Art and Art History

Congratulations to the 361 students in UMKC’s College of Arts and Sciences named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2019 semester. The CAS Dean’s List recognizes excellent academic performance among full-time undergraduate students with a grade point average of 3.85 or higher for the term.

Joseph Adams – Earth and Environmental Science BS
Maggie Agee – Psychology BA
Chaehyun Ahn – Pre-Pharm
Jennifer Aktar – Pre-Law, A&S
Kamariah Al-Amin – Languages and Literatures BA: French
Adin Alem – Political Science BA
Nida Ali – Psychology & Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Ahmed Al-Makhazoom – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Naomie Alnatas – Liberal Arts BLA
Mahreen Ansari – Political Science BA
Kathryn Antrainer – History BA
Melissa Appelquist – Psychology BA
Cemile Arabaci – Physics BS
Bosten Arcand – English BA: Language and Rhetoric
Liam Arciga – History BA
Cristian Arechiga – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Brent Arnold – Psychology BA
Yusof Asefi – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Lucy Bahner – Communication Studies BA: Film and Media Studies
Hayden Baker – English BA: Creative Writing
Alex Barbour – History BA
Reagan Barr – Environmental Science BS
Mahryn Barron – English: Creative Writing & Communication Studies BA: Film and Media Studies
Brayden Basch – English & Philosophy BA
Brianna Bauer – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Kennedy Bauer – Pre-Dentistry, A&S
Abigail Bavuso – Pre-Pharm
Alexander Bearden – Geology BS
Bailey Beauchamp – Psychology BA
Catherine Belcher – Psychology BA
Jillian Bell – Psychology BA
Michelle Bell – English BA
Samuel Bellefy – English: Creative Writing & Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
J'aime Bellingham – Psychology BA
Jerrah Biggerstaff – Physics BS: Astronomy
Abigail Birkner – Psychology & Chemistry BA
Margaret Boggs – Criminal Justice and Criminology & Psychology BA
Christopher Bown – Studio Art BA
Jane Boyd – Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Thomas Branson – Architectural Studies
Jeb Brantner – Communication Studies BA: Film and Media Studies
Grace Brewer – History BA
Kyle Broley – Earth and Environmental Science BS: Physical Geography
Jameson Brown – Economics BA
April Brown – English BA: Creative Writing
Renee Bruch – Communication Studies BA
Camrin Buchholz – Political Science & Economics BA
Alexus Buckert – Political Science BA
Mason Bur – Psychology BA
Hayden Burnett – Psychology BA
Kayla Burns – English BA
William Burrus – Economics & Languages and Literatures BA: French
Isabella Burton – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Joel Busch – Mathematics and Statistics BS
Austin Butler – Art History BA
Kevin Buzzie – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Bailey Cairns – English BA: Language and Rhetoric
Beulah Calixte – Criminal Justice and Criminology & Sociology BA
Tessa Campbell – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Crystyn Campbell – Psychology BA
Samantha Capkovic – Political Science & Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Marin Carey – Environmental Studies BA
Cody Carmack – Psychology BA
Rebecca Caro – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Abigail Castle – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Brianna Catching – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Adam Chanliongco – Pre-Pharm
Sarah Chapman – English BA: Classical, Medieval, and Early Literature
Gabrielle Chappelle – Psychology BA
Hunyee Choi – Psychology BA
Lacey Clark – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Jordan Clarkin – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Sarah Clough – English BA
Cassandra Coffey-Murray – English BA: Creative Writing
Jacob Cooley – Psychology BA
Cameron Cooper – Pre-Pharm
Matthew Corcoran – Liberal Arts BLA
Brooklyn Cornett – Psychology BA
Emily Costelow – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Lindsay Cox – Art History BA
Kyra Crabtree – English BA: Creative Writing
Haley Crawford – Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Rachel Crazybear – Psychology BA
J Robert Crowley – Mathematics and Statistics BS
Skylar Crowley – Psychology BA
Lucas Cuni-Mertz – Communication Studies: Journalism and Mass Communication & Political Science BA
Madisen Curtin – Pre-Medicine, A&S
Emily Daggett – Liberal Arts BLA
Victoria Davidson – History & Languages and Literatures BA: German
Kyler Davis – Economics BA
Hallie Dawson – English BA
Katie Denny – Physics BS: Astronomy
Devon Dewey – Art History BA
Sarah Dirks – Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Shaleana Disorbo – History BA
Abigail Doss – Psychology BA
Mairaed Dunda – Environmental Science BS
Rachel Dwyer – Liberal Arts BLA
Gina Dwyer – Psychology BA
Jacob Eisenhauer – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Audra Elford – English BA: Creative Writing
Elizabeth Elmendorf – Physics BS: Astronomy
Tomas Escarpita – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Gretchen Fiebig – Psychology BA
Matia Finley – Psychology & Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Shannon Finneran – Liberal Arts BLA
Ashlee Fish – Architectural Studies
Lauren Fitzpatrick – Environmental Studies BA
