The 2011-12 academic year is off to a great start! We’ve launched two new interdisciplinary majors (arts administration and public health studies) as well as two new minors (digital art and astronomy). Ten new faculty members have joined us in areas ranging from Jewish studies to exercise science, green architecture to eco-ecology.

Our students continue to be wonderful ambassadors for Elon by presenting their scholarship and creativity in and outside of Elon. In fact, last year, from Elon College alone, students completed more than 13,000 hours of academic service-learning locally and abroad, 59 students worked with faculty on undergraduate research, 23 presented at the National Council for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) conference and 133 students showcased their scholarship at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.

We are tremendously grateful for the generous support of our alumni who provide internship and service-learning opportunities, who mentor and promote our students, and who provide gifts and donations to programs and scholarship funds. This support ensures that all Elon students gain the experiences that set them apart when they apply for positions or attend graduate and professional schools after graduation. The following articles illustrate just some of the wonderful things that staff, faculty, students and alumni do that continue to make Elon University the place to be.

Alison Morrison-Shetlar, Dean
amorrison4@elon.edu

Alumni Spotlight:
Sowande Mustakeem '00

Sowande Mustakeem ’00 has come a long way since her Elon graduation more than a decade ago. A master’s, doctorate and postdoctoral fellowship later, she is a respected authority in history and African and African-American studies, which she teaches as an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Recently, Mustakeem’s article, “‘She must go overboard & shall go overboard:’ Diseased bodies and the spectacle of murder at sea,” was published in Atlantic Studies, a leading journal. Read more…

Department spotlight:
Foreign Languages

President Leo M. Lambert has called for Elon to “articulate the role of fluency in a second language to being a global citizen” and to “ensure that students have access to a vibrant, innovative foreign language curriculum that connects to their career aspirations.” To support President Lambert’s goal, the Department of Foreign Languages is developing and enhancing programs to promote second-language proficiency to prepare Elon students to be exceptional ambassadors in a global society. The department is expanding its cutting-edge curriculum in several languages; forming partnerships with other departments and programs such as the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and the School of Communications; and weaving language and multicultural understanding into the burgeoning multifaith efforts on campus. Read more…

Faculty Spotlight:
Charles Irons, history

Charles Irons, associate professor of history and geography, recently completed a yearlong sabbatical to study the segregation of Southern churches in the post-Civil War American South and how black Southerners endeavored to create churches independent of white control. His journeys took him to seven archives in three different states. He commandeered the Department of History and Geography’s microfilm reader. He completed more archival work and took more intellectual risks than he ever had in his career to date. And, he says, he expects the hard work to be well worth it.

“It was pure joy,” Irons says looking back on his work. “I hope to give Elon a good return on its investment in me by producing both thoughtful scholarship and thoughtful young historians.” Read more …

Staff update

Many alumni of our biology, chemistry, physics and environmental studies departments will recall the invaluable assistance provided by Kim Giles. In May 2011, Giles received her bachelor’s degree in corporate communications from Elon and has moved on to a new position with the university’s Office of Career Services as a resources and communications coordinator. We welcome Patty Rooney as the new program assistant for the natural science departments within Elon College. A resident of Alamance County since 1989, Rooney previously worked at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.