Student Social Work Association welcomes community to participate in suicide prevention events

Richmond, Ind. — Student Social Work Association (SSWA) at Indiana University East is hosting a Suicide Awareness Day from 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14, in Whitewater Hall.

The event includes booths from IU East and community organizations and information about suicide prevention. A Memorial Clothesline and Balloon Launch will be available in remembrance to loved ones.

Then Saturday, October 25, the SSWA is co-sponsoring the “Out of Darkness Suicide Community Walks,” part of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, at Glen Miller Park. Participants are encouraged to gather at the golf course, located at 2514 E. Main Street in Richmond, Ind.

Check-in for the event begins at 9 a.m. and the walk begins at 10 a.m.

The SSWA hopes to bring awareness to the importance of suicide prevention and to support those who have lost a friend or loved one to suicide by hosting the events.

For more information, contact the School of Social Work at (765) 973-8534.

Diwali Festival of Lights
IU East will host Diwali Festival of Lights from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29, in the Whitewater Hall Lobby.

Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated by Indians worldwide. Families mark the occasion by lighting lamps, candles and fireworks to symbolize the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and wisdom over ignorance.

The event will begin with a Candle Lighting Ceremony and presentations by chief guest IU East Chancellor Kathy Cruz-Uribe, and event organizers Parul Khurana, assistant professor of biology, and Hitesh Kathuria, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Indian food and live music will be provided.

Please RSVP to Hitesh Kathuria by October 22 by calling 765-973-8247 or emailing hikathur@iue.edu.

Faculty Research Presentations
Steven Petersheim, assistant professor of English, presented “Literature and the Environment: Nathaniel Hawthorne as a Nature Writer” October 8 in the Whitewater Hall Community Room.

On October 9, Daron Olson, assistant professor of history, Alisa Clapp-Itnyre, professor of English, will present on their research.

Olson will present “The Unexplored World of Exile Nationalism: Researching Norwegian Archives in Oslo, June, 2014” at 3 p.m.

Clapp-Itnyre’s presentation will follow at 4 p.m. She is presenting “Rediscovering Nineteenth‐Century Childhood through Diaries and Songbooks: Archival Research in English Libraries, May 2014.”

The presentations will be held in the Whitewater Hall Community Room. Presentations are free and open to the public.

Criminal justice associate professor presents paper on wrongful conviction
Robert J. Ramsey, associate professor of criminal justice, presented his paper, “Preventing Wrongful Conviction Thirty Years After DNA-PCR: What We’ve Learned,” at the Southern Criminal Justice Association Conference in Clearwater, Florida on September 17.

The conference provides a forum for criminal justice educators to disseminate and gain knowledge in the area of criminal justice. This year’s conference participants explored issues concerning the legacy of the past and the outlook for the future regarding criminal justice issues.

Assistant professor of history presents paper, provides keynote lecture at seminar
Daron W. Olson, assistant professor of history, presented the First Keynote Lecture, entitled “Transatlantic Connections between Norway and the U.S.A.” on June 19 at the “Freedom and Migration in a Norwegian-American Context” Seminar held at Fagernes, Norway. The lecture was based on his book, Vikings across the Atlantic: Emigration and the Building of a Greater Norway, 1860-1945, which was published in 2013. At the same conference, Olson delivered a paper, “His Mother’s Song: The Ethnolandscapes of Norwegian-American Visitors to Norway during the 1914 Eidsvold Centennial.”

Olson also had two articles published recently. “On Both Sides of the Atlantic: Transnational Celebrations of Norwegian Identity, 1925-1939” was published in Norwegian-American Essays 2014. His other published article, “We are All Scandinavians: Norwegian-American Press Reaction to the 1938 Swedish Tercentenary” appeared in the January 2014 volume of The Swedish-American Historical Quarterly.