There are many successes on our campus in which we can take pride. This section highlights the impressive accomplishments throughout our academic institution. If you have an accolade or achievement, please send it to Mary Kate Allen at mallen@georgiasouthern.edu to be included in the next newsletter.
Publications
From the Department of English, Dr. Amanda Konkle combined her research and teaching interests in film history and Marilyn Monroe in a piece on "Blonde" and the history of film exploitation marketing in a piece for The Washington Post's "Made by History" page titled “The rise and fall of ‘Blonde’ aligns with the history of film marketing”: https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/11/02/blonde-netflix-sex-ratings-violence/ Dr. Konkle also an interview on the popular “Be Kind Rewind” channel on YouTube titled, “So I watched BLONDE …”
College of Education's Dr. Jarvais Jackson has a new publication. The citation is: Bryan, N., Davis, D. R., McMillian, R., Jackson, J., & Cooper, R. (2022). Toward A Black PlayCrit in Educational Leadership: What School Leaders Need to Know About Black Boyhood Play. Journal of School Leadership, 0(0).
Department of History's Dr. Kathleen Comerford’s latest book, Jesuit Libraries, was published in Open Access with Brill Academic Publishers (Leiden, The Netherlands). It is available at https://brill.com/display/title/60148.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Drs. Gulzar Shah, Bill Mase, and Bettye Apenteng were just published in the Journal of Women's Health. This is the culmination of one of Gulzar's DrPH students (Zahra Shahin) who defended her dissertation in the Spring of this year. The citation is:
Shahin Z, Shah GH, Mase WA, Apenteng B. Hospital Characteristics and Other Factors Associated with the Risk of Postpartum Hemorrhage in the United States [published online ahead of print, 2022 Nov 21]. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2022;10.1089/jwh.2022.0214. doi:10.1089/jwh.2022.0214
Dr. Dean Cummings from the Department of Communication Arts was recently published. The citation is:
Cummings, D (2022), The Impact of Multimedia Journalism on Ageism in Television news: Commodification and anxiety of aging in the newsroom, Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies Vol. 11, No. 3, 2022, pp. 355-380. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/ajms_00045_1
Department of History's Dr. Johnathan O’Neill’s Conservative Thought and American Constitutionalism since the New Deal was released in November by the Johns Hopkins University Press. He also presented a paper on “Originalism at the Crossroads: Natural Law and the Allocation of Interpretive Authority in American Constitutionalism” at the annual meeting of the American Society for Legal History in Chicago, IL.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Marshall and graduate assistant Christina Cook received news that their manuscript was accepted for publication in Health Promotion Practice. The manuscript focuses on the photovoice project led by Nandi, and it is associated with the Savannah H.O.P.E. initiative and funded by CDC REACH.
College of Education's Dr. Leslie Roberts has a recent publication. Motivation to Read in the Middle Grades. ALER Yearbook: Educate to Liberate, 43, 41-63.
Drs. Gulzar Shah and Jingjing Yin from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health were recently published in a special issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice in the U.S. Public Health Workforce. This research used the largest national-level data on the public health workforce, from the 2017 and 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Surveys (PHWINS).
Dr. Julia Griffin published another eight poems in Light. One came out on in November in The Ekphrastic Review: https://www.ekphrastic.net/. She served as assessor for the undergraduate submissions to the central Sigma Tau Delta convention.
Dr. Helen Bland from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health was a co-author on a recent manuscript that was published in the Journal of Long-Term Care. The citation is: Aslakson, AJ, Melton, BF, Bland, HW and Biber, DD. 2022. Physical Activity Levels among American Long-Term Care Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Long-Term Care, (2022), pp. 277–288. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31389/jltc.140
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Isaac Fung was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). The title of this report is Pandemic fatigue impedes mitigation of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. For more information, visit the URL.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Drs. Gulzar Shah and Kristie Waterfield were recently published in Frontiers in Public Health. The article is about a vulnerable population subgroup (Orphans and Vulnerable Children or OVC) and their service needs for HIV care. This work is associated with Gulzar's CDC/FHI 360 HIV Services Project, and it involves multiple collaborations including one of his students (Osaremhen Ikhile). They were also recently published in Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. The manuscript stems from their CDC/FHI 360 HIV Services project and involves multiple collaborations, including a JPHCOPH student and international representatives. In another project, they were joined by Dr. Stacy Smallwood and were recently published in the Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine. Other co-authors include two of our doctoral students Ms. Osaremhen Ikhile and Ms. Elizabeth Ayangunna. This article is a result of a collaboration among researchers from the U.S. and Congo.
Dr. Joyce White of the College of Arts and Humanities has published a monograph titled, "Ecology, Spirituality, and Cosmology in Edwidge Danticat: Crossroads as Ritual." Lexington Books describes the book as: "Ecology, Spirituality, and Cosmology in Edwidge Danticat: Crossroads as Ritual examines the form and function of ritual in four of Danticat's fictional works to reveal how these texts create textual topography that heals and clarifies Africana consciousness. Filtering ritual through the symbolic iconography of the cosmogram and Africana women’s literary tradition, Dr. White investigates modern articulations of the cosmogram’s cosmological and philosophical iterations within the life and existence of Africana people and establishes set systems and beliefs that are manifest through ritual practices."
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Jhy-Charm Soo was recently published in Environmental Pollution. This international collaborative study proposed an advanced method for refining local source contributions to ambient PM2.5 metals in Taiwan, which provides useful information on regional control strategies. His plan is to continue his collaboration with the Taiwan NIH/NIEHS and focus on different air pollution topics, including microplastic particles emitted from sources such as disposable masks, pesticides, etc.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Helen Bland was recently published in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation.
Dr. Jian Zhang of the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health was recently published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. As has been the case many times over the years, this publication was the result of a class research project from his Public Health Surveillance course so co-authors include former masters and doctoral students.
Drs. Bill Mase and Andrew Hansen from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health were recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The title of their manuscript is Association Between the Health Belief Model, Exercise, and Nutrition Behaviors During the Covid-19 Pandemic. The lead author is Keagan Kiely, a second year doctoral student in Epidemiology.
Department of English's Dr. Christopher Garland’s article, “Rebellious Spirits: Images of Haiti, Vodou, and Revolution in The Serpent and the Rainbow,” will be included in the edited collection Theology and Wes Craven (Lexington Press, 2023).
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Drs. Atin Adhikari and Jingjing Yin were recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The first author is Omolola Okunromade who is a second year DrPH student, and the third author is Clara Ray who is an undergraduate student.
Dr. Atin Adhikari of the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health was recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The manuscript's first author was an MPH student in the program and is now a DrPH student. The second author is affiliated with the Ogeechee River Keepers.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Lili Yu was recently published in Statistical Methods in Medical Research, and she published a chapter in GIScience.
Presentations & Accolades
The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies partnered with key leaders of the 188th Infantry Brigade from Fort Stewart for a Leadership and Professional Development session in Jenkins Hall Theater at the Armstrong campus. Professor Leisa Schwab, a part-time member of the department, presented an Introduction to Moral Theory to the officers and senior non-commissioned officers. The session focused on ethical leadership and communication techniques in the military.
On November 16, in Waterford, Ireland, Center for Irish Research and Teaching Director Dr. Howard Keeley co-presented with Leigh Ryan, Vice President of World Trade Center Savannah (WTCS), to 18 economic development officials, representing the Southeast Ireland region. The half-day gathering was facilitated by the regional heads of Enterprise Ireland and Industrial Development Authority Ireland, the major Irish state agencies dedicated to international trade and investment. Keeley and Ryan’s greater Irish trip advanced work on a $400,000 grant that the Irish government awarded to CIRT, WTCS, and two Irish partners.
Department of Communication Arts's Dr. Shana Bridges presented a paper titled "Frisky in your Forties: Call Me Kat Revises the 'Crazy Cat Lady' Trope" at the National Communication Association conference in New Orleans.
Dr. Dan Larkin from the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies presented "Euthyphro's 'Problem' of Divine Inspiration: Comments on Taylor Baker's ‘The EuthyphroProblem in Plato's Cratylus,’" at the Southwest Philosophical Society Conference.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Charles Owens, Angie Peden, Dr. Sam Opoku, Dr. Linda Kimsey, and Dr. Bettye Apenteng continue to do excellent work for the State Office of Rural Health. Led by Sam, they continue to work on their initiative in Pediatric Readiness. This year, they have produced 8 reports to assist hospitals. Larger hospitals have also expressed interest in a similar project.
