A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Associate Professor Sushma Subramanian
Associate Professor of Journalism Sushma Subramanian published a story, “How breast milk banks could avert the next formula crisis,” in National Geographic. The piece examined how Brazil has become the world’s leader in breast milk banking, inspiring similar programs in other countries. Read more.
Professor of Communication and Chair of the Department of Communication and Digital Studies Anand Rao
Professor of Communication and Chair of the Department of Communication and Digital Studies Anand Rao contributed to a Wall Street Journal article on ChatGPT titled “Professors Turn to ChatGPT to Teach Students a Lesson; The powerful paper-writing chatbot presents an educational challenge: Ban it or build on it?” published on Jan. 25, 2023. Rao discussed the impact the generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, will have on knowledge production. Read more.
The article also was published in Elite News. “It really seems to change the nature of knowledge production itself,” Rao said. Read more.
Rao also contributed to a webinar titled “Generative AI and ChatGPT: The Short and Long-Term Impacts on Education” on Wednesday, Jan. 18. His presentation focused on higher education and included discussion of how ChatGPT could be used by students to cheat, but also opportunities for use of ChatGPT in the classroom to support the student writing process. He also outlined broader concerns about generative AI, including algorithmic bias and AI’s use of other artist’s creative work. Discover information about the webinar, including a soon-to-be-released recording.
Associate Professor of Digital Studies Zach Whalen
Associate Professor Zach Whalen in the Department of Communication and Digital Studies contributed to a piece titled “The Last of Us: The Musical Transposition in the Series is a Revolution.” Whalen suggested that for both the game world and its characters to be as believable as the cinematic, they need distinct theme music attributed to locations and different characters within the game, the so-called sound theme or leitmotif, capable of recalling the narrated character through the chanting of short and impalpable notes. Read more in Wired and on Blog Flavio Perrone.
Professor of Economics Robert Rycroft has co-authored Income Inequality in America: A Reference Handbook, published by ABC-CLIO. Inequality is the economic issue of our time. The United States is an extraordinarily affluent society compared to most others in the world today and to all others throughout human history, and that is news worth celebrating. But the dark underbelly of this news is that not everyone has shared in the prosperity, and inequality has only become more pronounced in recent decades. That is news worth lamenting and ought to command our full attention.
Rosalyn Cooperman, professor and chair of Political Science and International Affairs, is co-editor (along with Malliga Och and Shauna Shames) of Sell-Outs or Warriors for Change? A Comparative Look at Conservative Women in Politics in Democracies, published by Routledge Press.
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Surupa Gupta
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Surupa Gupta is a scheduled speaker for “India’s Approach to Globalization in the 2020s” at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. “Join two of the most insightful scholars of Indian political economy as we explore the feasibility and the implications of India’s policy approach to globalization.” Read more.
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of Political Science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently presented a research paper, “Late-Night in Washington: Political Humor and the American Presidency,” at the Library of Congress in Washington. Dr. Farnsworth was one of a dozen professors selected to present their research at a national conference on the Presidency and Popular Culture.
Farnsworth also has received several recent media mentions, including:
Lance Gentry, Professor, College of Business
Lance Gentry, a professor in the College of Business, commented on an employment report for an article titled “More people working locally than before the pandemic” in The Free Lance-Star. Summer 2022 statistics from the Virginia Employment Commission included people who live outside the Fredericksburg region and commute to the area for work, Gentry said. The statistics do not include an estimated 83,000 people who live in the area and commute outside the region — primarily north — to jobs. Read more.
The article also was published by Fredericksburg Today. The Fredericksburg Regional Alliance asked University of Mary Washington Business Professor Dr. Lance Gentry to explain an apparent discrepancy.
Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus
In the segment, “After Twitter, Will Facebook Reinstate Donald Trump’s Account?” WION News, January 19, 2023, Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs, indicated that Trump’s Twitter and Facebook accounts were important fundraising tools during the 2016 presidential campaign against Hilary Clinton and would be equally important for his 2024 bid. She also indicated that Trump could face security fraud charges if he were to abandon or slight his own social media platform, Truth Social, for Twitter. Access the interview.
George Hummer, adjunct professor of educational leadership
George Hummer, an adjunct professor of educational leadership with Continuing and Professional Studies has been named the new superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools. Hummer earned a master’s degree in educational leadership and special education from the University of Mary Washington and a doctorate in educational leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has taught at UMW for the past three years. Read more in the Winchester Star.