Irma “Camila” Martinez is an award-winning artist who enjoys taking art classes as a way to find balance in her schedule. She’ll be a molecular and cell biology major on the pre-med track at UConn, and hopes to get involved in research and clinical work. In high school she was a member of the medical club, which allowed her to learn about different medical roles, technology, and education. One of the club’s notable speakers was a cardiologist whose enthusiasm made her appreciate those who work in the medical field. Irma also found it to be an incredibly rewarding experience to shadow her aunt, an oral surgeon. Originally from Lima, Peru, Irma now lives in West Hartford, CT and graduated from Hall High School.
Student News
2018 Rowe Scholar: Andrew Hungerford
Andrew Hungerford is a biological sciences major with a particular interest in the nervous system. He has shadowed a surgeon at the Hospital of Central Connecticut, where he was able to see surgeries in person. A native of West Hartford, CT, Andrew graduated from Northwest Catholic. He loves to solve Rubik’s Cubes and the many variations that have come out since the original.
2018 Rowe Scholar: Ashlie Delskey
Ashlie Delskey hails from Somers, CT where she graduated from Somers High School. She enjoys running and playing lacrosse. A nursing major, she’s been inspired by her experiences shadowing a nurse practitioner and PA, who she says remained calm and friendly despite their high patient volume. She has also spent years watching her cousin’s pediatric team take care of him at Boston Children’s Hospital, and she notes that they’ve always been patient and kind.
2018 Rowe Scholar: Erika deAndrade
Erika deAndrade recently spent a summer gaining a great deal of experience with the Veterans Affairs (VA) system. At the Atlanta VA she shadowed and assisted different medical personnel, while at the Fayetteville VA she worked on the psych ward, taking notes, observing, and assisting mentally unstable veterans. At the VA Compensation Evaluation Center she observed and assisted with the documentation of veterans’ conditions post-service. Erika is from Ledyard, CT and graduated from Ledyard High School. She has a strong interest in science because she believes it helps us understand the world around us and that it’ll continue to be a pivotal subject of study in the future. She’s also very interested in the visual arts and ceramics. Another of Erika’s hobbies is travel and experiencing other cultures, which is made easier by the fact that her father’s a pilot and she flies for free.
2018 Rowe Scholar: Paulo Belato
Paulo Belato is a soccer fanatic. He loves playing it and cheering on his favorite team, Tottenham Hotspur FC. He was lucky enough to be given a trip to England and France as a graduation gift, and watched professional games in each country. Paulo also enjoys the study of biology and chemistry, which he believes are the foundation of modern medicine. He has shadowed nurses at Danbury Hospital, a pharmacist at Woodbury Drug Store, and a physician at Black Rock Pediatrics. He learned that health care providers need to be genuine to make their patients feel comfortable and safe, that there is a reason behind everything, and that one must do what one loves in order to be satisfied at the end of the day. Paulo graduated from Bethel High School in Bethel, CT, where he has lived since the age of four. Both his parents were born in Brazil, so the Brazilian culture has a big influence on who he is and his interests.
ENGL/AFRA 3213W-001: 18th & 19th Century African American Literature
Instructor: Shawn Salvant
Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher. Sophomore Honors students should email Prof. Salvant for a permission number.
This course provides a survey of eighteenth and nineteenth-century African American literature. We will examine early African American literature, reading work by authors such as James Gronniosaw and Phillis Wheatley with emphasis on their transatlantic production, religious themes, and contributions to the development of the African American vernacular tradition. We will study the African American oral and rhetorical traditions as exemplified in anti-slavery speeches and essays by Sojourner Truth, David Walker, Frederick Douglass and others. In a unit on the slave narrative, we’ll discuss the literary and political dimensions of this genre so influential to the development of 20th and 21st Century African American literature. We’ll conclude by examining early African American novels and novels of the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era by such figures as Charles Chesnutt. Students will become familiar with the development of African American literary history and the recurring themes of the period as well as the literary and cultural significance of each text and author. We will also track the forces shaping this period of African American literature—historical and political movements (slavery, emancipation, reconstruction), modes of expression and production (literacy and orality, authentication), and literary forms (imagery, symbolism, narrative, genre, style). Primary texts will be supplemented by scholarly secondary readings. Final grade will be based on quizzes, discussion question assignments, midterm exam, participation, 1-2 short essays, final paper and/or a final exam.
