Social Sciences and Humanities – News

DesAutels receives Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

kheier — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:34:53 +0000

Dr. Lane DesAutels with Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy and other ��߲�� officials at the COPHE Excellence in Teaching Luncheon.

April 16, 2026–Dr. Lane DesAutels, associate professor of philosophy, received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education during the annual Council on Public Higher Education Excellence (COPHE) Excellence in Teaching Luncheon in Jefferson City on April 7.��

“��߲�� is fortunate to have such a compassionate, intelligent and creative teacher as Dr. DesAutels,” said Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, ��߲�� president and chair of COPHE, who emceed the event. “His courses make the very foundation of the university experience, bridging the humanities with the applied sciences. Students appreciate the welcoming discussion environment that he cultivates, creating balanced space for multiple viewpoints. This is especially important in his classes because they explore timely and sometimes contentious issues.”

Dr. DesAutels has been a faculty member in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities since 2016, and serves as director of the Bachelor of General Studies/Science and Technology degrees. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Puget Sound, Master of Arts from Western Michigan University and a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Maryland, College Park. He previously received the ��߲�� Award for Teaching Excellence and Academic Advisor of the Year Award.

The Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education is given annually to outstanding teachers at each of the nine COPHE member institutions who challenge and motivate Missouri students to reach their maximum potential.

��߲�� is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. ��߲�� is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit .

Hart earns Governor’s Award

kheier — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 14:00:15 +0000

April 3, 2025–Dr. Evan Elizabeth Hart, associate professor of history, is ��߲��’s recipient of the Missouri Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Governor’s Award is sponsored by the Missouri Council on Public Higher Education and will be presented this week in Jefferson City.

Dr. Hart has been at Missouri Western since 2017, teaching general studies history as well as more specialized upper-division courses.��

“MO West is fortunate to have such a compassionate and creative leader as Dr. Hart,” said Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, Missouri Western’s president. “Furthering our state-appointed applied learning mission, she provides unique learning opportunities outside of the classroom, including museum and cemetery tours, and alternative assignments that tap into students’ strengths in producing scholarly research projects. And she is beloved by her students.”

Dr. Hart views the teaching of history as “helping students understand how we arrived here, wherever ‘here’ is. What happened in the past continues to impact who we are.” She believes history goes beyond memorizing names and dates. “We try to answer the hows and whys, and to humanize the past,” she said. “I’m a social historian, so I’m really interested in history from the ‘bottom up’ – how did everyday people experience the world around them?”

To help her students develop critical thinking skills, she makes sure they engage with historical sources deeper than surface level. “These sources are making arguments,” she said. “What are they trying to convince you of, and how? What can we read between the lines, and how can we connect all of the pieces together? And they can ask the same questions of current sources, approaching news stories and speeches the way they do historical documents.”

Dr. Hart received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Indiana, and both her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati. She previously taught as a visiting professor at the University of Florida, and as adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.��

��߲�� is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit .

Collaborative research team wins at Alpha Chi National Convention

plashbrook — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:08:23 +0000

April 23, 2024–A team of four undergraduate students from ��߲�� won the Trisha Yarbrough Collaborative Research Competition at the Alpha Chi National Conference in Birmingham, Alabama on April 6. The victory came with a $5,000 award.

The winning team was made up of seniors Jordon Anderson, nursing major from St. Joseph; Juniper Brown, political science major from St. Joseph; Mercedes Mareske, digital animation major from Frankford, Missouri; and Tia Vernon, education major from North Kansas City, Missouri. Their research project was titled “Artificial Intelligence and Selective Exposure: Generating a Public Perception.”

To compete, students from diverse majors collaborated on a scholarly paper centered on the conference theme, which was “Innovative Scholarship for Tumultuous Times.” Their project was sponsored by Dr. Angela Haas, associate professor of history.��

The Missouri Western Chapter of Alpha Chi, sponsored by Dr. Haas and Dr. Teddi Deka, professor of psychology, celebrated its 35th anniversary this year as an honors society at MWSU.

News release written by Patty Lashbrook, sophomore convergent journalism and public relations major.

‘Fantastic Beasts’: Student-produced video features philosophy professor

kheier — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 13:00:58 +0000

March 20, 2023–Students in ��߲��’s Griffon Production House have released their latest “Griffon University” video, spotlighting the research of a Missouri Western faculty member.

“Griffon University’s mission is to highlight student and faculty research and provide engaging content to a wider audience, letting them see what we do at Missouri Western,” said Thomas Brecheisen, assistant professor of cinema and director of Griffon Production House.

Last fall, Dr. James Okapal, professor of philosophy, published “Fantastic Beasts and How to Categorize Them” on The Prindle Post, a digital publication of the Prindle Institute for Ethics at Depauw University in Indiana.

In the article, Dr. Okapal explores and critiques the moral framework behind the distinction between “beasts” and “beings” in the J.K. Rowling book, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” The video features Dr. Okapal talking about his article and graphics created by digital animation students.

The short film was created by:

Content director: Rebecca Evans, junior performing and cinema arts major from St. Joseph
Script supervisor: Blake Elder, sophomore performing and cinema arts major from Lathrop, Missouri
Editor: Brecheisen
Graphics: Digital animation majors Dana Vinson, sophomore of Roland, Iowa; Andrew Holcomb, senior of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; RJ Cousins, sophomore of St. Louis, Missouri; and Lexi DeLapp, junior of Blue Springs, Missouri

The film is available on YouTube at .