Publications
Yasemin Akbaba, Associate Professor of Political Science, with co-author Özgür Özdamar, published Role Theory in the Middle East and North Africa: Politics, Economics and Identity (New York: Routledge, 2019). This book examines the transformation of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since the beginning of Arab uprisings, addressing the changing foreign policy orientations of Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. The authors use role theory to analyze ideational (e.g., identity, religion) and material (e.g., security, economy) sources of national role conceptions in these four regional powers.
Akbaba published “Protest and Religion: An Overview” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics (May 2019, online). This piece provides an overview of the connections between protest and religion in international relations (IR) and comparative politics (CP) scholarship. This is a peer-reviewed contribution to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Politics & Religion, a curated print volume of the larger online Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics (ORE POL).
Akbaba, with co-author Jonathan Fox, published “Societal Rather than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination in Muslim-Majority Countries after the Arab Uprisings” in All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 8.1 (May 18, 2018): 5-22. This study examines shifts in governmental religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities in Muslim-majority states after the Arab Uprisings.
Megan Benka-Coker, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, with co-authors Bonnie N. Young, Jennifer L Peel, Sarah Rajkumar, Ethan S. Walker, Robert D Brook, Tracy L. Nelson, John Volckens, Christian L'Orange, Nicholas Good, Casey Quinn, Joshua P. Keller, Zachary D. Weller, Sebastian Africano, Anibal B. Osorto Pinel, and Maggie L Clark, published “Study Protocol for a Stepped-Wedge Randomized Cookstove Intervention in Rural Honduras: Household Air Pollution and Cardiometabolic Health” in BMC Public Health 19.903 (July 8, 2019): 1–15. In this paper, we report our in-depth study protocol for a clinical trial of a cleaner-burning cookstove in Honduras.
Benka-Coker, with co-authors E.S. Walker, M.L. Clark, B.N. Young, S. Rajkumar, A.M. Bachand, R.D. Brook, T.L. Nelson, J. Volckens, S.J. Reynolds, C. L’Orange, S. Africano, A.B. Osorto Pinel, N. Good, K. Koehler, and J.L. Peel, published “Exposure to Household Air Pollution from Biomass Cookstoves and Self-Reported Symptoms among Women in Rural Honduras” in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (February 13, 2019, online): 1–14. Many women around the world do not have electricity, and cook meals with biomass fuels such as wood or charcoal. Our study in Honduras examined levels of particulate matter from cooking in two groups—those who had a traditional wood-burning stove, and those who had an improved wood-burning stove. We explored associations between levels of particulate matter and self-reported symptoms of headache and eye irritation.
Michael Birkner, Professor of History, with John W. Quist and Randall M. Miller, co-edited The Worlds of James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens: Place, Personality and Politics in Civil War America (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2019). This work opens new vistas in the study of Civil War-era political history by focusing attention on personal relationships as they impacted the politics of the 1850s and beyond. It also provides fresh interpretations of Thaddeus Stevens’s goals for post-Civil War America. This book is part of the series Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War.
Alice Brawley Newlin, Assistant Professor of Management, with co-author Cynthia L. S. Pury, published “All of the Above? An Examination of Overlapping Organizational Climates” in Journal of Business and Psychology (February 7, 2019, online). Organizational climate—the concept of informal perceptions of what behavior is expected and gets rewarded at work—is often thought of as a many-faceted construct, with climates specific to safety, service, work-life balance, and many other particular behaviors. We provide strong evidence that the many facets of climate all can be accounted for by one generally positive work climate.
Gretchen Carlson, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Sunderman Conservatory of Music, published “Risk, Creative Labor, and the Integrative Jazz-Film: Producing the Improvised Soundtracks of Birdman and Afterglow” in Jazz & Culture 2 (2019): 27-58. This article investigates improvised jazz soundtracks—a very rare occurrence in cinema—offering vivid, behind-the-scenes examinations of the films Birdman (Iñárritu, 2014) and Afterglow (Rudolph, 1997) and their unique soundtracks created by jazz drummer Antonio Sanchez (Birdman) and trumpeter Mark Isham (Afterglow). Carlson theorizes how these productions challenge conventional film-making hierarchies and practices, transforming the films into unique integrative projects influenced by the creative practices and ideologies of both jazz and film.
