Department News and Newsletters

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Adjunct faculty Jessica Beagan gave a two part presentation at Cultures Week in March 2007 at Oakton. Part I is an overview of Microcredit and its impact on the lives of poor women in developing countries like Uganda and Bangladesh . The founder of Grameen Bank and so-called father of microcredit, Muhammad Yunis, won the Nobel Prize in Economics last year, so Beagan will briefly talk about his work too. Part II will relate to her doctoral research on the use of popular media in formal and non-formal adult education settings. Specifically, it's about how Beagan used a documentary called "ABC Africa" in a class at Robert Morris last fall to teach her students about both the AIDS epidemic and about the positive impact of microcredit in Uganda . Inspired by the documentary, her students organized a fundraiser for UWESO, the NGO profiled in the film, and raised $1425 to assist their efforts. The main idea behind the presentation is that films and documentaries can be used to great effect in the classroom, and that their use opens up the world for students to see the plights of people and places far from their own, ultimately helping them to connect to other human beings.

Adjunct Faculty Susan Doll notes that this year is the 30th anniversary of Elvis's death, so I am writing a series of 3 short books on Elvis--each focusing on a facet of his life or career. I am in the process of negotiating a deal to write a book on heavy-metal rocker Darrell Abbott, who was shot and killed on stage two years ago. I am writing it with a partner, and we are doing it at the request of the Abbott estate. It has been a very interesting experience so far.

Adjunct Faculty Thomas Finger left for London in February 2007 to present a talk on Anabaptist theology in Bristol & Aberdeen, Scotland.  Finger will also meet with a leading Iranian Shi'a professor from Qom , who's there on sabbatical and a Spanish Catholic woman will be involved in Shi'a dialogue. In January 2007, Finger presented at a conference on non-violent atonement in Lancaster , PA.   His article, "Wie koennte eine Theologies aus Geist der Tauefertum heute aussehen?" appeared in the Mennonitische Geshicthsblaetter 2006 (in December). Finger also attended an Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the main address at a Conference on the theme of "the Mahdi" in Iran in December 2006(?). The Conference theme was "the Mahdi," a savior whom many Muslims, and especially Iran 's Shi'a Muslims, expect to establish world-wide justice and peace at the End of history". Since they expect Jesus to return with the Mahdi, Finger was invited to speak on the Christian hope for Jesus' coming. Finger was also involved in longer conversations with President Ahmadinejad that evening, and when he came to New York in September 2007. Though Finger is bothered by some things he says, he sounds very different, and more credible, when explaining his views in his own words than in the brief, highly negative print- and sound-bites he usually receives in our media.

Adjunct faculty Douglas Giles gave a talk entitled: Temperature rising: global to local threats against academic freedom In fall 2005, Douglas Giles was wrongfully terminated from his job as a contract lecturer at Roosevelt University in Chicago , merely for allowing open and respectful discussion of Judaism and Islam in his World Religions class. Because his Union , the Roosevelt Adjunct Faculty Organization, fought for him, and because he attracted public support, Prof. Giles won a settlement in his termination case. But he remains committed to speaking out against all violations of
academic freedom,in post-911 America and elsewhere.

Adjunct faculty Gail Gingsburg recently had an article published in the World Jewish Digest. Her controversial article, "Why Choose Judaism?" focused on comparisons between Evangelical Christian and contemporary Jewish approaches to outreach. A follow-up article will be published this spring. Ginsburg teaches a popular and ongoing 16-week Introduction to Judaism course at Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation in Skokie .
In March she is the featured speaker at an event at B'nai Joshua, Beth Elohim Synagogue in Glenview , Illinois . 

Adjunct Faculty Peter Hudis co- edited "The Rosa Luxemburg Reader," has been invited to be the keynote speaker at conference on "Political Power--State, Party, and Popular Liberation" at the University of Capetown , South Africa , in March. He will also be giving talks at the Centre of Civil Society at the University of KwaZuluNatal in Durban and at Khanya College , Centre of Sociological Research, in Johannesburg . Peter is also working on a study of the last years of Rosa Luxemburg's Life, entitled "From War to Revolution: Rosa Luxemburg's Vision of Self-Emancipation."

