People & Places is a monthly highlight of the ongoing professional activities and achievements of faculty, staff, and students of the College.
Mark Cosdon, Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies, will return to Sicily’s University of Palermo this fall to teach a course on contemporary American Theatre. While in Italy, Cosdon will present a pair of lectures at the University of Rome-Sapienza.
Sydney Emerson ’23
Sydney Emerson ’23 has a forthcoming publication in the nationally renowned literary journal Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. The journal has published original works by notable and nationally recognized writers such as Denis Johnson, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Ann Beattie, and Jonathan Lethem.
Emerson’s story, “The Haunting of the Wilsons by Me and That Bitch Todd,” was selected by the award-winning author Brian Evenson as part of the journal’s upcoming horror issue and will be included in Emerson’s senior comprehensive project, supervised by Professors Christopher Bakken and Soledad Caballero, and was submitted with guidance from Professor Mari Christmas.
Hannah Hinterleiter ’24, Ella Lunney ’23, and Sarah Thorman ’24
Several students from the Psychology Department’s JUSTICE (Just Undergraduate Students Thoroughly Investigating Crime Ethically) lab, under the direction of Assistant Professor of Psychology Christopher Normile, presented their research projects at the annual American Psychology-Law Society conference in Philadelphia, PA, during March.
Hannah Hinterleiter ’24, Ella Lunney ’23, and Sarah Thorman ’24 presented their poster entitled “Exoneree Identity Influences Support for Exonerees.” Meanwhile, Will Kabazie ’23 presented his student-faculty summer research project entitled “Effects of Training and the Cognitive Interview on Deception Detection Accuracy.”
Travel support for these students was graciously provided by the Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (URSCA) and the Herb Klions Psychology Department funds. In addition, Hannah was supported through the Klomp Family Endowment Fund. Sarah and Will were supported through the Edward David, Class of 1961, Student Support Fund.
Will Kabazie ’23
Chris Normile
Christopher Normile, Assistant Professor of Psychology, along with his colleague Talley Bettens of George Mason University, recently had their paper “Concerns and Recommendations Regarding the Training of School Administrators in Interrogating Students,” published in the journal Psychology, Crime, & Law.
This review paper highlights research on adolescents’ cognitive and social immaturities and cautions against the training of school administrators in the use of coercive interrogation tactics typically seen in criminal investigations.
Alexis Hart, Professor of English and Director of Writing, co-authored the chapter “The Spatial Landscape of the Learning Commons: A Political Shift to the (Writing) Center,” which was recently published in the edited collection Writing Centers and Learning Commons: Staying Centered While Sharing Common Ground from Utah State University Press.
She has also been invited to participate in the Elon University Center for Engaged Learning 2023-2025 Research Seminar on Mentoring Meaningful Learning Experiences.
As part of the World Sustainability Series, Professors of Environmental Science and Sustainability, Eric Pallant, Beth Choate, and Kelly Pearce co-edited a book “Educating the Sustainability Leaders of the Future,” in collaboration with Dr. Walter Leah Filho and Amanda Lange Salvia.
The book, published by Springer, features a set of papers focused on student engagement in sustainability and sustainability initiatives in higher education, all of which were presented at the World Symposium on Sustainability in Higher Education, held at Allegheny College during the summer of 2022.
Ann Sheffield, Professor Emerita of Chemistry, recently published “Men Who Brew: Masculinity and the Production of Drink in Medieval Icelandic Literature.”
The article appears in the Spring 2023 issue of Scandinavian Studies, the flagship journal of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies.
Professors Caryl Waggett (Global Health Studies) and Matt Venesky (Biology) were awarded $100,000 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Education to research the disease ecology, and public health challenges of tick-borne diseases in northwestern Pennsylvania. They have partnered with the Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab located at East Stroudsburg University.
The one-year grant will allow them to conduct a pilot study on a novel vaccine that could reduce transmission of tick-borne diseases in wildlife populations, begin a longer-term ecological study to identify local transmission patterns of a range of tick-borne diseases, and begin to evaluate how the public learns about and responds to advisories related to tick-borne diseases.
Waggett and Venesky are both excited to be able to involve undergraduate students in this project through a combination of class-based research, internships, and summer student-faculty research.
Sydney Emerson ’23
Sydney Emerson ’23 and Roman Hladio ’23 attended the Sigma Tau Delta 2023 Convention in Denver, CO, from March 29 to April 1, to present their original creative works at the Rectangle Reading.
Emerson read her essay, “Down in the Valley,” from Professor Matthew Ferrence’s writing creative nonfiction course. Hladio read from his short story, “Ancestry,” which he wrote for Professor Mari Christmas’s writing fiction course.
Both works were accepted for publication and were published in Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle’s 2023 issue. The journal publishes annually the best writing of undergraduate and graduates active chapter members of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society.
Hladio, Roman ’23
Emerson and Hladio were awarded travel support from the English Department’s Dusty Elias Kirk ’75 and William R. Caroselli Student Support Fund and the Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (URSCA). Emerson was supported through the Edward David, Class of 1961, Student Support Fund. Hladio was supported through the Klomp Family Endowment Fund.
Manasvi Bantawa ’24, was a production assistant for the PBS documentary Lake Erie: Our Kin Part I & II, released on April 3. Her initiative going up to the director of the “Invisible Hand,” earned her a position in this two-part documentary and is a testament to her hard work and passion.
Michael Dolan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, presented “Lessons in Score Study for Ensemble Musicians Post-COVID” at the 2023 National Association for Music Education Eastern Division Conference in Rochester, NY, in April.
The talk was based on an assignment Dolan developed for the student members of the Allegheny Civic Symphony Orchestra, encouraging them to further explore the music they perform in a structured project.
Erin Magnus ’23
Erin Magnus ’23 and Paula Burleigh attended the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association in San Antonio, Texas, from April 5 to 8.
Erin presented “Cyber-Aesthetic Experience: from Contemplation to Consumption” in an art and design culture panel, while Paula gave a presentation entitled “Contemporary Cyborgs: boundary breakers or goddesses in disguise?” in a gender and media studies area panel.
Erin’s conference participation and travel were supported by the Philosophy department’s James F. Sheridan Jr. Memorial Fund and an Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (URSCA) grant through the Edward David, Class of 1961, Student Support Fund.
Editor in chief for The Campus Sami Mirza ’24 had the honor of covering Gov. Ron DeSantis’ convocation speech at Liberty University and the subsequent honorary degree ceremony. Mirza was alongside reporters from the New York Times and Huffington Post.
Mirza was able to take close-up shots of Desantis, alongside writing a subsequent newspaper article that appeared in five different local newspapers, which can be viewed here.
The Offices of URSCA and Faculty Development would like to congratulate Professor Alexis Hart on her election to the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) as the arts and humanities division councilor.
The arts and humanities division of CUR represents a broad range of faculty and students, which supports undergraduate research in the arts and humanities through student scholarship or creative activities.
As a division councilor, Hart will serve as a crucial link between CUR and its members, helping to set policy, and design and coordinate programs, workshops, and meetings.
