Eric Lorentzen, associate professor of English, recently presented the paper, “Literary Tourism: Consuming Dickens, Sherlock, and the Sites/Sights of British Culture,” at the Victorians Institute conference in Asheville, NC. The conference theme was “Consuming the Victorians,” and the particular panel involved postmodern consumption of literature through literary and cultural tourism. Professor Lorentzen argued for the efficacy and exigency of approaching museums as texts to be read through cultural studies methodologies, and for museums to embrace the critical and pedagogical tactic of “presentism” in their curation. He discussed different aspects of the Agatha Christie Estate at Greenway, the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, and the Charles Dickens Museum in London.
Elizabeth Larus Offers Comments to China TV on IP Theft
Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, was interviewed on China Global Television Network’s program, China 24, on the US indictment of Chinese and Taiwan firms for stealing trade secrets. Dr. Larus offered insight on the politics of the indictment and on US trade tensions with China. CGTN is a Chinese international news channel with more than 85 million viewers in more than 100 countries and regions. To view her interview, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=zM87nVxMpBs.
Al-Tikriti Presents UMW to Three American Centers in Azerbaijan
Prof. Al-Tikriti at Baku American Center
In October 2018, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti discussed the University of Mary Washington as a potential undergraduate destination to audiences at three American Centers in Azerbaijan.
Invited to discuss any topic he chose, Prof. Al-Tikriti decided to present his experiences at UMW for a local audience. Provided with the university’s undergraduate admissions powerpoint presentation, Al-Tikriti discussed UMW’s liberal arts curriculum, science facilities, and humanities philosophy — particularly in comparison with the Azerbaijani institutions he has recently come into contact with.
The first talk was on October 5 in Baku, before an audience of 25-30 youth. The second and third talks were on October 24, in Kurdemir (with 15-20 middle school children in attendance) and in Ganca (with 35-40 high school and college age youth in attendance).
These presentations came as part of Prof. Al-Tikriti’s year abroad in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he is currently leading a workshop on history pedagogy at Baku State University while starting to research early modern Caucasus history.
Foss Presents Paper at Gothic Conference
Professor of English Chris Foss recently presented a paper at the “Hideous Progeny”: The Gothic in the Nineteenth Century conference hosted by the Loyola University-Chicago Victorian Society on October 27, 2018. The talk, entitled “Gothic Mutations of Pity in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Star-Child,’” aimed at a critical reconsideration of pity through a reading of Wilde’s fairy tale, explores the ways it replicates stereotypically pejorative assumptions about disability but also contains empowering possibilities as well. Through the gothic mutation of its disability-aligned titular protagonist (initially the embodiment of physical perfection, but eventually transformed into a scaly toadfaced freak), this text requires one to grapple with the extent to which its employment of pity reinforces a hierarchical division between the fortunate and the unfortunate and/or encourages a more progressive conception founded upon love, reciprocity, and action. The paper is part of the larger book manuscript project (The Importance of Being Different: Intersectional Disability and Emotional Response in Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales) that is the focus of Foss’s 2018-20 Waple Professorship award.
Bonds Publishes Article on Violence in Iraq and Syria
Eric Bonds, associate professor of sociology, published an article entitled “Humanitized Violence: Targeted Killings and Civilian Deaths in the U.S. War Against the Islamic State.” The article draws upon a qualitative content analysis of human rights reports, newspaper accounts, and U.S. military statements to describe the ascendancy of “humanitized violence” as a form of brutality that utilizes precision weaponry, and that which is frequently critiqued on technical grounds of whether or not its use conforms to international humanitarian law, but not on questions of morality or ultimate efficacy. The article is in Current Sociology, a publication of the International Sociological Association.
Rao Attends Meeting of Nationwide Faculty Governance Leaders
On Oct. 27, Anand Rao, professor of communication, vice chair of the Mary Washington’s University Faculty Council and president of the Faculty Senate of Virginia, attended a meeting of faculty governance leaders from across the country.
