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Faculty and Staff Activities

Alexis Blavos

Alexis Blavos, Health Department, was a presenter on Oct. 6 for the Society for Public Virtual Health Climate for Health Ambassadors Workshop.

Tiantian Zheng

Tiantian Zheng, Sociology/Anthropology Department, was invited by Clarkson University to deliver a talk on her book Red Lights on Sept.13.

Katie Silvestri

Katie Silvestri, Literacy Department, co-authored an article about Twitter as a kind of digital literacy that was recently published in School-University Partnerships. Co-authors are Jevon Hunter of Buffalo State College and Madison Ackerman of Niagara County Community CollegeThe article shares the qualitative research findings of an emerging professional development schools partnership that investigated the way Twitter, as a type of digital literacy, mediated literature discussions of Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” between urban high school students and master’s degree literacy specialist candidates. The findings were organized into three themes that indicated Twitter’s productive use for literacy engagement among participants: (a) extending time-on-task engagement by encouraging text-specific discussions; (b) organizing cognitive engagement through questions to enhance text comprehension; and (c) facilitating affective engagement by generating enthusiasm and a desire to be part of a broader, more authentic literacy community. Collectively, these findings have implications for designing socially mediated digital literacy activities that lead to theorizing about the potential of adolescent online literacies in classrooms, leveraging 21st century literacy-based technologies for academic learning, and expanding the literacy pedagogy of preservice teachers.

Brian D. Barrett

Brian D. Barrett, Foundations and Social Advocacy Department, recently had his article, “Faith in the Inner City: The Urban Black Church and Students’ Educational Outcomes,” published in the Journal of Negro Education (79(3) pp. 249-262). He presented aspects of the article on campus during a 2009 Black History Month Sandwich Seminar as well as in an invited session at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

Robert Spitzer

Robert Spitzer, Political Science Department, was a keynote speaker at the Gun Studies Symposium conference held Oct. 20 at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz.

Laura Davies

Laura Davies, English Department, had her chapter, “Plagiarism and the Internet: Fears, Facts, and Pedagogies,” published in The Handbook for Academic Integrity. The chapter was co-authored with Rebecca Moore Howard, Syracuse University. The Handbook for Academic Integrity, published by Springer, is international and interdisciplinary in its scope.

Mary Schlarb and Shufang Strause

Mary Schlarb, International Programs, Shufang Strause, Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, and Dennis Weng, former Political Science Department faculty member, contributed a chapter titled “The New Normal: Student and Faculty Mobility Programs between Public Teacher Education Institutions in China and the U.S.” to The Rise of China-U.S. International Cooperation in Higher Education (Spotlight on China), Christopher Johnstone and Li Li Ji, editors.

Jaroslava Prihodova

Jaroslava Prihodova, Art and Art History Department, received a $3000 grant under the auspices of the Conversation in the Disciplines Program initiated by the State University of New York. The funds will be used for an interdisciplinary one-day symposium titled “Beyond Obvious” set for February 2019 in Dowd Gallery. The event will include speakers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Nazareth College, Syracuse University and SUNY Cortland. The symposium will be organized in conjunction with a four-week exhibition titled “Hidden Beauty: Exploring the Aesthetics of Medical Science,” slotted for Jan. 28 to Feb. 22. This collaborative traveling exhibition was organized by Norman Barker and Christine Lacobuzio-Donahue, both from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The core idea put forth explores the aesthetics of human disease, both within and beyond the context of our preconceived social systems. The additional accompanying exhibition, “Beyond Obvious,” will feature three-dimensional works inspired by medical research and is curated by Prihodova.

Szilvia Kadas

Szilvia Kadas, Art and Art History Department, had her latest solo exhibition, “Poetry in Visual Form” open on Sept. 4 in Nyiregyhaza, City Gallery, Hungary. The exhibition showcases 40 original illustrations by Kadas and will be on display until Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Dan Harms

Dan Harms, Library, had his chapter, “Hell and Fairy: The Differentiation of Fairies and Demons within British Ritual Magic of the Early Modern Period,” published in the edited collection Knowing Demons, Knowing Spirits in the Early Modern Period from Palgrave Macmillan.