Vol. 27 No. 4 - September 12, 2022

For the 26th year in a row, Truman has been recognized as the No. 1 public school in the Midwest Region according to U.S. News & World Report.

Truman earned multiple honors in the 2022-23 Best College rankings, including recognition for teaching, innovation and value.

Among both public and private institutions, Truman came in tied for No. 2 in the Midwest Region, an improvement of four spots compared to last year. Truman was the only public school in the top 15 and Missouri’s lone public institution to make the top 65 spots.

Truman earned an additional No. 1 ranking on the list of Best Value Schools. In the Midwest Region, Truman was the top university overall, and the only Missouri public school to be included in the first 60 places. Truman also received mention on the list of Top Performers on Social Mobility.

“It is very gratifying to be recognized for what we cherish,” said University President Susan L. Thomas. “Academic and student excellence, exceptional teaching, meaningful innovation, enhanced social mobility and great value are essential components of what makes Truman such a remarkable, truly student-centered university.”

Dedicated faculty members helped Truman secure a No. 1 nod on the list of Best Undergraduate Teaching. Truman was the top public school in the Midwest Region and No. 3 overall. Of the 27 schools on this supplemental list, Truman was the state’s only public institution and the only Missouri school to make the top 10.

Truman again garnered a place on the list of Most Innovative Schools, coming in as the No. 1 public school – tied for No. 9 overall – in the Midwest Region. Of the 19 schools on this particular list, Truman was the only Missouri university to be included.

Three Truman undergraduate programs also earned recognition on stand-alone lists compiled by U.S. News & World Report. The computer science, nursing and business programs all met selective criteria which led to their inclusion on three respective lists.

U.S. News & World Report bases its rankings on several indicators of academic excellence, including graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, assessment by peers, financial resources, student excellence and alumni giving. Complete listings are available at usnews.com/colleges.

Family Day is a University tradition that welcomes parents, siblings and other family members to Kirksville for a weekend of special on-campus activities, as well as the annual Red Barn Arts and Crafts Festival.

The weekend will kick off Sept. 23 with soccer games versus Maryville University. Women’s soccer will play at 2:30 p.m. at the Bulldog Soccer Park with men’s soccer following at 7 p.m. at Stokes Stadium. A concert performed by the jazz ensemble and jazz lab band will also take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Baldwin Hall Auditorium.

The annual Red Barn Arts and Crafts Festival will take place from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 24 in downtown Kirksville. Exhibitors and food vendors will be located throughout the festival area, which begins at Franklin Steet in front of the Sue Ross Arts Center, north to the courthouse and around the courthouse square. A full line up of entertainment is scheduled and includes local dance and music groups such as Truman’s own Minor Detail. The performances will close with the blues band Deadwood. Artists and crafters come from throughout the Midwest and include a wide variety of work including ceramics, jewelry, photography, woodworking, candle making and more.

From 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 24 there will be a welcome tent set up on the quad where families can receive a free gift. Library tours will be available from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at Pickler Memorial Library. This is a chance to tour the library and view a variety of historical items in the Special Collections Department. At 12 p.m. women’s tennis will play against Saint Ambrose at the tennis courts. Football will face Tiffin University at 2 p.m. at Stokes Stadium. Tickets are required and can be purchased at the gate or online here. Deadline for ordering tickets online is 11 a.m. Sept. 21. SAB will host coaster painting from 2-5 p.m. in front of the Student Union Building. Participants will be able to choose forma variety of coaster shapes and paints.  

Women’s soccer will face University of Missouri-St. Louis at 12 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Bulldog Soccer Park. Wind Symphony will perform a concert at 2 p.m. in the Baldwin Hall Auditorium. The weekend will end with a men’s soccer game versus University of Missouri-St. Louis at 2:30 p.m. at the Bulldog Soccer Park.

The schedule will continue to be updated. Visit truman.edu/parents-families/family-day for more information.

Throughout the school year, University President Sue Thomas will welcome guests for one-on-one chats that shine a light on the people and things that make Truman the special place it is. Portions of each conversation will be shared across University social media platforms, and each one will be released in its entirety in podcast form on the Truman Spotify channel.

New episodes will be announced in the Truman Today as they become available. Guests for “Tea Time with Sue” can be nominated at truman.edu/teatime.

Bob Johnson rides a donkey while participating in the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program in Tajikistan. Johnson will serve as the new campus Peace Corps Prep program coordinator starting in May. 

Bob Johnson, assistant professor of agricultural science, was recently named the new Peace Corps Prep program coordinator.

