Office of the President
Mission:
To share the excitement of our faculty's teaching and research
To encourage interdisciplinary discussions across campus
To give you the opportunity to meet your colleagues on the faculty
President Bob Kustra invites all faculty and staff to a new brownbag series of presentations. You may bring your own lunch or purchase one from Aramark, who will have brownbag lunches available for purchase for around $5.
Where and When:
All forums are held in the Lookout Room in the Student Union Building and begin at 12:00 Noon
RSVP:
If you plan to attend, please rsvp by email: president@boisestate.edu
Next Forum:
Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 12-1:30 p.m.,
Lookout Room,
Associate Professor Jonathan Brendefur
Department of Curriculum, Instruction & Foundation Studies, College of Education
"Improving Mathematics Teaching by Developing Mathematical Thinking"
The DMT model has shown to be effective locally and is the driving force behind the newly funded mathematics initiative in Idaho. Scaling up will be a challenge – what is the model? Infusing ideas from the Dutch and Japanese has helped us frame a professional development model that increases teachers’ knowledge of mathematics, changes how they think about and teach mathematics, and improves students’ thinking of and achievement in mathematics.
Dr. Jonathan Brendefur, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the department of Curriculum, Instruction and Foundations Studies at Boise State University and Director of the Initiative for Developing Mathematical Thinking. Dr. Brendefur’s scientific work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, the Kappan, and the Proceedings of the Psychology of Mathematics Education. His research focusing on creating and sustaining mathematics professional development programs for teachers has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, the Albertson’s Foundation, and the Micron Foundation. He is in his 8th year at Boise State.
Previous Forums:
November 28, 2007
Dr. Greg Hampikian, Departments of Biology and Criminal Justice
"DNA, Social Science, and the Arts: How Collaboration Frees the Innocent"
View the Presentation: http://streamer.boisestate.edu/ramgen/dept/president/hampikian.rm
Note: To view the presentation video you will need to have Real Player (download Real Player for PC, download Real Player for Mac OS X)
Forensic Science developed out of a collaboration between basic science, criminal justice, and art. The Innocence Projects, over the past 15 years, have freed over 200 prisoners with a broad based collaborative including journalism, law, and science students. The rapid progress from these efforts followed a clash of academic and professional cultures across disciplinary borders. The success of this program may provide a model for other collaborative endeavors.
Dr. Greg Hampikian, Professor in the Biology and Criminal Justice Departments at Boise State University, Director of the Idaho Innocent Project, and the DNA Expert on the Georgia Innocence Project Board. Dr. Hampikian’s scientific work has been published in journals such as Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is also co-author of “Exit to Freedom,” which chronicles Calvin Johnson’s 17 year battle to prove his innocence, and ultimately his exoneration by DNA evidence. Dr. Hampikian’s work has been covered by the Wall Street Journal and Good Morning America, and has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is in his third year at Boise State.
April 17, 2007
Dr. Robert Minch, COBE (with Dr. Tim Chenoweth and Dr. Sharon Tabor)
"How People Use Wireless Networks" or "What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You"
View video presentation:
Note: To view the presentation video you will need to have Real Player (download Real Player for PC, download Real Player for Mac OS X)
Can you accurately assess the security and privacy risks you face while using wireless networks and adjust your behavior accordingly? Are you aware that wireless laptop computers may be vulnerable to outside attack and their locations can be tracked whenever they are connected? Do the security and privacy implications of this concern you and are you taking the steps necessary to protect yourself?
Drs. Minch, Chenoweth, and Tabor from the College of Business and Economics are conducting research that will help answer these questions for the Boise State campus and beyond. Their research will provide new insights into how people use wireless networks. During the presentation, methods for testing user security will be demonstrated and dynamic real-time statistics and campus location usage patterns will be shown. Come join them for a lively discussion of both technical issues and the societal implications of mobile wireless network usage.
Dr. Minch is Professor of Information Technology Management, and received his PhD in Management Information Systems from Texas Tech University. Dr Tim Chenoweth is Associate Professor of Information Technology Management, and received his PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from Washington State University. Dr. Sharon Tabor is Professor of Information Technology Management, and received her PhD in Business Computer Information Systems from the University of North Texas.
February 14, 2007
Dr. John Gardner
Our Energy Future: Is the Answer "Blowin' in the Wind?"
Not since the 1970's has the issue of energy usage and generation been so central to our national and local discussions. Rising oil and gas prices, the debate over global climate changes and its causes and the projected rise of the Asian economies cause scientists, policy makers and economists to project various doomsday scenarios for the next 50 years. Central to all of this discussion is the way in which we use and manipulate energy. Dr. Gardner will provide a broad overview of the energy "picture" on a global, national and local scale and will present the fundamentals of wind energy, one of the more promising technologies for renewable energy, including insight into the many controversies surrounding its increasing use.
John Gardner is Professor & Chair of the Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering department at Boise State University. His specialty is modeling and control of complex systems and has published two textbooks in that area. Over his 20 year academic career he has worked in areas as diverse as railroad car dynamics, artificial hearts and robotic dolphins. He is currently director of Boise State's wind energy research program in the College of Engineering and teaches courses in engineering dynamics, mechatronics and control systems.
September 27, 2006
Dr. Michael Zirinsky
Between Iraq and a Hard Place: The United States in Iranian History
Dr. Michael Zirinsky is a professor in the Department of History at Boise State and has been teaching here since 1973. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. Since the late 1970s, his primary research area has been Iran's relations with the West. He has presented and published the results of his research in the U.S., Canada, Britain, France and Iran. Dr. Zirinsky's presentation will examine the long history of US-Iranian relations, leading up to the present confrontation, which threatens nuclear war.
March 1, 2006
Dr. Jill K. Gill
What Happened To The Religious Left In America?
Given the powerful presence of the religious right today in American life, it is easy to forget that from the 1920s to the mid 1970s the religious left exercised far more political influence than did the right. So what precipitated this shift? Come and explore with Dr. Jill Gill the historical journey of the religious left as well as the significance of it for the progressive community, the Democratic party, and the nation at large.
Dr. Jill K. Gill is an Associate Professor of History at Boise State University. Her research specialty is the 20th C. religious left in America. She is currently writing a manuscript on the response of the ecumenical movement (i.e. largely Protestant liberal churches) to the Vietnam War.
January 31, 2006
Jeffrey Wilhelm
Reading Don't Fix No Chevys
Jeffrey Wilhelm, an associate professor of English education at Boise State University, will provide an interactive presentation focusing on his studies into the literate lives of boys, both inside and outside of school. Dr. Wilhelm received the David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in Education for his studies in this area, which have implications for instructional leaders, teachers, classroom practices and university professors.
December 7, 2005
Gregory Kaltenecker: Idaho Bird Observatory
Gregory Kaltenecker is Director of the Idaho Bird Observatory and a member of the research faculty in the Department of Biology. The Idaho Bird Observatory was co-founded in 1993 by Kaltenecker, who earned a master's degree in raptor biology at Boise State, and by biology professor Marc Bechard after it was discovered that the Boise Ridge is an important staging area for migrating birds during fall, and is one of only a few known sites in the world where great numbers of diurnal raptors, songbirds, and forest owls concentrate at the same location during fall migration. Gregory will provide an overview of the program, which takes advantage of this outstanding local resource by conducting long-term research, providing training and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and by conducting environmental education and outreach within the local community.