July 4, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Stephen Farnsworth Named President-Elect of Pi Sigma Alpha

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Stephen Farnsworth

Stephen Farnsworth

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the university’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, has been named President-Elect of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society. Nine UMW students have won national writing awards from the 600-chapter honor society, more than any other university in the nation. More than half of those UMW students were recognized for papers written in Farnsworth’s Research and Writing class or for honors projects that he directed. Farnsworth has served for eight years as a member of the honor society’s national executive council.

Robert Rycroft Speaks at Workshop

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Rycroft, Robert06Robert Rycroft, professor of economics, will speak at “The Changing Face of Philanthropy” workshop on Thursday, Jan. 24. The workshop, presented by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads, will explore new fundraising techniques and strategies as well as ways to engage the newest generation of philanthropists. The workshop will take place at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach from 10 a.m. to noon and at the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center in Newport News from 3 to 5 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.culturalli.org/changefacephil.html.

UMW Writing Center Receives Awards

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Gwendolyn Hale

Gwendolyn Hale

Gwendolyn Hale, Writing Center Director and Writing Program Director, and junior Ethan Bottone received the Southeastern Writing Center Association’s Christine Cozzens Research Grant and Initiative Award. They received the award for their project “Virginia is for Writers,” which is designed to begin multiple high school-university writing center collaborations throughout the state. Bottone is a geography and biology double major and a peer tutor at the Writing Center at the Fredericksburg campus.

Jennifer Henderson, a 1994 UMW alumna and a professional tutor in the Writing Center at the Stafford campus, is the recipient of the 2013 SWCA Professional Tutor Award.

Mark Snyder’s Harvey featured on RTQE

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MS_Rice_Dryer2-300x273Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder’s multimedia work Harvey was featured on RTQE, (Remember those Quiet Evenings), a Sunday evening program of electronic, experimental, classical, and improvised conduct for survivors or the 20th century hosted by Gregory Taylor which has aired since 1986 on Sunday evenings on WORT-FM in Madison, Wisconsin.

Patricia Reynolds to Present Research

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Patricia Reynolds

Patricia Reynolds

Patricia E. Reynolds, assistant professor in the College of Education, and Caroline Noxon, a 2012 M.Ed. graduate, will present at the Virginia ESL Supervisors Conference on Saturday, Feb. 2 in Richmond.

The presentation, “‘You Can’t Talk To Me Like That’: Origins and Attitudes of Elementary Classroom Teachers about Bilingual Code Switching,” is based on Noxon’s research for her master’s thesis.

Reynolds has been invited to present her doctoral research, “Learning the Ropes: Children Crossing Cultures,” at the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language meeting in Liverpool, U.K. in April 2013.

William Crawley Appears on WFVA Talk Show, 1/20

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William Crawley

William Crawley

William B. Crawley, Jr., professor of history emeritus and director of the Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series, will appear on WFVA’s talk show “Community Link” on Sunday, Jan. 20. The interview will air at 8 a.m. on 1230 AM or online at http://www.wfvaradio.com/Community-Link/11021682.

In the interview, Crawley discusses the upcoming season of the Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series and explains how the series has evolved over its 10-year history.

Stephen Farnsworth Co-Authors Book Chapter

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Stephen Farnsworth

Stephen Farnsworth

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the university’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, is co-author of a book chapter, “Mass Media and Policymaking,” published in the Routledge Handbook of Public Policy. The chapter grew out of a research project that originated during Farnsworth’s time as a Canada-US Fulbright Scholar at McGill University in Montreal.

Mehdi Aminrazavi Publishes Chapter Article

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Aminrazavi,Mehdi12Mehdi Aminrazavi, professor of philosophy and religion has published the following chapter article :

Mehdi Aminrazavi, “Nasir-i Khusraw’s Poetics of the Moral Journey and the Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals,” in Pearls of Persia: The Philosophical Poetry of Nasir-i Khusraw, Ed. by Alice C. Hunsberger.  London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2012. pp.91-102.

Robert McConnell Publishes Textbook

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McConnell, Robert01Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science and Geology Robert L. McConnell’s textbook “Environmental Issues–Looking Towards a Sustainable Future, 4th edition,” was published in December 2012. The textbook, published by Pearson, is co-authored with Daniel Abel at Coastal Carolina University.