Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Department of Health and Human Sciences! Another semester has flown by! We have been very busy and very productive this fall! First, I am sitting in the Department Chair seat for Jim Landry this fall while he is on sabbatical. Jim will return in the spring to lead us into 2019!
This past summer Bill McCormack took a group of 13 students to Bonn, Germany for Study Abroad. A few pictures from the summer are included in the photo gallery. He taught a Global Sports Science class which included tours of the 1972 Munich Olympic facilities, FC Bayern Munich’s stadium and practice facilities, the German Bobsled facility at Lake Königssee, a practice session with the Rhineland Roughriders, Bonn’s Cricket Club, and presentations from the German Anti-Doping Agency, the International Para-Olympic Committee, and from the Head of the German Baseball Association. Nine of the students, and Bill participated in the annual Bonn Night Run 10K. From accounts, the summer experience was great for all, the students and instructor!
We have had the great pleasure of welcoming back one of our own to join our faculty for the academic year: Zakkoyya Lewis-Trammell (’13) is filling our visiting faculty position teaching a variety of classes for us, including a section of Medical Terminology, coordinating Anatomy & Physiology II Labs and teaching two sections. She will teach Anatomy I and coordinate the labs as well as teach the Internship course in the spring semester.
Our research efforts have continued with outstanding results. Our Longevity Study of the Cross-Country team saw an article published in May with another article just having been submitted for peer review. Jen Roper is overseeing a new investigation examining a wearable electromyography short, with participants performing a number of sport movements while being videotaped with our 3D camera system and force plate. Both of these investigations include a number of student research assistants. We had three students present posters at this year’s Southwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Costa Mesa in October.
We have just completed the intense process of two tenure track faculty searches. With the growing demand for our major, the Dean authorized two additional faculty positions beginning in August 2019. One position will be a Clinical position, teaching classes such as Upper and Lower Extremity Evaluation, Therapeutic Rehabilitation, and Modalities. The other position is geared more toward the Public Health side of Health and Human Sciences. This person will teach courses such as Public Health, Obesity and Behavior, Introduction to Health, and Special Populations. This was a very intense few weeks and special thanks go out to Hawley Almstedt and Heather Tarleton for leading the two search committees and Danielle Good for coordinating the busy schedules! We’ll announce the new faculty members in the Spring newsletter!
We’re looking forward to an outstanding spring semester! Keep sending us your updates on what is happening in your lives. Please stop by if you are in the area and visit! Should you be interested to learn of ways to financially support the Department of Health and Human Sciences, please contact Lynn Witherspoon, senior director of development (lynn.witherspoon@lmu.edu; 310 338-7856). If you have any questions or want further information about the department, please do not hesitate to contact us at (310) 338-7885 or via email at hhsc@lmu.edu.
Sarah Strand, Ph.D.
Interim Department Chair, Health and Human Sciences Department
