Scholarly Achievements

Read about recent presentations, research, and publications by MBU faculty members.

Pam Bailey, assistant professor of education

Invited speaker for secondary mathematics teachers on an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning, “Rate of Change from Actions to Abstract,” Rappahannock Region Association of Teachers of Mathematics Spring Conference, Spotsylvania, VA.

Presented talk, “VCTM:Support for RRATM,” Rappahannock Regional Association of Teachers of Mathematics, Fredericksburg, VA, as a representative of the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Presented “Inquiry: Ready, Set, Go,” Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Conference, Radford University, VA. (Participants were able to apply a theoretical construct to plan an inquiry lesson.)

Presented “Planning for inquiry lessons viewed through multiple perspectives,” National Council of Teachers of Mathematics – Research, Washington, D.C. (Striving for quality instruction, the presentation shared self-study research conducted in MBU math methods classes.)

Presented “Questions: Promoting reasoning and problem solving,” Coaching Institute for Math and Literacy, George Mason University, Manassas, VA. (Invited speaker to facilitate a professional development session for mathematics specialists.)

Invited to become a member of “Women in Mathematics,” focusing on encouraging young women to take more mathematics and consider careers that involve mathematics.

Doreeen Bechtol, assistant professor of Shakespeare and Performance

Presented a Shakespeare Text and Movement workshop, Southeast Theatre Conference, Mobile, AL.

Keith Bishop, associate professor of physical therapy

Presented a poster, “Study Preferences of Strong and Weak Graduate Students,” at the Experimental Biology meeting, San Diego.

Donovan Branche, director of the Healthcare Administration Program

Will present a poster, “Students’ Experiences and Outcomes: Narratives of Engagement in Social Marketing,” Association of Undergraduate Programs in Health Administration Conference, with Wittney Jones (University of Arkansas Fort Smith) and Michele McGowan (King’s College in Pennsylvania), June.

Kerry Cooke, assistant professor of theatre and Shakespeare and Performance

Presented a paper, “Shakespeare and First Generation College Students,” Shakespeare Association of America Conference.

Taught a master class, “Pericles in Performance and Print,” with Director of Shakespeare and Performance Paul Menzer, Global Shakespeare Festival, Abu Dhabi.

Doug Davis, co-director of the Criminal Justice Program

Appointed by Waynesboro City Council as a city representative for the Youth Commission.

Deborah Diaz, associate professor of physical therapy

Presented a peer reviewed poster, “Cultural competence Development During an Entry-Level Doctor of Physical Therapy Program,” Combined Sections of the American Physical Therapy Association, New Orleans.

Doris Dodson, assistant professor of social work

​Completed a review of the text proposal, ​Chinese Family Culture – Its Change and Continuity, for Cognella Academic Publishing.

Bruce Dorries, associate professor of communication

Presented “Toward a more mindful grasp of collaborative leadership,” McDonough leadership conference, Marietta College.

Beth Easterling, assistant professor of criminal justice and sociology

Manuscript, “Narrating Mother Identities from Prison,” accepted in the journal Feminist Criminology, with co-authors Ben Feldmeyer (University of Cincinnati) and Lois Presser (The University of Tennessee).

Allison Ellington, director of the Occupational Therapy Program

Presented a session, “Round Table: Occupational Therapy’s Use of Virtual Reality in Schools,” with occupational therapy student Jennilee Dodds, Virginia OT Association School Symposium.

Mary Jane Epps, assistant professor of biology

Paper in press, “Quantifying specialism and generalism in beetle-macrofungal associations in a global biodiversity hotspot,” Mycologia journal.

Paper in press, “Insect dispersal of yeast: The evolution and consequences of a diffuse mutualism,” Proceedings of the Royal Society in Biology journal.

Recent research appeared on PBS Nature as part of the documentary “Sex, Lies, and Butterflies.”

Drew Gogian, director of the RN-to-BSN Program

Panelist/presenter at the Spencer Center’s Equity Workshop, “Equity and Healthcare Access,” held at MDCHS.

Jinyoung Kang, assistant professor of business

Conference presentation, “CSR and irregular employment: How Korean Women Workers Critique Neoliberal Age,” Gender, Work, and Organization Conference, Sydney, Australia.

Article with Jane Parpart, “Constructing gender identity through masculinity in CSR reports: The South Korean Case,” Business Ethics European Review.

Received a scholarship for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s 2018 Sustainability & Circular Economy Summit, Washington, D.C.

Accepted as visiting professor, teaching CSR/Business Ethics in the summer program at Chonnam University, South Korea.

