eInside Events

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye to Give Lecture and Poetry Reading at Kent State

Award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye
will speak two nights at Kent State
University as part of the Guest of Honor
Artist/Lecture Series and the Wick Poetry
Center Reading Series.

Award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye will speak two nights at Kent State University as part of the Guest of Honor Artist/Lecture Series and the Wick Poetry Center Reading Series.

Nye will deliver a guest lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 and give a poetry reading at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 co-sponsored by the Honors College and May 4 Visitors Center. Both events will be held in the Kent Student Center Kiva, and are free and open to the public.

The two evening events will celebrate a global conversation through poetry, and engage Kent State and Northeast Ohio communities with a unique opportunity for discussion.

"Naomi Shihab Nye is truly a poet of the world, giving voice to our shared humanity across borders, reminding us that our ‘longing for connection' should be ‘the flag of one’s true country,’" says David Hassler, director of Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center.

The Guest of Honor University Artist/Lecture Series brings world-renowned speakers to Kent State to connect with the community, and the Wick Reading Series invites nationally acclaimed poets to read their work. For the first time, these two series intersect with Nye’s work.

Nye is the author and/or editor of more than 30 volumes, including her new children’s novel, The Turtle of Oman. The novel was chosen for both a Best Book of 2014 by the Horn Book and a 2015 Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association. Throughout her career, Nye has earned many honors. In January 2010, Nye was elected to the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets, and was named laureate of the 2013 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature.

For more information about the Wick Poetry Center Reading Series, visit www.kent.edu/wick/reading-series.

Nationally Touring Photography Exhibit to Visit Kent Campus

A Peace of My Mind, an engaging social
commentary project intended to create
conversations about conflict resolution,
civic responsibility and peace, will be at
Kent State University from Oct. 20 to
Nov. 2.

A Peace of My Mind, an engaging social commentary project intended to create conversations about conflict resolution, civic responsibility and peace, is touring the United States and will be at Kent State University from Oct. 20 to Nov. 2. Faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to visit the exhibit during its time on campus.

A Peace of My Mind features 32 engaging portraits and compelling personal stories to facilitate social justice conversations. The exhibit, which will be displayed in a stand-up format in the first-floor quiet study area of the University Library, is free for faculty, staff, students and community members to explore at their own pace.

“The setup of the exhibit allows people to have freedom of mobility as they go through it,” says Della Marie Marshall, senior associate director at Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement. “It allows them to voluntarily go to the pictures that resonate with them, and it’s at eye level so people won’t have to look up.”

A Peace of My Mind will be open during the library’s normal operating hours and will involve a self-guided tour through the panels. Comment cards also will be available for guests to write personal reflections and provide feedback about their experience with the exhibit.

John Noltner, photographer and founder of A Peace of My Mind, began his project in 2009 as a response to the negativity he says he often saw in the media.

“I was really frustrated with the national dialogue I saw going on around me,” Noltner says. “It seemed like there were so many things in our world asking us to look at what could separate us, so I wondered if I could use my photography and my storytelling skills to look at what connects us.”

Noltner specifically searched for people who were working toward peace and asked them the question, “What does peace mean to you?” The project features Noltner’s first 50 interviews with people he primarily met in his home state of Minnesota.

“It didn’t really matter who I talked to for the first few interviews. I just wanted to cast a broad net and talk to as many people as I could,” Noltner says. “However, as the project has matured, I recognized there were missing voices, so I wanted to try and pull those voices into the project to get a larger picture of peace.”

Noltner will give a keynote speech on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. in the first floor quiet study area of the University Library. A small reception will take place following the keynote address for guests to converse with Noltner about his project. While at Kent, Noltner plans to sell his book produced from the series and will offer book signings.

“This exhibit was a good fit for Kent State because Kent has always been at the forefront of social justice issues,” Marshall says.

Noltner has traveled to places of tragedy and influence like Ground Zero, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and cities that played major roles in the Civil Rights Movement. He believes Kent State’s culture would fit well with the purpose of A Peace of My Mind.

“I’ve been drawn to places of difficulty and places of healing across the country, and I felt drawn to Kent State,” Noltner says. “We all know some of the difficult history of Kent State during the Vietnam War era, and it was powerful for me to be on campus and start to understand a little more about that history.”

Noltner plans to visit the May 4 Visitors Center while on campus so he can continue to study Kent State’s history and consider how the past affects the university’s current culture and motivations.

For more information about the exhibit on campus, contact Marshall at dmarshal@kent.edu.

For more information about A Peace of My Mind, visit http://apeaceofmymind.net/.

For more information about Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement, visit www.kent.edu/csi.

Complimentary Registration for ACE Women’s Network-Ohio Annual Conference on Nov. 6

The ACE Women’s Network-Ohio, which facilitates the networking of women interested in pursuing leadership opportunities in higher education, will hold its annual conference on Nov. 6 at Cuyahoga Community College located at 4400 Richmond Road in Warrensville Heights. The conference will begin with continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and will conclude at 4 p.m.

