Jay Baglia, instructor of communication studies, has been offered a contract by Peter Lang Publishing to develop a new book. "Building Masculinity: Viagra, Masculinity, and the Performance of Sexual Health" is an analysis of the news stories and marketing materials of well known prescription drug. The work uses feminist theory and performance theory in its critical analysis of the texts. Look for the book on shelves in the spring of 2005.

Alejandro de Acosta, assistant professor of philosophy, presented a paper at the Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture Conference in Binghamton, N.Y., in April. The paper was titled "Some Fetishes, Feelings, and Artifices of Transterritorial Experience" and is part of his ongoing research on bringing the concept and experience of territoriality into philosophy.

Kathleen M. Helal, assistant professor of English, had her essay titled "Anger, Anxiety, Abstraction: Virginia Woolf's 'Submerged Truth'" accepted for publication summer 2005 in the SCMLA journal "South Central Review." Her article evolved from a paper she originally presented at the International Virginia Woolf Conference, and analyzes the complexity of Woolf's representation of anger in terms of its relevance for contemporary feminist scholarship.

Mary Grace Neville, assistant professor of business, presented a paper at the International Academy of Business Disciplines. The paper, titled "Global Dialogue in a Virtual World: A Preliminary Report on the AI Positive Learning Network," is co-authored by Nadya Zhexembayeva at Case Western Reserve University, and A.J. Senchack at Southwestern. The article has been accepted for publication in the journal "Global Business Perspectives."

Laura Hobgood-Oster, assistant professor of religion, Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton, assistant professor of English, and three students-Kelly Sharp, Thomas Shields, and Ana Villalobos- attended the Associated Colleges of the South Environmental Studies Student Research Conference. The students all presented research projects at the conference. Hobgood-Oster organized the student conference for ACS.

Thomas Noble Howe, professor of art, opened the exhibit "In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite" at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. on Monday, April 26. The exhibit consists of 72 objects from Roman Stabiae, including 28 frescoes, and will be at the National Museum of Natural History till Oct. 24. Howe is the senior co-curator of the exhibit, co-editor of the catalogue, author of its lead and final articles, and coordinator general of the Restoring Ancient Stabiae (RAS) project. He spoke to Washington press and gave the keynote address at the opening. Tuesday he addressed an international gathering of 300 invited institutional representatives at the Italian embassy where the RAS project's innovative institutional nature and importance to Campania's multi-billion euro cultural development was acknowledged by the Minister of Culture of Campania and the Superintendent of Pompei. In March Howe brought the three students of his seminar on the Roman villas of Stabiae (Albert Bui, April Martin and Caitlin Allday) to visit Stabiae during spring break. The exhibit will tour eight American cities during the next three years, the first example of a new cultural exchange of long term loan of Italian art to American institutions meant to help stem the market in illegal antiquities. Howe's research has been partly supported by the Brown Distinguished Research Professorship (2000-2004).

Mary Hale Visser, professor and chair of the Department of Art, has her latest artwork in the 2004 - DAK'ART Exhibition of computer generated sculpture at the Keur Thiossane Villa pour les Arts Multimedia, in Dakar, Senegal, during the month of May.

April 22, 2004

Alicia Moore, assistant professor of education, has been selected to deliver the keynote address at Huston-Tillotson's Honors Convocation.

Patrick Veerkamp, professor of art, was invited to submit two of his recent works in ceramics to an exhibition entitled The Great State of Pottery-Invitational. The exhibition is on display at the Weil Gallery, Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, until May 7.

Amy L. Wink, assistant professor of English, read six of her poems at the recent Southwest/ Texas Popular Culture/American Culture Association conference in San Antonio. These poems were part of "City Ancestor/Country Ancestor: Collecting Family History in Photographs," a prose-poetry essay illustrated with historical family photographs and co-authored with Stacey C. Short (Northern Illinois University).

April 15, 2004

Melissa Johnson, assistant professor of anthropology, presented "'Hewers of Wood': Nature and Culture on the Margins, British Honduras 1750-1850" at the annual meeting of the American Society for Environmental History recently in Victoria, British Columbia.

Shannon Winnubst, associate professor of philosophy, published an essay, "Is the Mirror Racist? Interrogating the Space of Whiteness," in "Philosophy and Social Criticism" (30:1, 25-50). The essay argues that Lacan's theories of ego-development may be instructive for how a racist symbolic grounds subjectivity in a visual-centric worldview.

Five students and one faculty member presented papers at the Southern Sociological Society meetings in Atlanta, Ga., this week. The papers by Erin Crockett, Andrew Fordham, Karl Shaw and Lewis Woods were developed in an urban sociology course in Southwestern's London program last semester. Emily Stewart's paper was part of her capstone, under the direction of Dan Hilliard, professor of sociology. Edward L. Kain also presented a paper at the meeting, entitled "Teaching Sociology in an International Program: Some Lessons From Three Semesters in London."

Senior chemistry majors Micheal Brinkman, Jade Hatley, Kimberly Larson and Heather Martin presented posters at the 227th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Brinkman's poster entitled "Binding Studies of CaM and Peptide Ligands Related to HIV-1gp-160" was based on his research with Kerry Bruns, associate professor of chemistry. Hatley's poster, "Detection of Tetracycline Antibiotics and Tetracycline-Resistant Genes in Surface Water and Topsoil Surrounding Livestock Operations," was based on a collaborative project with Kerry Bruns and Emily Niemeyer, assistant professor of chemistry. Larson's poster, "Preparation of Allene Derivatives by a Selective Mono-Claisen Rearrangement," was based on her research with Frank Guziec, professor of chemistry. At the meeting, Martin received the 2004 I.M. Kolthoff Award for Undergraduate Research from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Analytical Chemistry. The ACS sponsored Martin's trip to present her poster entitled "Determination of Phthalate Ester Concentrations in PET Bottles Exposed to UV Radiation" based on her research with Emily Niemeyer.

Southwestern University was well represented at the 50th annual Southwestern Psychological Association Convention in San Antonio last week. Jesse Purdy, professor of psychology, presented the invited Psi Chi lecture titled "The Future and Promise of Psi Chi: The National Honor Society in Psychology." Paper presentations were also made by Elizabeth Cheaney and Purdy, titled "New Procedure for Assessing Foraging Strategies in Fish"; Fay Guarraci, "The Neurobiology of Paced Mating Behavior in the Female Rat"; Purdy, Nichole Buehler and Sheralyn Chilson, "Empirical and Functional Analyses of Trills in Male Weddell Seals"; and Nicole Buehler, Margaret Remkus and Cristy Torres, et. al titled "Additional Assessments of Laterality in Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes).

Southwestern University students and faculty also contributed numerous poster presentations: Genevieve Pruneau, Bryan Neighbors, assistant professor of psychology, and Elizabeth Vera presented "Attachment and Psychopathology: Attachment Security, Axis I Symptoms, and Gender." Rebecca Stelter, Ashley Still, Kamini Verma, and Jacqueline Muir-Broaddus, professor of psychology, presented "Who Dunnit? Attractiveness Stereotypes and Children's Responses to Leading Questions." Ashley Hadsell, Neighbors, and Erin L. Leverenz presented "Are Parental Attachment Security and Adult Romantic Attachment Styles Related?" Abigail Riggs, Erin Crockett and Traci Giuliano, associate professor of psychology, presented "Pink Slips and Black Cats: The Relationship Between Stress and Superstition." Nicole Blanchett, Erin Puckett, Sarah Barnett and Muir-Broaddus presented "Life After College?: Factors Influencing Seniors' Post-Graduation Plans." Aubrey D. Buckert, Genevieve Pruneau and Giuliano presented "Mr. and Mrs. Know-It-All: Perceptions of Individuals Demonstrating Male Answer Syndrome." Tara Cummings, Neighbors, Ellen Gass and Amy Casbeer presented "Interparental Conflict Associated with Parent-Young Adult Child Attachment Security." Mary Ann Erwin, Neighbors, Elizabeth Vera, and Heidi Tesch presented "Dimensions of Romantic Attachment and Symptoms of Psychopathology." And, Brandy Ledbetter and Neighbors presented "Eating Disorder Traits and Romantic Attachment." Notably, Southwestern University students won five of the 12 Psi Chi Undergraduate research prizes awarded at the conference. The papers first-authored by Nicole Blanchett, Aubrey Buckert, Mary Ann Erwin, Brandy Ledbetter, and Abby Riggs each won $300 for being among the best papers submitted by members of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society for Psychology.

April 8, 2004

Cameron Sawyer, assistant professor of mathematics, presented a paper, "Great Ideas at the Intersection of Mathematics and Education," at the annual meeting of the Texas Section of the Mathematical Association of America on April 1-3.

April 1, 2004

Alisa Gaunder, assistant professor of political science, presented a paper, "Leadership Looming Large: Political Reform in Japan," at the annual meeting of the Asian Studies Association on March 4-7, in San Diego, Calif.

The Texas National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) Conference was held at Southwestern University on March 27. All student presentations were supervised by La Vonne I. Neal, associate professor of education. Student presenters included:

-Pre-service teachers Aurora Low and Danver Chandler, and economics major Josh Keltner. Their research was funded by the King Creativity Fund and titled: "Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Let's Get R.E.A.D.Y."

-Pre-service teachers Grant Kessler, Karlee Miller, Elma Lopez and Yvonne Jaubert. Their paper was titled: "Sexism in Children's Literature."

-Pre-service teachers Katie Peterson, Vanessa Chapa, Lisa Cook, Yvonne Jaubert, Aaron Johnson, Ginger Jurecka and Dawn Rupert. Their paper was titled: "Intention Without Action is Insufficient: Balancing Integrated Curriculum in a Standards Driven Environment."

-Pre-service teachers Tracy Machu and Stephanie Lind, and economics major Manuel Buitrago. Their research, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, was titled: "This is How We Do It: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Urban Schools."