Michael Garrison and Dr. John Wendt, Opus College of Business, are the authors of an article titled “Employee Non-competes and Consideration: A Proposed Good Faith Standard for the ‘Afterthought’ Agreement,” published in Volume 64(2) of the Kansas Law Review, which won the Best Paper Award at the annual meeting of the Pacific Southwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business, held Feb. 11-13 in Palm Springs, California.
Dr. Mike Klein, Justice and Peace Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences, facilitated an afternoon on "Remembering, Representation, and Renewal" for the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute at Oak Ridge Conference Center on Feb. 19. The Shannon Institute brings together intentionally diverse national cohorts of mid-career professionals to draw on diverse perspectives and experiences for deep work in personal reflection and professional development. James P. Shannon, president of St. Thomas from 1956-66, founded the institute that was later renamed in his honor.
Beth Middleton and Carolyn Paetzel, Child Development Center, presented “Looking at Play in a New Way: Utilizing Unstructured Materials to Foster Self-Guided Learning” at the annual conference of the Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children. Their presentation focused on research that has shown how children use play and, specifically, unstructured materials, to solve problems, build resiliency, think creatively and focus intently.
Dr. Kevin Theissen, Geology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, presented a paper titled, “They Don’t Sell Ice in Iceland! Lessons Learned on a Field Geology Course in the Land of Fire and Ice" on Nov. 2 at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Baltimore. In his presentation, Theissen shared examples of the ways in which students and faculty explored interactions between geology, energy and sustainability in Iceland while participating in the St. Thomas June-term course, Field Methods and Sustainable Energy in Iceland, which was offered for the first time in June 2015. Nineteen St. Thomas students were enrolled in the study abroad course. Theissen and Dr. Thomas Hickson, Geology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, co-led the course along with instructors Eric Stevens, Geology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, and Jeffrey Thole of Macalester College.
Dr. Artika Tyner, College of Education, Leadership and Counseling, served as a speaker at the National Collegiate Leadership Conference sponsored by the University of Arizona. Her presentation was titled “The Chronicles of Miss Freedom Fighter, Esquire: Training Champions for Justice.”