December 22, 2024

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Fernsebner Appears on With Good Reason Radio

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Professor of History Susan Fernsebner

Professor of History Susan Fernsebner

Professor of History Susan Fernsebner was interviewed on With Good Reason, which airs Sundays at 2 p.m. on Fredericksburg’s Radio IQ 88.3 Digital and at various times throughout the week on stations across Virginia and the United States. Check the website for show times.

Gift Wrapped America:

These days almost all toys are Made in China. But that wasn’t always the case. Susan Fernsebner says that most Chinese toys were made in America. So the Chinese government incentivized creating toys that reflected its own national identity.

Also on the show: It’s all about the power of the almighty dollar. Meredith Katz (Virginia Commonwealth University) says that from From the Boston Tea Party to the Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work, consumers have long known that. What companies are you avoiding this year? Who’s getting your hard-earned money instead? Also, for months, companies and experts have been suggesting that we hurry up and buy our Christmas gifts. It’s almost judgement day… will they arrive in time? Erika Marsillac (Old Dominion University) says that while it may be tempting to blame this on COVID-19, the reality is that we import almost everything and it’s adding up. Plus, Stefan Duma (Virginia Tech) spent the 1990s through the early aughts researching how to prevent face and eye injuries in the military. After publishing his findings, he started getting calls from popular toy companies to test their products.

Audio files of the full program and its companion news feature are posted on the WGR website: https://www.withgoodreasonradio.org.

Fernsebner to Appear on With Good Reason

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Professor of History Susan Fernsebner

Professor of History Susan Fernsebner

Professor of History Susan Fernsebner will appear on an upcoming episode of With Good Reason entitled “Gift Wrapped America,” premiering on Dec. 11 and running through Dec. 18.  Dr. Fernsebner, whose expertise focuses on modern Chinese history, will discuss her research on toys, childhood and Chinese identity with host Sarah McConnell.

Summary: These days almost all toys are Made in China. But that wasn’t always the case. Susan Fernsebner (University of Mary Washington) says that most Chinese toys were made in America. So the Chinese government incentivized creating toys that reflected its own national identity. 

Experts from Virginia Commonwealth University, Old Dominion University and Virginia Tech will also be featured.

The show airs Sundays at 2 p.m. on Fredericksburg’s Radio IQ 88.3 Digital and at various times throughout the week on stations across Virginia and the United States. Check the website for show times.

 

Alumnus Earns Competitive Fellowship to Teach Constitution

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2006 graduate Sam Ulmschneider (left), a global studies and history teacher based in Richmond, was recently named Virginia’s 2020 recipient of the James Madison Fellowship.

2006 graduate Sam Ulmschneider (left), a global studies and history teacher based in Richmond, was recently named Virginia’s 2020 recipient of the James Madison Fellowship.

Persistence paid off for UMW graduate Sam Ulmschneider.

The global studies and history teacher was recently named Virginia’s 2020 recipient of the James Madison Fellowship – on his fourth attempt to earn the award.

The $24,000 prize is given to just one recipient per state each year to promote outstanding teaching of the U.S. Constitution in secondary schools. It will allow Ulmschneider to pursue a second master’s degree while he continues to teach gifted high schoolers at his other alma mater, Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in Richmond.

Two of Ulmschneider’s previous fellowship applications resulted in his being named a runner-up. Undiscouraged, he kept applying, a process that included a lot of essay-writing. “I felt like my students do when they’re filling out their college applications,” he said.

His own education at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School – and the Advanced Placement credits he earned there – allowed him to focus on his academic interests almost immediately at UMW.

“The advising system was wonderful, and it’s one of the things I took away from Mary Washington,” said Ulmschneider, who double majored in history and philosophy with a minor in religion, and joined the University’s club fencing team. Read more.