was written in 1942. Brecht had recently become a refugee in the U.S. during WWII when the Nazi regime rose to power. He wanted to show his resistance from Germany by creating a series of five plays to show how corrupt this world could become. The Good Person of Szechwan was the last of those five plays.

When the main character, Shen Te, played by first-year M.F.A. in acting candidate Emily Vitrano, receives money from a good deed, she opens a tobacco shop and very quickly takes on an unexpected role. She is soon expected to help everyone in need. When things become difficult, Shen Te “creates this alternate persona that comes in and does all the dirty work,” says Vitrano.

Director Kendra Holton states, “this play is a parable about maintaining morality while impoverished, and the complexities of human duality and liminality in response to societal collapse.”

When asked what type of message she wants to send home to the audience, Holton responded: “What is goodness? How much of it is required to change the fate of our world? How much strain can we take? How are we responsible? Who will be held accountable? What are we to do?”

Justin Cahill who plays Sun, the love interest of Shen Te, says, “This is going to be so fun, even for how serious the topics may be.”

Performances are held at NIU’s Holmes Student Center, in the Diversions Lounge, April 20-23. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $7. Ticket reservations and all additional information are available by contacting the NIU School of Theatre and Dance Box Office at 815-753-1600, by email sotdboxoffice@niu.edu or online at the School of Theatre and Dance website.

Dr. Edward Lordan

Special guest Dr. Edward Lordan will present “The Evolution of Editorial Cartooning: Changes in Media and Messages” from 5-6 p.m., in Altgeld Hall 315, on Wednesday, April 19.

Lordan is here as part of the Hand in Hand exhibition suite’s educational programming series supporting the student-curated exhibition, “A Tale of Donkeys and Elephants; Satire with a Wink of a Fox.” Students in the Graduate Certification in Museum Studies Art 656: Exhibitions and Interpretation interdisciplinary course curated this exhibition with Instructor Peter Van Ael and is on view now through Saturday, May 20, at the NIU Art Museum.

Lordan teaches courses in public relations, advertising and communication theory at West Chester University in West Chester, PA. His research interests include editorial cartoons and politics. He is the author of “Politics, Ink: How American Editorial Cartoonists Skewer Politicians, From King George III to George Dubya,” which explores the history of the American editorial cartoon.

Other events this week at the NIU Art Museum include “Color Your Politics” where participants become an illustrator and color cartoons from the exhibition. All ages are invited to attend (children under nine with supervision). Pre-registration is required for this event, which will be held on Saturday, April 22, from 2-4 p.m. in the Art Museum Galleries.

More information about the exhibitions, events and educational programming at the NIU Art Museum may be found online by visiting niu.edu/artmuseum or by phoning 815-753-1936.

Walker Ashley

Walker Ashley, associate professor of geography presents “Skylapse: Using Time-lapse Technology to Illustrate the Dynamic Atmosphere” from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 19, in Altgeld Hall, Room 125. Ashley is the American Meteorological Society’s Weather, Climate, and Society Editor’s Award recipient (2016); the NIU Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award recipient (2016) and the NIU David Raymond Technology in Teaching Award recipient (2017).

Students are often expected to understand dynamic, four-dimensional phenomena by examining motionless images in a textbook, abstract diagrams in PowerPoint or a series of complex equations with no visual accompaniment. This static course content delivery method limits student comprehension, and ultimately fails to promote discovery. Our world is not frozen in time; why should our visuals aids be motionless?

This presentation will describe the time-lapse photography technique and how it can transform visuals—whose motion or change may appear initially imperceptible or subtle to the eye—into striking features with discernible fluid motion. This technique may be applied to any phenomena or area of study that features change, promoting student exploration and understanding. Existing time-lapse resources at NIU will be illustrated. Recommended methods and free software tools for constructing time-lapse imagery will be provided so that participants may apply this technique in their disciplines.

The NIU Communiversity Gardens will be hosting a vegetable plant sale along with the Committee for Preservation of Wildlife (CPW), on Wednesday, April 19. The vegetable plant sale will take place from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on the north side of the Montgomery Auditorium.

The vegetables that the Communiversity Gardens will be selling include various herbs, kale, chard, kohlrabi, broccoli, various tomatoes, hot peppers, tomatillos and more. Plants will be priced at $2 each, or you can buy six plants for $10. We also will be hosting another plant sale on Wednesday, May 3, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Holmes Student Center.

The Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce is holding a Presidential Panel at the NIU Hoffman Estates Conference Center on Thursday, May 4. Registration and breakfast will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the panel presentation will be from 8 – 9 a.m.

