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Archaeologist discusses Wisconsin's animal-shaped mounds and the complex society that built them

Awards ceremony to honor lead archaeologists

About 1,000 years ago Native Americans built more animal-shaped mounds in Wisconsin than any other part of the world. Many are still intact — even in the La Crosse area.

The mounds are so common in the state, people don’t realize their significance or rarity in the world, says Robert Birmingham, former state archaeologist and professor at UW-Waukesha.

Birmingham will present on these mounds — called effigy mounds — at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in Port O' Call, Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition.

During the Late Woodland Period, 700 A.D. – 1,100 A.D., native people built more than 15,000 mounds in Wisconsin. Thousands were in the form of super natural beings and animals such as birds, bear, deer, bison, lynx, turtle, panther or water spirit. Comparable to churches or temples, they were sacred spaces where, at times, the dead were buried, explains Birmingham.

Most of the mounds were destroyed as settlers moved in and started farming. However, preserved mounds can be visited at nearby locations such as La Crosse’s Myrick Park, Trempealeau’s Perrot State Park, Wyalusing State Park in Bagley, Wis., and Effigy Mounds National Monument in Harpers Ferry, Iowa.

The mounds help archaeologists better understand the Woodland society and how societies have evolved, says Birmingham.

“The Woodland people were thought to be simple hunters and gatherers who came to build these mounds. The mounds say otherwise,” says Birmingham. “These are obviously the work of a complex society.”

Birmingham wrote the book, “Spirits of Earth: The Effigy Mound Landscape of Madison and the Four Lakes.”

If you go—
What: Lecture on Wisconsin mounds
Where: Port O' Call, UW-L’s Cartwright Center
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16
Admission: Free

MVAC awards ceremony

Each year the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center gives awards to people and organizations for their contributions to the field of archaeology. The 2011 awardees will be recognized during a ceremony at 6:30 p.m. – prior to the lecture. A social starts at 6 p.m. Learn more about these awards at www.uwlax.edu/mvac/About/VolunteerRecog.htm

Big band blast: UW-L Big Band Cabaret Celebrates its 25th Year

The 25th annual Big Band Cabaret is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at UW-La Crosse.

The UW-La Crosse Tuxedo Dance Orchestra recreates the sights and sounds of the fabulous swing era at theupcoming Big Band Cabaret.

Hear the sounds of Glenn Miller, Les Brown, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and more at the 25th annual Big Band Cabaret at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, in Valhalla, Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition.

Joining the Tuxedo Big Band will be the UW-La Crosse “Swing Orchestra” and featured guest artists trumpeter Tom Brown, vocalist Tim Henke and a “She’s Got Talent” winning vocalist. Selections include Benny Goodman’s “Let’s Dance,” Frank Sinatra’s “Street of Dreams,” Bobby Darren’s “Beyond the Sea” and Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.” Special Dance sets will feature Prez Prado’s “Patricia” Henry Mancini’s “Charade” Waltz and many others.

Admission is a suggested donation of $10 for students, $14 for seniors and $15 for others. The concert features Cabaret style seating with candle lit tables, large dance floor, and full beverage service.

For reservations call 608.785.8415 during regular business hours. Proceeds benefit the UW-L Jazz Scholarship program.

If you go—
What: Big Band Cabaret
Who: UW-La Crosse Tuxedo Dance Orchestra
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.
Where: Valhalla, UW-L Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition
Admission: $10 for students, $14 for seniors and $15 for others

Polar Explorer Will Steger to be on NEWSMAKERS

Major focus:
Legendary Polar Explorer Will Steger will be on Wisconsin Public Radio's NEWSMAKERS from 3 - 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21. Local reporters are welcome to join. Following the radio taping, the media is welcome to do individual interviews with Steger at the studio in the lower level of UW-L’s Whitney Center.

Background:
Steger, who led the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole — without resupply — in 1986, will present on Arctic preservation at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Valhalla, Cartwright Center, Gunning-Addition at UW-L. Steger has traveled tens of thousands of miles by kayak and dogsled for more than 45 years, leading teams on some of the most significant polar expeditions in history. He led the longest unsupported dogsled expedition in history across Greenland in 1988 and the first dogsled traverse of Antarctica in 1989. For his accomplishments, he earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from National Geographic Adventure magazine in 2007. He continues his commitment to education and exploration through the Will Steger Foundation. He aims to empower people around the world to take action on global warming solutions.

