For decades, new full-time Dordt University faculty have gathered at the beginning of August to prepare for their academic service at Dordt, meeting weekly or bi-monthly during the school year week to discuss teaching and the Reformed worldview, share questions and experiences, and develop relationships across disciplines and levels of teaching experience. Today’s New Faculty Seminar is led by Education …
Dordt Graduates Serving in Wisconsin Politics
Terry Katsma (’80) was born in Oostburg, Wisconsin, graduated from Sheboygan County Christian High School, and studied Business Administration at Dordt. Fifteen years later, Devin LeMahieu (’95) followed in Katsma’s footsteps, though LeMahieu studied political science at Dordt. In 2014, both men entered the Wisconsin State Legislature for the first time. “In March of 2014, my State Representative called me …
Recording Studio Helps Equip Worship Arts Majors
Worship Arts Director Dr. Jeremy Perigo used Dordt’s recording studio as a classroom for his Elements of Worship Praxis course during the spring semester. The class included a unit on recording, in which students learn good microphone techniques and how to use recording software. They then demonstrated what they had learned by recording a song. “Churches are always in need …
Ladies’ Lunch Connects Those Involved in STEM
Once a month, Associate Mathematics Professor Dr. Valorie Zonnefeld shares lunch with the female Dordt math, statistics, data science, and actuarial science students. This year, their usual meeting place in the Defender Grille was unavailable due to Dordt’s Covid-19 precautions, so they enjoyed pizza, drinks, and cookies in an open classroom and discussed their math classes and coursework. “The research …
Janssen Contributes to Open Source Book
Rings with Inquiry, written by Dordt University Associate Professor of Mathematics Dr. Mike Janssen and Dr. Melissa Lindsey, is an open source textbook that teaches students concepts through inquiry-based learning. As an open source textbook, Rings with Inquiry is free in both an HTML and PDF version and the source code used to create these two versions is also freely …
Gaming an Education
Professor of Computer Science Dr. Kari Sandouka is challenging her Information System Design students to view the computer game Minecraft in a new way: as an educational tool that can allow them to practice building information systems, or systems that collect, process, store, and distribute information. “Over the past few years, I have noticed a strong interest in Minecraft; it …
Du Mez Brings Energy to Engineering
“I have always been interested in how things worked,” says Kate Du Mez (’10). As a child, Du Mez spent her free time building or fixing things; in school she particularly enjoyed her math and physics classes. “When I was preparing for college, engineering seemed like it could be a good fit with how my brain works.” Deciding on a …
More Locally-Grown Food on Menu
Fields and farmland surround Dordt University, and Dordt’s food service provider is committed to taking full advantage of that privilege. In the past four years, Dordt Dining Services, led by Head Chef Nick Lawrence, has purchased locally grown food as often as possible. “When we buy from local farmers, we know where our food is coming from,” says Lawrence, who …
Michelle Adams (’03)
“Honestly, I don’t view myself as ‘distinguished’ or different than anyone else who is doing what they were called to after college, so it was hard for me to accept this award,” says Michelle Adams (’03), the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award. Adams has served the disability community in Nicaragua since she graduated from Dordt with a special …
Dordt Choir Sings in Dordrecht
In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dordt and the creation of the Canons of Dordt, the choir of Dordt—that is, the Dordt University Choir—ventured to the Netherlands to share the gift of music. The choir, represented by 14 current students and 29 alumni singers on this tour, gathered on Dordt’s campus on May 21 for three …