The Peace Corps Prep Program is open to students of all majors and provides them an opportunity to gain credentials for working overseas and/or in any service-oriented career. Students are not required to join the Peace Corp as a program participant although serving in the Peace Corp comes with many benefits. It gives students a chance to immerse themselves in another culture, gain invaluable job and life experience, demonstrate a student’s initiative and independence and making them much more competitive for highly selective graduate programs.

Johnson will work with current coordinator Mary Shapiro, professor of linguistics, during a transition period until he takes over in May 2023.

For more information on the program, email mshapiro@truman.edu or bjohnson@truman.edu or visit peacecorps.gov/volunteer/university-programs/peace-corps-prep.

Truman’s Upsilon Zeta Chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, the largest national honorary theatrical fraternity, will produce the play with senior Kaitlyn Kelly as the director. The play will be performed 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8-10.

Auditions are open to all students. Those interested can either perform a one-minute prepared monologue or cold-read open sides available from the script.

More information, sides and audition sign-up can be found here.

Missouri Poet Laureate Maryfrances Wagner reads her poem “Missouri” on the steps of the Capitol in Jefferson City on Statehood Day, Aug. 10, 2021.

Missouri Poet Laureate Maryfrances Wagner will give a poetry reading at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 in the Baldwin Hall Little Theatre.

The Missouri Poet Laureate enriches citizens’ lives throughout the state by fostering the reading and writing of poetry through public appearances, readings, workshops, and digital and social media.

A native of Independence, Wagner is a poet, teacher and community arts leader. She has published 10 collections of her poetry, most recently “Solving for X,” published this summer. Other books include “The Immigrants’ New Camera,” “Salvatore’s Daughter,” “Light Subtracts Itself,” “Dioramas,” “Pouf,” “The Silence of Red Glass” and “Red Silk,” which won the 2000 Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award. Her poems have also appeared in dozens of magazines and anthologies. Wagner has co-edited several poetry anthologies including “The Whirlybird Anthology of Greater Kansas City Writers,” “Missouri Poets: An Anthology” and the New Letters Review of Books. Since 2010 she has co-edited I-70 Review magazine.

In 2020, Wagner was named the Individual Artist honoree for the Missouri Arts Awards, the state’s highest honor in the arts.

For 30 years, Wagner taught English and creative writing at Raytown High School and the University of Missouri–Kansas City, winning local and state recognition for excellence in teaching.

Wagner’s reading is free and open to the public. As part of her appearance at Truman, she will also visit a creative writing class the morning of Sept. 14.

Tau Lambda Sigma is a selective service and social sorority local to Truman.

Info Night
6 p.m.
Sept. 12
Violette Hall 1000

Service and Sisterhood Night
6 p.m.
Sept. 13
Violette Hall 1400s wing

Interview Night
6 p.m.
Sept. 14
Violette Hall 1400s wing

Invite Only Event
6 p.m.
Sept. 15
Violette Hall 1400s wing

Minor Detail, Truman’s all-female a cappella group, is hosting auditions from 7-9 p.m. Sept. 13 in Student Union Building 3203 and Sept. 15 in Ophelia Parrish 2115.

Blue Key in partnership with the Red Cross will host a blood drive from 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sept. 13-14 in the Student Union Building Georgian Rooms. All are welcome to donate. Donors will receive a free t-shirt.

For the first time in two years the Career and Graduate School Expo will take place in person, Sept. 27-29.

The expo is open to students of all majors and academic levels. This event gives students the opportunity to participate in a variety of professional development activities.

The week will begin Sept. 27 with a virtual personal statement workshop hosted by Dave Lusk at 5 p.m., followed by a chance for students to work on resumes and cover letters from 6-8 p.m.

From 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 28 the Graduate School Expo will take place. This is an opportunity for those thinking of pursing graduate studies to connect with their future school.


If an employer would like to arrange a more formal interview after the expo, the Career Center will schedule an interview time to meet in a reserved room on campus. These pre-selected interviews will take place from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 30.

To learn more, or to register for these events, go to hiretruman.truman.edu then to Student/Alumni Login followed by events, career fairs and select career fair of choice. Click on attend in the upper right corner of the page to formally sign up. With any questions regarding times or function of the event, go to career.truman.edu/career-grad-school-week/schedule-of-events or email the Career Center at careers@truman.edu. These events will be accessed from #HireTruman.

Much of what is known about signed languages comes from a few well-documented and typologically similar languages, which overwhelmingly represent signed languages of Western Europe and the US. However, in order to understand language as a human faculty, it is essential to increase language documentation and the inclusion of non-European signed languages in linguistic research. In this talk, Coons will focus on two case studies in her discussion of the contributions of Mexican Sign Language (Lengua de SenÌfas Mexicana, LSM) and other understudied sign languages to linguistic research.

