A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Michael Spencer, associate professor and director for the Center for Historic Preservation
Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Historic Preservation Michael Spencer joined Historic Fredericksburg Foundation President David James on “Town Talk with Ted Schubel” to talk about some of the issues being debated in the city over preserving history. Listen here.
Associate Professor of English Colin Rafferty’s forthcoming essay collection, Execute the Office: Essays with Presidents, will be released by Baobab Press in Reno, Nevada.
Execute the Office uses lyric prose and formal invention to explore the humanity, or lack thereof, in each of the forty-five American presidents. Whether these powerful individuals have been remembered for infamous deeds or heroism, or they have been forgotten as placeholders in the annals of America, too often presidents are commemorated by the sterility of simple fact. Execute the Office builds upon factual accuracy with essays that are equally invested in lyrical writing and experimental forms. To balance these factions, Execute the Office uses constraint, metaphor, allusion, and epiphany to explore not just the facts and artifacts of history, but describe the connections between those facts and human nature in thought-provoking and inventive ways. These essays discuss the modes in which we remember. Through screenplays, death songs, footnotes, infinite rooms, evacuation routes, and nomenclatures, to name a few examples, these diverse essays engage with history from fresh perspectives. Execute the Office contains histories in and of unusual objects. While unfamiliar at first, they soon become distinct, unforgettable, profound, human.
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, and Kate Seltzer, a UMW senior double majoring in political science and communication, are co-authors of a research paper, “Late Night Political Humor and the 2020 Presidential Nomination Campaign: A Democratic Field Competes with Donald Trump,” which was delivered (online) at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association earlier this month. The paper is an update of Professor Farnsworth’s recent co-authored book, Late Night With Trump: Political Humor and the American Presidency.
Farnsworth also recently delivered an online lecture, “Reviewing the 2020 U.S. Election: The Challenges of Democracy in Practice,” to the University of Malaysia, Sabah. Professor Farnsworth was a Fulbright Specialist at Methodist College Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during Summer 2019.
He also offered insight in a number of recent regional, national and international news stories:
Taking a Look at What to Expect from the 2021 General Assembly Session (WVTF)
U.S. Capitol on Lockdown (CTV News Channel)
Divide deepens in Virginia GOP as Democrats renew calls for Trump’s early ouster (Virginia Mercury)
Democrats Unveil Articles of Impeachment (CTV News Channel)
Trump Faces Second Impeachment (CTV News Channel)
Can President Trump issue pardons while impeached? Experts at odds (ctvnews.ca)
McAuliffe announces huge fundraising numbers (Virginia Scope; Henrico Citizen)
Saturday Night Live seeks fresh Biden as political comedy faces new era (The Guardian)
Viewpoints with Todd Vanderheyden (iheart.com)
3 Prince William Supervisors Walked Out Of Unconscious Bias Training In Protest (dcist.com)
Professor of Psychological Science David Rettinger
Professor of Psychological Science David Rettinger, who is also Director of Academic Integrity Programs at UMW, offered comments for a New York Times article entitled, “Backlash Over Leniency at West Point After 73 Cadets Are Accused of Cheating.”
“It’s a complex tug of war,” he said. “You have emerging adults who genuinely want to serve their country at the highest levels. It’s heartfelt and honorable. Some may say to themselves, ‘Am I going to allow calculus to be the thing that keeps me from being the patriot I am?’ or, ‘Am I going to let the fellow cadet fall behind?’ From that point of view, they don’t necessarily see cheating as an unalloyed bad thing.” Read more.
Middle East History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti recently spoke at a virtual conference hosted by Western Caspian University of Baku, Azerbaijan.
On 18 December 2020, Middle East History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti spoke at a conference entitled “XII-XV əsrlər Ön Asiya və Qafqaz bölgəsinin tarixi-etnoqrafik məsələlərinə baxış / Perspectives on Historical and Ethnographic Issues Concerning 12th-15th Century Western Asia and the Caucasus Region.” The international conference, offering presentations in Azerbaijani Turkish and English, was hosted by Western Caspian University of Baku, Azerbaijan, and took place entirely online.
The title of Al-Tikriti’s presentation was “Observations on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict’s 10 November Resolution.” Addressing a mostly Azerbaijani audience, in the course of this talk, Prof. Al-Tikriti offered the following points about the recent conflict’s current ceasefire and steps for longer term resolution:
1) He has never seen as bitter a conflict as this one, and he has witnessed several well-known conflicts.