Jade Flanders – Psychology BA
Madison Flynn – Psychology BA
Victor Folk – Economics & Mathematics and Statistics BA
Alexandra Foster – Communication Studies BA: Film and Media Studies
Kayla Fox – Psychology BA
Cori Fricke – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Makayla Friedrich – Economics BA
Rachael Fritz – Psychology BA
Miranda Fritz – Psychology & Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Sarah Fuentes – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Olivia Gallo – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Prae Gamel – Pre-Medicine, A&S
Daisy Garcia Montoya – Communication Studies: Journalism and Mass Communication & Political Science BA
Daniel Garcia-Roman – Studio Art BA
Shea Geran – Environmental Science BS
Alexander Gleason – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Kylee Gomez – Criminal Justice and Criminology & Political Science BA
Allanis Gordon – Liberal Arts BLA
Bethany Graham – English BA: Creative Writing
Hannah Green – Psychology BA
Hillary Green – Political Science BA
Emera Greenwood – Psychology BA
Brittany Grindle – Political Science BA
Kyle Grogan – Psychology BA
Dominic Guillen – Mathematics and Statistics BS
Garrett Gunderson – Film and Media Arts
Hannah Haake – Urban Planning and Design BA
Sadho Habib – Economics BA
Madelene Hajer – English BA
Andrew Hall – Sociology BA: Cultural Anthropology
Ashton Hall – Psychology & Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Garam Han – Mathematics and Statistics BS
Katherine Hanners – History BA
Estelle Hansen – Film and Media Arts
Alicia Harrington – Psychology BA
Jonathan Hawley – Psychology & Philosophy BA
Naomi Henry – Geology BS
Griselda Hernandez – Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Jonathan Hernandez – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Amelia Hess – Psychology & Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Lauren Higgins – Physics BS: Astronomy
Valeczia Hooks – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Marika Houser – Political Science BA
Madeline Houx – Psychology BA
Cierra Howe – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Colton Hrabe – Film and Media Arts
Seth Hudson – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Ali Hufft – Political Science & Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Aleister Hughes – History BA
Tasneem Huq – English BA
Nursyuhada Huq – Pre-Dentistry, A&S
Alyx Hutchins – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Marissa Iden – Political Science BA
Jared Islas – Urban Planning & Design- BA
Michael Jenkins – Political Science & Philosophy BA
Cheryse Johnson – Psychology BA
Kate Johnston – English BA
Nikita Joshi – History & English BA: Creative Writing
Natalie Juno – Psychology & Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Medina Kajtazovic – English BA
Franck Kamgain – Communication Studies BA
Kara Kanatzar – English BA: Creative Writing
Brandon Kanoy – Political Science BA
Alexander Keith – Psychology BA
Hannah Kempker – Pre-Pharm
Lukas Kenney – English BA: Creative Writing
Zaal Khazraeinazmpour – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Tracy Khiew – Studio Art BA
Brenna Killen – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Brittni Kilton – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
David Kirk – Studio Art BA
Daniel Kirk – Studio Art BA
Brenna Kiu – Urban Planning & Design- BA
Makenzie Kleist – Sociology & Psychology BA
Melissa Klotz – Psychology BA
Luke Knapp – Political Science BA
Kaitlyn Korah – Pre-Pharm
Molly Kordonowy – History BA
Michaela Koval – History BA
Carolyn Kovar – History BA
Rhyan Kubik – Psychology BA
Anabeth Laaker – History BA
Gabriella Lavenbarg – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Shairry Lene – Pre-Dental Hygiene, A&S
Maria Leno – Film and Media Arts
Emma Leonard – History BA
Lia Lombardini – Liberal Arts BLA
Tyler Lott – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Vincent Lowry – Studio Art BA
Mia Lukic – Philosophy BA
Jennifer Lyons – Liberal Arts BLA
Leah Maass – Psychology BA
Christina Mackenzie – Architectural Studies
Jackson MacLellan – Political Science BA
Brett Madsen – Studio Art BA
Reyna Mallory – Communication Studies: Film and Media Studies & Studio Art BA
Abbie Malm – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Julio Mares – Psychology BA
Caroline Matz – Psychology BA
Emily Maupin – Psychology BA
Caleb McCain – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Keegan McCarthy – Communication Studies BA: Film and Media Studies
Olivia McCune – Psychology BA
Michael Mead – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
William Meeds – Psychology BA
Samuel Menner – Pre-Pharm
Amelia Milldyke Gifford – Film and Media Arts
Kesi Milligan – Urban Studies BA: Community Development and Housing
Caroline Moriarty – Political Science BA
Madison Murphy – Sociology BA
Lauren Myers – Studio Art BA
Jason Nalley – History BA
Alex Niner – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Ryley Nolin – Pre-Dental Hygiene, A&S
Slater Oden – Physics BS: Astronomy
Jacob O'Neill – Psychology BA
Odindo Opole – Film and Media Arts
Silvestre Ortiz-Romo – Environmental Science BS
Kenechukwu Osude – Pre-Medicine, A&S
Abbey Outain – English BA: Creative Writing
