FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES // DECEMBER 2021
IN PRINT
Takeyra Coats' article, "Using Partnerships to Create a Medical Specialty Camp for Youth with Diabetes," was published in the Journal of Parks and Recreation Administration.

President Scott D. Miller and Dr. Marylouise Fennell continue to collaborate as Executive Editors on the thought leadership series President to President. The 2021-2022 series is titled “The Vitality and Power of Higher Education,” and examines how colleges are approaching their missions with new vigor and re-examining their role in the community. In the newly released fourth chapter, “Race in Higher Education,” George Mason University President Gregory Washington, Ph.D., examines the persistent and far-reaching effects of racial inequality and explores ideas for addressing these issues within higher education. President Miller's daily blog, Dialogue, can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com. 
PRESENTATIONS AND PANELS
Jeff Toussaint presented a paper titled "The Racial Divide of Peace: How Black and White Americans Conceptualize Positive and Negative Peace" as part of a session at the Peace Science Society (International) conference. The conference was online.

Jeff Toussaint presented a paper titled "Whiteness and Hegemonic Peace" as part of a conference session at the Association for Humanist Sociology in Jackson, MS.

Annette Clayton along with Jennifer Murphy MSW (VCU, Doctoral Candidate), and Dezette Johnson PhD (JCSU, Associate Professor) facilitated a workshop at the Virginia Association of School Social Workers Virtual Fall Institute entitled, "School Social Work Practice in Virginia: An Examination of Practitioners Roles, Responsibilities, Perceptions of Efficacy, and Professional Development Needs."

Steven Emmanuel presented his second talk this year for the Smithsonian Associates Program. The title of the talk was "For the Love of Wisdom: The Value of Philosophy for Everyday Life." A third talk is scheduled for spring 2022.
Joyce Easter and Kristin Plessel (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) facilitated, "An Introduction to POGIL" workshop during the virtual AAC&U Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference.

Marielle Postava-Davignon presented a poster entitled "Lack of agonism in Nasutitermes acajutlae between Caribbean islands" at the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting in Denver, CO.
Stephen Hock gave a talk titled "'This Can't Be America': Networked and Distanced Communities in Big Black: Stand at Attica" as part of a panel on "Community and Comics" at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association conference, held virtually this year.

Kathy Merlock Jackson was invited as part of the American delegation to the IX St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Due to COVID, she attended virtually and participated on an international panel titled "Mass Culture: Is It Kitsch or Boon."
Terry Lindvall gave the keynote address, "Icons and Mystery Plays: The origins and evolution of a religious cinema" for the CK Film Conference, Christ's College Taipei, Taiwan.

Ben Fraser, Terry Lindvall, and William Brown presented "Responding to Ridicule for Religious Faith in Anti-Religious Cultural Environments" at the National Communication Association Conference in Seattle, Washington.

Taryn Myers presented a poster entitled "The role of men’s masculinity/femininity and appearance ideal internalization in appearance self-esteem following a dissonance-based intervention" with current student Jacqueline Carmines and alums Trevaughn McNeil, Jessica Gurley, Carli Williams, and Katy Alvarado at the virtual conference of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Taryn Myers presented, as part of a panel discussion, "Looking forward to liberation: Creating inclusive environments for diverse professionals" at the virtual conference of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Robert Ariel presented a research talk titled, "Fluency Is in the Eye of the Beholder: Insights from Pupillometry on the Effects of Associative Relatedness on Judgments of Learning" at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomics Society which was held virtually this year. Robert also chaired the Metacognition session for the conference.
Benjamin Dobrin presented, "Responding to Mentally Ill and Suicidal Subjects: A Primer for Volunteer Police Officers," at the Volunteer Law Enforcement Officers Alliance international conference in Phoenix, Arizona, a paper he wrote with April Christman.

Amber Gruszeczka published an original open educational resource, "ACS Citation Style Conversion Guide" to OER Commons. 

Mindy Gumpert presented "A Spin on Content Acquisition Podcasts for Preservice Teachers" at the Virginia Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators (VACTE) Fall Conference. She also presented "Differentiating Science: The Possibilities are Endless" at the Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST) Professional Development Institute. Additionally, Mindy moderated a webinar titled "Raft Writing and Blended Learning" for the Tidewater Writing Project.
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Soraya Moein Bartol acted as a consultant to provide scientific review of wind energy environmental monitoring plans off the East Coast of the U.S. for Ørsted, a Denmark based wind energy company.
Mindy Gumpert volunteered for Jacob's Chance, an organization that provides athletic and social opportunities for children and young adults with disabilities. Athletes honed their basketball skills in the CMAC. In addition to assisting with the event, volunteers will serve as a Buddy to the participating athletes.

Annette Clayton was recently approved to serve as Chair of the School Social Work Research Committee for the Virginia Association of School Social Workers. The Committee's tasks include approving research projects that request access to the VASSW membership and providing technical support to members who engage in research.
Mindy Gumpert chaperoned twenty 10th and 11th grade students from Chesapeake Bay Academy during their VWU campus tour. The VWU student ambassadors were not only knowledgeable about the university, but also engaging with the students.


Terry Lindvall was named 2021 Scholar of the Year by the Religious Communication Association and was honored at the RCA Awards Banquet in Seattle, Washington.

Terry Lindvall participated in the Middlesex University Academic Conference on "Two Decades of Shrek," an exploration of the iconic 2001 DreamWorks Animations' green ogre, his innovations, and his legacy.

Scott D. Miller is among the recipients of the 58th annual Tidewater Humanitarian Awards, which will be presented by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC) on March 24, 2022. Learn more. 
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

This semester, Lydia Kennedy and her students in Math 326: Theory of Elementary Mathematics II, partnered with Virginia Beach City Public Schools to provide targeted one-on-one virtual math tutoring for elementary aged students at Parkway Elementary School.
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