DEAN’S NOTE

I shared this note with PAGE earlier this week and repeat it here: I know that there have been some questions about the “Dear Colleagues” letter issued by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on February 14, 2025. They have now issued a clarifying Frequently Asked Questions document. As the FAQ makes clear, identity- and heritage-based programming is permissible as long as it is open to all and not restricted to those from a particular identity category. I would recommend adding a line stating “free and open to all” to any event flyers just to preempt any concerns that might arise. The federal government does not have jurisdiction to interfere in curriculum, so no curricular changes are needed in response to the letter and FAQ. As of this writing, the rumored executive order to dismantle the Department of Education has not yet been signed, and the implications of that potential executive order are not fully known. I will update the college as we learn more. As always, reach out if you have questions or concerns.

PROGRAM UPDATES

• Ula Klein (Women’s and Gender Studies and English) presented the paper “Marriage and Its Opposites in Jane Austen’s Persuasion” at the Southeast Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies conference, which took place Feb 5-8 in Savannah, Georgia. She also organized and chaired a panel there: “Jane Austen’s Waspish Women.”
• Pascale Manning (English) has been awarded a “long-term” research fellowship at the Newberry Library (Chicago), beginning in fall 2025. The fellowship will support archival research — principally in the library’s Edward E. Ayer collection — and will involve active participation in the library’s scholarly community, including delivering twice-monthly public talks for the Fellow’s Seminar and at least one presentation for the Newberry Colloquium.
• Karrie Rukamp (Chemistry) was selected as UWO’s representative to the Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars program for 2025-26.

FACULTY AND STAFF RESEARCH

• Tony Palmeri (Communication Studies) authored a book chapter titled “The Spectacle of Didacticism In the January 6^th Hearings” for Casting the Art of Rhetoric With Theater and Drama (edited by Adrienne E. Hacker-Daniels).
• Amber Lusvardi (Political Science) is coauthor on the paper “Political Pets: The Pawsitive Effect of Dogs in Politicians’ Social Media Posts” in the Journal of Information Technology and Politics.
• Joe Peterson (Geology) coauthored a paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology that identified a new genus of Cretaceous azhdarchid pterosaur (Infernodrakon hastacollis).
• Eric Hiatt (Geology) coauthored a paper in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters that delineated the influence of continental weathering on ocean productivity during the most significant climate change event in the last billion years.

STUDENT NEWS

• A recent story in UW Oshkosh Today highlighted Geology major Jonah Habeck’s experience working at NASA last summer.
• Mike Ford (Sociology & Public Administration) and students Gabe Murray (Master of Public Administration), Caprice Swanks (Sociology), and Olivia Madrigrano (Sociology) attended a Pluralist Lab training at UW Madison on February 28. The event focused on building civil discourse skills with other students across the UW system. Students were sponsored by the Whitburn Center for Governance & Policy Research, the Wisconsin Institute for Citizenship & Civil Dialogue, and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.