Funded Projects
| Project Title | Overview of the Project |
|---|---|
| Attendance and paper presentations at two international academic conferences (Computational Complexity Conference in San Diego and the Symposium on Theory of Computing) Ilya Volkovich Engineering $2000.00 |
In the framework of the on-going project to increase awareness of theoretical computer science education on campus, joint with the Department of Mathematics, I would like to attend two leading conferences in theory of computation, happening in the Los Angeles area in June 2018. |
| iPad Pro and Stylus for Classroom Teaching and Research Jonathan Hanson Public Policy $1096.40 |
The main goal of this project is to change the way I teach statistics by using an iPad Pro with stylus to produce a slide presentation and hand-drawn illustrations simultaneously on screen. Our classrooms are not well set-up for teaching that involves both a slide presentation and chalkboard. Typically, the screen covers the chalkboard, and switching back-and-forth is not practical. Slides are very important for foundational material, but many students learn content better when the main points can be illustrated live by working through problems. The precise drawing capabilities of the iPad Pro will permit me to easily make markings directly on slides or switch rapidly to a blank screen to illustrate a point. The iPad will also help support my research by serving as a platform for reading and storing articles and as a conference presentation device. |
| Travel to Germany to research new German 232 course on "Wellness" Catherine Marquardt LSA - Germanic Languages and Literatures $2000.00 |
I am requesting funding to support a one week trip to Germany to research and gather materials for a new German 232 course on Wellness. While the term “wellness” is often used in the U.S. and Germany today, this most recent concept of wellness dates back to medical and intellectual movements during the 19th century in Germany. I plan to attend an introductory course on Sebastian Kneipp, who developed a holistic system of health and well-being in the 19th century based on nutrition, exercise, medicinal herbs, hydrotherapy, and physical and mental balance. These topics will form units in the course, and will provide a foundation for comparisons with other wellness practices in Germany today. I also intend to visit several museums to research the historical roots of natural healing. One museum is dedicated to the origins and trajectory of Sebastian Kneipp’s career and is home to an herbal garden designed by Kneipp himself. The German Pharmacy Museum traces the history of healthcare in Germany. Pharmacies play a much different role in Germany than in the United States. Pharmacists offer medical advice and prescribe both pharmaceutical and natural healing products. I plan to research historical and alternative remedies offered by pharmacies. In the German 232 course, I also plan to teach the students about current trends in wellness, including food, exercise, and lifestyle. This trip will allow me to visit wellness establishments to gather materials for instructional use in the classroom. |
| Facades Plus - Integrating Practice and Discipline Viola Ago Architecture and Urban Planning $2000.00 |
This proposal seeks funding in the amount of $2,000 from the Professional Development Fund to support research and teaching in the field of advanced digital technologies related to the design and construction of façades and building envelopes. To be specific, the grant will support participation in the yearly Facades Plus Conference + Workshops that takes place on April 6-7 in New York City, NY. My participation in this event will expand my knowledge and expertise in the current and rapidly developing softwares used by architects and engineers who are actively seeking to further the fusion of building design and construction via technology. The conference part is valuable as an introduction to the new discoveries in façade design and construction, in terms of energy models, material intelligence, solar and lighting analysis, structural models, etc. The workshop phase is equally as important as it offers an empirical understanding of the topics covered in the conference. This holistic approach will enable me acquire the theoretical and practical expertise necessary for the continuation of my development as a façade specialist as a practitioner and an academic. The ambition for this endeavor is to integrate professional development into the pedagogy of architectural education, as at times the gap between the academy and the practice becomes too wide. To be specific, this expertise is to be integrated into my yearlong graduate thesis class, my hackathon event on cladding, as well as my required graduate level fabrication class that focuses on the integration of thinking and making. |
| Presenting at the German Studies Association Conference and the Modern Languages Association Conference $2000.00 |
