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SHSU Update For Week Of Sept. 9
- Annual Festival To Showcase Foreign Films
- Office To Host Study Abroad Informational Presentations
- Meet-And-Greet To Introduce Students To Faculty
- Graduate Student Organization Added In CJ
- Today@Sam Seeks Fall Calendar Info
- Submit Update Items Here
Annual Festival To Showcase Foreign Films
Sam Houston State University’s English department will take students around the world this semester, introducing Bearkats to cinema from more than 10 different countries through the annual Foreign Film Festival.
Hosted by professor emeritus Ralph Pease, the festival will present two free showings of films every Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Evans Building Room 105.
“Dr. Pease has been doing these festivals on his own for several semesters now,” said Sarah Barragan, secretary for the English department. “It's really the only outlet for foreign film viewing in town.”
The festival will kick off on Sept. 11 with the 1983 Great Britain film “Educating Rita.”
Starring Michael Caine and Julie Waters, the movie centers on an alcoholic, cynical literature professor who is confronted by an ambitious, lower-class young woman determined to improve her station in life by getting a college education. The movie is 110 minutes long.
On Sept. 18, Pease will present Argentina’s “The Motorcycle Diaries.”
The 128-minute film, released in 2004, provides an account, based on revolutionary activist Che Guevara’s personal diaries and memoir, of Guevara’s transformation from medical student to political reformer.
“This is a fairly objective version of a life that was controversial,” Pease said.
To round out the month, Pease will present ”No Regrets for Our Youth” on Sept. 25.
The 1946 Japanese movie, highlights a spoiled city girl who is forced to encounter the reality of rural life with its hard work and poverty.
Starring Satsuko Hara and Susumu Fujita, the 110-minute black-and-white presentation has been called “a coming-of-age film by one of the great directors of the 20th century,” Akira Kurosawa, according to Pease.
The presentations are free to all SHSU students, faculty, staff and their guests. They are sponsored by the English department and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Nine other showings will be held throughout the semester, including “Chariots of Fire,” “The Counterfeiters,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Ponyo,” and “City of God,” among others.
For more information, contact Pease, at 936.294.1436.
Office To Host Study Abroad Informational Presentations
Though this summer isn’t officially over yet, SHSU’s Office of International Programs is already looking ahead to next summer, hosting a series of informational sessions to highlight various aspects of their offerings for students who may be interested in studying abroad next summer.
On Monday (Sept. 10), a presentation will be held on faculty-led summer programs that will be available in 2012. The session will be from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Lowman Student Center Room 302.
The session will cover the options that will be available, application procedures, and estimated costs, as well as answer any general study abroad questions.
On Tuesday (Sept. 11), another session will be held that will cover basic options for studying abroad through SHSU, including what countries and subjects will be offered and financing tips. This session also will be from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in LSC Room 302.
Finally, on Thursday (Sept. 13), students can learn strictly about financing options and hidden costs of studying in another country during a presentation from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in LSC Room 302.
The session will focus on how to finance study abroad and what the hidden costs can be, as well as how to get a passport, purchasing international health insurance, and general study abroad questions.
Jesse Starkey, OIP study abroad coordinator, said the office is offering extra sessions this fall as a way to accommodate students’ busy schedules.
“In all reality, there are three different ways students can study abroad—not just the faculty-led summer study abroad programs that will be talked about in the Sept. 10 program,” she said. “I talk about all of those programs in each of the sessions and answer student questions. After students come to one of the sessions they will typically sign up for individual advising sessions to talk more about the specifics of the programs they want to do.”
All of these events will lead up to the fall Study Abroad Fair on Sept. 25, when students can meet returned study abroad students, learn about faculty-led summer trips, and meet some of SHSU’s international partners.
“Students should consider studying abroad for a number of reasons. First, international experience looks great on a resume, not to mention the fact that only about 1 percent of U.S. college students study abroad, so it gives a great competitive edge when entering the job market," Starkey said. "Second, international exposure is a horizon-broadening experience and allows students to better appreciate our own American culture. And finally, if learning a second language is on their radar, there is no better way to learn it than to become immersed, even for just a month. For students that really want to get fluent, doing a whole semester abroad is really the only way to go."
For more information on any of these events, contact Starkey at 936.294.3276.
Meet-And-Greet To Introduce Students To Faculty
The family and consumer sciences department will welcome back their majors and minors and kick off the fall semester with a meet-and-greet celebration on Tuesday (Sept. 11).
Pizza and desert will be served for students, who can met the faculty and connect with other majors and minors, from noon to 1 p.m. on the first floor of the Margaret Lea Houston Building.