2) The mass hatred all around must be brought to an end, sooner rather than later.
3) The huge difference between what is said for international consumption and what is said for domestic consumption needs to be reduced.
4) Both sides are living in parallel realities, and the discrepancy between those parallel worlds must be reduced.
5) The weaponization of historical memory must be put to an end, and both sides must stop pretending like the other side doesn’t exist.
6) Azerbaijan should now act generously, because if they repeat Armenia’s earlier mistake of being content with triumphantly maintaining a frozen conflict, it will come back to haunt them some day, due to shifting factors domestically and internationally.
7) Both sides may have now opened themselves up to increased Russian-Turkish neo-imperialism — if they desire genuine independence, they must negotiate directly with each other.
8) War crimes are unacceptable, and must be prosecuted — otherwise, no good will is foreseen.
9) The 2006 Julfa destruction was unacceptable, and should be both punished and restored to the extent possible.
10) As a sign of good will, Azerbaijan should open up rail lines, transport links, etc.
11) Azerbaijan should negotiate granting Nagorno-Karabakh autonomy.
12) Both sides should secure external peacekeepers (i.e. not Russian or Turkish) to guarantee both the Lachin and Zangezur corridors.
Prof. Al-Tikriti’s thanks the organizers for this opportunity to present his reflections on the recent conflict, and hopes that a just peace will soon prove viable in the South Caucasus.
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Political Science Elizabeth Freund Larus.
Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, commented on changes to U.S. State Department regulations on Taiwan on the Indus News television program In Focus South Asia, January 12, 2021. Her commentary begins at 15 minutes into the program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdDkEwvhmdM&list=PL75uzXP3OUv0kX_KdFTmHTLgWqmZPZC1_&index=2
Assistant Professor of Communication Sushma Subramanian
Assistant Professor of Journalism Sushma Subramanian’s book “How to Feel: The Science and Meaning of Touch” will be released by Columbia University Press in February 2021.
We are out of touch. Many people fear that we are trapped inside our screens, becoming less in tune with our bodies and losing our connection to the physical world. But the sense of touch has been undervalued since long before the days of digital isolation. Because of deeply rooted beliefs that favor the cerebral over the corporeal, touch is maligned as dirty or sentimental, in contrast with supposedly more elevated modes of perceiving the world.
How to Feel explores the scientific, physical, emotional, and cultural aspects of touch, reconnecting us to what is arguably our most important sense. Sushma Subramanian introduces readers to the scientists whose groundbreaking research is underscoring the role of touch in our lives. Through vivid individual stories—a man who lost his sense of touch in his late teens, a woman who experiences touch-emotion synesthesia, her own efforts to become less touch averse—Subramanian explains the science of the somatosensory system and our philosophical beliefs about it. She visits labs that are shaping the textures of objects we use every day, from cereal to synthetic fabrics. The book highlights the growing field of haptics, which is trying to incorporate tactile interactions into devices such as phones that touch us back and prosthetic limbs that can feel. How to Feeloffers a new appreciation for a vital but misunderstood sense and how we can use it to live more fully. Learn more.
Associate Professor of Marketing Kashef Majid
Associate Professor of Marketing Kashef Majid was recently interviewed for a feature on WalletHub.com on car insurance. Majid provided insight into the ways COVID-19 has impacted car insurance companies and how these companies target consumers through celebrity endorsements.
How do you think COVID-19 has affected consumer demand for car insurance?
At a large scale, COVID-19 has harmed the economy which would trickle into demand for cars and subsequently insurance. On a more micro-level what this has done is made people more cognizant about how much they are paying for car insurance so I would expect more consumers to reevaluate how much they are paying for car insurance. Read more.
Assistant Professor of Art History Suzie Kim
Assistant Professor of Art History Suzie Kim was featured in an article in Korea Daily about her participation in a book with five other authors about the work of artist Park Dae-sung.
Professor Kim Soo-ji, who is conducting interviews and data collection for the recent visit to Korea for writing, said, “There has been an introduction to Korean painting exhibitions and Korean art, but it was produced mainly in catalogs.” She expressed his expectation that it will have the meaning of providing data necessary for research on Korean painting abroad.”
Kim also appeared in an article in Yonhap News, “Book on Korean art master of traditional painting to be released in the U.S. this year.”
Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus Bill Crawley
Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus Bill Crawley previews the 2021 annual lecture series “Great Lives” on “Town Talk with Ted Schubel.” The biographical approach to history and culture is all virtual this year. Listen here.