March 2011 Newsletter
A Newsletter about Faculty and Students in the College of Arts & Letters
Jakob Dylan to Receive Honorary Doctor of Letters
Idaho State University will award an honorary Doctor of Letters to Mr. Jakob Dylan at its Spring 2011 Commencement ceremonies. This will mark the first honorary degree conferred through the newly formed College of Arts & Letters.
Dylan is a two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter. He is the lead singer and songwriter for The Wallflowers. Formed in 1990, the Los Angeles-based band has sold over seven million records worldwide. In addition, Dylan has also released two critically acclaimed solo albums. (read more...)
Staci Jensen-Hart (Dept. of Sociology, Social Work & Criminal Justice) Receives Major Contract
Assistant Professor Staci Jensen-Hart, Director of the Social Work Program, recently received a major contract award from the State of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) to implement a program to train child welfare workers throughout the state. Dr. D J Williams of the Department of Sociology, Social Work & Criminal Justice will assist with the project. (read more...)
Student Selected for Costume Design Competition in Prague
Joyce Mix, a senior Theatre and Dance student who specializes in costume design, is one of a select group of student designers chosen for this year’s Prague Quadrennial Performance and Design competition in Prague, Czech Republic. The Quadrennial is an international exhibition which is held only every four years in Prague. The competition invites artists from more than seventy-six countries on five continents and sees over 30,000 visitors during the ten-day exhibition. (read more...)
Jack Owens, Dept. of History, Retires after 35 Years
After thirty-five years as a History faculty member at ISU, Professor J.B. “Jack” Owens retired from his full-time position in January. Over the years, Owens invested extraordinary energy and enthusiasm in developing programs across the campus and connecting ISU with research projects around the world. A specialist on the history of Spain in the era from 1400 to 1700, his own scholarship to date amounts to nearly sixty refereed articles and book chapters and two monographs in both Spanish and English. (read more...)
Accreditation Renewed for Music Degrees
Faculty members in the Department of Music recently received news that accreditation has been renewed for all of the department’s music degrees, which are accredited through the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). Accreditation renewal is evaluated every ten years. The Commission on Accreditation found no deficiencies in the ISU music program and noted only the need for an updated Strategic Plan. (read more...)
ISU Spanish Students and Instructors Achieve 100% Pass Rate on Medical Interpretation Exam
In December 2010, ten Idaho State University Spanish students and three instructors from the Department of Languages & Literatures participated in a Spanish Medical Interpretation Qualification course and exam. The course instructor, Mr. Chris Dimmick, reported that this was the first time that every single participant in a certification class passed the qualification exam on the first try. (read more...)