A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Adjunct Instructor David Hamon
David Hamon, Adjunct Instructor in the Political Science & International Affairs Department, was a major contributor to a high-level U.S. Government simulation held in Washington D.C. in mid-November on the future political, social, and resiliency of the Southeast Asia region. The simulation focused around the Mekong river and the many actors/organizations involved in the viability of ecosystem.
UMW College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson
College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson’s weekly column in The Free Lance-Star tackles how to navigate boss-employee workplace friendships. Read FRIENDLY, NOT FRIENDS.
YOU’RE THE BOSS in your organization. How do you interact with your employees? Are you friends with your staff or just friendly?
How did you become the boss? In many organizations, people are promoted from within—which generally is a good thing. Sometimes the boss is hired from outside the organization, which can be a good practice too, depending on the needs of the organization.
It doesn’t matter how you step into the supervisor role. When you do, you’re entering a new universe with a different set of rules. Read more.
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, recently presented a research paper, “Studying the Presidency after 9/11: Re-considering Presidential Character in Domestic and International Contexts,” at the National Communication Association conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The paper is also a chapter in a new book: 9/11 and the Academy: Responses in the Liberal Arts and the 21st Century World. The book is edited by Mark Finney, a 1999 graduate of Mary Washington, and Matthew Shannon and was just published by Palgrave Macmillan. Dr. Finney, who is now an associate professor of Mass Communications at Emory and Henry College, Emory, Virginia, was one of Dr. Farnsworth’s first political science students at Mary Washington two decades ago.
Dr. Farnsworth has also been quoted in several regional and national news stories:
Locking It Down (Style Weekly)
Trump Urged to Take Part in Impeachment Inquiry (CTV News Channel)
Some Local Governments in Rural Virginia Declare 2nd Amendment Sanctuary (WVTF)
Virginia Senators Hope to Pass Legislation That Would Fix Virginia Beach Tragedy Fund (WVTF)
Senator Warner: Let Users Freely Move Their Data From One Social Media Platform to Another (WVTF)
Could Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants Split Democrats in January? (WVTF)
Virginia Democrats Set Sights on Equal Rights Amendment (Courthouse News Service)
Mark Herring backs recreational marijuana in Virginia (Daily Stock Dish)
Farnsworth 2018 book, “Presidential Communication and Character: White House News Management from Clinton and Cable to Twitter and Trump,” was recommended in an article on The Free Lance-Star on local authors:
Looking for holiday gifts? Consider books by Fredericksburg area authors (The Free Lance-Star)
Assistant Professor of Communication Adria Goldman
Last Friday, November 15, Adria Goldman, Assistant Professor of Communication, presented at the National Communication Association’s 105th Annual Convention in Baltimore, MD as part of the session “Beyond the Journal: Discussions of Media Narratives about Youth and Race and a Call for Media Literacy.” Her presentation, titled “From Cartoons to Reality Television: Examining Images of Young Black Females in Reality Programming,” was a review of her analysis of two competition reality shows with child/adolescent casts–Bravo’s Top Chef Jr. and Lifetime’s The Rap Game. In her dissertation research, she found that representations of Black women in reality television were more flattering when the cast was predominately Black. The goal of the current study was to (1) identify how young Black females are presented in reality television programming and the implications of such, (2) identify similarities and differences between the two competition shows, noting the different racial background of each show, and (3) use the findings to recommend media literacy practices and activities or young audiences. It was a great session, and she reports that it was also exciting presenting alongside fellow UMW Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Deering Crosby and with Elizabeth Johnson-Young, also a UMW Assistant Professor of Communication, as their chair.
Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Deering Crosby
Emily Deering Crosby, Assistant Professor of Communication, presented her research last Thursday and Friday at the National Communication Association Conference in Baltimore, MD. The title of her research presentation in the Feminist and Women’s Studies Division was “‘She went too far’: Exploring Patriarchal Critiques of Feminist Comedians Michelle Wolf and Samantha Bee,” which discussed patriarchal themes of manufactured catfights, double standards, and protection in critiques of feminist comedy. Crosby’s second presentation was titled “Framing Racial Innocence: Media Literacy and the Cases of Brock Turner and Owen Labrie” in the African American Communication and Culture Division, which used visual rhetoric scholarship to analyze news media bias and call for media literacy in communication and digital studies curriculum. Her second presentation was alongside leading panelist and fellow UMW faculty member Adria Goldman, Assistant Professor of Communication. Their well-attended panel was expertly chaired by fellow UMW faculty member Elizabeth Johnson-Young, Assistant Professor of Communication.
Assistant Professor of English Rachel Levy
Rachel Levy, Assistant Professor of English, recently presented an excerpt from a novel in progress at The Bitter Laugh, a featured event at the 2019 Lambda Lit Fest in Los Angeles, CA. The Bitter Laugh showcased queer/trans writers of dark comedy, including Ryka Aoki, Charlie Jane Anders, and Megan Milks. In addition, Levy’s short story “Severin,” a satire of Venus in Furs scholarship, is published in the current issue of The Account. And today, alongside co-editor Lily Duffy, Levy launched Issue Eighteen of Dreginald Magazine.
Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, offered a National Security Lecture on China’s New Silk Road to JWACS engineers at the UMW Dahlgren campus on October 23. Dr. Larus claimed that China is building the New Silk Road to expand its commercial and political influence and to have a more prominent status and role in global affairs. Some observers of the project see it as an effort to remake the global balance of power, and as the costs of many of the proposed projects have skyrocketed, opposition has grown in some participant countries.
Professor of Communication Anand Rao
Anand Rao, Professor of Communication, presented last Friday at the National Communication Association conference held in Baltimore, MD. The title of his presentation was “Helping Speech Anxious Students Survive and Thrive” and was part of a panel about speech apprehension and the basic course. In the presentation, he discussed what UMW has done to help address communication apprehension for first-year students at UMW through the FSEM, as well as the special sections of COMM 205: Public Speaking that he has offered for highly apprehensive students. Anand reports that the panel had a great turnout–approximately 35 in attendance–and a wonderful discussion after the panel.
Assistant Professor of English Brenta Blevins
Brenta Blevins, Assistant Professor of English, recently presented at the 2019 Feminisms and Rhetorics conference her project “Composing New Public Rhetorical Possibilities Using Augmented and Mixed Reality.” Blevins analyzed installations of traditional epideictic rhetoric, such as memorial statues and artwork, at institutions that began as schools for women, and, after examining other Augmented Reality (AR) projects, contended that AR compositions, such as class assignments, could offer additional means for expanding campus historical interpretation.
Jennifer Barry, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, was invited to give a book talk at Temple University on November 14, 2019. Barry presented to the audience material from her recent publication with the University of California Press, Bishops in Flight: Exile and Displacement in Late Antiquity. Barry’s monograph was published in April, 2019 and is published in both print form and is also available via open access through the Luminos Series.