FACULTY & STAFF E-UPDATE

Join us for the premiere of Welcome to the BHUC, a 9‑minute documentary short highlighting the research taking place at the BHSU Underground Campus (BHUC) and the opportunities BHSU faculty and students have to contribute to underground science and the search for dark matter.

The screening will be held on Wednesday, March 11 from 4:00–5:00 p.m. in the Joy Center, followed by a Q&A session with two scientists featured in the film: Dr. Brianna Mount and Katie Pednau.

Join the Faculty Games Group and the Center for Faculty Innovation to play Monumental Consequences, an educational roleplay game designed by art historian Mary Beth Looney. In this event, we'll complete a full game play session. As a player, you will receive a role card and interact with others as members of a small village grappling with a local crisis. Your character will need to advance their own goals and try to learn from and influence others. Together, the town will decide how to respond to the crisis. 

This game asks us to consider: “Is art ever worth dying for?” Once we finish the game, we'll take a moment to reflect on the experience and on the potential for using educational roleplay games in our courses.

Learn more about the game from its publisher, Central Michigan University Press: Monumental Consequences

Our Game Manager: Karl Lehman (English)

When: Thursday, March 12, 2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Where: Student Union, Crow Peak Room

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Book and Lyrics by William Reale
Music by Robert Reale
Based on the Beloved Children's Book, A Year with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

In collaboration with the BHSU Music Department
Directed by Dr. Nancy Roberts
Music Direction by Dr. Nancy Roberts and Dr. Jonathon Nero

March 6, 12 & 13 at 7 pm
March 7, 8, 14, at 2 pm

A Family Musical!

Based on Arnold Lobel’s beloved children’s books, A Year with Frog and Toad is a whimsical musical that tells the story of two best friends: the cheerful Frog, and curmudgeonly Toad. The musical follows Frog and Toad through four colorful seasons, from hibernation to hibernation. Frog and Toad, along with their playful, quirky friends Snail, Turtle, the Birds, and more, enact many adventures, from rushing down a hill in a runaway sled in the winter, to taking a picnic and a quiet moment in the summer. Children and adults alike with relish in the joyful vignettes of A Year With Frog and Toad, which feature catchy tunes, funny dialogue, and bright, memorable characters.

For the Whole Family!

When: Friday, March 13, 3pm-4pm

Where: JA 103A (RSVP for online option)

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Description: Join this workshop to explore a new teaching resource integrated into D2L. Yuja's Panorama accessibility tool provides a way for instructors to quickly evaluate how accessible their course content is, track course improvements, make some fast fixes, and learn how to fix more complex accessibility barriers. 

In the session, we'll access the Yuja Panorama tool within D2L, interact with the accessibility Dashboard, and view the Accessibility Report tool within the D2L content area. Attendees will leave familiar with this tool and better able to identify common accessibility barriers in course design.

Host: Nick Van Kley (Center for Faculty Innovation)

The HR office is pleased to offer another employee benefits fair! The Employee Benefits Trail - Mapping Out What Matters Most will take place on April 1 in the Jacket Legacy Room from 10AM - 1PM.

The South Dakota Retirement System, benefit providers, financial planners, and local community health and wellness providers will be available in the Jacket Legacy Room from 10AM - 1PM to meet with you regarding their products and services. Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Dakota and flex plan benefit providers will be available to discuss insurance options. There will also be opportunities to attend an SDRS presentation. This event is a great way to learn from the experts. A drawing is planned for attending various booths and we have some exciting door prizes; you won’t want to miss out! Stay tuned for more information about our Benefits Fair!!

SDRS will have retirement planners available for one-on-one appointments. If you are considering retirement in the next 5 years, are new to the system, or have other questions about your SDRS benefits, you are encouraged to meet with the Retirement Planners.  Please email BHSUHumanResources@bhsu.edu, stop by in person, or call Human Resources at 642-6549 to schedule an appointment with a Retirement Planner. Seating is limited.

This event is open to all Black Hills State University and State of South Dakota employees, their spouses, and students.

Want to make some art with recycled materials but need a little help coming up with an idea? Or have a few cool items that are repurposed and need some hot glue to stick them together? Join art professor Bridget Beck in the library Wednesday March 18^th from 11-12 or Wednesday April 1^st from 11-12. The library has some awesome items that are waiting for someone to make into a piece of recycled art.

Please join us on Mondays at 4:00 p.m. in Jonas 110.

(We're also looking for Geek Speakers for fall 2026, too, so please send a note my way if you're interested.

March 23: Dr. Tina Van Kley:“Hitler's British Fangirl: Unity Mitford and the Appeals of Fascism”

Unity Mitford was an English debutante in the 1930s, the youngest daughter of a minor British aristocrat. Her name is not one that most Americans are likely to know, unless you’ve seen the recent UK tv series Outrageous (2025).  Her story is wild, however, and she is infamous for her commitment to fascism and, most notably, her obsession with Adolf Hitler. At one point, she was rumored to be his fiancée and is thought to have met with him more often than any other British person. Her diaries from 1935-1939 were published in January 2025 in The Daily Mail, and offer new insights into her pursuit of “the dear Fuhrer,” as she referred to Hitler. More broadly, her diaries and letters shed light on the appeal of fascism to young women at the time, and can help us better understand the resilience of this ideology, even after WWII.

March 30: Greg Strobel: “Slow Tourism and Human Powered Travel”

This Geek Speak will discuss the concept of 'Slow Tourism' and emphasize human powered travel as the method for the concept. It will provide insight into understanding the mindset, introduce different methods of travel, and highlight some fun examples from personal experience.

April 13: Dr. Courtney Huse Wika (Please note the change in date): “A Poet’s Guide to Foraging: Creating Found Poetry”

In honor of National Poetry Month, this hands-on workshop will introduce the art of Found Poetry. Together, we’ll practice two distinct approaches, foraging from texts that already exist: the overheard, the discarded, the official and the everyday, and the overlooked. We will test how meaning shifts when language is lifted, reordered, and reframed. No prior experience is required. Bring yourself (and maybe a friend!)—and a desire to create.

Questions? Contact Courtney.HuseWika@BHSU.edu