I would like to present on two different aspects of Herta Müller's works at the German Studies Association Conference in October 2017 and the Modern Languages Association Conference in January 2018, respectively. My goal is threefold. I would like to draw on feedback received during these conferences in order to refine two new courses I am currently developing for 2018. I would like to propose a course in my department, Germanic Languages and Literatures, that examines the fertile exchanges and tensions between "East" and "West" in Germany and Austria. My second proposal, to the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies, would attempt to rectify the almost complete lack of course offerings on Romania at the University of Michigan. As a German-Romanian emigrant and 2009 Nobel-Prize Laureate for Literature, Herta Müller would constitute a key figure in both courses. By participating in these two conferences I also aim to sharpen my thoughts on this author and prepare my writing for publication. Last but not least, I hope to gather new ideas on ways of teaching this author and others like her in future undergraduate courses and as part of "German Day." This is an important outreach event sponsored yearly by my department during which hundreds of high school students and their teachers gather on campus to participate in a variety of cultural activities. This year's topic is "Writers and Thinkers," and I will lobby to include Herta Müller among them. |
| Attendance at academic conference to present preliminary work with client-based projects Lisa Grimble Engineering $1085.00 |
I am applying for funding to attend the 2017 Annual Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC) Conference as a first step toward gaining the academic insight and networking connections needed to move forward with designing and implementing a reflective component to client-based projects in my E100 (Introduction to Engineering), a general education course for College of Engineering students. I am presenting as part of a panel titled “Applying student-centered, active-learning pedagogy to technical communication service and General Education required courses through various teaching models” with my specific focus resting upon implementing client-based projects and improving student motivation and learning in E100 by deliberately collecting and analyzing student reflections at various project points (pre, midway, and post). Input from the panel discussion as well as networking with professionals in the field will serve to benefit my future course and project development, resulting in a positive impact on student learning. I would like to use this conference experience as a springboard to further develop the client-based project aspect of this course with an eye toward sharing this course’s progress and impact on student learning with my colleagues at the University of Michigan as well as at future conferences, such as American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference taking place in June, 2018. |
| Participation in 2018 International Association of Classical Archaeology Conference David Stone LSA - Classical Studies $1985.21 |
I am applying for financial support to attend the 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology, which takes place May 22-26, 2018 in Bonn, Germany. The theme of the conference is “Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World”. My paper entitled “Linked Economies: Regional Networks and North African Urbanism”, has been accepted in panel session 8.14 of the conference. This research that I undertake for the paper will further my professional development as an archaeologist, and will enhance my role as a Lecturer I at the University of Michigan. as I develop lectures and courses in the area of Roman archaeology. Participation in the Conference will advance the educational and research missions of the University of Michigan and the Department of Classical Studies in which I teach. If a Lecturer’s Professional Development Grant is awarded, I will use this to cover travel and expenses during my participation in the conference. |
| BETWEEN FRAMES: THE PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH OF ROBERT SLUTZKY IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE Hans Peter Tursack Architecture and Urban Planning $2000.00 |
This proposal would fund a year-long research project into the pedagogical research and design work of the artist-architect-educator Robert Slutzky (1929-2005). The initiative would involve archival activities, audio interviews with significant designers and historians and discussions/lectures in a graduate thesis seminar. The research would materialize at the end of the project as a written article, a series of interviews edited for a podcast platform and a proposal for an exhibition of his paintings, drawings and papers. - Robert Slutzy is well known in advanced architectural circles as the co-author of two infamous articles dealing with the relationship of Cubist painting and Modernist architecture written in the 1950s. However, Slutzky continued to write, teach, and produce paintings and design proposals well into the 1990s. Slutzky’s later work involved regular exhibitions of his abstract paintings, design proposals that fused architecture with graphic problems and written theories exploring the relationship between color, two-dimensional imagery and the optical perceptual of architectural space. This project (largely absent in contemporary aesthetic theory) effectively marries architecture and painting in a manner that anticipates digital drawing problems such as texture, pattern and image-mapping. Slutzky’s later texts, images and design work are largely unpublished and remain obscure, though his theories dealing with the interaction of architecture and painting have deep implications for visual education in the digital age. This CRLT grant would facilitate the dissemination of this critical work through multiple publication platforms. |
