Arts & Sciences Faculty News: Winter/Spring 2018
Faculty members publish, present, receive awards and explore education
Henkel Family Chair in International Affairs and Chair of the Department of History, Art, Religion and Political Science Eric K. Leonard, Ph.D., has a book, “Building Your IR Theory Toolbox, An Introduction to Understanding World Politics” due out in March.
History major Bailey Jones and Associate Professor of History Ann Denkler, Ph.D., will give a paper at the annual Mid-Atlantic Archaeology Conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on March 15 through March 17. Their participation is made possible by being awarded a collaborative grant through Shenandoah. The paper focuses on uncovering the history of enslavement in the Shenandoah Valley, and the pair will sit on a panel with prominent archaeologists from the United States.
Psychology Department Chair Wendy Carlson, Ph.D., serves on the board of Girls on the Run (GOTR) of the Shenandoah Valley and as a coach trainer for new GOTR coaches. She also will be profiled on NW Works’ updated website as a community member. Each semester, one of her classes completes a service-learning project with the NW Works organization.
Assistant Professor of Biology Danny LeBert, Ph.D., recently published “Damage-induced reactive oxygen species regulate vimentin and dynamic collagen-based projections to mediate wound repair” in eLife. eLife publishes work of the highest scientific standards and importance in all areas of the life and biomedical sciences.
Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction Karrin Lukacs, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies Lisa Pluska, Ed.D., and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Leadership Studies Catherine Dunn Shiffman, Ph.D., are taking a group of 19 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students to Finland to study their K-12 education system during spring break.
Associate Professor of Psychology Scott King, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of Psychology Mark Chan, Ph.D., have authored a chapter for an ebook published by the Society for Teaching of Psychology. The book, edited by Richard Harnish, is called “The Impact of Technology on How Instructors Teach and How Students Learn,” and their chapter is “#worthit? Integrating Twitter into Introductory Psychology Curriculum.” The chapter is about an experiment the two attempted in their PSY 101 courses to see if using Twitter as part of the course requirements improved student engagement.
Associate Professor of Psychology Scott King, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Exercise Science Barry Parker, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of Public Health Audra Gollenberg, Ph.D., have recently submitted a proposal to renew their grant for a project where students from each of their departments hold internships at the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging’s Winchester Senior Center. After seeing promising results from the first year, they are looking forward to continuing it next year and beyond. The grant, “Intergenerational Connections: Students Serving Older Adults” is from the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC), with support from AARP.
Associate Professor of Psychology Scott King, Ph.D., is teaching a course at the Obama Institute of Transnational American Studies in Mainz, Germany, during his sabbatical this spring. The course is the “Psychology of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.” He and his family are living in Germany from April through July.
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies Lisa Pluska, Ed.D., is president-elect of the Virginia Educational Research Association (VERA) and secretary for Virginia Professors of Educational Leadership (VPEL).
College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Mathematics Cindia Stewart, Ph.D., recently published a book review for the January 2018 issue of the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. She reviewed “Algebra in Context: Introductory Algebra from Origins to Applications,” by Amy Shell-Gellasch and J. B. Thoo.
Professor of Psychology Laura Zimmermann, Ph.D., is quoted in the New York Times article, “Breaking Gender Stereotypes in the Toy Box,” about the circumstances in which children’s reactions to toys do, or do not, conform to gender stereotypes. The article notes that Dr. Zimmermann “was the first author on a study published last year in the Journal of Children and Media, which looked at preschool children’s responses to toy commercials.”
