final_110915_NewsletterFall2015

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Sandra C. Davis
Adjunct, Arts & Communication
2015 is shaping up to be a good year for me as an exhibiting fine art photographer. It started with an invitation to
be one of the exhibiting artists in The Natural, the Material, and the Physical:
Landscape through the Photographic Eye. The show was curated by J.
Susan Isaacs, PhD, of Towson University. It opened in January and runs through the end of March at The Open
Lens Gallery in the Gershman Y in Philadelphia, PA. A week after that exhibit opened, I discovered I won a
Juror’s award in the Photography 34 exhibit at The Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, NJ. The show also
runs through the end of March. I had 2 pieces chosen to be included in the Mysterious Photography exhibit at the
Markeim Arts Center in Haddonfield, NJ, which ran through the month of February. In April, I will have a solo
exhibition: The Goddess Explored opening with an artist reception on Friday, April 3, 4 pm - 7 pm, at The
University of the Arts Printmaking Gallery, 333 South Broad Street, Philadelphia PA. the show runs through
April 22. A week before this exhibit opens, I will be giving a lecture: My Studio Practice: Handmade Prints, at the
Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Saturday, March 31, 4:30 pm - 6 pm,
1400 N. American Street, Suite 103 in Philadelphia, PA. Also in March, The Book of Alternative Photographic
Processes, 3rd Edition, by Christopher James will be released. My work is included in this highly acclaimed book.
More info about all of these events is available on my
website:
MSHP
Linda Scherr, Acting Dean
Laura Blinderman
Professor of Biology
Student Engagement in the Sciences
Laura Blinderman was named a National Academies Education Fellow in the Sciences for
2015-2016 after participating in the
held June 14-19 at Princeton University. The Institute, an
intensive five-day program of seminars, discussions, and workshops, brought college and
university faculty together to investigate issues in STEM education and to develop teaching
units to serve as models for educators nationwide. Co-sponsored by the National Academies
and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Summer Institute had 46 participants who
worked in teams to develop teachable “tidbits” - short, interactive, inclusive, strategies to engage students both
intellectually and physically in the learning process. The learning modules employ active learning strategies to
elucidate fundamental concepts, to demystify misconceptions, and to help STEM students discover that science is
an engaging, rewarding, and creative process. The teachable tidbit developed by Blinderman and colleagues in
the Evolution and Heredity workgroup employs active learning to underscore the relationship between infant
nurturing, epigenetic modification of the glucocorticoid receptor gene in brain, and adult stress in a rodent model.
The module is supported by primary literature sources and the HHMI website, Lick Your Rats. Participants also
attended seminars on STEM education, engaged in roundtable discussions on teaching philosophy and strategies,
and co-led workshop components. All of the Institute work is available to participants to use in their classrooms
and to share with colleagues.
Blinderman notes that “Mercer was one of two community colleges represented at the Summer Institute. The
opportunity to discuss STEM education with faculty from Princeton, Temple, Harvard, and other 4 year school
faculty was important. The presentation by Jay Lebov, Senior Advisor at the National Research Council,
confirmed the importance of community colleges in the transformation of and increased emphasis on STEM
education. I believe that Mercer’s support of the sciences helps us to be at the forefront of this mission to attract
and nurture students in STEM fields and to improve scientific literacy for all students taking science courses. That
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