Suhua Dong, Director of Institutional Analysis, published “The Effects of First-Generation Status on Student Engagement and Outcomes at Liberal Arts Colleges” in Journal of College Student Development 60.1 (January-February 2019): 17-34. Private, nonsectarian baccalaureate colleges, most of which are liberal arts colleges, enroll a disproportionately large number of first-generation students. Did they experience college differently than continuing-generation students? This study contributes a considerable amount of evidence affirming the multiple successes of private liberal arts colleges in supporting their first-generation students.
Anne Douds, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, with co-author Don Hummer, published “When a Veterans’ Treatment Court Fails: Lessons Learned from a Qualitative Evaluation” in Victims & Offenders 14.3 (2019): 322-343. Through interview data collected following the death of a veteran mentee in a northeastern Study VTC, this research provides in-depth analysis of how mentors and mentees understand their responsibilities with respect to illicit substance use and violations of VTCs’ sobriety requirements.
Douds, with co-author Eileen M. Ahlin, published “The Problem with Problem Solving Courts: The Black Box Remains Unopened After Thirty Years” in Handbook on Sentencing Policies and Practices in the 21st Century, edited by Cassia Spohn and Pauline Brennan (New York: Routledge, 2019). This chapter reflects on the history and development of the problem-solving court model, including the socio-political climate in which it began, and explores theories commonly applied to problem-solving courts—therapeutic jurisprudence, deterrence, rehabilitation, procedural justice, and restorative justice. The chapter concludes with a call for research to test the post-hoc theories applied to problem-solving courts and assess whether these individualized courts are serving clients, the court, and communities.
Elizabeth Duquette, Professor of English, with Claudia Stokes, co-edited and wrote the introduction to a new edition of The Gates Ajar, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (New York: Penguin, 2019). Published in 1868, The Gates Ajar helped to shape enduring American ideas about Heaven and demonstrated that, for American women, the Civil War didn’t simply end at Appomattox.
Kay Etheridge, Professor of Biology, published “Leonardo and the Whale” in Leonardo da Vinci—Nature and Architecture, edited by Constance Moffat and Sara Taglialagamba (Leiden: Brill, 2019). In a notebook entry written when he was about 28, da Vinci described finding what appears to have been a fossil whale; such fossils were still being found in Italy where da Vinci lived and worked. This encounter could have been the stimulus for his lifelong interest in fossils and geology, and his prescient ideas about the seas that once covered much of Italy.
Brent Harger, Assistant Professor of Sociology, published “On the Margins of Friendship: Aggression in an Elementary School Peer Group” in Childhood 26.4 (August 14, 2019, online): 476-490. This paper examines a fifth-grade peer group and those who are on its margins to provide insight into the intersection of friendship, aggression, and masculinity.
Harger published “To Tell or Not to Tell: Student Responses to Negative Behavior in Elementary School” in The Sociological Quarterly 60.3 (2019): 479-497. This paper examines the factors that influence fifth-grade students’ decisions regarding whether or not to report negative interactions to adults.
Harger published “A Culture of Aggression: School Culture and the Normalization of Aggression in Two Elementary Schools” in British Journal of Sociology of Education (September 3, 2019, online): 1-16. This paper examines the ways that students and adults in schools actively normalize aggressive behaviors, increasing their frequency, limiting the ability of adults to effectively deal with them, and contributing to the stigmatization of students who do not accept them.
Caroline A. Hartzell, Professor of Political Science, with co-author Matthew Hoddie, published “Power Sharing and the Rule of Law in the Aftermath of Civil War” in International Studies Quarterly 63.3 (September 2019): 641-653. We provide empirical evidence that power-sharing settlements constructed to end civil wars have a positive effect on the emergence of the rule of law following the end of intrastate conflicts.
