Faculty and Staff Authors Display Spring 2025

We're proud to share this year's virtual authors display with the Moraine Valley Community College campus community. This collection highlights the amazing achievements of our faculty and staff, showcasing their published works from 2024. Please take a moment to explore this diverse array of contributions and join us in celebrating their remarkable accomplishments.

Bret Figura

Senior Graphic Designer--Marketing and Communications
For fun, I created a piece inspired by the sounds of the summer cicada season.
Hiya friends! It's raining cicadas in my neck of the woods and this is their theme. Turn it up and let this rain over you. Enjoy!
I belong to a music collective. We are spread across the US and make music together from afar whenever we have time to devote to it. For this record, we were able to spend time together in Chicago to actually record music together, in person.

Bret contributed 2 songs to Dan Gauguin's second 2024 album, Banana Royale.

The Dan Gauguin music can be found on all streaming platforms.
Music

Tish Hayes

Information Literacy Librarian

John Halliwell

Intensive English Language Faculty

Lara Hernandez Corkrey

Developmental Communications Faculty

Michael Morsches

Dean, Learning Enrichment & College Readiness
Apples, Oranges, and Avocados: Challenges with Longitudinal Data

Kirin Kane

Arts Faculty
Across media, detailed textures and tireless repetition characterize my visual language. Thematically, I am fascinated by the precarity of our lives and decisions and frequently explore this fascination using imagery of plants, animals, and decay.
This piece titled "Mourning Vessel" was included in the exhibit "Return to Care" hosted at Lillstreet Art Center, Second Floor Gallery in Chicago, IL in December of 2024.

Jessica Luetger

Public Service Librarian
In Japanese, manga literally translates to "involuntary pictures," but the word is used to describe both comics and cartooning. - Vocabulary.com

The construction of a new railway in the post-industrial fantasy land of Ismyre might seem like an occasion to celebrate, but the railway workers are on the verge of striking due to miserable working conditions and meager pay. The airship worker’s union is striking, feeling neglected by the government’s extravagant railway spending. The Sisters of Our Lady Who Slumbers Under the Earth are protesting and sending petitions to the Prime Minister in hopes of stopping her from digging too deep in the sacred soil, lest their giant wyrm goddess be woken. The people are confused, frightened, angry, and frustrated with what feels like a massive slip in the democratic process. A protest march is heading to parliament, and the police have arrived in riot gear.

Eight hundred years ago an artist, whose life story is now lost to time, created what would become a national treasure in Japan. This was the first of four scrolls that now comprise the Choju Jinbutsu Giga, which translates roughly to “Caricatures of Animals and People”. This particular scroll is known for its anthropomorphic rabbits, frogs, monkeys, and other animals jumping, dancing, engaging in archery tournaments, having wrestling matches, and preparing feasts and prayers. Manga artist Fumiyo Kouno, probably best known to English-speaking audiences for her moving manga-turned-anime In This Corner of The World, brings the essence of this incredibly popular medieval artwork to Giga Town: A Guide to Manga Iconography!

Raw emotion mixes with fantastical dreams in Rescue Party, creating a snapshot of a world constantly on the edge of uncertainty.

Reading the whole anthology cover to cover was an emotional trip that took me through the familiar hope, despair, humor, and regret that so many people experienced in a time that seems both uncomfortably recent and impossibly ancient.

James McIntyre

History Faculty

Carey Millsap-Spears

Communications Faculty

Dr. Souzan Naser

Counseling and Career Development Center
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

Dr. William Ngonmeudje

Nursing Faculty
This evidence-based teaching project was presented and published in the depository of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. The International Nursing Research Congress occurred in Singapore, in July 2024.

Dr. Sandra Ryder

Philosophy Faculty
Catharine Waugh McCulloch was one of the first women admitted to practice law in Illinois, and the 18th woman admitted to practice in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was the first female Justice of the Peace in Illinois and the first woman to serve as a presidential elector.

Alec Werner

Chemistry Faculty

Created by Kelly Hand, Jen Kolan, and Sue Yach

Credits:

Created with images by Jirakrit - "Elegant olive green book cover mockup showcasing a minimalist design ideal for authors and designers seeking a tasteful presentation for their literary works." • Jon Anders Wiken - "Create, content and publish text on wooden sign post outdoors in nature. Writer, publisher, designer and author concept." • splitov27 - "Stereo headphones with a vinyl record. Neon, holographic light. gradient violet-green glow. Retro wave. Top view" • kucret - "Close up of sheet music covered in raindrops." • neirfy - "Pile of vintage books with open one on wooden shelf in library" • Tanu - "Vibrant assortment of fresh fruits displayed on a light background with a variety of textures and colors" • LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS - "Close up of paint brushes with pottery tools in bowls on table" • Woranuch - "Cozy Reading Nook with a Fuzzy Chair and a "Storytime" Neon Sign in a Loft." • Daniel - "Peaceful protest and revolution. Silhouette of riot protesting crowd demonstrators with banners and flags. People on the meeting, crowd with banners. illustration of conflict" • White bear studio - "stethoscope on color background. Health, medicine" • Mark Poprocki - ""philosophy". Many more word photos for you in my portfolio...." • LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS - "glass test tubes and flasks with colorful liquid on blue background with molecular structure" • -B-Alpha- - "A flower made of books, with petals formed by book spines, a pink center, and green leaves. The books are scattered around the flower. The image is on a light gray background."