FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES // February 2024
IN PRINT
Kathy Merlock Jackson published a review of The Velveteen Rabbit at 100, edited by Lisa Rowe Fraustino, in the December 2023 issue of The Journal of American Culture (46:4).

Eric Johnson published "Downregulation of Arabinogalactan Proteins during spermatogenesis in the moss Physcomitrium patens" with two VWU alumni, Alyssa Taylor-LaPole and Matthew Bavuso, in the Journal of Plant Development
Jill Sturts and Doug Kennedy, along with colleagues from Dalhousie University and the University of Regina, had their chapter "History of Recreation and Leisure" included in the 4th edition of Introduction to Recreation and Leisure, published by Human Kinetics.

Denise Wilkinson's article, “Formative Assessment Activities That Engage Students and Support Success,” was published in the Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice in Volume 24 (1), January 2024.

Alain Gabon published "State Islamophobia under President Emmanuel Macron" for The Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University and "How Denmark's ban on Quran burnings could be a double-edged sword" for the Middle East Eye. 

President Scott D. Miller serves as executive editor for the President to President thought leadership series, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The fourth chapter of the 2023-2024 President to President thought leadership series is now available online. In “Questions on the Path to a Sustainable Future,” Roanoke College President Frank Shushok, Jr., Ph.D., examines the value of adaptability and transformation in higher education. He describes how embracing a forward-facing, creative approach in the face of evolving expectations can help campuses balance the need for change with the challenges of operating a modern university. President Miller's opinion piece entitled,
Fostering Regionalism: A New Call for Collaboration in Coastal Virginia,” was recently in The Virginian-Pilot.  President Miller's daily blog, Dialogue, can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com.
PRESENTATIONS AND PANELS
Ophera A. Davis' book, "The Overlooked Voices of Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Black Women Survivors" was featured at the National Women's Studies Association Conference in Baltimore where she gave a talk on her work. Davis, an adjunct, teaches an Africana Studies and Psychology course.

Bill McConnell presented two research papers at the annual Hawaii International Conference on Education, “The impact of explicit math anxiety instruction on high, moderate, or low math anxious preservice teachers" and “The impact of a classroom management field placement on preservice teachers' environmental education self-efficacy."
Director Stu Minnis and producer Terry Lindvall's film, "Hollywood, Teach Us to Pray," travelled from multiple showings in Los Angeles through invitational screenings at the University of Virginia and Christopher Newport University.

Annette Clayton co-presented with Jennifer Murphy (U of T Arlington) and Natasha Bowen (The Ohio State University) at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference in Washington D.C. Their oral presentation was titled "Moderated Mediating Effects of Teacher Support and Microthreats on School Engagement through Self-Esteem and School Behavior in a Sample of Black Adolescents."
Gabi Martorell conducted four presentations focused on developmental psychology at Mariano Gálvez University of Guatemala and Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala City, Guatemala, to an academic audience of doctors, psychologists, and students.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
To support children’s programs of Kipahulu Ohana in Maui, Doug Kennedy’s Rec 207 Management of Sport and Recreation class raised $3,606 for the Department's "Send a Kid to Camp" fund. Since 2003, this fund has raised $99,787 to support the Ohana and the YMCA of South Hampton Roads. Kamalei Pico, Executive Director of the Ohana, commented “Me ka mahalo nui” (with much gratitude) when joining the class remotely.

By conducting multiple stream studies in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica, students in Bill McConnell's EDUC 480: Field Experiences in Education course assisted scientists from Stroud Water Research Center to better understand the impacts of climate change in the Tropical Dry Forest. Aspiring teachers will use these techniques with their future students.
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