"Six Key Terms in the Transition from High School to College Writing"

A Presentation of the English Department's William J. and Yvonne Hyde Colloquium Series.

Dr. Virginia Crank, English Department faculty member, will continue the 2011-2012 William J. and Yvonne Hyde English Department Colloquium Series with a presentation entitled "Six Key Terms in the Transition from High School to College Writing." The presentation will discuss key concepts that Dr. Crank has identified from the large body of research on writing in high school and college English classes. Understanding and discussing these concepts with new college students can help those who teach freshmen (particularly in writing-intensive courses) build on the skills and concepts their students bring with them to UWL.

The presentation runs from 2:30-3:30 p.m. on Friday, February 10th, in 113 Wimberly Hall. The event is free and open to the public. To arrange for disability accommodations, contact english@uwlax.edu or call 785-8295. For more information, visit http://rhetor.blogs.com/english.

Legendary Polar Explorer to talk about Arctic preservation at UW-L

Legendary Polar Explorer Will Steger, who led the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole — without resupply — in 1986, will present on Arctic preservation at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Valhalla, Cartwright Center, Gunning-Addition. A question and answer session follows. A reception and book signing is from 6-7 p.m. in the Ward Room, Cartwright Center.

Steger has traveled tens of thousands of miles by kayak and dogsled for more than 45 years, leading teams on some of the most significant polar expeditions in history. He led the longest unsupported dogsled expedition in history across Greenland in 1988 and the first dogsled traverse of Antarctica in 1989. For his accomplishments, he earned the Lifetime Achievement Award fromNational Geographic Adventure magazine in 2007.

He continues his commitment to education and exploration through the Will Steger Foundation. He aims to empower people around the world to take action on global warming solutions.

If you go—
Who: Will Steger
What: Arctic preservation presentation, discussion
Where: Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition, UW-L
When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday Feb. 21
Admission: Free

Screening of a documentary on Aldo Leopold at UW-L

Screening of the film “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time” will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in 1309 Centennial Hall, UW-L. This documentary about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold highlights his extraordinary career, tracing how he influenced the modern environmental movement. A reception will start at 5:45 p.m. in 1300 Centennial Hall.

Stanley A. Temple, senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterward. Admission is free.

If you go—
What: Screening of the film “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time”
Where: 1309 Centennial Hall
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9
Admission: Free

UW-L Art Gallery opens semester with works on paper

Professor John Ready’s artwork feature collages

The UW-La Crosse University Art Gallery opens it spring season with an exhibition of works on paper by Department of Art Faculty member and Gallery Director John Ready.

“John Ready: Works on Paper, Icon and Context” opens with a talk from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, in 116 Center for the Arts. The exhibit, in the University Art Gallery, first floor of the Center for the Arts, opens with a reception from 5-6:30 p.m. and runs through Saturday, March 3. Ready will also host a brown bag lunch discussion on his works from noon-1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, in Room 116. The exhibit and other events are free and open to the public.

Ready’s work in the exhibit is the result of research and studio practice while he was on sabbatical during the 2010-11 academic year. His sabbatical research, titled “Icon and Context,” enabled him to create a series of collages. The works explore the iconographic nature of cultural images and the manner with which their meaning can be altered by varying contextual settings. Utilizing landscape as metaphor, Ready builds environments in the collages that utilize images from contemporary culture and their placement within constructed environments.

Regular gallery hours are noon-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, noon-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and during Toland Theatre events. Admission is free. The gallery opens for appointments by calling the UW-L Art Department 608.785.8230.


Comets, Collage on tag, 7.5” x 9.5 “, 2011

Puppy Pie, Collage on tag, 7.5” x 9.5 “, 2011

Pilot Mound Cake, Collage on tag, 7.5” x 9.5 “, 2011

If you go—
What: “John Ready: Works on Paper, Icon and Context”
When: Feb. 3-March 3
Where: University Art Gallery, UW-L Center for the Arts
Admission: Free
Gallery hours: noon-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, noon-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and during Toland Theatre events.
Extras: Gallery talk from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, in 116 Center for the Arts. Gallery reception from 5-6:30 p.m. Feb. 3. Brown bag lunch discussion, noon-1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, Room 116.

