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Celebrating Faculty on Fridays

August 24, 2022
Submitted By: T. Stores

Beginning on Friday, Aug. 26, and continuing every Friday throughout the 2022-23 academic year, faculty development, faculty support, faculty successes, and faculty community will be celebrated in a series of workshops, groups, receptions and opportunities at the University of Hartford. An initial schedule of activities and events are outlined below, and more will be added as the semester progresses. Each opportunity will be shared in future UNotes articles and the schedule will be updated as new events are added. 

Each Friday during the regular semester, mornings will include a rotating schedule of open office hours for faculty with the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation Julie Sochacki, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs T. Stores, Faculty Wellness Discussions, and a Faculty Writing Support Group. 

From noon-2 p.m., the Private Dining Room in University Commons is reserved for faculty use. Bring your own lunch, or purchase lunch at University Commons, and join your friends and colleagues for casual conversation and community. 

From 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on most Fridays, notable faculty accomplishments such as new book publications will be celebrated with a talk and reception that is open to faculty, students and the public. (The list below is partial; more events to be added soon!)

Faculty Fridays: Fall 2022

9:30 a.m.- noon Faculty Writing Community 

Sept. 16; Oct. 14; Nov. 4

(CTEI/Creative Technologies Center, lower level of Mortensen Library) 

The Faculty Writing Community will enhance scholarly productivity by helping faculty carve out a block of time for projects that would otherwise have been sidelined by other commitments. This community meets in person in the CTEI space in the lower level of the Harrison Libraries. Participants bring their laptop and/or whatever else they need to work. CTEI provides snacks and refreshments but otherwise leaves faculty alone to write. Open to all faculty from 9:30–noon.

9:30 a.m.- noon Faculty Wellness Discussions

Sept. 30; Oct. 21

Faculty Wellness Discussions are held via Zoom to rejuvenate and inspire faculty throughout the semester. Topics will include creating individualized wellness plans, identifying your core values, and aligning your time with your priorities. As institutional members, we encourage all faculty to log into NCFDD at www.facultydiversity.org for more wellness support and programming. 

9:30 a.m.- noon Open Office Hours: Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs

Aug. 26; Sept. 9; Sept. 23; Oct. 7; Nov. 11; Nov. 18; Dec. 2; Dec. 9; or by appointment any time.

(CC331) 

Bring your questions, concerns, ideas, or just drop by to chat. T will be in! If you’d rather Zoom or schedule a different time or day, just email stores@hartford.edu .

10 a.m.-noon CTEI Community Office Hours

Sept. 23; Oct. 28 (Creative Technologies Center in Mortensen)

(plus Wednesday, Sept. 14, 6–7, Zoom; Wednesday, Oct. 19, 6–7, Zoom; and Individual Office hours, by appointment)

noon-2 p.m. Faculty Dining Room

Private Dining Room in The Commons 

Bring your own lunch or buy lunch at The Commons. The Private Dining Room will be reserved every Friday (except Sept. 16, Oct. 7, Nov. 4for faculty to dine and socialize with colleagues. 

2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Faculty Accolades Receptions 

Come celebrate recent accomplishments by faculty at the University of Hartford. Open to faculty, staff, students and the community.

Sept. 9 : Hartford Art School Faculty Art Show

Members of the Hartford Art School Faculty exhibit their work from September 1-October 8 in Joseloff Gallery, with an opening on September 2, from 1-5 p.m. A week later, we’ll sit down with a panel of selected faculty artists for a roundtable discussion of their art and the show. Reception to follow.

Sept. 16Karen Cook

Music Theory in Late Medieval Avignon: Magister Johannes Pipardi

The manuscript Seville, Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular 5-2-25, a composite of dozens of theoretical treatises, is one of the primary witnesses to late medieval music theory. Its numerous copies of significant texts have been the focus of substantial scholarly attention to date, but the shorter, unattributed, or fragmentary works have not yet received the same scrutiny. In this monograph, Dr. Cook, Associate Professor of Music History in The Hartt School, demonstrates that a small group of such works, linked to the otherwise unknown Magister Johannes Pipudi, is in fact much more noteworthy than previous scholarship has observed. Join us for Dr. Cook’s talk to learn how, and stay for the reception.

