Campus News: November 20th, 2008

Sander Lee (Philosophy) gave a presentation on Hannah Arendt at the Lessons & Legacies Conference held on the campus of Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill., October 30–November 2. This conference is sponsored by the Holocaust Educational Foundation.

Beverly J. Ferrucci (Mathematics) had her chapter, “Using a Model Approach to Enhance Algebraic Thinking in the Elementary School Mathematics Classroom,” published in Algebra and Algebraic Thinking in School Mathematics, the Seventieth Yearbook of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The chapter discusses research she recently conducted at the National Institute of Education in Singapore, and investigates a structured process whereby students in elementary school can visualize abstract mathematical relationships and their varying problem structures through pictorial representations without ever having formally studied algebra. The chapter also provides teachers with tools for assessing the depth of students’ understanding of mathematical relationships and logical reasoning.

Jerry P. Jasinski (Chemistry) has several recent publications:
“Structures of two chalcones derived from 1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)ethanone,” Analytical Sciences: X-Ray Structure Analysis Online; “Crystal structure of 5-amino-1-(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carbonitrile,” Analytical Sciences: X-Ray Structure Analysis Online; “Crystal structure of (±)-5-benzoyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid, ketorolac,” Analytical Sciences: X-Ray Structure Analysis Online; “A second polymorph of b-arteether,” Acta Crystallographica, Section E: Structure Reports Online; “Bis{4-[(Z)-N’-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)hydrazino]-8-(trifluoromethyl)quinolinium} sulfate dihydrate,”
Acta Crystallographica, Section E: Structure Reports Online; “Redetermination of 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde,” Acta Crystallographica, Section E: Structure Reports Online; “Redetermination of dihydroartemisinin at 103 (2) K,” Acta Crystallographica, Section E: Structure Reports Online; “(2E)-3-(4-Methylphenyl)-1-(3-nitrophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one,” Acta Crystallographica, Section E: Structure Reports Online; “Tris[2-(imidazol-2-ylmethylimino)ethyl]methylammonium}iron(II) tris(perchlorate) dihydrate,” Acta Crystallographica, Section E: Structure Reports Online.

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In September Karen R. Cangialosi and Scott Strong (Biology) completed their first coral reef monitoring survey. Read more about their adventure on the Reef Check website.

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On October 18, Phyllis Benay (Interdisciplinary Studies) presented and chaired a session entitled “Writing Program Administration: Models of Success” at Hofstra University’s Who Owns Writing? conference. Her paper, “Raising Writers: It Takes a Whole Academic Community,” discussed the roles of faculty, tutors, and administration in helping students take responsibility for their writing.

“Powder Hollow Archeology,” a poem by William Doreski (English) is one of 12 finalists in the Times Literary Supplement (London) poetry competition. The poem selected by reader vote from the finalists wins 5,000 pounds. All 12 poems appeared in the October 24 issue of the TLS.

Dr. Jerry Jasinski (Chemistry) was featured on WMUR-9’s hometown heroes segment last week. You can see it here.

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Margaret Langford’s (Modern Languages) translation of The Innocent Victim: A Franco-American Civil War Novel was featured in the October 13 Union Leader. This is the first translation of the novel, written by Adélard Lambert and first published in 1936, which tells the story of nineteenth-century French-Canadian immigrants in New England.

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Sander Lee (Philosophy), contributed a chapter titled “Is Odo a Collaborator?” to the new anthology Star Trek and Philosophy, edited by Jason Eberl and Kevin Decker as part of the Popular Culture and Philosophy series published by the Open Court Press.

Margaret Langford’s (Modern Languages) translation of the Franco-American Civil War novel The Innocent Victim, by Adelard Lambert, has been published by Images from the Past.

Brinda Charry’s (English) novel, Naked in the Wind, was awarded the India Plaza Golden Quill Critics’ Choice award for a book by an Indian author in 2007. The award is administered by a leading online bookstore based in India.

A collection of essays, Teaching North American Environmental Literature, edited by Mark C. Long (English and American Studies), Fred Waage, and former Keene State College English major Laird Christensen (professor of environmental studies at Green Mountain College) has been released by the Modern Language Association of America. An interview with Mark, “Ecocriticism: A Model for the Interdisciplinary Humanities,” was published in the Newsletter of the Organization for the Study of Literature and the Environment (OSLE) India; and Mark’s most recent essay, “Shifting Ground: The Emergence of the Bioregion and the Watershed in the Teaching of North American Environmental Literature,” appeared in the Indian Journal of Ecocriticism.

Tom White (Cohen Center) has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO) and is currently serving as its secretary. The AHO’s purpose is to serve as an international network of organizations and individuals for the advancement of Holocaust programming, awareness, education, and research. Among its functions and services are annual conventions, a winter seminar at the USHMM, a listserv for members, and a directory of members.

Ann Atkinson (Communication) has been admitted to the HERS Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration.

Neal Pruchansky (Management) has been awarded the 2008 SBI Showcase Award. The Showcase Award identifies the SBI Program and its Director that deserves recognition for innovative development or management, or because their SBI efforts contributed to a true small-business client success story.

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Mark C. Long, (English) has recently published “Reading, Writing and Teaching in Context,” an essay examining the value of intellectual work in local institutional contexts, in the book Academic Cultures: Professional Preparation and the Teaching Life. Mark’s most recent contribution to the Dictionary of Literary Biography was also just released, an extended essay on the life and work of A.R. Ammons that appeared in the volume Twentieth-Century American Nature Poets.

