Summer is quickly approaching, which means it’s almost time to hit the beach or the pool! Don’t get caught on the side because you don’t know how to swim or you’re not comfortable in the water. Come on over to Campus Recreation and let us help you take the first dive of the summer! From May 1 through May 12, on Mondays through Fridays, we will offer swim classes for people of all ages and of all skill levels that is affordable and fun. Registration and details can be found on the UMW Campus Recreation website. Hope to see you there!
Lorentzen Gives Talk at Virginia Humanities Conference
Eric Lorentzen, Associate Professor of English, gave the talk “Interdisciplinary British Literature in the University Classroom: Teaching the Unbearable Humanities as Part of a Critical STEAM Pedagogy” at the annual Virginia Humanities Conference at Shenandoah University. Dr. Lorentzen’s paper argued for the efficacy and exigency of approaching the study of literature at the university level through what he has called a “cultural studies pedagogy,” a methodology that strives for a student-centered interdisciplinary connection, through a STEAM paradigm that resists the new Utilitarianism prevalent in higher education today.
Johnson-Young Presents Research at Conference
Elizabeth Johnson-Young, Assistant Professor of Communication, presented research at this year’s Southern States Communication Association conference in Greenville, South Carolina. The paper, presented in the Communication Theory division, presented the results of a theoretical model to predict intentions to breastfeed. Combining the theory of planned behavior and uses and gratifications theory, the research provides a first test of a more thorough understanding of the impacts on breastfeeding intentions.
Legacy, Music of James Monroe Highlighted at Arts Club of Washington
Scott Harris, director of the James Monroe Museum, and Heidi Stello, editorial assistant for the Papers of James Monroe, provided the program for the annual Monroe Dinner at the Arts Club of Washington on Saturday, April 8. Their presentation, titled “James Monroe: Theme & Variations,” explored Monroe’s half-century of public service, and was supplemented by music drawn from pieces found in the 1818 music book belonging to Monroe’s daughter, Maria. Featured pieces included “Washington’s March at the Battle of Trenton,” “President Monroe’s March,” “Blue Eyed Mary,” and Jean Latour’s “A Favorite Air with 6 Variations.”
The Arts Club of Washington is housed in the I Street townhouse where Monroe lived during his tenure as Secretary of State and War from 1811-1817, as well as during the early months of his presidency, as the White House was undergoing continued repairs from the British attack on Washington in August 1814. The original music book, as well as Monroe’s 1803 Astor pianoforte, are held in the collections of the James Monroe Museum at 908 Charles Street in downtown Fredericksburg.
Aminrazavi is Scholar in Residence, St. Joseph’s College
Mehdi Aminrazavi, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, spent three days in March at St. Joseph’s College in New York as the Distinguished Scholar in Residence. He taught a number of classes, led discussion groups with the faculty and students and gave a keynote speech titled “Violence and Peace in Islam.”
Gately Performs with the Sophisticated Ladies
Doug Gately performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Steven Reinke, on March 24 and 25 at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The program, Sophisticated Ladies: 100 Years of Ella & Company featured singers Sy Smith, Capathia Jenkins, and Montego Glover celebrating the legendary music of the First Lady of Song, plus favorites made famous by Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington.
Moon Featured on C-SPAN 3
A lecture given last month by Krystyn Moon, associate professor of history and program director of American studies, will air on C-SPAN 3 on Saturday, April 8.
Moon’s lecture is about anti-immigration laws in the 19th century, focusing on Chinese immigrants.
Krystyn Moon has a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and a master’s and doctorate from The Johns Hopkins University. Her teaching focuses on the history of American popular culture, U.S. immigration, the American West, gender and sexuality, consumerism and food. She has also written several articles on immigration, race and popular culture. She is the author of “Yellowface: Creating the Chinese in American Popular Music and Performance, 1850s-1920s”.
“Nineteenth Century Chinese Immigration” will be available after it airs on April 8. To listen, visit https://www.c-span.org/video/?424369-1/19th-century-chinese-immigration.
Konieczny Publishes in Journal of Algebra and Its Applications
Janusz Konieczny, professor of mathematics, published a research article, A new definition of conjugacy for semigroups, in the Journal of Algebra and Its Applications. This research has been supported by a 2015-17 Waple Professorship.
Lee Presents Research at Conference
Janie Lee, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, presented a paper titled “Ideologies of Language Competence and Citizenship in South Korean Television” at the 40th Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics in Portland, Oregon (March 18-21). The presentation examined evaluative remarks made on foreign-born men’s Korean fluency in a popular TV show and argued that these men’s race and gender play a role in their exclusion from Korean nationhood.
Kraus Presents to Rappahannock Music Society
On Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m., Andrew Kraus, Adjunct Professor of Piano at the University of Mary Washington, will present “An Introduction to Peter Feuchtwanger’s Piano Exercises for Curing Playing-Related Disorders in Pianists as Well as for Learning a Functionally Natural Behaviour in Piano Playing” for the Rappahannock Music Society(http://www.rappahannockmusicsociety.org/) in the theater of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.
Mr. Kraus has performed as a soloist across the U.S., Europe and Asia in recitals. Elke Walter, writing in the Frankische Landeszeiting on April 25, 2014, wrote about Kraus’ premiere performance of his Henselt in Context concert in Bavaria: “Kraus proved to be like a sensitive ‘piano whisperer’ …nimbly acrobatic with his fingers at the keyboard…the pieces…were equally played out with the same radiant vitality. With his highly sensitive interpretive art, Kraus succeeded in presenting a touching tribute to the Schwabacher piano virtuoso, Adolph von Henselt – and simultaneously piano music of the Romantic. First class.”
Follow him on Facebook at Andrew Kraus, Pianist where he blogs, post links to current and upcoming performances. His recordings are available through CDBaby and Amazon.com. He can be reached by email at akraus@umw.edu.