Center for Irish Research and Teaching's Dr. Meaghan Dwyer-Ryan presented on the Savannah Irish Neighborhoods project to around 25 members of the Savannah Division of the Ladies’ Ancient Order of Hibernians in America. And on November 8, she addressed in excess of 130 members of the Irish Heritage Society of Sun City-Hilton Head on the topic of seasonal Irish festivals and traditions. She also received a $2,500 grant from the Georgia Humanities Council in support of Phase I of “Savannah’s Irish Neighborhoods: The Walking Tour.” This phase of the project focuses on the westside Savannah neighborhoods of Frogtown and Yamacraw. The monies will support student research under the auspices of the Wexford-Savannah Axis initiative, a joint venture by CIRT and the Honors College.
Department of History's Prof. Bill Allison presented the paper “Corruption Versus the Rule of Law: The Imperialism of Consumerism and Culture in the American War in Vietnam,” at the Society for the History of War annual conference at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 25, 2022
Dr. Robert Batchelor from the Department of History presented the paper, “Ocean Media in the Nineteenth Century: The Case of Indigenous Mapping in the Pacific,” at the conference Global/Oceanic/Nineteenth Century in Los Angeles, CA, November 2022.
Department of History's Dr. Kathleen Comerford presented the paper “Medici Grand Duchesses: Women at Work” at the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference annual meeting in Minneapolis, MN 2022.
College of Education's Dr. Leslie Roberts presented at the Association of Literacy Educators (ALER). The three presentations deal with motivation research in the literacy classroom and re-revisiting the Peter Effect with pre-service teachers.
Dr. Drew Swanson from the Department of History gave a lecture entitled “The Long Hunt: White-Tailed Deer as Cultural Symbol and Commodity” to the Society of Colonial Wars at the Chatham Club in Savannah, November 11, 2022.
Drs. Pamela Bourland-Davis, Sarah McCarroll, and Lisa Abbott from the Department of Communication Arts have been awarded Faculty Development-Service Awards from the Faculty Service Committee.
Dr. Felicity Turner from the Department of History presented a paper, “What A Woman Knows: Childbirth, Law, and Medical Knowledge in the Nineteenth-Century South,” at the Southern Historical Association annual meeting in Baltimore, MD, in November 2022.
Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art's Kayla Lehman’s animated short film Self in Progress was selected to be shown at the 3rd Annual AMSC Bring Your Brilliance Short Film Festival on October 26, 2022. The festival is sponsored by AMSC’s Film and Entertainment Studies Program and is an opportunity for students and the community to engage with works by Georgia filmmakers.
Dr. Pamela Bourland-Davis from the Department of Communication Arts served as an invited panelist for the First Ladies Association for Research and Education's program on former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, focusing on " Navigating much to do with media ado".
Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music's Dr. Allen Henderson was the bass soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Savannah Philharmonic, Friday December 2, 2022. This concert also featured soprano soloist Jane Marrero.
Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music's Dr. Steven Elisha appeared on Cello Chat - "YOU HAD ME AT CELLO," a weekly Cello Podcast interview show, with host, Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb (Professor of Cello at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater). The interview can be found at: https://youtu.be/dJqr-DOBFL8 He also conducted chamber orchestra rehearsals, taught chamber music master classes and conducted the 18-piece cello ensemble at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville, Florida on November 14 and 28.
Dr. Larisa Elisha and Dr. Steven Elisha (Elaris Duo) from the Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music were featured performers at the Telfair Academy Salon in Savannah, November 4. The event hosted the Museum's top echelon of donors and dignitaries. They also performed a duo program and taught string master classes at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts on November 21.
Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art's Bridget Conn’s work was selected for "2022 Alternative Processes," an international competition at Soho Photo Gallery in New York. Juried by Ann Jastrab, the Executive Director at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, California, this exhibition features 50 works that span a variety of handmade and historic photographic processes. The exhibition ran from November 14 to December 3. Her work will also be featured alongside BFDoArt alumna Morgan Zichettella for the exhibition "Tapped," at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. This small group exhibition presents paired works of art by artists and their former (or current) teachers "out of respect for this artist-teacher bond, and in honor of teachers working hard to help their students tap into a higher mind relative to art and life." The exhibition runs December 16, 2022 – January 13, 2023, with a Zoom-based artists' panel discussion on January 12.
