Assistant Professor of Sociology Eric Bonds recently published an article in the journal Sociology Compass on elite think tank approaches to climate change. While sociologists have paid a great deal of attention to think-tank driven climate denialism — or efforts to mislead the American public about the realities and costs associated with global warming — Bonds shows that most top think tanks acknowledge the scientific consensus on this issue. Bonds offers a typology of think tank responses to climate change, moving beyond denialism to include climate mitigation, adaptation and opportunism.
Harris Wins Verville Fellowship at National Air and Space Museum
Steven E. Harris, Associate Professor of History, was recently awarded an A. Verville Fellowship at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The 12-month fellowship will allow Harris to work full-time on his second book project, “Wings of the Motherland: Soviet and Russian Cultures of Aviation from Khrushchev to Putin” while in residence at the Museum. Harris will also use the fellowship to conduct research in archives in Moscow.
Farnsworth Presents Research Paper on the Obama Presidency
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently delivered a research paper titled, “The Barack Obama Presidency and the Rise of the Diffident Presidential Style,” in Chicago at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. The paper includes findings from Dr. Farnsworth’s latest co-authored book, “The Global President.”
Good’s Book Receives Prize
Cassandra Good, associate editor of the Papers of James Monroe, received the Mary Jurich Nickliss Prize from the Organization of American Historians for her book, Founding Friendships (Oxford, 2015). The prize, awarded annually, recognizes the most original book in U.S. women’s and/or gender history. The prize committee commended the book’s “remarkable body of evidence” and said that it “greatly enlarges our understanding of gender in the early republic.” Good received the prize in an award ceremony in Providence, R.I., on April 9.
Rotter Presents Paper on Berlin Olympics
Marcel Rotter presented his paper, titled “‘… as one only knows from animals’ — Racial CommunicationStrategies in the Olympiazeitung,” at the conference The Nazi Games: The Berlin Olympics after 80 Years at Florida Gulf Coast University on March 29, 2016.
Harris talks to The Source about Soviet Aviation, Putin’s Russia
The Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 might have been expected to make Russia a liberal democracy; instead we see broad popular support for Putin’s undemocratic regime. Historian Steve Harris turns to aviation to offer new ways of understanding the Soviet past and Russia’s present. See the full interview at The Source.
Delgado-Poust Publishes Article
Antonia Delgado-Poust, assistant professor of Spanish, recently published a research article, “(It’s) All about the Mother: Scarred Memories and Amnesic Bodies in Rosa Montero’s La hija del caníbal,” in Bulletin of Spanish Studies.
Al-Tikriti Participates in Debate, Presents UMW in Turkey, more
In his capacity as a board member of the United States section of MSF/Doctors Without Borders, Nabil Al-Tikriti, associate professor of history and American studies, participated in the annual Field Associative Debate (FAD) for MSF staff serving throughout Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, in Amman, on March 5-6.
This year’s regional FAD topic covered MSF’s “Medical Care Under Fire” initiative and MSF’s social and traditional media communications profile in the Middle East. After debating this year’s topics, staff members then presented recommendations and motions for consideration by the MSF International General Assembly. Immediately prior to and following this year’s FAD, Prof. Al-Tikriti joined several colleagues on brief field visits to MSF projects in Za’atari Refugee Camp, al-Ramtha and Amman. Upon his return, he reviewed a FAD report and completed a brief memo on regional operations for internal review.
Prior to visiting Jordan, Al-Tikriti presented UMW’s cooperative academic programs to an audience of 200+ students and faculty at Istanbul Sabahettin Zaim Universitesi (IZU) in Istanbul, Turkey, on Feb. 25 (see picture). In the course of this presentation, it grew clear that there is great interest among IZU’s student body to study English as a Second Language, Education, and Business at UMW.
Shortly after his return to Virginia, Al-Tikriti made a presentation to students at the Georgetown University School of Medicine on March 21. Appearing with Prof. Daniel Neep of Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), the event was titled “The Syrian Conflict and Humanitarian Crisis: A Panel Discussion.” In the course of this presentation, he discussed MSF’s ongoing role in the Syrian civil war, as well as his personal experiences serving as Deputy Head of Mission with MSF in cross-border operations along the Turkish-Syrian border in 2013.
Dasgupta Presents at Comparative Literature Conference
Shumona Dasgupta, assistant professor of English, presented the paper “Decolonizing Trauma Studies: Writing the Partition of Bengal” at the American Comparative Literature Association’s annual conference held in Boston on March 17-20.
Richards Discusses Harper Lee at Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
Gary Richards, associate professor of English and chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, led the discussion of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman at the Breakfast Book Club at the 30th Anniversary Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival held March 30 – April 3 in New Orleans. At the embedded Saints and Sinners conference, he also chaired the panel “Queer (R)Evolutions: Where Do We Go Next?” featuring panelists Dorothy Allison, Alexander Chee, Aaron Hamburger and Sassafras Lowrey.