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Faculty and Staff Achievements

September 2007

Attended

Rodney Frey, registrar, Ami Regier, professor of English, and Lisa Scott, assistant professor of education and mathematics, attended the Higher Learning Commission Assessment Workshop July 25-27 in Lisle, Ill.

Duane Friesen, Edmund G. Kaufman Professor Emeritus of Bible and Religion, attended a consultation of Muslims, Jews and Christians, "Abrahamic Perspectives on Alternatives to War," June 13-15 in Stony Point, N.Y.

Kay Schmidt, associate registrar, attended JAM 2007 May 30-June 2 in Orlando, Fla. JAM is Jenzabar’s annual meeting and conference for clients of Jenzabar CX, EX, PX, QX, TE and JICS. Schmidt also attended an F-1 Advising Workshop July 18-19 at the University of Kansas.

Hosted

Allan Bartel, vice president for admissions, Toby Tyner, associate director of development, and Dave Linscheid, director of alumni relations, hosted the 14th annual Summer Thresher Golf Classic and Barbecue Aug. 11 in Henderson, Neb.

Participated

In June, David Kreider, Kauffman Museum technician, completed a special project with the Kansas Humanities Council when he coordinated the travel and installation of the Smithsonian exhibit “Between Fences” at six Kansas museums. In early July, he traveled to the Mennonite Church USA Convention in San Jose, where he installed the Mennonite Church Historical Committee exhibit, which he and Kauffman Museum staff members Chuck Regier and Joel Gaeddert produced.

Rachel Pannabecker, Kauffman Museum director, collaborated with the Newton-North Newton Historic Preservation Commission to bring StoryCorps to Newton on June 19. Newton was one of only five sites in Kansas to host this national oral history project. Interviews in Newton included Keith Sprunger and Jim Juhnke, BC emeriti professors, reminiscing about Bethel in the 1960s, and Pannabecker interviewing Ozzie Goering about the renaissance of Kauffman Museum in the early 1980s. All interviews are archived at the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress as well as the Newton Public Library.

Preached

Brett Dewey, assistant professor of Bible and religion, gave the sermon “God is Love” July 1 at First Mennonite Church in Newton.

Patricia Shelly, professor of Bible and religion, preached and gave two additional presentations May 27 at Salem-Zion Mennonite Church in Freeman, S.D.

Presented

William Eash, professor of music, presented “Leading Congregational Music” Aug. 25 at West Union Mennonite Church in Parnell, Iowa. In the evening he led a hymn sing and then served as song leader during the morning worship service on Aug. 26.

Duane Friesen, Edmund G. Kaufman Professor Emeritus of Bible and Religion, presented “How Should the Anabaptist Tradition Relate to People of Other Religious Faiths?” March 14 at First Mennonite Church in Hutchinson. He also traveled with Jim Juhnke, professor emeritus of history, and Sharon Eicher, associate professor of business and economics, to the Ukraine and Uzbekistan May 25 through June 9, during which he presented a meditation at a worship service at Ak Metchet near Khiva. (The presentation, “Tragedy, Mystery, Hope: Searching for Threads in Our Pilgrimage from Molotschna to Khiva,” will be published in the September issue of Mennonite Life.) On July 1, along with Liz Friesen and Willis Harder, he gave a presentation at Bethel College Mennonite Church, "Tracing the Mennonite Story in the Ukraine and Central Asia." He also presented a paper, "Gift of the Other: Toward Mutual Transformation," at the Called to be Peacemakers Conference Mennonite/Roman Catholic Dialogue July 30-31 at the University of Notre Dame.

Patricia Shelly, professor of Bible and religion, continued reporting on her participation in a religious delegation to Iran in February. She gave presentations on May 30 in Hutchinson, for a South Central District’s Women’s Meeting (Disciples of Christ); on June 3 in Valley Center, for a combined Sunday school class at the First United Methodist Church; and on July 4 in San Jose, Calif., for the Mennonite Church USA Convention.

Published

Duane Friesen, Edmund G. Kaufman Professor Emeritus of Bible and Religion, wrote and published a book review on Rethinking Christ & Culture: A Post-Christendom Perspective by Craig Carter in the spring 2007 edition of Conrad Grebel Review. Friesen’s review of Transforming The Powers: Peace, Justice, And The Domination System, ed. by Ray Gingerich and Ted Grimsrud, was published in the spring 2007 edition of Direction.

Served

Gary Histand, associate professor of chemistry, served as an AP reader at the 2007 College Board Advanced Placement Program and Educational Testing Service. He was one of 9,000 college faculty and AP teachers from around the world who gathered to evaluate and score about 8 million free-response answers.

Richard Tirk, assistant professor of music, is the brass coach for Camp Da Capo, a chamber music festival for amateur musicians, Sept. 8-9 at Prairie Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Wichita. The tree farm is the home of the summer music series Chamber Music at the Barn, which is also the sponsoring organization for this event. Tirk was also selected to be the South Central Kansas Music Education Association 1234A Regional High School Band Clinician in November.