Gary Richards, Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, recently led the book-in-common discussion of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, held Oct. 28. The discussion marked both the 70th anniversary of Williams’ play and the tricentennial of the founding of New Orleans. Richards also moderated a panel devoted to the novels of Ladee Hubbard and Crystal Wilkinson.
Hirshberg Gives Paper at McGill University
Dan Hirshberg, assistant professor of religion, delivered a paper titled “Spontaneous Presence: The Rapid Normalization of Padmasambhava’s Iconography in Image (and Text)” at McGill University’s School of Religious Studies (Montréal, Quebec, Canada). Drawn from research he is pursuing for his Jepson Fellowship, this paper focuses on the earliest extant paintings of a renowned 8th ce. master of esoteric Buddhism, and compares them against textual descriptions in Tibetan biographies and liturgies from the same era.
Cooperman Delivers Paper on Republican Women Voters at Conference
Rosalyn Cooperman, Associate Professor of Political Science, delivered a paper, “Republican Women for Whom? Republican Women for Hillary and the Future of the Republican Party,” at the 2017 New Research on Gender in Political Psychology Conference at Tulane University, Oct. 22-24, 2017.
Baker Elected to REDCO Board of Directors
Brian Baker was elected to the Board of Directors for the Rappahannock Economic Development Corporation (REDCO). In that role he serves on the governance and loan committees. REDCO is a certified development corporation that facilitates fixed asset commercial lending under the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 program.
Subramanian Awarded Journalism Fellowship
Sushma Subramanian, assistant professor of English specializing in journalism, was recently awarded a Genetics and Human Behavior Journalism Fellowship. For the GHA Fellowship, Subramanian will observe researchers studying the physiology of the Bajau laut, a group in Indonesia known for their unique ability to see underwater and hold their breath for long periods while diving, to understand whether humans may have special adaptations for swimming.
Subramanian’s is one of five fellowships awarded by the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia and aimed at early- and mid-career journalists. The fellowship supports ambitious, long-form stories on the broad theme of genetics and behavior. The fellowship was established by Eric Turkheimer, Hugh Scott Hamilton Professor, Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia, and Jonathan Weiner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Beak of the Finch and Maxwell M. Geffen Professor of Medical and Scientific Journalism at Columbia Journalism School.
Parsons Participates in Digital Archives Summit
Carolyn Parsons, Head of Special Collections and University Archives, recently presented “Preserving Virginia’s Local Architectural Legacies: A Case Study” at the Digital Archives in the Commonwealth Summit at the University of Virginia. The conference explored present, past, and ongoing digital archives projects as well as practical and theoretical issues regarding the convergence of archival practice, scholarly research, and pedagogy. Parsons’ presentation focused on the digitization of UMW’s campus blueprints and architectural drawings by Charles M. Robinson and his understudy and successor, J. Binford Walford funded by The Community Foundation.
Scanlon Gives Public Lecture on WWI Literature
Mara Scanlon, Professor of English, recently delivered a community lecture at the Fredericksburg branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library titled “The Great War from the Margins: WWI Literature by Women and African Americans.” Focusing especially on the novel Not Only War: A Story of Two Great Conflicts by Victor Daly (the only novel written by an African American soldier or veteran of that conflict), American medical worker Mary Borden’s experimental collection The Forbidden Zone, and African American playwright May Miller’s brief drama “Stragglers in the Dust” (which asks, what if the Unknown Soldier were black?), the lecture was presented in conjunction with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a Library of America program called “World War I and America.”
Reynolds Appointed to TESOL Professional Dev. Council
Patricia Reynolds, assistant professor in the College of Education, has been appointed by the TESOL Executive Board to the Professional Development Professional Council of TESOL International.
The Professional Development Professional Council (PDPC) assists TESOL International Association in identifying professional development needs based on issues and developments in English language teaching. Reynolds’ research in teacher education of non-native speakers of English was cited in the appointment in addition to the numerous events in professional development she has provided to the commonwealth of Virginia through the state grant course offered through the University of Mary Washington. Her appointment to this council is for three years.
Hirshberg Interview to Air on With Good Reason
Assistant Professor Dan Hirshberg will be featured on the With Good Reason public radio program in a presentation that airs Oct. 21-27.
In the show, “Enter the Subconscious,” Hirshberg discusses how he explores the subconscious with his Contemplative Studies students by wiring meditating students with brain-imaging headsets.
Audio files of the full program and its companion news feature will be posted the week of the show:
http://withgoodreasonradio.org
Broadcast times are posted at: http://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen/
Pineda Encore Interview to Air on With Good Reason
Jon Pineda is being featured in an encore interview titled “The Crossword Kid” on With Good Reason from Oct. 28 through Nov. 4.
A poet and a novelist, Pineda’s latest memoir, Sleep in Me, chronicles his sister Rica’s sudden transformation from a vibrant high school cheerleader to a girl wheelchair bound and unable to talk.
Audio files of the full program and its companion news feature will be posted the week of the show:
http://withgoodreasonradio.org
Broadcast times are posted at: http://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen/