Campus Notes

Presentations, Conferences, and Lectures

In June, Elsa Auerbach, professor of English, was a rapporteur and presenter at the Institute on Research in Practice in Adult Literacy, held in St. John's Newfoundland.

Professor Luis Aponte-Parés of the Community Planning and Latino Studies Departments received a library travel grant from the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville, for his research on travel writing on Cuba and Puerto Rico in the early 20th century.

On July 29, Paul Atwood of the Joiner Center and the American Studies Department testified before the Health and Human Services Committee of the Boston City Council to support a resolution that restricts city purchases of products that contain or produce dioxin, the deadly toxin found in Agent Orange.

Praytush Bharati, assistant professor of management science and information systems, presented and published "Strategic Utilization of Choice-Board Technology: A Conceptual Framework" with former College of Management colleague Abi Chaudhury at the IRMA International Conference.

Lois Biener, senior research fellow at the Center for Survey Research, presented the paper "Effective Anti-Tobacco Advertisements for Youth:  Lessons Learned in Massachusetts" at the Federal Centre for Health Education International Workshop on youth smoking prevention. She presented the co-written paper "Cultural Congruence in Countermarketing: Necessity or Nicety" at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health.

"Discussing Findings with Peers and Stakeholders," an article by Gonzalo Bacigalupe, associate professor in the Graduate College of Education, was published in QSR Insight: The QSR Newsletter.

In July, Lawrence Blum, professor of philosophy, presented "High School Students Talk about Race, Morality, Community, and Educational Equity" at the annual conference of the Association for Moral Education.

Ramon Borges-Mendez of the Public Policy Program and Miren Uriarte of the Gastón Institute presented a paper on Latino settlement and incorporation in Lawrence and Holyoke, MA, and Providence, RI, at the "Color Lines Conference: Segregation and Integration in America's Present and Future" conference, held at Harvard University.

Francis G. Caro, director of the Gerontology Institute, spoke at the "Long-Term Care Research: A Lifeline for Service Delivery" conference, held on June 18 at the Barbara Jordan Conference Center in Washington, DC. Caro authored the conference booklet Long-Term Care: Informed by Research.

Françoise Carré, research director of the Center for Social Policy, presented her study "Employment Brokering for Disadvantaged Job Seekers" at a conference on workforce development. The study, sponsored by the Ford Foundation, will be released in the fall of 2003.

Professor John Conlon of the Performing Arts Department has been invited to present "Shakespeare's Sounds and Noises" at the New England Theatre Conference, held in Providence, Rhode Island.

Alex Des Forges, assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages, presented "Memory, Identity, and the Fetish of ‘Modernity' in the Study of Chinese Literature" on August 7 at the Academia Sinica, held in Taipei, Taiwan.

Jacqueline Fawcett, professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, published the articles "Theory and Practice: A Conversation with Marilyn E. Parker" and "Critiquing Contemporary Nursing Knowledge: A Dialogue" in Nursing Science Quarterly and "Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory: Actual and Potential Sources for Evidence-Based Practice" in Self-Care and Dependent-Care Nursing.

Associate Professor of English Elizabeth Fay organized and presided over a conference on Romanticism and parenting, held in July 30 and 31 in New York City.

Tom Flanagan of the Environmental Business and Technology Center codesigned and facilitated a summit, held at the President's Office on June 12, to review a plan for improving air quality and driver safety at truck stops.
Donna Haig Friedman, director of the Center for Social Policy, spoke on feminist poverty research at the Institute for Women's Policy Research Conference in D.C.

In July, Michelle Hayes, director of Technical Assistance at the Center for Social Policy, moderated a panel at the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C., on homeless management information systems.

On July 18, Nelson P. Lande of the Philosophy Department presented the paper "Trotsky's Brilliant Flame and Broken Reed" at a conference of the North American Society for Social Philosophy, held at Northeastern University.

Chantal Lefebvre of the Urban Harbors Institute gave a presentation to Cohasset, Hingham, and Hull residents on available open space and public access around the Weir River area of critical environmental concern.

Cheryl Nixon, assistant professor of English,  presented a paper on guardians and wards in Fanny Burney's Cecilia at an International Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies meeting in Los Angeles.  In July, she read her paper "Seeking Child Welfare or Suffering? Chancery Court Records and Austen's Mansfield Park" at the conference on Romanticism and parenting in New York.

