Category: Professional Notes

On Sunday, September 30, Professor of Art and Art History Joseph Dreiss presented a paper at the 26th Annual Meeting of the 
Society for Literature, Science and the Arts (SLSA)

which was held in Milwaukee, Wis. The paper, “Direct Encounters with Nonhuman Nature: The Landscape Interventions of Andy Goldsworthy,” was presented as part of the Arts and Ecologies session. Fellow panelist and presenters were Elizabeth Kessler, Stanford University, who presented on “Alignments: Earthworks, Astronomy, and Instrumentality” and  Christine Filippone, University of Pennsylvania, who presented on “The Human Use of Human Beings?: Feminism and Systems Theory in Public Sculpture and Ecological Art.”

The Society for Literature, Science and the Arts is an interdisciplinary society devoted to the study of the interrelationship and dialogue between the science, engineering, technology and the arts.

Susan Knick, director of scheduling and events, was named the first recipient of Leadership Fredericksburg’s Joseph H. Dangler Leadership Visionary Award. Knick, a 2009 graduate of the Leadership Fredericksburg program, received the award during a ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 3. The award goes to a graduate of Leadership Fredericksburg who has been a top community leader.

James Goehring, professor of religion, presented an invited plenary address on “Recent Research in Egyptian Monasticism (2008-2012)” at the Tenth International Congress of Coptic Studies in Rome from Sept. 17 to 22.

Gwen Hale, director of the Writing Center and Writing Program, presented at the Popular/American Cultural Association in the South (PCAS/ACAS) conference in Nashville, Tenn. Several tutors in the Writing Center also presented at the conference from Sept. 27 to 30. Hale presented “Making Room: Using Technology, Social Media, and Old Fashioned Ingenuity in Writing Centers to Serve the Influx of University Students with Varying Skill Sets, Educational Needs, and Social Backgrounds.”

Carly Boucher presented “Bridging the Gap of Different Englishes in American Universities,” Connie Dowell presented “Just a Blog Post?: Writing Centers and 21st Century Composition,” Sarah Foote presented “Voice is Choice!: The Importance of Finding and Teaching Voice in Writing,” Nicollo Madden presented “Pop Music as a Learning Devive for those with Autism” and Zehra Yousofi presented “Brawny: It’s More than Just a Paper Towel.”

“Aside from delivering amazing presentations, several of the UMW students were approached  by scholars from other universities. Zehra Yousofi was approached about applying for a graduate program at the University of Kentucky. Further, she was approached about publishing the paper she presented at the conference. Next, Nicollo Madden was approached about continuing his scholarship and applying for a graduate program at Morgan State University. The students attended numerous sessions and networked with scholars from all over the South. Now that they have had a taste of presenting at conferences, they have all concluded that they certainly want to do it again.” — Gwen Hale

Suzanne G. Houff, professor of education, is the author of the recently published book “Instructional Alignment: Optimizing Objectives, Methods, and Assessment for Developing Unit Pairs.” The book, released by R&L Education in September 2012, “offers a concise and basic approach to instructional design.”