Category: Academics

Janusz Konieczny, professor of mathematics, has co-authored a research article, Centralizers in the full transformation semigroup, published in the journal Semigroup Forum.

University of Mary Washington Associate Professor of English Gary Richards will discuss images of the U. S. South in Broadway musicals during an interview scheduled to air on the “With Good Reason” public radio program. The show, “The Gospel Roots of Rock and Roll,” will air beginning Saturday, Feb. 16.

Gary Richards

During the program, Richards will argue that despite the popularity of musicals like Porgy and Bess and Showboat, musicals with southern themes tend to have a negative view of the region and don’t reflect its diversity today. As part of the program, Longwood University professor Chris Kjorness will discuss the legacy of gospel musician and singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Richards, who serves as chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, is an expert on southern literature and culture, American fiction, contemporary drama and sexuality studies. His book Lovers and Beloveds: Sexual Otherness in Southern Fiction, 1936-1961 was named Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2005. He has written several book chapters, including most recently “Everybody’s Graphic Protest Novel: Stuck Rubber Baby and the Anxieties of Racial Difference” in Comics and the U.S. South. His articles and essays have been published in Journal of American Studies, North Carolina Literary Review and Mississippi Quarterly, among other publications.

Richards earned a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University (San Antonio). His understanding of various southern cultures draws in part on his years of residence in several major southern cities, including Dallas (1969-1987), San Antonio (1987-1991), Nashville (1991-1997), New Orleans (1997-2008), and now Fredericksburg.

“With Good Reason” airs weekly in Fredericksburg on Sundays from 1-2 p.m. on Radio IQ 88.3 Digital. To listen from outside of the Fredericksburg area, a complete list of air times and links to corresponding radio stations can be found at http://withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen/.

“With Good Reason” is the only statewide public radio program in Virginia. It hosts scholars from Virginia’s public colleges and universities who discuss the latest in research, pressing social issues and the curious and whimsical. “With Good Reason” is produced for the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and is broadcast in partnership with public radio stations in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Professor Jeffrey McClurken shows students how to blend the traditional and the digital.

Bethany Farrell ’11 is one of 21 UMW alumni currently serving in the Peace Corps.

Teresa Coffman, associate professor of education, is the author of a recently published book, “Using Inquiry in the Classroom: Developing Creative Thinkers and Information Literate Students.”

The book, published by Rowman & Littlefield in January 2013, provides an overview of inquiry learning and the importance of developing creative thinkers and information literate students in 21^st century education. The text explores how learning can be directly applied in a classroom setting using real world application through technology oriented activities. Coffman showcases WebQuests, Web inquiry, telecollaborative, and problem-based activities with examples and skill-building exercises for readers to implement in their classroom. Readers work through strategies for effectively integrating technology into a teaching and learning environment so students gain maximum knowledge and understanding of core concepts. Plus, the content is personalized so that the reader can create activities and lessons for specific curriculum needs.

Coffman, T. (2013). Using inquiry in the classroom: Developing creative thinkers and information literate students. (2^nd Ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. ISBN 978-1-61048-851-8