Gays Mills historical exhibit to be unveiled

This is one of the 17 panels UW-La Crosse History Department students created for a historical exhibit on Gays Mills that will be permanently set up in the village’s new visitors center.

UW-La Crosse students complete pictorial display

When the relocation of the village of Gays Mills is completed this year, residents and others shouldn’t have any trouble recalling what the old town looked like.

A UW-La Crosse history class spent the fall semester working on a large, pictorial display covering the village’s 152-year history. Seventeen 24-inch by 36-inch panels contain historical and contemporary images detailing the village’s Kickapoo River-side location, along with its new site about a mile northeast and out of the floodplain.

“The display looks very nice and should be well received by those visiting the village’s new visitors center,” says History Professor Charles Lee, who oversaw the class. That is where the exhibit will eventually be displayed.

Students in the class worked in pairs while hearing from Gays Mills residents and leaders, collecting ideas, images and village history to portray. Lee says most of the images for the panels were retrieved from UW-L Murphy Library’s Area Research Center and date to the 19th century. Some came from the village’s centennial booklet, while others were captured last fall to document the relocation.

“The students did the research, they designed the layout, and they put the entire display together,” says Lee. “For most of them this was their first professional display, which will give them a great experience for their professional careers as historians.”

The exhibit will be displayed on campus Monday-Friday, Jan. 30-Feb. 3, in the Murphy Library Area Research Center before heading to its permanent location at the new Gays Mills Visitors Center. Campus exhibit hours are 9:30 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. weekdays, and 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays. The Village of Gays Mills and the UW-L History Department funded the display.

Click here to view the TV News 8 coverage of the historical panels

If you go—
What: Gays Mills Historical Exhibit
Who: Created by UW-L history students
Where: UW-L Murphy Library Area Research Center
When: 9:30 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. weekdays, and 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays
Admission: Free
Ongoing: Moves to permanent display at the Village of Gays Mills Visitors Center in February

Spring to Life with UW-L Theatre’s Musical Madness

The UW-La Crosse Department of Theatre Arts is thrilled to “stumble along” into this
season’s musical surprise, The Drowsy Chaperone.

Ever wonder what it would be like to have your most beloved Broadway musical burst into life right in your very own living room? That’s what happens to a secluded musical fanatic who innocently settles in to enjoy his favorite cast album one day. Surprise! Suddenly the full-fledged musical production catapults into the confines of his home, telling the boisterous ballad of a brazen Broadway starlet seeking to find, and keep,
her true love. A tribute to early American musicals of the Jazz Age, The Drowsy Chaperone will leave you yearning for an unannounced visit of your own!

The Drowsy Chaperone, with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, score by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison, will show at 7:30 p.m. February 24-25 & March 1-3 with matinee performances at 2:00 p.m. February 26 & March 4 in Toland Theatre in the Center for the Arts at 16th and Vine Streets.

Tickets go on sale at 1:00 p.m. Monday, February 20. Box office hours are 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturdays and one hour before each performance. Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for senior citizens and non-UWL students, $5 UW-L students; call (608) 785-8522.

If you go—
Who: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Department of Theatre Arts
What: The Drowsy Chaperone Book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar, Score by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison
Where: Toland Theatre, UW-La Crosse Center for the Arts
When: February 24-25 & March 1-3 at 7:30 p.m., February 24 & March 4 at 2:00 p.m.
Admission: $16 for adults, $14 for senior citizens and non-UWL students, $5 UW-L students; call (608) 785-8522. Tickets go on sale at 1:00 p.m. Monday, February 20. Box office hours are 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturdays and one hour before show times.

Cast: Jacob Voss, Lindsay Van Norman, Sarah Shervey, Andrew Kelly, Nick Brandt, Katie Katschke, Lewis Youngren, Seth Von Steidl, Austin P. Hernandez, Quinn Masterson, Kaylyn Forkey, Hope Parow, Colleen Schulz, Clara Solinger, Jandrea Novak, Halie Becker, Anna Mae Beyer, Kristen Lake, Lily Cornwell, Katy Williams, Eric Busse, Laura Paulson, Ashley Hovell, Colin Stiemke, Bobby Black, David Holmes, Casey Schneider, Jessie Fanshaw, Jacob Gloe

Morgan named interim provost at UW-La Crosse

Professor Betsy Morgan has been named Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

A long-time UW-La Crosse department chair and former assistant to the provost will take over the university’s chief academic officer duties on an interim basis.

