eInside Events

Second Annual Aging Symposium 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.

Kent State School of Art Gallery to Display Ted Vogel's Allegorical Sculptures

Pictured is the artwork "Campfire Stories" by artist Ted
Vogel.

The sculptures of Oregon-based artist Ted Vogel are rooted in tangible material objects (such as tattered suitcases and dictionaries), and yet exude a haunted energy suggestive of memory and the subconscious.

“Object Lessons: The Sculpture of Ted Vogel” will appear at the Kent State University School of Art Gallery on Oct. 8-Nov. 20, with an opening reception Oct. 8 from 5-7 p.m. The gallery also will host an artist discussion Oct. 9 from noon-1 p.m. The exhibit, reception and artist discussion are all free and open to the public.

Vogel is an associate professor of art at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he has taught ceramics since 1994. He also has led workshops across the country, including at the Penland School for Arts and Crafts, Anderson Ranch Center for the Arts, Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts and Mendocino Art Center.

“Reflecting the traditions of ceramic and glass figurines and the kitsch ceramic of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, my work explores ideas of storytelling and allegory,” Vogel says. “These stories are derived from sources of mythology, our vast history and family tales that are passed down from generation to generation, and from the so-called ‘true stories’ of our time, often created by ironic public myth.”

For more information about the artist, visit https://college.lclark.edu/live/profiles/194-ted-vogel.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The School of Art Gallery is located on the second floor of the Art Building at 400 Janik Drive in Kent.

For more information, contact Anderson Turner, director of galleries, at haturner@kent.edu or 330-672-1369.

You're Invited to the 2015 Online Learning Symposium

Kent State University’s Office of Continuing and Distance Education will host the second annual Online Learning Symposium on Friday, Dec. 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. in the Kent Student Center. This year's theme is Kent State Online: Creating Community.

Please join your colleagues at the symposium for an in-depth exploration of creating and cultivating engaged, collaborative communities in online courses. The keynote speaker at the event will be Rena Palloff, Ph.D., author, faculty member, consultant and 2012 winner of the Richard Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Practitioner in Distance Education. Palloff’s research involves organizational behavior and management and how institutions can use community to promote successful learning outcomes in online courses.

Interactive sessions will explore:

• New resources available to faculty;
• Examples of innovative work;
• Campus partner poster sessions;
• Breakout sessions on best practices; and
• Online accessibility, and much more.
  

This event, which includes brunch and an afternoon reception, is free but registration is required.

For more information and to register, visit
www.kent.edu/cde/conferences/online-learning-symposium/2015.

Take Back the Night at Kent State Will Spread Awareness About Sexual Assault in the U.S.

Kent State University's Take Back the Night program to help
spread awareness about sexual assault and domestic
violence will take place Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a sexual assault occurs every 107 seconds in the United States, which translates to more than 807 sexual assault incidents daily. Even one sexual assault is too many.

Please join Kent State University’s Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services and the Women’s Center on Monday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in front of the Memorial Athletic and Convocation (MAC) Center for the annual Take Back the Night program to help spread awareness around this serious topic.

Take Back the Night is a program that allows sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, along with their advocates, to speak out against their abuse. Since the 1970s, colleges, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers have held events all over the country to end sexual and domestic violence of all forms.

Kent State’s Take Back the Night will feature a Name Burning Ceremony in front of the MAC Center, a keynote provided by Katie Hanna from the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, and a walk that concludes with a Speak Out at the Alumni House. Both the Name Burning Ceremony and Speak Out are cathartic ways for survivors to talk about their experiences and put them in the past.

Questions about Take Back the Night can be directed to Alicia Robinson, program coordinator for Kent State’s Women’s and Gender Centers. You can email her at arobin16@kent.edu. Additionally, information can be found at the Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services website at www.kent.edu/srvss or on the GreenDot social media pages at www.facebook.com/kentstate.greendot and @KSUGreenDot.

For more information about Take Back the Night, visit http://takebackthenight.org.

Please consider joining this campaign against sexual assault and domestic violence. Together, we can help end power-based violence on our campus

Kent State’s School of Theatre and Dance Opens Season With The Servant of Two Masters

Classic comedy is adapted and directed by Roe Green Visiting Director Tracy Young

When Truffaldino (Wesley Simmons)
decides to double his income by serving
two masters, comedic chaos abounds.

