N I P I S S I N G U N I V E R S I T Y

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Faculty of Arts & Science

Monthly Newsletter Issue No. 12 - November 2013

Message from the DeanIssue Paper 16: Making the Grade? Troubling Trends in Postsecondary Student Literacy was published on October 31, 2013 by HEQCO with little fanfare. The authors, Nicholas Dion and Vicky Maldonado observe that, “The pressing question for Ontario is whether students entering postsecondary education have the literacy skills required to succeed.” Upon reviewing data from Statistics Canada and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—which includes results from the International Literacy Survey (IALS), the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)—the authors conclude that few respondents have “the minimum level of proficiency” (1). In other words, students entering PSE (both college and university) do not seem to demonstrate sufficient proficiency to succeed (proficiency is equated to Level 3 on the chart below).

The authors’ aim in this report is to move beyond the anecdotes about literacy in which faculty often bemoan the quality of writing and oral communication skills demonstrated by students and, instead, capture an accurate representation of university and college students’ literacy. With your permission, I will be quoting liberally from the report.

Context and ConcernThe primary concern is framed in economic terms. According to the Canadian Council on Learning (2007), Canada exemplifies a “learning paradox: while Canada has one of the most highly educated populations in the world, 42% of the adult population still lacks the literacy skills required to thrive in the global economy” (4). As a consequence of globalization, “If Canadian graduates do not leave their postsecondary institutions with strong writing skills, they may soon find

themselves losing employment opportunities to strong writers from other countries” (5). Essential Skills Ontario (2012a) reports that “those with low literacy skills are twice as likely to be unemployed for six months or longer than those with more developed abilities, and that a 1% increase in national adult literacy levels could result in a permanent 1.5% increase in Canadian per capita GDP” (6). What is surprising and most concerning is that “Canadians’ literacy scores have not been improving, neither in Ontario nor at the national level” (10). According to the Canadian Council on Learning (2009), “20% of university graduates in Canada fell below level 3 on the PISA prose literacy scale in 2006. This proportion was expected to rise to 24% by 2031. While this increase might seem relatively small, we must keep in mind that a decrease was instead expected as a younger, more educated demographic supposedly populated the sample and as older graduates, who are more likely to have seen their literacy skills decline with age, leave it.” (21)

The IssueThe data suggests that students are not totally unable to write upon admission to PSE. Instead, the problem is that “students cannot write well….Students have mastered the basics and can write to be understood but often seem unable to move beyond this functional level. Prose remains inelegant and unsophisticated, document structure is rudimentary and is often limited to the ‘five-paragraph essay’ taught in Ontario high

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schools” (16-17). Significantly, students are aware of their limitations. One cited study, conducted at Nipissing University coincidentally, reports that “When…asked how prepared they felt for university upon entry, most students stated that they were not at all prepared” (17).

The report is unusually blunt:

Given the abundance of anecdotal critiques from faculty, the lack of preparation to which some students admit and the increased number of students that tertiary education attracts, especially with the move towards mass higher education, postsecondary institutions should consider carefully the readiness of students’ reading and writing abilities upon entry and take corrective measures to strengthen these abilities where necessary. Institutions of higher education do not exist simply to teach applied career skills or discipline-specific knowledge. They should also exist to strengthen basic skills, including reading and writing. Nor can institutions of higher education assume that these skills are sufficiently developed simply because students arrive with high school diplomas in hand. (17)

In “consider[ing] the readiness” of students and directing energies to support students in the development of basic skills, the authors acknowledge that these skills ought to have been acquired before admission. The “reality” is that students are graduating from high school unable to satisfy the expectations of the high school curricula, spec. “to write an error-free, five-paragraph argumentative essay.” Without that foundation, “First-year students, in many cases, will not be comfortable carrying out...PSE-level skills”, including “the ability to read texts critically, to integrate quotations, to summarize or paraphrase a text, to use referencing systems confidently and to conduct basic research.”