Randi Owens – Earth and Environmental Science BS
Saketh Pachalla – History BA
Christine Park – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Shivani Patel – Psychology BA
Ahmad Pazhoohi – Pre-Pharm
Riley Peek – English BA
Josie Pennington – History BA
Enrique Perez – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Cailyn Persinger – Pre-Pharm
Kenny Phan – Earth and Environmental Science BS
Kacper Piekarek – Economics BA
Josilinia Plyman – Political Science BA
Maggie Pool – Film and Media Arts
Philip Potter – History BA
Kaitlyn Powell – Film and Media Arts
Lydia Powers – Languages and Literatures BA: French
Aaron Price – Urban Studies BA: Urban Policy and Management
Noah Price – Psychology BA
Bayleigh Priddy – Psychology BA
Bethany Pritchard – History BA
Halena Procopio Ross – Environmental Science BS
Monica Propst – Urban Studies BA
Stephen Quackenbush – Architectural Studies
Jordan Railsback – Film and Media Arts
Angela Ramirez – Art History BA
Carson Rau – Sociology BA
Isabel Recker – Languages and Literatures: Spanish & Psychology BA
Grace Reesman – Physics & Mathematics and Statistics BS
Mary Reust – Studio Art BA
Zoe Rickman – Film and Media Arts
Jayla Riggins – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Karla Rincon – Psychology BA
Erin Roth – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Ryan Rowland – History BA
Michaela Roxas – Psychology & English BA: Creative Writing
Guillermo Rubio – Philosophy BA
Sagi Rudnick – Political Science & Communication Studies BA
Anna Ryan – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Jacob Salas – Mathematics and Statistics BS
Jared Schild – Psychology & Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Jessica Scott – Criminal Justice and Criminology & Philosophy BA
Audrey Seider – Art History BA
Teah Sensenich – Psychology BA
Alexandra Serafin – History BA
Sydney Serrano – Psychology BA
Gary Sharp – History BA
Destinee Shehan – Psychology BA
Mariah Shipley – Psychology BA
Madison Sieger – Communication Studies BA: Film and Media Studies
Sophie Simes – English BA
Dawson Sims – Environmental Studies BA
Kimberly Sims – Studio Art BA
Adam Sisk – Communication Studies: Film and Media Studies & Languages and Literatures BA: Spanish
Helene Slinker – Political Science BA
Regan Smith – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Katrena Smith – Psychology BA
Justin Smith – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Hunter Smith – Psychology BA
Joshua Sola – Geography BS
Grace Solomon – Political Science BA
Paul Sorensen – English: Language and Rhetoric
Annie Spencer – English: Classical, Medieval, and Early Literature & History BA
Carrine Spinks – Psychology BA
Samantha Sprouse – Psychology BA
Nichole Stahly – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Mollie Stanek – Studio Art BA
Gabrielle Stansell – Political Science BA
Shea Staples – Liberal Arts BLA
Maria Starns – History BA
Kyleigh Steenrod – Pre-Dental Hygiene, A&S
Lanisha Stevens – Psychology BA
Ronnea Stiles – English BA
McKenna Still – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Sophia Straight – English BA
Abby Strawn – Political Science BA
Robyn Sullins – Psychology BA
Erica Sullivan – Psychology BA
Julianna Swickard – Film and Media Arts
Chandler Tarrant – Physics BS
Ezekiel Taylor – Studio Art BA
Lillian Taylor – Psychology BA
Lauren Textor – English BA
Myo Thai – Mathematics and Statistics BS
Jasmine Thai – Pre-Pharm
Maeghan Thomas – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Scott Thompson – Physics BS: Astronomy
Kristina Thomson – Earth and Environmental Science BS
Aleena Tofanelli – Psychology BA
Fatima Towakoli – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Jessica Tran – Pre-Pharm
Uyen Tran – Studio Art BA
Lucy Trask – Pre-Pharm
Chloe Tremain – English BA
Gregory Troiani – Physics BS: Astronomy
Dashiell Tucker – Political Science BA
Nathan Underwood – Mathematics and Statistics BS
Kelsey Van Buskirk – Communication Studies BA: Film and Media Studies
Cheeia Vang – Pre-Dental Hygiene, A&S
Eisa Vasquez – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Cozette Viles – Liberal Arts BLA
Ashley Vogel – English BA
Sierra Voorhies – Psychology BA
John Waggoner – Psychology BA
Kara Walters – English BA: Creative Writing
Jack Walton – English BA
Jasmine Walton – Political Science BA
Julia Weber – Psychology BA
Madison Wellman – Studio Art BA
Brayan Westergaard – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Samuel Westlake – Psychology BA
Emily White – Art History BA
Madison White – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Alexandra Whitlow – Philosophy BA
Rowan Wiley – Political Science BA
Jermeha Williams – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Kelly Williams – Psychology BA
Alexa Williams – Pre-Dental Hygiene, A&S
Abby Williams – Sociology BA
Candace Williamson – Criminal Justice and Criminology BA
Justin Wills – Environmental Science BS
Jacob Wingert – Mathematics and Statistics BA
Sophie Woycheese – Psychology BA
Abdulrehman Yousaf – Pre-Medicine, A&S
Ayat Youssef – Psychology BA
Taylor Yuhas – Pre-Pharm
Mariya-Tereza Zelenchuk – Communication Studies BA: Interpersonal and Public Communication
Zackary Zeller – Communication Studies BA: Journalism and Mass Communication
Samantha Zoellner – Pre-Pharm