Step. 23: Nat Duford

Solidarity in Conflict: A Democratic Theory

Democracy has become disentangled from our ordinary lives. Mere cooperation or ethical consumption now often stands in for a robust concept of solidarity that structures the entirety of sociality and forms the basis of democratic culture. How did democracy become something that is done only at ballot boxes and what role can solidarity play in reviving it? In Solidarity in Conflict, Dr. DuFord presents a theory of solidarity fit for developing democratic life and a complementary theory of democracy that emerges from a society typified by solidarity. Join us for a talk with Dr. DuFord about these ideas, and for the reception to follow.

Sept. 30: MD Kamruzzaman Sarker

Neuro-Symbolic Artificial Intelligence: The State of the Art

Neuro-symbolic artificial intelligence is an emerging subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that brings together two hitherto distinct approaches. ”Neuro” refers to the artificial neural networks prominent in machine learning, ”symbolic” refers to algorithmic processing on the level of meaningful symbols, prominent in knowledge representation. In this book, Neuro-Symbolic Artificial Intelligence: The State of the Art, MD Kamruzzaman (Zaman) Sarker, Assistant Professor of Computing Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, and co-editor P. Hitzler provide an overview of the cross-over between the two fields of AI in a collection of 17 chapters by authors who have made significant contributions. Dr. Sarker will talk about his book, followed by a reception to celebrate its publication.

Oct 7: Kat Owens

Entangled and Ingested: The Sperm Whale

Dr. Katharine Owens, Professor of Politics and Government in the College of Arts & Sciences, creates life-size canvasses of marine life out of discarded plastic to help teach others how it is harmful to animals. Her work to create these pieces, with help from school children and the public, has received public acclaim throughout the region. The Sperm Whale, measuring 20 x 50 feet, will come to the University of Hartford for exhibition throughout the month of October. Join us to see the artwork, hear Dr. Owens talk about the project, and stay for the reception afterward.

Nov. 4: Elizabeth Dill

Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy 

Director of University Libraries Elizabeth Dill is co-editor, with Mary Ann Cullen, of a timely new collection that models creative and effective strategies to advance both open education and information literacy. Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy captures current open education and information literacy theory and practice and provides inspiration for the future. Chapters include practical applications, theoretical musings, literature reviews, and case studies and discuss social justice issues, collaboration, open pedagogy, training, and advocacy. Elizabeth Dill’s expertise on OER will frame a lively discussion on the opportunities of OER for students, faculty and the academy. Reception to follow.

Nov. 11: Michael Walsh

Durational Cinema: A Short History of Long Films

Michael Walsh, Associate Professor of Cinema in the College of Arts & Sciences, argues in his new book for a durational cinema that is distinct from slow cinema, and outlines the history of its three main waves: the New York avant-garde of the 1960s, the European art cinema in the years after 1968, and the international cinema of gallery spaces as well as film festivals since the 1990s. Join us for a short talk by Dr. Walsh followed by a reception to celebrate the publication.

Dec. 2: Nicholas Ealy and Alexandra Onuf

Violence, Trauma, and Memory: Responses to War in the Late Medieval and Early Modern World  

The edited volume Violence, Trauma, and Memory: Responses to War in the Late Medieval and Early Modern World brings together eight essays that examine medieval and early modern violence and warfare in France, the Hispanic World, and the Dutch Republic through the lens of trauma studies and memory studies. By focusing on warfare, these essays by historians, literary specialists, and historians of visual culture demonstrate how individuals and groups living with the “ungraspable” outcomes of wartime violence grappled with processing and remembering (both culturally and politically) the trauma of war. The editors, Dr. Nicholas Ealy, Professor English in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Dr. Onuf, Associate Professor of Art History in the Hartford Art School, will discuss the book, followed by a reception to celebrate it.

Coming in Spring 2023

Jan 27: Rachel E. Walker

Beauty and the Brain: The Science of Human Nature in Early America

Examining the history of phrenology and physiognomy, Beauty and the Brain proposes a bold new way of understanding the connection between science, politics, and popular culture in early America. Dr. Walker, Assistant Professor of History in the College of Arts & Sciences, will give a brief talk, which will be followed by a reception to celebrate the publication of her new book. All are welcome!

For more information or to inquire about other faculty events and opportunities, contact T. Stores (stores@hartford.edu).