For those interested in attending via Zoom, the passcode is OFSTAD. For more information email sday@truman.edu.

The Special Collections Department of Pickler Memorial Library is looking to add to the Faculty Publications and Alumni Publications collections. Books and edited volumes published by Truman faculty, staff and students should be preserved for future Bulldogs to enjoy. Make sure to notify the Library about new – or older – publications. Contact the Special Collections Department at speccoll@truman.edu with information.

The McNair Program supports and prepares first-generation, Pell-eligible and underrepresented students for graduate studies. Paid summer research internships, funds for graduate school visits and conferences, and academic counseling are just a few of the benefits the program has to offer. Applications are open now with a priority deadline of Sept. 19. Check eligibility here or come to the information sessions at 5 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Adair House. For more information visit mcnair.truman.edu or follow the program on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Information sessions about each graduate program will take place both virtually and on campus. Master’s programs offered are accountancy, athletic training, communication disorders, education, English, leadership, music, counseling (online), data science and analytic storytelling (online) and gifted education (online).

English
1-1:45 p.m.
Sept. 22
Zoom
Counseling
1-1:45 p.m.
Sept. 23
Zoom
Data Science
2:30-3:15 p.m.
Oct. 12
Zoom and in-person in Violette Hall 1300
Accountancy
3-3:45 p.m.
Nov. 3
Zoom and in-person in Violette Hall 1000

Communications Disorders
All day open house
Nov. 5
Health Sciences Building

Alpha Sigma Gamma, a non-selective service sorority, will host their fall recruitment from 7-9 p.m. Sept. 20-21 in the Student Union Building Activities Room and Sept. 22 on the quad with a rain location of Violette Hall 1000.

ASG’s four pillars are service, sisterhood, scholarship and friendship. They do service in the Kirksville community along with service outside of Kirksville. They also put on sisterhood and social events with other organizations.

Email asgducks.pr@gmail.com for more information.

The Truman forensics team will host an informational meeting from 6-6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 in Barnett 1211. The team will briefly discuss events offered, competitions and student experiences. No prior public speaking experience is necessary to join the team. For any questions email Ben Davis, director of forensics, at bdavis@truman.edu.

People who reserve a tailgate spot in advance will be granted early access to the tailgate lot and admitted ahead of the post-parade crowd. Those who wish to reserve a spot can register here. All requests must be approved by Alumni Relations. Review the Homecoming Tailgate Policies prior to the event.

Spaces will be reserved for requests submitted by Sept. 23. Non-reserved space at the tailgate will be first-come, first-served at the event. For any questions email bulldogforever@truman.edu.

The New York Times membership is free and can be activated online. This membership includes access to archives dating back to 1851, daily 360 content, podcasts, newsletters and nytimes.com/edu which is an education resource website.

Amy Norgard, associate professor of classics, published a chapter in edited volume “Women in Classical Video Games” (eds. Draycott and Cook, Bloomsbury), which was released on Sept. 8. Despite the prevalence of video games set in or inspired by classical antiquity, the medium has to date remained markedly understudied in the disciplines of classics and ancient history, with the role of women in these video games especially neglected. “Women in Classical Video Games” seeks to address this imbalance as the first book-length work of scholarship to examine the depiction of women in video games set in classical antiquity.

Norgard’s chapter contribution, “Bringing Down the Divine Patriarchy through Deicide in ‘Apotheon,’” analyzes how contemporary viewpoints of women and gender drive the deicide narrative of the indie platformer game “Apotheon” (Alientrap 2015), whereby the female deities in a post-apocalyptic Ancient Greece are instrumental in taking down the male deities in an attempt to restructure the gendered power dynamics of the Greek pantheon. Her chapter also discusses how gender difference can impact the playable space of a game, namely through fighting mechanics and battles. Norgard is very excited to be part of this fantastic project on the forefront of gaming studies.

Truman students from the Miller research lab in chemistry presented at the National American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Chicago, Illinois, Aug. 21-24. Bill Miller III, associate professor of chemistry, presented an oral presentation in a special symposium honoring his Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Adrian Roitberg from the University of Florida. Truman students Hannah Zimmerman, senior biology major, Georgia Hollingsworth, junior biochemistry and molecular biology major (BCMB), and Christine Chen, sophomore BCMB major, each presented a poster in the area of drug design and discovery using a variety of computational chemistry techniques. Zimmerman and Chen each won awards for outstanding undergraduate research poster in the computers in chemistry poster session.