Adjunct Faculty David Hunter gave a performance during Cultures Week in March 2007 at Oakton of “and the wind blew the door shut...” Inspired by quantum physics and Zen poetry, this piece is performed using digital signal processing, which provides a soundscape for the composer's improvisational instrumental and vocal performance. He is also teaching Intro to World Music at the Skokie campus and Intro to Music at the DP campus, and is also teaching Ethnic Instruments in Film Scoring at Columbia College in conjunction with Hollywood film composer Andy Hill. David has also had performances of his piece "and the wind blew the door shut" for the Firewire Ensemble in Evanston in December, and will be performing the same piece during Oakton's Culture Week in March. David is also having a computer music piece premiered in London as part of a lecture series by Professor Philip Bohlman ( University of Chicago ) entitled "The Silence of Music." David is also busy in his home studio preparing two new CDs for release later in the year.  

Adjunct Faculty D. Kevin McNeir has been selected to present a lecture on Alternative Press – The Relevance of the Black Press in the New Millennium at the College Media Advisors annual meeting in Washington , D.C. in August. McNeir is doing research now and is very excited about the opportunity. While at a conference, McNeir noticed that very few presentations addressed alternative press in general and the black press (or Latino press) in particular compelling the submission of his proposal. And given that the majority of his years in the newspaper business have been writing for alternative press, McNeir thought he would be a good candidate to speak to the contributions that we make to society.

  Adjunct Faculty Linda Peters conducted research and wrote the report for the City of Chicago that led to landmarking Carl Sandburg's Chicago residence in Ravenswood.  It contains the rooms he and his wife rented while he wrote his famous poem that contains the line "city of big shoulders."  Originally the current building owner objected to the landmarking but this was finally overcome and the building recently became a Chicago Landmark.            

Adjunct faculty Judd Renken gave a presentation during Cultures Week in March 2007 at Oakton entitled
Welcome to the Counterculture in which he will explore the values and aesthetics of the vibrant countercultures that exist throughout “mainstream” America .

Adjunct Faculty John Rizzo directed a full production of Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata for Elgin OPERA last spring. In the summer, The Italian Opera Company of Chicago , of which Rizzo is the Artistic Director, performed Verdi's Il trovatore for several occasions, including the Festa Italiana in Milwaukee . The Italian Opera Company is performing a concert at Triton College on March 18, 2007. Rizzo has also written several cover stories for the magazine Amici Journal ,
including interviews with Chazz Palminteri and Lorraine Bracco.            

Adjunct Faculty Vincent Samar "discussed privacy concerns in the context of same-sex marriage. He argued that the private aspects of marriage indicate that marriage is a human right because it advances human self-fulfillment in a way that cannot be accomplished outside of marriage. Using a recent New York Court of Appeals decision, he argues why laws that recognize only opposite-sex marriage demean the human dignity of both opposite-sex partners and same-sex partners".
- The Montana Law Review

Adjunct faculty Mark Samberg recently gave a talk on Spinoza at Temple Beth Israel in Skokie . 
Members of the congregation had read Rebecca Goldstein's Betraying Spinoza, and asked Mr. Samberg to give a lecture
on the philosophy of the Dutch thinker.

Adjunct Faculty Harvind Kaur Singh has a Work in Progress that is going to be shown in Toronto on April 14th
at the Centennial Foundation Annual Gala. They will be previewing the first in my series Sikh Portraits: Glorious Past Brilliant Future Dalip Singh Saund -- Unsung Hero. 

Adjunct Faculty Ananda Satya Spike gave a presentation during Cultures Week in March 2007 at Oakton entitled Great Themes in World Mythologies in which she will explore such themes as: the creation of the universe and humanity;
hero and trickster figures; life, death and rebirth; cosmic and social order; concepts of good and evil;
and the symbolism of animals and natural elements.

Associate Professor Amy Zumfelde gave a presentation at Cultures Week in March 2007 at Oakton: From Goethe and Nietzsche, to the producers of Mostly Martha , Germans have long held a fascination with Italy, viewing it as a sunny and passionate Dionysian counterpart to Germany's cold and serious Apollonian nature.

Copyright © 2001 Oakton Community College. Last update 6/12/2007.

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