A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History Nabil Al-Tikriti
On Wednesday, January 8, Middle East History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti delivered a lecture entitled “US-Iraqi Relations since 1979” at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, VA. This lecture was delivered as part of the “Iraq Familiarization Course,” targeted at State Department professionals and contractors scheduled to serve in Iraq.
Ray Tuttle, Director of UMW’s Office of Student Conduct and Responsibility
Ray Tuttle, Director of UMW’s Office of Student Conduct and Responsibility (OSCAR), presented to an audience of student athletes and athletics professionals at the APPLE Training Institute in Charlottesville on January 18, 2020. The title of his presentation was “Engaging Campus Partners: Fostering Relationships for Success.” Tuttle’s presentation addressed how departments of athletics can create and maintain relationships with other offices on their campus, and why these relationships are mutually beneficial.
The annual training institute, organized by the University of Virginia’s Gordie Center and funded by the NCAA, welcomes colleges and universities across the country, and assists their student athletes, athletics staff, and administrators in preventing substance misuse and in promoting healthy behaviors and attitudes within their departments.
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Freund Larus
Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, offered commentary January 10 on CNBC Asia’s Capital Connection on the 2020 Taiwan presidential election. Professor Larus indicated that incumbent Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen benefited from the Hong Kong protests and that she would likely be reelected. Dr. Larus projected that a second Tsai administration will continue to diversify Taiwan’s economy and distance itself from China, and that Beijing will put more heat on Taipei, bringing the U.S. into play.
Capital Connection is a television business news program aired every weekday on various CNBC channels around the world. It is broadcast live from Singapore. Access the commentary at:
Prof. Al-Tikriti in Baku
On Wednesday, 18 December, Middle East History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti discussed potential future student exchanges and program collaborations between the University of Mary Washington and ADA University of Baku, Azerbaijan. Prof. Al-Tikriti thanks Dr. Jose Sainz, Fariz Ismailzade, Gulnur Ismayil, and Milana Ibrahimova for assisting with this initiative.
Eric Lorentzen, Professor of English
Eric Lorentzen, Professor of English, was recently invited to George Mason University to speak about Victorian serial fiction, Dickens, and elements of popular culture that continue in that tradition today, such as film chronicles, soap operas, teen dramas, and the telenovela. He also discussed Dickens and Victorian literary traditions that survive beyond the realms of visual culture in the twenty-first century.
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, delivered an invited lecture entitled, “A Review of the 2019 Virginia Midterm Elections and a Preview of the 2020 Legislative Session,” at the Virginia Executive Institute Alumni Association Meeting in Chesterfield, VA.
Dr. Farnsworth has also been quoted in several regional and national news stories:
Articles of Impeachment Headed to Senate (CTV News Channel)
How One Election May Have Shifted the Bar for Gun Control (Route Fifty)
Tables Turn in Virginia as Democrats Take Over Legislature (Courthouse News Service)
Professor of Psychological Science Miriam Liss
Professor of Psychological Science Mindy Erchull
Psychological Science Professors Miriam Liss and Mindy Erchull’s research on selfie behaviors, self-objectification and depressive behaviors in women was recently published in the psychology journal, Sex Roles. Women are given the message that they are valued for their physical attractiveness above other qualities, and the study examines how self-objectification interplays with online behaviors.
“I have been collaborating with Mindy Erchull on issues related to objectification theory for several years. I had also begun to be interested in the effects of social media on people’s experiences and had recently taught a senior seminar on the topic,” said Liss, the study’s lead author.
“[We] became interested in how objectification relates to experiences with social media — particularly Instagram, which is a platform that is based on posting visual images. Other studies on the topic had largely looked at how feelings of self-objectification can be a consequence of social media. We wanted to look at how self-objectification can change how one behaves when taking and posting selfies.” Read more.
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Freund Larus
Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, was interviewed by Radio Free Asia on January 10 on the 2020 Taiwan presidential election. RFA is a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts news and information to listeners in Asian countries where the local media is often censored. In her commentary, Professor Larus indicated that if reelected, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will continue to distance Taipei from Beijing, and that Beijing will continue to heighten pressure on Taipei.
Listen to the broadcast here:
1月11日，台湾将进行第7次总统全民直选民主投票。台湾大选后，两岸、美台关系会发生什么变化？
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/rc-01102020100909.html
Jesse Stommel, Senior Lecturer of Digital Learning
Jesse Stommel, senior lecturer of digital learning, commented on the ubiquity of edtech apps and tools and the dangers they poise to student privacy on an education blog.
“The onus has to be on the tech companies themselves to educate the users about data security and data monetization … say ‘here’s why I’m collecting it, here’s what I hope to do with it, here’s why it should matter to you’,” Stommel said. He also shared concerns about colleges and universities adopting these technologies widely on campuses. “When certain companies become universal, staff and students don’t have a way to say ‘I won’t use it because I don’t want them to have my data’,” he said. Read more.
UMW College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson
College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson’s weekly column in The Free Lance-Star discusses the advantages of having fewer employees. Read A SMALL TEAM CAN BE ENOUGH.
A FRIEND’S volleyball team recently won a national championship. As I watched the elite eight, the commentator kept reminding us that the team had only 10 players. That is a fairly small team in volleyball circles, where most teams have at least 15 players.
Despite having only 10 players, his team ultimately won the national championship and had a perfect record for the year in doing so. So it got me thinking.
The size of the team doesn’t really matter—in sports or in the workplace—if you have the right people. Read more.
