How easy was it for you to connect with seminar participants during the first few summer sessions?

From the very beginning it has been easy to connect with seminar participants.听 They are warm, curious, and enthusiastic about learning.听 For me, the real challenge was figuring out how much we can really do in one week.听 My first seminar was on Dostoevsky.听 I called our session听The Idiot, for the novel we were reading.听 We all had name tags.听 Mine read 鈥淧eter Thomas,听The Idiot.鈥澨� That was fitting because I assigned a 600-page novel of material that is not听exactly beach reading.听 I鈥檝e since learned to better gauge the reading I ask participants to do before our session and during the week.听

I think my sessions have a reputation for being rather hard-core; people show up having read everything I asked or even suggested. Our seminars are very much discussion-based, so anyone who wants to spend a week talking about Russian culture is welcome. We do a lot of reading aloud during the week.听 That has been an evolving part of my seminars.听 I鈥檓 really excited about how much fun it is and how much more we get out of the texts.

How would you compare older lifelong learners with your on-campus students?

University students have reasonable concerns about grades and their prospects for the future.听 In many cases, I have to teach them basic study and time-management skills that have nothing to do with the materials, but if I don鈥檛 teach them those things, they will learn much less. These students have relatively little experience in life, and for the most part their experiences are similar to each other鈥檚. A big part of what I have to teach them is that: life and the world are much, much bigger and more complicated than they suspect.听 That is enjoyable, so long as the student (and family) are on board. With summer participants, I am the inexperienced one in the room.听 I am fairly certain that I learn as much each summer as they do. Participants bring such a wide range of skills, talents, and experiences to our sessions that my job is to just facilitate a conversation around whatever we are working on at the time.听 When I have done my job in choosing a good topic, the course takes on a life of its own. And I don鈥檛 have to grade anything or anyone.

Was it challenging to get us to refrain from discussing current political events all the time?

Russian politics is always a part of the discussion, and that is to be expected. Conversations about politics in the US tend to be a part of conversations over meals, but not always.听 The materials we work on have a lot to say about how people treat each other and the world we share.听 I am careful not to let the conversation derail for political reasons. That is much easier to do with seminar participants than with university students.听

Do you cover political history? Why or why not?

I have taught two seminars on political history in Russia. I would certainly do so again.听 Speaking honestly, for many years now I have left the topic of the next year鈥檚 seminar to the participants in the current one.听 I trust them to choose topics that will attract new participants.听听

Do you wish participants had better geographical background?

No. Figuring out how to capture the topography, flora, fauna, and meteorology of whatever region we are working on is a part of the fun. I do wish that I had a strong geographical background.听 Some of my regular participants are incredibly well-travelled and have been to places I have only seen online.

What seminar topic have you enjoyed presenting the most?

I have never had a seminar that didn鈥檛 feel like my favorite while I was teaching it. I love teaching 鈥淭he Russian Short Story.鈥� I鈥檝e taught Pushkin鈥檚听Eugene Onegin and Tolstoy鈥檚听Anna Karenina听twice, and each time was a revelation for me. The sessions on Gogol, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Aleksievich, and Putin were challenging and invigorating.听 Last summer鈥檚 class on film and literature was so much fun that it felt like I was a student, not the teacher. This summer, in response to a story and film from last summer, we are reading Chekhov, one of my favorite authors.听 I cannot wait to prepare that class.

Plans are being created to do a 鈥淕reat Books鈥� program during the 2027 summer featuring three Freshman Studies books taught over the years and you have been asked to participate. Can you share some of the preliminary plans?听

This is a team-taught course called 鈥淭he Long Novel鈥� that Professor Dominica Chang of French, Professor Tim Spurgin of English, and I have taught at 杨贵妃传媒视频 four times now.听 The central problem of the class is thinking about how the different traditions in European literature of the nineteenth century represent the challenges of modernity. The first three times we taught the course, we read Charles Dickens鈥櫶�David Copperfield, Gustave Flaubert鈥檚听Sentimental Education, and Fyodor Dostoevsky鈥檚听The Brothers Karamazov. We are just completing our first run through a new version that features Flaubert鈥檚听Madame Bovary, Lev Tolstoy鈥檚听Anna Karenina, and Thomas Hardy鈥檚听Tess of the D鈥橴rbervilles. The key to this class is that all three of us are at every discussion, and we each take one session as lead instructor for the books that are outside of our own field. The other key is that these are听long and complicated novels. We are talking about how we would create a two-week class with the same or similar authors and the same topics, but with fewer than 1700 pages of reading. A challenge!

杨贵妃传媒视频 President Laurie A. Carter

A Bold New Chapter听

The $38 million development, located at the corner of East College Avenue and South Drew Street, features more than 100,000 square feet of academic and public space. The building features the Trout Museum of Art on the first floor, state-of-the-art academic spaces on the second floor, and beautiful one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments on the third and fourth floors that are available to the general public.听

The project is a response to a growing need for new and innovative ways of preparing students for the changing world and the evolving careers ahead of them as they move into the workplace after graduation.

