A&S Faculty News: Spring 2017
Exercise Science Faculty Establish Consulting Relationship; Faculty Throughout CAS Publish and Present
Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Jessica Peacock, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Jessica Kutz, Ph.D., established an official consulting relationship with the Shenandoah athletics department, and presented on this consulting at the 2017 Wine, Cheese and Scholarship event in February. Drs. Peacock and Kutz offer services to coaches, student-athletes and teams for performance enhancement, using their individual areas of expertise. Services include aerobic and anaerobic fitness testing and individualized prescription to improve fitness, nutritional consulting, and sport psychology consulting for mental skills improvement and other topics.
Peacock and Kutz were also invited presenters at Quarles Elementary School’s (Winchester) Career Day in November. The two faculty jointly presented to kindergarten- through third grade-aged students about teaching and other career opportunities in the field of exercise science. They also brought in equipment from the exercise science lab for experiential demonstrations with students such as the sit-and-reach and a hand dynamometer to test flexibility and strength.
Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Jessica Kutz, Ph.D., served as a featured speaker for the “Bite of Science” professional enrichment session at Lord Fairfax Community College on Feb. 16. The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE), as well as the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Lockheed Martin, Vulcan Materials and WestRock Foundation sponsored the free event, designed for middle and high school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teachers who wished to broaden their perspective of science in their classroom. “Bite of Science” is designed to improve teachers’ ability to provide students a context of how science is applied in the real world and inspire students to pursue careers of excellence and leadership in STEM. Dr. Kutz discussed her work and related it back to the classroom for the teachers to inspire and guide students toward academic opportunities and STEM careers. This “Bite of Science” session for teachers impacted at least 4,100 students in the Shenandoah Valley.
Kutz was interviewed over the summer by Accuweather.com on the topic of Olympic athletes and their ability to perform in a hot and humid environment during the Brazil Olympics. Kutz has a background in thermal physiology and exercise physiology, which led to a discussion with meteorologists about the risks for both spectators and athletes as well as how to best prepare for that environment. She also received notice that her first author manuscript, “Impaired hydrogen sulfide-mediated vasodilation contributes to microvascular endothelial dysfunction in hypertensive adults,” has been accepted for publication by the journal Hypertension, which is a prestigious journal in the area of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular research with an acceptance rate of less than 20 percent.
Kutz received a Professional Faculty Development Grant in 2016, which she used to outfit components of the Exercise Science Laboratory. She also purchased a body composition analysis unit and a bicycle that will be used in a Fall 2017 research project to explore the influence of virtual training on adherence and adaptation. The remainder of the funds was used to travel to an experimental biology conference to present research on vascular physiology. Additionally, she received funding for the Junior Faculty Scholarship Grant to purchase a television for the exercise science laboratory as well as iPads to support faculty–student research projects for the upcoming year.
An essay by Assistant Professor of English Christin Marie Taylor, Ph.D., “Teaching ‘A Curtain’ in the Thick of Things: Welty and Race in Diverse Classrooms” will appear in the volume “Approaches to Teaching Eudora Welty.” The chapter discusses the short story “A Curtain of Green” and Welty’s interrogation of white middle-class women’s role in the maintenance of Jim Crow as well as their potential to act in the interracial struggle for civil rights.
Visiting Professor of Mass Communication Matthew Corr, M.A., has co-authored a book in the field of corporate communication for Business Expert Press, being published this spring. The book, “Deepwater Horizon & Corporate Communication: Issue, Argument, Conflict, and Crisis,” focuses on the application of communication ethics to organizational life, and analyzes BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster through the interplay of issue, argument, conflict and crisis in corporate communication.
In addition to reviewing manuscripts for the journal MIFLC Review, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Andrea Meador Smith, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Bryan Pearce-Gonzales, Ph.D., will now both serve as co-copy editors for the publication. Dr. Smith’s article, “Girls on the Run: The Young Female Body in Exile in South American Film,” was published in the journal’s most recent issue.
Henkel Family Chair in International Affairs and Professor of Political Science Eric K. Leonard, Ph.D., recently participated in the annual International Studies Association conference. During the conference, Dr. Leonard presented a co-authored paper (with Peter Trumbore, Oakland University), “Savior of Human Rights or the Same Old Same Old? A Comparative Analysis of Bush and Obama Human Rights Rhetoric.” He also presented a paper, “Flipping the Statecraft Model: New Methods of Learning for the Non-Political Science Student.” At this same conference, Leonard also served as a participant on a roundtable, “Integrating Teaching and Research: Strategies toward Becoming a Whole Professor,” and as part of the panel, “Skill Building in International Studies Courses: Critical Thinking, Communication and Intercultural Competencies.” Leonard also participated in a pre-conference workshop on innovative teaching methods.
