Surupa Gupta, associate professor of Political Science and International Affairs, delivered a lecture titled “Food Fights at the WTO: Political Economy of India’s Focus on Food Security in International Trade Negotiations” on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, as part of a speaker series at the Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
Smith and Burtis Publish on Tools for Preservation
In January, Andréa Livi Smith and Martha Burtis had their article, “A Practical Cultural Resource Survey Tool for Preservation,” published in a special issue of the Association for Preservation Technology Bulletin. The piece shares a project Smith and Burtis have collaborated on since fall 2013 when they decided to develop an online tool to facilitate student collection of data during culture-resource surveys around Fredericksburg.
Prior to the project, data was collected in paper form, transcribed by students to numerous Excel spreadsheets, and then merged together by Smith. The process involved numerous opportunities for introducing errors and was laborious and time-consuming.
Using WordPress as a platform for building a database application, the two developed a new approach resulting in the Historic Environment Resource Assessment tool found at survey.andrealivismith.com. While conducting surveys in the field, students can login to the site on their mobile devices, and add their own data, including uploading photos of the sites they’re surveying. Later, they can return to entries to edit and refine their own or to comment upon their classmates’. At the end of the semester, Smith can easily export all the data in a standard CSV file, which can be imported into SPSS for further analysis by the class.
In addition to making it easier and smoother for students to collect data, the tool also makes is straightforward for Smith to update and tailor the collection form each fall semester, as students tackle new neighborhoods.
On the whole, the project is a fine example of what can be accomplished when faculty and instructional technologists collaborate to create new kinds of online experiences for UMW students using free and low-cost technology.
Barry Presents on Gender Violence
Jennifer Barry, assistant professor of religion, presented a portion of her recent work at the Women’s and Gender Studies Brown Bag lunch on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
The talk was the result of her Faculty Research Grant awarded for the 2017-2018 academic year. Barry’s next major book project is on male fantasies of gender violence in late antiquity.
A description of the talk, called “Dismissing Sexual Violence: Augustine and the Sack of Rome,” follows:
Sexual violence during times of war is infinitely complex, particularly when religion informs the historical narrative. A famous example of invasion and destruction that lives on in Christian memory is the sack of Rome in 410 C.E. And yet, the details regarding sexual violence are often skipped over. The noted exception is preserved in Augustine’s most famous work the City of God. In this story, we discover hidden among the remains of Rome’s fallen heroes the bodies of sexually violated women. They are buried deep within the polemical layers of Book I. While these women, and their experiences, are the focal point of Augustine’s narrative, we may nonetheless find it surprisingly difficult to hang onto or even trust their horrific accounts. This talk explores the pressing question: Why does Augustine make it so easy to forget the victims of sexual violence?
Rafferty Publishes Graphic Essay on James Monroe
Colin Rafferty, Associate Professor of English, recently had his graphic essay on James Monroe, “The Eye of James Monroe (#5),” published in the newest issue of Pinball magazine.
Lynne Richardson Column Featured in FLS
Lynne Richardson’s weekly column in The Free Lance-Star, called “Expressing gratitude,” can be viewed here:
Richards Contributes Essay to Welty Collection
Gary Richards, Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, recently had his essay “Queering Welty’s Male Bodies in the Undergraduate Classroom,” published in Teaching the Works of Eudora Welty: Twenty-First-Century Approaches, edited by Mae Miller Claxton and Julia Eichelberger and released from University Press of Mississippi. His essay in particular analyzes the Welty stories “The Wide Net” and “Why I Live at the P.O.”
Jesse Stommel Featured on NPR
Jesse Stommel, who directs the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies, was recently interviewed in an NPR story called Laptops and Phones In the Classroom: Yea, Nay Or a Third Way?
“Ultimately, I see strict laptop policies (and especially blanket bans) as a form of control,” Stommel said.
Mathur Contributes Essay to Shakespeare Collection
Maya Mathur, Associate Professor of English and Associate Chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, recently had her essay “‘I Know Thee Not, Old Man’: Using Film and Television to Teach 1 and 2 Henry IV” published in the Modern Language Association Series Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare’s English History Plays, edited by Laurie Ellinghausen.
Helen Housley Article Published in Book
Associate Professor of Theatre Helen Housley recently published the chapter, “Shakespeare’s Buzz: Lessac’s Tonal NRG and the Shakespearean Actor,” in the book, Play with Purpose: Kinesensics in Action, edited by Marth Munro, Sean Turner, and Allun Munro.
She also presented a workshop, “Shakespeare’s Prose: A Kinesensic Exploration,” at the 13th Annual Lessac Conference held in Dallas, Texas, Jan. 4-6.
Hirshberg Receives Asian Studies Award
Dan Hirshberg, assistant professor of religion, has been awarded Honorable Mention for his first monograph, Remembering the Lotus-Born: Padmasambhava in the History of Tibet’s Golden Age (Wisdom Publications, 2016), from the Association for Asian Studies.
The E. Gene Smith Inner Asia Book Prize, offered annually, honors outstanding and innovative scholarship across discipline and country of specialization for a book on Inner Asia published during the preceding year. There is only one prize, and occasionally one Honorable Mention, awarded each year.
Founded in 1941 and now with over 7000 members world-wide, the Association for Asian Studies is the largest scholarly, non-political, non-profit professional organization of its kind. It is also a member of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS).