Author: Brynn Boyer

Jeffrey McClurken, associate professor of history and American studies, and Cristina Turdean, associate professor of historic preservation, presented at the recent Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) in Richmond. Their session, “Embedded: Special Collections & Archives in the Academic Curriculum,” focused on innovative ways faculty are structuring their academic curriculum and embedding primary resources into undergraduate instruction.

Carolyn Parsons, university archivist, served on the MARAC program committee, and two recent Mary Washington graduates, Kelsey Conway ’12 and Justine Rothbart’11, were awarded scholarships to attend the conference.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) promotes communication and learning among professionals interested in archives and records management, current digital initiatives, and preservation of historic and cultural resources.

Adjunct Instructor of Theatre & Dance Mark Scharf’s play “Hired Gun” has been nominated for six awards by BroadwayWorld.com, including Best New Play or Musical and Best Direction of a Play or Musical.

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the university’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, has been elected chair of the political communication section of the American Political Science Association.

Farnsworth will lead the section, which includes nearly 500 political scientists who study media and politics, for two years. He previously served as vice chair of the section, as a member of its executive council, and as the section’s conference program chair.

Cate Brewer, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, is currently playing Sue Bayliss in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons at Keegan Theatre. See the Washington Post review below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/at-keegan-theatre-all-my-sons-is-a-family-circle-of-secrets/2012/11/07/a1732354-290c-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html

Jim Groom, director of the Division of teaching and Learning Technologies, delivered the keynote presentation at James Madison University’s 9th Annual Teaching and Learning with Technology conference (you can see video of the presentation here). This presentation focused more specifically on the questions of universities outsourcing their expertise, how to design for online education, and how to build community online. The theme of the presentation was the overstatement of the death of higher ed in the media currently and how we can start to shed some of the reactionary rhetoric and start returning teaching and learning innovation to the colleges and universities rather than corporations like Pearson.

Slides from the presentation along with links are available below: