Student Life

Nov. 28-29

Thanksgiving Holiday.

University closed.

Dec. 23 (noon)-31
Winter Holiday.

University closed.

Nov. 23-Dec. 1

Classes do not meet.

Classes resume.

Final examinations.

10 a.m.
Convocation Center

Oct. 4-5

9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Frances Plecker Education Center, Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

Shop choice spring bulbs, plus beautiful plants and trees too. EJC Arboretum bulbs are top quality and hand picked. Purchases can be paid by cash, check or charge, and support Harrisonburg’s favorite arboretum and gardens, open daily from dawn to dusk, free to the public.

11 a.m.
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers an extra showing of “Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity” for JMU’s Family Weekend, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis.

For more information, including a program description, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1 p.m. (“One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

4 p.m.
Transitions, Warren Hall

Kyle Dargan, the author of three collections of poetry, is an assistant professor of literature and director of creative writing at American University.

Sponsored by the Furious Flower Poetry Center. Free.

1 p.m. (“One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

9 a.m.
Allegheny Room, Festival Conference and Student Center

Chitja Twala, senior lecturer in the history department at the University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa, presents “The Strategy and Tactics Document of the African National Congress in South Africa: An Historical Perspective.”

The Visiting Scholars Program is sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters. For information, call (540) 568-6472. Free.

Register

Discovering meaningful yet efficient ways to analyze qualitative data can be a struggle for novice and expert researchers.  Designed for individuals who are new to qualitative inquiry, this workshop will provide participants with basic information, skills, and strategies involved in the analysis of textual data (e.g., survey responses, transcripts).  Participants will also learn about conventional and technology-driven approaches to coding, analysis and interpretation.

Facilitator: Cara Meixner, Ph.D, Department of Graduate Psychology & Center for Faculty Innovation

Facilitator: Noorie Brantmeier, Ph.D, Department of Learning, Technology and Leadership Education

1 p.m. (“One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1-5 p.m.
Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

Featuring dance and music exhibitions, lessons, crafts and sidewalk chalk art, singers and performances, Gus Bus story time, snacks, tours and a harvesting seeds activity.

For information, check http://www.jmu.edu/arboretum or call (540) 568-3194. Free.

Register

Become part of a growing movement in higher education.  This Faculty Interest Group (FIG) welcomes people with experience or interest in applications of mindfulness and contemplative practices to teaching and student learning. According to empirical research, routine mindfulness practice stimulates brain activity, enhances focus and attentiveness, and can enhance academic achievement. Learn more about contemplative practices and collaborate with others who are interested in or engaged with contemplative pedagogies.  The frequency of group meetings, direction of discussion, and projects will be determined collectively.

This FIG is designed to be a faculty-driven, self-directed community that agrees on collective objectives.  All FIGs are designed to help faculty make progress toward the following outcomes:

• Explore a topic of common concern, interest, or relevance;
• Apply what is learned to some aspect of faculty life at JMU; and
• Collaboratively guide the group toward its intended goals.

Facilitator: Jared Featherstone, WRTC and UWC

11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

Enjoy a horse-drawn ride through the arboretum trails.

For information, including pricing, check http://www.jmu.edu/arboretum or call (540) 568-3194.

1 p.m. (“One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

Register

Faculty often utilize student feedback to help improve teaching, but students’ comments are not always as constructive as they could be.  Instead of relying on students for formative feedback, campuses across the country are turning to faculty to provide more informed and systematic feedback to one another.  There’s just one problem:  Even faculty members who have taught for years are not necessarily comfortable having a peer at the back of their classrooms.  In theory, thoughtful, constructive feedback is essential to improvement, but in practice, it can be difficult to give or receive feedback from a colleague, even one with the best of intentions.  In this interactive workshop, participants will look at a variety of best practices for classroom observations and will tackle the most common roadblocks.  

This Workshop is designed for faculty to make progress towards the following outcomes:

• distinguish formative and summative uses of peer evaluation;
• evaluate common practices in conducting classroom observations;
• role play the three stages of an effective observation;
• practice giving difficult feedback (and draw upon the research findings that make it easier);
• consider the mutual benefits for both those giving and those receiving feedback; and
• discuss the next steps.

