A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
University of Mary Washington Museums Executive Director Scott Harris
Executive Director of University Museums Scott Harris spoke on the Town Talk radio show about the activities and events Gari Melchers Home and Studio and the James Monroe Museum have to offer. Listen to the segment.
Communication and Digital Studies Adjunct Instructor Danielle Hartman
Communication and Digital Studies Adjunct Instructor Danielle Hartman’s article with co-authors was published in Text & Presentation this spring. “Including the Excluded: Dramatizing Historical Struggle Narratives Reveals Science’s Hidden Figures” discusses using plays about science to increase diversity within theatre and the STEM fields.
Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus Bill Crawley
Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus William Crawley wrote an article titled “UMW: History on the Hill – The new college on the heights,” which ran in The Free Lance-Star. The article began: “Generations of Mary Washington students have begun and ended their collegiate careers singing praise to the school that was, in the words of the alma mater, ‘born in truth and honor.’ ” The piece was the first installment of a new occasional series on the University of Mary Washington that will revisit milestone moments and notable happenings throughout the school’s 115-year history, as well as offer commentary on ways in which the institution has influenced and shaped Fredericksburg and its environs. Read the column.
In April 2023, Middle East Report [MERIP] Issue #306, “The State of Iraq: 20 Years After the Invasion,” was officially published. UMW Professor of Middle Eastern History Nabil Al-Tikriti joined the team of developers and editors who invited contributors and edited content for the issue, available online.
The Issue Development Team (IDT) consisted of Profs. Nabil Al-Tikriti, Lisa Hajjar of UC-Santa Barbara, Shamiran Mako of Boston University, and Marsin Alshamary of the Brookings Institution. Marya Hannun is MERIP’s managing editor and oversaw the overall editorial process.
Press Release: “MER issue 306, The State of Iraq—20 Years After the Invasion, begins with the assertion that the anniversary is not a single event but part of an ongoing story. At the center are “the state of Iraq” and the reality in which Iraqis live today. The contributions analyze state-society relations, untangle political dynamics and follow flows of capital and power as they lay bare the enduring legacy of the 2003 invasion, occupation and “reconstruction.” With chilling precision, pieces explore the social, political, economic, cultural, spatial and environmental landscape of today’s Iraq. They make clear the structural effects of war as well as its human toll. At the same time, the essays invite readers to look toward the future, with hope and caution. This issue also marks the beginning of a collaboration between MERIP and Jummar, an independent Iraqi media initiative whose work promotes new voices from Iraq and brings English-language knowledge of Iraq into Arabic. Jummar has translated articles from the issue, and Jummar’s designer, the Baghdad-based visual artist Atef Al Jaffal, designed the cover: Iraq’s Crying Child. ”
In addition to participating on the IDT, on April 4 Al-Tikriti joined with Profs. Hajjar, Mako, Alshamary, and Dr. Haider Ala Hamoudi of the University of Pittsburgh Law School to discuss the issue’s findings at a Boston University sponsored webinar:
Contributions to the issue included: Fanar Haddad, “Perpetual Protest and the Failure of the Post-2003 Iraqi State,” Zahra Ali, “Iraqi Women’s Activism — 20 Years After the US Invasion,” Zeinab Shukur, “Water, Oil, and Iraq’s Climate Future,” Hamzeh Hadad, “Two Decades of Uneven Federalism in Iraq,” Bilal Wahab, “The Rise and Fall of Kurdish Power in Iraq,” Renad Mansour, “The Political Logic Behind Iraq’s Fragmented Armed Forces,” and Hannibal Travis, “Perspective — Recognizing and Repairing the Harm to Iraq’s Minority Communities.” The issue also includes “Interview — The Past, Present, and Future of Iraq’s Cultural Heritage” with Mark Altaweel, Jaafar Jotheri, and Hannah Parsons-Morgan.
Dr. Al-Tikriti thanks everyone involved in the completion and publication of this MERIP issue, which marks the end of his six year term serving on MERIP’s Editorial Committee. In the course of those six years, Dr. Al-Tikriti served on five Issue Development Teams.
Middle East Report is published by the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), a progressive, independent organization. Since 1971 MERIP has provided critical analysis of the Middle East, focusing on political economy, popular struggles and the implications of U.S. foreign policy for the region.