“This is an opportunity for students to meet fellow students, meet the student organization officers, meet upper classmen, and to meet the FCS faculty and staff,” said James Landa, interior design instructor.
“We have had fall department meeting for students in the past, but this year we are hoping to change things up and have more students drop by,” he said. “Many of our students commute, so having a mid-day event should allow for greater participation.
Students who would like to attend are encouraged to pre-register in the department’s main office, in MLHB 217.
For more information, contact Landa at 936.294.4655 or jlanda@shsu.edu.
Graduate Student Organization Added In CJ
The College of Criminal Justice launched its seventh student organization this fall to help unite graduate students and allow for improved peer mentoring, linking students to research and other professional networking and social opportunities.
The CJ Graduate Student Organization is open to students in the Master of Arts, online Master of Science in criminal justice and doctoral programs, which includes criminology and criminal justice, forensic science, security studies and online students.
Its focus will be to facilitate and encourage research and theory development, effective training techniques and practices, and resource networks within the college.
“There was really no way for graduate students to get together and get involved with one another,” said doctoral student Molly Smith, who, along with Sara Simmons, helped revive the previously defunct organization. “I’m hoping to make the graduates a cohesive group.
“We want to increase awareness and find out what research is being done and what other opportunities are out there,” she said. “We also want to have social events as a way to de-stress and celebrate our accomplishments.”
The new group plans to meet once a month and host social activities throughout the year. Each meeting would feature a faculty member or graduate student presenting their current research. The group also would help troubleshoot common issues among graduate students, such as problems with equipment.
The group’s first meeting will be on Thursday (Sept. 13) at 11 a.m. in the Criminal Justice Center’s Flag Room. All graduate students are automatically considered a GSO voting member and there are no dues to join. Each person can determine their own level of participation in the group, Smith said.
“Maximizing educational and professional growth during graduate school must include learning opportunities that occur both inside and outside the classroom. We are delighted to support and encourage the reestablishment of the CJ GSO,” said Gaylene Armstrong, director of the criminal justice and criminology graduate programs. “An active GSO membership holds the potential for contributing to this growth, uniting the master’s and Ph.D. students in these efforts, and will serve as a conduit for quality information-sharing among graduate students and between graduate students and the college.”
Smith, who revived the defunct organization with Sara Simmons, said that graduate studies are much more intense and collaborative in nature and felt a group was needed to pull students together.
Simmons added that undergraduates get a broader knowledge of the criminal justice field, while graduate students hone in on their specialty. Many incoming graduate students sometimes don’t know what field of study they want to pursue.
“It would be beneficial if you don’t know what you want to do and to help people decide what they want to focus on,” Simmons said. “You also can have a good sounding board.”
Today@Sam Seeks Fall Calendar Info
The University Communications Office is now collecting information on campus events for its fall calendar pages.
Departmental calendars or events can be sent to today@sam.edu or jenniferg@shsu.edu or faxed to 294.1834. Please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.
Information collected for the Today@Sam calendar pages, at /calendars/, is used by various media outlets, as well as the Communications Office for news stories and releases.
All information, including story ideas and update items for Today@Sam, should be sent a minimum of a week in advance of the event in order to make necessary contacts and write a story.
To see a full list of the Today@Sam submission guidelines, or to access submission forms for news or feature stories, calendar submissions, or hometown releases, visit /guidelines.html.
For more information, call 936.294.1836.
Submit Update Items Here
In order to assist members of the Sam Houston State University community in publicizing events, the SHSU Communications Office (Today@Sam) is now requesting that students, faculty and staff submit information about events, accomplishments or ideas for feature stories online.
Submission criteria and guidelines, including deadlines, have now been placed online, at /guidelines.html. This information is also accessible through the “Submissions” link in the right-hand navigation on Today@Sam.
From there, those submitting ideas can access forms that will allow them to provide detailed information about their idea, as well as attach event calendars, vitas/resumes or photos, depending on the type of submission.
Ideas submitted to the SHSU Communications Office are directly utilized in several ways: as news stories, “slider” or SHSU home page stories, hometown releases, and on the Today@Sam calendar.
If your submission qualifies for distribution, we will either contact you for more detailed information, or we will edit the information using SHSU/journalistic style and forward the final release to the appropriate media.
All information is verified before release, so please provide complete, accurate and timely information. Please type all responses in appropriate upper and lower cases.
For more information, contact the Communications Office at 936.294.1836 or today@sam.edu.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
Sept. 7, 2012
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Associate Director: Julia May
Manager: Jennifer Gauntt
Located in the 115 Administration Building
Telephone: 936.294.1836; Fax: 936.294.1834
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.
