NIU Today

The 2015 WNIJ Winter Book Series, which begins Monday, Feb. 2, features authors from throughout northern Illinois. At 6:50 and 8:50 a.m. each Monday in February, Dan Klefstad speaks with an author about his or her book as well as his or her motivation and inspirations and invites the authors to read selections of their...

NIU student Lizzy Mack has gained some celebrity status in Canada. Mack, a graduate student in the laboratory of biological sciences professor Rich King, is featured in an episode of the documentary-style mini-series, Great Lakes Wild, which aired across the Great White North this week and can be viewed online. Mack is seen throughout the...

From monkey business to monkey fossils, monkeys hold a prominent place in humor as well as in scholarly research. STEM Café’s January presentation will explore the ways that our primate cousins offer keys to understanding the development of human life. On Tuesday, Jan. 20, Northern Illinois University’s STEM Café will present “More Fun than a...

The Allerton English Articulation Conference is set to kick off another 50 years of conferences with the theme “Metaphors We Teach By.” The conference, bringing together faculty from two- and four-year colleges and universities, takes place at the Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Monticello, Ill. It is made possible by a planning committee consisting...

NIU’s Jack Olson Gallery will host “Graffiti Imagery in Contemporary Art” from Friday, Jan. 16, through Thursday, Feb. 26. An opening reception and curator’s talk begins at 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. “Graffiti Imagery in Contemporary Art” explores how the aesthetics and processes of graffiti have been reinterpreted in the careers of professional artists. Chicagoans...

During the 1920s and 1930s, Mississippi produced two of the most significant influences on 20th century culture: the modernist fiction of William Faulkner and the recorded blues songs of African-American musicians such as Charley Patton, Geeshie Wiley and Robert Johnson. In “Yoknapatawpha Blues: Faulkner’s Fiction and Southern Roots Music,” the first book examining both Faulkner...

Christopher McCord, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, this week announced two administrative changes in the college. McCord said Professor David Ballantine has accepted an appointment as associate dean for undergraduate affairs. Ballantine stepped into the position on an interim basis last summer, filling the role formerly held by Sue Doederlein. Prior...

Northern Illinois University will host the 23rd annual Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language, and Media (MCLLM) on Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28. Faculty, graduate students and, for the first time in the conference’s history, undergraduate students will share their research related to this year’s theme, “Ctrl, Alt, Delete.” Presenters will explore the concepts...

Brian Bockelman, a visiting scholar at NIU’s Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, has received a major fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to continue his research and writing on Argentine history in the late 19th century. The generous award of $50,400 will allow him to work full-time for 12 months on...

DeKalb County Community Gardens teamed up with students of Northern Illinois University Dept. of Communications Professor Laura Vazquez to make a 90-second video for a grant competition. Mattie Pace, a December graduate of the NIU communications program–along with communications senior Michelle Herr–directed and produced the video for the national Food Rebels Video Contest sponsored by Applegate...

Earning a college degree is a sense of accomplishment for many students and their families. But for one Northern Illinois University student and her family, it was a celebration over adversity. Gabriela Ruszczak’s journey began in 2009, when she enrolled at NIU as a non-traditional, first-generation student after earning her associate’s degree 20 years earlier....

Scholars from NIU, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Southwestern University collaborate on ground-breaking research study The power of three plus three in a research study has come to fruition as scholars from three different universities in the United States and three different colleges at NIU co-authored a study titled “Borders, Bras, and Battles:...