Faculty and Staff Career News

To read complete versions of these abbreviated news items where you see a live link, click to reach the faculty member’s personal page. Then visit that page’s “Recent News” tab, where this current item in fuller detail will be at the top. For staffers without a faculty page, the full text of each news item is included here.

George Ashline, professor of mathematics, co-published with Ian Adelstein the article “Reframing the Pythagorean Theorem” in the January, 2019 issue of The College Mathematics Journal. George also organized a campus event on March 1 titled “Mathematics Education Forum: Alumni Reflections and Advice.” Also George served again this year as a faculty consultant at the 2019 Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus Readings, held June 11-17 in Kansas City.

Jeffrey Ayres, professor of political science and the former dean, this past spring spent a week in Toronto during Spring semester 2019 for the International Studies Association annual meeting where he presented a paper entitled “Theorizing Civil Society Cooperation in the Era of ‘New Regionalisms’ in North America.”

Doug Babcock, director of public safety for the College, in late April was interviewed on a local TV newscast by reporter Tom Garris of local NBC5 about using the LifeSafe app to promote general student safety in light of a recent event at the University of Vermont that raised concerns.

Christine Bauer-Ramazani, instructor of TESOL, Director of English Language Programs, joined the webcast team at TESOL 2019 in Atlanta, GA, in March to introduce the Electronic Village Online (EVO): Best of 2019 sessions, a free 5-week annual professional development event that she co-founded in 2000 and which has trained over 35,000 teachers. She also participated as invited speaker on a panel on The Blended Learning Classroom and the ESL Teacher, presenting on blended learning best practices using technology.

Tim Birmingham ’02, career education coach for the Career Education & Alumni Engagement Center, recently attended the annual conference for the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) in Clearwater, FL and through that organization, just became a “Certified Professional Resume Writer.” (CPRW).

Michael Bosia, associate professor of political science and Fellow in the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto, spent a week in Toronto during spring semester 2019 for the International Studies Association annual meeting, chairing a committee and organizing a program series He also wrote an analysis of Trump administration policies affecting the global LGBTQI+ community for Paris-based news service Komitid, and in April was a guest on the Dave Gram Show on WDEV radio in Waterbury.

Robert Brenneman of the sociology faculty has been traveling and presenting during spring semester 2019 relative to his various research interests: The first occasion was at a conference called “Romero Days” at Notre Dame, and the second was at a conference on “The Social Dimensions of Spirituality” at Indiana University. The photo at right shows Bob presenting at Notre Dame, where he completed his advanced graduate degrees.

Alain Brizard, professor of physics, had three peer-reviewed papers published this year: one in Physics of Plasmas; a second in the Journal of Mathematical Physics; and a third in Physics Letters A (with J.W. Burby at the Los Alamos National Laboratory). Paper (2) was also the topic of a student-faculty research project (with Colin Myrick, 2020), which was presented by Colin at the 2019 International Sherwood Fusion Theory conference in Princeton in April. In May, Alain gave a seminar at a university in England.

Laurence Clerfeuille of the French faculty arranged for a campus visit April 24 by renowned Haitian writer Kettly Mars, who came from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she lives. Mars gave a lecture on “Writing under Lock: Haitian Literature in the Post-Dictatorial Era,” which was mainly about Haitian literature after the Duvalier dictatorship and the challenges faced by Haitian writers today. Joseph Ferdinand, Saint Michael’s emeritus professor of French, also came from Florida where he now resides to get a chance to meet Mars.

Brian Collier, professor of fine arts/art, in February at Burlington’s Fleming Museum on the University of Vermont campus was part of a major art exhibit that prominently included his work. Later this spring, Brian gave a public talk about his project at the Fleming in April, and the show was on view until May 10. The show was called Small Worlds, and explored “the ways contemporary artists use miniatures to inspire awe, whimsy, and even dread. Brian developed The Collier Classification System for Very Small Objects, a taxonomy.

Patricia L. Delaney of the College’s anthropology facutly was named the first ever “Chapman Faculty Fellow” on the Spring 2019 voyage of the Semester at Sea study abroad program. Fellowship responsibilities included: mentoring a diverse cohort of 15 student fellows;  developing and supporting community partnerships with NGOs in India and South Africa; leading community-engaged overnight programs with undergraduates; teaching a diverse group of Semester at Sea students; and providing strategic visioning for future Semester at Sea initiatives (January – April 2019).