On November 15th, during his fall speaking tour, Steve Ellner spoke on the challenges Venezuela is experiencing under President Nicolás Maduro. The event was a combined effort of The Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) worked with the Latino Alumni Student Organization (LASO). Read the full article in the University News…

Medieval Times, a dinner theater experience loosely based on the 11^th century Spanish court, featured a female ruler for the first time this year. Since its debut in the United States in 1983, the show, which includes a banquet, jousting, swordfights, and stunts on horseback, has been presided over by a king. This year, however, Doña Maria Isabella reigned.

Professor of History Linda Mitchell, who also serves as affiliate faculty in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and as President of the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship, weighed in on this change in a recent Washington Post article. Check out her comments on women in the medieval world and the historical accuracy of Medieval Times here.

The Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) raised nearly $9,000 in matching scholarship dollars benefiting UMKC’s Latinx first-generation and DACA students. Read the full article in the University News…

Blackface refers to the cultural practice of covering the face of a white (or black) performer to create a caricature of a black person. Although usually associated with nineteenth-century minstrel shows, blackface can still be found today both in theatrical performances and sometimes also in Halloween costumes.

The debate about the racist implications of blackface continues today. In national news, the NBC "Today" host Megyn Kelly's show was cancelled following her on-air remarks expressing acceptance of blackface. In local news, a registered nurse at St. Luke's was fired after she posted pictures of herself and a friend on facebook in blackface.