Hartzell, with Andreas Mehler, co-edited Power Sharing and Power Relations after Civil War (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2019). The chapters in this book investigate the role that power-sharing settlements used to end civil wars have on the structures of power among and between various actors and entities in the post-conflict environment.
Hartzell published “Economic Power Sharing: Potentially Potent . . . but Likely Limited” in Power Sharing and Power Relations after Civil War, edited by Caroline A. Hartzell and Andreas Mehler (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2019). This chapter investigates the effect of economic power sharing on the distribution of power within post-civil war settings, focusing in particular on its potential to shape power relations horizontally or among ethnic groups.
Hartzell, with co-author Andreas Mehler, published “The What, How, Where, and Who of Postconflict Powersharing” in Power Sharing and Power Relations after Civil War, edited by Caroline A. Hartzell and Andreas Mehler (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2019). This chapter summarizes the findings of the book and sets forth a research agenda for future work on the effects of power-sharing institutions on post-conflict power relations.
Hartzell, with co-author Andreas Mehler, published “Power Sharing and Power Relations in Postconflict States” in Power Sharing and Power Relations after Civil War, edited by Caroline A. Hartzell and Andreas Mehler (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2019). This chapter, which serves as an introduction to the edited volume, examines the modalities of power sharing and changes in power relations, and introduces the analytical framework employed in the book.
Tres Lambert, Assistant Professor of German Studies, was a co-translator of Difference and Orientation: An Alexander Kluge Reader, edited by Richard Langston (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019). This collection of articles by German theorist Alexander Kluge was translated by an international network of scholars.
Rachel Lesser, Assistant Professor of Classics, published “Female Ethics and Epic Rivalry: Helen in the Iliad and Penelope in the Odyssey” in American Journal of Philology 140.2 (Summer 2019): 189-226. In this article, I argue that Helen in the Iliad and Penelope in the Odyssey are constructed as similar yet ethically antitypical epic heroines as part of an intertextual rivalry between the Iliad and Odyssey traditions.
Brian Meier, Professor of Psychology, with student co-author Eric Osorio ’16, and co-authors Amanda J. Dillard and Courtney M. Lappas, published “A Behavioral Confirmation and Reduction of the Natural Versus Synthetic Drug Bias” in Medical Decision Making 39 (2019): 359-369. In five studies, we show that people have a bias for natural over synthetic drugs in preferences and behavioral choices, which might be reduced with a rational appeal.
Todd Neller, Professor of Computer Science, published “AI Education Matters: Data Science and Machine Learning with Magic: The Gathering” in AI Matters 5.2 (June 2019): 9-10. In this column, Neller briefly describes a rich dataset for the game Magic: The Gathering with many opportunities for interesting data science, machine learning assignments, and research projects. He considers the question of in-game cost premium for the flying creatures, and offers code illustrating use of the dataset in pursuit of answers to that question.
Neller, with student co-author Daniel Ziegler ’21, published “Computer Generation of Birds of a Feather Puzzles” in Proceedings of the 33rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-19), January 27–February 1, 2019, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (Palo Alto, CA: AAAI Press, 2019): 9693-9699. In this article, we describe a computer-aided design process for generating high-quality Birds of a Feather solitaire card puzzles. Through an iterative improvement process, we demonstrate the importance of the halfway solvability ratio in quality puzzle design. We relate our observations to recent work on tension in puzzle design, and suggest next steps for more efficient puzzle generation.