The interdisciplinary hub encompasses the Humanities, Math, Statistics, Computer Science, and the Conservatory of Music to cultivate cross-disciplinary collaboration and spark innovation.听

The project was made possible through partnerships with the Trout Museum of Art, community leaders, and 杨贵妃传媒视频 alumni. Fredrick Fisher and Partners of Los Angeles led the architectural design. Locally owned Boldt Construction served as the general contractor for the project, and the 40 upper-level, LUX apartments are now managed by听NAI Pfefferle, a commercial real estate firm headquartered in Appleton.听

Susan Hall, a 1976 杨贵妃传媒视频 alumna and current member of the 杨贵妃传媒视频 Board of Trustees, said 杨贵妃传媒视频 held a special place in her heart because it was where she learned to think deeply, listen generously, and believe in the power of community.听

鈥淲hen I first heard the vision for West Campus, I was struck by its boldness, A space that brings together the humanities, mathematics, computer science, and the conservatory. That鈥檚 not just interdisciplinary鈥攊t鈥檚 transformational.鈥澨�

Hall and other key supporters included local business leader John Bergstrom, Curt Detjen, President and CEO of the Community Foundation, and the Van Asten family.听

鈥淧artnerships like this ensure that our students鈥� education is not confined to classrooms but is enriched by direct engagement with the cultural fabric of our region,鈥� President Carter said. 鈥淲e are building bridges between theory and practice, past and future, campus and community.鈥澨�

杨贵妃传媒视频 Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Professor of History Peter Blitstein

A Creative and Collaborative Environment听

The West Campus academic spaces include:听

• Eight state-of-the-art classrooms
• Digital Humanities laboratory
• Music production studio
• Mathematics Commons for collaboration and study
• 30+ offices, including soundproof offices for Conservatory faculty for private music instruction with students.听

Brooklyn Schara, 杨贵妃传媒视频鈥檚 Community Council President, said West Campus represented a promise of transformative learning opportunities.听

鈥淗ere, students are able to collaborate and innovate, not just with one another but also with our incredible faculty and staff and our community partners who share our passion for discovery, creativity, and lifelong learning,鈥� said Schara, a junior from North Freedom, WI, and a double major in international relations and Spanish.听

Learn more about 杨贵妃传媒视频.

The first year includes the creation of a cohort-based faculty development program that prepares faculty to embed vocational discernment activities and course content in existing courses. Eight faculty, representing disciplines across the college, have been selected as the first cohort鈥擡lizabeth Becker, psychology; Claire Chen, Chinese; Jake Frederick, history; Alexander Heaton, math; Victoria Kononova, Russian; Rosa Tapia, Spanish; Brigid Vance, history and East Asian studies; and Petra Watzke, German.

While the planning committee is focusing on humanities faculty for the project, they have included a couple faculty from outside of the humanities because programming is so intertwined.

鈥淭he humanities are an important part of the liberal arts education that students receive at 杨贵妃传媒视频, and we want to help students understand the real-world impacts that their humanities courses have on their futures,鈥� Kassor said.

The first year will include regular meetings as a cohort to examine ways career exploration fits into existing classes; an intensive one-day retreat in Fall Term; each faculty member redesigning part of at least one existing course to infuse career exploration; and programming to engage faculty across the university.

The second year will focus on broader implementation and the preparation for a new cohort to expand the training.

It鈥檚 part of a growing emphasis on career preparation and discernment at 杨贵妃传媒视频, in partnership with the university鈥檚 commitment to the humanities.

鈥淭o give a hypothetical example,鈥� Kassor said, 鈥渟uppose that a student who is on the pre-health track also takes courses in Chinese and religious studies during her time at 杨贵妃传媒视频. In those courses, she learns that while her pre-health courses give her the skills to work in medicine, her passion for helping others and her strong interpersonal strengths make her well-suited for a career as a medical interpreter. This might be a career path that was not apparent to her when she began her pre-health journey at 杨贵妃传媒视频.鈥�

The Wondrium team leading Kassor in the development of the Tibet series included producer Tom Kryzwicki and content developer Elliot Blair Smith.

Kassor said the entire project took two years to complete. The first 18 months鈥攕pring of 2021 to late 2022鈥攚ere spent researching, writing, and working with the content developer to craft all 12 hours of material. Kassor then spent a week in December 2022 at Wondrium鈥檚 offices in Chantilly, Virginia, recording the series. Over the next six months, Kassor worked with the production team to create the final edits, including putting Tibetan text and relevant maps and images on screen, before it was released in May 2023.

鈥淭his project was a massive undertaking that took a lot of time and involved a huge team,鈥� Kassor said. 鈥淚’m genuinely surprised to get the news about this award, and I’m delighted that this is something that others have found beneficial and engaging.鈥�

The series teaches about the history, culture, religion, and political contention of the Tibetan plateau, commonly referred to as 鈥渢he roof of the world.鈥� The lectures, ranging from 18 to 30 minutes, take learners from prehistory to present day, and touch on Buddhism, Tibetan food, the Dalai Lamas, and more.

鈥淚f Tibet is in people鈥檚 consciousness at all, it鈥檚 this image of some faraway place,鈥� Kassor said. 鈥淲hat I wanted to show is that it鈥檚 a real, complex place and not some idyllic, untouched place.鈥�

Kassor has been a member of 杨贵妃传媒视频’s religious studies faculty since 2016. She primarily teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.

It is the latest accolade for Obsidian Entertainment鈥檚 Pentiment, developed by a team of designers led by 杨贵妃传媒视频 alumnus Josh Sawyer 鈥�98, with consulting work from Kern and 杨贵妃传媒视频 alumnus Winston Black 鈥�99. Sawyer brought Kern and Black into the process because he wanted to get the details right.

