{"id":139212,"date":"2023-12-19T00:03:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T05:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=139212"},"modified":"2023-12-19T07:45:49","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T12:45:49","slug":"southern-illinois-u-med-school-hires-first-poetry-professor-dean-is-her-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/southern-illinois-u-med-school-hires-first-poetry-professor-dean-is-her-father\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Illinois U. med school hires first poetry professor; dean is her father"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carr describes herself as \u2018ecofeminist,\u2019 writes abortion poetry<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Southern Illinois University School of Medicine briefly employed Emily Kruse Carr, the daughter of its dean, as its first poetry professor this fall, university records show.<\/p>\n

Carr, a creative writing professor and self-described \u201cecofeminist\u201d and \u201cbeach witch,\u201d joined the medical school as an assistant professor of medical humanities and medical education in August, according to her LinkedIn profile and university records.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmily Carr\u2019s last day at SIU School of Medicine was Friday,\u201d Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for the university, told The College Fix<\/em> last week.<\/p>\n

Phelon confirmed that Carr was \u201cbriefly employed\u201d in the area of medical humanities, which she said helps \u201cinform medical education, policy and practice\u201d through the study of \u201cphilosophy, history, religion, social sciences and the arts, including creative writing and poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carr was \u201cthe first poetry professor on faculty\u201d at the SIU School of Medicine, a public institution, according to an Ms Magazine<\/em> op-ed<\/a>, published in October.<\/p>\n

Not mentioned in the article, however, is that Carr\u2019s father is Jerry Kruse, the dean of the medical school. Kruse\u2019s curriculum vitae on the school website and a 2012 article<\/a> and family photo published in a University of Missouri School of Medicine newsletter both link Carr and Kruse as father and daughter.<\/p>\n

Phelon told The Fix<\/em> that Kruse was not involved in hiring Carr.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Carr was selected through a competitive selection process that followed our standard protocols and policies for interview and selection committees. This process did not include Jerry Kruse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked why Carr is no longer employed and if her position was temporary, the university did not respond. A page on Carr\u2019s personal website lists four upcoming events connected to the medical school in 2024, suggesting she planned to stay longer in the position.<\/p>\n

Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of Open The Books, an Illinois-based government spending watchdog, said the situation should make taxpayers wonder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 5,800 institutions of higher learning across America. What are the odds that Carr landed at the only institution that employs her father as dean and provost?\u201d Andrzejewski told The College Fix<\/em>. \u201cWas Carr\u2019s father part of the decision to create this new role and was there an open process to consider each candidate equally?\u201d<\/p>\n

He also questioned \u201chow and if creative writing serves a medical school\u2019s core mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical ideology, like this poet\u2019s \u2018ecofeminism,\u2019 has made its way into every corner of government from the Pentagon to public classrooms,\u201d Andrzejewski told The Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIllinois is the super bowl of small-‘c’ corruption. This is a good example of what’s legal yet costs students and taxpayers dearly,” he added.<\/p>\n

The university did not respond to The College Fix<\/em>\u2019s questions about Carr\u2019s salary and duties.<\/p>\n

Kruse also did not respond to several requests for comment from The College Fix<\/em> in the past two weeks, asking if he is involved in hiring practices and what was done to ensure there was no conflict of interest in his daughter\u2019s hiring.<\/p>\n

Prior to her job at the medical school, Carr taught creative writing at New College in Florida, according to Ms Magazine<\/em>. However, Carr said she resigned in July after being named in an opinion article criticizing the dearth of ideological diversity at the school.<\/p>\n

Her father\u2019s medical school hired her a month later, according to her LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n

Carr was not listed on the SIU Medical Humanities Department website, but her LinkedIn profile describes her new position.<\/p>\n

The professorship included serving as project manager for the medical school\u2019s Story Slam project and overseeing 11 staff, student employees, and contractors, according to her LinkedIn profile. Story Slams are events that welcome individuals to share personal stories, often with audiences voting for which ones they like best.<\/p>\n

Her other duties included \u201chosting virtual and in-person storytelling workshops, providing one-on-one storytelling coaching in-person and online,\u201d and coordinating Story Slams twice a year, according to her LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n

The medical school hosted a Story Slam on Oct. 12 with nine storytellers, including medical students, faculty, and staff, according to Carr\u2019s personal website.<\/p>\n

While hosting the event, Carr described herself as a \u201cdoctor of poetry\u201d and a \u201cjoyous revolutionary art educator,\u201d according to a video<\/a> on SIU Medicine\u2019s YouTube page.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would actually like to argue that storytelling is the antidote to our massive cultural dysfunction and for that reason hugely valuable,\u201d she said at the event.<\/p>\n

Carr also ran the medical school\u2019s Diagnostic Poetry Project, working with librarians and student interns to \u201cresearch diagnostic poems\u201d and incorporate them into the medical curriculum, her profile states.<\/p>\n

Additionally, she was tasked with creating \u201clearning objectives\u201d for a new Digital Storytelling clerkship that relate \u201cto the physician as individual in the content areas of communication and mindfulness,\u201d creating digital storytelling workshops, and organizing a weeklong \u201cbootcamp\u201d for more than 80 medical students, according to her profile.<\/p>\n

Before to her job at the medical school, Carr said she taught classes on \u201cThe Sexual Politics of Meat,\u201d \u201cPoetry Recess,\u201d and \u201cHow a Woman Becomes A Lake, and Other Unheroic Acts: a Seminar in Gender and Genre Bending,\u201d according to Ms Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the magazine, Carr described herself as \u201ca beach witch, love poet, ecofeminist professor” who is “famous” for her poetry about abortion, anorexia, tarot, and divorce. She said she enjoys playing \u201ctarot at the beach with my puppy,\u201d and describes her poetry as \u201cdangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: University at Buffalo medical school puts \u2018antiracism\u2019 at center of curriculum<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Bookstore1Sarasota\/YouTube screenshot<\/p>\n

\n