Letter from the Dean

Dear Friend of the College,

Welcome to the April 2009 issue of Inside A&S, the monthly e-newsletter of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Villanova University.

The 2009 spring semester semester, as it winds to a close, remains filled with a wide array of academic and cultural events, including the "From the Local to the Global: International Sustainability Conference," designed to explore the concept of sustainability in all its many forms. The keynote address will be given by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

In addition, the 11th Annual Villanova Literary Festival is ongoing this semester. You can learn more about the writers visiting campus here. Further, the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a three-day conference, "Mirror Images: Challenges for Arab and Islamic Studies." Learn more here.

Films, lectures, discussions, and other intellectual enrichment activities complement what goes on in the classroom environment. Our hope is that our students, faculty, and staff take advantage of the wonderful academic and cultural events available on campus and beyond.

You probably have noticed that the colorful A&S banners have returned to the walking pathways surrounding the St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts and Mendel Science Center. Learn more about the individuals displayed on the banners and their significant accomplishments here. The purpose of the banners is to remind everyone on our campus of the strength, relevance, and transformative power of the liberal arts and sciences at the University and in our world.

The Office of the Dean in the College actively looks for innovative ways to keep its faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends well informed of all the news and activity happening in the College. To achieve these ends, the College publishes this e-newsletter, Inside A&S, monthly.

The College also publishes Connections, a weekly e-newsletter for A&S students, and has begun a blog. Further, you can become a fan of the College on Facebook. Click here for more information. Our hope is to reach out to our varied audiences in diverse ways so that you receive the news you need in the most convenient and accessible ways.
  
Thank you for continuing to read Inside A&S. We appreciate your ongoing interest in the life of the College, and, as always, we welcome your feedback.

Sincerely, 


Rev. Kail C. Ellis, O.S.A., Ph.D.
Dean of the College
 

In College News …

Adele Lindenmeyr, Ph.D., Appointed Dean of Graduate Studies

Adele Lindenmeyr, Ph.D., a professor of history, pictured left, has been appointed dean of Graduate Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Dr. Lindenmeyr will succeed Dr. Gerald Long, who will step down from his current position at the end of August.

Learn more here.

College Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies

The Center for Arab and Islamic Studies will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2009 and will mark the occasion with an international conference titled, "Mirror Images: Challenges for Arab and Islamic Studies," on April 2 to 4. During the conference, which will feature scholarly panels, workshops, discussions, and diverse cultural programs, a keynote address will be delivered by Professor Juan R.I. Cole, Ph.D., the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Dr. Cole also is the president of the Global Americana Institute.

From the Local to the Global: International Sustainability Conference

Villanova University is hosting an international interdisciplinary conference on sustainability from April 23 to 26, 2009. The conference aims to bring together scholars, activists, and government and corporate professionals from across the United States and around the world to learn from each other in exploring the multiple dimensions of sustainability.

The keynote address will be given by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. This conference is the capstone event of Villanova’s Year of Sustainability, which began in September 2008 with the symposium, "Mendel in the 21st Century: The Scientific, Social, and Ethical Impact of Genetics in Our World," a celebration of the 80th anniversary of Villanova’s granting of the Mendel Medal honoring the legacy of Augustinian priest Gregor Mendel, an icon of interdisciplinary scientific investigation; recipients of the medal include botanist Peter Raven, philosopher Holmes Rolston III, and biologist Meg Lowman. Visit this Web site to learn even more about the sustainability conference.
 

Celebrate 50 Years of Villanova Theatre

On April 5, 2009, Villanova Theatre will be throwing a cocktail party reception to celebrate its 50th Anniversary. The party will be held in the President’s Lounge in Connelly Center.

One “Golden Ticket” to the event includes admission to the celebration, plus one ticket to Villanova Theatre's production of Cabaret, on stage March 24-April 5 and April 14-19. Tickets cost $50 and are available through Villanova Theatre Box Office. Call 610-519-7474.

Guests will have the opportunity to bid on fabulous silent auction items including original costume sketches, books, and plays signed by Villanova Theatre luminaries, and a walk-on role in the 2010 musical!

For more information contact Meg Devine at 610-519-7454.

Global Change Seminar Series

The Department of Geography and the Environment at Villanova is sponsoring the Global Change Seminar Series. Please click here to learn more. All students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend.