That commitment to historical accuracy was praised by the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors as it announced the winners: 鈥淧别苍迟颈尘别苍迟听starts with an unusual premise: an illuminated manuscript artist, and later the daughter of his friend the town printer (an artist herself), must solve a series of mysterious murders that occur over a 30-year period in a small Bavarian town run by the local Catholic Abbey during the early years of the Protestant Reformation. With great historical accuracy, the game intricately weaves period art and print styles into its visuals while delving into the region鈥檚 political, economic, and spiritual landscapes, and examining the gender, class, and ethnic dynamics of this period of European history.鈥�

杨贵妃传媒视频 expertise fuels historical role-playing game that’s drawing rave reviews

Kern, a member of the 杨贵妃传媒视频 history faculty since 1992 with academic interests in early modern European history, called the video game 鈥渁n absolute marvel鈥� deserving of all the attention it鈥檚 getting.

鈥淚 remember meeting with Josh at a restaurant in Appleton early on to discuss planning and how eager he was to develop a game that would emphasize fidelity to the 16th century,鈥� Kern said. 鈥淎s history geeks, we both thought it could work and find an audience, but not in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would result in a Peabody. That the award committee hailed the game鈥檚 historical accuracy is especially gratifying. In both emails and conversations, we discussed getting both the context and details right, and I think it shows in what Josh and his team produced.鈥�

Pentiment is among impressive company. It is one of across entertainment, documentaries, news programming, radio and podcasts, and public service. Pentiment won in the Interactive & Immersive category, joining three other winners: The Hidden History of Racism in New York City(Instagram); We Are OFK听(PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Steam); and You Destroy. We Create | The war on Ukraine鈥檚 culture听(Meta Quest).

鈥淲hether courageously documenting wars across the globe or cleverly bringing much needed smiles to our faces, the winners of the 84th Peabody Awards each crafted compelling and imaginative stories,鈥� said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody. 鈥淪panning a wide range of mediums and genres, they delivered enthralling projects that are worthy of our highest recognition.鈥�

Sawyer, who was featured on the cover of in the summer of 2023 for his work on Pentiment, said in 2023 that he reached out to Kern and his classmate Black because of their knowledge of that time period and their commitment to historical accuracy.听Black, chair of Christian Studies at St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada, provided insight on medicinal practices and related social dynamics of that region of Europe in the early 16th century.

鈥淭he deeper I got into it, the more I realized that even though I continued collecting and reading history books and being interested in history as a topic after I left 杨贵妃传媒视频, I am not a historian,鈥� Sawyer said. 鈥淭here are limits.鈥�

Sawyer was a history major at 杨贵妃传媒视频 whose interest in web design, flash animation, and video and role-playing games led him into the world of video game development. Much of his work has been in developing popular action or fantasy games such as听Fallout: New Vegas,听Pillars of Eternity,听and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. When Obsidian was purchased by Microsoft in 2018, the door opened to creating more niche products available for Xbox GamePass, including a historical role-playing game.

鈥�Pentiment听is clearly bringing the full weight of my actual history education to play,鈥� Sawyer said in 2023. 鈥淲e even have a bibliography in the game. Ed Kern said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 a bunch of stuff from my course work.鈥� And I said, 鈥榃ell, of course it is. Those were very foundational to my understanding of early modern Europe.鈥� They鈥檙e still very fundamental to how I think about that space.鈥�

Sawyer, with an assist from both a former history professor and classmate, is now a Peabody Award winner.

That fueled a passion for wanting to study abroad, a key objective when she came to 杨贵妃传媒视频.

鈥淚 had about 10 different countries I wanted to go visit,鈥� Tevonian said.听

Eventually, Tevonian narrowed down plans for her first trip abroad. She went to India, where she participated in a Buddhist Studies program through Carleton Global Engagement. She lived in a rural pilgrimage town with 25 classmates, studying how art is used in the religious practices of a northern India ethnic group.听听

This experience inspired Tevonian to study abroad again, this time in Nepal in a language summer intensive program, studying Tibetan. The trip would contribute to her capstone project, which she is now working to turn into an honors thesis with a slightly different focus.听

“The capstone had more of an art history focus,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow I’m focusing in on the religious studies to present before the Honors Committee.”听

While at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal, Tevonian studied at the school founded by Tibetan leader Ch枚kyi听Nyima Rinpoche. The trip was funded by the Helen Barr Rudin Language grant, the Harrison Award via the , and the Chandler Senior Experience Fund, allowing her to immerse herself in the Tibetan language.听听

Her project was focused on the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, a Buddhist monument. She studied the monument and how people interacted with it, relating to the broader theme of how religious monuments and artwork intertwine in the everyday lives of people.听听

Tevonian’s passion for connecting to community is evident at 杨贵妃传媒视频 through her involvement with numerous clubs and student organizations. She serves as the co-captain of the frisbee team at 杨贵妃传媒视频 and the vice president of the Recess Club, both student-led organizations. She also is in the LU Rock Climbers Club and the Outdoor Recreation Club and is always finding ways to be outdoors. She appreciates interacting with nature and encouraging others to do so as well.听

After 杨贵妃传媒视频, Tevonian will take a gap year and apply to grad school programs for religious studies. She will continue her work and research in Buddhist studies, showing how religion manifests itself in everyday life.听听

“I love talking to people and experiencing religion in daily life,” she said.听

She said her mother has a connection to the Imagining Tourists and Tourism conference, which was how they found out about the open call for papers. She shifted the focus of her paper, discussing how Disney uses Black characters, such as Princess Tiana, to bring in Black consumers and tourists.