Neller, with co-authors Raja Sooriamurthi, Michael Guerzhoy, Lisa Zhang, Paul Talaga, Christopher Archibald, Adam Summerville, Joseph Osborn, Cinjon Resnick, Avital Oliver, Surya Bhupatiraju, Kumar Krishna Agrawal, Nate Derbinsky, Elena Strange, Marion Neumann, Jonathan Chen, Zac Christensen, Michael Wollowski, and Oscar Youngquist, published “Model AI Assignments 2019” in Proceedings of the 33rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-19), January 27–February 1, 2019, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (Palo Alto, CA: AAAI Press, 2019). Neller served on the organizing committee and chaired the Model AI Assignments track and session of the Ninth Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence (EAAI-19), Honolulu, HI, January 28-29, 2019. This published abstract overviews the peer-reviewed accepted contributions of the Model AI Assignments track. In 2019, the symposium—collocated with AAAI, the prime Artificial Intelligence conference in this hemisphere—attracted over 105 attendees. The Model AI Assignments session seeks to gather and disseminate the best assignment designs of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education community. Recognizing that assignments form the core of student learning experience, we here present abstracts of ten AI assignments from the 2019 sessions that are easily adoptable, playfully engaging, and flexible for a variety of instructor needs.
Neller, with student co-authors Connor Berson ’21, Jivan Kharel ’21, and Ryan Smolik ’20, published “Efficient Solving of Birds of a Feather Puzzles” in Proceedings of the 33rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-19), January 27–February 1, 2019, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (Palo Alto, CA: AAAI Press, 2019). In this article, we describe the lessons learned in creating an efficient solver for the solitaire game Birds of a Feather. We introduce a new variant of depth-first search that we call best-n depth-first search that achieved a 99.56% reduction in search time over 100,000 puzzle seeds.
Neller, with student co-author Ziqian Luo ’18, published “Mixed Logical and Probabilistic Reasoning in the Game of Clue” in ICGA Journal 40.4 (2018): 406-416. Using at-least constraints, we more efficiently represented and reasoned about cardinality constraints on Clue card deal knowledge, and then employed a WalkSAT-based solution sampling algorithm with a tabu search metaheuristic in order to estimate the probabilities of unknown card places.
Monica Ogra, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Globalization Studies, with co-author Julie Urbanik, published “Tracking the Human-Wildlife-Conservation Nexus Through the Human-Animal Studies (HAS) Landscape” in Society and Animals 26. 2 (May 2018): 99-106. Our article introduces and frames a special issue of Society and Animals (guest co-edited by Ogra and Urbanik). The issue includes case studies and perspectives from a diverse range of countries, disciplines, and species-interaction contexts.
Douglas Page, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, with co-author Samuel Whitt, published “Confronting Wartime Sexual Violence: Public Support for Survivors in Bosnia” in Journal of Conflict Resolution (August 19, 2019, online). How do post-conflict societies respond to the hardships faced by survivors of wartime sexual violence? In survey experiments in Bosnia, we find 1) a persistent ethnocentric view of sexual violence, where respondents are less supportive of survivors when the perpetrator is identified as co-ethnic and survivors are perceived as out-groups, and 2) respondents are less supportive of male survivors than female survivors, which we attribute to social stigmas surrounding same-gender sexual activity. Those who are intolerant of homosexuality are especially averse to providing aid to male survivors.
Page, with co-author Phillip Ayoub, published “When Do Opponents of Gay Rights Mobilize? Explaining Political Participation in Times of Backlash against Liberalism” in Political Research Quarterly (June 11, 2019, online). We find that individuals who are tolerant of homosexuality are more likely to participate in states with gay-friendly policies in comparison with intolerant individuals. The reverse also holds: individuals with low education levels who are intolerant of homosexuality are more likely to participate in states espousing political homophobia.
VoonChin Phua, Professor of Sociology, with student co-author Keyana Moody ’17, published “Online Dating in Singapore: The Desire to Have Children” in Sexuality and Culture 23.2 (June 2019): 494-506. Using a data set that was collected in 2007 and 2015 from a Singaporean website for online dating, we examined the factors influencing whether Singaporeans expressed wanting children in their personals.
Lisa Portmess, Bittinger Chair and Professor of Philosophy, published “Deep Fakes and Computer Vision: The Paradox of New Images” in How Technology is Changing Human Behavior: Issues and Benefits, edited by C.G. Prado (New York: Praeger, 2019). This chapter explores the uncertain ontology of digital images derived from algorithms in high-stakes contexts such as drone warfare, in which image authentication is rarely possible and ethical issues intractable. Paradoxically, such images generated by machine-learning algorithms—meant to enhance image understanding and hence our grasp of the real—share the same uncertain ontology with computer-generated digital impersonation and deep fakes.
