Here are the latest accomplishments in scholarship, research, and craft by MBU faculty and staff.
Calvin Chung, assistant professor of business
A journal publication, “Preferences for Human Resource Practices in South Korean and U.S. Based NPOs,” Journal of Organizational Psychology, 20(5).
A paper, “For-Benefit Education in Higher Education,” accepted for conference presentation, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Virtual Annual Conference, November 2020.
A paper, “Followership for Second-Generation Asian American,” accepted for conference presentation, International Leadership Association Virtual Annual Conference, November 2020.
Matthew Davies, associate professor, Shakespeare and Performance
Joined the American Shakespeare Center’s acting company for their modified summer/fall 2020 season of two plays, Othello and Twelfth Night, which helped to keep their lights on while most other theatres were dimming theirs.
A chapter, “‘This is the Strangers’ Case’: Accenting Shakespeare’s ESL characters,” in Shakespeare and Accentism, to be published by Routledge in January for its series Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature.
Cee Davis, adjunct professor, School of Health and Human Performance
Nominated and selected as the 2020 American Public Health Association Effective Practice Award winner in the Maternal & Child Health Section. This award recognizes individuals or groups whose work has made a significant contribution to effective public health practice in maternal and child health at the community, state, tribal, national, or global levels.
Emmanuel des-Bordes, adjunct professor of mathematics
Selected as a NASA faculty fellow in the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center to work on a research project called Deep Space Systems Health Management this summer, including a space-grant of $17,000.
Amy Diduch, professor of economics
An article, “Normative shortages and the limits of rationing by price,” International Review of Economics Education, March 2021, about the relative roles of price increases vs. policy in solving shortages of necessities such as N95 masks.
Beth Easterling, associate professor of criminal justice and sociology
A book chapter, “Empathy and Identity: Mothers Researching (Incarcerated) Mothers,” published in Prison Stories: Women Scholars’ Experiences Doing Research Behind Bars.
A book chapter, “Storying Motherhood from Prison,” co-authored with Lois Presser and Ben Feldmeyer, published in Punishing Gender: Examining the Criminal Justice System Across Gendered Experiences.
Allison Ellington, program director, occupational therapy
Co-presented a session, “Assessment and Intervention of Neurological Vision Impairments,” the virtual Virginia Occupational Therapy Association conference, October.
Nadine Gergel-Hackett, associate professor of physics
Awarded a VIVA (Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium) Course Redesign Grant for “Increasing the Accessibility of General Undergraduate Education in Physical Science” to support creating a free open-access textbook for PHYS 100: Exploring the Physical World.
Chris Harnish, director, exercise and sports science
Led a student-focused virtual symposium, “Building a career in the exercise sciences,” the annual meeting for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Katherine Low, associate professor of religion
A chapter, “Queen Esther Imagined as a Disney Princess,” the Oxford Handbook of the Bible and American Popular Culture, published in November 2020.
Presented a paper, “William Blake and Ezekiel’s Wife in the Refrigerator,” in the Bible and Visual Arts section during the virtual annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, December 1.
Rebecca McCallister, first semester success advisor, MBU Online
Completed the Facilitating Career Development (FCD) certification, which requires a 120-hour training and knowledge on helping skills, career theories, and career assessments, through the National Career Development Association (NCDA) organization.
Daniel Metraux, professor emeritus and adjunct professor of Asian studies
An article, “How Journalists’ Bias Can Distort the Truth: A Case Study of Japan’s Military Seizure of Korea in 1904–1905,” Japan Studies Review.
Kerry Mills, assistant professor of art history
Attended the Kamoinge Workshop Virtual Conference put on by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in September and October.
A paper, “The Power of Critical Dialogue: Shifting the Aesthetic from the Gesture to the Field,” accepted for virtual presentation, South Eastern College Art Conference (SECAC), November, and for publication in the SECAC journal.
Brenci Patiño, associate professor of Spanish
An invited speaker for the virtual Hispanic Heritage Month Festival organized by Local Colors of Roanoke, with the presentation, “De aquí y de allá: Celebrating the Borderlands,” September.