The conference, subtitled Fiction, Practices and Representations, will be held at the National Institute of Art History, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley, Universite Paris Pantheon Sorbonne, and Universite De Geneve. It allows individuals focused on the anthropology of tourism to meet and collaborate, sharing their ideas and innovations.听It is part of a series of conferences organized annually since 2011.

It will be a bit of a family affair for Van Gilder.

“My mom is doing her own paper focusing on Hawaiian tourism,” she said. “We thought I’d get to go see it, and now I’m presenting.”听

Van Gilder is looking forward to the opportunities the conference will present.听

“I’ll be networking with other professors on the first day around papers similar to mine and talking with people who have done research related to what I鈥檓 doing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m excited to absorb as much knowledge as I can.”听

Van Gilder shares that she wouldn’t be able to have these opportunities without help from Betsy Schlabach, associate professor of history, and others in the History Department. They have continued to help Van Gilder practice the presentation and explore additional ideas for the conference.听听

“They helped me get my writing skills to the level that they are,” she said.听听

Van Gilder will continue her research and critiques of Disney’s practices, recognizing they have a long way to go. She hopes to work in the archives field post-graduation, and this experience will build on that potential path.听

“Disney is changing a lot of rides and buildings, adding things that are historically interesting,” Van Gilder said. “I’ll get to come back to 杨贵妃传媒视频 [after the conference] and talk about my experiences in Paris and hone my skills.”听

鈥淭hese are manuscripts made in the 13th century that record songs celebrating miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary,鈥� Joyner said of the Cantigas de Santa Maria and the interdisciplinary spark that first brought her, Allan, and Ceballos together. 鈥淪everal of them also contain notated music for the songs and truly beautiful, and sometimes very weird, imagery depicting their stories. Because it鈥檚 13th-century Spain, the relationships among the cultures occupying the peninsula are tightly woven and cross-pollinating and, yes, sometimes at odds with each other. Nonetheless, the mix of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian traditions in Spain was unique in European history. 鈥� Once the three of us started working together, the hardest part became narrowing down which songs and stories to choose because there are so many fascinating, funny, and weird possibilities.鈥�

Teaching and learning

The three-unit course grew out of those initial conversations, with Allan, Ceballos, and Joyner jointly teaching the course, and all three learning along the way.

鈥淐ollaborating with Danielle and Madera was amazing,鈥� Ceballos said. 鈥淲e learned so much from one another, and very often that learning happened live in the classroom as we each took turns presenting materials and leading discussion. I imagine this was a pretty unique experience for some students to see their professors learning right along with them, asking questions, getting things wrong, and gaining new perspectives.鈥�

None of them wanted the class to end.

鈥淭he class was so much fun,鈥� Joyner said. 鈥淭he students liked it, we liked it. We got to the end and thought, we have to do this again.鈥�

So they did.

Learn more about 杨贵妃传媒视频 Alumni trips

Allan has been on the Spanish faculty at 杨贵妃传媒视频 since 2008. Her scholarship is focused on community formation in late medieval and early modern Spain and the colonial era of Latin America.

Ceballos has taught musicology at 杨贵妃传媒视频 since 2008. Her scholarly work focuses on 18th century keyboard music. She has a fascination with early music and often performs on harpsichord, keyboards, and ukulele.

Joyner joined the art history faculty in 2018. Her scholarly work has most recently focused on intersections between the natural environment and the arts, publishing on topics such as sixth-century bird-shaped brooches, the ephemerality of gardens, animals in Anglo-Saxon arts, and representations of terra across the Middle Ages.

The three continue to find meaningful connections via 13th-century Spain in their respective fields. That power of shared knowledge and intersecting interests has driven this project in all three of its phases.

鈥淭hey bring wisdom and intellectual enthusiasm to everything they do,鈥� Allan said of Joyner and Ceballos. 鈥淚 have learned so much from both of them. They are also models of patience and generosity鈥攕o I鈥檓 not the only one who has learned from them. The students in both iterations of the class have produced amazingly nuanced analyses incorporating architectural, musical, and literary elements.鈥�

Taking the course to Spain

The D-Term trip took the experience to a new level. Joyner, who led the planning efforts, reached out to connections she had at Fundaci贸n Ortega-Mara帽on (FOM) in Toledo. With help from Yukiko Okazaki, the organization鈥檚 director of International Programs, they put together a travel course built around the Cantigas de Santa Maria.

鈥淎 number of the Cantigas refer to Toledo, and there are medieval mosques, synagogues, and churches that still stand in that extraordinary little city,鈥� Joyner said.

The itinerary led the group from Madrid to Toledo to C贸rdoba and back to Madrid.

鈥淲e stayed at the FOM campus in Toledo and had a bus that took us on our various outings,鈥� Joyner said.

A highlight was a private musical performance by the scholar Antoni Rossell. Ceballos had discovered his award-winning album, Galicia e as Cantigas de Santa Maria, during research for the earlier course.