We might be prepared to quibble with whether summarising and paraphrasing are PSE-level skills. Importantly, the authors affirm that university expectations are reasonable, even low, for first-year students. But there is no relish in fair and reasonable, especially since “students are failing in large numbers to meet even this level of competence.”

How do we reconcile “the gap in expectations between high school graduation and postsecondary admission” (24)? Where do we place responsibility for this discrepancy and its redress?

The Solution(s)Universities have gotten away from entrance and

exit examples that test literacy, in part, because of the expense and because they were not demonstrably effective. They were regarded as punitive by students, hoops, obstacles to success, tests that did not focus students’ attention on the fact of their basic literacy. Presently, in Ontario, the University of Waterloo is alone in having kept it Proficiency Exam. The report identifies Nipissing University’s WCT as a model for consideration—but we have given up on the WCT in favour of a required course in university-level academic writing (ACAD1601) for all B.A. and B.Sc. students in Arts and Science. The University of Toronto is also identified as an institution committing in a different way to writing support. UToronto has an Office of English Language and Writing Support that directs initiatives across the three campus, as well it provides Writing Instruction for Teaching Assistants. I have used this forum to raise the issue of literacy because it is central to our mandate, there is a widening gap between expectations and students’ preparation, and if this report has sway then we may be asked (required) to return to both entrance and exit exams in order to demonstrate that students have acquired the basic skills necessary to success in the global economy.

Dr. Ann-Barbara GraffInterim Dean, Arts and Science

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DEPARTMENT NEWS

Amanda  Burk  also  had  some  of  her  work  on  exhibi2on  at  the  Alex  Dufresne  Art  Gallery  in  Callander  last  month.

The  exhibi2on,  Animals  in  the  Wild,  showcased  eight  large-­‐scale  charcoal  drawings  from  Burk’s  Dual  series.  The  exhibi2on  also  featured  the  work  of  Rick  Cunnington.  "It  is  a  rare  and  wonderful  opportunity  to  show  my  work  this  close  to  home,"  said  Burk,  "It  seems  especially  poignant  since  this  body  of  work  was  mo2vated  by  my  reloca2on  to  the  North.”

For  more  informa2on  on  Amanda  Burk  and  her  work,  please  visit  her  website  at  hJp://www.amandaburk.com/Default.aspx.

Fine & Performing ArtsAmanda  Burk  recently  proposed  and  chaired  a  round-­‐table  panel  discussion  at  the  University  Arts  Associa2on  of  Canada  Conference,  held  at  the  Banff  Centre  for  the  Arts  last  month.

The  round-­‐table,  2tled  The  Current  Climate  of  Studio  Cri6ques,  asked  the  ques2ons,  “what  is  the  impact  of  the  evolving  climate  of  studio-­‐based  educa2on  on  studio  cri2ques?”  and  “are  there  considera2ons  that  might  lead  to  more  effec2ve  cri2ques  for  our  current  genera2on  of  students?”  The  round-­‐table  also  explored  and  discussed  strategies,  formats,  and  approaches  to  leading  effec2ve  cri2ques.

Panelists  on  the  round-­‐table  included  Lucie  Chan  (Assistant  Professor,  Emily  Carr  University  of  Art  and  Design),  Dr.  Chris  Jones  (Assistant  Dean  of  Graduate  Studies  at  Emily  Carr  University  of  Art  and  Design),  and  Natalie  Majaba  Waldburger  (Assistant  Professor,  Ontario  College  of  Art  and  Design  University).  

"Cri2ques  have  played  an  essen2al  and  longstanding  role  within  studio-­‐based  educa2on  and  pedagogy,  but  there  is  liJle  wriJen  or  discussed  about  this  topic,”  said  Burk.  “This  round-­‐table  was  a  great  opportunity  to  open  up  this  discussion  among  studio  arts  prac22oners  from  across  the  country".  

The  University  Arts  Associa2on  of  Canada  defines  itself  as  an  organiza2on  "concerned  with  providing  a  presence  for  university  art  and  art  history  facul2es  within  the  network  of  academic  disciplines  in  Canada;  establishing  a  forum  for  exchange  of  ideas  and  scholarly  work."