Kent State University is offering interested Kent State employees a limited number of complimentary conference registrations for this great professional development opportunity. You also can nominate a graduate student to attend. Complimentary conference registration is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The ACE Women's Network-Ohio is a network of women administrators, faculty and staff from colleges and universities across the state dedicated to the professional advancement of women. Institutional representatives from colleges across the state of Ohio serve as advocates for women’s leadership development and advancement in higher education at their institutions. Through representatives, conferences, workshops and other resources, the ACE Women's Network-Ohio is committed to improving the status of women on college campuses and throughout higher education.

The Nov. 6 conference will feature women leaders in higher education speaking about the following topics and more during concurrent sessions:

• Communicate Your Way to the Top!
• Negotiating Salary With the Institution’s Financial Picture in Mind
• Choosing a Mindful Career: A Leadership Workshop for Women
• There’s No Time Like Now to Advance Your Legacy: The Doctoral Program Journey
• 360 Degree Management: Up, Down and All Around
• Attention to Detail: Financial Finishing Touches for Women: What You Do Tomorrow Depends on What You Choose Today; and more
  

Your presence at the event as a representative of the university will reinforce Kent State’s commitment to the communities it serves. In addition to continental breakfast, lunch also will be served at the event, and there will be networking opportunities.

RSVP by Oct. 28 with names and meal restrictions, if you are interested, to Sonya Williams at swilli78@kent.edu. Williams will handle registration for the Kent State group.

For more information about the conference, visit www.aceohiowomen.org/ACE/conference.

Kent State’s Recreational Services to Hold Halloween-themed Bike Ride

A Kent State University student rides a
Flashfleet bike. Flashfleet bikes are
available for check out for the Halloween
Costume Campus Bike Ride on Oct. 28.

Kent State University’s Department of Recreational Services will host its second annual Halloween Costume Campus Bike Ride on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 5:30 p.m.

The campuswide bike ride will begin outside the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and continue downtown where participants will gather for coffee before returning. Flashfleet’s student staff will lead the group.

Kent State hopes to move toward a more bike-friendly university in the next few years, providing many opportunities for a positive biking culture on campus, says Christopher John, assistant director for the Department of Recreational Services.

“This is a small event that is part of a larger picture to hopefully continue Kent State and the Department of Recreational Services’ goal to make biking as accessible and fun as possible on campus,” John says.

John’s sentiments reflect other initiatives on campus, such as the sustainable transportation theme for the year selected by Kent State’s Office of Sustainability’s to raise awareness of alternative methods of transportation.

The event is free and open to the greater Kent State community. Participants are encouraged to wear bike-safe Halloween costumes. They can choose to bring their own bikes or check out a bike from Flashfleet.

For more information about Kent State’s Department of Recreational Services, visit www.kent.edu/recservices.

For more information about Flashfleet, visit www.kent.edu/recservices/flashfleet.

Register for Second Annual Aging Symposium That Discusses Illness Self-Management

Kate Lorig, Dr.P.H., professor emerita and
director of the Stanford Patient Education
Research Center, will serve as keynote
speaker at the Kent State University
Symposium on Aging that will take place
Oct. 28-29.

The second annual Kent State University Symposium on Aging will be held Oct. 28-29 at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public. Online registration for the event closes Oct. 21.

The theme of this year’s symposium is "Future Directions for Chronic Illness Self-Management Research, Practice and Policy." The symposium will showcase cutting-edge research, interventions and policy on the self-management of chronic illness.

“As we age, the likelihood of experiencing chronic illnesses increases,” says Kelly Cichy, Ph.D., associate professor in Kent State’s School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences. “Effective self-management allows older adults coping with chronic conditions to continue to live healthy, active lives while simultaneously reducing the healthcare costs associated with the burden of chronic disease.”

The keynote speaker at the event is Kate Lorig, Dr.P.H., professor emerita and director of the Stanford Patient Education Research Center, who will speak about “Self-Management of Chronic Conditions: A Developmental Task of Aging.” Lorig is one of the nation’s top experts on chronic disease self-management education for patients and caregivers, and she has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles in the field.

The symposium will showcase the work of Kent State faculty researchers from various disciplines who add to the university’s strength in research on aging.

One of the sessions illustrating how different colleges work together is “Thermochromic Liquid Crystal Fabrics for Early At-Home Detection of Diabetic Foot Complications,” which features speakers Margarita Benitez, M.F.A., Kent State’s School of Fashion Design and Merchandising; Jill Kawalec, Ph.D., Kent State’s College of Podiatric Medicine; and John West, Ph.D., Kent State’s Liquid Crystal Institute®. Benitez, Kawalec and West will present work on a sensor sock they developed for diabetic patients, using thermochromic liquid crystals that change color in response to changes in temperature.

