At the recent convention of the American Psychological Association (APA), Dr. Mindy Erchull was formally recognized as a fellow of APA. Members of APA can be named fellows if they have developed a body of work that has been determined to have had a national impact on the field of psychology.
Patricia Orozco Presents at Conference
On June 20, 2013, Patricia Orozco, lecturer in Modern Languages and Literatures, offered a presentation entitled “Artistic Motivation in Gloria” at the X Congreso Internacional Galdosiano (X Galdosian International Conference), Galdós, Principles of an Era: celebrating 150 years of the arrival of Benito Pérez Galdós to Madrid in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. This conference, celebrated every four years, brings together galdosian scholars to share their research on the works of Benito Pérez Galdós and XIX c. peninsular studies. Dr. Orozco presented part of her research on the theme of the ‘foreigner’ in the works of Galdós and chaired the session titled “Principles of Galdosian Writing”. Approved peer reviewed proceedings of the conference are expected to be published in the coming months. This conference was hosted by the Casa de Colón and Casa-Museo Pérez Galdós.
Srivastava Researches Marine Corps Historic Half Economic Impact
Mukesh Srivastava recently produced an economic impact report detailing how the Marine Corps Historic Half affected the local economy. Srivastava surveyed runners, vendors, organizers and sponsors on their spending habits during the event, including items like shopping, restaurants, gas and lodging. According to his survey, roughly 19,000 people visited Fredericksburg for the sixth historic half and they spent approximately $8.7 million. The University of Mary Washington was one of the sponsors of the marathon.
For more details, read about the survey in the Free Lance-Star:
http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2013/08/06/race-pumps-up-hearts-economy/
O’Donnell Interview on Virginia Public Radio
Timothy O’Donnell’s “With Good Reason” interview about historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is re-airing on Virginia public radio stations later this month. It will air as part of a larger show from Saturday, Aug. 17 through Friday, Aug. 23 at the dates and times listed here: http://withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen/.
Domain of One’s Own Project and DTLT Featured in Center for Digital Education
The Domain of One’s Own project, an initiative being run at the University of Mary Washington by the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies, was featured in the Center for Digital Education in an article by Tanya Roscorla. The article notes the unique nature of the program amongst peer institutions across the nation, as well as the profound need for such a program to exist. The Domain of One’s Own project successfully ran a pilot with over 400 students and faculty, and will open fully to the incoming freshman class this fall.
Farnsworth Coauthors Research Article
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, is coauthor of a research article entitled, “An Extended Presidential Honeymoon? Coverage of Barack Obama in the New York Times during 2009 and 2010,” which was published in the current issue of Politics & Policy, a refereed academic journal.
Farnsworth has also been interviewed by many area news outlets over recent political developments in Virginia, including WJLA-TV and WTOP-FM in Washington and WRVA-AM in Richmond.
Chris Foss Publishes Review
Chris Foss, professor of English, published “Toward a Transcontinental (or, InterEurasian) Canon,” a review of a set of companion texts by Mary Ellis Gibson–her scholarly monograph Indian Angles: English Verse in Colonial India from Jones to Tagore and her critical anthology Anglophone Poetry in Colonial India, 1780-1913–in the July 2013 number of English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920. Now in its 56th year, ELT is one of the most established venues for scholarly work on literature from the late Victorian, Edwardian, and early Modernist periods.
Janine Davis Publishes Commentary in Teachers College Record
Janine Davis, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, has published a commentary in the Teachers College Record. The article, “Defining/Undermining True Professionalism for our Times: Two Competing Narratives,” looks at the ways that teacher educators prepare students for practicum experiences.
Nabil Al-Tikriti Leads Plenary Session on Health Care Under Fire
In his capacity as a board member of MSF / Doctors Without Borders USA, on June 14 Nabil Al-Tikriti co-organized, moderated, and led discussion during a plenary session entitled “Health Care Under Fire” during the 2013 MSF USA General Assembly in New York City. During this session, participants set out to “share some of MSF’s direct field experiences of the risks and dangers associated with healthcare delivery in insecure contexts, and, most importantly, to reflect on the impact such violence has on the disruption of medical services.” The forum served to launch a fresh initiative within the MSF movement entitled “Medical Care Under Fire” designed to engage with this issue globally. The new initiative follows a similar initiative launched by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 2011, and is partially in cooperation with that colleague agency.
Session panelists included: Mark Steinbeck (Medical Advisor and Delegate for ICRC at its Regional Delegation in Washington, DC), Joe Amon (Director, Health and Human Rights Division, Human Rights Watch), Francoise Duroch (Manager, Medical Care Under Fire project, MSF International), and Jason Cone (Director of Communications, MSF USA).
The session description was as follows: “Violence or the threat of violence against patients, health care personnel and health care structures is increasingly recognized as a potential barrier to our ability to deliver quality health care in highly unstable contexts. Our staff or our patients may be the direct victims of these attacks, but the indirect victims are all the people and communities who, as a consequence of these attacks, can no longer access health services. Health care can be suspended, withdrawn, or rendered impossible by violent events. Wounded and sick people can be denied effective health care when hospitals are damaged by explosive weapons or violated by fighters, when ambulances are hijacked and when health-care personnel are threatened, kidnapped, injured or killed…”
For an extended interview on this issue by Francoise Duroch, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyBNafxzF7w&feature=share
Prior to leading this session, Prof. Al-Tikriti served for several weeks this spring as Deputy Head of Mission for MSF France’s Syria relief operations, which entailed three brief visits into the conflict region. At this point, he grappled firsthand with many of the issues intended to be addressed by MSF’s new initiative in this direction.
Ranjit Singh Coauthors Article
Ranjit Singh, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, coauthored with U.S. Navy Commander Youssef Aboul Enein an article titled “After Checkmate: The Use and Limits of the Chess Analogy Regarding Syria,” which appeared in the Small Wars Journal. The article examines frequent assumptions in the use of the chess analogy to describe the risks and benefits of intervention in Syria, and cultural differences in how the game is played. The article germinated from discussions that followed Dr. Singh’s formal lecture on “Political Islam and the Arab Spring,” delivered in May as part of the ongoing National Security Lecture series hosted at UMW’s Dahlgren campus.