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PsychologyDr.  Dana  Murphy  presented  data  collected  in  his  laboratory  at  the  Aging  and  Speech  Communica6on  Conference,  5th  Interdisciplinary  Interna6onal  Research  Conference,  in  Bloomington,  Indiana,  last  month.  

Dr.  Murphy’s  presenta2on,  The  distrac6bility  of  speech  spoken  in  emo6onal  tones  in  younger  and  older  adults,  was  co-­‐authored  with  Harmony  Driver  (Nipissing  University),  Dr.  Mark  Wachowiak  (Associate  Professor,  Computer  Science  -­‐  Nipissing  University),  Xin  Hu  (Nipissing  University),  and  Pascal  Van  Gerven  (Assistant  Professor,  Maastricht  University),  and  looked  at  the  results  on  the  effects  of  emo2onal  prosody  -­‐  the  way  in  which  speech  is  actually  said,  and  includes  such  characteris2cs  as  speech  uJerance  as  tempo  and  inflec2on  -­‐  in  speech,  and  the  distrac2bility  of  such  emo2onal  prosody.

In  this  research,  which  was  carried  out  as  a  4th  year  Honour’s  thesis  by  Harmony  Driver,  younger  and  older  adults  completed  a  visual  working  memory  task  in  which  they  counted  asterisks  presented  on  a  screen.  They  began  their  count  at  a  presented  number  and  then  counted  forwards  and  backwards  depending  on  the  symbols  they  encountered  as  they  completed  the  task.  At  the  end  of  the  display,  another  number  was  presented  and  par2cipants  were  required  to  indicate  if  their  final  count  matched  the  presented  number.  At  the  same  2me  they  completed  the  task,  they  heard,  but  were  instructed  to  ignore,  numbers  and  sentences.  The  sentences  were  spoken  with  one  of  three  different  prosodies  (emo2onal  tones  of  voice).  In  one  condi2on  par2cipants  ignored  happy  speech,  in  another  condi2on  they  ignored  neutral  speech,  and  in  a  final  condi2on  par2cipants  ignored  angry  speech.  The  2me  to  complete  the  coun2ng  in  each  display  was  measured  and  they  found  that  neutral  speech  and  angry  speech  were  significantly  more  difficult  to  ignore  and  resulted  in  significantly  slower  coun2ng  2mes  than  either  happy  speech  or  coun2ng  in  silence.  Younger  and  older  adults  were  equally  affected  by  the  prosody  of  the  speech.  Angry  speech  may  be  more  distrac2ng  because  it  could  be  indica2ve  of  a  possibly  dangerous  situa2on.  The  neutral  speech  was  also  more  distrac2ng  than  silence,  likely  caused  by  the  ar2ficial  prosody  used  in  this  neutral  speech  which  was  flat  and  robo2c.  Thus,  when  it  comes  to  the  distrac2bility  of  irrelevant  emo2onal  speech,  how  you  say  the  words  may  be  more  important  than  what  you  actually  say.

Dr.  Darren  Campbell  won  the  best  poster  award  at  the  12th  Annual  New  Principal  Inves6gators  Mee6ng,  hosted  by  the  Canadian  Ins6tute  of  Health  Research  Ins6tute  of  Gene6cs  and  Ins6tute  of  Neurosciences,  Mental  Health  and  Addic6on,  held  in  Mont-­‐Gabriel,  Quebec,  November  1  -­‐  3.

Dr.  Campbell’s  poster,  Social  Phobia  Fusiform  Func6onal  Connec6vity:  The  Threat  of  Faces,  garnered  one  of  two  best  poster  awards  among  the  65  poster  presenta2ons  from  across  Canada.  

The  award  winning  study  demonstrated  that  people  with  social  phobia  (those  who  fear  and  avoid  interac2ng  with  strangers  or  those  they  do  not  know  well)  show  a  paJern  of  brain  responses  sugges2ng  that  visually  examining  a  stranger's  face  ac2vates  self-­‐focused,  social  rejec2on  concerns,  while  healthy  comparison  par2cipants  show  the  opposite  paJern.

