The Faculty Life Office is pleased to invite you to the spring Winifred E. Weter Lecture on Tuesday, April 12. Join us as Michael Paulus Jr., dean of the library, assistant provost for educational technology, and associate professor of information studies, presents his topic — "Artificial Intelligence and the Apocalyptic Imagination: The Ends of Artificial Agency." The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in Upper Gwinn Commons. Entry is free, and refreshments will be provided.

University Communications needs help identifying outstanding students from this year’s graduating class. This request is for undergraduate and graduate students. These students and their achievements will be pitched to media outlets prior to Commencement, as well as used for promotional purposes. Please send the name(s) of the students and a short description about why you are recommending them. Examples would be students who overcame obstacles to graduate, were involved in community service projects, participated in innovative research, started a new venture, took a class that changed their career direction, or did something really interesting. Basically, anything that would make a good story! We will follow up with the student and get permission to use their profile. Send information by email to Director of Public Information Tracy Norlen at tcnorlen@spu.edu.

As we continue to pray for peace in the Ukraine, the School of Business, Government, and Economics, School of Theology, Department of History, and University Ministries invite you to “The War for Ukraine: A Geographical and Theological Conversation,” on April 7, 4–5 p.m. in Demaray 150. Come to listen, converse, and pray together about the events taking place in Ukraine. Professor Emerita of Geography Kathleen Braden and Professor Emeritus of Theology Eugene Lemcio will be speaking.

You are invited to “No Limits, No Boundaries” on Monday, April 11, 5:30–7 p.m., in Nickerson Studios, a biannual event presented by SPU’s Disability Support Services. Jason Thornberry, School of Education receptionist and adjunct professor, will read from his poetry and nonfiction. Light refreshments will be provided. Jason’s work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, North Dakota Quarterly, Soundings East, Broadkill Review, Sledgehammer Lit, and elsewhere.

Next week is Giving Day! This year, Remember Your Roots and help us celebrate 100 years of ivy traditions at SPU by making a gift to an area on campus that is meaningful to you. The graduating Class of 1922 commemorated their time on campus with the first Ivy Ceremony. Ivy symbolizes a tie to the University, and as an SPU employee, we want you to feel a strong connection to SPU. Visit givingday.spu.edu today to check out the different areas you can support on Wednesday, April 6.

Nearly 5,500 SPU parents and family members recently received the March 2022 In the Loop e-newsletter, which included information about SPU’s retiring faculty members, the 2022–23 tuition announcement, information about University Foundations, and more.

This spring, Faith & Co. will offer their instructor-led online course, “Serving Customers.” The course incorporates the Faith & Co. Season 3 films and explores how faith shapes the way organizations engage with and serve customers. It will be taught by Gary Karns, professor of marketing, and starts on April 4, 2022. Free and for-credit options are available. Learn more and register.

To help increase awareness and understanding of SPU’s Anti-Bullying Policy and Anti-Bullying Complaint Procedure, all employees must complete a 10-minute online course through Percipio by March 31, 2022. In addition to online training, during the 2022 Spring Quarter, all supervisors will be required to participate in a live training that provides interactive scenario-based learning and opportunities to engage SPU’s policy and procedure in a more in-depth manner. There will be several date options available, with details coming soon. Read the 1/31 campus memo for more information. You can sign in to Percipio here. If you haven't already completed the training, you should see it at the top of your dashboard.

With generous support from our community, the Perkins Center Prize hosts a scholarship competition for students to explore thinking about practical ways for engaging reconciliation in our communities. Eligible students are those enrolled at SPU for the 2022–23 academic year. The submission deadline for participants is April 1, 2022. Forms, criteria, and more information can be found on the Perkins Center website. Awardees will be named in May 2022.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. The next deadline is Thursday, March 31, and the next issue will be published Monday, April 4. 

If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible with an image or graphic to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity.

Randy Beavers, associate professor of finance, presented a paper titled, “What are the Characteristics of Cryptocurrency Owners?,” at the 59th annual meeting of the Academy of Economics and Finance.

Jennifer McFarlane-Harris, associate professor of English and cultural studies, has co-edited an essay collection with SUNY Canton Associate Professor Emily Hamilton-Honey titled, Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers and Theologies of the Afterlife: A Step Closer to Heaven (Routledge/Taylor & Francis). The anthology includes an essay by Jennifer, “ ‘Aleaving the World, the Flesh, and the Devil’: Spiritual Vision and Celibate Holiness in Rebecca Cox Jackson’s Autobiographical Writings.” Read more about the inspiration for the anthology here.

Lane Seeley, professor of physics, had a guest editorial titled, “Updating our language to help students learn: Mechanical energy is not conserved but all forces conserve energy” published in the American Journal of Physics. This editorial builds on over a decade of energy-learning research by Lane and colleagues to argue for more coherent, inclusive, and accessible language in physics. Former SPU Physics Professor Stamatis Vokos and Eugenia Etkina were co-authors of this editorial.

Kirsten Koetje, assistant professor of teacher education, presented a Data to Action breakout session titled “Integrating Video Self-Analysis as a High-Impact Practice” at the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education’s (AACTE) 74th annual meeting in New Orleans on March 5, 2022.

Alberto Ferreiro, professor of European history, has been named a research associate of the Institute of Medieval Studies at the New University of Lisbon, Portugal. He will be able to work with graduate students, do workshops, lectures, seminars, and on-site research.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who died on March 23, gave a public lecture in Brougham Pavilion to a standing-room-only crowd in 2014. She spoke with political science professors Katya Drozdova and Ruth Ediger for this interview in SPU's Response magazine.