College of Education's Dr. Jarvais Jackson presented at the National Council of Teachers of English in Anaheim, CA.
Georgia Southern University was well represented at the 2022 meeting of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology and The United States Organization for Mycoplasmology. Nine abstracts were presented at the meeting, authored and co-authored by nine faculty members, including three talks. Fourteen students were co-authors and/or presenters on these abstracts. The University was also represented by two exhibits, by Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health and the James H. Oliver Jr. Institute for Coastal Plain Science. Georgia Southern student research won the first and second place awards for undergraduate poster presentations by Garrett Cutchin (Biology Honors student, Statesboro, mentored by M. Eremeeva) and Heather Sempsrott (Biology, Armstrong, mentored by J. Brofft-Bailey and M. Machingura). Furthermore, Ms. Sherri Cannon, Biology instructor at the Armstrong campus received the 2022 Margaret Green Award, presented by the SEBASM for outstanding service in the teaching of microbiology, particularly at the undergraduate level.
Dr. Marina Eremeeva of the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health was the conference chair for the 2022 Annual meeting of the South-Eastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology on November 4-6 at the Armstrong Center at Georgia Southern University. She served as this year’s President of the Branch. The conference was a huge success and attended by 150+ participants from 21 different universities in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and South Carolina. The JPHCOPH was represented by 3 posters featuring mentored research by 3 public health students and one student from biology. They are:
(a) Denisa A. Wilson, Emmanuela Nwaonumah, Atin Adhikari “Diurnal variations of overall microbial load on surfaces of a rural chicken farm.”
(b) Kay’La Brennon and Marina E. Eremeeva “Quantitation of antibodies reacting with Rickettsia antigens in sera of healthy individuals from Georgia, USA.”
(c) Garrett J. Cutchin and Marina E. Eremeeva “Transcriptional expression of antimicrobial peptides in Galleria mellonella larvae infected with Bartonella bacilliformis.”
College of Education's Dr. Elizabeth Downs, Dr. Cordelia Zinskie, and Dr. Lucas Jensen presented an interdisciplinary project at an international conference. Preparing for the “new normal” : Two years into emergency remote teaching. Association for Educational Communications & Technology International Convention, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
The Department of Middle Grades faculty recently attended the conference of the Association for Middle Level Education in Orlando. Regina McCurdy, Taylor Norman, Betsy Barrow, and Shelli Casler-Failing presented “An Interdisciplinary Pathway to Activating Productive Struggle through Problem-Based Learning.” In addition, Regina McCurdy, Taylor Norman, Betsy Barrow, Shelli Casler-Failing, and Amanda Wall shared, “Taking Grades out of Field Experiences through an Ungrading Model.” Shelli Casler-Failing presented “Struggling in Math: Ensuring it is Productive.” Amanda Wall took part in three different panels at the conference.
Dr. Shelli Casler-Failing from the College of Education conducted two hands-on presentations at the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in which in-service teachers experienced how K-12 students can apply their understanding of mathematics using LEGO robotics.
College of Education's Dr. Alesia Moldavan presented at three national and state conferences: the annual convention of the School Science and Mathematics Association in Missoula, MT and two presentations at the 63rd annual meeting of the Georgia Mathematics Conference in Eatonton, GA.
Dr. Jennifer Perry of the College of Education presented at the Georgia School Counselor Association Annual Conference, in Savannah, GA, with colleague, Dr. Richard Cleveland and an M.Ed. Counselor Education student.
Appointments
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Joseph Telfair was selected to serve on the American Journal of Public Health Editorial Board. His term on the Board began after the 2022 Annual Meeting.
College of Education's Dr. Amanda Townley was elected President of the National Association of Biology Teachers. Her term begins January 2023 and goes through December 2025.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Gulzar Shah was selected to serve on the American Journal of Public Health Editorial Board for a second term beginning in 2022 and ending in 2025.
Dr. Nandi Marshall of the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health was just elected as Vice-Chair for the American Public Health Association (APHA) Executive Board.
College of Education's Dr. Karin Fisher was invited to be a member of the Dyslexia Task Force for the Georgia Department of Education. The Task Force will consider how to better identify and serve students with characteristics of dyslexia.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health's Dr. Asli Aslan has been serving as a member of the US Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board Drinking Water Committee Augmented for Contaminant Candidate List 5 Review since August.