Dr.  Jus<n  Carré  was  recently  featured  in  an  ar2cle  in  The  Globe  and  Mail.

Go  neurons  go!  Science  explains  why  it  hurts  to  be  a  Leafs  fan  –  sports  diehards  are  wired  that  way,  was  wriJen  by  Alex  Hutchinson  and  looks  into  the  some2mes  rabid  brains  of  sports  fans.  In  the  ar2cle,  Dr.  Carré  discusses  his  research  of  how  hormones  interact  with  the  brain  to  influence  social  behavior,  in  the  context  of  a  sports  fan.

To  read  the  full  ar2cle,  please  visit  hJp://2nyurl.com/kxqewjl.

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On  October  25th,  Dr.  Ma>  Saari  gave  the  second  talk  in  the  Psychology  Speaker  Series  with  his  presenta2on,  Neuroscience  and  Consciousness.  “The  puzzle  of  consciousness  fascinates  both  philosophers  and  psychologists  alike  and  is  something  that  we  may  all  have  wondered  about  in  our  ‘conscious’  moments,”  said  Dr.  Saari.  “I  hope  to  argue  that  consciousness  ought  to  be  viewed  as  nothing  more  than  a  biological  phenomenon  that  is  a  natural  process  of  neural  ac2vity  of  specific  brain  regions.    The  ‘hard’  and  ‘easy’  problems  of  consciousness  may  best  be  resolved  by  recognizing  that  the  problems  are  essen2ally  seman2c,  caused  by  the  ‘language  games’  which  give  meaning  to  such  concepts.    I  will  draw  from  philosophers  such  as  WiJgenstein,  Popper,  Munz,  Churchland,  and  others  to  construct  the  neural  monist  posi2on.    As  an  example  of  the  u2lity  of  the  neural  monist  view  of  consciousness  I  may  even  suggest  that  the  idea  of  life  aper  death,  a  cri2cal  part  of  many  world  mythologies,  can  be  easily  understood  as  a  natural  consequence  of  the  stability  of  neural  circuitry  dedicated  to  sensory/motor  mapping  of  the  body.”  

Recently  appointed  Dr.  Kirsten  Greer  had  her  ar2cle,  Geopoli6cs  and  the  Avian  Imperial  Archive:  The  Zoogeography  of  Region-­‐Making  in  the  Nineteenth-­‐Century  Bri6sh  Mediterranean,  published  in  the  Annals  of  the  Associa2on  of  American  Geographers.

In  her  ar2cle,  Dr.  Greer  examines  the  material  remnants  of  the  “avian  imperial  archive”  (avian  lists,  bird  skins,  eggs,  travel  wri2ng),  and  demonstrates  how  Bri2sh  military  ornithology  helped  to  materialize  imagina2vely  and  empirically  the  Bri2sh  Mediterranean  as  a  transi2onal  region  for  the  physical  and  cultural  acclima2za2on  of  Bri2sh  officers  en  route  to  and  from  India  and  to  extend  Bri2sh  imperial  interests  into  North  Africa.

For  more  informa2on,  and  to  read  the  full  ar2cle,  please  visit  hJp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00045608.2013.784095#.

Dr.  Adam  Csank  was  the  second  speaker  in  the  Masters  of  Environmental  Studies/Science  Speakers  Series  on  October  24th  with  his  talk,  Environmental  sensi6vity  of  trees  killed  during  insect  outbreaks  in  south-­‐central  Alaska  revealed  by  tree-­‐ring  isotope  chronologies.

In  his  talk,  Dr.  Csank  looked  at  the  ques2on  “are  trees  that  are  killed  during  insect  outbreaks  under  more  stress  by  climate  than  trees  that  survive?”  According  to  Dr.  Csank,  “this  was  the  focus  of  our  study  of  trees  killed  by  recent  spruce  bark  beetle  outbreaks  in  South-­‐central  and  southwestern  Alaska.  Tree  ring  growth,  carbon  and  water  isotopes  show  difference  in  correla2on  with  spring-­‐summer  temperatures  or  surviving  and  non-­‐surviving  trees.  Our  results  show  that  some  trees  may  be  physiologically  predisposed  to  mortality  events  (i.e.  insect  aJach)  by  nature  of  their  sensi2vity  to  climate.”

Geography

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Dr.  Gillian  McCann’s  was  the  recent  recipient  of  a  2013  Heritage  Toronto  Award  of  Merit  for  her  book,  Vanguard  of  the  New  Age:  The  Toronto  Theosophical  Society,  1891-­‐1945.  

According  to  the  publisher’s  website  (McGill-­‐Queen’s  University  Press),  Dr.  McCann’s  book  is  “the  story  of  the  small  ‘new  age’  religious  group  that  introduced  Victorian  Toronto  to  Eastern  thought  and  theology,  vegetarianism,  reincarna2on,  crema2on,  and  the  pacifism  of  Mohandas  Gandhi...  Me2culously  researched  and  compellingly  wriJen,  this  careful  reconstruc2on  preserves  

Theosophist  founder  Albert  Smythe's  dream  of  a  culturally  dis2nct,  egalitarian,  and  religiously  pluralist  na2on.”    

Heritage  Toronto  is  a  charitable  arms-­‐length  agency  of  the  City  of  Toronto  established  in  1949  to  promote  a  greater  apprecia2on  for  the  city’s  rich  architectural,  cultural,  archaeological  and  natural  heritage.Through  partnerships  with  local  community  groups  and  volunteers,  Heritage  Toronto  provides  city-­‐wide  programs  and  services.

For  more  informa2on  on  Dr.  McCann’s  book,  please  visit  hJp://www.mqup.ca/vanguard-­‐of-­‐the-­‐new-­‐age-­‐products-­‐9780773539983.php.  

Religions & Cultures

Political Science, Philosophy and EconomicsDr.  David  Tabachnick  (poli<cal  science)  presented  his  talk,  How  Big  is  that  Crucifix?:  The  Charter  of  Quebec  Values  as  an  A]ack  on  Mul6culturalism,  at  Nipissing’s  Award  Winners  Speaker  Series  on  October  29th.

“The  Charter  of  Quebec  Values  is  presented  as  a  proposal  to  assert  religious  neutrality  in  Quebec  society,”  says  Dr.  Tabachnick.  “This  includes  the  prohibi2on  of  the  wearing  of  conspicuous  religious  symbols  by  public  servants,  including  headscarves,  yarmulkes  and  crucifixes”.  In  his  talk,  Dr.  Tabachnick  highlighted  “the  absurdity  of  placing  the  state  in  a  posi2on  of  judging  the  religious  inten2on  behind  how  people  dress  as  well  as  revealing  the  deeper  story  behind  the  Charter  as  an  aJack  on  mul2culturalism  and  an  aJempt  to  replace  it  with  an  ‘interculturalism’  that  affirms  a  rather  par2cular  set  of  values  supported  by  the  separa2st  Par2  Québécois”.

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SPOTLIGHT ON:ARTIST RESIDENCY

Dr.  Susan  Cahill  and  Laura  Peturson  were  the  organizers  of  an  ar2st  residency  last  month.  You  Are  Here:  Visualizing  Place  at  the  Gateway  to  the  North,  brought  six  par2cipa2ng  ar2sts  to  North  Bay  for  an  eight-­‐day  residency  where  they  created  site-­‐specific  works  to  be  installed  in  various  loca2ons  in  and  around  North  Bay.  The  residency  invited  the  ar2sts  to  contemplate  the  meaning  of  “North”  as  a  loca2on,  myth  and  construc2on,  and  to  consider  the  rela2onship  between  his/her  history  and  an  idea  of  North.    The  group  of  par2cipa2ng  ar2sts  included  individuals  who  were  familiar  with  the  geography,  poli2cs,  and  history  of  the  region,  as  well  as  those  who  came  to  North  Bay  with  outside  perspec2ves.    