"Collective Bargaining and Governance Agreements with Distance Learning Faculty," an article by Dirk Messelaar, dean of the Division of Corporate, Continuing, and Distance Education, was published in Harvard University's fall 2003 Continuing Higher Education Review.

Catherine Ann Moroski, a graduate of the Environmental Studies Program, presented the paper "Improving Risk Communication for the Valuation of Environmental, Health, and Safety Risk Reduction," which she co-authored with Tammy Barlow McDonald, assistant professor of economics, at the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association Annual Conference.

Professor Siamak Movahedi of the Sociology Department presented the paper "Statistical Analysis of Subjective Clinical Data" at the Hawaii International Conference on Statistics.

Alfred Noel, assistant professor of mathematics, presented the paper "Computing Maximal Tori Using LiE and Mathematica" at the International Conference in Computer Science, held in St. Petersburg in June. He published the paper in Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

Michael Novak, chair of the Management and Marketing Department, presented his case "Joseph Abboud: The Transatlantic Look" at the Business and Economics Society International Conference. An expanded version of the case will be published in the Global Business & Economics Review -- Anthology 2003.

Professor Jennifer Radden of the Philosophy Department spoke at the annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry and presented a jointly authored paper, "Chemical Sanity and Criminal Justice."

In August, Professor Lorna Rivera in the College of Public and Community Service delivered the paper "Multiple Identities and Shifting Boundaries: Insider Research in Marginalized Communities" at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

White Men Challenging Racism: 35 Personal Stories, a book co-authored by Emmett Schaefer, adjunct assistant professor in the Sociology Department, was published by Duke University Press.

In July, Professor Nina Silverstein, professor of gerontology at the College of Public and Community Service, conducted the session "Improving Hospital Care for People with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias" at the 11th National Alzheimer's Disease Education Conference.

Elaine Ward of the College of Public and Community Service presented her research on empowerment of refugee and immigrant women through learner-centered participatory education at the 2003 National Refugee and Immigrant Women's Leadership Conference.

On June 10, Jack Wiggin, associate director, and Chantal Lefebvre of the Urban Harbors Institute presented the findings of the Gulf River Estuary Natural Resources Inventory at the annual meeting of the Gulf Association. Wiggin and Richard Delaney, director, presented the South Florida Marine Master Plan at the Coastal Zone 03 conference in Baltimore.

In July, Julie Winch, professor of history, gave a presentation on early African American antislavery writings at the annual conference of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, held at Ohio State University.

Meng Zhou, associate professor in the Department of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sciences, gave the presentation "Population Dynamics of Zooplankton: Observations, Theories, and Models" at the Gordon Research Conference of Coastal Ocean Modeling.

Publications

The essay "Style as Politics: A Feminist Approach to the Teaching of Writing," by Pamela Annas, professor of English and director of the M.A. program, was published by Bedford/St. Martin's Press.

Elizabeth Fay, associate professor of English, published the article "Archaic Contamination: Hegel and the History of Dead Matter" in the May issue of PMLA.

Three articles by Professor Arthur Goldsmith of the College of Management have been reprinted: "Donors, Dictators, and Democrats in Africa" and "Risk, Rule, and Reason in Africa" were published in Taking Sides: Clashing Views on the Controversial African Issues, and "Restarting and Sustaining Growth and Development in Africa" was published in African Economic Development.

In June, Gerontology Institute researchers Alison Gottlieb and Nina Silverstein published the report "Growing Pains and Challenges of GrandFamilies House Four-Year Follow-Up Evaluation" on their evaluation of the facility in Dorchester. The report is available on the institute's website.

Robert C. Hayden, lecturer in the College of Public and Community Service, published his sixteenth book, Mr. Harlem Hospital: Dr Louis T. Wright A Biography, on the first African--American physician appointed to Harlem Hospital in 1920, with Tapestry Press Ltd.

Thomas O'Grady, professor of English and director of Irish studies, has an essay, "Genius Loci: The Tutelary Spirit of Benedict Kiely's Proxopera," in the latest issue of Nua: Studies in Contemporary Irish Writing. He also published his poem "Trajectory" in the June 19 issue of The Christian Science Monitor.
Mark Pawlak of Academic Support Programs published poems in The Saint Anne's Review.