鈥淗is album is unique in that he and his collaborators worked to make medieval Galicia and its sound worlds come alive on record, and they also endeavored to situate the Cantigas in that world,鈥� Ceballos said. 鈥淚n the opening track, you hear the creaking of a boat and the sounds of a powerful storm, and then the a cappella voices of singers praising the Virgin Mary and imploring, 鈥楬oly Mary, morning star, show us the way to God and guide us.鈥� Antoni鈥檚 performance blew me away and he was so engaging and generous.鈥�

Hannah Frank, a senior history major from New Canaan, Connecticut, called the D-Term trip a 鈥渦nique and special opportunity鈥� for the students.

鈥淏esides having classes with the professors throughout the term and learning historical context from them, we also got guided tours throughout Spain that were really important for me actually understanding the significance of the places we were in,鈥� Frank said.

The D-Term course was aided by two 杨贵妃传媒视频 alumni, Robert 鈥�79 and Janet Stevens 鈥�82, who joined the trip. The presence of the Stevens enriched the D-Term course, and it sparked talk of a wider alumni trip.

鈥淲e could have conversations with them that followed different paths than those we had with the students,鈥� Joyner said. 鈥淏ecause of their own lives and experiences, they posed questions that likely would never come out of a 20-year-old鈥檚 mouth, and those questions made us think in different ways about what we were doing. It was fantastic, and it made me want to try it on a bigger scale.鈥�

With 14 alumni and family joining them on the spring break trip, it was the next step in an academic adventure that Allan, Ceballos, and Joyner continue to embrace.

鈥淚 do always want to share the medieval love with anyone who wants to listen, and sometimes even with people who don鈥檛,鈥� Joyner said. 鈥淲e knew that we had an exciting and unique way of thinking about Spain, and we wanted to share it with another 杨贵妃传媒视频 audience. I think I can speak for Madera and Sara when I say that we firmly believe in the importance of the humanities and fine arts and that an important component of a liberal arts education is that it instills in those who are receptive a joy in life-long learning.鈥�

Scott Corry, the Patricia Hamar Boldt Professor of Liberal Studies and professor of mathematics, is at the table for planning spaces in the 315 building for the growing Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Department; Beth De Stasio, the Raymond H. Herzog Professor of Science and professor of biology, is working to develop collaborative spaces for pre-health students on the third floor of Fox Commons; and Adam Galambos, the Dwight and Marjorie Peterson Professor of Innovation and associate professor of economics, is leading a group of faculty members who are helping to design a Business and Entrepreneurship Center and Finance Lab on the second floor of Fox Commons to foster student-community collaborations. Brian Pertl, dean of the Conservatory, is leading design plans in the 315 building to enhance Conservatory offerings.

鈥淲e can design the classrooms to foster active learning and create the type of rich learning environments that we want on campus,鈥� said Corry, whose department of 10 faculty members will be moving their offices and classrooms onto the second floor of the 315 building. 鈥淎nother exciting thing is creating the common space to build community among math-stats-computer science students, and really all the students who take those classes. I鈥檓 excited that we鈥檙e building that in at the outset as part of the design.鈥�

Two major developments build momentum

Fox Commons and the 315 building, both announced in summer 2023, will strengthen academic programs while enhancing career discernment for students across campus. In addition, they provide avenues for 杨贵妃传媒视频 to grow its enrollment in coming years, a key piece of the college鈥檚 strategic planning.

The Fox Commons development, to house nearly 180 杨贵妃传媒视频 students in modern living-learning communities in the heart of downtown Appleton, is expected to open in two phases鈥攖he second floor by fall of 2024 and the third floor a year later. And the new four-story mixed-use building at 315 E. College Avenue, in partnership with Trout Museum of Art, is expected to open in fall of 2025, transforming the west edge of campus. Both capital projects will bring career-focused collaborations woven through multiple disciplines.

“These projects speak to the future.”
– President Laurie A. Carter

Excitement for what this will bring to 杨贵妃传媒视频 students鈥攊n conjunction with other strategic investments鈥攊s building on and off campus.

鈥淭he student experience includes what happens inside the classroom as well as outside the classroom,鈥� President Laurie A. Carter said. 鈥淭hese projects speak to the future. Our faculty and students will have state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces, our students will have modern living environments, they鈥檒l have partners who can connect them with careers. And all of this will be done within the context of a deepening relationship with the community.鈥�

The mix of built-in learning, collaborating, and mentoring spaces and new housing options is a powerful combination that adds important layers to the student experience as 杨贵妃传媒视频 strengthens its draw in an increasingly competitive higher education environment. As the enrollment cliff arrives鈥攁 reference to the dramatic drop in the number of high school graduates nationwide set to peak between 2025 and 2029鈥攊t is paramount that 杨贵妃传媒视频 positions itself to attract the best and brightest students while continuing to lean into the lifelong benefits of a liberal arts education, Carter said. That means embracing the university鈥檚 177-year history and its commitment to the liberal arts while evolving the student experience to meet the needs of today鈥檚 students鈥攏eeds that are different than those of past generations.