The  residency  culminated  in  the  installa2on  of  five  site  specific  artworks:  

Study  for  a  new  understanding  of  north,  by  Julian  Higueray  Nunez,  is  an  open  construc2on  room  with  wheels  that  allow  for  circular  movement.  When  turned,  the  electromagnet  fastened  to  the  roof  pulls  the  orienta2on  of  the  arrow-­‐shaped  room  back  to  its  north-­‐poin2ng  posi2on.  This  piece  was  installed  in  a  residen2al  neighbourhood,  across  from  the  North  Bay  Public  Library.

Chris2an  Chapman’s  large-­‐scale  work  on  canvas,  en2tled  Gichi-­‐Gaazhagens/Great  Cat,  was  installed  on  the  walking  trail  of  the  former  CN  rail  line,  across  from  Sweetman's  Garden.  Using  his  personal  memories  of  life  in  northwestern  Ontario  as  an  entry-­‐point,  Chapman  explores  blurred  boundaries  between  progress  and  destruc2on,  leisure  and  labour,  as  well  as  poli2cs  of  use  of,  and  access  to,  par2cular  spaces  in  northern  regions.

Gichi-­‐Gaazhagens/Great  Cat  -­‐  Chris6an  Chapman

Study  for  a  new  understanding  of  north  -­‐  Julian  Higueray  Nunez

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Ar2sts  and  interested  community  members  were  brought  around  to  each  site  by  bus  so  that  they  had  the  opportunity  to  engage  in  dialogue.  Following  the  tour  of  the  public  installa2ons  was  a  roundtable  with  the  ar2sts-­‐in-­‐residence  to  discuss  their  work  and  the  broader  implica2ons  of  public  spaces  as  sites  for  art  -­‐  par2cularly  in  northern  areas.  The  roundtable  took  place  at  the  North  Bay  Heritage  Museum  and  was  followed  by  the  opening  recep2on  of  a  photographic  installa2on  of  all  the  works  created  by  this  project.  Located  in  downtown  North  Bay  at  the  former  CPR  sta2on,  the  Heritage  Museum  presented  an  amazing  opportunity  to  situate  works  by  contemporary  ar2sts  within  the  larger  context  of  the  region’s  history.

In  Drowning  and  Drowned  Out,  North  Bay-­‐based  ar2st  Jaymie  Lathem  immersed  photo-­‐transferred  images  in  mason  jars  filled  with  lake  water.  Three  hundred  of  these  jars  were  installed  on  a  network  of  large  tree  roots  on  the  Lake  Nipissing  shoreline  at  Kinsmen  Beach.  This  piece  addresses  Lathem’s  struggle  to  work  through  her  fears  of  water  and  drowning,  as  well  as  some  of  the  difficul2es  she  has  experienced  as  an  ar2st  working  in  a  northern  region  that  can  be  marginalized—or  “drowned  out”—by  larger,  urban  areas.

Drowning  and  Drowned  Out  -­‐  Jaymie  Lathem

Tanya  Lukin-­‐Linklater’s  work,  Slow  Scrape,  presents  a  medita2on  on  her  connec2ons  to  life  and  family  in  northern  Canada.  The  work  is  composed  of  nine  banners  with  poe2c  texts  that  Lukin-­‐Linklater  developed  through  a  series  of  interviews  with  James  Bay  Cree  women  that  centre  on  the  acts  of  sewing/beading,  or  "crap"  work.  The  banners  were  installed  on  the  rock  ledge  of  the  Lake  Nipissing  shoreline,  south-­‐east  of  the  Chief  Commanda.          

For  Kevin  and  Robert  Yates,  their  piece  Now  You  See  Me  plays  with  everyday  spaces  and  objects  in  order  to  make  the  familiar  seem  unfamiliar.  The  work  uses  digital  prints  on  wood  construc2on  to  create  mirrored  and  altered  reflec2ons  of  an  image.  It  takes  on  the  form  of  a  billboard  and  was  installed  on  the  island  in  the  pond  behind  Nipissing  University  and  Canadore  College.  The  aesthe2c  of  reflec2ng/transforming  parallels  their  interest  in  highligh2ng  the  tension  and  difficul2es  in  represen2ng  “nature”  in  art.    