Assistant Professor of English Louise Penner read her paper "Exploring the Boundaries of the Medical Humanities" at the Conference on Making Sense of Health, Illness, and Disease, held at Oxford University.

Rebecca Romanow, lecturer in English, published "The Erasure of Language in the Globalization of Rock Music: Sigur Ros and the Politics of Hopelandic" in the July Politics and Culture.

Jean Rhodes, professor of psychology, published two coauthored papers: "Adolescent Mothers' Relationships with their Children's Biological Fathers: Social Support, Social Strain, and Relationship Continuity" in Journal of Family Psychology, and "An Exploratory Study of Youth Mentoring in an Urban Context: Adolescents' Perceptions of Relationship Styles" in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Rebecca Saunders, lecturer in English, gave a workshop on Toy Theater Construction at the Puppet Education Conference at Merrimack College in June.

Professor of English Lloyd Schwartz published an essay on Gail Mazur and a translation of Brazilian poet Affonso Romano de Sant'Anna's poem "The Body Object" in Provincetown Arts. He also wrote the liner notes for two compact discs: Starlight and Sweet Dreams: Songs by George Gershwin and Cole Porter and Tod Machover's Hyperstring Trilogy.

Julie Winch, professor of history, gave two readings of her book A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten at the Independence Vision Center and the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

In September, Ajume Wingo, professor of philosophy, published his book Veil Politics in Liberal Democratic States with Cambridge University Press.
Exhibits, Readings, Performances, Shows

Jon C. Mitchell, professor of music, presented the paper "Wind Ensemble Works Programmed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1891-1999" at the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Conference, held in Sweden. He also conducted the Filharmonie Bohuslav Martinu in a concert, held on August 3 in Luhakovice, Czech Republic.

Julia Tripp, constituent coordinator at the Center for Social Policy, staged her play about homelessness, "Bring America Home," at the Wisconsin Conference on Homelessness on July 22. Tripp addressed the conference on the need to increase the participation of homeless clients in program planning.

Professors Laura Schrader and John Conlon of the Performing Arts Department participated in the Estivades Theatre Festival in Belgium this August.

Lloyd Schwartz, professor of English, gave two summer poetry readings --at Longfellow House in Cambridge and at the New York State Writers Institute at Skidmore College.

Appointments and Honors

College of Management's James Bierstaker was appointed associate editor of The Auditor's Report.

Avery Faigenbaum, associate professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Physical Education, was elected to the board of directors of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Novelist John Fulton, assistant professor of English, was an invited writer-in-residence for the Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia, during the city's 300th anniversary celebrations in June. He taught a two-week fiction workshop and gave a reading from his own work.

Robert Lublin, the newest full-time faculty member in the Performing Arts Department, arrives in Boston from Ohio State University, where he recently completed his Ph.D. in Theatre.

Alfred Noel, assistant professor of mathematics, received a National Science Foundation research opportunity to work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Mathematics Department during the summer 2003 to pursue his research on the representation theory of LiE groups.

Susan Opotow, associate professor in the Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution in the College of Public and Community Service, received the University of Massachusetts President's Public Service Award for 2003 for her outreach work with the Boston City Schools and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Grants and Research

Professor Kamal Bawa has been awarded a $30,000 grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to hold a workshop on "Research Priorities in Tropical Biology" in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Professors Kamal Bawa, Robert Stevenson, and Bob Morris received a grant from the Indo-U.S Science and Technology Forum to hold a workshop on biodiversity informatics in Bangalore, India.

Kyle McInnis, professor of exercise science and physical education, received a $150,00 grant from Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center for a two-year research study to investigate weight control, physical activity, and cancer risk reduction among racially diverse women in an urban setting.

Tatjana Meschede, senior research associate at the Center for Social Policy, received a UMass Boston dissertation support grant to transcribe interviews with street homeless persons and service providers.

Laurie Milliken, associate professor of exercise science and physical education, received a $100,000 grant from the National Institute for her study "Factors Affecting the Bone Response and Non-Response."

Jan Mutchler, professor of gerontology and associate director for social and demographic research at the Gerontology Institute, received a $100,000 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study social demography of children living with grandparents.

The Center for Social Policy received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide technical assistance and training to communities nationwide on homeless management information systems.