Katherine Low, associate professor of religion

Awarded a Curriculum Development Grant from Interfaith Youth Core to support the development of the syllabus for REL/HIST 204 Religion in America.

Delivered a paper, “Bearer of Immanuel: Isaiah’s Wife in the Almah-Parthenos Debate,” Mid-Atlantic Region of the Society of Biblical Literature Conference. She also moderated a section on Reception History of the Bible.

Bess Maxwell, assistant professor of physical therapy

Presented two papers, “Movement, Pain, and Aquatic Therapy” and “The Value of Certification in Aquatic Physical Therapy,” Combined Sections Meeting, American Physical Therapy Association.

Ruth Harbin Miles, adjunct faculty member

Three books published, The K-2 Mathematics Lesson Planning Handbook (published by Corwin Press), The 3-5 Mathematics Lesson Planning Handbook (published by Corwin Press), and Exploring with Measurement (published by Didax Publishers).

Brenci Patiño, associate professor of Spanish

Presented a paper, “Reclaiming la herida abierta: Charro Days and Fiestas mexicanas,” El Mundo Zurdo 2018: A Conference on the Work of Gloria Anzaldúa, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.

Colleen Pendry, adjunct faculty member

Participated in the Blurry Photography exhibition, 1650 Gallery & Studio, Los Angeles, CA.

Recent work in steel and fiber featured in group show, The 4th Annual Edna Curry-John Bower Exhibition, Bower Center for the Arts, Bedford, VA.

Curated MBU’s inaugural art exhibition in the Deming Fine Arts building, Womyn: An Exhibition in Art, featured current and alumni faculty Mary Echols, Anne Hanger, Shay Clanton, Martha Saunders, and Colleen Pendry.

Recent works on paper featured in the 6th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Bower Center for the Arts, Bedford, VA.

Bob Robinson, assistant professor of sociology

With Carrie Boyd, Virginia Trovato, and MBU students Gina Edwards and Corey Chandler, a presentation, “Putting Students First: A Critical Sociological Perspective,” Virginia Adult Degree Completion Administrators Network (VADCAN) spring 2018 meeting, George Mason University. The presentation addressed issues of the integration and marginalization of post-traditional and online students and programs around the nation and at MBU from the perspective of advisors, faculty, students, and assessment specialists through a critical sociological paradigm.

The group presented the same presentation at the Association for Continuing Higher Education mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, Annapolis, Maryland.

Peter Ruiz-Haas, associate professor of chemistry

With Corinne Weeks ’18, presented a poster, “Ozone and hydrogen peroxide advanced oxidation processe of bisphenol-s in water,” Spring National Conference of the American Chemical Society, New Orleans.

Jim Sconyers, associate professor of art

Selected as a featured artist on Sprint Systems of Photography’s website.

Most recent work, Aposematic Fracture, received Honorable Mention Recognition Friday, Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts’ nationally juried exhibition, A Fine Line.

Lisa Shoaf, director of the Physical Therapy Program

Presented a two-hour educational session, “Igniting, Empowering, and Engaging High Performance Teams,” in collaboration with two other PT colleagues at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting, New Orleans.

Abby Wightman, associate professor of anthropology

Presented a paper, “Diversity, Difference, and Safety: Student Perspectives on Community Engagement,” Society for Applied Annual Meeting, Philadelphia.

From Occupational Therapy faculty

The occupational therapy faculty presented a number of scholarly presentations at the national American Occupational Therapy Association conference.

  • All of the occupational therapy faculty collaborated to present a poster, “Measuring Up! A comprehensive plan for measuring Doctoral Experiential Component outcomes in academia and practice.”
  • Pam Stephenson presented a short course, “Documenting Outcomes in Occupation-Based Service Delivery in School Settings,” and facilitated “Conversations that Matter”
  • Lisa Burns presented a poster, “Fueling the debate over dual occupational therapy entry points: Adding data to the discussion”
  • Shelley Knewstep-Watkins presented modules at the pre-conference institute, “Huntington’s Disease: A primer for community-based occupational therapists”
  • Lisa Burns collaborated with OT class of 2018 student Sam Tobin to present a poster, “Implementing routine, evidence-based screening for sleep-related occupational problems: Have we been ‘asleep at the wheel’?”
  • Pam Stephenson collaborated with OT class of 2019 student Sandy Welfare to present a poster, “Occupational therapy and transgender individuals: Opportunities for engagement”
  • Pam Stephenson collaborated with three OT class of 2019 students to present a poster, “Legacy building through occupation: The distinct value of occupational therapy”
  • Pam Stephenson collaborated with OT class of 2019 student Meghan Hardman to present a poster, “Importance of traditions in occupational therapy student role identity”