The presidents from NIU, Elgin Community College and Harper College will discuss topics such as funding, today’s workforce, creating an educational environment and how partnerships amongst post-secondary institutions can expand career paths and employment opportunities.

Registration is $15 per person.

The NIU Music Building comes alive with music and excitement as the NIU Community School of the Arts (CSA) celebrates PERFORMATHON 2017. All community members are invited to enjoy live music performances, shop for music related items, view a student art show, try delicious bake-sale treats and enter to win raffle/silent auction prizes on Saturday, April 22. All funds raised benefit the NIU Community School scholarship programs.

More than 60 Community School music students will perform on the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall Stage at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. CSA students have collected pledges from family and friends who support their playing, singing or artwork. Local businesses also support PERFORMATHON through advertising in the event’s program booklet and by donating prizes for the raffle. Prizes this year include a custom-painted violin, season tickets for the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Wolves and Rockford IceHogs game tickets, and much more.

Musicians and music fans can browse and purchase pre-owned sheet music, CDs, vinyl, musical instruments, accessories and other music-related items at the Incredible Music Swap. An art exhibit with artworks contributed by the Art Express class students and a café-style bake sale featuring drinks and home-baked items will also be featured.

Since 1993, more than $100,000 has been raised by PERFORMATHON efforts, and 800 local students have received scholarships supporting their continued music and art studies. The CSA offers year-round private lessons, music ensembles, and group classes in music and art for children and adults of all ages.

“PERFORMATHON provides a great opportunity for everyone in our community school to get together, and for the public to hear so many wonderful performances. It’s going to be a fun day and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Josh Anderson, director of the NIU Community School of the Arts.

The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 10 a.m. and activities run through mid-afternoon. Donations will be taken at the door, made online go.niu.edu/performathondonate or mailed to NIU Community School of the Arts, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115. Make checks payable to the NIU Foundation.

For more information, call 815-753-1450 or visit PERFORMATHON.

Lynne Thomas

Lynne Thomas, head of Rare Books and Distinctive Collections for NIU Libraries, is a finalist once again for two World Science Fiction Society Hugo Awards, the most prominent recognition for excellence in science fiction and fantasy work. These most recent nominations make Thomas an 11-time finalist across several categories, with four previous wins.

The Hugo awards are voted on by a group of individuals who have chosen to participate in voting, making receiving a nomination much more significant because it means the award is a direct recognition from the science fiction and fantasy community. The winners will be announced on Friday, August 11, at the Hugo Awards Ceremony in Helsinki, Finland.

Thomas is a finalist in the categories of “Best Semiprozine” and “Best Editor, Short Form.” She won in the “Best Semiprozine” category last year. This is the first time she’s been a finalist in the “Best Editor, Short Form” category.

Thomas said it is both overwhelming and humbling to be recognized so consistently.

“Oddly enough, I didn’t read much science fiction as a kid, A Wrinkle in Time aside,” she said. “My engagement with this community, and this literature, really began when I started at NIU in 2004 and began working in our science fiction collections.”

The work she is nominated for is published in Uncanny Magazine, which is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine featuring fiction and poetry, prose and nonfiction. Thomas is co-editor and publisher of the magazine, which has contributors ranging from the award-winning leading voices of the field to emerging talents.

She also moderated the Hugo-Award winning SF Squeecast and contributes to the Verity! Podcast. Thomas said most of her projects are collaborative in nature, which has helped her to be so prolific.

“My husband Michael has been the most consistent partner in crime, but I have also had the honor of working with some excellent co-editors, and all of the podcasts are a team effort, too,” she said. “That means that when I need to tag out and ask a colleague to step up for a bit, that’s possible in both directions.”

NIU freshmen and sophomores enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors recently got a boost from an innovative program offered to help their study skills.

Last month during their annual conference, PROMISE Scholars participated in a day-long workshop, the Guaranteed 4.0 Learning System, which teaches a three-step approach to learning. During the workshop, the 30 participants were taught how to study the way the brain naturally prefers to process information.

The NIU PROMISE Scholars Program is a campus-wide initiative for new STEM freshmen and sophomore students. PROMISE Scholars participate in a summer pre-college program, special learning communities, and receive specialized research and peer opportunities with faculty and students, as well as career readiness activities with national corporations.

Organizers say the approach makes study time more efficient and effective by enhancing critical thinking skills. Denise Hayman, director of the NIU CHANCE Program, said student feedback about the one-day workshop points toward a successful effort. She said students were surveyed after the program to see if they found the information useful, and most students reported they found the study techniques to be helpful as they transitioned into college and that they learned new ways to study.

Hayman said she selected the program for the conference because this year’s focus was academics. She has known the presenter, a former chemical engineer with Amoco (now BP), for more than 10 years.