“Chronic illness self-management requires an interdisciplinary perspective,” says Gregory C. Smith, Ed.D., Kent State professor of human development and family studies. Smith, also a presenter at the symposium, chaired the group of faculty who organized the event.

“There’s no one profession or discipline that could solely do an adequate job at trying to identify ways to best promote the self-management of chronic illnesses,” Smith says. “It requires a collaboration of disciplines, including public health, social work, health psychology, nursing and medicine, to name just a few.”

Other Kent State researchers presenting at the event include Joel W. Hughes, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences; Melissa Zullo, Ph.D., College of Public Health; and Lisa Marie Echeverry, D.N.P., College of Nursing.

Shirley Moore, Ph.D., from Case Western Reserve University, and Jessy Barron from Fairhill Partners also will lead sessions at the symposium.

For more information about this year’s Aging Symposium or to register, visit www.kent.edu/aging.

Women’s Success Series Announces Featured Speakers for 2015-16

Attorney Elizabeth Stephenson will speak
at the 2015-16 Women’s Success Series
on Nov. 6.

Three outstanding community leaders are headlining the 2015-16 Women’s Success Series, which kicks off Nov. 6 with attorney Elizabeth Stephenson; followed by Trang Moreland, owner and operator of Trang's Family Salon, on Feb. 5; and Jeannine Kennedy, director of the Tuscarawas County Center for the Arts, on April 1. Each session is held from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at Kent State University at Tuscarawas. The cost to attend each session is $10, which includes a continental breakfast.

This is the fourth year of programming for the Women’s Success Series, sponsored by Dennison Railroad Depot Museum and Kent State Tuscarawas in collaboration with Carlene Farms, Economic Development and Finance Alliance of Tuscarawas County and Tuscarawas County Public Library System.

The Women’s Success Series is designed to inspire women of all ages to succeed personally and professionally. Each year, the leadership series features three dynamic women who have enjoyed a measure of success in Tuscarawas County. The sessions also include networking opportunities and a book discussion. The November 2015 book selection is The Sweet Spot by Christine Carter, Ph.D., and is available at any Tuscarawas County Public Library.

Trang Moreland, owner and operator of
Trang's Family Salon, will speak at the
2015-16 Women’s Success Series on
Feb. 5.

“Each year, we showcase three remarkable women who present their own story of accomplishments and challenges,” says Pam Patacca, public relations coordinator at Kent State Tuscarawas, and one of the Women’s Success Series organizers. “These presentations, along with the book discussions, inspire women to transform their own lives or give them the confidence to continue on the path they have already set for themselves. The series is designed for and does appeal to women of all ages and all walks of life. Our participants include, but certainly aren’t limited to, college students, young mothers, business and professional women, teachers and retirees. Each session is an opportunity to network and to forge new relationships.”

This year’s first speaker is Stephenson, who is the court administrator of the Tuscarawas County Court of Common Pleas, General Trial Division. Since joining the court staff in 1997, she has worked closely with the judges organizing and coordinating efforts to establish Mediation and Drug Court Programs. Stephenson has been active at the state level with the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Jury Task Force, and has served as vice-chair of the Rules of Superintendence Commission, and currently serves on the Advisory Committee on Case Management. She serves the Judicial College and Supreme Court in teaching Ohio judges and court personnel on a variety of topics. She is a former president of the Ohio Association for Court Administration.

Jeannine Kennedy, director of the
Tuscarawas County Center for the Arts,
will speak at the 2015-16 Women’s
Success Series on April 1.

Locally, Stephenson is involved in the Tuscarawas County Bar Association and a board member of the Tuscarawas County Law Library Association and the Tuscarawas County Community Foundation. In addition to being active in several community service groups, she is a founding member of the Breastfeeding Coalition of Tuscarawas County. Stephenson is married and has four children, ages 14 through 23.

Planning committee members include Connie Finton from Carlene Farms, Kelli Baker from the Economic Development and Finance Alliance of Tuscarawas County, Michelle McMorrow Ramsell from the Tuscarawas County Public Library System, Patacca from Kent State Tuscarawas and Wendy Zucal from the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum.

Other organizations contributing to the Women’s Success Series are Connolly, Hillyer, Lindsay and Ong Inc.; Dominion East Ohio; First Federal Community Bank; First National Bank of Dennison; House of Stones; Lauren Manufacturing; Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District; Trinity Hospital Twin City; Tuscarawas County Chamber of Commerce; Tuscarawas County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau; and Union Hospital.

“We do have a limit of 100 participants,” Patacca says. “So we encourage women to register as early as possible. We invite everyone to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WomensSuccessSeries."

For more information or to register, contact the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum at 740-922-6776 or email womenssuccessseries@dennisondepot.org. Registration deadline for the November session is Oct. 30.