FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES // April 2025

Ben Haller's work on George Sandy's "Jamestown Ovid Translation" appeared in print as Chapter 15 of R. Campbell and A. Lianeri's book, "A Companion to the Translation of Classical Epic." (Blackwell, April 1, 2025).

Kathy Merlock Jackson published a review of "The Cultural Legacy of Disney: A Century of Magic," edited by Robin Muir, Rebecca Rowe, Hannah Helm, and Emily Aguilo-Perez and

published by Lexington Books, in The Journal of American Culture, March 2025, 48:2.

Stephen Leist published "Recollections of Robert J. Powell: A Memorial Tribute" in the March-April issue of The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, celebrating the life and work of a distinguished church musician.

Jennifer Slivka published a book review of Paige Reynolds's "Modernism in Irish Women's Contemporary Writing" in Estudios Irlandeses: Journal of Irish Studies.

President Scott D. Miller serves as executive editor for the President to President thought leadership series. The ninth chapter of this year’s President to President thought leadership series is available online. In “The Revolution Will Be Televised,” DePauw University President Lori S. White, Ph.D., discusses how the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance can serve as a useful framework to help college and university leaders stay true to their equity and diversity efforts while navigating the challenges of leading campus communities across a wide range of cultural, political, and socioeconomic differences. She reinforces the importance of collective action and consistent knowledge-sharing to ensure that all students are acknowledged and supported. President Miller's blog, Dialogue, can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com.

Soraya Bartol, Victor Townsend, and Eric Johnson attended the 86th annual meeting for the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, SC, to present their research along with three students:

Victor Townsend, Maynard Schaus and Jacob Hofstetter presented “Diet of the Leiobunumformosum (Opiliones, Sclerosomatidae).”

Harrison Smith and Soraya Bartol presented “The Effects of Overhead Shades on Coral Bleaching of Agaricia tenuifolia, Porites astreiodes and Porites divaricata.”

Miguel Hernandez and Soraya Bartol presented “Can Corvids Adapt? The Effects of

Anthropogenic Noise Pollution on Referential Calls.”

Michael Gilbert and Eric Johnson presented “Linking Pectin Modifications to Moss

Spermatogenesis through Functional Characterization of PpBURP4.”

VWU alumnus Mel Lhuillier and Ian Bartol presented, “Swimming behavior of longfin squid Doryteuthis pealeii paralarvae.” Mel was awarded best student talk for presenting this work in pursuit of his master’s degree at ODU.

April Christman and Benjamin Dobrin presented their paper, “Meeting the growing mental health demand during times of high crisis and low resource availability, through a public health lens,” at the National Association of Social Workers VA/Metro DC 2025 Annual Conference. This presentation was approved by the Association of Social Work Boards to award attendees two CEUs toward clinical license renewal.

Abe Nemon spoke at the annual Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Virtual Forum as part of the panel "AI-mazing IDEA: Leveling Up Library Services." Panelists explored the role of AI in libraries, focusing on its potential to advance inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA).

Denise Wilkinson presented "Building Community: Enhancing Student Engagement through Relevant Activities" at the Teaching Academic Survival and Success Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Additionally, as a member of the conference advisory committee, Denise completed several conference-related tasks.

Maury Howard presented a paper with collaborator Rebecca Hunter (UCNJ) at the National

ACS Spring Meeting in San Diego, CA. The paper, "Micro-CURE: A course-based research project designed to develop and assess process skills in analytical chemistry," was presented in the technical session: CUREs Across the Chemistry Disciplines. Other co-authors included: Kimberly Fredrick (Skidmore) and Daniel Scott (Centre).

Sara Sewell presented "Daughters Stories of their Fathers in the Holocaust" at the Telling Women's Stories Conference on Women and Gender, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA.

Jeff Toussaint presented a paper titled, "Colorblind Peace: Unveiling Racism and Race in Peace Scholarship," at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings in Boston, MA.

Steven Emanuel presented “Educating Character Across Differences: A Buddhist Perspective” at the Wake Forest University conference: Educating Character Across Differences. He also served as a respondent to a paper "Buddhism and Self as Construct" at the American Philosophical Association (Central meeting), which was held online.

Kellie Holzer and Jennifer Slivka presented papers at CNU's annual Conference on Women and Gender on the theme of Writing Women's Stories. Holzer's presentation was titled “Whose Story? Cornelia Sorabjis Role as Native Informant in The Fire is Quenched!” Slivka's presented on “Something New and Uncomfortably Familiar: Sally Rooneys Elusive Play with Genre.”

Kellie Holzer organized and moderated a virtual panel on "Current Conversations in Nineteenth-Century Children's Literature" as part of the spring 2025 virtual event series for the Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western United States. Panel participants Colten Biro, Amanda Chapman, Patrick Fleming, and Melissa Jenkins spoke about their recent publications on Victorian children's literature.

Michelle Albert Vachris presented her paper "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Bourbon Industry" at the 62nd Annual Meetings of the Public Choice Society in Louisville, KY. She also presented "Experiential Learning in Economics Courses" at the 52nd meeting of the Virginia Association of Economists in Ashland, VA.

Kristen Fedesco and two senior Recreational Therapy students, Savanna Combs and Lana Sloan, presented at the Southeast Regional Conference on Recreational Therapy in South Carolina. Their presentation focused on the role of recreational therapy in school settings and sparked meaningful discussion in response to recent federal changes impacting the field.

Jill Sturts participated in a panel titled "Teaching Student Athletes Inside the U.S. Intercollegiate Sports Industrial Complex" at The Academy of Leisure Sciences Teaching and Research Conference in Pittsburgh, PA. She also moderated a panel titled "Supporting New Faculty Through Effective Mentorship" with April Christman and Derek Whaley as participants, along with three colleagues from the University of Arizona at The Academy of Leisure Sciences Teaching and Research Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.

OTHER

Steven Emmanuel served as a judge at the 29th Annual Association For Practical and

Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl at the APPE IEB National Competition in Norfolk, Va.

Benjamin Dobrin was interviewed for the Nancy Grace show episode, "Crime Stories: Where is the Missing Tot Boy Dane Paulsen?” for his expertise in search and rescue and public safety diving. Dobrin was also celebrated as the April Captain of the Month for Tiki Tours in Virginia Beach.

Students from "Animals and Society" (taught by Kathy Stolley) and "Disney Culture" (taught by Kathy Merlock Jackson) combined to learn about therapy dogs, service dogs, and how Disney World welcomes service dogs, from guest presenters Julie Morgan and Lily.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Kathy Stolley invited Bobby Klepper and Recon to speak at her Soc 237 Animals and Society class about veteran issues and service dogs. Recon is the 2022 American Humane Society Service Hero Dog.