College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Newsletter for Alums
Fall 2024
In this issue:
Class News and Updates
Miriam Wallace and Emily Todd NEH Spotlight on Humanities Exploration Grant
CLASS Dean Miriam Wallace and Dean of Arts & Sciences at Eastern Connecticut State University, Emily Todd, are co-PIs on a grant with the National Endowment for the Humanities with three other COPLAC (Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges) institutions (University of Mary Washington; Northern State University, and Evergreen State College).
Four faculty on each campus were selected to develop a course unit that engages with generative A.I. to highlight what humanities students and experts bring to thoughtful and critical engagement with the rapidly changing world of A.I. Cohorts are meeting regularly on their campuses and with each other virtually to share questions, concerns, and expertise. Faculty come from many areas of humanistic study, including Art History, Writing Studies, History, Philosophy, and Classics, and multiple interdisciplinary areas include Indigenous Studies and Medieval Studies. Some will begin teaching these units as early as Spring 2025. In May 2025 representatives from each campus will convene at Innovate Springfield downtown to showcase what they’ve built and discuss future directions.
Preparing Classes for Accessibility
In light of DOE's more focused attention on accessibility for students, our expectations for course materials, content online, and CANVAS courses will be much higher than in the past to better accommodate all of our students with the help of the new Digital Accessibility Remediation Team (DART). DART is available to help review and ameliorate everything from PPTs, PDFs, video lectures, podcasts, and related teaching materials.
Professionalization and Career Thinking
CLASS has a new 1-credit hour UNI course focused on "Professionalization and Career Thinking" in the works for this year. Associate Dean Ken Owen has been working on creating this since Spring 2024, in collaboration with our Career Development Center, Office of Engaged Learning, and local employers. Our hope is to offer it in Spring 2025.
Meg Cass's "The Pink Rats Inside Us" and "Griefover"
UIS English and Modern Languages Professor and award-winning fiction writer Meg Cass receives recognition for their work. "The Pink Rats Inside Us" was selected for both the Best Small Fictions of 2024 and the Wigleaf Top 50 Flash Fictions of the Year by Alternating Current Press and Wigleaf Magazine. Additionally, "Griefover" was featured in the Summer 2024 Issue of Smoke and Mold's Magazine.
One Hundred Strings
The UIS Sociology/Anthropology and Music Departments co-sponsored the One Hundred Strings: Traditional Music of India performance on Thursday, October 10.
The band One Hundred Strings is composed of Nirmala Rajasekar (Veena) and Sandeep Chaterjee (Santoor). As part of their Fall 2024 USA Tour, they were joined by Thanjavur K. Murugaboopathi (Mridangam drum) and Ramdas Palsule (Tabla drums). From learning about the history of their instruments and musical structure to experiencing an engaging and improvisational musical act, One Hundred Strings sought to educate and entertain their audience.
Sandeep Chaterjee (left) Ramdas Palsule (right) 
Thanjavur K. Murugaboopathi (left) Nirmala Rajasekar (right)
Alum Spotlight
Jason McCormick
English (B.A.) Jason McCormick says that some of the most essential skills he learned while attending the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences was time management and knowing how to agree and disagree with people in a respectful manner. He believes that knowing how to work through issues and solve problems in a group dynamic is a big part of life.
After graduating in 2023, McCormick has been balancing his time between working on his novel and attending Emerson College for his Masters Degree in the Creative Writing Department. He hopes to publish one or two short stories before he is ready to pitch his novel. As for McCormick’s favorite memory while at UIS, he says it was walking across the stage and receiving his diploma!
Being a student in the College of Liberal Arts gave me access to a terrific UIS faculty. Without their recommendations, I never could have gone to grad school.
Jason McCormick