Three UMW faculty participated in the recent Virginia Humanities Conference at Christopher Newport University on Friday, March 16. Professor of Art History Joseph Dreiss presented a paper, “The Landscape Interventions of Any Goldsworthy,” while Associate Professor of English Danny Tweedy delivered a paper entitled, “Faith and Ecology: Spirituality versus Eco-collapse in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Mary Beth Mathews, associate professor of religion, served as UMW’s delegate to the VHC.
Margaret Ray Receives M.Ed.
Margaret Ray, professor of economics and director of the Center for Economic Education, recently received a M.Ed. from UMW. Ray previously earned a Ph.D. (1988) in economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, an M.A. (1985) in economics from Western Illinois University, and a B.S. (1984) in economics with a minor in agriculture from Oklahoma State University.
John Broome Co-Authors Social Studies Research Book Chapter
John P. Broome, assistant professor in curriculum & instruction and director of secondary education and preK-12 education programs in the College of Education, has co-authored a book chapter entitled, “Three States: A Comparison Across Diverse Policy Contexts” to be published in Research on the Status of Social Studies: Views from the Field by Information Age Publishing in Summer 2013.
Since 2008, Broome has served on a national research team studying the state of social studies education in the United States. The first study of its kind, this 50-state survey-based research sampled K-12 social studies educators in America. Research on the Status of Social Studies: Views from the Field focuses on the impact of high-stakes standards, use of instructional time, methods of instruction and assessment and application of technology in U.S. K-12 social studies classrooms. The book is divided into six parts: I. Foundations, II. Types of Schools; III. Curricular Emphases; IV. Teaching Strategies; V. Professional Issues, and; VI. What It All Means
Collaborating with Dr. Gayle Y. Thieman (Portland State University), Dr. Joseph E. O’Brien (University of Kansas), Dr. Thomas Barker (University of Kansas) and Dr. Patrice Preston-Grimes (University of Virginia), Broome co-authored a chapter comparing K-12 social studies practices of three states: Kansas, Oregon and Virginia.
An abstract of “Three States: A Comparison Across Diverse Policy Contexts” is included below.
Much of the recent data on the state of social studies teaching has focused on the impact of NCLB on the decline of instructional time in elementary classrooms, though little is known about what occurs during instruction. To address this concern the Survey on the Status of Social Studies (S4) asked K-12 teachers to report on the current status of their social studies curriculum and instructional practices. The survey investigated the impact of mandated testing, social studies curriculum goals and concepts, and teachers’ instructional strategies in the classroom. This chapter analyzed the findings from three states (Kansas, Oregon, and Virginia) and compared the results to data from the national survey. Our analysis addressed four questions: 1) How much instructional time is devoted to social studies in elementary and secondary classrooms and how has mandated testing influenced the time available? 2) How often and in what types of instructional activities are students engaged? 3) What are the major goals and key concepts of the social studies curriculum? 4) How do the three states compare to each other and to the national findings?
The co-principal investigator for the Virgina study, Broome continues to examine the status of social studies education in our state. This past year he conducted an explanatory mixed-method study by convening focus groups with K-5 Virginia social studies educators throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. As he develops manuscripts on this work, Broome’s research is being used to inform school-, district- and state-level policy and instructional decisions around the Commonwealth.
Eric Lorentzen Lectures at University of Connecticut
Eric Lorentzen, associate professor of English, gave an invited lecture at the University of Connecticut on Wednesday, March 20 entitled “‘The Catechizing Infection’: Subverting Dangerous Pedagogy in the Novels of Austen, Dickens, and Charlotte Brontë.“
Gary Richards Facilitates Event at Literary Festival
Gary Richards
Gary Richards, associate professor and chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, was a participant at the 27th Annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival in New Orleans. He was the facilitator of the Breakfast Book Club, one of the Festival’s special events. This year, the focus was on the short stories of Southern writer Eudora Welty.
Elizabeth Larus Presents at International Conference
Elizabeth Larus, professor of political science and international affairs, presented a paper, “Technological Change and China’s Naval Modernization: Security Implications for Taiwan,” at an international conference on Cross-Strait Relations in an Era of Technological Change on Tuesday, March 5. The conference was organized by St. Antony’s College, Oxford University (UK).
Jim Groom Keynotes OSU’s Ed Tech Conference
Image credit: innovateOSU “Jim Groom Keynote”
Jim Groom delivered the keynote presentation at Ohio State University’s fourth annual educational technology conference, innovateOSU, titled “Domain of One’s Own: Open Educational Experiences.” The presentation shared the work that has been happening at UMW over the past eight years, chronicling the fruits of DTLT‘s experimentations with commodity web hosting which led to innovative projects such as UMW Blogs, Digital Storytelling (ds106), and most recently Domain of One’s Own. You can see the slides for this presentation here. To see an archived video of the live presentation click here.
Nabil Al-Tikriti Participates in NGO Field Associative Debate
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 South Sudan, in Juba on 1-2 March.
This year’s FAD topic covered arguments in favor of and against the utilization of “remote control” management in constricted relief contexts, whereby international staff avoid direct presence and leave local operations to national staff — in its extreme form, a sort of humanitarian sub-contracting. After debating this year’s topic, staff members then presented recommendations and motions for consideration by the MSF International General Assembly. After the FAD was completed, Prof. Al-Tikriti conducted a brief field visit to MSF’s child and maternity hospital intervention in Aweil, South Sudan. Upon his return, he completed a thought piece on his experience for internal review.
A brief video produced to commemorate this year’s South Sudan FAD can be accessed here:
Zach Whalen Presents Paper at the Society for Textual Scholarship
Zach Whalen, Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Linguistics and Communication, presented a paper at the recent Society for Textual Scholarship hosted by Loyola University Chicago. The paper, “Videogame Typography and its Antecedents” developed used a reading of alphanumeric characters in videogames as a hermeneutic for thinking about how videogames express meaning.
Brian Baker Selected as Judge for William James Foundation Business Plan Contest
Brian Baker, Executive Director for Entrepreneurship at the University of Mary Washington Center for Economic Development ,was selected as a business plan judge for the second year by the William James Foundation. The William James Foundation has managed business plan competitions during the last decade that support for-profit businesses that integrate social and/or environmental values into how they make money. $150,000 will be divided among the business owners with the best proposals. Baker will provide guidance and evaluations to companies in both the concept and finalist rounds.