Author: iharrell

NSU Faculty Members Named Top Black Educators of 2021

Désir

Duhart

Nova Southeastern University’s Charlene Desir and Olympia Duhart were recently named among Legacy South Florida magazine’s Top Black Educators of 2021.

Duhart, J.D., serves at the director of legal research and writing and professor of law at NSU’s Shepard Broad College of Law. Duhart, who earned her Juris Doctorate as a magna cum laude at NSU in 2003, was founding member of the Critical Skills Program at NSU before joining the faculty at the university.

Her scholarship focuses on government accountability for historically marginalized groups of people. She has published extensively on Hurricane Katrina survivors, and has most recently written about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among veterans and members of the military.

Charlene Désir, Ed.D., a full professor at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, received her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2006. Désir’s academic interest is in the social, psychological, and spiritual adjustment of immigrant students, schools’ social curriculum, and psycho-social trauma occurring in schools.

She was the 2012 president of the Haitian Studies Association. She has developed cultural literacy projects in Haiti, and for immigrant children in the United States.

Legacy South Florida magazine is a publication serving South Florida’s Black community with insightful articles and information on business, careers, politics, education, culture and social commentary. It is published by M•I•A Media Group LLC, one of the nation’s largest Black publishers of its kind, with more than one million readers bi-monthly.

Established in 2004, M•I•A’s publications are distributed through the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspapers.

Arts Alive! The Fairy Tales of Grimm on Sunday, July 25

Tales such as Rapunzel, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel and The Bremen Town musicians come to the stage in a classical 19th Century theatrical melodrama. This fun-filled show is loaded with laughs! This special pre-recorded theatre show will be featured on the NSU Alvin Sherman Library’s Facebook page and YouTube channel from July 25 – August 15.

Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth’s professional producers, actors and composers have delighted audiences across the country since 1999.

Halmos Biologist Discusses Bacteria in Our Lives on Telemundo

This May, biology faculty member Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D. was interviewed by Antonio Texiera, host of the news show “Al Rojo Vivo” on the Spanish language network, Telemundo.  During the interview, Garcia shared the results of the types of bacteria that were identified from the inside of cars, on children’s toys and on sofas and rugs for the segment “Amenaza Escondida” or “Hidden Threats”.

In her three segments, she discussed the topics of bacteria in your living room furniture, on your children’s toys, and how cars can represent a source of bacterial infection. Each of these segments are available on YouTube. Click the headlines below to watch.

“Armchairs in the living room can hide large quantities of mold and bacteria, experts reveal”

“Hidden Threats: Excess bacteria found on children’s toys”

“Cars could represent a source of infection by transporting thousands of bacteria”

Fischler College’s Education Professor Publishes Book Chapter

David B. Ross, Ed.D., a professor in the Department of Education at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, published a chapter in the book, “Becoming: Transformative Storytelling for Education’s Future” by editors Laura Colket, Tracy Penny Light, and Fischler College alumnus Adam Carswell. Ross’ chapter, “The Many Layers of My Life: How My Relationships Shaped Me,” showcases his family, his high school education, his college education, his professorial years, as well as his philosophical views of education and leadership, with a closing reflection.

David B. Ross, Ed.D.

“Becoming: Transformative Storytelling for Education’s Future” is a collection of powerful stories about teaching and learning.  The book illuminates an inquiry process for educators to reflect on and tell their own stories of teaching and learning in order to fuel personal, professional, and organizational transformation.  The inquiry and storytelling process is modeled throughout the book by the author chapters.  Through their educational autobiographies, the authors uncover opportunities for making changes in their own educational practices as well as those of the organizations in which they work and teach.

The stories also reflect challenges in the broader education system, and the authors consider the ways to create more equitable, culturally sustaining, and transformative educational experiences for all students.  Readers can engage with the stories in the volume to inspire their own personal and professional growth, and perhaps even more powerfully, readers can dive into the process themselves.  This book provides readers with the structure and motivation to surface, share, and engage with their own stories of teaching and learning, and to invite their colleagues into the process, to collectively consider the possibilities for transformation within their own educational contexts.

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Fischler College Spotlight Shines on Zelphine Smith-Dixon

Zelphine Smith-Dixon

Zelphine Smith-Dixon received her Doctor of Educational Leadership degree from the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice in 2005. She was elected as the president of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. She is the first person of color to serve in this capacity and assist the country nationally in an effort of meeting the needs of students with disabilities.

Smith-Dixon is also the state director for the Division for Special Education at the Georgia Department of Education. She works to ensure that each student has an opportunity to be successful. She is committed to not only representing her students but the critical partnership for student success to include families, teachers, leaders, and communities.

She received the following accolades: Tri-County Special Educator of the Year, Vance-Providence Elementary Teacher of the Year and Orangeburg Consolidated School District Three Alternate District Teacher of the Year.  In April 2018, Columbia College of S.C. presented her with the Wil Lou Gray Outstanding Educator Award. Later, she served as the Columbia College Commencement Speaker in May 2019.

Smith-Dixon serves as a thought leader and cadre advisor for the National IDEA Data Center, National Consortium on Special Education Finance, National Technical Assistance Center on Transition, and National Center for Systemic Improvement to address the intersection of race and disability.

Smith-Dixon published an article in the March 2021 Case in Point edition in the Journal of Special Education Leadership (JSEL)titled “The State of Special Education: The Shift from Available to Appropriate!”

Smith-Dixon says she believes that receiving her Doctor of Educational Leadership degree at NSU fostered many of the leading skills within her that have served well and helped make her successful in her professional career. She is described as one of the most sought-after voices in education having shared her expertise with national and international audiences.

Smith-Dixon lives in Conyers, Ga., with her husband, Marki Dixon, and children Myles, Megan, and Mason. She serves in ministry at the dReam Center Church of Atlanta in Decatur, Ga., and is a member of the Covington Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

 

Halmos Alumna Earns Doctoral Degree from University of Surrey, UK

Michelle Rushefsky

Michelle Rushefsky, Ph.D., 2012 graduate in International Studies and English in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center, was awarded a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

Rushefsky’s thesis was titled “Horror Capriccios: (Re)imagining British Nineteenth-Century Fiction through the Veil of American Horror.”

She credits her undergraduate education at NSU for setting her on the path to this tremendous milestone in her academic career.

“NSU provided the initial freedom to explore different subjects which led me to the love of my life, literature,” she said. “Because of NSU, I continue to pursue academic achievement. The professors during my undergraduate years pledged support and fostered substantial academic rigor that inspired me not only as an early career researcher, but as an aspiring lecturer.”

NSU Outfielder Adan Fernandez Makes All-Region First Team

The accolades continue to roll in for Nova Southeastern University baseball’s second-year junior outfielder, Adan Fernandez, as officials from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) announced his selection among the association’s ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. II All-Region First Team. This marks the third All-Region nod this season for the Miramar native and second first-team honor – also the first for the Sharks since 2018.

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Halmos Professor Shares Expertise in Voting Rights

Charles Zelden

Charles Zelden, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Humanities and Politics (DHP) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center and sought-after political expert, recently shared his expertise.

In an interview conducted by CBS4’s BoBeth Yates titled “Voting By Mail Becomes More Difficult Now,” Zelden was asked to comment on how the new Florida voting law will affect voters’ abilities to cast their ballots.

“They’re not making it impossible to vote, just more difficult,” he said. “So for example, the old rule was that you could register for a two-election cycle period to automatically receive an absentee ballot. Now, it is a one-year every cycle, you’ve got to re-register for.”

Zelden academic interests include American Constitutional History, Civil Rights, Legal Studies, and the Judicial Process.

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