UMKC Professor Matthew W. Osborn and UMKC Diversity Director Makini King were interviewed on 30 October 2018 for local television about the history, politics, and ethics of blackface. Their comments aired at 5 PM on KCTV5 and Fox4.

Congratulations to iPhD candidate Annie Derrell for being selected as a fellow in the Doctoral Scholars Program (DSP). According to the sponsoring Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), “the goal of the DSP is to increase the number of minority students who earn doctorates and choose to become faculty at colleges and universities.”

Since its founding in 1993, the DSP has supported over a 1000 scholars at numerous institutes across the country. It offers direct services for doctoral students such as academic, personal, and motivational support, career counseling, networking, job recruitment, and continued advocacy into their early careers as faculty members. Derrell will be a part of the inaugural cohort of scholars from the University of Missouri System.

One of the most exciting aspects of DSP is the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, an annual meeting which serves as the largest gathering of minority Ph.D. scholars in the country. The Institute provides workshops as well as recruitment and networking opportunities to give new scholars the tools to successfully complete their doctorates and enter into a faculty career in higher education.

Derrell is “extremely honored and very excited for this opportunity to meet and collaborate with other minority scholars.”

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit organization that works to improve education and provide policymakers with reliable data to make sound educational policy decisions. There website is: www.sreb.org.

Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca (Mowry) Egli on receiving a post-doctoral Residential Fellowship at Linda Hall Library. During her two-month stay, she will conduct research for her current project, "Seeds of Misfortune: Food, Crop Diversity, and the Simplification of American Nature," a history of America’s plant explorers that examines the impact of plant introduction and breeding on agricultural biodiversity and innovation.

Rebecca grew up in Kansas City and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from UMKC's History Department in 2008. She earned a Master of Arts degree in history from King’s College London in 2010 and a doctorate in history from the University of California, Davis in 2018.

Exploring intersections between agriculture, science, and the environment, her dissertation, "The World of Our Dreams: Agricultural Explorers and the Promise of American Science," looks at federal scientists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, exploring developments in plant biology and the ecological consequences of importing non-native plants into the United States.

We are so proud to have Dr. Egli conducting research again in Kansas City!

A total of 365 students in UMKC’s College of Arts and Sciences were named to the Dean’s List for the spring 2018 semester. The CAS Dean’s List recognizes excellent academic performance among full-time undergraduate students with a grade point average of 3.85 or higher for the term.

Congratulations to K. David Hanzlick, alumnus of the History iPhD program, on the publication of his book, Benevolence, Moral Reform, Equality: Women’s Activism in Kansas City, 1870-1940, with the University of Missouri Press.

Hanzlick traces the rise and evolution of women’s activism in a rapidly growing, Midwestern border city, one deeply scarred by the Civil War and struggling to determine its meaning. Over the course of 70 years, women in Kansas City emerged from the domestic sphere by forming and working in female-led organizations to provide charitable relief, reform society’s ills, and ultimately claim space for themselves as full participants in the American polity. Focusing on the social construction of gender, class, and race, and the influence of political philosophy in shaping responses to poverty, Hanzlick also considers the ways in which city politics shaped the interactions of local activist women with national women’s groups and male-led organizations.

K. David Hanzlick is Director of Program and Development for Sheffield Place, a treatment and transitional living program for homeless mothers and children. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Nonprofit Leadership Program at Rockhurst University and the Hauptmann School of Public Affairs at Park University.

Prof. Diane Mutti-Burke, Chair of the History Department, was quoted in an article in the New York Times on 6. August 2018 entitled "On a Civil Rights Trail" because of her research into the history of slavery in Missouri.

The cost of higher education is an issue, and one the University of Missouri-Kansas City is addressing.

As part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, UMKC has had one of the lowest rates of tuition increase in the U.S. during the past decade. And despite this year’s tuition increase of 1 percent, efforts to keep the overall cost of education are continuing, and are working.

For example, in June 2017, the University of Missouri-Kansas City joined UM System in the Affordable & Open Educational Resources (A&OER) program to save students money on textbooks and other course materials.