(CA 4)
ENGL 2413-001: The Graphic Novel
Instructor: Katharine Capshaw
Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011
This course explores the history and theory of the graphic novel. We will explore a variety of approaches to the genre, from superhero narratives to graphic memoir, from manga to contemporary experimental texts. While no single course can offer a comprehensive summation of such a vast and various body of work, our class will address the field’s major generic threads. We will also develop an understanding of the ‘grammar’ involved in reading a panel, page, and entire comics sequence. Alongside the narratives we will read secondary sources that explore aesthetic and theoretical debates within the field. One of our objectives is to support each other as we engage the critical discourse around comics and graphic novels: we will share sources and insights and offer constructive feedback as we work together to produce informed and incisive term papers.
(CA 1)
ENGL 1701-002: Creative Writing I
Instructor: Sean Forbes
Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011
The Speaker: The Eye of the Poem and the Short Story
According to Frances Mayes, “the poet ‘finds’ the right speaker and the right listener, usually by trying out several approaches.” In this introduction to creative writing class we will examine the different approaches that a writer can take when trying to establish a speaker in a poem or short story. We will look at exemplary works of poetry and fiction from writers like Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Hayden, Marilyn Nelson, and Justin Torres. Students will produce a final portfolio of their original work. Class participation is an essential component to this largely workshop-based course along with weekly writing prompts such as writing in iambic pentameter and challenging prose sketches.
ENGL 1701-003: Creative Writing I
Instructor: Sean Forbes
Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011
The Speaker: The Eye of the Poem and the Short Story
According to Frances Mayes, “the poet ‘finds’ the right speaker and the right listener, usually by trying out several approaches.” In this introduction to creative writing class we will examine the different approaches that a writer can take when trying to establish a speaker in a poem or short story. We will look at exemplary works of poetry and fiction from writers like Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Hayden, Marilyn Nelson, and Justin Torres. Students will produce a final portfolio of their original work. Class participation is an essential component to this largely workshop-based course along with weekly writing prompts such as writing in iambic pentameter and challenging prose sketches.
Biomedical Entrepreneurship
Graduate courses act as Honors courses, with Honors credit awarded for a grade of B- or higher.
This Biomedical Entrepreneurship course is designed to train future life science entrepreneurs, and focuses on entrepreneurship in the medical device and biopharmaceutical space. It is based on the premise that entrepreneurship is a critical mechanism to bring new technologies to market that will benefit society. Moreover, entrepreneurship is particularly critical in the medical device industry, where product life cycles are typically very short and a firm’s innovativeness dictates competitive advantage. Biopharmaceutical startups face particular challenges given long development cycles.
Teams will be coached by industry experts who address fundamental topics in biomedical entrepreneurship. Students will gain experience that will help them be entrepreneurs in startups or with established firms. Projects will be presented to external experts and teams will be considered for subsequent awards/funding.
This course is designed for graduate students or very advanced undergraduates. It represents a multi-disciplinary effort between the Schools of Engineering, Business, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Liberal Arts and Sciences and will be co-taught by expert faculty from these schools. Interdisciplinary teams will tackle real clinical needs to offer technical solutions and business models that might enable future commercialization.
The course is cross-listed in the Schools of Engineering (BME 6086-020) and Business (BADM 5894-011 and MGMT 5895-012). The course will be held Wednesdays, 3:00-6:00 p.m. at the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CCEI) space in downtown Hartford (100 Constitution Plaza) – a central location for students in Storrs, Hartford, and Farmington.