Jennifer Powell, Associate Professor of Biology, with student co-author Leah Gulyas ’19, published “Predicting the Future: Parental Progeny Investment in Response to Environmental Stress Cues” in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (June 19, 2019, online). This article provides a new perspective on multiple important mechanisms used by animals to prepare their offspring to survive potential future environmental stresses.
Ivanova Reyes, Assistant Professor of Economics, with student co-author Asger Hansen ’16, published “Did DR-CAFTA Affect the Exports of the Dominican Republic to the United States?” in The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Global Studies 14.3 (2019): 19-49. This article evaluates the effects of the DR-CAFTA on exports of the Dominican Republic to the United States and other partners to the treaty. The article finds a decline in DR exports to the US after the signing of the agreement, a puzzling result that is explained by enhanced competition with China in the US market.
Abdulkareem Said Ramadan, Associate Professor of Arabic, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Middle East and Islamic Studies, published Conjunctions and Interjections in Modern Standard Arabic (New York: Routledge, 2019). This book, published as part of the Routledge Aspects of Arabic Grammar series, aims to present conjunctions and interjections in Modern Standard Arabic for second-language learners of Arabic.
Patturaja Selvaraj, Assistant Professor of Management, published “The Cosmos of a Public Sector Township: Democracy as an Intellectual Culture” in Workers and Margins: Grasping Erasures and Opportunities, edited by Nimruji Jammulamadaka (New Delhi: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). This chapter looks at friendships that are formed in the public sector township, and how they help people in their careers.
Eileen Stillwaggon, Benjamin Franklin Chair in the Liberal Arts and Professor of Economics, with co-authors Branko Bobic and Isabelle Vellina, published “Prevention and Mitigation of Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Economic Costs and Benefits in Diverse Settings” in Food and Waterborne Parasitology 16 (September 2019): e00058. This article discusses the French and Austrian maternal screening and treatment programs for congenital toxoplasmosis and modeling of a proposal for a US program.
Stillwaggon, with co-authors Christine Binquet, Catherine Lejeune, Valérie Seror, François Peyron, Anne-Claire Bertaux, Olivier Scemama, Catherine Quantin, Sophie Béjean, and Martine Wallon, published “The Cost-Effectiveness of Neonatal Versus Prenatal Screening for Congenital Toxoplasmosis” in PLoS ONE 14.9 (September 18, 2019, online). This article evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the largest universal maternal screening program for congenital toxoplasmosis.
Kerry Walters, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Peace and Justice Studies, published Faith Matters: Reflections on the Christian Life (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2019). In a day in which Christians too often reduce faith to mere sentimentality and atheists decry it as superstitious nonsense, Fr. Kerry Walters offers a series of reflections intended to show that, indeed, faith matters. Drawn from his popular weekly newspaper column “Faith Matters,” these short meditations explore Christian faith from the perspectives of doctrine, spirituality, ethics, politics, art and science, the saints, and the holy seasons that mark the Christian year and set the rhythm of Christian living.
Reviews
Tres Lambert, Assistant Professor of German Studies, reviewed Der fürchterliche Lärm der Stummheit”: Zur Politik des Hörbaren bei Hermann Broch, by Victoria Weidemann, in Journal of Austrian Studies 51.4 (2018): 95-97.
Rachel Lesser, Assistant Professor of Classics, reviewed Eros at Dusk: Ancient Wedding and Love Poetry, by Katherine Wasdin, in Classical World 112.4 (Summer 2019): 375-376. Wasdin’s book compares Ancient Greek and Latin wedding poetry and love poetry, identifying shared tropes and delineating the particular characteristics of each genre.
