Faculty Notes, Dec. 22, 2014

We welcome all faculty news and notes. Please submit them online using the Faculty Notes Submission Form.

Phil Ferguson, Ph.D., professor, College of Educational Studies, contributed a chapter to the anthology Disability incarcerated: Imprisonment and disability in the United States and Canada (pp. 45-62). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. “Creating the back ward: The triumph of custodialism and the uses of therapeutic failure in 19th century idiot asylums” explores the history of the creation of the back ward as an actual policy for institutionalization for individuals with intellectual disabilities in nineteenth century America.

Jennifer Funk, Ph.D., associate professor, Schmid College of Science and Technology, published “Summer irrigation, grazing and seed addition differentially influence community composition in an invaded serpentine grassland” in Restoration Ecology. Madison Hoffacker, a recent Environmental Science and Policy graduate, contributed substantially to this project. The researchers found that cattle grazing resulted in higher native plant diversity than two other restoration treatments. The results have important implications for how Californians manage grasslands, which are increasingly invaded by exotic species, mainly from the Mediterranean Basin.

Micol Hebron, associate professor, Department of Art, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, received a grant from the Center for Creative Innovation, to purchase a large-format printer in support of her project titled “Gallery Tally: (en)Gendered (in)Equity”, which is a crowd-sourced, collaborative project that amasses and visualizes data pertaining to gender ratios in the art world. Artists from around the world (now numbering over 1,500) collaborate via social media and Google docs to collect data pertaining to the numbers of male, female, trans, and third gender artists in contemporary art galleries. The project has garnered extensive media attention, from KCET to the Huffington Post.

In addition, in early December she presented a new performance art piece at a large exhibition titled “Auto Body” with Spinello Projects. Auto Body featured 33 female video and performance artists from around the world. Hebron’s performance was presented during Art Week in Miami, the most significant and well-attended contemporary art event in the US. The Auto Body exhibition received write-ups in the New York Times, Hyperallergic, Miami New Times, and Artnet.

Rosalee Hellberg, Ph.D., assistant professor of food science, recently published a paper entitled “Microbial safety and quality of fresh herbs from Los Angeles, Orange County and Seattle farmers’ markets” in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. The paper may be read online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.6996/abstract.

Kirk Honeycutt, adjunct faculty, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, has announced publication of his upcoming book, John Hughes: A Life in Film, by Race Point Publishing in February 2015.

Wenshan Jia, Ph.D., professor, Department of Communication Studies, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, had had one of works is included in a list of readings for Ph. D. qualifying exam in rhetorical theory and criticism in University Waterloo, Canada.  In addition, several works have recently been featured in High Beam Research, http://www.engagingnews.us/select/Wenshan-Jia.html. Another article was included in selected online readings of baidu.com, a major Chinese search engine.
http://wenku.baidu.com/view/14d9593a5727a5e9856a619f.html

Menas Kafatos, Ph.D., professor, School of Computational Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, attended the World Knowledge Forum (WKF) conference in Seoul, Korea this fall. This is the largest corporate/political international meeting in Korea with top CEO’s, international politicians, government representatives and heads of states. Kafatos was part of an invited panel “The Pursuit of Happiness” Fellow panelists included Jigmil Thinley, former Prime Minister of Bhutan; James Galbraith, son of economist J.K. Galbraith, who served in the JFK and other administrations, from University of Texas, Austin; and Suh Eunkook, from Yonsei University. Kafatos’ presentation applied the universal principles of quantum theory to everyday life and particularly how they connect to happiness.

Catherine Keefe, adjunct faculty, Department of English, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, wrote an essay “Dances With Obamacare” for Zócalo Public Square, a not-for-profit Ideas Exchange that blends live events and humanities journalism, picked up by the Washington Post and Time.

Curt L. McCombs, adjunct faculty, Department of English, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, has been invited to present a paper at The Western Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies annual meeting in February. The paper is entitled “Malice and Kindred Spirits: Postmodernism in Samuel Johnson and David Hume.”

Whitney McIntyre Miller, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Educational Studies, Graduate Leadership Programs, was a co-author on “Community Entertainment District” Designation as a Tool for Urban Redevelopment in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Journal of Community Practice.

Jeralyn Glass Refeld, adjunct professor, Conservatory of Music, College of Performing Arts, has been invited to present her unique workshop for young singers at the 13th annual international Symposium for Young Voices presented by the University Clinic Leipzig, in Leipzig, Germany February 20-22, 2015. She will present in both German and English language. The popular Symposium is well attended by Phoniatricians, Ear, Nose and Throat Physicians, Speech Therapists, Voice Teachers, Choir Directors and Logopedists.

Wendy Salmond, Ph.D., professor, Department of Art, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, edited the English edition of Letters, Documents, Memoirs, Criticism Volume 1 and Letters and Documents VOLUME 2 by Kazimir Malevich, published by Tate Publishing, 2015.

Ramesh Singh, Ph.D., professor, Schmid College of Science and Technology, gave a talk, “Enhanced Chl-a concentrations associated with Coastal Earthquakes” at the 12th Biennial Conference of Pan Ocean Remote Sensing Conference (PORSEC2014)(http://porsec2014.unud.ac.id/) “Ocean Remote Sensing of Sustainable Resources” held in Bali during Nov. 4-7, 2014. During Nov. 18-22, 2014, Singh was invited to give a key talk, “Anomalous Changes in Water Level and Carbon Monoxide Associated with Earthquakes in the Mid and Eastern Parts of US” at the GeoRisk 2014 Conference (www.georisk2014.com/) held in Madrid, Spain. He also attended Business meeting of IUGG GeoRisk Commission held on Nov. 21. The main agenda was IUGG General Assembly to be held in Prague during June-July 2015. Singh was invited by the University of Valencia where he gave a talk on “Land, Ocean and Atmosphere Coupling in Changing Environment – Monitoring through Multi Satellite Sensors” on Nov. 25, 2014.

Vernon Smith, Ph.D., Economic Science Institute, Argyros School of Business and Economics, was the guest speaker at the fall commencement for University of Alaska, Anchorage. At the ceremony Smith was also awarded with the university’s Meritorious Service Award and the title of Honorary Doctor of Letters. This is the first time UAA has bestowed both honors on the same person.

Susan Yang, Ph.D., professor, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Computational Science and Engineering, and director of International Science Programs organized and moderated an invited panel on “Brain Engineering” the World Knowledge Forum (WKF) conference in Seoul, Korea this fall.

Miao Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor, School of Pharmacy, was a co-author on Targeting the Small- and Intermediate-Conductance Ca-Activated Potassium Channels: The Drug-Binding Pocket at the Channel/Calmodulin Interface for Neurosignals.