The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) at the Center for Collaborative Leadership received a $25,000 gift from the ATT Foundation and a $15,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

The New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE) received a $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to connect practitioners to policymakers to examine issues surrounding the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

The Urban Harbors Institute received a Coastal Pollution Remediation "Plus" grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to assess boater awareness about pollution and the availability of boat sewage pumpout facilities in South Coastal Massachusetts.

The William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences has received a $325,000 grant from The Rockefeller Foundation to support resident fellowships in the four-year program entitled "Culture, Art, Trauma, Survival, Development: Vietnamese Contexts."

Dissertation

Szymon Jaroszewicz, student in the Computer Science Graduate Program, successfully defended his dissertation "Information Theoretical and Combinatorial Methods in Data Mining" on July 12.

Miscellaneous

State Senator Jarrett Barrios discussed the political structure with students participating in the Political Empowerment for Immigrants and Refugees workshop during a June 24 visit.

The tutorial "Pilot: An Information Literacy Online Tutorial," created by Healey Library's Sara Baron, Janet DiPaolo, and Sarah Tudesco, systems and digital services librarian, was included in the American College & Research Libraries Internet Education Project database.

Erika Kates, research director at the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, has produced a one-page fact sheet on "Growing Inequalities Among Women in Massachusetts: Income, Employment, Education and Skills."
The Trotter Institute co-sponsored the Multicultural Alternative Health and Healing Expo held on August 14 at the Healey Library.

In the News

Avery Faigenbaum, associate professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Physical Education, was quoted in the July 22 Wall Street Journal on the benefits of weight training for children and young teens. He was also interviewed on CNN Headline News on August 14 on physical education and childhood obesity and quoted in Parade Magazine for his work in the area of youth training.

Carol Hardy-Fanta, director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, was quoted in the Metrowest Daily News on June 15 in a story on the changing role of the political spouse.

On August 20, Stephanie Hartwell, professor of sociology, served as panelist on New England Cable News News Night with Chet Curtis and Jim Braude to discuss incarceration rates among men.

An interview featuring Richard Horsley, professor of liberal arts and religion, on the subject of his latest book, Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder, appeared in the July 12 issue of the Boston Globe.

Stephen Mrozowski, professor of anthropology and director of the Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research, was quoted extensively on his excavation project at the Sylvester Manor with students from UMass Boston in the Sunday New York Times on August 3.

A preview of a concert featuring the music of Professor David Patterson of the Music Department at the Berwick Research Institute appeared in the Boston Globe. Reviews of his orchestral composition, "Cheap Trills," written in homage to Victor Borge appeared in Music and Vision: Record Box, London and American Record Guide.

Julie Winch, professor of history, was interviewed on the early history of Liberia for an article that appeared in the Boston Herald on July 29.

Obituary

The university community was saddened to learn that Bette Woody, professor in the College of Public and Community Service, passed away on July 31.

Professor Woody joined the faculty in 1985 and was promoted to full professor in 1992. For a number of years she taught in and directed the Human Services Graduate Program in the College of Public and Community Service.

In recent years, she taught in the Department of Sociology and in the joint CPCS-CAS Criminal Justice Program, while continuing to direct Capstone Projects in the Human Services Graduate Program.

Active in university service, Professor Woody once chaired the Faculty Council Budget and Long-Range Planning Committee and served on a number of ad-hoc committees concerned with budget issues.

She was also active in numerous professional associations, recently working on the redraft of a new Code of Ethics for the American Sociological Association and chairing the Awards Committee of the Association of Black Sociologists.

In Cambridge, where she resided, she was a commissioner on the Cambridge Conservation Commission, a trustee for Youth Enrichment Services, and a member of the Advisory Committee for Walden Woods.

Professor Woody is described by colleagues as a brilliant scholar-practitioner, particularly for her work on the intersection's of labor, race, gender and/or age. Through her research and scholarship in these areas, she made major contributions to the Trotter and Gaston Institutes and to the Center for Women and Public Policy.

Externally, she served as a consultant to numerous governmental and community agencies, the most recent including the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, and the Four Corners Action Coalition in Dorchester.
In 2001, she was appointed as an editor of Race and Society. At the time of her death, she was working on two special issues devoted to "Women, Race and Social Theory" and "Women and Public Policy."

The university community will be notified of a celebration of life service that is being planned for September by her family.

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