Courtney Clayton, Assistant Professor of Education, has published a chapter in the SAGE Research Methods Cases handbook. Her chapter focuses on how to use Constructivist Grounded Theory in Qualitative Research. SAGE Research Methods Cases is a collection of case studies of real social research, specially commissioned and designed to help students and researchers understand abstract methodological concepts in practice.
Sellers Presents at MCEAS Conference
Jason Sellers, assistant professor of History and American Studies, presented a paper at “From Conquest to Identity: New Jersey and the Middle Colonies in the Seventeenth Century,” a conference held in Trenton, N.J. March 27-28, sponsored by the New Jersey Council on the Humanities and the McNeil Center for Early American Studies. Sellers’s paper, “Creating Histories and Recovering Autonomy in the Hudson Valley,” was part of a panel considering the memories and legacies of England’s 1664 conquest of New Netherlands.
Rafferty Publishes Essay, Moderates Panel
Colin Rafferty, Assistant Professor of English, recently published an essay “This Day in History,” which appears in the newest issue of the literary journal Sou’wester.
He also moderated the panel “Organizing the Truth: Building the Nonfiction Canon” on Friday, February 28, 2014, at the annual conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs in Seattle, Washington. The largest literary conference in North America, AWP celebrates the authors, teachers, students, writing programs, literary centers, and publishers of that region and saw more than 13,000 writers and readers in attendance this year.
C-SPAN College Classroom
Several students in Professor Stephen Farnsworth’s political science classes and UMW honors students participated in the C-SPAN college classroom program and met with recent UMW political science graduates during a day-long program in Washington, D.C., on March 31. The C-SPAN program, which included a conversation about presidents and the mass media with UMW students and those at other universities, is scheduled to air on CSPAN3 at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 4.
Smith Speaks at Preservation Symposium
Andréa Livi Smith, assistant professor and director of the Center for Historic Preservation, gave an invited talk at the Directions in Twenty-First Century Preservation Symposium. The symposium was organized by Historic New England and hosted by Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI on March 29. The national audience included students from over a dozen institutions was well as professionals and researchers. Smith’s talk, entitled “Don’t be That Guy,” discussed the importance of garnering and maintaining allies in the process of preservation.
Barrenechea Contributes to Decennial “State of the Discipline” Report
Antonio Barrenechea
Antonio Barrenechea, Associate Professor of English, recently published a peer-reviewed entry that forms part of the decennial “state of the discipline” report of the Comparative American Literature Association. His contribution on “American Literature” as a hemispheric (rather than nation-centered) object of study is part of the online section on the “Ideas of the Decade”: http://stateofthediscipline.acla.org/entry/american-literature.
Richards Presents at Southern Literary Festival, Conference
Gary Richards, Associate Professor of English, was the scholar facilitator of the Breakfast Book Club’s discussion of The Glass Menagerie at the 28th Annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival held in New Orleans March 19-23. He also presented the paper “It’s Gonna Cost You More than Supper: Mapping Gay Desire in Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carre” at “Other Souths: Approaches, Allainces, Antagonisms,” the Society for the Study of Southern Literature biennial conference held in Arlington March 27-29.
Sanford Participates at Regional Archaeological Conference
Doug Sanford, Professor in the Department of Historic Preservation, held multiple roles at the March 2014 meeting of the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference (MAAC) in Langhorne, Pa. Sanford was an invited participant in the workshop entitled “Boot Camp for Teaching Undergraduate Archaeology: Lessons from the Middle Atlantic,” involving over a dozen faculty members from private and public colleges and universities. For this open forum discussion, Sanford made a presentation on “Teaching Archaeology in an Interdisciplinary Environment: Anthropology, Archaeology, and Historic Preservation.” Besides accompanying four Mary Washington students, Sanford also served as a judge for the conference’s graduate student paper competition and was elected to the position of President-Elect of the MAAC for the next two years.
UMW Microsite Wins CASE Awards
The UMW Digital Communications office was recently honored to receive three awards for the Admissions microsite, “World Ready,” from the Education Digital Marketing Awards and CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) District III.
The UMW entry in the Education Digital Marketing Awards competition (by the Higher Education Marketing Report) garnered both a Gold Award and a Bronze Award for the “Microsite” and “Admissions Website or Microsite,” categories respectively. These are national awards in a competition that “recognizes the best educational websites, digital content, electronic communications, mobile media and social media.”
The CASE District III award is a Special Merit Award in the category of “Electronic and Digital Media: Recruitment Website or Microsite.” The competition includes institutions in the southeastern states.
These awards represent a validation of the new, collaborative direction with the web and marketing at UMW. This project was the result of a successful team effort between Digital Communication, Marketing, the editorial staff, and Admissions.
Myers and COE Students Attend Teachers of Promise
Pictured from left to right are Nicole Myers, Ciara Norquist, Kathleen Wallace, Karissa Herrick, Mariela DeMaio and Gabrielle Kuhn.
This weekend, Dr. Nicole Myers and five UMW students from the College of Education: Gabrielle Kuhn, Ciara Norquist, Kathleen Wallace, Karissa Herrick, and Mariela DeMaio attended the Teachers of Promise (TOP) Institute in Richmond. These students were chosen by the COE faculty as exemplary teacher candidates. The TOP Institute celebrates the decision to teach, elevates the teaching profession to the status we believe it deserves, and activates all of us to make a difference in public school education. UMW students participated in a variety of activities, including an evening Gala where they participated in a pinning ceremony, attending workshops and presentations, and connecting with mentor teachers. Three UMW students won prizes at the events which included gift cards and teaching resources. At the Gala, each Teacher of Promise connected with their mentor and received a card from a public school student providing them with advice and encouragement as they begin their upcoming first year of teaching.