Upcoming events Oct. 22-25 at Monmouth College

Historian Rankin to speak about baseball; education panel to discuss rural teacher shortage; next film in series to be screened Oct. 25

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, IL (10/16/2018) —

Historian Jeff Rankin to speak about 'Origins of Monmouth Baseball' on Oct. 22

On the eve of this year's World Series, Monmouth College Historian Jeff Rankin will deliver a talk about the "Great American Game."

Rankin will speak about "The Origins of Monmouth Baseball" at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Pattee Auditorium of the College's Center for Science and Business. His talk is free and open to the public.

"I'm describing it as a nostalgic look back at the early days of baseball at Monmouth College," said Rankin, who prepared the talk for two recent alumni gatherings, held at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and at the Iowa Cubs' Principal Park in Des Moines.

Those "early days" go back to the Civil War era, not long after the College's founding in 1853. Rankin's talk will encompass those years through the 1920s.

"Because it could be played with a minimum of equipment," Rankin said, "baseball began locally as an informal club sport, but soon evolved into a varsity sport, played in conjunction with intercollegiate debate contests." He noted that varsity baseball at Monmouth predated varsity football by two full decades.

Rankin has written histories of both Monmouth College and the City of Monmouth during his professional career, which spans four decades. In addition to co-authoring the most recent history of the College, A Thousand Hearts' Devotion, and writing the sesquicentennial history of Monmouth in 1981, Rankin writes a weekly local history column for Monmouth's Daily Review Atlas.

Education panel at Monmouth College to address teacher shortage in rural areas

An Oct. 24 panel at Monmouth College will address the acute shortage of teachers in rural areas in the region.

Titled "The Future of Public Education: Local and National Initiatives to Address Rural Teacher Shortages," the discussion will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Pattee Auditorium of the Center for Science and Business.

Sponsored by the College's Department of Educational Studies and the local branch of the American Association of University Women, the panel is free and open to the public.

"Pretty much every school district across the state of Illinois and in other areas, as well, has open positions," said Monmouth educational studies professor Michelle Holschuh Simmons. "It is really urgent that we get strong teachers in these rural areas. … Education should be of interest to every single person - whether that person is a teacher or a principal or administrator, but also a parent, a grandparent - anybody who has a connection with the schools, which is pretty much everybody."

Participants in the panel will be Gary Funk, director of the Rural Schools Collaborative; Toby Vallas, director of student services in the Farmington (Ill.) school district and a 1998 Monmouth graduate; Monmouth educational studies professor Tammy La Prad; and Kylee Payne, a senior educational studies major from Monmouth.

Funk will address the revitalization of rural areas, while Vallas will speak from the school district's point of view. La Prad will discuss how higher education in general, and Monmouth College specifically, is addressing the shortage of teachers in rural schools.

Payne will speak about her experience in TARTANS (Teachers Allied with Rural Towns and Neighborhood Schools), a Monmouth College initiative that helps prepare teachers to serve and be leaders in rural schools. Payne is one of eight Monmouth students participating in the program.

"The intention of TARTANS is to recruit and retain teacher-leaders in rural schools," said Simmons. "We have some programming where our students are connecting with community organizations, community assets. We are hoping that this program will set students up very well to move into positions in rural areas, not just here in the Monmouth area, but extended into other areas, as well. They will become leaders in those communities and revitalize those communities, because often the public schools are the powerhouses, the powers centers of rural communities."

Simmons said the panel discussion is a way for the College and her department to give back to the region.

"We want to be connected with the community," she said. "We appreciate all the schools that work with us to have our students as practicum students and student teachers. This is our way to give back to the community to provide some professional development and to provide an opportunity to connect with other teachers and people who are interested in education."

Monmouth College to screen psychological thriller 'Hell House' on Oct. 25

Just in time for Halloween, a film shown at Monmouth College is set in a haunted house.

But the film Hell House is not a typical Halloween horror movie. It goes much deeper than that, said former Monmouth psychology professor Kateryna Sylaska, who will introduce the film on Oct. 25. Part of the College's Public Philosophy and Film Series, Hell House will be shown at 6 p.m. in the Barnes Electronic Classroom on the lower level of Hewes Library. It is free and open to the public.

"As a social psychologist, I'm drawn to films that portray some aspect of our everyday lives and leave us feeling unsettled or curious about human nature," said Sylaska, who now teaches at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. "Hell House introduces us to members of a church community that put together a haunted house each year. Each 'room' or scene depicts a different sin being committed."

Sylaska said the intended frights are not people jumping out and scaring visitors, but rather the fear of being in one of those situations or the ultimate fear of ending up in hell.

"Halloween has religious origins, and this film depicts how some groups are trying to take what has become a secular holiday and infuse the secular themes into their own persuasive appeals," she said.

Those appeals utilize fear.

"Through the lens of social psychology, I see this as a strategy of fear-based persuasion," said Sylaska. "If someone can elicit fear, that has the potential to change our behavior. Fear can be a powerful motivator; social psychologists interested in persuasion have long recognized its role in behavior change."

The film is not only timely because of Halloween, but also because of the midterm elections, she said.

"Politicians often rely on similar fear-based appeals in garnering support," said Sylaska, who will also lead a post-film discussion. "Let's be informed consumers of the information around us. Our post-film discussion will focus on general tips for spotting and responding to fear-based messages. Social psychological research has lots to share with us. I encourage everyone to come learn about it."

Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Ermine Algaier organized the Public Philosophy and Film Series, which began last spring.

"This series provides an informal, multidisciplinary platform for raising awareness of pressing contemporary public issues," said Algaier. "Both educational and entertaining, the series aims to provide the campus and Monmouth community with an informal space that intellectually challenges the broader community, while also creating a safe space to confront culturally diverse topics and ideas."

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