Faculty/Staff Accomplishments and News Briefs January 2021

In this issue, we celebrate the accomplishments of faculty and staff in business, communication, education, health services, institutional advancement, music, religious and ethical studies, theatre, and world languages and cultures. We also share news about a scholarship presented to one of Meredith’s dietetic interns.

Institutional Advancement staff presented at the NCICU Virtual Conference for development and communication professionals on January 6 and 7. Vice President of Advancement Lennie Barton led a session titled “Thorny Issues and Best Practices.” This session was for vice presidents and senior leaders. Director of Alumnae Relations Hilary Allen presented during a session titled “No, please don’t mute yourself! Meaningful Engagement in 2020.” The session highlighted all the unique ways the Meredith Alumnae Office staff were able to engage all alumnae during the pandemic and keep them connected to Meredith.

Professor of Education Tisha Duncan wrote a chapter for the book Cautiously Independent: How student-centered learning encourages emerging adults to take risks. It was published in December 2020 within The Routledge International Handbook of Student-Centered Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Duncan co-authored the chapter with her colleague Allison Buskirk-Cohen from Delaware Valley University. Their work focuses on how faculty can foster relationships to better support emerging adults in the classroom.

Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies Shannon Grimes presented at the Society of Biblical Literature conference in December 2020. She was on a panel responding to Drawing Down the Moon, a new survey of Greco-Roman magic by Radcliffe Edmonds III. Her presentation focused on alchemy.

Director of Health Services Mary Johnson is the author of a chapter on sexual health in a new book, Principles and Practices in College Health (2021). The book offers guidance on all of the clinical principles and practices needed in providing optimal health and well-being services for college students. Designed for college health professionals and administrators, the book features 24 chapters organized in three sections: Common Clinical Problems in College Health, Organizational and Administrative Considerations for College Health, and Population and Public Health Management on a College Campus.

Assistant Professor of Marketing Lisa Monahan and her co-authors won an award for a paper, “Exploring the processing of product returns from a complex adaptive system perspective,” which was published in The International Journal of Logistics Management. The paper was selected as a Highly Commended Paper in the 2020 Emerald Literati Awards.

Catherine Rodgers, director of Meredith in Italy and professor of theatre, was a contributor to a document developed by the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy (AACUPI) for dealing with COVID-19 protocol in Tuscany. AACUPI’s membership includes more than 150 American college and university programs located throughout Italy and was founded in 1978 to enhance and facilitate the international educational interests of North American university programs by cooperative effort.

Associate Professor of Mass Communication Doug Spero was interviewed by CNN and HLN on December 3, 2020, for an upcoming documentary about the 1974 crime that was the real-life basis of the fictional Amityville Horror book and movies. Spero was working for WNBC radio at the time and was one of the first reporters on the scene after the murders were discovered. Later when Spero moved to NBC’s television news he was one of the first reporters allowed inside the house for a series called The Amityville Hoax.

Assistant Professor of Education Christoph Stutts presented a paper, “The Place of White Supremacy and Racism in High School U.S. History Classrooms: A Comparative Case Study,” at the College and University Faculty Assembly of the National Council for Social Studies on December 2. This paper presented recent research on the decision-making of public high school U.S. History teachers as they navigated the place of white supremacy and racism in conventional curriculum and master narrative.

Director of Instrumental Activities Jim Waddelow wrote a book review of Knowing The Score: A Comprehensive Approach to Analysis Part I and Part II by Robert Quebbeman that was published in the  American String Teacher Association Journal, Volume 70, No. 4.

Professor of World Languages and Cultures Jonathan Wade‘s article “Flower, Metaphor, and Portugalidade: António de Sousa de Macedo and Mariana de Luna’s Complementary Use of Flores” was published in the most recent issue of Revista de Escritoras Ibéricas.

News Briefs
Dietetic Intern Carley Lester Receives Witt-Beauchamp Scholarship
Meredith College’s 2020-21 Witt-Beauchamp Scholarship has been presented to Dietetic Intern Carley Lester. This annual scholarship is offered by the Department of Nutrition, Health, and Human Performance and supported by the Witt-Beauchamp Endowment Fund. Given by Celia Witt Beauchamp, ’78, and Chad Lewis Beauchamp, this scholarship is awarded to support a Dietetic Intern, aspiring to practice dietetics/nutrition, in her/his effort to become a registered dietitian.