A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Freund Larus
Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs, was guest speaker at the March 9 meeting of the Stafford Rotary. Larus offered an account of her career path and stressed the value of mentorship. She also commented on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming that fighting would likely intensify in the coming weeks.
Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently commented on the following news stories:
Youngkin vetoes bipartisan bills while stoking political rancor (The Washington Post)
Youngkin Sprints Further to the Right with Unprecedented Vetoes and Amendments (Virginia Democrats)
Professor of Psychological Science Miriam Liss
Professor of Psychological Science Miriam Liss had a study featured in an article on USA News Hub, entitled, “Are you anxious, introverted or just a ‘highly sensitive person’?”
Professor of Psychological Science and Director of Academic Integrity Programs David Rettinger
Professor of Psychological Services David Rettinger was published in an article entitled “Combating Student Cheating: Key Podcast Reprise” in Inside Higher Education. Rettinger is director of academic integrity programs at UMW, and Kate McConnell is assistant vice president for research and assessment and director of the Value Institute at the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Read more.
Professor of Middle Eastern History Nabil Al-Tikriti
On 27 March 2022, Middle East History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti discussed the historical and politcal background to the Ukraine crisis for the Global Learning Council (GLC) at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Wichita, Kansas, via Zoom, and together with Prof. John Dreifort of Wichita State University. In the course of his presentation, Prof. Al-Tikriti walked the audience of roughly 40 GLC members through the various historical arguments in evidence thus far in the conflict betweeen Russia and Ukraine, and the evidence supporting various claims put forth. Al-Tikriti has observed elections in Ukraine in 2004 (Nikopol), 2014 (Lviv), and 2019 (Berdyansk), and has thus traveled throughout much of Ukraine and observed Ukrainian politics.
Anyone interested in screening the presentation, as well as the Q&A from the audience, can view the event recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFkYhOABkGM.
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Swati Agrawal
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Swati Agrawal penned an article for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology entitled “Lonely Science: Women and early-career scientists in academia were among those hardest hit by COVID-19 disruptions.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pascale Guiton lost some of her valuable parasite strains because she was unable to get into her lab to replenish the liquid nitrogen.
Instead of submitting publications before her fourth-year review, a month and a half into her pretenure sabbatical, Krystle McLaughlin was at home taking care of her two small children.
After being told she had been denied a promotion because of low research productivity, Nazzy Pakpour chose to leave her faculty position and seek employment in the private sector.
In August 2019, Megan Filbin won a grant to take her undergraduates to a large medical school to use research instruments not available at her institution. But all the labs were closed to visitors in summer 2020, and complications with limited lab capacity and vaccination requirements stymied the plan in 2021.
As a department chair, Karen Allen had to ramp down the labs of 26 faculty members and then, after reviewing safety evaluations and plans for each one, ramp them all back up.
Sonia Flores and colleagues in her department and division provided meals and vouchers to help pay for dependent care to faculty who were on the front lines fighting COVID-19.
Marlene Belfort said about 2020, “Science became a lonely activity.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the professional and personal lives of scientists, some groups were affected more than others. Most were unable to conduct research. Science education, especially skills training, was disrupted. Those who took on childcare, homeschooling or elder care found their lives and work completely upended. Read more.
Professor of English Gary Richards
Gary Richards, Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English and Linguistics, led the Books and Beignets forty-person discussion at the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival on Saturday, March 26, 2022, in New Orleans. To mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of A Streetcar Named Desire, the group analyzed that play, focusing particularly on its form.
Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently commented on the following news stories:
Virginia’s gas tax and the effort to reach a balanced budget (WVTF)
A General Assembly rejection of a cabinet pick isn’t without precedent (WVTF)
State lawmakers must work out a $3 billion difference between House and Senate budgets (WVTF)
Partisanship marked a 2022 session without any major accomplishments (WVTF)
Biden to meet with NATO leaders in Europe (CTV News)
Professor of Philosophy and Religion Mehdi Aminrazavi was quoted in a Free Lance-Star article entitled, “Jefferson descendent to speak at UMW” that ran in advance of Shannon LaNier’s keynote address on Tuesday to open UMW’s Race and Religion Conference, sponsored by the Khatib Program in Religion and Dialogue. A Houston-area news anchor and social media influencer, LaNier is the sixth great-grandson of the third U.S. president, descended through Sally Hemings, one of the founding father’s enslaved workers.
Mehdi Aminrazavi, director of the Khatib Program and professor of philosophy and religion at UMW, said he is excited to have LaNier speak at the event.
“I like what he had to say,” Aminrazavi said. “(There’s a) perception of our founding fathers and the reality of the (lives) they lived and I thought it would be good for our students to learn different understandings and narratives of Thomas Jefferson.”