| Attendance at the 2018 Comic Salon Erlangen Mary Gell LSA - Germanic Languages and Literatures $2000.00 |
As a teacher of German, I previously felt frustrated by the lack of authentic reading materials that were both comprehensible and appealing to first-, second- and third-year university students of German. With the explosion in comic production over the last ten years in Germany, however, I can now offer my students an enormous variety of compelling graphic texts. Indeed, I firmly believe that as the famed author of Maus, Art Spiegelman, puts it: “Comics are the gateway drug to literacy.” With this conviction, I am applying for funding to attend the Comic Salon in Erlangen, Germany in May 2018. The Salon is the world’s largest, most important German-language comic festival, attracting around 25,000 German-speaking artists, authors, publishers and students of graphic literature. I wish to attend author readings, signings, workshops, discussions, exhibitions, presentations and films. By attending, I could place my finger on the pulse of the dynamic German comic scene. I could meet with authors and artists in person and open up lines of communication between them, my colleagues and students. In addition, I could purchase for our comics collection in the LRC many of the limited print comics made by young artists only at such events. I would also buy from used comic book sellers old East and West German comics that are typically hard to locate outside of Germany. Attendance at the Salon would allow me to enhance the collection that all our German language program students have access to and ultimately promote literacy among our students. |
| Attendance at 2018 Power of Narrative Conference Susan Rosegrant LSA - Residential College $1380.00 |
I’m requesting an LPDF grant in order to attend the 2018 Power of Narrative Conference, to be held in Boston, March 23-25, 2018. This conference, first held in 1998, brings together writers, publishers, and educators who are committed to learning about, producing, and teaching exemplary work in narrative journalism and creative non-fiction. The combination of renowned speakers, participatory workshops, and opportunities to interact with other writing professionals creates an ideal and potent situation for learning. My previous experience with the conference has helped me to keep current with developments in the genre, contributed to my own narrative writing, and made me a stronger teacher; the benefits to my students are clear and immediate. I would greatly appreciate the funding from CRLT that would make it possible for me to attend next spring. |
| Organizational psychology: Positive and identity perspectives Mari Johanna Kira LSA - Psychology $1999.00 |
Focusing on Organizational Psychology, I include in my teaching both classic and novel theoretical models and empirical findings. My aim is to help students to understand how these models and findings can be applied to enhance employees’ well-being along with organizations’ performance. To secure the scholarly accuracy of my teaching, I base my teaching on research published in high-ranking, peer-reviewed journals. Having access to relevant, up-to-date literature is vital for my courses and for my professional development. With the Development Fund’s grant, I would acquire an annual subscription to the Harvard Business Review (including their online content for teaching) and an annual membership in the Academy of Management (which includes subscriptions to their journals: i.e., the Academy of Management Review, Journal, Perspectives, Learning and Education, Discoveries, and Annals). I’m also applying support to attend the annual meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) in Chicago in 2018. The AOM Meeting is the most important annual gathering of the Organizational Psychology scholars and educators. At the AOM Meeting, I will co-host the traditional Gathering of the Community of Scholars in Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS). This Gathering attracts around 100 POS scholars from around the world, and engages them in co-creation of ideas on how organizations can elevate the health and well-being of their employees. The insights created in the Gathering, and attending the Meeting’s Professional Development Workshops, presentations, and symposia, will enrich my teaching and scholarship. |
| Attendance at academic conferences to present pedagogy in engineering communication classrooms Elaine Wisniewski Engineering $2000.00 |
