BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota Art Museum is holding a soap-making class Aug. 9 from noon to 4 p.m.



Participants will learn techniques to make this age-old staple of civilization during an afternoon workshop.



Leading the workshop is Norma Nusz-Chandler, a Brookings native and owner of Nut’n But Soap, a hand-made soap company she runs from home.

 

The workshop will take place outside the Art Museum on the patio, so participants are encouraged to dress comfortably for the hands-on class.



A wide assortment of fragrances and color choices become unique and pleasing handmade soaps during the workshop.



“Soap making helps people understand their past,” said Nusz-Chandler.



“Generations before us had to make their own supplies, and so we appreciate simple things more when we understand how they’re made.



“When you make soap by hand, you know everything that’s been put into it,” she added.

 

Nusz-Chandler is also an instructor of engineering management at South Dakota State University and started making soap as a personal challenge, discovered how fun it was and began making it for others to enjoy.



Materials are included in the workshop for a $35 registration fee for SDAM members and $42 for non-members.

 

To register for the workshop and for more information, call the Art Museum at 605.688.5423, or go online to www.southdakotaartmuseum.com. ?



Nusz-Chandler’s fragrant handmade Nut’n But Soap can also be purchased ready-made at the Art Museum Gift Store.

BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State University revamped its global studies curriculum this summer.



The global studies major and minor became realities four years ago to give SDSU students the opportunity to explore many disciplines that contribute to a broad perspective of 21st-century society.

Today the program boasts 60 student majors and 10 to 15 student minors.



The renovation strengthens the program’s capstone course and adds an additional global studies course, “Global Environmental Change.”



Most importantly, the improved program offers students a choice of six specializations that will appear on their transcripts.



Those specializations include international politics, language and culture, international economics and development, global agriculture and food systems, energy and environment, and general global studies for students who plan to earn two majors.



“The specialization will help students concentrate in an area of particular interest, as well as make them more marketable,” explained student advisor and recent political science and global studies graduate Adam Emerson, Pierre.



Global studies, according to SDSU director Nels Granholm, is a flexible program for any student who hopes to pursue an international career. Specializations offer students from all disciplines the opportunity to widen their worldview.



Additionally, all global studies majors engage in a cross-cultural experience (CCE) as they complete their studies.



The CCE requirement sends students to study in at least one other country, preferably a non-G8 nation.

 

“The CCE is really the culmination of the students’ studies,” said Emerson.

 

“It’s the practical experience behind all of the book theory.



“Reading about Confucianism in a text is one thing,” he mused, “but experiencing it in a rural city in South Korea is quite another.”



Granholm believes the program changes will positively affect SDSU students’ ability to understand theoretical and practical possibilities of interdisciplinary cooperation.



“Universities are blessed with many different programs headed by many brilliant people, but often they are unable to produce tangible solutions to worldly problems due to a lack of opportunities for cooperation,” he elaborated.



Granholm and Emerson believe the changes and additions to the SDSU global studies program will bring together students in the humanities, social sciences, hard sciences, mathematics and engineering who are committed to working for answers to pressing societal concerns.



Granholm and Emerson are confident that the curriculum changes will make the program even more attractive and compelling and aid its growth.

 

In the future, Granholm hopes to increase global studies faculty and ultimately establish an institute for global citizenship at SDSU.

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Five South Dakota State University students and their professor received national recognition when their collaborative research project on artist George Green was published in a special edition of the “Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences.”



The published piece, titled “Eye Deceptions: The Evolution of George D. Green’s Painting from the Late 1970’s to the Present” was a collaborative project between student-authors Kristin Dalton, Douglas, Wyo.; Katie Fritz, Sioux Falls; Dustin Klein, Winner; Rachelle Meyer, Sioux Falls; and Luke Schanzenbach, Brookings along with their instructor, Leda Cempellin, who served as editor and project coordinator.



Cempellin teaches art history and art appreciation at SDSU and earned her doctoral degrees at the University of Padua, in Italy, and the University of Parma, in Italy.



According to Cempellin, the students’ collaborative paper is the most extensive publication on Green to date.



Dorothy Mitstifer, the executive director of the “Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences,” the honor society Kappa Omicron Nu and the Association of College Honors Societies. acknowledged the project’s importance immediately by accepting the paper within 11 hours of its submission.



“The manuscript is really quite extraordinary; quite an undertaking; very intriguing,” commented Mitstifer in correspondence.



The project grew out of an art history class taught by Cempellin during spring 2008. 



“The project spontaneously grew from both students and professor in the first weeks of class,” said Cempellin, and “matured with enthusiasm on both sides and shaped the entire course.”



Originally, each of the students chose to write either on similar paintings from the same period or on one painting from different periods, thereby studying both the short-term and the long-term evolution of Green’s art throughout his career.



While the students worked on stages of their individual papers, Cempellin progressively inserted parts of their work into what became the collective paper and edited the overall work to its current shape.



The artist was indirectly interviewed by the students through questions and comments posted on a discussion board and email communication mediated by the instructor.



“This was a true collaborative project,” Cempellin continued. “No chapter was wholly written by one person.”



The students’ work has made a big splash in the academic world of art because it fills a gap in art history.



“Green’s work is absolutely significant and innovative in the post-modern era, but so far his work has not gained the scholarly attention it deserves,” explained Cempellin.



After Green read the paper, he called Cempellin’s office to say how much he appreciated the students’ work.



“For me, an unanticipated pleasure has been the opportunity for direct dialogue about my pictures with your students,” he said.



“As it turns out, I learned a lot, about my own pictures and how they are perceived by visually oriented, historically sophisticated individuals.



“To offer up an original voice in art criticism history in both content and methodology is very rare,” he concluded.



The students’ completed project and selections of Green’s work can be seen at http://www.kon.org/urc/v7/v7a/george-d-green-painting-evolution.html.

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Many college students find jobs for the summer, try to save money for tuition or housing, and generally relax.



Not so for South Dakota State University senior Ben Wise, Lytton, Iowa, and recent graduate Troy Miller, Sioux Falls. A third fraternity brother, Michael Kendall, Fort Pierre, rode as far as Rapid City but had to drop out.



The Delta Chi fraternity brothers are pedaling 1,500 miles from Brookings to Las Vegas, Nev., to raise money for the Jimmy V. Foundation for cancer research.



The pair packed up and tent and some miscellaneous repair supplies and hit the road at 7 a.m. on July 1.



“We’re not professionals or anything, so the first few days of riding were definitely the most challenging so far,” laughed Wise.

 

Wise, an agriculture education major and current president of the SDSU chapter of Delta Chi, thought of the bicycle trip idea.



The national Delta Chi Fraternity is trying to raise $100,000 for the Jimmy V. Foundation, and Wise wanted the SDSU chapter to help reach that goal.



Miller recently received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from SDSU and decided to join Wise on the bike trek after recently returning from Ecuador where he lived and worked for several months. 



The duo aim to make Las Vegas by July 29, in time for the Delta Chi international convention.

To make the roughly 1,500-mile trip by the goal date, the amateur cyclists need to average 52 miles per day.



Passing the 1350-mile mark, the team is nearing their destination and appear to be ahead of schedule.



The biking duo sleeps mostly under the stars except for an occasional respite through the hospitality of people along the way.



“I’ve been surprised by people’s generosity,” said Wise.



“We usually sleep in city parks or at a campground, but sometimes people will hear about our cause and offer to let us stay with them.”



Neither of the riders have sponsors. The money for the trip is out of their pockets and all donations are going to the Jimmy V. Foundation.



“What a remarkable accomplishment,” said Zeno Wicks III, Fulbright professor of plant science and Delta Chi adviser. “This is truly indicative of the never-look-back leadership the Delta Chi fraternity continually strives to maintain.”



To follow Wise and Miller’s progress, or to make a donation, go online to www.freewebs.com/rideforthecurejimmyv .



The Jimmy V. Foundation has raised more than $70 million for research grants since its inception in 1993, and is Delta Chi Fraternity’s preferred philanthropic organization.

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Registration deadline for an upcoming Agricultural Heritage Museum Bus tour is Wednesday, July 23.



The Museum is sponsoring an Ice Cream Capital Dairy Industry bus tour on Tuesday, Aug. 5.



The tour boasts a trip to the Ice Cream Capital of the World Visitor Center in LeMars, Iowa.



Wells Dairy, Inc., the proprietor of the Center, is the largest family-owned and managed dairy processor in the United States and maker of Blue Bunny ice cream.



In addition, a guided tour of the Historic Round Barn on the Plymouth County Fairgrounds in LeMars will also be part of the trip.



The group will also take a look at Plymouth Dairy Farm, a 2,500-head Holstein dairy farm outside of LeMars to view operation of a large dairy farm.



“We think the tour is a great way to learn more about dairy agriculture and industry up close,” said Carrie Van Buren, curator at the Ag Museum.



“Ice cream is always a good reward for education,” she added with a smile.



Tour members will learn about the history of ice cream and its manufacture through presentations at the Ice Cream Capital of the World Visitor Center, with a chance to visit the production theatre to view the process from cow to grocery freezer and, of course, choose from 37 flavors featured at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor.



The tour bus will leave from the Ag Museum at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5 and depart from LeMars at 3:15 p.m. that afternoon.



Registration is $50 for members and $55 for non-members.



Registration forms are available at the Ag Museum or online at www.agmuseum.com through clicking the Tours & Programs link.



Call Ag Museum at 605.688.6226 for more information.