Participated in the 2020 Nepantla Times International Dialogue celebrating the life of border theorist Gloria Anzaldúa with “Anzaldúa y mis fronteras personales,” Facebook Live, September.
Mentored and supervised student Angie Contreras’ autohistoria, “The Generational Divide: Being my Parents’ Navigator,” to be published in the next volume of the El Mundo Zurdo: Selected Works from the Meeting of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa.
Rachel Potter, director, Applied Behavior Analysis & Autism Studies
Co-presented a poster, “Expanding Access to Behavior Analysis through Open Educational Resources,” the Association for Behavior Analysis International’s Annual Culturo-Behavior Science Conference, October 8.
A presentation, “A Behavior Analytic Approach to Service Dog Training: Using the Principles of Operant Conditioning with Dog and Handler,” the Missouri Association of Behavior Analysis, October 30.
A presentation, “Evoking Curiosity for Curated, Collaborative, and Consumer-Created Content in Behavior Analysis Pedagogy,” the Annual Open Education Pedagogy Conference, November 10.
Patricia Reynolds, adjunct professor, College of Education
Developed online professional development, “Differentiating Instruction for Content Learning Integrating Language,” for the Teacher Development Special Interest Group of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, June.
Named chair, Professional Development Professional Council, TESOL International, October 2020–21.
Renamed to the Equity, Diversity, and Opportunity Council for 2021, Stafford County Public Schools.
Jim Sconyers, associate professor of art
A virtual exhibition of his seventeen-year retrospective, Conceptual Reveries: A Survey of Multi-media Works by Jim Sconyers, Jr., 2003–2020, November 3 – February 28, 2021, Principia College via the James K. Schmidt Gallery.
Edward Scott, associate professor of philosophy
A forward and virtual presentation for the launch of the new biography of a Shendandoah Valley icon, Lucy Frances Simms: From Slavery to Revered Public Service by Dale E. MacAllister. An excerpt from his forward follows: “Lucy Simms is the exemplar of what it means to be human, to think creatively, to free others in the learning of their letters and their sums, and to see others as our kith and kin across the boundaries of race and color … She is our north star, our call to righteous citizenship, and she makes it clear at last in the radiance of her example what it means to be American.”
Molly Seremet, assistant professor of theatre
A chapter, “The Anatomical Redemption of Anne Green,” accepted for publication in The Spaces of Renaissance Anatomy Theatre, published by Vernon Press.
Provided video introductions for Troilus and Cressida and Measure for Measure, Shakespeare 2020 Project, supported by the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Pam Stephenson, assistant professor, occupational therapy
A presentation, “Authentic assessment in pediatrics: A natural fit for occupational therapy,” the American Occupational Therapy Associations Children & Youth specialty conference.
Co-presented a poster, “Creating COTAD chapters in occupational therapy programs: How and why?,” with OT students, the Virginia Occupational Therapy Association’s Fall conference.
Selected to join the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Roster of Fellows, a national honor that recognizes occupational therapists who have made significant contributions to the profession through practice, advocacy, scholarship, and education over their careers.
Mary Clay Thomas, associate professor of social work
Presented a paper, “Teaching Resilience to a New Generation of Social Workers: A Systematic Review,” Western Social Science Administrations Virtual Conference, June.
Laura van Assendelft, professor of political science
An article, “Revisiting the Presence of Women in Political Science Journal Editorial Positions,” with co-authors Barb Palmer and Mary Stegmaier, PS: Political Science & Politics, 53(3).
One of four faculty members selected nationally to receive the 2019–20 Pi Sigma Alpha Best Chapter Advisor Award.
Lindsey Walsh, assistant director, The Vantage Point: Office of Personal and Professional Development
Received the Peter Veglahn Memorial Scholarship awarded through the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge to support her studies in the master of business administration program at MBU and her efforts to strengthen the local workforce.
Abigail Wightman, associate professor of anthropology
An invited book review of Ho-Chunk Powwows and the Politics of Tradition by Grant Arendt for the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, May 2020.