The College of Arts & Sciences is pleased to announce the faculty recipients of the inaugural College of Arts & Sciences Strategic Grant Awards. Nineteen grants were awarded to provide faculty with funds to pursue activities that will enhance the quality of the JCU educational experience in four ways: course development, research, student professional development, and wider university initiatives.
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Course Development Grants
Thirteen grants were awarded to support faculty in building new classes to serve new programs with growth potential.
- Angie Canda (Psychology) was awarded three course development grants! Introduction to Neuroscience will introduce students to understanding the structure and function of the nervous system and brain, including foundational topics such as neuroanatomy, neuronal physiology, current questions and techniques, and career possibilities. Introduction to Cognitive Science will explore this interdisciplinary approach to the study of the mind and mental processes including attention, memory, language, thought, and decision-making. Neuropsychology will explore how the brain can cause and influence psychological processes like emotion, language and memory, personality, and social interactions.
- Greg DiLisi, Matt Hands, and Yi Shang (Education) are developing a course for the Engaging the Global Community (EGC) component of the Core: Roots of Montessori Education.ÌýThis course will offer an in-depth exploration of Montessori education, tracing its origins in Italy and examining its application in American schools, most notably in the Northeast Ohio region. Analysis ofÌýthe historical and cultural roots of Montessori practices will help students gain insights into global educational systems and the impact of cultural and geographical contexts on teaching methodologies.Ìý
- Almabrok Essa (Mathematics, Computer & Data Science) was awarded a grant to develop an Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fundamentals course, where students will study the concepts that underlie intelligent systems and the theory underlying a range of learning algorithms.
- Thomas Frazier (Psychology) will develop a Neuropsychology course that will provide a comprehensive exploration of the brain's neuropathological conditions, looking at both developmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
- Cory Gloeckner (Physics & Engineering Physics) will work on a Neurophysics / Neuroengineering course that will introduce students to the basic principles behind neural engineering, including analysis of field potentials and spike activity.
- Nathan Jun (Philosophy) was awarded a grant for a Philosophy of Medicine course, which will provide aspiring healthcare professionals with a thorough grounding in the liberal arts as a complement to their clinical training. The course will offer a historical and theoretical introduction to key issues in the philosophical study of health and the healing arts.
- Sharon Kaye (Philosophy) will develop an Environmental Ethics course that will explore the application of ethical considerations to humans' interactions with the environment. Topics will include animal rights, climate change, future generations, and the moral status of living things.
- Meredith Steck (English/Writing Center) is working on the course Writing in the Health Sciences which will explore several types of writing in the health sciences, with special attention to the role that this writing plays in advancing or hindering health equity and information access.
- Dalia Sulieman (Mathematics, Computer & Data Science) was awarded a grant to update the Intermediate Data Science course, where students learn essential data analysis techniques including data collection, cleaning, and processing using PythonÌýcore data science libraries like Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, NLTK, and scikit-learn.
- Osvaldo Arturo Tapia-Duenas (Mathematics, Computer & Data Science) will develop the course Big Data and Cloud Computing, where students will explore the principles and practices of big data processing while leveraging cloud-based platforms to analyze and manage large datasets efficiently.
- Pam Vanderzalm (Biology) is working on a Cellular Neuroscience course that will explore the major areas of cellular and molecular neuroscience, including excitable cells and membranes, ion channels and receptors, synaptic transmission, cell-type determination, axon guidance, synapse formation, and neural plasticity.
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Research Pilot GrantsÌý
Two grants were awarded to support faculty who wish to do initial data collection or grant preparation, to help them prepare larger external grant proposals.
- Tom Frazier (Psychology) plans to collect data to be used as pilot data for future grant applications. The project will use online software to collect neurotypical control dataÌýfrom 100 neurotypical children ages 2-17 on five stimulus paradigms (social attention, receptive vocabulary, processing speed, single-word reading, and visual working memory). This work will build on his existing research on neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes in the development and validation of tools for outcome assessment.
- Megan Macnaughtan and Yuh-Cherng Chai (Chemistry) plan to use their grant to train undergraduate students in biochemical research. Drs. Chai and Macnaughtan have an establishedÌýcommitment to undergraduate research training, with over 20 students trained in the last 5 years. The students will be engaged in every aspect of the research: hands-on experiments, analyzing and interpreting data, and presenting results in writing and oral presentations at national and regional conferences. Drs. Chai and Macnaughtan plan to apply for NSF and NIH funding opportunities that require broader impacts in addition to meritorious research.
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Student Professional DevelopmentÌý
One grant was awarded to enable faculty to identify opportunities for students who wish to enhance their prospects by completing internships or presenting at national conferences.Ìý
- Mike Martin (Biology) requested funds to support a third-year student - an engineering physics major, a computer science minor, and a Choose Ohio First Scholar - to attend the Space Power Workshop, an annual conference held by Aerospace Corp, a federally funded research and development center. The student completed a summer internship at NASA Glenn Research Center, under the tutelage of a JCU physics alum. The researchÌýinvolved performing post-flight power analysis on the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle, which orbited the moon during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The student will gain valuable professional development skills in public speaking, sharing his work as a published presentation, and learning about the newest spacecraft power generation, storage, and distribution technologies.
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Wider University InitiativesÌý
Three faculty were awarded grants to support efforts to build partnerships across campus to support student learning and growth.Ìý
- Julia Karolle-Berg (Classical & Modern Languages & Cultures) requested funds to initiate aÌýgroup project with departments in the Humanities and Social Sciences to provide programming for “2025: Revisiting the End of World War II, 80 Years Later."Ìý This initiative will highlight pivotal moments of reconciliation, commemoration, and democratization (or new polarization) in the wake of the most devastating war of the 20th century.ÌýÌý
- Katie Knoll-Frey (Sociology & Criminology) requested a grant to provide resources to support the sociology department’s student lounge. The lounge is a place for students to meet, study, and relax between classes, with the added bonus of having faculty easily accessible for questions and informal conversations. The funds provided will be used to purchaseÌýhealthy choice snacksÌýfor students, and copies of classroom textbooks and other readings for them to borrow. This department library, maintained by the department's administrative assistant and student workers, will ensureÌýstudents have access to these materials. If funds allow, the department would like to upgrade the space to include more comfortable and efficient seating to increase the number of students who can use the space and allow for easier conversations and group study.Ìý
- Jillian Stupiansky (Mathematics, Computer & Data Science) requested funds to help create an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students that focuses on characterizing DNA exceptions.Ìý The group will be open to students in any STEM discipline: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Data Science, Math, and more. The interdisciplinary nature of the work is beneficial for students to work together and learn from each other, preparing for their future careers.Ìý The subject matter is interesting to a lot of students, especially those are exploring healthcare careers.Ìý Participation is useful as students apply for internships and full-time jobs. The project could also open the door to external partnerships for JCU.
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