Rao participated in creating a National Council of Faculty Senates at the Austin, Texas event.
The National Council of Faculty Senates will help ensure various faculty senates nationwide play a coordinated, decisive role in university faculty members’ shared governance with their university administrations.
The Texas Council of Faculty Senates organized the daylong organizational meeting that attracted the faculty members to Austin, where they discussed plans to develop mission and vision statements, a constitution, and bylaws. Faculty senates advise university administrations and boards of trustees or regents on all matters of policy and decision-making that affect the faculty.
“Most associations in the United States have not only a statewide or a regional presence but also a national one,” said Trevor Hale, a professor of operations management at Texas A&M University and a convener of the meeting. “Therefore, we asked ourselves why not move beyond the state level to a national one.”
In welcoming the faculty members to Austin, Jim Woosley, president of the Texas Council of Faculty Senates and a professor of health and kinesiology at Texas A&M University, said that it was imperative that the voice of faculty members nationwide be well coordinated and presented in a meaningful and an effective way to university administrators and to broader audiences.
Attendees identified areas for immediate action. They included developing a database to support one another and to weigh in on evolving issues, creating a communication system with boards of regents or trustees, and identifying a medium for disseminating widely best practices in shared governance and in academic freedom.
Lynne Richardson Speaks at International Deans Conference
Lynne Richardson and Amy Hillman, dean of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, provided insights from their “Associate Dean’s Journeys” on November 5 at the AACSB International Associate Deans Conference in Phoenix. There were 250 attendees from 19 countries.
Farnsworth Lectures at Norwegian Seminar in Washington, DC
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently delivered a lecture entitled, “A Preview of the 2018 Midterm Elections,” at the The Norwegian International Seminar in Washington, DC earlier this month.
Romero Presents Panel at the Annual Meeting of The Anchor Institutions Task Force
Joseph Romero, Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion
Professor Joseph Romero (Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion), is organizing a panel of fellows from the American Council on Education (2017-18) to chart recent successes of anchor universities and barriers to anchor work at the Annual Meeting of the Anchor Institutions Task Force in New York, New York, Nov. 15-16. Higher education leaders from Merrimack College (MA), Georgia Gwinnett College, Lane College (TN), and Coppin State College (MD) will join him to also answer the question, Where will the next generation of anchor university leaders come from?
“Anchor institutions” are networks of well-resourced organizations committed to collective impact solutions to persistent problems in the communities where they reside. Universities are attractive anchor partners but come with significant structural and cultural challenges that can limit or prevent optimal success. Perhaps the greatest challenge, it turns out, is developing anchor leaders capable of realizing an anchor vision and creating a culture and legacy that extends beyond a single presidency.
Buster-Williams Nominated for AACRAO LEAD
Kimberley Buster-Williams, vice president for enrollment management, has been invited to participate in a new initiative called AACRAO LEAD. AACRAO’s new initiative called LEAD (Leaders in Enrollment Advancing Diversity) will take a multi-pronged approach at identifying and preparing a diverse group of enrollment leaders to take on leadership roles in Enrollment Management in North America and across the globe.
The LEAD initiative will kick off at the 2018 SEM Conference with a Monday evening reception hosted by Buster- Williams and colleagues who have taken the lead on inculcating diversity and inclusivity values in SEM.
At the reception, the hosts will introduce the AACRAO LEAD theme, which will be built upon at future events. Plans include:
- A diversity leadership development program for mid-level professionals.
- A webinar series.
- A scholarship program for AACRAO’s SEM Endorsement Program.
AACRAO is a professional association of more than 11,000 higher education professionals who represent approximately 2,600 institutions in more than 40 countries. Its mission is to provide professional development, guidelines and voluntary standards to be used by higher education officials regarding the best practices in records management, admissions, enrollment management, administrative information technology and student services. AACRAO represents institutions in every part of the higher education community, from large public institutions to small, private liberal arts colleges. http://www.aacrao.org/home/about