Carolyn Snively, Professor Emerita of Classics, reviewed The Early Christian Basilica of Arethousa in Macedonia. I: Production, Consumption and Trade. Papers and Monographs of the Finnish Institute at Athens XXIII, edited by Arja Karivieri, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2019.07.02, online). This book is the first volume of the results of investigations in and around the 5th-6th century basilica at the site of Paliambela, near the modern village of Arethousa. It provides a great deal of valuable information about various aspects of the church and the settlement it served, but is focused on production, consumption, and trade. The architecture, mosaics, and liturgical implications of this intriguing church will appear in a second volume.
Professional Paper and Presentations
Rimvydas Baltaduonis, Associate Professor of Economics, delivered a talk titled “Retail Demand-Side Response under Alternative Electricity Pricing Contracts,” coauthored by student colleague Taylor Smart ’13, Tihomir Ancev, and Tim Capon, at the Economics Seminar, Vilnius University, Lithuania, September 9, 2019. This paper investigates the market efficiency under alternative retail electricity pricing contracts, as well as the effectiveness of those pricing arrangements in facilitating efficient demand-side response to supply-side cost shocks.
Yasemin Akbaba, Associate Professor of Political Science, with colleague Ozgur Ozdamar, presented a paper titled “Role Theory in Middle East and North Africa” at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), Toronto, Canada, March 27-30, 2019. This project uses role theory to analyze the regional transformation initiated by the Arab Uprisings, with a focus on the foreign policy roles of the four major regional powers, i.e. Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
Clinton Baugess, Research and Instruction Librarian, Musselman Library, presented a paper, co-authored with staff colleague Kerri Odess-Harnish, Director of Research and Instruction, Musselman Library, titled “Skipping Stones: The Ripple Effect of Collaborating with a Center for Teaching and Learning” at the 47th National Conference of LOEX, Minneapolis, MN, May 10, 2019. This presentation describes how academic libraries can collaborate with their campus teaching and learning centers to support faculty pedagogy and develop students’ information literacy skills.
Kathy Berenson, Associate Professor of Psychology, with student colleagues Cindy Campoverde ’20, Tommi Oleson ’20, Stella Nicolaou ’19, Jill Glazer ’18, and Melissa Menna ’18, presented a poster titled “Focusing on Self-Confidence Reduces Self-Compassionate Coping Among Young Adults High in Effortlessly Perfect Self-Presentation” at the 32nd Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), Washington, D.C., May 25, 2019. This research examines “positivity culture” as a risk factor for mental health problems.
Scott Boddery, Assistant Professor of Political Science, participated in a panel titled “Preparing Students for 1L: Hitting the Target or Missing the Mark?” at the annual conference of the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors (NAPLA), Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, MA, June 21, 2019. The presentation highlighted the strides Gettysburg College has taken to implement a deliberate pre-law program.
Tres Lambert, Assistant Professor of German Studies, participated in a roundtable discussion titled “Teaching Beyond Weimar: Why Red Vienna Now?” at the 42nd Annual Conference of the German Studies Association (GSA), Pittsburgh, PA, September 29, 2019. In this roundtable, an international group of scholars argued for the importance of Red Vienna as part of the cultural history of Austria.
Lambert presented a paper titled “Stefan Zweig Goes to Russia: A Canonical Author Between Red and Black Vienna” at the 42nd Annual Conference of the German Studies Association (GSA), Pittsburgh, PA, September 28, 2018. This paper examined Austrian author Stefan Zweig’s hidden sympathies for Red Vienna based on his travels to Russia.
Lambert presented a paper titled “Retrograde Modernism and Realism’s Revenge” at Jahrestagung des Forschungsnetzwerks, Bale, Croatia, June 22, 2019. This paper considers Sergei Tretjakow’s fragment “Die Tasche” as a failed modernist work.
Rachel Lesser, Assistant Professor of Classics, presented a paper titled “Queer Hero: Achilleus and Masculine Gender Norms in the Iliad” at the 115th Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Lincoln, NE, April 4, 2019. This conference paper used queer theory to approach Homer’s Iliad, arguing that the hero who drives the narrative, Achilles, is portrayed as “queer” in his deviation from normative masculinity. Thus, the Iliad itself may be conceived of as a queer epic.