I am applying for $2000 in funding to attend and/or present at three conferences for the 2017-2018 academic year. One paper has already been accepted for the panel, “Applying student-centered, active-learning pedagogy to technical communication service and General Education required courses through various teaching models,” at the 2017 Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC) in Savannah, Georgia on October 6, 2017. The second paper is under review for the panel, “First-year experiences and STEM discourses: Making audience real” at the 2018 College Composition and Communication Conference (CCCC) in Kansas City, Missouri in March 14-17, 2018. The third paper is under review for the panel, “Pedagogical approaches for enhancing connections between STEM students, industry, and faculty” at the 2018 International Writing Across the Curriculum (IWAC) conference in Auburn, Georgia in June 4-6, 2018. Attending and/or presenting at these conferences will allow me to learn from and network with national scholars and bring their research and teaching practices to my colleagues at the University of Michigan to benefit our students’ learning in our classroom. |
| Increasing Reading Engagement: Development of a Visual Novel Game for Novice Learners Yuta Mori LSA $1652.00 |
Creating reading materials on enjoyable topics is difficult at the very novice level of foreign language teaching due to limited vocabulary and grammar expressions. This project aims to utilize this visual novel media so that beginners of a foreign language can use to read for fun. Our visual novels, like textbooks, include lots of text, but they also have music and character illustrations to help learners get absorbed into the story. The biggest gameplay aspect of our visual novels is choices; the learner has to decide what the main character does when presented with a variety of options. Different choices can lead to different story plotlines, and the learner can create and read their own story. Pilot survey results suggest that visual novels can be a promising tool to increase motivation for reading and develop adaptive strategies to navigate real life scenarios, beyond the scope of the student's ability, helping students acquire cultural competency and confidence, which is vital to intercultural communication. Ultimately, we would like to make these visual novels available online for people all over the world. |
| 2018 Latin American Studies Association Conference David Frye LSA $2000.00 |
I seek funding for attending the 2018 LASA meeting in Barcelona, Spain, where I plan to present a paper on “Lo cubano in Translating Cuban Literature,” as part of a panel on “Translations / Traducciones: In Search of Transnational Cuban Voices.” This will accomplish three goals. First, interacting with international scholars of Latin America will directly benefit my teaching. I offer two courses on Latin America and use examples my research in my other courses. As LASA is the most important organization of scholars on the region, I will use the new data and stories I gather from panels and personal interactions to update lectures, class discussion notes, and AV materials, as I have done at previous LASA meetings. Second, exchanging ideas with my fellow panelists and audience members will help sharpen my ideas for two works that I currently am preparing for publication. Third, I expect to take advantage of the conference location to meet with Barcelona-based writers I whose works I have translated and others whose works I may translate in the future. I find that such meetings give me important background information, helping me to convey the cultural meanings of their works effectively to English-speaking audiences. |
| Using 3D Modeling and Printing for Teaching Archaeology and Ancient History Howard Tsai LSA - Latin American and Caribbean Studies $1138.00 |
Funding is requested for the development of a collaborative project connecting 3D technology with archaeology. After working with the UM 3D Lab in scanning and printing museum artifacts, I propose to establish a network link with the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL) at the Virginia Commonwealth University. This is a one-of-a-kind laboratory dedicated to 3D technology in archaeology. The objectives of my project are (1) to learn the technology and methodology used by Dr. Means in his 3D lab; (2) to understand their application of 3D modeling, scanning, and printing to research and teaching in archaeology; (3) to connect our UM 3D Lab with VCL to facilitate a free flow of ideas and methods; and (4) to formulate models of incorporating this technology to teaching by developing 3D lesson modules. |
| Michigan Student Caucus Design Thinking Project Jeffrey Stanzler Education $1855.00 |
I seek support for work related to the Education 362 (“Michigan Student Caucus”) course, and an associated web-based civic engagement activity, in which students debate contemporary political issues, and write legislative proposals that are ultimately presented before a House Committee in Lansing. This work is partially supported by experienced students who serve as peer mentors, charged with helping the students to do quality work. The course has undergone extensive recent changes in the service of providing students with the guidance and structure they need to do rigorous work on their proposals. This work has also been productively complicated by the fact that many high school students now participate in the project. We are incorporating the “design thinking” model into the activity, as a means to scaffold the conceptual steps of project work for all concerned. I seek funding to support the creation of a set of “design mindset” cards that concretize the various dimensions of the process, offering users game-like points of entry into the design mindset, and ideas for how to navigate difficulties, based on a model created by a faculty colleague. I also seek funding to create a more robust infrastructure to support high school student participants and their teachers. I will work with my colleague Jay McDowell, a member of the Social Studies faculty at Howell High School and a fellow Education 362 instructor, to expand a "toolkit" for high school teachers that will also be used to help support our undergraduate peer mentors. |
