Category: Professional Notes

John P. Broome, assistant professor in curriculum & instruction and director of secondary education and preK-12 education in the College of Education, will be presenting his paper, “Approaching The Civic Mission of Schools: Examining Civic Engagement in an Alternative Learning Environment” at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, California in April 2013.

The American Educational Research Association is the most prominent international professional organization, with the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application. Its more than 25,000 members are educators; administrators; directors of research; persons working with testing or evaluation in federal, state and local agencies; counselors; evaluators; graduate students; and behavioral scientists. The broad range of disciplines represented by the membership includes education, psychology, statistics, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and political science.

I am pleased to announce that Hall Cheshire has been named Acting Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the University of Mary Washington effective immediately.  Hall has agreed to lead the Department of Information Technology during the interim period while a search for a permanent CIO is carried out.  The search for a permanent CIO will take place during the first few months of 2013 and we expect to have someone in place by June 30, 2013.

Hall is a very experienced IT professional who also carries the title of Executive Director, Enterprise Information Services at UMW.  He has served UMW since 2009.  His willingness to accept these additional duties and responsibilities is appreciated by all of us.

— Richard R. Pearce, Vice President for Administration and Finance and CFO

Professor of Psychology Christopher Kilmartin spoke to an audience of more than 1,300 as the keynote speaker at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Psychology diploma ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 8. The ceremony honored psychology graduates from August through December.

In his speech, Kilmartin encouraged graduates to embrace the uncertainties of the future, while remaining confident in their abilities.

“Create the voice that says, ‘I hope this is the worst thing that ever happens to you.’ Learn from your disappointments, but learn that you can survive them,” he said.

Kilmartin received a master’s and a doctorate in counseling psychology from VCU.

Assistant Professor of English Colin Rafferty’s essay “Reflections from Virginia: Signifying a Hospital” appeared in the Used Furniture Review as part of the literary magazine’s post-election coverage. Rafferty’s essay “Albums of Our Lives: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’” appeared in The Rumpus. His short story, “Wake Up, Doctor West: An Essayistic Exploration of a Possible Alternate History of Kanye West and African-American Musicology (in Three Acts),” is forthcoming in the anthology “#GOODLitSwerveAutumn: An Anthology of Independent Literature about Kanye West,” published by NAP Literary Magazine.

Professor of English and Creative Writing Coordinator Warren Rochelle’s story “The Boy on McGee Street” was recently published in Queer Fish, Volume 2 (Pink Narcissus Press).

Visiting Assistant Professor of English Elizabeth Wade’s poem, “Selling the Saddle,” which was originally published in Cave Wall, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Arrington Distinguished Chair Claudia Emerson’s book, “The Opposite House,” has been accepted for publication by LSU Press.

Writing Center Assistant Amanda Rutstein’s poem “Chasing the Hawk,” will be published in fall 2012 issue of The Greensboro Review.

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the university’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, delivered a co-authored research paper,  “An Extended Presidential Honeymoon? Coverage of Barack Obama in The New York Times During 2009 and 2010,” at this year’s meeting of the Northeastern Political Science Association in Boston.