(Photo credit: Joni Koneval)

Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance begins it 2015-2016 season with Carlo Goldoni’s classic comedy The Servant of Two Masters. The production is directed and adapted by this year’s Roe Green Visiting Director Tracy Young, and runs Friday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 18, in Wright-Curtis Theatre, located in the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive in Kent.

For tickets, call 330-672-ARTS (2787), purchase online at www.kent.edu/theatredance or in person at the Performing Arts Box Office located in the Roe Green Center lobby of the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive in Kent. The box office is open Monday to Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for Kent State alumni, faculty and staff, $14 for seniors (60+) and $10 for non-Kent State students, age 18 and under. Tickets are free for full-time, Kent Campus undergraduate students. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $12 per person. Flex pass subscriptions also are available. The box office accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, check and cash.

Written by Goldoni and adapted by Oded Gross and Young, The Servant of Two Masters is a masterpiece of commedia dell’arte. The hilarious comedy demonstrates what happens when you combine a sister disguised as her brother, a fiancé returned from the dead, a lover accused of murder and an always-hungry servant who decides one master is not enough.

An accomplished director and adapter, Young, who directs The Servant of Two Masters, has credits at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Co., Playmakers Rep, Great Lakes Theater, Yale Rep, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Los Angeles Theatre Center and Lincoln Center Theater.

The production and design team includes choreography by Kent State Assistant Professor Courtney Brown, scenic design by Associate Professor Raynette Smith, technical direction by Associate Professor Steve Pauna, lighting design by Kent State graduate student Tom West, costume design by Associate Professor S.Q. Campbell, and sound design by Kent State theatre studies student Alex Toth. Abbey Matye, Kent State theatre studies student, serves as production stage manager.

Now in its 13th year, the Roe Green Visiting Director Series was established following a donation from local arts patron and activist Roe Green. Through this generous gift, the School of Theatre and Dance invites a guest professional director each year to work in residency with students and direct one of the school's main stage productions. Previous guest directors include Tony Award winner Michael Rupert, Victoria Bussert, Vincent Dowling and Sue Ott Rowlands.

Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement Presents Fall 2015 Leadership Speaker Series

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith among featured speakers this fall

The Kent State University Center for Student Involvement's
fall 2015 Leadership Speaker Series features industry
leaders, including featured commentator and columnist for
ESPN Stephen A. Smith.

Kent State University’s Center for Student Involvement launched its fall 2015 Leadership Speaker Series on Sept. 9. Kent State faculty, staff and students will be able to hear from industry leaders, including featured commentator and columnist for ESPN Stephen A. Smith, free of charge. The series is part of Kent State’s leadership development program.

“Leadership is something that never goes out of style,” says Della Marie Marshall, senior associate director of Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement. “We wanted to provide an opportunity for students to come out and interact with industry leaders.”

Marshall and her team planned the series months in advance.

“We evaluated last year’s program by looking at social media comments and asking participants who else they would like to see and why,” Marshall says. “We asked for suggested topics and presenters. Then we took that feedback and tried to find speakers to address those topics.”

On Sept. 9, the series kicked off with Odell Bizzell II’s speech on making an impact. Bizzell’s speech focused on how students should build a higher standard of impact as they pursue their dreams, goals and ambitions.

“Part of being a leader is wanting to make an impact,” Marshall says. “By wanting to make an impact, sometimes your leadership skills will surface without you even realizing it.”

On Sept. 14, Tawan Perry, the second speaker of the series, discussed navigating the college experience. Captain Negron of the Marine Corps talked about the art of influencing and directing others on Sept. 21.

On Oct. 5 in the Governance Chambers at 7 p.m., Jeff Chang will speak about the colorization of America. According to the 15th-day census data, Kent State’s international enrollment is now topping 3,000 students from 111 countries, a growth of 348 percent since 2008. Marshall says they wanted to bring in a speaker who can address colorization so international students can learn more about the United States and its education system.