The draw of these projects comes not in the buildings themselves but in what those new spaces bring to 杨贵妃传媒视频鈥檚 students and faculty鈥攕tronger academic programming in areas ranging from the arts and humanities to pre-health and business and entrepreneurship, modern teaching tools, and built-in mentorship opportunities aimed at building life-after-杨贵妃传媒视频 career paths.

The 315 partnership

The new building at 315 E. College Ave., at the southwest corner of College Avenue and Drew Street (adjacent to Brokaw Hall), will be 杨贵妃传媒视频鈥檚 first new major building project since construction of Warch Campus Center in 2009. It will feature more than 100,000 square feet across four floors.

The nonprofit art museum will be on the first floor, with state-of-the-art academic spaces for 杨贵妃传媒视频 on the second floor. The upper floors will feature market-rate apartments, space that could one day be converted to student housing to meet future needs. It will be built by Boldt and jointly owned by 杨贵妃传媒视频 and the Trout Museum of Art, with 杨贵妃传媒视频 controlling the upper three floors and the art museum the ground floor.

A recently announced $10 million gift from an alum and spouse is a huge initial step.

杨贵妃传媒视频鈥檚 academic space on the second floor will include soundproof offices for Conservatory faculty and offices for the Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Department. It will include an innovative teaching and co-curricular commons, where students will engage in both formal and experiential learning in varying disciplines. And it will be home to the Humanities Center, an intellectual collaborative for faculty, students, and scholars-in-residence.听

The mathematics, statistics, and computer science faculty have outgrown their space in Briggs Hall as the department has expanded to accommodate growing student interest, including in the statistics and data science minor that was introduced in 2020. The opportunity for the department鈥檚 faculty to have offices together and share innovative teaching spaces is a game-changer, Corry said. A bonus is the alignment with the Conservatory.

鈥淭here has always been a lot of overlap between mathematics and computer science students and students interested in music,鈥� Corry said. 鈥淭hat happens here in general at 杨贵妃传媒视频, but in this case it鈥檚 a really good kind of synergy for us.鈥�

“This is where we鈥檙e going to lean into creating internship opportunities and set up community partnerships.鈥�
– Constance Kassor

Kassor, meanwhile, said humanities faculty will have new opportunities to innovate. Humanities faculty have outgrown Main Hall, many with offices located in other buildings across campus.

While the humanities faculty offices will remain where they are鈥攊ncluding in Main Hall鈥攖he new space in the 315 building will allow faculty to work more in unison. That will include digital projects鈥攑odcasting, video editing, virtual reality, and more鈥攁nd collaborations across disciplines in deeper ways than is now available.

鈥淭he idea is it will allow for more interdisciplinary work between faculty, between departments, and between faculty and students,鈥� Kassor said.

There also will be several designated offices for visiting scholars, providing new opportunities to bring scholars-in-residence into the curriculum, add new punch to traditional programs such as the Main Hall Forum, and facilitate connections to the community so humanities faculty and students can spotlight the work they鈥檙e doing.

鈥淏ecause this space on the corner of College and Drew is going to be so accessible and right there downtown, it will be a place we can invite community members to,鈥� Kassor said. 鈥淲e can really work to highlight the real-world skills our students gain in humanities classes. And this is where we鈥檙e going to lean into creating internship opportunities and set up community partnerships.鈥�

Meanwhile, in the halls of the Conservatory, there is growing excitement over the possibilities that will come with the new space鈥攁 huge upgrade from office and studio space formerly housed in the Con West building.

鈥淭his will be an enormous addition to our commitment to giving our students the tools they need for a successful musical life in the rapidly changing world of today, tomorrow, and far into the future,鈥� Pertl said. 听

Expanding campus with Fox Commons

Fox Commons, located three blocks to the west, will give 杨贵妃传媒视频 new academic and student life avenues as a living-learning community that blends apartment-style student housing with built-in mentoring partnerships.

The renovation of City Center Plaza into Fox Commons began in the summer of 2023. Located at 10 E. College Avenue, Fox Commons will be a 180,000-square-foot health care, housing, retail, and mixed-use community hub. It鈥檚 a project of Dark Horse Development and Boldt. Besides 杨贵妃传媒视频, other prominent tenants include Mosaic Family Health, Prevea Health, and gener8tor, a business incubator focused on sustainability.

Built-in academic and collaboration spaces include a Business and Entrepreneurship Center, a Finance Lab equipped with specialized financial industry software, a pre-health commons, a community kitchen, and lecture and meeting rooms. The living-learning spaces will allow for 杨贵妃传媒视频 students interested in business and entrepreneurship and pre-health careers to collaborate regularly with professionals from Mosaic, Prevea, gener8tor, and other nearby finance and business entities.

The business and entrepreneurship piece will come first, with those spaces and the second-floor apartments opening in time for the start of the 2024-25 academic year. The pre-health spaces and third-floor apartments will open the following year.

De Stasio has been working with designers to incorporate collaborative spaces into the third floor that will facilitate partnerships with the health-focused tenants. She envisions at least two speaker series tied to 鈥淭he Future of Medicine鈥� and to career pathways within the broader field of health care as well as more casual mingling of students and health care professionals. There will be a lending library for health-related materials, and there will be robust mentorship activities ranging from internships and shadowing experiences to mock interviews.

鈥淚n addition, the inclusion of a demonstration kitchen will allow us to provide chef-led demonstrations of healthy cooking for these students living with full kitchens in their apartments for the first time, as well as for other students on campus,鈥� De Stasio said.