Facilitator: Therese Huston, Ph.D, Center for Faculty Development at Seattle University

8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Field trip departs and returns to the parking lot of the Frances Plecker Education Center, Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

Experience over a mile of fun through the Nelson Rocks canopy. Enjoy 12 exhilarating zip lines, three adventurous sky bridges and a 40-foot assisted rappel back to the forest floor with a canopy tour. Or for a rock-climbing adventure like no other, registrants can choose to experience the Via Ferrata, which offers a mile of fixed-anchor, pro-guided rock climbing with a sky bridge transition between rock faces.

No experience needed for either tour. Just be in relatively good shape, and weight between 70 and 250 pounds. Enjoy an all-day van tour visiting regional sites that are home to some of our area’s most incredible trees and nature resources.

Pack your lunch. Cost: $90 per person, transportation included, pre-registration required online at http://www.jmu.edu/arboretum.

1 p.m. (“Exoplanets: Worlds of Wonder”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Comets and Discovery”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

Register

1 p.m. (“Exoplanets: Worlds of Wonder”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Comets and Discovery”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1 p.m. (“Exoplanets: Worlds of Wonder”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Comets and Discovery”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1 p.m. (“Exoplanets: Worlds of Wonder”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Comets and Discovery”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

Register

In this workshop, faculty will focus on the degree to which their exam writing process reflects course content, learning objectives, and student learning. Participants will explore how tools such as learning taxonomies and formative assessments can inform exam construction and format. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and revise their own exam questions using evidence-based strategies.

This workshop is designed for faculty to make progress toward the following outcomes:

• Apply learning taxonomies to current exam questions;
• Align exam questions to specific learning objectives; and
• Develop one or more formative/summative assessment item.

Facilitator: Carol A. Hurney, Ph.D, Department of Biology & Center for Faculty Innovation

1 p.m. (“Molecularium”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Secrets of the Sun”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1 p.m. (“Molecularium”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Secrets of the Sun”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1 p.m. (“Molecularium”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Secrets of the Sun”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1 p.m. (“Legends of the Night Sky: Orion”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Ice Worlds”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

Classes meet as scheduled.

1 p.m. (“Legends of the Night Sky: Orion”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Ice Worlds”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

Classes do not meet.

1 p.m. (“Legends of the Night Sky: Orion”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Ice Worlds”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

No classes 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Evening classes (those beginning at 4 p.m. or later) meet as scheduled.

March 10-14

Classes do not meet.

Classes resume today after Spring Break.

4-5 p.m.
Concert Hall, Forbes Center for the Performing Arts

The Office of the President, in conjunction with the Madison Institutes of JMU’s department of Outreach and Engagement, welcomes Jeff Rosen, CEO of the National Constitution Center, for the Madison Vision Series: Contemporary Issues in an Engaged Society.

This event is free and open to the public.

May 5-9
As scheduled

10 a.m.
JMU Convocation Center

10am-6pm Oct. 7, 8am-3pm Oct. 8

Festival Conference Center, Highlands Room

Student, emeriti, family cost: $23 flu shot, $40 FluMist (ages 4-49)

Faculty, staff cost: $10 flu shot, $27 FluMist

Forms of payment accepted: Cash, check, credit card. NO FLEX

The vaccine is being provided by Maxim Health Systems. Maxim can submit claims to Aetna for any member receiving a flu shot (only flu shot, not FluMist). Receipts will be provided for other insurance reimbursement.

10am-6pm Oct. 7, 8am-3pm Oct. 8

Festival Conference Center, Highlands Room

Student, emeriti, family cost: $23 flu shot, $40 FluMist (ages 4-49)

Faculty, staff cost: $10 flu shot, $27 FluMist

Forms of payment accepted: Cash, check, credit card. NO FLEX

The vaccine is being provided by Maxim Health Systems. Maxim can submit claims to Aetna for any member receiving a flu shot (only flu shot, not FluMist). Receipts will be provided for other insurance reimbursement.

3 p.m.
Bridgeforth Stadium

9 a.m.
Various locations

6:30 p.m.
Room 2105, Harrison Hall

Modhumita Roy, associate professor of English at Tufts University, presents “Immaculate Conceptions: Making Families in the Age of Surrogacy and Globalization.”

The Visiting Scholars Program is sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters. For information, call (540) 568-6472. Free.

5 p.m.
Room 142, Music Building

Barry Long, assistant professor of music at Bucknell University, presents “Black Blowers of the Now: Jazz and Activism from King’s Birmingham to Coltrane’s Alabama.”

The Visiting Scholars Program is sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters. For information, call (540) 568-6472. Free.

Oct. 14-25

Noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Noon-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday
131 Grace St.

The exhibition features work by JMU students Amberlee Taylor, Carleigh Boyd, Danni O’Brien and Katie Gong. Opening reception, Oct. 14 from 5 to 7 p.m. For information, call (540) 568-7175. Free.

Gates open at 7:30 a.m. for the all-day event
Bridgeforth Stadium

The 36th annual competition features 40 to 50 high-school marching bands that complete in their respective classes. JMU’s Marching Royal Dukes perform in the afternoon and at night.

Check htp://www.jmu.edu/mrd/poc.shtml for details as they develop.

Oct. 28-Nov. 8

Noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Noon-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday
131 Grace St.

The exhibition features work by the JMU French Study Abroad Program. Opening reception, Oct. 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. For information, call (540) 568-7175. Free.

Nov. 11-23

Noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Noon-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday
131 Grace St.

The exhibition features work by JMU students Allison Nickens, H. Gentry, Sarah Hade and selected Fiber Class Students. Opening reception, Nov. 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. For information, call (540) 568-7175. Free.

7 p.m.
Room 2105, Harrison Hall

Vladlena Lisenco, national legal advisor for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission to Moldova, presents “Human Trafficking in Eastern Europe.”

The Visiting Scholars Program is sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters. For information, call (540) 568-6472. Free.

7 p.m.
Room 1101, Miller Hall

Kelley Coblentz-Bautch, associate professor at St. Edward’s University, presents “Escaping from Lusty Angels: Early Jewish and Early Christian Portrayals of Women and the Divine.”

The Visiting Scholars Program is sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters. For information, call (540) 568-6472. Free.

Register

Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional strategy in which groups of students engage in a unique combination of activities that facilitate the development of learning teams. This workshop will focus on how JMU instructors adapted TBL to address a variety of challenges including: fixed-seating classrooms, larger classes, 50-minute classes, and diversity in student preparation. This workshop will also explore how TBL works in a range of disciplines. Facilitators will share the extent to which TBL activities addressed course goals, explore the impact of TBL on student behaviors, describe how they selected and organized teams, and address the circumstances that influenced the success of TBL strategies.

This workshop is designed for faculty to make progress toward the following outcomes:

• Engage in a readiness assurance process;
• Learn how TBL can be adapted to fit the challenges of their own courses;
• Explore the possibilities for assessing student learning; and
• Adapt TBL for use in their own course.

Facilitator: Andreas Broscheid, Ph.D, Department of Political Science

Facilitator: Samantha Prins, Ph.D, Department of Math and Statistics

Facilitator: Krisztina Varga, Ph.D, Department of Psychology

Facilitator: Stephanie Stockwell, Ph.D, Department of Integrated Science and Technology

Register

In this roundtable, Matthew Lee, Assistant Professor of Psychology, will lead the discussion of his teaching/research project on racial attitudes among students. The project looks at whether factual information on affirmative action, combined with other teaching interventions such as simulations, affects the racial attitudes of students, and how other factors interact with this relationship. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss teaching interventions as well as the measurement of student attitudes.

This roundtable is designed for faculty to make progress toward the following outcomes:

• learn about and exchange ideas on scholarly work currently conducted at JMU;
• discuss evidence-based strategies to measure stereotyping among students; and
• exchange ideas on how to help students reduce stereotypes and to be more accepting of different perspectives.

Facilitator: Andreas Broscheid, Ph.D, Department of Political Science

Facilitator: Matt Lee, Ph.D, Department of Psychology

Register

Amidst the busy nature of teaching, scholarship, and service, faculty need to reflect on their personal scholarly process, prioritize projects, and manage scholarship agendas. This workshop will aid participants in prioritizing scholarship projects and in building a timeline for completing projects for 2014 and beyond. Walk away with a scholarship timeline and clarified priorities for research projects in the new year.

Facilitator: Edward J. Brantmeier, Ph.D, Department of Learning, Technology, and Leadership Education & Center for Faculty Innovation

3-4:40 p.m.
Room 205, Carrier Library

Special Collections of JMU Libraries is holding an open house during the university's Family Weekend. The collection features manuscripts, rare books and periodicals, oral histories and other resources for study, including many acquisitions focusing on the Central Shenandoah Valley.

Free.

7-8 a.m.
WMRA, 90.7 FM

Let There Be Night
Eight out of 10 children born in America today will never know a night sky dark enough to see the Milky Way. In our modern world, where nights are getting brighter, most of us no longer experience true darkness. Dr. Paul Bogard, assistant professor of English at JMU, is the author of the new book, "The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in the Age of Artificial Light." He believes we now suffer from light pollution and that the lack of darkness at night is affecting our physical, mental and spiritual health.

