Thirteen University of Wisconsin Oshkosh faculty members will spend time during 2012-2013 on sabbatical to pursue creative and scholarly efforts, working on everything from murals to manuscripts and from molecules to mathematics.

The Faculty Sabbatical Program enables professors to become more effective teachers and scholars and to enhance their services to the University through intensive study.

“I think it’s very important for faculty to take advantage of the sabbatical opportunity,” said Linda Freed, director of UWO’s Grants and Faculty Development Office. “Sabbaticals offer opportunity for uninterrupted time to delve into a problem or question and to think deliberately about our work. I see faculty members returning from sabbaticals refreshed and reinvigorated in ways that benefit both their teaching and their research.”

Art professor Richard Masters will spend a year on sabbatical, creating four mural-sized drawings that depict Chicago’s urban landscape in a style known as photorealism.

“To accurately recreate compositions on a gigantic scale, I will use an image transfer method employed by mural artists to prevent image distortion,” he explained. “Then I will develop a new project for my illustration class that encourages students to work in a collaborative manner in creating a mural.”

During her yearlong sabbatical, UWO’s Druscilla Scribner, an associate professor of political science, will finish work on her multiyear collaborative National Science Foundation-funded global project on gender difference in constitutional law.

Scribner’s work will include intensive study, travel to southern Africa to conduct field work and preparation of a draft book manuscript.

Additional yearlong sabbaticals were awarded to Rocio Cortes, associate professor, Foreign Languages and Literature; James Koch, associate professor, psychology; Eric Kuennen, associate professor, math; Susan Maxwell, associate professor, art; and Troy Perkins, associate professor, communication.

Faculty members going on sabbatical during just the first semester of 2012-2013 include Michael Beeth, professor, curriculum and instruction; and Julie Shaffer, professor, English.

Those taking sabbatical second semester include Brant Kedrowski, associate professor, chemistry; Miles Maguire, professor, journalism; Roberta Maguire, professor, English; and Timothy Paulsen, professor, geology.