Slow  Scrape  -­‐  Tanya  Lukin-­‐Linklater

Now  You  See  Me  -­‐  Kevin  and  Robert  Yates

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NIPISSING ALUMNI

Nichola  Hoffman  graduated  from  Nipissing  University  with  her  BA  Honours  in  Psychology  in  2013  and  is  currently  working  on  her  master’s  degree  in  Psychology  at  Lauren<an  University.  Last  month  she  presented  her  thesis  research  at  the  Aging  and  Speech  Communica1on  Conference,  5th  Interdisciplinary  Interna1onal  Research  Conference,  in  Bloomington,  Indiana.

Nichola’s  presenta2on,  2tled  An  Inves6ga6on  of  the  Impact  of  Age,  Working  Memory  Capacity,  and  Emo6onal  Prosody  on  Selec6ve  A]en6on  and  Inhibi6on  in  Audi6on,  was  co-­‐authored  with  Nipissing’s  Dr.  Dana  Murphy.  Nichola  completed  this  project  as  her  honour’s  thesis  in  Dr.  Murphy’s  laboratory  last  year  when  she  was  in  her  final  year  at  Nipissing.  Similar  to  the  study  Dr.  Murphy  presented  (The  distrac6bility  of  speech  spoken  in  emo6onal  tones  in  younger  and  older  adults)  at  the  same  conference,  Nichola’s  study  also  assessed  the  influence  of  emo2onal  prosody  on  language  processing,  but  her  focus  

was  on  working  memory  for  spoken  language.  In  this  study,  younger  and  older  adults  were  required  to  listen  to  sentences  and  remember  the  final  word  of  each  sentence.  They  heard  an  increasing  number  of  sentences,  star2ng  with  a  single  sentence,  then  including  two,  three,  four,  etc.  sentences.  All  of  the  sentences  in  a  specific  condi2on  included  the  same  emo2onal  prosody.  The  three  prosodic  condi2ons  included  Happy  Speech,  Neutral  Speech,  and  Angry  Speech.  They  measured  prosodic  working  memory  by  having  par2cipants  remember  the  final  word  of  each  sentence  within  a  set  of  sentences.  The  prosodic  working  memory  score  then  became  the  largest  number  of  sentences  the  individual  could  remember  without  error.  They  found  prosodic  working  memory  to  vary  depending  upon  the  emo2onal  prosody  of  the  sentences  in  the  specific  condi2on.  Younger  and  older  par2cipants  alike  more  effec2vely  remembered  words  when  they  heard  them  spoken  in  a  happy  or  a  neutral  tone  of  voice  rather  than  in  an  angry  tone  of  voice.  In  fact,  the  prosodic  working  memory  for  angry  speech  was  significantly  lower  than  the  prosodic  working  memory  for  either  happy  or  neutral  speech.  This  paJern  of  results  was  the  same  for  younger  and  for  older  adults.  This  clearly  shows  that  memory  for  speech  varies  depending  upon  the  prosody  used  in  that  speech  with  happy  or  neutral  tones  leading  the  greatest  memory.  Angry  speech  appears  to  be  much  more  difficult  to  process  and  remember  for  both  younger  and  older  adults.  As  with  Dr.Murphy’s  study,  Nichola’s  study  demonstrates  the  importance  of  how  something  is  said.  When  it  comes  to  speech  you  want  someone  to  remember,  it  is  important  to  speak  calmly  without  any  angry  tones  in  your  voice.  If  you  are  in  an  environment  where  you  may  be  hearing  someone  speaking  angrily,  you  may  find  this  speech  to  be  especially  distrac2ng.  

Nichola  originally  applied  to  present  a  poster  at  this  conference,  but  the  conference  organizing  commiJee  deemed  her  work  as  extraordinary  and  decided  that  her  project  deserved  a  spoken  presenta2on.  In  addi2on,  Nichola  was  also  awarded  a  student  travel  award  which  paid  for  a  por2on  of  her  travel  and  also  covered  the  conference  registra2on  fee.  

“This  is  quite  an  honour  as  only  a  few  people  were  invited  to  give  such  presenta2ons.  Most  of  the  people  who  will  be  par2cipa2ng  were  only  allowed  to  apply  for  a  poster  presenta2on,”  said  Dr.  Murphy.  “I  am  quite  proud  of  Nichola  and  the  recogni2on  she  is  receiving  for  her  work.  We  are  currently  wri2ng  a  paper  detailing  the  findings  from  this  research  which  we  will  hope  to  submit  for  publica2on  before  too  much  longer.”

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ANNOUNCEMENTS &

UPCOMING EVENTS

Discover  new  cinema  from  Spain  and  La2n  America  at  Nipissing  University  during  the  Spanish  Film  Fes2val!

All  movie  screenings  take  place  on  Thursdays  in  H104,  and  are  scheduled  as  follows:

November  145:30pm  -­‐  Un  cuento  chino/Chinese  Takeaway7:30pm  -­‐  Pa  negre/  Black  Bread

November  215:30pm  -­‐  Después  de  Lucia/  Afer  Lucia7:30pm  -­‐  Infancia  clandes6ne/Clandes6ne  Childhood

November  285:30pm  -­‐  A  busca/Father’s  Chair

Admission  is  free,  but  sea2ng  is  limited.  Dona2ons  of  non-­‐perishable  goods  for  the  Nipissing  University  Food  Bank  are  appreciated.  Viewer  discre<on  is  advised  due  to  mature  themes,  strong  profanity,  sexual  ac2vity,  drug  use  and  explicit  violence.

The  Spanish  Film  Fes2val  is  organized  by  students  in  Nipissing’s  Spanish  and  La2n  American  Film  course.  For  more  informa2on,  please  visit  nipissingspanishfilmfes2val.weebly.com.

Spanish Film Festival

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November  14     Spanish  Film  Fes2val  -­‐  Un  cuento  chino/Chinese  Takeaway,  5:30pm  in  H104                                  Pa  negre/Black  Bread,  7:30pm  in  H104

November  19     Award  Winners  Speaker  Series  -­‐  Dr.  Amir  Erfani,  7:00pm  in  the  Harris  Learning  LibraryNovember  21     MEs/MESc  Seminar  Series  -­‐  Dr.  Kirsten  Greer,  5:00pm,  Room  TBA       Spanish  Film  Fes2val  -­‐  Después  de  Lucia/  Afer  Lucia  at  5:30pm  in  H104                                Infancia  clandes6ne/Clandes6ne  Childhood  at  7:30pm  in  H104

November  22     Computer  Science  &  Math  Talks  -­‐  Dr.  Alex  Karassev,  1:30pm  in  A223       Psychology  Speaker  Series  -­‐  Dr.  Dana  Murphy,  2:00pm  in  A257November  28     Spanish  Film  Fes2val  -­‐  A  busca/Father’s  Chair,  5:30pm  in  H104November  29     History  Seminar  Talk  -­‐  Dr.  Daniel  Rueck,  2:30pm  in  A252    December  4     Faculty  Council,  12:30  -­‐  2:00  p.mDecember  6     Last  day  of  FA  and  FW  courses         History  Seminar  Talk  -­‐  Dr.  Ilse  Mueller,  2:30pm  in  A252       Submissions  for  the  December  NewsleJer  DueDecember  9  -­‐  18   Exam  period  for  FA  courses  

January  6     Classes  beginJanuary  21     Award  Winners  Speaker  Series  -­‐  Dr.  Trevor  Smith,  7:00pm  in  the  Harris  Learning  Library

CALENDAR

Have  something  you’d  like  to  appear  in  next  month’s  newsle]er?  Please  send  your  submissions  to  melindah@nipissingu.ca  or  annbg@nipissingu.ca.  

To  view  past  newsle]ers,  please  visit:  h]p://www.nipissingu.ca/academics/facul6es/arts-­‐science/Pages/Arts-­‐and-­‐Science-­‐Forms.aspx.