Political Science Professor Elizabeth Freund Larus was recently interviewed in national media concerning U.S.-Taiwan relations. View her CNBC interview at Academic says the U.S. is taking a low-key approach to Taiwan ties. To read her interview in the Financial Times, go to U.S. opens new $255m de facto embassy in Taiwan.
Gately Featured in SBO magazine
Doug Gately, director of the UMW Jazz Ensemble, was highlighted in the May issue of “SBO” (School, Band, & Orchestra) magazine for his educational work as an adjudicator and clinician at the 2018 Festivals of Music, Virginia Beach. The event was held April 27 and 28 at the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center at Norfolk State University. The article can be found at http://sbomagazine.com/featured/6178-festivals-of-music-virginia-beach-2018.html and http://digitaleditiononline.com/publication/index.php?i=496795&m=&l=&p=1&pre=&ver=html5#{%22page%22:0,%22issue_id%22:496795}
Jack Bales Writes Baseball Book
Jack Bales, Simpson Library’s Reference and Humanities Librarian, has finished researching and writing his book on the Chicago Cubs baseball team, tentatively titled Before They Were the Cubs: The Early Years of Chicago’s First Professional Baseball Team. Bales uses–and cites–more than 2,000 sources, including newspaper articles, memoirs, and archival records, to chronicle a history of the team from its nineteenth-century planning stages to 1902, when a sportswriter referred to the young players as Cubs in the March 27 issue of the Chicago Daily News. The book will include 30 photographs and other illustrations, some of which Bales found by poring over numerous reels of microfilm. His history will be published next year by McFarland & Company, a leading publisher of baseball books and academic nonfiction.
Farhang Rouhani Signs Open Letter on Iran Nuclear Deal
An Open Letter to Federica Mogherini and the European imperative to save the Iran nuclear deal (opendemocracy.net)
We, the undersigned, thank you for your speech on May 8, 2018, pledging the European Union’s intention to remain steadfast in its commitment to the historic accord concluded between Iran and the E3/EU+3, the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Farhang Rouhani, Associate Professor in Geography, University of Mary Washington
Barry presents at North American Patristics Society and is elected to the board
Jennifer Barry, Assistant Professor of Religion, recently presented at the North American Patristics Society. At a pre-arranged panel on Theorizing Gender and Violence, which she co-organized, Barry showcased new material from her next book-length project in a paper, titled, “Fantasy, Violence, and the Suffering Self.”
Jennifer Barry was also elected to the national board of the North American Patristics Society. This appointed position is a distinct honor. Barry will serve as a voting member for three years.
Richards Presents at American Literature Association Conference
Gary Richards, Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, presented “Queering Welty’s Male Bodies in the Undergraduate Classroom” on the roundtable devoted to teaching the works of Eudora Welty at the American Literature Association Conference in San Francisco, Calif., held May 24-27, 2018.
Blevins’ Dissertation Garners Honorable Mention
The dissertation of Brenta Blevins, assistant professor of English, entitled “From Corporeality to Virtual Reality: Theorizing Literacy, Bodies, and Technology in the Emerging Media of Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realities,” received honorable mention designation for the 2017 Computers and Composition Hugh Burns Dissertation Award, as announced at the 2018 Computers and Writing Conference in Fairfax, VA. This award acknowledges and supports the growth of scholarship, research, and teaching in the field of Computers and Composition Studies.
Blevins’ dissertation examines Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality texts and their rhetorical and composing strategies, situates VR, AR, and MR into a continuum of communication practices using a range of classical and contemporary theories, and concludes with pedagogical approaches for incorporating these media into classroom assignments. Blevins completed her dissertation at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro under the direction of Stephen Yarbrough and graduated in May 2017.
Lynne Richardson’s Weekly Column Featured in FLS
Richardson: For the Person New to the Workplace (The Free Lance-Star)
Congratulations on your recent graduation from school!
Hanna and Farnsworth Column in VCC Magazine
A column on gerrymandering by Professor of Geography Stephen Hanna and Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth appears in the spring issue of Virginia Capitol Connections magazine. To read the article, visit Virginia Capitol Connections.
Stommel Talks About Marylhurst Closing in Inside Higher Ed
Market Changes, Missteps and Marylhurst’s Closure (Inside Higher Ed)
Jesse Stommel, executive director of the division of teaching and learning technologies at the University of Mary Washington and a former professor and digital humanist at Marylhurst, agreed via email that “institutions like Marylhurst can’t keep up with … the marketing machine that many online programs have tapped into. The story of Marylhurst was a small one, and I wish more institutions were thinking about how to get online education to work at that scale. Instead of always scaling up, why aren’t we also focusing on how to take something small, something focused on humans working together, something like the liberal arts online?
“It’s hard for something at such a small (and lovely) scale to compete with the Courseras of the world,” Stommel added.