Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus has been awarded a Taiwan Fellowship for 2015. The 
Taiwan Fellowship is the Republic of China’s version of the Fulbright Program. Dr. Larus will conduct field research in Taiwan on U.S.-China-Taiwan trilateral relations. In recognition of the award, Dr. Larus was the honored guest of Ambassador Shen Lyushen, Taiwan’s representative to the United States, at an Oct. 29 luncheon held at Twin Oaks, the official residence for Taiwan ambassadors.
Cassandra Good Appears on History TV Show
Cassandra Good, Associate Editor of the Papers of James Monroe, will appear on a Travel Channel special titled, “Mysteries at the White House” on Friday, Nov. 7 at 9 p.m. She was interviewed for a segment about Andrew Jackson’s 1829 inaugural ball.
Farnsworth Gives Lecture at Norwegian Washington Seminar
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, gave a lecture entitled “Is ‘House of Cards’ Really Fiction? U.S. Political Corruption, Voter Anger and the 2014 Elections,” at the Norwegian Washington Seminar in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Nov. 1.
Smith Presents at International Preservation Conference
Andréa Livi Smith, associate professor of historic preservation, presented at the Association of Preservation Technology International’s annual conference in Québec City on Oct. 29. She discussed the use of technology for cultural resource data collection in preservation. Her peer reviewed talk, translated live into French and Spanish, highlighted the survey site developed on the UMWBlogs platform with Martha Burtis of DTLT, and its application for the capstone preservation course. The survey tool is a new model for preservation and is at the bleeding edge of the use of technology in the field. Smith emphasized its practicality for practitioners and researchers. The survey itself can be found at survey.umwblogs.org
Rochelle Publishes Short Story
Professor of English Warren Rochelle’s short story, “Happily Ever After,” was published in Quantum Fairy Tales 9 (Fall 2014). The issue can be accessed at: http://quantumfairytales.com.
Hirshberg Moderates Plenary Session
“Authenticity and Myth-Making” Panelists
From left to right: Dan Hirshberg, Wulstan Fletcher (Tsadra Foundation), Professor Karma Lekshe Tsomo (University of San Diego), Professor Don Lopez (University of Michigan), and Dr. Jules Levinson (UMA Institute).
Dan Hirshberg, Assistant Professor of Religion, moderated the closing discussion of Tsadra Foundation’s Transmission & Translation conference. Since Tibetans began streaming out of Tibet following the Communist Invasions of the 1950’s, this marks the first time that the world’s foremost scholars and translators of Tibetan language materials, both from academia and Buddhist practice communities, both Tibetans and not, were convened to discuss an array of issues concerning the translation of Tibetan into Western languages. His panel on “Authenticity and Myth-Making” was especially provocative in confronting the problem of discrimination in Buddhist scripture, especially with regard to gender, and the question as to whether translators should allow such content to persist in translation, thereby sanctifying discrimination in authoritative sources for contemporary audiences who repudiate such views.
Lorentzen Gives Talk at Victorians Institute
Eric Lorentzen, associate professor of English, presented a talk at this year’s Victorians Institute conference, held in Charlotte, Oct. 23-25. The theme of the 43rd annual conference was “The Mysteries at Our Own Doors,” and his talk was entitled “‘The Narrative of the Tombstone’: Teaching English 251S — British Victorian Detective and Sensation Novel.” In this talk, he was able to share, with Victorian colleagues from across the country, the pedagogical philosophies and praxes that he has employed in his course for the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, as well as an argument about the goals and objectives of this course and genre. He also connected the talk to a summer course here at the University of Mary Washington in which he and his students pursue the study of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Abeel Presents Workshops in Monterrey, Mexico
Laurie B. Abeel, Associate Professor in the College of Education, presented four workshops on creative and critical thinking in Monterrey, Mexico on Oct. 16 and 17. She presented Developing Creative and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century to teachers at the American School Foundation of Monterrey (ASFM), and Developing Critical Thinking Strategies to Foster Literacy to teachers at Instituto San Roberto. She also presented Creative Problem Solving Tools to both new and experienced Team Managers who are managing teams for the Mexico Destination Imagination affiliate.
Farnsworth Gives Lecture on Foreign Policy
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, gave a public lecture on “International Media, the U.S. Government and Foreign Policy Crises,” at the Ingleside at Rock Creek Forum in Washington, DC., earlier this month. The talk was drawn from his co-authored book, “The Global President: International Media and the U.S. Government.”
Moon Interviewed for Washingtonian Article
Joe Guinto, freelance writer for the Washingtonian, interviewed Krystyn Moon, associate professor in history and director of American studies, on hyper-consumerism in the Washington, D.C. metro area for his article, “How Much it Really Costs to Live in Washington.” The article appears in the November 2014 issue. Moon teaches American consumerism as part of the American Studies program.