| Editorial Assistance for "An American Pageant," a novel manuscript Laura Thomas LSA - Residential College $1100.00 |
I am requesting funding from the CRLT Lecturers’ Development Fund to obtain editorial assistance to ready my novel manuscript for submission to agents and editors. The novel, “An American Pageant,” tells the story of a county sheriff in rural Southeast Michigan whose unraveling marriage distracts him from the search for a missing Detroit teen. After completing several drafts and soliciting feedback from readers, I wish to work with an experienced editor of literary fiction to guide my final drafting process. I have contacted noted novelist and editor Emily Schultz to work with me on this project. Ms. Schultz will assess narrative flow, structure, and development, and recommend cuts to shape the manuscript to a more marketable length. She’ll also review and discuss my revisions over several email exchanges. In addition to polishing my manuscript, this professional practice will help me develop new revision strategies to teach in my creative writing courses. Student mastery of an individualized, comprehensive revision process is a core learning objective in the Residential College’s creative writing program and an essential skill for writers to practice early in their writing lives. I am particularly passionate in my teaching about the creative opportunities revision offers the writer. Refreshing, and challenging, my own revision process under expert guidance will help me to new develop editing strategies to bring to the creative writing classroom. |
| Tonal Language Visualizer (Mandarin Chinese version) Jinyi Li LSA $2000.00 |
I am seeking the LPDG to start on a pilot project, Tonal Language Visualizer (Mandarin Chinese version), using open source speech analysis software (Praat), which allows Chinese learners to hear a native speaker of Mandarin say words and phrases while seeing a visual display of the native speaker’s pitch curves, and to record themselves reading the same words and phrases, and/or to compare their own pitch contours to those of the native speaker. I aim to enhance the students’ ability to distinguish the four tones from both audio and visual stimulations, therefore eventually to improve their speaking accuracy, by imitating the native speaker’s tones. |
| Attendance/Presenting at ASEE 2018 Robin Fowler Engineering $1760.00 |
I am requesting funds to support my travel to and participation in the 2018 annual conference of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), the largest engineering education conference. I anticipate presenting at this conference, though abstracts are not due until the end of the month, and I won't know until early 2018 whether my papers have been accepted. At minimum, I will be a session facilitator for the conference. |
| Teaching with Technology workshop Maria Esther Angulo Blanco LSA - Romance Languages and Literatures $2000.00 |
I am applying for funding to attend a workshop entitled Teaching with Technology in Seville, Spain from August 20-23, 2018. The workshop will provide me an opportunity to explore ways digital tools and pedagogies can be used to address unique learning challenges or goals in my courses. The course has been designed for instructors interested in critically analyzing the impact that technology is having on pedagogy and in reflecting on how technology and pedagogy can be integrated in the classroom in order to address instructional challenges. Furthermore, this workshop will allow me to meet and interact with other colleagues from all over the world, which will give me new insight into the concerns and issues of pedagogy and will keep me updated on the new trends in this field. After participating, I will be able to design my courses more efficiently by implementing learning solutions incorporating technologies. |
| SIGSE 2018 – Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education Conference Andrew DeOrio Engineering $1783.00 |
This proposal would fund my attendance at the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) conference in Baltimore Maryland, February 2018. My goal in attending this conference is to develop my skills as an instructor and a coordinator for large-enrollment computer science courses, and to bring the latest research-based instructional practices back to my department. |
| Participation in an International Professional Program on Contemporary Manifestations of Popular Culture and its Incorporation in the Spanish as a Foreign Language (FL) Classroom $2000.00 |