VoonChin Phua, Professor of Sociology, presented a paper, co-authored with student colleague Jesse E. Shircliff ’19, titled “Singapore’s Cultural Constructions” at the 1st International Conference on Tourism, Culture and Architecture, Safranbolu, Turkey, October 24-27, 2018. In this paper, we examine the narratives of built environment from the perspectives of tourists and locals.
Marta Robertson , Professor, Sunderman Conservatory of Music, presented a paper titled “The ‘Simple Gifts’ of Making Appalachian Spring Uncommon” at the Annual Conference of the Dance Studies Association (DSA), Chicago IL, August 10, 2019. This paper reframes choreographer Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring (1944), an iconic myth of Anglo-American Western expansion, through a Japanese-American gaze, informed by her collaborators Isamu Noguchi and Yuriko Kikuchi, who had just been released from Japanese-American incarceration camps in the United States. Questioning common assumptions of whiteness through the gaze of former “enemy aliens” brings fresh insight to what it means to embody and sound American.
Virginia Schein, Professor Emerita of Management and Psychology, gave an invited talk at the Twelfth Annual Psychology Day, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY, April 25, 2019. The theme of the program was “The Time is Now: Psychological Contributions to Global Gender Equ[al]ity.” Dr. Schein’s presentation, “Women at the Top: From Gender Bias to Gender Balance,” detailed her pioneering research on gender stereotyping as a psychological barrier to women’s advancement in management, and then considered the implications of this barrier by exploring the question: If we had a more balanced representation of women in positions of power and influence, would it matter?
Megan Adamson Sijapati, Professor and currently Chair, Department of Religious Studies, presented a paper titled “Sufism, Healing, and the Instrumentality of the Body in an American Tariqah” as part of a symposium on “The Religious Body Imagined,” held at the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society, Elon University, Elon, NC, February 7-9, 2019.
Professional Distinctions and Awards
Shannon Egan, Director, Schmucker Art Gallery, was awarded a grant from the United States Embassy in Oslo, Norway, in support of the exhibition and book project, Across the West and Toward the North: American and Norwegian Landscape Photography.
Egan was awarded a grant from the Fritt-Ord Foundation in Norway in support of the exhibition and book project, Across the West and Toward the North: American and Norwegian Landscape Photography.
VoonChin Phua, Professor of Sociology, and student colleague Jesse E. Shircliff ’19 won the Best Paper Award at the 1st International Conference on Tourism, Culture and Architecture, Safranbolu, Turkey, October 24-27, 2018. The award-winning paper, “Singapore’s Cultural Constructions,” examines the narratives of Singapore’s built environment from the perspectives of tourists and locals.
Kerry Walters, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Peace and Justice Studies, received the 2019 National Catholic Press Award for his book St. Oscar Romero: Priest, Prophet, Martyr (2018). This biography of the recently canonized saint Oscar Romero was Walters’s third book to receive the National Catholic Press Award: his St. Theresa of Calcutta: Missionary, Mother, Mystic (2016) and Giving up god . . . to Find God (2013) had won the award previously.
Professional or Creative Activity
Yasemin Akbaba, Associate Professor of Political Science, participated in a roundtable titled “FPA Distinguished Scholar Roundtable: Celebrating Cooper Drury” at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), Toronto, Canada, March 27-30, 2019. This roundtable celebrated the recipient of the ISA’s annual FPA Distinguished Scholar Award. As one of the participants, I gave a talk on the professional achievements of this year’s recipient, Professor A. Cooper Drury of the University of Missouri.
Akbaba chaired the panel “Quantitative Studies in Religion and International Studies 2: Policy” at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), Toronto, Canada, March 27-30, 2019.
Akbaba was a discussant on the panel “New Theoretical Insights and Middle East Studies” at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), Toronto, Canada, March 27-30, 2019.
