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/
Poska Wins Book Prize
Allyson M. Poska, professor of history, has won the 2016 best book prize from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women for her Gendered Crossings: Women and Migration in the Spanish Empire.
Rabson Publishes Article in Critical Asian Studies
“The Transformation of hinomaru [Japanese national flag] in postwar Okinawa: from symbol of hope to object of contempt” appeared in the July issue of Critical Asian Studies. During the U.S. military occupation (1945-1972), Okinawans staged protests carrying the flag, which represented their hopes for reversion to Japanese sovereignty, defying a ban on its display by American occupation authorities. But after the Japanese government broke its promises for a reversion in 1972 with reduced U.S. bases and without nuclear weapons, the flag became a hated reminder of this betrayal.
Bartram Speaks at Master Gardener Assn. Meeting Oct. 18
Kevin Bartram, director of the University of Mary Washington Philharmonic, will speak at the general membership meeting of the Master Gardener Association of the Central Rappahannock Area (MGACRA).
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, England Run, 806 Lyons Boulevard, in Stafford County. It is free and open to the public.
Topic: History of the Bartram family, America’s founding botanists and discoverers of the famed Franklinia tree. Bartram is also a Master Gardener and Master Tree Steward. He is a descendant of John Bartram, America’s Founding Father of Botany. Come learn about the history of this fascinating family and how they have influenced horticulture in the United States and Europe since before the American Revolution.
Subramanian Publishes Story in Discover Magazine
Sushma Subramanian, journalist and assistant professor in the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, has published the story “My Forgotten Language” in the November issue of Discover Magazine. Her reported personal essay looks into the science behind how she lost the ability to speak her first language, Tamil, after moving to the United States as a child and being encouraged to only use English by teachers. She speaks to neuroscience researchers about how language is stored in the brain, why she retains the ability to understand but not speak in Tamil and what it might take to bring back the full range of her language abilities.
With Good Reason Interviews Hirshberg on Contemplative Studies, Religion
Dan Hirshberg, assistant professor of religion, was interviewed on With Good Reason about Contemplative Studies as an academic discipline, meditation in the classroom, and the intersection of science and the study of religion.