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Faculty/Staff Accomplishments and Departmental News 4/12/17

In this issue we celebrate accomplishments by faculty and staff in departments of art, biology, English, human environmental sciences, nutrition, health & human performance, political science, psychology, religious and ethical studies, and sociology/criminology. We also share departmental news from the School of Business about the Meredith Social Entrepreneurship Challenge Community Showcase and from the Honors Program about grading.

Assistant Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies Steven A. Benko presented a paper at the Ethics and Aesthetics of Stand-Up Comedy Conference at Bucknell University. His paper grows out of research he has been doing on affect theory and ethics which has been supported by a Scholarly Productivity Grant. Focusing on the role of feminism in the comedy of Aziz Ansari, he presented on how affect theory shifts the focus on laughter away from a liberal, autonomous subject laughing at the perception of incongruity to a subject immersed in an affected atmosphere that shapes the response to humor.

Sociology and Criminology faculty members Lori Brown, Amie Hess, and Kris Macomber presented at the Southern Sociological Society Annual Meeting in Greenville, S.C., in April 2017. Their presentations were:

“That Kind of Stuff Doesn’t Happen Here”: Addressing Gender-Based Violence on a (Predominately) Women’s College Campus. Assistant Professor Kris Macomber with Juliette Grimmett from Chrysalis Network.

To Protect and Serve: Public Perceptions about Gender and Policing. Professor Lori Brown and Kris Macomber

Ally, Bully or Bystander? The Role of Schools in Supporting Sexual Minority Youth. Associate Professor Amie Hess, with students Katie Sills and Melissa Jenkins.

Earlier this year, Brown, Hess, and Macomber presented at the North Carolina Criminal Justice Association Annual Meeting in Raleigh with Political Science faculty Whitney Ross Manzo and David McLennan on Perceptions about Public Safety and Women Police Officers in North Carolina, 2016.

Professor of Biological Sciences Francie Cuffney was in Washington, D.C., at American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) over spring break to work as part of the MCAT Validity Study Task force.  Cuffney is one of only two undergraduate pre-health advisors selected to participate on this committee, which is composed of AAMC/MCAT professionals, deans of medical schools, and two undergraduate faculty.  The longitudinal study will go on for the next six years. Cuffney also attended the annual American Dental Educators Association (ADEA) conference in Long Beach, Calif.  She serves as liaison to ADEA for the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions.  At ADEA she serves on both the CAS admissions task force and the GoDental task force.

Professor of English Rebecca Duncan’s short story “Order in the Game” appeared in the Spring Equinox issue of Mused: Bella Online Literary Review.

Professor of Interior Design Ellen Goode will be presenting at Neocon, in Chicago on June 12. The title of her presentation is “The Residential American Craftsman Style: Past and Present.”

Ashley Holmes, adjunct instructor in the Department of Nutrition, Health & Human Performance, recently had a paper published in Acta Oncologica (the Scandinavian Cancer Journal) from her doctoral work.

Associate Professor of Art Shannon Johnstone is the recipient of two awards in Feature Shoot’s Emerging Photographer’s Awards. For the first award, she was one of five photographers to receive the cash prize award. The second award was selected by Jennifer Kilberg of Agency Access to receive access their database and a consultation session. Johnstone’s work is also included as one of twelve artists in the Resistance As Art: An Environmental & Animal Justice Exhibit at Art Queen in Joshua Tree, Calif. The exhibition is presented by Mojave Animal Protection (MAP) and runs from April 1–30, 2017. Other artists include Sue Coe, Marina DeBris, Dana Ellyn, Jonathan Horowitz, Jenny Kendler, Sharon Ryder, Andy Singer, Jess X Snow, Roland Straller, Larry Torro, and Matthew Willey.

Assistant Professor of Political Science Whitney Ross Manzo presented at the Midwestern Political Science Association meeting in Chicago on April 7. Manzo’s paper is titled “The Purpose and Perception of Learning Objectives,” which discusses how to improve assessment practices.

Associate Professor of Psychology Gwynn Morris and Professor of Psychology Cynthia Edwards with their colleague Ben Brown, University of Georgia-Gwinnett, presented a roundtable, Scaffolding effective use of scientific evidence (Journal of Anecdotal Evidence, Opinion & Irrelevant Fact, 2017), at the Biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in Austin, Texas, on April 5.

Christina Romanelli, Adjunct Instructor of English, attended the Shakespeare Association of America conference April 5-8 in Atlanta, Ga., where she participated in the “Afterlives of Medieval Drama Seminar.” Romanelli’s paper, “Quick Thinking Mistress Quickly,” explored connections between medieval brewsters and William Shakespeare’s working-class tavern owner.

Instructor of English Jennifer Suchanec’s poem “Confession” is a finalist in the Annual N.C. State Poetry Contest.

Professor of Human Environmental Sciences Deborah Tippett presented two keynote presentations to the Virginia Family and Consumer Sciences Association in Fredricksburg, Va., on March 30. The presentations were on “Blogging, Tweeting, Texting, Posting, and Pinning: Communication Trends of the Millennials” and on “Apppreciative Inquiry: A Winning Technique for Business Professionals.” On April 8, Tippett presented a daylong pre-conference for delegates to the Caribbean Home Economists Association Bi-Annnual Meeting on Montego Bay, Jamaica on “Using Appreciative Inquiry to Build A Stronger Future.”  Five Meredith students, Amy Burke, Alexa Harper, Deanna Mayo, Carolyn Saylor, and Stephanie Yarborough, also attended the conference.

Fashion Merchandising and Design Faculty Eunyoung Yang and Ali Howell attended the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) Annual Conference in Sligo, Ireland, March 23-25, 2017.  The theme of the Conference was “Sustainable and Healthy Lifestyles: Policy, Pedagogy and Practice.” Yang presented creative scholarship abstracts; “Exploration of Surface Design Techniques” and “Patchwork Imperfections: Integrating Natural Dye and Cultural Inspiration” as individual posters. Howell presented “Exploring Intersectional Identity and Media Literacy through Instagram” and “Negotiations of Modesty: Significant Meanings of Dress among Iranian Muslim Women.”

Departmental News
Meredith Social Entrepreneurship Challenge Community Showcase
The School of Business invites faculty and staff to the Meredith Social Entrepreneurship Challenge (MSEC) Community Showcase on Wednesday, April 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Johnson Hall Rotunda. Semifinalists in the MSEC will share an interactive poster display of their business/nonprofit idea and interact with attendees. The winners of the competition will be announced and give a 90-second live-pitch of their venture idea to attendees. Light refreshments will be served.

–Submitted by Nathan Woolard, Assistant Professor of Business

Remember Honors AH / BH grading
As a reminder of pending Honors contracts in your course(s), this week Mary Doyle will be returning to teachers copies of contracts submitted to the Honors office in February.  Remember that Honors students must earn an AH or BH grade in contracted courses to receive Honors credit. (AH means ‘A for the course, Honors contract completed satisfactorily’, and BH means . . . you get the idea.)

When reporting grades on WebAdvisor in coming weeks, would you please remember to use AH / BH grading, as appropriate? By doing so, you will save the Honors office many hours of follow-up and you will not be contacted again by email in this matter for the entire summer! Teachers may still use A-F grading in cases where an Honors contract is not satisfied.

Thank you for your collaboration with Honors students and for enhancing their Meredith College education. Please write to Brent Pitts at pittsb@meredith.edu if you have questions.

– Submitted by Brent Pitts, Honors Program Director

Melyssa Allen

News Director
316 Johnson Hall
(919) 760-8087
Fax: (919) 760-8330

allenme@meredith.edu