FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES // October 2024

Ben Haller completed the field test draft of Volume 1 of his Latin textbook based on Apuleius's "Metamorposes," titled Laetabere! for use as the introduction Latin textbook for students in VWU's Latin major. VWU LATN 111 students are using Laetabere! this semester as their primary textbook.

Lisa Lyon Payne, along with two co-authors, published "Starting a conversation: An exploration of the state of student media websites at Historically Black Colleges and Universities" in College Media Review. This content analysis of student media websites assesses the state of student media at HBCUs as a way to better understand this important training ground for future Black journalists.

Alain Gabon's essay "From the War on Terror to the War against 'Islamism': France in the post-9/11 Era" was published in Legacies of 9/11 and the Global War on Terror, Volume 2 (Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences).

Michelle Albert Vachris recently published two book reviews in The Independent Review. One in the Summer 2024 issue on the edited volume "Show and Biz: The Market Economy in TV Series and Popular Culture (2000-2020),” and the other in the Fall 2024 issue on the memoir "My Journeys in Economic Theory" by Edmund Phelps.

President Scott D. Miller serves as executive editor for the President to President thought leadership series. The first chapter of the 2024–2025 series is now available online. In “The Power of Yes: The Surprising Benefits of Collaboration,” Adrian College President Jeffrey R. Docking, Ph.D., investigates the vital role collaboration plays in the future of higher education. He explores how innovative partnerships can unleash surprising creativity, grow a culture of innovation, and augment the academic experience, ultimately energizing students and faculty and making new achievements possible. President Miller's daily blog, Dialogue, can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com.

On September 26, Virginia Wesleyan University hosted a free workshop for small, women-

owned and minority-owned businesses. Dr. Miller was interviewed by 13News Now in a

preview of the event. Co-sponsored by Truist and the Hampton Roads Small Business

Development Center of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, nearly 100 participants learned how to access vital resources, information, and opportunities to help their businesses thrive.

Ben Haller delivered the talk “Back to the Roman New Comedy? Marty McFly as Servus Callidus and Adulescens in Robert Zemeckiss Back to the Future” at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies.

Annika Quick presented "Temporal Variation in Water Quality and Dissolved Organic Carbon in Three Urbanized Streams" at the Society for Freshwater Science Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Sara Sewell presented "Forging Affective Bonds in the Women’s Barracks at Birkenau" at the conference of the German Studies Association in Atlanta in September 2024. She also moderated the panel, "Visualizing the Holocaust from the 1970s to Today."

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Students in Doug Kennedy's "Group Facilitation Methods" class assisted the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival by organizing and managing the water stops for the festival's 8K race. Dressed as King and Queen Neptune or The Hydration Heroes they took care of the event's 850 runners. This event's race director is VWU Alumna Kim Moss, Class of 1992. 

OTHER

April Christman and Benjamin Dobrin attended the Dozoretz Hospice House of Hampton Roads fundraiser to support local social service agencies and strengthen partnerships with leaders in the field of social work who welcome our students for internship opportunities. Nurturing partnerships with local agencies is critical to support field education, social work's signature pedagogy.

Jason Squinobal begins his fifth month of an Artist Residency at Roads Bistro in Virginia Beach where he performs on saxophone with his jazz quartet every Monday night.

Ben Haller was selected for a six-week summer fellowship at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) to work on a book tentatively titled "Citizens Forged in Flame and Song: The Homeric Hymn to Hermes, the Apatouria, and the Peisistratids," building on his 2023 presentation. The fellowship includes continued privileges at CHS research facilities for 2024-2025.

Abe Nemon was appointed to serve on the steering committee of the AI in Reference and User Services (AIRUS) interest group of the ACRL's Reference and User Services Association (RUSA); and to serve on the Open and Affordable Course Content Committee (OACCC) of the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA).

Kellie Holzer was interviewed for the International Centre for Victorian Women Writers Newsletter (September 2024) about her forthcoming book, "Trans-imperial Feminism in England and India (Lexingtons Transforming Literary Studies series)," her next project, and which Victorian women she'd like to go back in time to meet.