Charles J. Shields, associate director of the Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series, is featured in the Monday, Dec. 12 edition of The Washington Post. The article, “Charles J. Shields’s ‘And So It Goes’: Excellent Biography of Kurt Vonnegut,” is a review of Shields’ book, “And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life.”
Nabil Al-Tikriti Presents at MESA Conference
On December 2, Associate Professor of Middle East History Nabil Al-Tikriti presented a paper entitled “Ibn-i Kemal’s Confessionalism and the Construction of an ‘Ottoman Islam'” at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Conference in Washington, D.C.
Jack Bales’ Exhibit Featured in the Chicago Cubs’ Magazine
Jack Bales, reference and humanities librarian, wrote a letter to the editor that is featured in the December 2011 issue of Vine Line, the official magazine of the Chicago Cubs. The letter discusses the exhibit, “Before They Were Loveable Losers: The Pennant-Winning Chicago Cubs,” that has been on display in the Simpson Library since September, and includes two images of the exhibit. The exhibit will remain up until December 16.
Anne Timpano’s Art Appeared in European Newspaper
Artwork by Anne Timpano, director of UMW Galleries, was featured in an article that appeared in the November 13-19 issue of New Europe, a weekly European newspaper that is based in Brussels and circulates to 49 countries.
The article discussed selected work from the current exhibition “Coming Out of the Closet: Clothing Art as an Emergent Form” at the Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee, Fla. Timpano’s work was among the selected work discussed and her mixed media paper doll, “Venus as Fiona Fashion,” was one of the pieces from the exhibition illustrated in the article.
Keith Mellinger Published in “Discrete Mathematics”
Keith Mellinger, associate professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics, had his article “Spreads, arcs, and multiple wavelength codes” published in the journal Discrete Mathematics. In addition, he presented the talk “Blocking Semiovals and Cryptology” as an invited speaker at the Combinatorics, Algebra and Geometry Seminar at George Mason University in November.
Mathematics Students Present at Regional Meeting
Three UMW students presented results of their research projects at the fall regional meeting of the Mathematical Association of America held at Christopher Newport University in November. Catherine O’Doherty presented “Explanation of the Matrix Exponential,” a work based on her project under the direction of Dr. Julius Esunge. Ryan Vaughn’s presentation, titled “On the Contractibility of Finite coH-Spaces” extends his work with Dr. Randall Helmstutler which began during the Summer Science Institute of 2011. Finally, Kelly Scott presented “Anti-Blocking Sets” based on her honors project currently in progress under the direction of Dr. Keith Mellinger.
Julius Esunge Published in “Communications on Stochastic Analysis”
Julius Esunge, assistant professor of mathematics, had his article “Density Dependent Utilities with Transaction Costs” published in the December issue of the journal Communications on Stochastic Analysis.
Leo Lee Publishes Two Articles
Leo Lee, assistant professor of mathematics, published two articles this fall. His article “Error Estimates of Stochastic Optimal Neumann Boundary Control Problems” appeared in the SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis (http://epubs.siam.org/sinum/resource/1/sjnaam/v49/i4/p1532_s1?isAuthorized=no).
Dr. Lee’s second article, “Finite Element Approximations of Stochastic Optimal Control Problems Constrained by Stochastic Elliptic PDEs,” appeared in the Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022247X10006062).
Holly Schiffrin to be Featured on Public Radio Program
Holly Schiffrin, associate professor of psychology, discusses how lifestyle changes brought on by the recession might be better for one’s well-being during an interview on the “With Good Reason” public radio program. The interview originally aired in January 2011 on public radio stations across Virginia.
Her interview will be re-aired during the week of December 24 and is available online at http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2011/12/the-end-of-obesit/.
Claudia Emerson to Release New Collection
Claudia Emerson’s latest collection of poetry Secure the Shadow will be released in February 2012 by Louisiana State University Press. The collection contains historical pieces as well as poems centering on the deaths of the poet’s brother and father.
Emerson’s five books include “Late Wife,” winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and most recently, “Figure Studies.” Emerson has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Library of Congress and the Guggenheim Foundation. Former poet laureate of Virginia, she holds the Arrington Distinguished Chair in Poetry at UMW.