Open Mic Poetry Reading: Celebrating Nat'l Poetry Month and Senior Class Poet Contest

The English department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Falvey Memorial Library invite poets and poetry-lovers alike to join students who have submitted work to the class poet contest to an open mic poetry reading celebrating National Poetry Month on April 15 at 1 p.m. in the first floor lounge of Falvey.

Poetry has the “power to bring people together,” notes poet Lisa Sewell, a professor in the English department. Students, faculty, administrators, and staff are encouraged to arrive promptly to sign up for a spot on the reading list or just to get a good seat for listening to the readings. Learn more here.
 

14th Annual Philosophy Conference: New French Thought 

The annual philosophy conference at Villanova has been a tradition since 1996.

Sponsored by the Philosophy Graduate Student Union (PGSU), it began as one of the first graduate philosophy conferences in Continental philosophy. Now open for faculty as well as graduate students, the annual conference has drawn participants from all areas of philosophy as well as from around the world.

This year's theme, “New French Thought,” features keynote speaker Bernard Stiegler. The conference takes place on April 3 and 4, 2009.

Learn more here.

The Augustinian Institute Presents the Vivian J. Lamb Lecture Series on Augustinian Thought and the Sciences

Paul J. Steinhardt, Princeton University Albert Einstein Professor in Science, and director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, will deliver a lecture entitled, "The Universe Present, Past, and Future: What We Know, What We Will Know Soon, and How It May Change Our View of Everything," on Wednesday, April 15, at 4 p.m. in the Connelly Cinema. Learn more here.
 

Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies Hosts 34th International PMR Conference

The PMR committee this year extends a special invitation to scholars from all disciplines in these fields to address our plenary theme, "Ora et Labora: Pray and Work," featuring John Van Engen University of Notre Dame, author of Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life and M. Michele Mulchahey Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, Toronto, author of First the Bow is Bent in Study on Oct. 16-18, 2009. For Call for Papers details, please click here. 
 

Rev. Richard Cannuli, O.S.A., Presents Iconic Images in Villanova Exhibit 

An interpretive exhibit of Old World religious icons, “Ever Ancient, Ever New – Sacred Treasures," by Rev. Richard G. Cannuli (Order of St. Augustine), opened March 27 in Villanova University’s Art Gallery, with a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. to meet the artist. The exhibit continues to May 17. The exhibit is free and all are welcome.

The exhibit offers a look into the centuries-old holy shrines stationed along the streets and alleyways of Southern Italy and Sicily, the birth region of the Philadelphia-born artist’s ancestors.

To Rev. Cannuli, the time-honored and very precise process of creating an image of Christ, the Holy Mother or a Roman Catholic saint signifies the spiritual journey on which he has been for most of his life. “Art is not a metaphor for creation; it is the continuation of its presence. In creativity, we begin to know the Creator,” he notes.

Rev. Cannuli is a noted iconographer and a certified liturgical design consultant, who has planned worship spaces for numerous religious communities. His designs for stained glass windows, mosaics, sanctuary furniture and liturgical vestments may be found in worship spaces in the United States and abroad.

The exhibit comprises large wall hangings, more than a dozen three-dimensional floor pieces, as well as traditional icons in gold leaf and tempura. In one treatment, multiple sets of eyes peer softly out from an icon of St. Lucy, the martyr of Syracuse, Sicily, whose eyesight, it is said, was miraculously restored after her eyes were put out.

In another work, an imprisoned Jesus looks out from behind bars in an image superimposed over the recess of a roadside reliquary. A sorrowing Holy Mother holds in one hand an image of Christ, in the other the Cross of Calvary.
 
The Villanova University Art Gallery is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. For weekend and extended hours, and other information, telephone the Art Gallery at (610) 519-4612. Selected works for the exhibit may be previewed on the gallery’s Web site: www.artgallery.villanova.edu.
 

Department of Computing Sciences Awarded $600,000 Scholarship Grant

The Department of Computing Sciences has been awarded a $600,000 scholarship grant from the NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program.

This NSF program has a Congressional mandate to support undergraduate educational initiatives to increase the quality, quantity, and diversity of STEM majors. The department grant will support the Villanova Computing Scholars (ViCS) community. Current and incoming Computer Science majors in ViCS will be eligible to receive up to $8,000 in financial aid per year over the next four years, and will participate in a learning community advised by faculty members from the Department's Center of Excellence in Enterprise Technology (CEET). 

The award is one of 85 new S-STEM awards made by NSF this year, across all STEM disciplines. These awards are a result of the evaluation of 277 proposals submitted in August 2008.

Villanova Theatre Proudly Presents Cabaret

Villanova Theatre proudly presents Cabaret, a sizzling Kander & Ebb musical, directed by Valerie Joyce. Cabaret will be on stage from March 24-April 5 and April 14-19. The production features a cast of 28, including graduate students, undergraduates, and two Villanova faculty members.

Outside the Kit Kat Klub, life in Berlin is becoming strained as the Nazis rise to power. But inside … ah, inside! Our Emcee instructs guests to leave their troubles at the door, while musicians and dancers sizzle and decadence prevails. Cabaret’s captivating story pulls together an American novelist, a British nightclub singer, a Jewish fruit vendor, and a German businesswoman in an intricate dance of politics and passion.

Tickets are available in person at the Villanova Theatre Box Office, by phone at 610-519-7474 or online at www.theatre.villanova.edu.
 

Speaking of Scripture: Interfaith Conversations on Teaching Sacred Texts 

The Villanova Center for Liberal Education and the Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning are sponsoring a series of workshops for faculty entitled, "Speaking of Scripture: Interfaith Conversations on Teaching Sacred Texts." Click here to learn more.

University Celebrates 11th Annual Literary Festival  

The 11th annual Villanova University Literary Festival will take place from February to April 2009. Details are available here on the English Department's Web site.

All readings begin at 7 p.m. and are followed by a reception and book signing.

Nick Laird, novelist and poet, will visit the University on Thursday, April 2 (St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts, Room 300), at 7 p.m. Laird is a lawyer, poet, novelist, and critic from Northern Ireland. His essays, reviews, and poems have appeared in various journals in Britain and America, including The London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, and The Times.

His debut collection of poetry, To A Fault (2006), and his first novel, Utterly Monkey (2006), were published in 2005. To A Fault was shortlisted for the 2005 Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection, and Utterly Monkey for a 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize. His second collection of poetry is On Purpose (2007), winner of a 2008 Somerset Maugham Award.

Adam Zagajewski, poet, will visit Villanova on Tuesday, April 21 (Connelly Center, Presidents' Lounge), at 7 p.m. Zagajewski is an internationally acclaimed poet who was born in Poland, immigrated to France, and now teaches in Houston, Texas. Though he writes in Polish, several of his poetry collections have been translated into English, including Tremor (1985), Canvas (1991), and Mysticism for Beginners (1997).

Zagajewski has been awarded the Berliner Kunstlerprogramm fellowship, the Kurt Tucholsky Prize, a Prix de la Liberte, and a Guggenheim fellowship. His essays have been collected in Two Cities (1995) and Solidarity, Solitude (1990). Zagajewski is, wrote Adam Kirsch in The New Republic, “the preeminent Polish poet of his generation.” According to Jaroslaw Anders in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, he is “one of the most interesting poets of his generation writing in any language.”

"Women Take the Camera": Spring 2009 Cultural Film Series

Now in its 29th year, the Cultural Film and Lecture Series announces its spring '09 line-up. This semester, the CFS is entitled "Women Take the Camera," and its 10 thematically linked films all showcase the contributions of females to the world of cinema. For the list of films, speakers, times, dates, admissions prices, etc., please consult the CFS's Web site or call x94750 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. April 2009 films include: Alice in Wonderland and Washington Square.
 

Biology Department Announces Spring 2009 Seminar Series

Be sure to check out the full schedule for the Biology Department's Spring 2009 Seminar Series. The series features many researchers from other institutions as well as Villanova.

New Feature on A&S Web Site: Learn About Mendel's Legacy at Villanova

Be sure to check out a new feature on the A&S Web site: Mendel's Legacy at Villanova. Here, you will learn about the University's role as one of the custodians of Gregor Mendel’s legacy. The accomplishments of this 19th century Augustinian friar, teacher, scientist and mathematician have helped shape the world’s collective understanding of genes, crossbreeding, and heredity. Learn more here.

Women’s Studies Program Renamed “Gender and Women’s Studies,” Hosts Documentary Film Series

The Women’s Studies Program has been renamed “Gender and Women’s Studies.” This more inclusive name will allow the program to expand. Learn more here.

"The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo," will be screened on April 16 at 4 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion. Co-sponsored by Africana Studies, the Center for Peace and Justice Education, and STAND. Learn more here.
 

Call for Nominations: 2010 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics

The Ethics Program invites nominations for the 2010 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics. To highlight and celebrate the work of professionals and academics in the field of professional ethics, the Ethics Program of Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recognizes the work of such a person by awarding him or her with the Praxis Award. Learn more here.

Attention, Students: Get Connected Today!

Connections is an e-newsletter published every Tuesday during the academic year exclusively for students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The purpose of Connections is to inform you of opportunities available through various College offices related to academic advising; fellowships, grants, and scholarships; internships and professional development; and other related matters. For more information, please e-mail Kate Szumanski.
 

College Enters the Blogosphere!

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has started a blog to help its many constituencies stay well informed on College news, events, and initiatives. View the blog here.

Find the College on Facebook

Become a fan of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on Facebook. This is an ideal way for all Facebook users to stay informed of College news and events. Click here to visit the College on Facebook.

Villanova Theatre’s 50th Anniversary

This year marks the Theatre Department’s 50th anniversary and the start of a yearlong celebration of Villanova Theatre’s past, present, and future. The 2008-2009 line-up includes a masterpiece of the American stage, a giddy French farce, a gorgeous contemporary re-imagining of Roman mythology, and a sizzling Kander and Ebb musical. Each piece celebrates and builds upon some aspect of Villanova Theatre’s history, as the M.A. in Theatre program looks forward to the next half century. Learn more here.
 

Reminder: Grant Development Web Site Live

Faculty are strongly encouraged to visit the Grant Development Web site. Here you will find the guidelines for the submission of proposals.

Explore iTunes University on the Web  

Download faculty lectures and subscribe to podcasts all at iTunes University. Connect to what is happening at Villanova anytime, anywhere.
 

Visit Mideastwire.com Today!

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Partners with the Financial Times

Providing Students With Global Perspectives on World Events

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has partnered with the Financial Times, internationally recognized for its authoritative news, comment, and analysis, to provide students and faculty with full access to the FT’s electronic edition and to FT.com’s Level Two subscription service. This partnership will enable the University to further educate its students on socio-economic and geo-political issues that affect everyone regardless of a student’s major.

How To Access the Financial Times Online

There are many ways to access the FT online:

• For resources for faculty, please click here.
• For resources for students, please click here.
• To access the digital version of today's newspaper, please click here.
• To access the Financial Times online, please click here.

IT Corner

• Confused about how to advertise your announcements and events? Please check out the College's Announcement(s) Quick Guide.
   
• 2009 PC Refresh. There will be a refresh of full-time faculty computers this summer. For the first time, the (new) 13-inch MacBook will be an option (requiring additional funding from departments). More information will be forthcoming.
   
• The College IT Office: Supporting the Technological Needs of the College’s Faculty and Staff. The College provides a vast array of supplemental and vital IT support to its faculty and staff. The College IT Office, which reports to the Office of the Dean in the College, employs a staff of talented and dedicated IT professionals who work to meet specific needs within all of the College’s unique departments and programs. Learn more here.
   

Save the Dates!

Please mark your calendars for these important events:

Easter Recess Begins After Last Class   April 8
Candidates' Day                                  April 18
Reading Day                                       May 1
A&S Recognition Ceremony                  May 16
Baccalaureate and Commencement       May 16-17

Please click here for the complete academic calendar.

Event Round-up

Be sure to visit the College's home page for a more complete rundown of upcoming events!
 

University Events Module Makes It Easy to Promote Special Events, Lectures, and Other Happenings
Posting an event on the University's Web site and College's Web site has never been easier. Simply enter all relevant information here. Be sure to include your event announcement on the daily Wildcat Newswire, too. The Newswire is sent to all undergraduate, graduate, and law school students at Villanova. Access the online submission from from the University's home page.
 

Faculty Scholarship

• Sarah-Vaughan Brakman, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy and an ethics consultant, has written the following book chapters: “Real Mothers and Good Stewards: The Ethics of Embryo Adoption,” in The Ethics of Embryo Adoption and the Catholic Tradition. Eds. Sarah-Vaughan Brakman and Darlene Fozard Weaver. (Dordrecht: Springer Publishers, 2007): 119-138; “Introduction: The Ethics of Embryo Adoption and the Catholic Tradition,” in The Ethics of Embryo Adoption and the Catholic Tradition. Eds. Sarah-Vaughan Brakman and Darlene Fozard Weaver. (Dordrecht: Springer Publishers, 2007): 3-23. (with Darlene F. Weaver); and “Paradigms, Practices and Politics: Ethics and the Language of Human Embryo Transfer/Donation/Rescue/Adoption,” in Pluralistic Casuistry: Moral Arguments, Economic Realities, and Political Theory, Essays in Honor of Baruch A. Brody. Eds. Mark J. Cherry and Ana Smith Iltis (Dordrecht: Springer Publishers, 2007): 191-210.

• Sarah-Vaughan Brakman, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy and an ethics consultant, and Darlene Fozard Weaver, Ph.D., an associate professor of theology and religious studies and director of the Theology Institute, have co-edited the book, The Ethics of Embryo Adoption and the Catholic Tradition: Moral Arguments, Economic Reality and Social Analysis, published by Springer Science & Business Media B.V. 2007. Drs. Brakman and Weaver co-edited the book and co-wrote an introductory chapter together. In addition, each wrote a single authored chapter in the book, which is a comprehensive collection of essays that examines and advances ethical evaluations of the controversial and increasingly popular practice of embryo adoption. Learn more here.

• Michael Brown, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and director of the graduate programs in psychology, along with seven student co-authors, published a paper in a recent issue of Learning and Behavior entitled, “Social working memory: Memory for another rat’s spatial choices can increase or decrease choice tendencies." Graduate student co-authors are Mary Beth Knight-Green, Edward Lorek, Wendy Shallcross, and Tim Wifall. Undergraduate student co-authors are Caroline Packard and Eric Shumann. Professor Brown also co-authored a paper published in the most recent issue of Psychonomic Bulletin and Review entitled, “Facilitation of learning spatial relations among locations by visual cues: Implications for theoretical accounts of spatial learning." Principal author of that paper was Dr. Bradley Sturz, who did postdoctoral research in Dr. Brown’s laboratory before moving to Armstrong Atlantic State University. The paper was also co-authored by Dr. Debbie Kelly of the University of Saskatchewan. Professor Brown presented a paper at the recent meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association entitled, “Social influences on spatial choice in rats” and authored or coauthored three presentations at the recent International Conference on Comparative Cognition in Melborne Beach, Fla.

• Bill Cowen, a faculty member on the communication department, has won another MarCom Gold Award for “Best Publicity Campaign”. Cowen was honored for his PR work on “Odor Limits." a world premiere art-in-science exhibit by Philadelphia’s Monell Center and Science Center. The MarCom Awards is an international competition sponsored by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. Cowen previously won a Gold Award for another campaign in 2006. In addition, Cowen has been appointed a PR industry advisor for Guidepoint Global, an international research house based in Manhattan that works primary in the financial industry.

• Alan Drew, M.F.A, who teaches fiction writing in the English Department, has written the novel Gardens of Water, which was published originally a year ago. The novel came was released paperback on Feb. 10. Learn more here.

• Nicole Else-Quest, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology, published an article in the journal Psychology and Health entitled, “Perceived stigma, self-blame, and adjustment in lung, breast, and prostate cancer patients.” The coauthors of the article were Noelle LoConte and Janet Hyde of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Joan Schiller of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. A related article coauthored by Dr. Else-Quest also appeared in Clinical Lung Cancer in 2008.

• Charles Folk, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and director of the cognitive science program, recently published a paper in the journal Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics entitled, “Additivity of abrupt onset effects supports non-spatial distraction NOT the capture of spatial attention.” The paper was coauthored by Shu-Chei Wu of NASA Ames Research Center and Roger Remington of the University of Queensland.

• José Luis Gastañaga Ponce de León, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, published an article entitled, "Diego de San Pedro y el descontento en la corte de los Reyes Católicos. Una lectura de Cárcel de amor," in the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 85 (2008): 809-820.

• Anthony J. Godzieba, Ph.D., an associate professor of theology and religious studies and editor of the journal Horizons, has recently published an article entitled, “The Catholic Sacramental Imagination and the Access/Excess of Grace,” in New Theology Review 21/3 (August 2008): 14–26. He also presented invited papers at two symposia held at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). The first, for a symposium on the imagination and religious truth (November 2008), was “Agnus Dei: Sin, Sacrament, and Subjectivity in the Liturgical Imagination”; the other, for a symposium on the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx (December 2008), was “God, the Luxury of Our Lives: Schillebeeckx and the Argument.” During spring semester 2009, Dr. Godzieba is serving as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton.