Avner Dorman, Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition, Sunderman Conservatory of Music, published Double Concerto (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 2019). Commissioned by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Andris Nelsons, Music Director), and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the work had its world premiere in Adelaide on June 27, 2019.
Dorman published Eternal Rhythm (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 2018). This concerto for percussion and orchestra, commissioned by the NDR Hamburg and the George Enescu Festival Bucharest, had its world premiere at the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany, October 20, 2018.
Dorman published Nigunim (Violin Concerto No. 2) (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 2017). Inspired by Jewish folk music from around the world, winner of the 2018 Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music, this concerto for violin and orchestra had its world premiere at the Maison Symphonique, Montreal, Canada, October 15, 2018.
Dorman published Still (Violin Concerto No. 3) (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 2018). This concerto for violin and orchestra was commissioned by CityMusic Cleveland. It had its world premiere, conducted by the composer, at St. Jerome Church, Cleveland, OH, March 13, 2019.
Dorman composed the music for NOW, Episode 2 of the Houston Grand Opera’s Star-Cross’d: A Serial Opera. Worlds are turned upside down for two couples when a partner in each couple undergoes a gender transition. Based on true events, NOW explores losing what you thought you had and gaining something you could never imagine. With a libretto by John Grimmett, NOW premiered online on June 18, 2019.
Dorman released Letters from Gettysburg (Canary Classics CC17, 2019). This recording features the Gettysburg College Choir and Tremolo Percussion Ensemble under the direction of Robert Natter, Associate Professor, Sunderman Conservatory of Music, with soloists Amanda Heim, Lecturer, Sunderman Conservatory of Music, and Lee Poulis. This release also includes two other Doirman compositions, After Brahms and Nigunim.
Todd Neller, Professor of Computer Science, gave a talk titled “Budget Magic: The Gathering for Beginners” to the Gettysburg College Game Club, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, March 1, 2019. In this talk, Neller overviewed budget-friendly entry points to playing Magic: The Gathering (M:TG) after its first quarter-century of success. Noting the ways in which M:TG players have applied head designer Mark Rosewater’s “restrictions breed creativity” lesson, he celebrated their creative formats that push back against expensive “pay to win” dynamics.
Neller gave a talk titled “Kaggle and Click-Through Rate Prediction” at the Computer Science Colloquium, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, February 27, 2019. Neller’s talk looked at Kaggle.com, an online Data Science and Machine Learning learning community, as a place to seek rapid, experiential peer education for almost any Data Science topic. Using the specific challenge of Click-Through Rate Prediction (CTRP), he focused on lessons learned from relevant Kaggle competitions on how to perform CTRP.
Neller gave a seminar titled “Getting Things Done for the Glory of God: A Christian Perspective on How Best to Do What’s Best” to the Gettysburg College DiscipleMakers Christian Fellowship (DCF), Gettysburg, PA, January 21, 2019. Given at his home, Neller’s seminar on faith and time management covered a fusion of David Allen’s Getting Things Done; Covey, Merrill, and Merrill’s First Things First; and Matt Perman’s What’s Best Next books on time management, with a view to being a good steward of time and effort for the glory of God.
Neller gave a seminar titled “Faith and Finance” for the sections of Math 103, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, November 7, 2018. The seminar covered scriptures concerning money, basic concepts of financial literacy, and a Christian perspective on investing.
Neller gave a talk on “Game Resources and Recommendations” to the Gettysburg College Game Club, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, October 21, 2018. Neller’s talk outlined the main resources beneficial to the gaming hobbyist and researcher: key websites, stores, major awards, books, essential equipment, and recommended readings for game analysis and game design.
Eileen Stillwaggon, Benjamin Franklin Chair in the Liberal Arts and Professor of Economics, served in a number of professional capacities, including as a member of the Governing Council Committee on Global Health, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; a member of the Scientific Program Committee, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; an organizer of the Symposium for the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2019; and an organizer of the Session for the Coalition for Operations Research-Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2019.