There also will be room to invite alumni who are Fox Valley-based health care practitioners to come in for catered meals with 杨贵妃传媒视频 students.

鈥淲e want to provide space for those interactions with health professionals,鈥� De Stasio said.

On the floor below will be spaces catering to business and entrepreneurship; spaces that Galambos sees as a momentum-builder following this year鈥檚 launch of the business and entrepreneurship major and the recent growth of the innovation and entrepreneurship program.

鈥淲e will work together with gener8tor, another key tenant in the Fox Commons development, to cultivate and enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Fox Cities,鈥� Galambos said. 鈥溠罟箦绞悠碘�檚 innovation and entrepreneurship program has engaged with the business and entrepreneurship community for a number of years, but our new business and entrepreneurship major and the new center in Fox Commons will open the door to a lot more opportunities, and we are excited to build those new collaborations.鈥�

The Business and Entrepreneurship Center will become a hub for everything from workshops and guest speakers to community events and pitch contests. And the Finance Lab will bring experiential learning opportunities for students interested in business.

鈥淎ll students will have access to the programming,鈥� Galambos said, 鈥渂ut those who will live at Fox Commons will benefit from being part of a residential community organized around their academic and career interests.鈥�

New housing options

While the focus in the Fox Commons development has been mostly on business and entrepreneurship, pre-health, and related disciplines, the apartments will also be a draw for a wide range of upper-year students. 杨贵妃传媒视频 juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to live in two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments on the second and third floors.听A lottery system is being developed for students wanting to live in Fox Commons.

杨贵妃传媒视频 senior Anders Hanhan, an environmental studies and government double major from St. Paul, Minnesota, who serves as president of the 杨贵妃传媒视频 Community Council (LUCC), said the apartment-style living option is something students have been asking for.

鈥淥ne thousand percent,鈥� he said of students wanting that option in their junior and senior years. 鈥淭here are a lot of students who are seeking more independence, and this absolutely does that in a way that 杨贵妃传媒视频 hasn鈥檛 done before.鈥�

Addison Littlefield, a senior from Sidney, Maine, called the Fox Commons option a huge win because it gives upper-year students who want to explore life outside of residence halls an opportunity to do so while remaining closely connected with campus.

鈥淲e always hear about the 杨贵妃传媒视频 bubble,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is not exactly popping the bubble but rather expanding it.鈥�

The design of Fox Commons is intentional in that students will still be part of the campus environment while also having the opportunity to explore what life after 杨贵妃传媒视频 might look like鈥攑ersonally and professionally.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not really viewing this as off-campus housing but rather an extension of our campus in a way that allows students to develop those transitional skills while still being very connected to the campus community,鈥� Carter said.

Bolstering the student experience

杨贵妃传媒视频 leadership has been actively building on the student experience. That includes new and enhanced academic programs, a stronger and more engaged Career Center, additional support staff in Student Life, new investments in athletics鈥攏early a quarter of 杨贵妃传媒视频鈥檚 students are student-athletes鈥攁nd now new opportunities in academics, residential life, and community partnerships.

In addition to the partnerships with Trout Museum of Art and Fox Commons, the university has in the past year:

• Strengthened the first-year experience, beginning with a reimagined Welcome Week and the hiring of a first-year dean.
• Introduced a new business and entrepreneurship major, built through the lens of the liberal arts.
• Introduced the 杨贵妃传媒视频 Advantage to improve accessibility to a 杨贵妃传媒视频 education for all academically qualified students from Wisconsin and Illinois.
• Introduced a new dance minor.
• Upgraded facilities with more than 50 separate projects, many focused on residence halls.
• Began a new facilities master planning process to assess facilities across campus.
• Built a new outdoor track and field complex at Whiting Field and a new locker room facility at Banta Bowl.
• Announced plans to fund-raise for the building of a new recreation center. The recreation center, open to all students, would include fitness spaces and indoor competition and/or training facilities for track, baseball, softball, tennis, and more. More details are expected to be released soon.

The strategic initiatives, supported by the Board of Trustees, puts a focus on enhancing the student experience in academics, student life, and career exploration. And they position 杨贵妃传媒视频 to be able to transition, when the time is right, from an enrollment of about 1,500 to something closer to 1,900 while remaining a residential liberal arts campus.

Growing a stronger community

The enthusiasm surrounding these investments is palpable, in part because of the prospect of building a tighter, more connected community in downtown Appleton. That鈥檚 not lost on students.

鈥淚t helps open up 杨贵妃传媒视频 to the Appleton community,鈥� Littlefield, a music performance major, said of both the Fox Commons and 315 E. College developments. 鈥淚 think the living-learning communities provide a great chance for students to interact with businesses downtown, kind of further fostering the 杨贵妃传媒视频 connections to Appleton.鈥�

Those growing interactions speak to what Appleton has to offer in terms of culture, education, and career opportunities.

鈥淔or our students, it鈥檚 additional chances to get involved, to find their passion, find opportunities, get ready for life after 杨贵妃传媒视频,鈥� said Chris Clarke, vice president for Student Life. 鈥淚 think Appleton will benefit from us being more in the community, and I think our students will benefit from these opportunities with our partners.鈥�

Carter calls it an important next step in the campus-community relationship, one that dates to the founding of 杨贵妃传媒视频 in 1847 and the development of Appleton as a municipality in the years to follow.