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Memorial Hall Forum

JMuse Cafe is excited to partner with the Institute for Visual Studies to bring programming for this year on Space, Place, and Community.

Thinking carefully about the past is a courageous act, which can help a community to heal. The thoughtful conversations that took place surrounding the renaming of Cantrell Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Way offer us an extraordinary opportunity to continue the public dialogue about our values, values that are as evident in the way we treat each other as the way we care for our spaces and buildings. The challenge now is to honor our past as we shape our future. To advance this dialogue, a range of civic and educational groups are sponsoring “Remembering Place,” a series of panel discussions, to take part this fall. Panel participants will include Harrisonburg residents, civic leaders and elected officials.

More information is available at http://sites.jmu.edu/jmuse. Free.

5-6 p.m.
Concert Hall, Forbes Center for the Performing Arts

The Office of the President, in conjunction with the Madison Institutes of JMU’s department of Outreach and Engagement, welcomes Carol Geary Schneider, the president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the leading national organization devoted to liberal art education, for the Madison Vision Series: Contemporary Issues in an Engaged Society.

This event is free and open to the public.

About Carol Schneider

Dr. Schneider has served as president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) since 1998. With nearly 1,300 member institutions, half public and half private, with members drawn from the entire higher education community, large, small, two-year, four-year, selective and open admissions, AAC&U is the leading national organization devoted to advancing and strengthening undergraduate liberal education.

Under Dr. Schneider’s leadership, AAC&U launched Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP), a public advocacy and campus action initiative designed to engage students and the public with what really matters in a college education for the twenty-first century. The LEAP campaign builds on AAC&U’s major effort, Greater Expectations: The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College, a multi-year initiative designed to articulate the aims of a twenty-first century liberal education and to identify comprehensive, innovative models that improve learning for all undergraduate students. Additionally, under her leadership, AAC&U has become widely recognized as both a voice and force for strengthening the quality of student learning in college for all students and especially those historically underserved in U.S. higher education. AAC&U is working with hundreds of colleges and universities and numerous state systems to expand the benefits of liberal education across the entire curriculum, through new integration between the core outlines of liberal education and student learning in their major fields.

While serving as a vice president at AAC&U in the 1990’s, Dr. Schneider headed a major initiative at AAC&U on higher education and U.S. pluralism, American Commitments: Diversity, Democracy and Liberal Learning.

Dr. Schneider is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor's degree in history (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa).  She studied at the University of London's Institute for Historical Research and earned the Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.  During her career, Dr. Schneider has taught at the University of Chicago, DePaul University, Chicago State University and Boston University.  Additionally, she has received eleven honorary degrees, was the 2011 recipient of the American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA) Contribution to Higher Education Award and the 2013 recipient of the New American Colleges & Universities (NAC&U) Ernest L. Boyer Award, and was honored in 2013 as one of Diverse Magazine’s “25 Leading Women in Higher Education.”

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Memorial Hall Forum

JMuse Cafe is excited to partner with the Institute for Visual Studies to bring programming for this year on Space, Place, and Community.

Thinking carefully about the past is a courageous act, which can help a community to heal. The thoughtful conversations that took place surrounding the renaming of Cantrell Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Way offer us an extraordinary opportunity to continue the public dialogue about our values, values that are as evident in the way we treat each other as the way we care for our spaces and buildings. The challenge now is to honor our past as we shape our future. To advance this dialogue, a range of civic and educational groups are sponsoring “Remembering Place,” a series of panel discussions, to take part this fall. Panel participants will include Harrisonburg residents, civic leaders and elected officials.

More information is available at http://sites.jmu.edu/jmuse. Free.

11 a.m.
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers an extra showing of “Comets and Discovery” for JMU’s Homecoming Weekend, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis.

For more information, including a program description, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

1 p.m. (“Exoplanets: Worlds of Wonder”)
2:15 and 3:30 p.m. (“Comets and Discovery”)
Miller Hall

The planetarium offers shows for the public, with seating beginning 10 minutes before show time on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each show is followed by a “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

For more information, including program descriptions, check http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/index.shtml. Free.

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Third Floor Flex Space, Rose Library

JMuse Cafe is excited to partner with the Institute for Visual Studies to bring programming for this year on Space, Place, and Community.

More information is available at http://sites.jmu.edu/jmuse. Free.