Kathleen A. Lawrence
Kathleen A. Lawrence, Communication and Media Studies Department, had her speculative abecedarian “The Large Tale of the Tiny Girl and her Big Dreams” published in Star*Line Magazine’s May issue. It is the print journal of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association. This poem is a retelling of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, Thumbelina.
Robert Spitzer
Robert Spitzer, Political Science Department, has been informed that his new book, Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights, has been accepted for publication by Oxford University Press. The book argues that the contemporary debate pitting gun rights against gun regulations is based on a misunderstanding of America’s gun past. While gun possession is as old as the country, so are gun laws, and throughout most of our history, the two have gone hand in hand. Drawing on a vast new dataset of early gun laws, the book shows that gun regulations in America’s early history were, if anything, more strict than they are now. In addition, the book examines the Second Amendment and the assault weapons controversy, “stand-your-ground” laws, and New York state’s recent strict new laws. The narrative also includes the author’s effort to obtain a pistol permit. The book is scheduled for publication by Oxford in March 2015. Spitzer is the author of four other books on gun policy.
Theresa Curtis
Theresa Curtis, Biological Sciences Department, recently had two papers accepted for publication. “Equine Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Different Sources Efficiently Differentiate into Hepatocyte-Like Cells” will appear in the journal Tissue Eng Part C Methods and “A Comparative Study on the In Vitro Effects of the DNA Methyltransferase Inhibitor 5-Azacytidine (5-AzaC) in Breast/Mammary Cancer of Different Mammalian Species” was accepted by the journal J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. The co-authored articles report on collaborative research that Curtis performed during her 2014-15 sabbatical at Cornell University in Gerlinde Van de Walle’s lab.
Melissa Morris
Melissa Morris, Physics Department, was invited by NASA headquarters in Washington D.C. to act as a contracted program officer to assist in the administration of several programs under the Planetary Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate. She has taken a leave of absence from teaching at SUNY Cortland for the fall semester to perform this important service to our country and the scientific community. She will continue to advise her SUNY Cortland undergraduate research assistants and postdoctoral researchers while she is on leave.
Morris was a coauthor on a presentation titled “Thermal History Match Between CBb Chondrules and Impact Plume Models” at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, held July 23-28 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Morris’ undergraduate research assistant and current SUNY Cortland senior Andrew Duval spent six weeks at Arizona State University (ASU) over the summer collecting data on meteorites using the state-of-the-art facilities at ASU’s Center for Meteorite Studies. The results of his research will be the subject of his honors thesis, and will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Also, Morris had a Career Profile posted on the blog of The American Astronomical Society Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy on August 8.
Brock Ternes
Brock Ternes, Sociology/Anthropology Department, presented twice during the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting held Aug. 10 to 13 in New York City. His first presentation, “What Happens when Cultural Theorists Fall Down a Well? Bourdieu, Veblen, and Water Supplies,” described how owning a private water well is a significant predictor of conspicuous water consumption and conservation, nuanced practices that appear to happen simultaneously during droughts. His second presentation, “Revisiting Dillman: Does the Design and Personalization of Mailed Invitations Influence Online Survey Response Rates?” was coauthored with Todd Little, a professor at Texas Tech University. Their work offered evidence that minor stylistic changes in mailed notifications to complete internet-based surveys are connected to variations in nonresponse.
Seth N. Asumah
Seth N. Asumah, Africana Studies and Political Science departments, was invited to write a guest foreword, “Rethinking African Philosophy in the Twenty-First Century” which is published in a new volume of the Value Inquiry Book Series. The book, Postethnophilosophy, is authored by Sanya Osha, a professor of philosophy and a research fellow at Tshwane University, Pretoria, South Africa. The book was published by Edition Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands. Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, Philosophy Department, wrote the editorial foreword for this book.
Nance Wilson
Nance Wilson, Literacy Department, was quoted in an article titled “‘The Lorax’ Is a Constant in Classrooms. Does It Send the Right Message?” It was published April 21 in Education Week.
Tiantian Zheng
Tiantian Zheng, Sociology/Anthropology Department, was invited by Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of Hong Kong to deliver three campus-wide talks on April 25 and 26 on her books Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China, published in 2015, and Ethical Research with Sex Workers: Anthropological Approaches, published in 2013.
Benjamin C. Wilson
Benjamin C. Wilson, Economics Department, presented with co-authors their paper titled “Spatial Analysis in Pursuit of Equity for Future Generations” at the 13th International Post Keynesian Conference held Sept. 15 in Kansas City, Mo. The conference was hosted by the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Binzagr Institute for Sustainable Prosperity.
Charles DeMotte
Charles DeMotte, Sociology/Anthropology Department, will have his book, Bat, Ball and Bible: The Struggle for Sunday Baseball in New York, published in 2012 by Potomac Press.