On Monday, Oct. 16, UW-Eau Claire held its annual Celebration of Scholarship event in the Ojibwe Ballroom of Davies Student Center. An array of booths were set up in the ballroom, with over 80 people in attendance.
The booths displayed a myriad of scholarly projects, ranging from philosophical research to medical and educational programs. Vice Chancellor Patricia Kleine took the podium to congratulate the honorees.
“This event affirms UW-Eau Claire’s reputation as a premier university in the country in undergraduate research. Those of you in this room, it’s because of you,” Kleine said. “This afternoon, however, we turn the tables to celebrate ourselves and our colleagues.”
According to the UW-Eau Claire website, the event began under the name “Authors Celebration” in 2006 before being changed to Celebration of Scholarships in 2021.
The event was started to “highlight recent successes in bringing scholarly work to publication or performance,” as described on the event page.
Kleine said this year’s event was focused on the work of 33 scholars and 29 departments and programs. Kleine highlighted those in the faculty who arrived during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You joined us at a time when we couldn’t do many social activities, yet still maintained your research interests and your agendas. Congratulations to each of you for being selected or nominated for this during your early years at Eau Claire,” Kleine said.
A number of sabbatical honorees were included in the celebration.
“Colleagues, you are held in high esteem for your innovative work in such disciplines as chemistry, philosophy, psychology and sociology, just to name a few,” Kleine said.
In addition to the scholarly pursuits on display, the event celebrated those who have submitted grant proposals in 2023.
“We are also celebrating the scholarship of 70 faculty and staff, who have submitted 82 grant proposals in just this past year,” Kleine said. “These people don’t just come from academic affairs; they’re from a wide range of fields.”
Kleine concluded her speech by introducing Jennifer Johs-Artisensi, professor in the department of management and leadership programs and the university’s 2023 Excellence of Scholarship recipient.
Johs-Artisensi spoke about the event and her own scholarly work, which, as Kleine said, has been cited over 98 times since its publication.
“As academics, we all have so many opportunities and obligations vying for our time that it can be all too easy to rotate our scholarly works to the background,” Johs-Artisensi said. “Luckily, the benefit of engaging in such pursuit is spent partly on the production of knowledge.”
Johs-Artisensi outlined three sources of motivation and inspiration she turned to during her own scholarly journey. These included collegial collaboration, mentoring undergraduates and witnessing the real-world application of work.
“To conclude, I’d like to encourage you to take a moment to reflect on what truly motivates you, and you’ll see that the impacts of your efforts have already enriched both your lives and the lives of others more than you may think,” Johs-Artisensi said.
Attendees spent the rest of the event enjoying refreshments, perusing the booths and discussing the wide-ranging scholarly works being celebrated.
Wojahn can be reached at [email protected].