Marie Duggan and Armagan Gezici (Economics) presented papers at the Union for Radical Political Economy summer conference in upstate New York in August. Marie’s was entitled, “Lessons of 1997 for 2008: The U.S. Financial Crisis Compared to Emerging Markets,” and Armagan’s was “Income Distribution and Financial Integration: Possible Links.”

Robert Baker (Continuing Education) attended the annual Workforce Development Academy at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. The program provides training to the workforce development community of practitioners who support the re-engineering and re-training of America’s workforce. Baker co-presented a case study with representatives from Virginia Tech and the Virginia Community College System on marketing manufacturing technology programs of study.

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Professional Activities
In June, José Lezcano (Music) performed the Carulli double concerto with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional del Ecuador, and duo concerts with viola virtuoso Brett Deubner in Quito and Loja, including José’s own “Sonata for Viola and Guitar.” His “Guitar Concerto” received critical acclaim in Fanfare Magazine, Turok’s Choice, and the American Record Guide after release on the North-South label in 2007 as “Remembrances/Recuerdos.”

Patricia Pedroza (Spanish and Women’s Studies) presented her paper “Exploring (Dis)membered and Re(membered) Chicana Embodiment” in August at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The 21st Annual MALCS Summer Institute (Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social) brought together 230 Chicana/Latinas scholars. Pedroza is a member of the national Executive Committee, which coordinates this important event each year for Latina women in the United States.

Daniel L. Patterson (Theatre and Dance) attended the annual conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in Denver from July 29 through August 3. At the conference, Patterson directed a production of the winner of the David Mark Cohen National New Play Award, The Elephant’s Graveyard. The award is given jointly by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education for the best new play of the year. The play is then traditionally staged at the ATHE conference using professional actors and conference attendees. The play this year was based on the true story of a small town in 1900s Tennessee, where townspeople executed an elephant that had killed a circus employee during the Main Street parade. Also in the cast of this production was Keene State Theatre adjunct PeggyRae Johnson.

Keene State College was represented at several important events at the 236th American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting in Philadelphia (August 17 to 21). Colin Abernethy (Chemistry) gave an oral presentation at a symposium dedicated to excellence and innovation in teaching inorganic chemistry. He showcased the new laboratory and classroom activities that have been developed for his CHEM 363 Inorganic Chemistry course to a national audience of chemical educators.

In addition, students who have been working with him over the summer [Project SEED students Erica Cornellier and Samantha Gallagher from Keene High School and KSC students Katherine EdeslilizElizabeth Neuhardt (sophomore, Biology] presented a poster, “New Complexes of High-Valent Vanadium Containing Didentate Imine Ligands.”

The 40th anniversary of Project SEED was celebrated by special events during the conference. Erica Cornellier and Colin Abernethy represented the State of New Hampshire at the Presidential Symposium Project SEED: Crossing Generations and Energizing Minds.

Dr. Loren Launen (Biology) also attended the conference. She has been working with two SEED students this summer: Garry Card (Keene High School) and Jessica Phaneuf (Fall Mountain Regional High School). They presented a poster, “A Characterization of the Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Microbes Present in Sediment of a Northeastern U.S. River Impacted by Historical Manufactured Gas Plant Operations.”

Larry Welkowitz (Pysychology) was in the news recently: his weekly blog, Aspergers Conversations, was named one of the top 100 mental health blogs by Online University reviews.

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Phyllis Benay (Center for Writing) presented at the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences in Prato, Italy in July. She presented her paper, “Applying Constructive Developmental Theory to the Teaching of Rhetoric: How Cognitive Level Informs Writing Ability,” and was part of the plenary opening.

Kirsti Sandy (English),  Collie Fulford (Center for Writing), and Phyllis Benay (Center for Writing) have written a new text, Think, Write, Learn: A User’s Guide to Sustained Writing Projects, which will be used in the new ISPC Thinking and Writing courses.

Ann Atkinson (Communication), a member of the Executive Council of the Eastern Communication Association, was elected to the Publications Committee (starting at the 2009 convention in Philadelphia). In addition, she will continue as a member of the editorial board of Communication Quarterly, a journal of the Eastern Communication Association.

John E. Roberts (Art) was invited to participate in the 2008 Southern Graphics Council Membership Exchange Portfolio, a national printmaking portfolio exchange project entitled Multiple Compulsions, while on sabbatical this past semester.

James Stemp (Anthropology) presented the poster, “The Measurement and Discrimination of Lithic Microwear Using Laser Profilometry and Length-Scale Analysis” (co-authored with B. E. Childs, C. A. Brown and S. Vionnet) at the 37th International Symposium for Archaeometry in Siena, Italy in May. The poster summarizes two years’ worth of research on a new method to determine the uses of stone tools.

This summer Jim Chesebrough (Music) was on the faculty of the University of Kentucky Adult Instrumental Workshop in Lexington, Ky., conducted a band reading clinic entitled “Old and New” at the New England Band Directors Institute in Plymouth, N.H., and has been performing with the East Bay Jazz Ensemble.

Larry Welkowitz (Psychology) is mentioned in this month’s (July/August) issue of Psychology Today in “It’s All Geek to Me,” by Benjamin Nugent.

Mark Long’s (English) new book, Teaching North American Environmental Literature, will be published this fall. The book is co-edited with Laird Christensen (former KSC English major, now a professor at Green Mountain College) and Fred Waage.

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