Scholarship Celebrated

Seven NMU faculty members were honored for scholarly or creative activities, teaching and innovative use of technology at the Celebration of Scholarship ceremony on Dec. 6.

Award recipients were: Louise Bourgault (Communication and Performance Studies) and Michael Loukinen (Sociology and Social Work), excellence in scholarship; Charles Ganzert (Communication and Performance Studies) and Joseph Lubig (Education), excellence in teaching; and Susan Goodrich (Modern Languages and Literature), Robert Goodrich (History) and Judith Puncochar (Education), exemplary use of notebook computers in teaching, research and community service.

Bourgault is a specialist in African media and popular culture responses to the AIDS epidemic. She won a Fulbright Regional Research Award for AIDS-related research in Africa and has served as a visiting lecturer at universities in South Africa, Malaysia and France. She has produced two documentaries and written two books—one of which earned the prestigious Choice Book Award--and more than 80 publications and conference papers.

Loukinen is a filmmaker who specializes in ethnic documentaries. He completed 12 films on Finnish Americans, local Serbian communities and Ojibwe, Menominee and Ottawa Native Americans. He also broaches topical issues with documentaries on alternative schools, alcohol and domestic violence, adults with disabilities and vehicular homicide. He has mentored more than 30 NMU students through his work. Loukinen also spent time in Finland as a Fulbright Fellow.

Ganzert teaches broadcasting and media studies. He was described as a dedicated instructor who supervises more than a quarter of the internships in his discipline, an eagerly sought-out adviser and a professional who thoroughly understands the nature of audio and music recording. His students have won awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters in each of the last 15 years.  He has received nearly $300,000 in grant funding for cutting-edge technology for his department. Ganzert coordinates academic service learning activities and serves as the academic adviser for WUPX-FM, the student radio station.

Lubig joined the NMU faculty after 11 years with the Marquette School District, where he received recognition and awards for his excellence in teaching. He has served as a leader in the School of Education accreditation efforts and has created collaborative relationships in the university and community. Lubig was promoted to associate professor and became director of the School of Education's field experience office this year. He was praised for encouraging questions and free expression, incorporating varied teaching models, creating a dynamic learning community, infusing enthusiasm into learning, treating students with respect, establishing high expectations and making learning relevant.

Puncochar was honored for a project that embedded the university's third annual UNITED (Uniting Neighbors in the Experience of Diversity) Conference into the NMU academic curriculum via three online courses. Two were geared toward certified teachers throughout Michigan; the third targeted individuals involved in diversity training and enrollees from disciplines outside of education. UNITED was designed as a site-based event, but because of Puncochar's efforts, people from around the world gained access to conference speakers.

Susan Goodrich’s project, “Brazilianizing the Curriculum: Integrating Online Authentic Cultural Resources into Language Coursework,” uses Web-based cultural materials from across multiple disciplines to enhance second-language acquisition and intercultural comprehension in an accelerated Portuguese language classroom. The Internet interactions Goodrich designed link language study to a living culture that produces artifacts, introduces customs that influence language use and defines how Brazil interacts on a global stage. 

Robert Goodrich took proactive steps to learn Web site design to enhance the Vienna summer study-abroad program. The outcome is a site that provides a one-stop experience for those interested in an educational experience in the Austrian city, gives immediate updates as changes occur in the program, offers curricular material relevant to the experience while in Vienna and includes a photo gallery and a Web blog.