I am applying for this LPDF grant in order to participate in an international professional program on contemporary manifestations of popular culture and its incorporation in the Spanish as a foreign language (FL) classroom, taking place during two weeks in July 2017 in an accredited institution in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain). The program includes 40 contact hours and extra out-of-classroom activities. With this professional development activity, I will gain skills on how to enhance students’ Communicative Competence while teaching Spanish popular culture to my undergraduate students at the University of Michigan, and it will also provide me with a broad repertoire of materials and ideas for the Spanish courses I teach in the Elementary Language Program (ELP) at the department of Romance Languages and Literatures. As a language Lecturer, the LPDF grant will allow me to acquire new perspectives and notions on the implementation of different forms of popular culture in order to foster students’ interest and motivation in the FL classroom. Likewise, receiving this grant will make an impact in at least 108 undergraduate students annually who choose Spanish in order to complete the language requirement from LSA, which includes the different courses in the ELP from 101 to 232. |
| Travel to the SCS convention in Toronto, ON Jan 6-8 to present a paper about Heloise on ancient philosophy as a way of life Donka Markus LSA $800.00 |
I am applying for a LPDG grant to travel to Toronto, ON for the 148th convention of the Society for Classical Studies, SCS. I will present there a paper entitled “Heloise on ancient philosophy as a way of life.’ I plan to publish my findings in a paper. This research will enrich my teaching of Post-classical Latin. I also plan to organize in the W17 a reading group on Heloisa, a medieval (12th century) nun and erudite who knew Latin, ancient Greek and Hebrew and expressed ideas about philosophy as a way of life that gained an authoritative voice only at the beginning of the 21st century in the work of P. and I. Hadot. |
| 2017 AWP Conference Panels and Book Fair $1710.00 |
I am requesting a grant from CRLT to help fund my trip to the 2017 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference in Washington DC, February 8-12. This annual national conference will further my professional development in several key ways. First, the conference will allow me to attend a number of panels to strengthen my own writing and teaching work here at the University of Michigan. These panels will offer important insights on writing pedagogy as well as tools for my own writing and publishing work. Second, participation in the conference will allow me to present my recently completed manuscript, titled Field Recordings, to publishers and agents. In addition to establishing and strengthening relationships with several publishers, I will present a reading from this manuscript at an off-site reading during the conference. Lastly, participation in the conference and book fair will allow me to promote Canarium Books, a small poetry press sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program. I work as the managing editor of Canarium Books, which uses AWP to promote their authors and to gain important insights about the publishing industry. I will work shifts at the book fair and help run and promote several panels and readings across the conference. This conference will allow me to attend rigorous panels and workshops on writing and teaching and to actively engage with other writers, editors, and publishers. These experiences will continue to strengthen me as a teacher and member of the academic community here at Michigan. |
| Attending the "Teaching and Supervising Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy" Workshop at the Beck Institute $2000.00 |
I am applying for the CRLT Lecturers' Professional Development Fund to attend the Beck Institute’s “Teaching and Supervising Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” from February 6-8, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA. This 3-day experiential workshop is specifically designed for professionals who teach and supervise cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The material covered would enhance my skills as the instructor for PSYCH 872 & 873 (Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Lab and Practicum I & II). These courses are offered every year and required for clinical psychology doctoral students. They provide a vital foundation for students’ professional psychotherapy development over the subsequent 4-5 years of graduate school. Learning to become an excellent psychotherapist comes from having excellent supervision and course work in psychotherapy; therefore, as the instructor, I strive to provide the graduate students with the best possible training experience. With the new creation of PSYCH 872 & 873 in the Fall of 2015, the department of psychology created a standardized class to ensure all students are learning evidence-based treatment approaches with high quality, consistent supervision. Since these courses are new to our curriculum, gaining professional training by attending the Beck Institute Workshop would help further develop these courses and my skills as the instructor. |
