UF names Dunlevie professors for Honors Program for next year

April 12, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Three distinguished University of Florida faculty members have been appointed as Elizabeth Wood Dunlevie Honors Term Professors for the 2011-12 academic year.

Barbara Barletta of the School of Art and Art History, John Cech of the department of English and Robert Weiler of the department of health education and behavior, will each teach a course for the Honors Program during the fall semester.

The Elizabeth Wood Dunlevie Honors Term Professorships are made possible by a generous endowment gift from Elizabeth Wood Dunlevie, a UF graduate. The goal of the program is to encourage the most esteemed faculty at UF to participate in the University Honors Program as instructors and mentors. The endowment provides summer salary and support for the faculty members’ activities.

Barletta will offer a course titled Art and Power in Classical Athens. Students will learn about the development of Athenian art and power from the city’s rise to prominence in the later sixth century B.C. to the loss of its empire at the end of the fifth century. Historical developments, including the creation of the world’s first democracy, will intertwine with a study of Athenian innovations in art to form a truly interdisciplinary experience.

Cech’s course is titled The Brothers Grimm, Fairy Tales, and the Paradigms of Enchantment. The seminar will explore the cultural and psychological implications of the tales and the history of their reception and criticism. Extensive use will be made of the UF Libraries’ Baldwin Collection of Children’s Literature, a nationally recognized resource of children’s books.

Weiler will address public health issues through his course, Introduction to Epidemiology. Students will explore the basic principles of epidemiology, examining the determinants of major public health problems including infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, environmental health, and emerging threats. Through case studies, students will develop applied epidemiology competencies in public health surveillance and outbreak investigations.

Barletta joined the faculty at UF in 1983. She is the author of two books and several book chapters and articles on the Parthenon and the materials and techniques used in Greek architecture and sculpture. Recently, the American School of Classical Studies in Athens granted Barletta “publication rights” to the remains of the Temple of Athena at Sounion; this work will represent a completely new study of this important and highly unusual Greek temple and is supported by a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She was inducted in the UF Academy of Distinguished Teaching Fellows in 2010.

Cech has been a faculty member at UF for 36 years. He is the founding director of the university’s Center for Children’s Literature and Culture; in that capacity, he has organized many conferences and other events and directed a popular public radio program, “Recess.” He has authored many award-winning children’s books and has served as president of the Children’s Literature Association.

Weiler joined the faculty at UF in 1993. His research focuses on adolescent risk behaviors, community health and substance abuse prevention with an emphasis on prescription drugs. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 papers, and his work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health. In the classroom he combines theoretical knowledge with field observation to help his students gain applied skills in epidemiology and public health.

Dunlevie Professors are selected by the director of the Honors Program, Kevin Knudson, in consultation with a committee of UF faculty, from a pool of nominees submitted by department chairs.