Affordable housing has been a hot topic in the Kansas City community for decades, and more recently due to new downtown housing developments and the continued revitalization of Troost Avenue. As city officials develop new housing policies, students from the University of Missouri-Kansas City have played a significant role in the community conversation.

A group of seven urban planning undergraduates spent the spring semester researching the city’s housing affordability issues as part of their final project in professor Stephanie Frank’s planning and design studio class. Seniors Sean Thomas, Dave McCumber, Billie Hufford, Thomas Kimmel, Taylor Vande Velde, Rawya Alrammah and Alexander Gilbertson put together a comprehensive planning study on housing affordability in Kansas City. Each student researched and wrote one chapter in the study. They recently sat down to discuss the background and recommendations included in their study.

The Urban Planning + Design program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has earned accreditation from the Planning Accreditation Board, which accredits university programs in North America leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees in planning.

“We are very pleased that the Planning Accreditation Board has recognized the quality of teaching and learning in our program,” said Michael Frisch, Ph.D., AICP, associate professor and director of the program. “It signifies that our program has been rigorously reviewed by national experts in urban planning, and found to produce graduates who meet the expectations of the planning profession.”

Unhindered by juvenile glaucoma that took his sight at age 17, David Westbrook (B.A. ’71) has proven that vision has nothing to do with one’s ability to see. He founded Corporate Communications Group, a communications and public relations firm he sold before taking his talent and dedication to longtime client Children’s Mercy.

Westbrook attributes his lifetime of success to his parents and to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His alma mater awarded him with an honorary doctorate at the 2018 College of Arts and Sciences commencement ceremony, and he gave the address to the graduating class at Swinney Recreation Center on campus.

“This is not a defining moment, this is a moment of celebration,” said Westbrook, who holds bachelor’s degrees in English and psychology from UMKC. “Defining moments are with your professors and your friends.”

Faculty in two nationally recognized performing arts programs at the University of Missouri-Kansas City have voted in support of a merger of the Conservatory of Music and Dance and the Department of Theatre.

The proposed merger is designed to strengthen both programs by opening up new and expanded opportunities for performance, composition and research at the University that for decades has been designated as Missouri’s Campus for the Visual and Performing Arts by the University of Missouri System.

Hannah Lofthus, who received Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from UMKC in 2007, has been selected as the 2018 recipient of the UMKC Bill French Alumni Award. Each year, the UMKC Alumni Association recognizes individual alumni and one family with top honors.

UMKC will honor Lofthus and other outstanding alumni at the 2018 Alumni Awards event on Friday, June 15. The reception is one of UMKC's largest events, with proceeds going to support student scholarships. In the last decade, the Alumni Awards event has garnered more than $1 million in scholarships and immediate aid for students.

Two College of Arts and Sciences alumni have been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Award to continue their research and scholarship. Sydney Harvey, who received her Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and Film from UMKC in 2016, will study in the United Kingdom; and Marc Reyes, who received his Master of Arts in History from UMKC in 2014, will study in India.

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 380,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, professionals and scientists the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

The National Headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has put a little more “ease” into the UMKC At Ease Zone. The VFW recently presented student veterans with a much-desired couch for the space, along with a new coffee maker and a networked printer.

The UMKC At Ease Zone, located on the second floor of Cherry Hall on UMKC’s Volker Campus, supports UMKC student veterans as they transition into community and campus life. The At Ease Zone is a collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences’ School of Social Work and the UMKC Dean of Students.

Two UMKC French alumni, Katy Foudree Owens and Brandi Pruente have been awarded Fund for Teachers Grants to attend the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) congress in Martinique this summer.

The AATF convention is an immersion opportunity allowing educators to work on their French language skills while learning more about teaching practices.

“We in the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department, particularly in French, are thrilled for their success,” said UMKC French professor Dr. Kathy Krause.

Dr. Virginia Blanton, professor and chair of the UMKC Department of English Language and Literatures, recently received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is the only 2018 recipient in the state of Missouri.

“I have a big job ahead,” said Blanton, who joined the UMKC faculty in 2002. Her awarded project is a book-length study on the lives of saints in medieval England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Professor Frances Connelly, Ph.D., a professor in the UMKC Department of Art and Art History, will serve as a Visiting Fellow at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in June 2018. While there, she will lead a seminar as part of the “Van Gogh Museum Visiting Fellow in the History of Nineteenth Century Art” program.