Associate Professor of Communication Elizabeth Johnson-Young
Associate Professor of Communication Elizabeth Johnson-Young presented her paper, “Birth, Trauma, and Communicating Maternal Health” at the annual conference of the Eastern Communication Association in Baltimore, Maryland. The paper was presented during a panel hosted by the Health Communication division focused on maternal and reproductive health. The paper focused on birth choices, experiences, and perceptions of traumatic or challenging birth experiences. Maternal and postpartum health is a topic of importance in the United States, given increasing maternal mortality rates (MacDorman, Declercg, Cabral, & Morton, 2016), recognition of factors involved in postpartum depression and anxiety, and increasing rates of inductions and cesarean births (c-sections) despite the risks that come with them (Betran et al., 2018; Sandall et al., 2018). Birth trauma and psychological responses to birth trauma most often refer to situations in which the mother’s or child’s life is put at risk (i.e. NIH, 2013); however, a simple search on social and popular media reveals a host of other experiences women may have that they define as traumatic, the consequences of which can impact their mental health, who they trust when it comes to their maternal healthcare, and future decisions regarding birth. The project addressed the research question: What communication choices and strategies do women use after a negative birth experience? Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews of women who personally define their birth experience as difficult or traumatic, the paper discussed the potential consequences of listening, language, and support.
Assistant Professor of Communication Adria Goldman, and Professor of Communication and Communication and Digital Studies Department Chair Anand Rao also presented at the conference on March 30, 2023. Their panel, Collaborative Team-Based and Experiential Learning as a Path to Student Innovation in Communication, which included Johnson-Young, explored examples and lessons from team-based collaborative learning experiences from multiple institutions. During the interactive discussion, panel members brought expertise from their classrooms and roles in their school that demonstrated purposeful collaborative learning. In each of the cases, a focus on student engagement with one another and the outside community was key, as students learned to situate themselves as communication scholars and practitioners. UMW presenters shared examples and ideas from Visual Rhetoric, Senior Seminar in Digital Rhetoric, and Small Group Communication. Panel members from other institutes presented projects from courses such as Public Relations and Game Design.
Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies Stephen Farnsworth
The Eastern Communication Association has recognized Stephen Farnsworth, professor of Political Science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, for outstanding research at its recent conference in Baltimore. Professor Farnsworth’s award-winning research paper, “Political Consequences of Late-Night Humor: Learning about Politics Via Political Comedy,” was named a best research paper in political communication at the regional conference. The paper will be part of Professor Farnsworth’s upcoming co-authored book, Late Night in Washington: Political Humor and the American Presidency, which is under contract to Routledge.
Backlash Over Expulsion of Tennessee Democrats (CTV News)
Professor of Classics, Philosophy and Religion Angela Pitts
Professor of Classics Angela L. Pitts spoke at the annual Eta Sigma Phi lecture on Wednesday, April 12, in Lee Hall. Eta Sigma Phi is the national collegiate honor society for students of Greek and Latin.
Pitts delivered a talk on women’s writings of ancient Greece titled “Surviving Loss: Women’s Writings of Ancient Greece and the Distaff of Erinna.” The lecture was followed by a reception and celebration of the publication of Pitts’ recent book, Ancient Women Writers of Greece and Rome, which she co-authored with Bart Natoli and Judith Hallett. Earlier this month, their book, published by Routledge, received the Bolchazy Pedagogy Award at the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, held in Provo, Utah.
Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus
Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus has contributed to several recent news features, including:
Professor of Communication Anand Rao co-authored and co-edited a new book, Chat(GPT): Navigating the Impact of Generative AI Technologies on Educational Theory and Practice, with a host of other authors and three other editors. The book, in which educators discuss ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools, was published by Pedagogy Ventures and is listed as the No. 1 new release in Curricula and in the Top 10 for Educational Professional Development. It includes 38 chapters and essays, 14 appendixes and more than 600 pages. The authors’ goal is to help prepare educators for fall 2023 as AI is most likely to continue to disrupt and transform education at all levels. Read more.
Associate Professor of Marketing Kashef Majid
Associate Professor of Marketing Kashef Majid spoke to The Atlantic for an article titled “A Classic American Car Is Having an Identity Crisis.” Ford’s electric Mustang, the Mach-E, is attracting an unusual bunch of drivers. “Nowadays when a Mustang pulls up you just have no idea who’s coming out of that car,” said Kashef Majid, a marketing expert at the University of Mary Washington. Read more.