Psychology Professor Betsy Morgan will serve as UW-L's Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. She will replace Kathleen Enz Finken who will leave in mid-December to become provost at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Morgan will hold the position until a provost is named in late spring or early summer of 2012 following a national search.

Morgan has three years of experience in the provost office while serving as Faculty Assistant to the Provost from 2005-08. She has more than seven years of service as chair of the university’s Psychology Department.

“Dr. Morgan is a seasoned UW-L administrator and faculty leader who possesses the skills and experience needed to lead our Academic Affairs Division in a time of transition and challenges,” said Chancellor Joe Gow in making the appointment Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Gow said as Interim Provost, Morgan will be responsible for launching the university’s new "Open Pathways" Higher Learning Commission accreditation process; continuing to implement a new summer session faculty salary structure; and making essential recommendations on the reappointment, promotion and tenure of faculty.

Morgan earned her doctorate in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine, and began teaching at UW-L in 1993. She has completed Harvard University's Management Development Program. Morgan won the UW-L College of Liberal Studies Excellence Award for Teaching in 2005, and is the author of two textbooks and several refereed journal articles.

UW-La Crosse history professor named Wisconsin Professor of the Year

A UW-La Crosse Professor who has been named the state’s top educator says his students deserve the recognition.

“This award, in the end, belongs to them. I wouldn’t be here without them,” says Greg Wegner, UW-L professor of history. “My ability to teach, research, write and publish is refreshed and renewed through teaching students.”

Wegner will accept the 2011 Wisconsin Professor of the Year award today in Washington, D.C. He was selected from college educators across the U.S. for the award from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Wegner, a UW-L graduate, says questions are what ‘make a university tick’ and a good teacher respects the power of the question.

“I have to think like a student and be hungry for knowledge,” he says. “I don’t have all the answers. It’s the questions that should drive good teaching.”

It’s typical for Wegner to ask for students’ views, says Isaac Michalski, UW-L freshman and student of Wegner.

“This class changes the way we view society,” Michalski says. “It makes us think about how we got here and what we are going to do going forward.”

Wegner has been researching the Holocaust for more than 40 years. He started when he became a student at UW-L in 1968. Teachers like the late history professor Bill Vettes inspired him to continue to dig into history.

“It goes to show you how a good teacher can impact another person’s life,” he says.

Wegner has been teaching at UW-L since 1989. During the current semester, he teaches HIS 102 with first year students, which centers around the theme of the history of science and technology. He also teaches a course on the history of education and, next semester, will also lead a class on the history of the Holocaust.

Since he started at UW-L, the campus Faculty Research & Grants committee has awarded him six grants and all have led to publications. He has published two books, one on Nazi education, “Anti-Semitism and Schooling Under the Third Reich” (2002) and “Curriculum Handbook on Social Studies: A Resource for Administrators” (2000). He has also published 38 refereed journal articles for journals in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and Austraila.

He is also a community literacy volunteer in his native Bangor and is the National History Day regional coordinator for western Wisconsin. The annual regional program reaches about 1,300 middle school and high school students each year.

This year CASE assembled two preliminary panels of judges to select finalists and awarded 27 state winners. Wegner was selected from faculty members nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center that supports needed transformations in American education through tighter connections between teaching practice, evidence of student learning, the communication and use of this evidence, and structured opportunities to build knowledge.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in London, Singapore and Mexico City, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals at all levels who work in alumni relations, communications, fundraising, marketing and other areas.

UW-La Crosse singers offer birthday-grams

At a loss for a special birthday gift? UW-La Crosse Concert Choir members will sing a special rendition of “Happy Birthday” to those celebrating their special day.

The choir is raising funds for its May 2012 performance tour in Ireland and
Northern Ireland. Because of class schedules and restricted transportation, requests will be taken only for the UW-L campus and surrounding area.

Specific performance times are subject to availability of Concert Choir members and will be arranged by UW-L Concert Choir conductor, Gary Walth. Each “Happy Birthday” performance will also include a birthday card listing the sender. The cost for each “Happy Birthday” performance is $25.

The birthday greetings can be arranged beginning Monday, Nov. 7, by calling the Music Department at 608.785.8409. Requests should be made a week in advance.

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