Meramec professors are staying relevantBy: Sam Wise
– Staff Writer –
Professors at STLCC-Meramec are here to make sure you succeed and grow as a student and as a person. However, as they are doing so, they are accomplishing more in their own lives as well.
David Hanlon, Photography Coordinator
Photography instructor David Hanlon works with ceramics instructor Jim Ibur to give students the opportunity to show their artwork outside of Meramec. These professors collaborated to display an art show at the PHD Gallery in South St. Louis entitled, “Macedonia Inspirations: Modern Artifacts.”
The gallery was inspired by the Meramec study abroad program over the past two summers to Macedonia, designed to explore ancient ruins and the open country. While on these trips, Hanlon photographed everything from the ruins to scenes along the city streets.
According to the PHD Gallery, “The pieces on view meld images of spirals, labyrinths and other bridges with vessel imagery inspired from Mediterranean amphoras, Middle Eastern minarets and elements of African Architecture.”
“Both of us were really interested in exploring ancient cultures. This gallery was especially fruitful because it combined two and three-dimensional artwork,” Hanlon said.
Donna Werner, Humanities Chair
Professor Donna Werner has been teaching at Meramec since 2002 and is currently the Humanities Chair, a department that covers humanities, foreign language, philosophy and music. Werner currently teaches Biomedical Ethics and Intro to Philosophy courses.
She has co-authored a book on ethics while assistant director of ethics at Saint Louis University.
This past semester, the school board approved her request for sabbatical. In September 2012, Werner will travel to Washington, D.C., and become a visiting researcher at Georgetown University at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics to study a medical ethics case she has been interested in for many years now.
“Part of the reason I want to be there is they have the largest medical ethics library in the country,” Werner said.
At the conclusion of her research at Georgetown, Werner will present her findings to the faculty of the university. Werner said she is hoping to publish her findings as a paper or possibly as a book.
Angela Hamilton, Asst. Professor of English
Angela Hamilton is currently on sabbatical in Istanbul, Turkey. Hamilton is a published writer and taught at Faith University in Istanbul from 2007-2009. She returned to America and began teaching English at Meramec and did so from 2009 to 2011, before returning to Istanbul for her sabbatical this past school year.
She is currently a co-facilitator for the Soliya Project, “an online cross-cultural education program integrated into curriculum that provides students with a unique opportunity to establish a deeper understanding for the perspectives of others around the world on important sociopolitical issues,” according to, http://Soliya.net, the organization’s website.
“I find it to be inspiring,” Hamilton said. “If I were the type of person who chose never to travel to foreign lands and watched a bit too much American news, I might be concerned about living in Istanbul. But I’m not that person.”
She will continue to participate in this program if the grant is approved. The program is slated to continue, pending funding, according to Hamilton.
“STLCC students can only benefit from having intercultural connections and experiences, particularly in today’s world where the economy is globalized and fear is localized,” Hamilton said.
