Lori Hepner, the 2023-24 Penn State Laureate, will visit Penn State Berks and give a live presentation at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 2. The event, which will take place in the Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room, is free and open to the public.
At the end of the spring 2023 semester, six Penn State Commonwealth Campuses named faculty members as Open Champions, recognizing their work with open education in the second year of Penn State’s Open and Affordable Educational Resources (OAER) Champion Awards. A collaboration between Penn State University Libraries and the University-wide OAER Working Group, the OAER Champion Award began as a pilot initiative in 2022 and seeks to recognize excellence, innovation and impact in open educational practices at Penn State campuses.
Adam Plucinski, assistant teaching professor of engineering at Penn State Altoona, and Lolita Paff, associate professor of business economics at Penn State Berks, are the 2022-23 recipients of the Jack P. Royer Active and Collaborative Learning Award from the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses. The award recognizes Commonwealth Campus faculty and staff who demonstrate innovative teaching practices to enhance student learning and who facilitate student engagement in learning to advance conceptual and applied understanding and competencies.
How do you instill an appreciation of biodiversity and a desire to preserve ecosystems in the community? A team of Penn State Berks and Lehigh Valley professors tackled this very question through a multidisciplinary research project that involved participants in a meaningful community activity, linking science and the arts.
De-stress Fest takes place at five branch libraries across the University Park campus and at 12 Penn State campuses across the commonwealth, offering free snacks, games, activities, art therapy and other stress-management options, which vary with location.
Jennifer Murphy, associate professor of criminal justice at Penn State Berks, was recently awarded the 2023 Ken Peak Innovations in Teaching Award, given to one faculty member nationwide by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). The purpose of this award is to recognize and honor criminal justice and criminology faculty members for innovative teaching methods.
Mike Fidanza, professor of plant and soil sciences at Penn State Berks and former editor-in-chief of the International Turfgrass Society Research Journal, served as the editor of “Achieving Sustainable Turfgrass Management” — a new textbook centered on implementing eco-friendly initiatives in maintaining turfgrass.
A new book written by Penn State Berks Professor of Latin American Studies Kirwin Shaffer explores how historical forces, people, and ideas traveled across political borders and bodies of water to shape Caribbean history. Titled "A Transnational History of the Modern Caribbean: Popular Resistance across Borders," the book discusses many of the same issues that are timely today, including same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights.
Sarah Hartman-Caverly, reference librarian and library liaison to the division of engineering, business and computing at the Penn State Berks Thun Library, was recently invited to chair the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Round Table Publications & Communications Committee for 2022-23.
Two Penn State Berks professors are working to help students in STEM majors garner the core skills and knowledge offered in the humanities in an effort to gain a more complex understanding of how their disciplines and careers relate to humanity and the fast-paced global economy. A $350,000 grant will help them implement the Keystone Certificate at several campuses.
