Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Spring 2019

13 SKIDMORE COLLEGE TRAVELING SCIENTISTS Juan Navea, assistant professor of chemistry, traveled with Yao Xiao ’19, Angelina Leonardi ’20, and Renee Karchere-Sun ’20 to Takamatsu, Japan, where they presented research at a confer- ence of International Global Atmospheric Chemistry. The trip was supported by a $20 million National Science Foundation grant on the impact of aerosols on the ocean and atmosphere, in which Navea is the only researcher from a liberal arts college. Navea’s research with five recent graduates — Christopher Osta- szewski ’18, Natalie Stuart ’18, Daniel Lesko ’17, Deborah Kim ’18 and Matthew Lueckheide ’17 — was also published as the cover article of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, a leading journal. Skidmore faculty continue to share their work at scholarly gatherings and in prestigious publications. Here is a sampling of faculty who have recently made the news: Lara Ayad, assistant professor of art history, has received the Rhonda A. Saad Prize from the Association for Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran and Turkey. Jason Breves, assistant professor of biology, has won the New Investigator Award from the Comparative and Evolution- ary Physiology Section of the American Physiological Society, and the Gorbman-Bern New Investigator Award from the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology. Kristofer Covey, visiting assistant professor of environ- mental studies and sciences, was quoted in the National Geographic article, “Trees Release Flammable Methane — Here’s What That Means for Climate.” Mary Kate Donovan, assistant professor of Spanish, was inter- viewed by China 24 (channel CGTN America) about relations between China and Spain. Amy Frappier, associate professor and chair of geosciences, was interviewed by The Washington Post, Al Jazeera and other media outlets as part of global coverage of a youth soccer team trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand. Corey Freeman-Gallant, professor of biology, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for his research.   Siobhan M. Hart, associate professor of anthropology, has published “Colonialism, Community and Heritage in Native New England” (University Press of Florida, 2019). Heather Hurst, associate professor of anthropology, ap- peared in the National Geographic channel series “Lost Treasures of the Maya.” Hédi Jaouad, professor of French, has published “Browning Upon Arabia-A Moveable East” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). Jaouad spent the 2018-2019 academic year as a Fulbright scholar in Tunisia. Jill Linz, senior instructor of physics, has published “Compos- ing Atom Music,” an article about teaching physics by using music, in Physics Today. Christopher Mann, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, was quoted in articles about electoral politics by The Associated Press, the New York Times, the Miami Herald and other media outlets. Tillman Nechtman, associate professor of history, has pub- lished “The Pretender of Pitcairn Island” (Cambridge University Press, 2018). June Paul, assistant professor of social work, has been awarded the Society for Social Work and Research’s 2019 Outstanding Social Work Doctoral Dissertation Award. Minita Sanghvi, assistant professor in the management and business department, published “Gender and Political Marketing in the United States and the 2016 Presidential Election: An Analysis of Why She Lost” (Palgrave- MacMillian, 2018). Masami Tamagawa, senior teaching professor in the Depart- ment of World Languages and Literature, was quoted in news articles about the Japanese reality show “Terrace House” in News- week Japan and Slate. WONDER-STRUCK Wonder, points out Professor of English Barbara Black, “in its verb form, means to be curious and, as a noun, captures a state of amazement or awe.” The “astonishing, playful malleability” of the concept also represented the theme of Skidmore’s second annual Humanistic Inquiry Symposium (March 29-30), which Black organized with Michael Arnush, chair of the Classics Department. Nineteen Skidmore faculty members offered poetry read- ings, museum tours, theatrical presentations, musical performances and vibrant discussions on topics ranging from Buddhism and European philosophy to the sustainable food movement and digital photography. Arnush said the event served to “celebrate the creative talents of Skidmore’s faculty.” AN OPEN BOOK Salmagundi magazine hosted the three-day conference “Sharing The Wealth: Five Leading Black Intellectuals Talk About Their Work And the Culture,” Feb. 1-3. Speakers included Pulitzer Prize-winning author Margo Jefferson, novelist, essayist and scholar Darryl Pinckney, National Book Award-winner Orlando Patterson, author John McWhorter, and author and essayist Thomas Chatterton Williams. Faculty in the news