On Oct. 19 in the Kent Student Center, Room 310 at 7 p.m., Kristen Hadeed will discuss how to go from hitting the bar to setting the bar. Hadeed is well known for starting a multimillion-dollar corporation when she was a junior in college. Her lecture focuses on how, as a young business woman, she went through a lot of ups and downs, but to succeed she had to reevaluate her priorities and the people she kept in her inner circle.

The last day of the speaker series is on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Kiva. Stephen A. Smith, featured commentator and columnist for ESPN, will discuss adversity and how students can keep their heads in the game.

The full schedule is listed below

• Jeff Chang: Colorization of America, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Governance Chambers
• Joshua Fredenburg: 14 Highly Effective Leadership Principles, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in Kent Student Center, Room 310
• Jason Johnson: Series of Inconvenient Movements, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in Kent Student Center, Room 306
• Al Riddick: Financial Fitness and Spend Your Way to Debt-Free Living, Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in Kent Student Center, Room 319
• Kristen Hadeed: From Hitting the Bar to Setting the Bar, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in Kent Student Center, Room 310
• Stephen A. Smith: Adversity and Keeping Your Head in the Game, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Kiva
  

Additional details for the Leadership Speaker Series can be found at www.kent.edu/event-tags/speakers-and-lecturers.

Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative to Host Cuba Discussion

Miguel Coyula, an expert in architecture, urban planning
and retired professor at the University of Havana in Cuba,
will speak about Cuba’s dynamic history and future on
Oct. 7 at Kent State University's Cleveland Urban Design
Collaborative, located at 1309 Euclid Ave., Suite 200, in
Cleveland.

The Kent State University Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative will host an evening discussion about Cuba’s dynamic history and future at its location at 1309 Euclid Ave., Suite 200, in Cleveland.

The event, “Havana: Past, Present, Future,” will take place Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 5 p.m. and feature guest speaker Miguel Coyula. Coyula is an expert in architecture and urban planning, and he is a retired professor at the University of Havana in Cuba.

The event is free and open to the public, courtesy of Kent State President Emeritus Lester A. Lefton, but registration is required.

Coyula will present a comprehensive overview of Havana’s history and conclude his lecture with a discussion about the future of Havana and what the city could become in coming years. A light dinner featuring American cuisine with a Cuban flair will follow Coyula’s talk.

To register for the event, visit http://www.eventbrite.com/e/miguel-coyula-lecture-october-7th-tickets-18737089138?aff=eac2.

For questions about the event, contact Anne Morrison, Ph.D., at amorriso@kent.edu or the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative at 216-357-3434.

For more information about Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, visit www.cudc.kent.edu.

Third Annual Water Research Symposium Focuses on Climate Change

Richard Alley, Ph.D., Evan Pugh Professor
in the Department of Geosciences at Penn
State University and one of the world’s top
experts on climate change, is keynote
speaker at the third annual Water Research
Symposium at Kent State University that will
take place from Oct. 14-15.

The third annual Water Research Symposium at Kent State University will be held Oct. 14-15 at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center. This year, the symposium is co-sponsored by the National Academy of Science with additional support from the Cleveland Water Alliance. The event is free and open to the public. Online registration for the event closes Oct. 7.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Water in a Changing Climate: Regional to Global Issues” and will feature keynote speaker Richard Alley, Ph.D., Evan Pugh Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Penn State University and one of the world’s top experts on climate change. He has studied ice sheets to help predict future changes in climate and sea level.

Alley has been awarded several times for his research, and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. He has been honored for his teaching at Penn State and his service with various groups, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science Public Engagement. Alley also has served on many advisory panels, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was the co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

“This year’s keynote speaker, Richard Alley, is a world-renowned expert who has testified before Congress, shared his knowledge with the public through books and television, and contributed to the scientific literature,” says Laura Leff, Ph.D., professor and chair of Kent State’s Department of Biological Sciences.

Kent State faculty members V. Kelly Turner, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Geography, and Xiaozhen (Jen) Mou, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, will both present at the symposium.

Other presenters include Emily M. Elliott, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; Allison Steiner, Ph.D., University of Michigan; and Gena Wirth, SCAPE Landscape Architecture PLLC.

With more than 30 researchers working across multiple colleges and departments, Kent State has considerable strength in a broad range of the aquatic sciences and related disciplines.

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