Professional Notes Archives

Richards Presents on Eudora Welty in Multiple Venues

February 28, 2019 by A J Newell

Professor of English Gary Richards

Gary Richards, Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, presented the paper “Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams” at the latest conference of the Eudora Welty Society, “The Continuous Thread of Revelation: Eudora Welty Reconsidered,” held at the College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C. February 21-24, 2019. The conference also featured a staged reading of “Moon Lake,” adapted from the Welty short story of the same title and directed by Brenda Currin. Fourteen Welty scholars made up the cast, including Richards as the narrator.

Earlier in the month, he was a member of a panel discussion of contributors to the collection of essays Teaching the Works of Eudora Welty Twenty-First-Century Approaches, edited by Mae Miller Claxton and Julia Eichelberger, held at the Eudora Welty House and Gardens in Jackson, Mississipi, on February 7. His essay in the collection is “Queering Welty’s Male Bodies in the Undergraduate Classroom.”

LaBreche Co-Edits Special Issue of Journal Devoted to Political Theology

February 28, 2019 by Marty Morrison

Associate Professor of English Ben LaBreche

Ben LaBreche, Associate Professor of English, along with Jason Kerr of Brigham Young University, recently co-edited a special issue of the Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies on “The Varieties of Political Theology,” and that issue has now been released.

Dasgupta Presents at Postcolonial Studies Conference

February 28, 2019 by Marty Morrison

Associate Professor of English Shumona Dasgupta

Shumona Dasgupta, Associate Professor of English, presented the paper “Memory, Trauma, and Violence: The Partition in Indian Cinema” at the 28th annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies conference in Savannah, Georgia, on February 16, 2019.

McMillan Receives VMFA Fellowship

February 28, 2019 by A J Newell

Ceramic sculpture by Jon McMillan

Associate Professor Jon McMillan was recently awarded one of twelve Professional Visual Art Fellowships from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for 2019-20. The statewide award, which includes exhibition opportunities and funding for artistic research and creation, is highly competitive, with 753 applicants for 28 fellowships in three categories. Recipients are selected through a blind jury process, with decisions based solely on the artwork submitted. The VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship Program celebrates its 80^thanniversary next year.

For images of this year’s Fellows, visit: https://youtu.be/MySV7IOj4uM.

More information on the program and this year’s awards can be found here: https://www.vmfa.museum/pressroom/news/vmfa-2019-20-fellowship-program-supports-28-student-professional-artists/

Rucker Named to Richmond Schools Influential List

February 28, 2019 by Marty Morrison

Cedric Rucker, associate vice president and dean of Student Life

He’s been a big name on campus for nearly four decades. Now UMW’s Cedric Rucker joins other big names – tennis legend Arthur Ashe, former Virginia Sen. Henry Marsh III and opera singer Lisa Edwards Burrs – on Richmond Public Schools’ (RPS) Black History Month Influential list.

The honorees – all of whom attended Richmond schools, including Rucker, Mary Washington associate vice president and dean of Student Life – were recognized as African-Americans who have forged ahead and made a difference in their fields.

“We wanted to show our students that anything is possible, and Dean Rucker’s experiences are definitely a testimony to that,” said RPS’ Renee Carter, who shared the campaign on social media throughout the month. “Dean Rucker is the epitome of a successful black male as well as a trailblazer … He has shown that he is dedicated not only to his profession, but to the students he interacts with as well as his community.” Read more.

Larus Receives Fulbright Grant for Research in Poland

February 28, 2019 by Marty Morrison

Political Science Professor Stephen Farnsworth

Political Science Professor Elizabeth Larus

Political Science Professor Elizabeth Freund Larus has received a prestigious 2019-20 U.S. Fulbright grant. She has been named a Fulbright Scholar who will conduct field research throughout Poland and parts of Eastern Europe during spring semester 2020.

Elizabeth Larus will manage research on the impact China’s Belt and Road Initiative, known as the new Silk Road, in Eastern and Central Europe will have on the European Union. She will interview government officials, business associates and academics to determine if the initiative is dividing the European Union into countries that support the initiative – such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and other Central and Eastern European countries – and the core EU countries of Germany France and UK who are critical of the initiative in Europe.

“I will seek to determine if this split will have a negative impact on European Union stability,” said Larus, who will be hosted by the Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland.

A well-respected expert on the politics of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Larus has been quoted in international media outlets, including The Financial Times, CNBC and the China Global Television Network (CGTN).

Before coming to UMW, Larus conducted field research when she lived three years in Asia and served as press secretary for former U.S. Congressman Hal Daub. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and is the author of books on Chinese economic reform, and politics and society in contemporary China. Her articles have been published in numerous professional journals. In 2015 Larus was awarded a Taiwan fellowship by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to conduct research on U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific. Among her other awards, she was a 2007-08 academic fellow of The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Other honors included a dissertation fellowship, two duPont fellowships from the University of Virginia, a Lingnan Foundation Research Grant and a Pacific Cultural Foundation Grant.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. The scholarship program gives professors a unique opportunity as ambassadors of American higher education, pursuing research and teaching opportunities around the world. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends American scholars, artists, faculty and professionals abroad to lecture and/or conduct research for up to a year.

For more information, visit https://www.umw.edu/news/2019/02/26/umw-political-science-faculty-receive-prestigious-fulbright-awards.

Farnsworth Receives Fulbright Grant to Malaysia

February 28, 2019 by Marty Morrison

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of Political Science

Political Science Professor Stephen J. Farnsworth has received a prestigious 2019-20 U.S. Fulbright grant. He has been named a Fulbright Specialist and will spend much of the upcoming summer teaching American government at Methodist College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“With the fascinating Trump presidency well underway and with the 2020 presidential election season getting started, now is a great time to be talking with Malaysian students about American government and politics,” said Farnsworth.

This grant is the second Fulbright award for Farnsworth, who is director of UMW’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies. During the 2006-2007 academic year, he was a Canada-U.S. Research Chair in Public Policy at McGill University in Montreal where he collaborated on several research articles on Canadian and U.S. politics. He also began work on The Global President: International Media and the U.S. Government, one of the six books he has authored or co-authored.

For more information about Farnsworth and the recognition, visit https://www.umw.edu/news/2019/02/26/umw-political-science-faculty-receive-prestigious-fulbright-awards.

Richardson’s Column in The Free Lance-Star

February 21, 2019 by Christie Pugh

Farnsworth Comments in National Media

February 21, 2019 by Marty Morrison

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of Political Science

Political Science Professor Stephen Farnsworth continues to provide daily commentary in regional and national media on breaking news items. View a few of his current interviews: Trump’s Legal Battle Ahead on CTV News Channel; Virginia voters on Tuesday may provide insight into scandals’ election impact in The Washington Post; and Despite Scandals, Virginia Politicians Refuse to Resign. Now What? in Governing.

Rettinger Comments about Cheating in Journal of Accountancy

February 21, 2019 by Christie Pugh

David Rettinger, associate professor of Psychological Science

David Rettinger, associate professor of Psychological Science, provided his perspective on contract cheating in the Journal of Accountancy. Rettinger is the president of the International Center for Academic Integrity, which aims to combat cheating, plagiarism and academic dishonesty. To view his interview, visit How to identify and prevent contract cheating.

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