• Ray Heitzmann, Ph.D., a professor of education, spoke recently at the International Conference on Education on the topic of “Writing for Publication in Academia.” Heitzmann said, “It was enjoyable speaking to a group ranging from doctoral candidates to senior full professors; the audience’s questions were both challenging and fun.” Dr. Heitzmann has been selected to receive “The Roselle Award” by the Middle States Council for the Social Studies. The award is given “in recognition for scholarly research and publication in the Middle States Region.”

• Michael Hollinger's recent plays Opus and Tooth and Claw will be published by Dramatists Play Service, the leading American publisher/licensor of new plays, in 2009.  In addition, his new musical Tulipomania, co-authored with Michael Ogborn, was workshopped at Arden Theatre Company at the end of January. Hollinger’s musical A Wonderful Noise will premiere this summer at Colorado’s Creede Repertory Theatre.

• Shawn Kairschner, Ph.D., an assistant professor of theatre, directed a staged reading of a new Welsh play, titled Art and Guff, by Catherine Tregenna, for Inis Nua Theatre Company in Philadelphia on March 23.

• Irene P. Kan, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology, presented a poster entitled, "Memory monitoring failures in confabulation: Evidence from the semantic illusion paradigm,” at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. This work was done in collaboration with Mieke Verfaellie, Ph.D., and Karen Fossum, B.S., at the Memory Disorders Research Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, and with H. Branch Coslett, M.D., at the Department of Neurology, Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Chad Leahy, a visiting instructor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, recently has published two articles, one entitled "¿Lascivas o esquivas? La identidad geográfica y sexual de las yeguas gallegas en Don Quijote (I, 15)," in the journal Cervantes 28.2 (Fall 2008): 89-117, and the other in the journal Anuario Lope de Vega (2007), entitled "Entre Lope y Padecopeo: la traducción en los Soliloquios amorosos."  In February, Chad participated in the International Conference on Literature, Culture, and Religion in the Hispanic World (UT, San Antonio), presenting a paper entitled "Entre Madrid y Tierra Santa: la topografía sagrada en el Isidro (1599) de Lope de Vega."

• Chaone Mallory, Ph.D., an assistant professor of philosophy, published the article, “Ecofeminism and a Politics of Performative Affinity: Direct Action, Subaltern Voices, and the Green Public Sphere in Ecopolitics Online Journal (Vol. 1 No. 2. 2-13, October 2008). In addition, Dr. Mallory was a plenary presenter on a special panel devoted to the work of recently-deceased ecofeminist philosopher Val Plumwood, giving a paper titled, “Plumwood, Intentionality, and Political Solidarity,” at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy in Windsor, Ontario October 3-5, 2008. She also gave an invited paper titled, “What Is Ecofeminist Political Philosophy? Gender, Nature, and the Political,” on a panel called "Feminist Approaches to the Environment" sponsored by the Society for Philosophy and Public Affairs, at the Eastern American Philosophical Association in Philadelphia in December 2008. Also at the meeting of the American Philosophical Association in December, she gave a paper titled, “Val Plumwood and Ecofeminist Political Philosophy: Gender, Nature, and Political Solidarity.”

• Emmet McLaughlin, Ph.D., a professor of history, has recently published two articles. The first, “Truth, Tradition, and History: The Historiography of High/Late Medieval and Early Modern Penance,” is the lead article in A New History of Penance, ed. Abigail Firey (Leiden 2008) pp. 19-71. The second is “Luther, Spiritualism and the Spirit,” Luther Digest, 16(2008) pp. 69-75.

• Alain J. Phares, Ph.D., a professor of physics, and his collaborators, Francis J. Wunderlich, Ph.D., at Villanova and David W. Grumbine, Jr., Ph.D., an associate professor of physics at St. Vincent College, recently have published an article entitled, “A Phenomenological Study of Monomer Adsorption on fcc (335) Surfaces With Application to CO, O, and N2 Adsorption on Pt(335).” The article appeared in Langmuir, a journal of the American Chemical Society, Volume 25, Number 2, pages 944-951, 2009. In addition, at the March 2009 meeting of the American Physical Society, Dr. Phares presented a paper entitled "Adsorption on Nanotubes With Repulsive First Neighbors." His collaborators on the paper are Dr. Wunderlich and his former student, Dr. Grumbine.

• Silvia Nagy-Zekmi, Ph.D., a professor of Hispanic and Cultural Studies and director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, has written the book, Moros en la costa: Orientalismo en Latinoamérica (Madrid/Frankfurt: Iberoamericana/ Vervuert, 2008, a collection of 15 scholarly articles exploring the manifestations of orientalism in the Latin American literary and cultural production with an article-length introduction.

