Publication - September 2025Dan Clanton (along with his daughter Hannah) published a case study on Taylor Swift and the Humanities in the second edition of Jeffrey H. Mahan and James H. Thrall's book "Media, Religion, and Culture: An Introduction" (Routledge Books). Clanton used material he prepared for his own case study on Taylor Swift for his course on Religion and Popular Culture (EIS 325).
Presentation - September/October 2025Amanda Irions, an assistant Communication professor, recorded an hour-long interview about misinformation and disinformation with Lincoln community radio station KZUM. Irions discussed the difference between misinformation and disinformation, the harms of each, how the structure of social networks makes spreading mis- and disinformation so easy, and some strategies for correcting mis- and disinformation. The interview is part of KZUM's second biennial media literacy series and marks the second time Irions participated in it.
* Link coming soon
Presentation - September 2025Chautauqua Presentation as Andrew Carnegie September 4, 2025, 7pm. Lincoln County Historical Society Museum North Platte, Nebraska
https://humanitiesnebraska.org/event/andrew-carnegie-9/
Living History Day Saline County Historical Museum Dorchester, NE Saturday, September 6, 2025 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. This is a free family event with interactive demonstrations of historical skills going on during the day on the grounds. 11:00 President Ulysses S. Grant presentation, Dr. Tom King
https://www.facebook.com/vil.dweller.of.dorchester/
Humanities Nebraska Speakers Bureau Colonel Thomas Doane: Massachusetts Engineer to Nebraska Civic and Educational Leader Step back to 1872 and listen to a chautauqua portrayal of the chief engineer of the B & M Railroad and famous Hoosac Tunnel Project. Doane was responsible for 240 miles of railroad and telegraph from Plattsmouth to Kearney. He was the co-founder of the town of Crete, Nebraska, founder of the first bank in Crete and with the association of the Congregational church, and founder of Doane College in 1872, so named in his honor. Weeping Water Academy 206 W H St. Weeping Water, NE 68463
Public Performance - June - August 2025Directed "Legally Blonde the Musical" at Crane River Theater, a professional regional theatre located in Kearney, Nebraska.
Presentation - July 2025Presented my research on career shock in the public sector at the global Academy of Management in Copenhagen.
https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMPROC.2025.23522poster
Presented "Teaching Responsible AI Through Student-Developed Customized AI Assistants for Faculty Clients" at the Academy of Management's Teaching and Learning Conference in Copehagen, Denmark.
Selected by the Doane COB A.R. Kinney Endowed Professor Committee as the 2025-26 A.R. Kinney Endowed Professor of Business and Economics. Developing and implementing a specific project is part of this role, and my project is a COB student-led event in Spring 2026. This event will serve to connect business students with industry mentors, engage local high school business students and teachers, and generate visibility for Doane’s evolving business programs. This event embodies the A. R. Kinney intention to “enhance Doane’s business programs and prepare students to be in the forefront of the business field.” It also delivers on Doane’s commitment to create transformative educational experiences that bridge classroom learning with real-world application. By bringing together Doane students, high school teachers and students, faculty, and industry professionals, we will create a vibrant community of practice that celebrates innovation, fosters mentorship, prepares the next generation of business leaders, and delivers meaningful career outcomes.
Publication - May 2025Mark Orsag, Giovanni Meledandri, Amanda McKinney and Melissa Clouse, “A Long View of Zoonotic and Mosquito-Vector Diseases–Contexts, Etiologies, Mitigations and Societal Impacts: A Historical Comparative and Predictive Analysis” Zoonotic Diseases Fall 2025.
Mark Orsag, Amanda McKinney and DeeAnn M. Reeder, “The Plague of Cyprian: Holistic Analysis and Modern Relevance of an Ancient Pandemic” Seminar Presentation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Virology (Morrison Center).
Dr. Mark Orsag was specifically invited to apply to a competition sponsored by the top national journal in the discipline, American Historical Review (AHR), which is associated with the American Historical Association (AHA). The theme/purpose of the competition is the publication of a special edition of AHR (with winning entries published in Spring 2027) dealing with the issue of "Methods for Archival Silence in Early History." First round proposal decisions will be announced in November 2025.
Dr. Mark Orsag was chosen as a remunerated Interdisciplinary Scholarship Peer Reviewer for the Swiss-based MDPI Journals Group (which publishes around 400 journals worldwide) for 2025-2026.
Reichert, A. N., Riddle, C. A., & Quinn, J. J. (2025). Social Buffering of Acute Early Life Stress Sex-Dependently Ameliorates Fear Incubation in Adulthood. Developmental psychobiology, 67(5), e70082. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.70082
Presentation - September 2025Blake presented two separate sessions at the 2025 Education Opportunity Association's annual Student Leadership Conference in Minneapolis, MN. The first session, "Embodying Wellness: Unlocking Creativity through Movement & Breath" guided high school and college TRIO students through a variety of theatrical exercises and practices designed to complete the stress cycle, allowing them to move past creative blocks. In the second session, "The Great Game of Power: Creative Problem-Solving through Theatre", Blake facilitated one of Augosto Boal's most famous "Theatre of the Oppressed" games.
Award - September 2025J.B’’s short film, “At Peace” received an Honorable Mention” at the Be Epic London International Film Festival. As part of the Honourable Mentions BELIFF will be looking to create a Special Certificate to highlight the reason why your project stood out and although they could not include it in the Official Selection (mostly due to programming reasons and limited resources overall) they also could not just pass it by without giving it a chance to be viewed and promoted online. As part of the online Version of BELIFF 2025, the Honourable Mentions will also be up for the possibility of winning the Public Award (which every year is selected entirely by the audience and public).
As part of the Boodlebox Collaborative AI Accelerator Series, Philip presented "Everything old is new again: telling a new story about the Humanities in the age of AI" as part of the "Using AI to Support Planning for Next Semester" webinar. The session examined the Doane English Department's recent program innovations as a template for using AI as a means to forge interdisciplinary partnerships and strengthen the foundation of Liberal Arts programs during a time of unprecedented disruption in higher education.
Presenation, Performance, Teaching - July 2025William Whipple was the invited guest artist for the 2025 University of Iowa Summer Music Camp. He offered two special topic presentations (The Prepared Piano and The Golden Mean Section in Music). William taught daily masterclasses, individual piano lessons, and performed in recital (featuring solo piano works by Indonesian composer, Levi Gunardi).
Presentation - May 2025Jody gave a presentation at the American College Health Association's Annual Meeting in late May 2025. The presentation was entitled "Advanced Contraception Management" and covered recent developments in the provision of contraception in the child-bearing population as well as use of medical apps as a resource for this information. The session was a continuing education offering for health professionals.