For the Record, Jan. 25, 2013

University faculty, staff report recent honors, presentations

TEXT SIZE

9:19 a.m., Jan. 25, 2013--For the Record provides information about recent professional activities of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent honors and presentations include the following:

Campus Stories

From graduates, faculty

As it neared time for the processional to open the University of Delaware Commencement ceremonies, graduating students and faculty members shared their feelings about what the event means to them.

Doctoral hooding

It was a day of triumph, cheers and collective relief as more than 160 students from 21 nations participated in the University of Delaware's Doctoral Hooding Convocation held Friday morning on The Green.

Honors

Jesus Cruz, professor of history and Latin American Studies, has won recognition on CHOICE magazine's list of Outstanding Academic Titles of 2012 for his book The Rise of Middle Class Culture in 19th Century Spain, published by Louisiana State University Press. In the book, Cruz examines middle-class lifestyles, generally known as bourgeois culture, and argues that the middle class ultimately contributed to Spain's democratic stability and economic prosperity in the last decades of the 20th century. Interdisciplinary in scope, Cruz's work draws upon the methodology of various areas of study -- including material culture, consumer studies and social history -- to investigate class. The CHOICE list reflects only 9 percent of the titles reviewed by the magazine for academic libraries and less than 3 percent of the titles submitted to CHOICE in a year.

Ilka Riddle, former director of the UD Center for Disabilities Studies (CDS) health and wellness unit and a UD alumna, received the 2012 Young Professional Award in recognition of her contributions to the disabilities field at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities Conference. An excerpt from CDS Director Beth Mineo’s nomination letter describes Riddle as “an academic scholar and a front-line professional, supporting individuals with disabilities and their families to improve quality of life.” Riddle is currently an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and the associate director of the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, housed in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She received her doctorate in human development and family studies at UD, with a focus on disability and its impact on families.

Presentations

Rudi Matthee, John and Dorothy Munroe Professor of History, delivered the Foundation Day Lecture titled "Historical Connections: Iran, the Ottoman Empire, India," at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, India, Jan. 9. 

Center for Disabilities Studies staff members presented posters at the 2012 Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) Conference in Washington, D.C., in December. AUCD is a national network of interdisciplinary university-based centers on disabilities. CDS Director Beth Mineo’s poster was titled “Accessible Instructional Materials: A Powerful Means of Curricular Access.” It detailed the federal mandate for provision of materials in appropriate formats for students with print disabilities and described how Delaware has responded to the mandate. Mineo’s co-author was Karen Jones, who recently retired from the Delaware Department of Education. Two posters about the Transitions and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) project grant were presented by Brian Freedman, project director, and Laura Eisenman, principal investigator. Mary Culnane, a graduate assistant on the TPSID project, and Linda Grusenmeyer, former project evaluator, helped to develop the poster content. The presentations were titled “Rethinking Social Network Assessment for Postsecondary Students with Intellectual Disabilities” and “Developing Undergraduate Peer Mentors for College Students with Intellectual Disabilities.”

The Center for Disabilities was a sponsor of the LIFE (Legislation, Independence through Assistive Technology, Families, and Education) Conference, held on Jan. 17 in Dover. The LIFE Conference is Delaware’s premier conference for persons with disabilities and those who support them. CDS staff members who presented at the conference were: Center Director Beth Mineo, “Curricular Access through Accessible Instructional Materials”; Suzanne Milbourne, “Adaptations and Assistive Technology: Participation in Everyday Early Childhood Activities”; Marvin Williams and Sonja Rathel, “Assistive Technology and Telecommunication: Bringing Communication to Everyone”; Julie Bowers and Sarah Celestin, a UD alumna, “All ACCESS: The ACCESS (Adapting Curriculum and Classroom Environments for Student Success) Project”; Annalisa Ekbladh, “Obtaining and Maintaining Employment”; Terri Hancharick, “Education Related Legislation”; and Eileen Sparling, “Embracing Healthy Lifestyles.”

To submit information to be included in For the Record, write to ud-ocm@udel.edu.

News Media Contact

University of Delaware
Communications and Public Affairs
302-831-NEWS
publicaffairs@udel.edu

UDaily is produced by
Communications and Public Affairs

The Academy Building
105 East Main Street
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716 | USA
Phone: (302) 831-2792
email: publicaffairs@udel.edu
www.udel.edu/cpa