• Michael A. Posner, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mathematical sciences, was recently appointed to serve on the Mathematics Association of America's and American Statistical Association's Joint Committee on Statistics Education. Dr. Posner has recently published two articles. He is co-author, with Michael Mason, Ph.D., assistant professor of education and human services, of an article that demonstrates the effectiveness of a substance abuse protocol on reducing alcohol use in urban adolescents. He is also co-author of an article looking at the benefits of discharging homeless patients to respite care. This article has been cited by an Irish report to make the case for respite units and the research is currently under examination by a congressional-mandated multisite federal study of the effects of respite care.

• Theatre Professor Joanna Rotté, along with actresses Olympia Dukakis and Marian Seldes and acting teachers William Esper and Kristin Linklater among others, participated as a panelist in an all-day seminar entitled ACTING TEACHERS OF AMERICA held at the City University of New York Graduate Center on December 8 for the purpose of exploring the legacy of the teaching of acting in America. The full-house audience in the Proshansky Auditorium of the Graduate Center was composed of teachers of theatre, students of acting, and professional actors.

• Deborah Schussler, Ed.D., an associate professor in the Department of Education and Human Services, recently published the article, "Using Case Studies to Explore Teacher Candidates' Intellectual, Cultural, and Moral Dispositions," in Teacher Education Quarterly with co-authors Lynne Bercaw and Lisa Stooksberry. She also presented a session, "School Care: What Is It and How Do We Foster It?," for superintendents, teachers, administrators, and school counselors at the Delaware Valley Minority Student Achievement Consortium Fall Conference hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.

• Catherine Skeen, Ph.D., an Arthur J. Ennis Postdoctoral Fellow in the Villanova Center for Liberal Education, has received the ASECS's Irish-American Research Travel Fellowship for 2009 unanimously by the prize jury. ASECS stands for the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Dr. Skeen has forthcoming from Four Courts Press of Dublin an edition, with introduction and notes, of William Dunkin's The Parson's Revels. Her winning proposal, entitled "On College Property: William Dunkin and Trinity College Dublin," investigates the poet Dunkin's relations to Trinity College Dublin and the College's unusual commitment to provide him with an education and livelihood in exchange for its receipt of estates bequeathed to the College by Dunkin's great-aunt by marriage. 

• Thomas Toppino, Ph.D., professor and chair of the psychology department, published a paper entitled, "The Spacing Effect in Intentional and Incidental Free Recall by Children and Adults: Limits on the Automaticity Hypothesis." The article appeared in the most recent issue of Memory & Cognition and was coauthored by three graduates of the M.S. program in psychology: Melodie Fearnow-Kenny, Marissa Kiepert, and Amanda Terembula.

• James W. Wilson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biology, has written the article, "Media Ion Composition Controls Regulatory and Virulence Response of Salmonella in Spaceflight," which was published in PLoS ONE. This paper is based on the results from two separate spaceflight experiments aboard Space Shuttles Endeavor and Atlantis. In the paper, the authors show that (1) spaceflight increases Salmonella virulence, and (2) we can counteract this increase in virulence by addition of a specific ion to the media (phosphate). Both earth-based and space-related antibacterial strategies can be based on the results of this work.

• Rebecca Winer, Ph.D., an associate professor of history, has written the article, “Conscripting the Breast: Lactation, Slavery, and Salvation in the Realms of the Crown of Aragon and Kingdom of Majorca, c. 1250-1300.” The article has been selected as the winner of the 2008 Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship Best Article Prize.

