A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Professor of Geography Stephen Hanna
Professor of Geography Stephen Hanna, along with Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth, and UMW senior Ethan Sweeny, contributed a column for the FXBG Advance titled “Second-Wave Suburbanization Key to Spanberger Wins in Spotsylvania, Stafford.” The column detailed how the two large counties bordering Fredericksburg realized some of the largest percentage gains for Democrats of any of the cities and counties in the Commonwealth. Read more.
Professor of Geography Steve Hanna spoke at the unveiling of the Stafford African American Heritage Trail at a recent ceremony at Stafford Hospital.
When University of Mary Washington junior Ethan Sweeny began a summer internship working alongside Professor of Geography Steve Hanna, he knew he’d signed up for something special.
“I immediately knew it was something I was going to really enjoy doing,” said Sweeny, a geospatial analysis major who worked with Hanna last summer and throughout the fall to help create the Stafford African American Heritage Trail. “Using what I’ve learned in class in a real-world project was really rewarding, but I think the most rewarding thing I took from it was being able to help tell these amazing stories that might have been lost.”
The trail, a 23-stop driving tour, highlights the strength and resilience of African American people in Stafford County throughout the past 300 years. Officially unveiled during a recent ceremony at Stafford Hospital, it also showcases the connection between UMW and the local community, and the power of professors to include students in research and other important endeavors.
“This is exactly what so many of my colleagues at Mary Washington strive to do,” Hanna said at the unveiling event, where he and Sweeny, who’s also pursuing a certificate in GIS, learned they’d been named in a House Resolution by the Virginia General Assembly in praise of the project. “We involve our students in projects with community partners to create works of consequence, projects that make a difference in this region and across the globe.” Read more.
Ethan Sweeny, Sue Henderson and Steve Hanna (L-R) appear on News Talk 1230 WFVA’s Town Talk.
UMW Geography Professor Steve Hanna, UMW Intern Ethan Sweeny, and Sue Henderson with Discover Stafford appeared on News Talk 1230 WFVA’s Town Talk to preview the opening of the Stafford African American Trail: 31 stories at 23 sites. You can explore history at home or by driving at discoverstafford.org. Listen to the episode.
Great Lives Director Scott Harris
Great Lives Director Scott Harris previewed the 2025 William B. Crawley Lecture Series on News Talk 1230 WFVA’s Town Talk. The Great Lives Lecture Series are presented most Tuesdays and Thursdays Jan. 21 thru March 20 at Dodd Auditorium. It’s free! Listen to the episode.
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies; Stephen P. Hanna, professor of geography, and Sally Burkley, a 2022 UMW graduate who is now a student at William and Mary Law School, are coauthors of a book chapter, “Chuck Robb’s 1981 Gubernatorial Campaign and the Democratic Realignment.” The chapter was published by the University of Virginia Press in an edited volume, The New Dominion: The Twentieth-Century Elections that Shaped Modern Virginia.
Other recent media mentions for Stephen Farnsworth include:
Commonwealth’s attorney candidates spar over rising crime, partnering with police, criminal justice reform (Prince William Times)
What is the reason for the absence of President Biden in the primary debates? (Voice of America)
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 presented an online lecture, “Comparing Mark Warner’s 2001 and 2020 Elections: the Declining Influence of Rural Voters in Virginia’s Statewide Elections,” for the Sorensen Institute of the University of Virginia. The lecture was drawn from a book chapter, co-authored with Stephen P. Hanna, UMW professor of Geography, and Kate Seltzer, a 2021 graduate of UMW, that was recently published in the edited volume, Vibrant Virginia: Engaging the Commonwealth to Expand Economic Vitality (Virginia Tech Publishing, 2022).
Other recent news mentions for Farnsworth include:
In Prince William County, Data Centers Tangle Democratic Party Politics Ahead Of Fall Elections (DCist News)
But there’s a chance that frustration over the data center issue could chip away at Democrats’ advantage, according to Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington. “Every now and then, something like this comes along that really has the opportunity to scramble the more conventional politics,” he said, noting that land-use controversies often play that role in Northern Virginia.
https://dcist.com/story/23/07/27/as-an-example-of-the-prosperity-data-center-revenue-can-create/
This year’s legislative elections might be historically expensive (WVTF)
Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says that money will start flowing after Labor Day. “At that point, the parties will also know which candidates have raised a lot of money on their own, which candidates are showing real promise, which candidates may not be as good an investment,” Farnsworth says. “And so, when you start thinking about where to put your money, it really is a matter of triage. Where can that money do the most good?”
https://www.wvtf.org/news/2023-07-26/this-years-legislative-elections-might-be-historically-expensive
With General Assembly up for grabs, disclosures show record amounts of campaign cash (WVTF)
The latest round of campaign finance disclosures saw a record amount of campaign cash for an off-year election, and Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says we’re just getting started. “Republicans have traditionally had the advantage in fundraising, but that has fallen away in recent years with Democratic gains in the legislature and in statewide offices,” Farnsworth says. “Youngkin gives Republicans a chance to fight in a very competitive way with respect to the amount of money that can be put into these campaigns.”
https://www.wvtf.org/news/2023-07-20/with-general-assembly-up-for-grabs-disclosures-show-record-amounts-of-campaign-cash
Professor of Geography Stephen Hanna
Professor of Geography Stephen Hanna’s research on how presidential sites present Black history was featured in The Christian Science Monitor. The article, “Presidential plantation shifts telling of history to let all voices rise,” explains how Hanna’s research revealed that visitors to Montpelier reported learning more about and feeling more empathy for enslaved people than at similar sites. “It made them feel like they learned more about enslavement and were able to empathize with people who suffered, survived and endured being enslaved,” he says. Read more.
Professor of Geography Stephen Hanna
Professor of Geography Stephen Hanna was featured in “Why the Voices of the Enslaved’s Descendants Matter at Montpelier and Other Historic Sites” on History News Network. On May 17, after weeks of negative stories on Montpelier in the national press, the foundation that operates the Virginia plantation home of James Madison finally made good on its promise to share authority with descendants of people enslaved by the man known as “the father” of the U.S. Constitution. Read more.