鈥淭his is an opportunity to deepen that relationship in a very meaningful way,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about having our students be part of the community in a way that allows them to understand what it means to be good neighbors, to really interact with the College Avenue population a little more deeply, particularly as the downtown becomes more residential. We鈥檙e preparing them for life after 杨贵妃传媒视频 while still providing them with that piece of the 杨贵妃传媒视频 bubble they鈥檙e looking for.”

Getting energized: What work have you done or will you be doing at 杨贵妃传媒视频 that gets you the most excited?听

The past two years I鈥檝e enjoyed my term as director of First-Year Studies. I took up this position midway through COVID, and it has been at times a challenge to reestablish traditions around the course. Because of my work in religious studies, I鈥檓 interested in scripture and the way texts come to serve as touchstones for groups of people. One thing I like about First-Year Studies is the way it gives us a common set of works at the center of our college community. There鈥檚 nothing else like it in our curriculum where every student and a subset of faculty are reading the same text. This communal value is most clear for longstanding works like Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

Through this experience I鈥檝e also discovered that I enjoy thinking about questions regarding the introductory education of students. I鈥檓 on the task force redesigning the First-Year Studies class, and that raises all kinds of questions. I鈥檓 also working now in another group to design the Business and Society course that all students will take at the start of the business and entrepreneurship major. I guess this is another part of my resistance to specialization the instant students arrive on campus. Humanities courses are a great place to build connections across subjects and to give space for reflection.

Going places: Is there an example of somewhere your career has taken you (either a physical space or something more intellectual, emotional, or spiritual) that took you by surprise?

I鈥檝e definitely surprised myself with the course of my intellectual journey. I came to 杨贵妃传媒视频 with Cairo and Egypt on my brain. Up through tenure a lot of my work centered on medieval Cairo. But then in the 2010s it got more difficult to travel to Egypt with all the political upheaval, and so I started to think more about sacred space from a global perspective. During these years we developed the global studies major and I had opportunities to travel to new countries like Indonesia and Senegal and Dubai. So, you could say that I鈥檝e pursued a larger canvas for my questions about Islam and the way humans experience place.

Out of the classroom

This or that: If you weren鈥檛 teaching for a living, what would you be doing?

I would probably rephrase this question to be more like: If you weren鈥檛 teaching at 杨贵妃传媒视频 for a living, then what would you be doing? And my answer would be teaching someplace else, if not at a college, then at a high school. Teaching is the task of bringing students into contact with the larger contexts of their human experience, and as a democratic society we can鈥檛 move forward without good teaching. But if I had to think about what I would do besides teaching, then my mind goes to owning a bookstore. When I was in my 20s, I worked at bookstores, such as Vroman鈥檚 Bookstore in Pasadena. It wasn鈥檛 so long ago that colleges and universities weren鈥檛 the only places where intellectual exchange took place, and I think it would be healthy if there were more outposts for thinking seriously about the world and sharing ideas.

Right at home: Whether for work, relaxation or reflection, what鈥檚 your favorite spot on campus?

I like the trees on campus. I was thrilled last year to learn about the existence of a map that identifies all the trees on our campus. Over the years I鈥檝e tried to learn the names of the tree species around campus, and now I know there鈥檚 a place I can go if I get stumped. One of the goals in my class, Forests and Human Flourishing, is to get students thinking about the names of the natural things they see, and to move beyond the generic terms of 鈥渢ree鈥� and 鈥渇lower鈥� as we move through the world.

It鈥檚 always nice in the spring term as the weather warms and students get out onto the Main Hall quad to study or chat with friends. I enjoy taking walks down along the Fox River. It鈥檚 amazing to live so close to a river. I grew up in Southern California, so the abundance of water in Wisconsin continues to be a bit mind-bending. We鈥檝e got a river that runs past our campus, the Great Lakes aren鈥檛 so far away, and then 鈥渦p north鈥� we have all these smaller lakes.

One book, one recording, one film: Name one of each that speaks to your soul? Or you would recommend to a friend? Or both?

Book: The Amur River: Between Russia and China, by Colin Thubron. More than any other genre, I love travel writing. I like to follow someone through a landscape and read about their experiences. This book is by the dean of English travel writers, and in it he follows the Amur River from its origin in Mongolia and then along the vast stretch where it serves as a border between Russia and China. Thubron goes back and forth across the river and he describes the striking contrast between the Russian and Chinese sides of the river. The book has only become more interesting as events of the past year have drawn these two nations closer together. It鈥檚 not that I would ever be drawn to travel along the Amur River, but to me that鈥檚 the point of reading a travel narrative: getting somewhere I couldn鈥檛 otherwise visit.

Recording: FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE by Brian Eno. This is such an outstanding album that I have to mention it. I try to find art that recognizes our environmental crisis and responds by reimagining the human relationship to the world. This album draws on the ambient work Eno has spent a lifetime producing (Music for Airports, Apollo), but is still an album of songs in the vein of Another Green World. The lyrics move toward an earthy or environmental perspective. The first song asks: 鈥淲ho gives a thought about the nematodes鈥� and the album proceeds to move up and down the scales of the cosmos, but always working to shift our point of view from the human. I鈥檝e thought for a while that music would be a great way to introduce students to questions about climate change.