Alumni in the News

• Amber Blake, '00, who graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science, has been hired by the city of Durango, Colorado, as a multimodal coordinator, a position that will help bicyclists and pedestrians have a voice in city transportation issues. Learn more here. 
• Three alumnae of the M.S. Program in Psychology, Dr. Melodie Fearnow-Kenney, Marissa Kiepert, and Amanda Terembula, published a paper with Dr. Thomas Toppino in the most recent issue of Memory & Cognition. The paper was entitled, “The Spacing Effect of Intentional and Incidental Free Recall by Children and Adults: Limits on the Automaticity Hypothesis.”
• Mary Beth Knight-Green, Edward Lorek, Wendy Shallcross, and Tim Wifall, alumni and alumnae of the M.S. in the psychology program, coauthored a paper that appeared in a recent issue of Learning and Behavior. The paper reported several experiments done over the course of three years in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Brown of the psychology department.
• Sr. Cathy Maguire RSM, is a member of the Sisters of Mercy with the special ministry of SILOAM, serving the HIV/AIDS community in Philadelphia, while her religious order also serves many communities in the United States as a major healthcare provider with hospitals and clinics. Cathy is a graduate of Villanova University with a BS degree in Education and English. She holds an MS degree in Library Science from Villanova University and an MA degree in Theology from St. Michael’s College in Vermont. Medifast, Inc. (NYSE: MED), a provider of leading clinically-proven portion controlled weight-loss programs, has appointed Sr. Cathy Maguire, RSM, to the Medifast Board of Directors. Learn more here.
• Villanova undergraduate Honors and Astronomy and Astrophysics alum and former Goldwater Scholar, Lisa M. Winter '03, has been awarded a three-year Hubble Fellowship, the most sought after and most prestigious postdoctoral fellowship in astronomy. According to its Web site, the Hubble Fellowship Program provides an opportunity for highly qualified recent postdoctoral scientists to conduct independent research that is broadly related to the NASA Cosmic Origins scientific goals as addressed by any of the missions in this program: the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the Herschel Space Observatory, and the James Webb Space Telescope. The research will be carried out at U.S. Host Institutions chosen by each Fellow. The Fellowship provides support for up to three years at an annual stipend of approximately $60,500 plus benefits, and an additional allowance of $16,000 per year for travel and other research costs. Lisa plans to conduct her research in Boulder, Colorado.

Faculty in the News

• Lara Brown, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science, was featured in an article entitled, "Faithful turn blue," in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Read the article here.
   
• Rick Eckstein, Ph.D., a professor of sociology, was quoted in two recent Philadelphia Inquirer articles: "Soccer team to break ground amid shaky economy," and "A stadium plan that won't pay off."
   
• Matt Kerbel, Ph.D., a professor of political science, was featured on KYW Newsradio on Monday, Feb. 1, in a piece entitled, "Group Uses Radio Ads to Push Obama’s Stimulus Bill Through Senate." Learn more here.

Students in the News

• Graduate student Carlie Allison was awarded the Barbara Wall award for her paper "Objects Lack Subjectivity: A Mediational Model of Risky Sex in College-aged women," which she presented at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Conference, hosted by the Villanova University Gender and Women's Studies program.

• Graduate students Carlie Allison and Amy Moors presented a poster coauthored with Patrick Markey, Ph.D., entitled, "What We Want vs. What We Get: Are We Satisfied?", at the annual conference of the Eastern Psychological Association in Pittsburgh, Pa.

• David Heayn, B.A. Villanova, and M.A. in History 2009, has been offered the following fellowships for doctoral studies in Ancient History and Classics: City University of New York, Graduate Center, Enhanced Chancellors Fellowship; Indiana University, Bloomington, Graduate Scholars Fellowship and Graduate Assistantship; and University of Connecticut, Graduate Assistantship.

• Matt Keller, a second-year student in the M.S. in psychology program, presented a poster entitled, “Observe, remember, avoid? Social spatial memories in a foraging task,” at the recent International Conference on Comparative Cognition. The poster was co-authored by Dr. Michael Brown of the psychology department.

• Villanova University senior forward Laura Kurz has been named first team All-Big East, in addition to earning the Big East Conference Co-Most Improved Player Award. Kurz was a unanimous first team selection. Laura is a communication major. Learn more here.

• In the Fulbright competition, the following students are finalists:
  
  Alexanrda Bausch (’09, Chemistry), who was awarded the 2008 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for Excellence in the sciences, hopes to continue her research in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Stavanger in Norway.
  
  Sam Freedman (’08, Philosophy), has applied for an English Teaching Assistantship in Nepal where he plans to broaden his cultural understanding of Nepal through volunteer work with a non-profit organization there.
  
  Carolyn Hurwitz (’09, Biology), intends to enroll in the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Colorno, Italy, to pursue a master's degree in food culture and communication.
  
  Alex Jutca (’09, Economics/Honors), hopes to continue Villanova’s presence in South Korea as an English Teaching Assistant. (Villanovans have been ETA’s on South Korea for the past two years.) Alex plans to complement his ETA with language study and economics research specific to South Korea.

• In the Harry S. Truman Scholarship competition, the following student is a finalist:
  
  Mr. Keenan Lynch (’10, Political Science), has been selected for an interview with the Boston Truman Committee.

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