The Van Gogh Museum’s program, now entering its 12th year, brings foreign scholars annually to the Netherlands to teach a seminar in 19th century art to graduate students and professionals. Connelly’s seminar is entitled The Grotesque in Late Nineteenth-Century Art. It will explore the workings of the grotesque in this unsettled and unsettling period and explore why it is a particularly powerful means to grapple with its social upheavals and cultural shifts.

Dr. Joseph Hartman, Assistant Professor in the UMKC Department of Art and Art History and Latinx and Latin American Studies program, recently received an internationally competitive grant from the Graham Foundation, one of the most significant funders in the field of architecture. Hartman was one of only 74 proposals selected out of over 600 applicants worldwide.

“This award will surely go down as one of the proudest moments of my career,” Hartman said. “To gain recognition from a world-renowned architectural organization like the Graham is affirming not only to the quality of my research but also to the rising visibility and importance of Caribbean, Latin American and Latinx communities."

The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s History Department is proud to announce that Dr. John Trygve “Tryg” Has-Ellison will be serving as a Guest Professor for the 2018-19 academic year.

Dr. Has-Ellison is the current Non-Immigrant Visa Chief at the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico. Prior to this post, he was Vice-Consul in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Desk Officer for European Issues of Congressional interest in Washington D.C. His visiting appointment at UMKC coincides with his participation in the Command and General Staff Officers Course at Ft. Leavenworth, KS.

The Routledge volume Perception and Agency in Shared Spaces of Contemporary Art, co-edited by UMKC Art History Professor Cristina Albu, was recently published.

The book calls for a situational approach to art, which is informed by the intertwining of art theory, phenomenology and cognitive sciences. It offers an interdisciplinary inquiry into the mutability of art experience, showing that it is contingent on an array of deeply entangled biological, cultural, political and social systems. The volume gathers 18 chapters by senior and emerging scholars.

UMKC Theatre’s next graduate student production, “The Storytelling Project,” has something for every theatre fan – drama, intrigue, music, dance, comedy and originality.

“The Storytelling Project” is a devised theatrical show featuring the UMKC second year MFA actors, MFA designers and undergraduate production staff.

A total of 369 students in the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences were named to the Dean’s List for the Fall 2017 semester. The CAS Dean’s List recognizes excellent academic performance among full-time undergraduate students with a grade point average of 3.85 or higher for the term.

English Professor Hadara Bar-Nadav recently published a new collection of poetry, The New Nudity, which shocks everyday objects to life. In these chiseled, electrically-charged poems, a ladder, a wineglass and a spine ignite into being. With a nod to Francis Ponge, Gertrude Stein and Pablo Neruda, Bar-Nadav’s poems have a heartbeat all their own, small miracles that haunt and heave.

Heather Burton, an Olathe, Kansas, native, graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art in December 2017. Before graduating though, she'd already landed a job. Check out Heather's story in this Q&A:

How was your graduation day?

It was overwhelming to me. It’s the day you work so hard for since you’re 5. I kept worrying about my cap falling off, and of course it did as I walked up to receive my diploma.

Congratulations to Laurie Ellinghausen, Ph.D., associate professor in the UMKC Department of English Language and Literature, on the publication of her fourth book, Pirates, Traitors, and Apostates: Renegade Identities in Early Modern English Writing.

This monograph examines the tales of notorious figures in Renaissance England, including the mercenary Thomas Stukeley, the Barbary corsair John Ward, and the wandering adventurers the Sherley brothers. Ellinghausen sheds new light on the construction of the early modern renegade and its depiction in English prose, poetry, and drama during a period of capitalist expansion. Pirates, Traitors, and Apostates: Renegade Identities in Early Modern English Writing shows how domestic issues of class and occupation exerted a major influence on representations of renegades, and heightened their appeal to the diverse audiences of early modern England.

Approximately 1,000 University of Missouri-Kansas City graduates, friends and families filled Swinney Auditorium to celebrate the culmination of years of late nights and hard work as graduates claimed their diplomas. The university held three ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 16 and presented two honorary doctorate degrees.