Greg Delanty, professor of English, will see his next book of poems No More Time published by Louisiana State University Press in fall 2020. Greg also had a book of essays commissioned, had poems published in major journals in the U.S. and abroad, and  was interviewed on stage by the novelist Colum McCann in the Irish Writing Center in New York City. He was to chair a panel at a writer’s conference at Holy Cross, and his book Selected Delanty was short-listed for the Vermont Book Award. He’ll read at a July Irish-themed art opening in Montpelier.

John Devlin, professor of fine arts, theatre, designed scenery for Shipwrecked! and Twelfth Night which played in rotating rep for Moonbox Productions in Boston in November and December, 2018. He is the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Design, Technology and Management member-at-large. In April he attended the KCACTF national festival in Washington, DC, active in many leadership and judging roles. At various sites through the year across the U.S., John gave workshops and educated theater students.

Mike Donoghue, executive director of the Vermont Press Association with its headquarters in the Saint Michael’s Media Studies, Journalism and Digital Arts Department, was one of the keynote speakers as part of a Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. program in late January at Champlain Valley Union High School.  Mike drew on his longtime work as a writer for the Burlington Free Press and as an adjunct professor and adviser at Saint Michael’s during his talk and answering questions.

Kristin Dykstra, distinguished scholar in residence, published a scholarly chapter on Cuban writer Soleida Ríos in the 2019 book La futuridad del naufragio and spoke at its formal presentation at the Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard in May. She is principal translator of The Winter Garden Photograph by Reina María Rodríguez (Cuba), published by Ugly Duckling Presse, and she co-edited Materia Prima, an anthology featuring Amanda Berenguer (Uruguay) also published by the press in 2019. Dykstra spoke on panels at three spring conferences: the Modern Language Association, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, and the Latin American Studies Association.  She gave multiple readings of poetry in translation in Portland, OR, and Cambridge, MA.

Jo Ellis-Monaghan of the Saint Michael’s Mathematics and Statistics Program faculty, for the fall term of her sabbatical, will be the Eugene P. Shelly visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University. This position gives Carnegie Mellon faculty and graduate students the opportunity to improve their teaching skills. Jo will be spending the spring term of her sabbatical as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair at Charles University in Prague. Jo also is Editor-in-Chief of PRIMUS, an academic journal in her field.

Raichle Farrelly of the Applied Linguistics faculty had a full schedule at a March TESOL International Association Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, chairing a section on refugees and as invited speaker on that topic. In addition, Rai spoke on a panel about the TESOL Practicum around the world, based on a chapter she wrote for a volume going to press in May that describes second language teacher education globally. She also co-presented with a recent MA TESOL graduate on their work with technology education for refugee-background learners.

Traci Griffith of the media studies, journalism and digital arts faculty and Katie Kirby (philosophy faculty), led 13 Saint Michael’s students on a study trip to South Africa. The group used both Cape Town and Johannesburg as their classrooms. The course title for this May 13-28 trip was “South Africa – Resistance, Revolution, & Representation.”

Pauline Jennings, lecturer in dance  on the Saint Michel’s adjunct Fine Arts faculty, recently celebrated the opening of “neighboring|towns,” an immersive four-channel video and sound installation about borders, restriction of movement, and family/community life that is currently being presented by the Hamiltonian Gallery in Washington, DC (May 18 – June 22, 2019). She and collaborator, received a foundation grant to support the project that also  features choreography created and performed collaboratively with Saint Michael’s alumnus Joshua Lacourse.

John Kenney, professor of religious studies, eminent St. Augustine scholar, author and former dean, who is retiring after this academic year, delivered the Humanities Center Annual Lecture, titled “On God, the Soul, Evil, and the Rise of Christianity,” with his longtime colleagues and students packing the Farrell Room lecture space to capacity.

Richard Kujawa, professor of geography and chair of the Department of Environmental Studies and Science, has been elected to a three-year term on the Council of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) as the regional representative for New England and the Saint Lawrence Valley.  He also presented on teaching strategies at a Washington, D.C. geographers’ conference in April, and will give a paper on flood resilience policy at a June conference in Wisconsin.

Michael Larsen of the Mathematics/Statistics faculty in recent months: reviewed student papers for the New England Statistical Society’s IBM Student Research Paper competition; refereed articles for statistical journals Biometrika, Annals of Applied Statistics, and Bayesian Analysis; collaborated as a senior statistician for the Veteran’s Administration surveys on Disaster Preparedness of VHA Employees and on Veteran Enrollee’s Health and Health Care Utilization; and contributed expertise to an IRS Survey of Income research file.

Robert Letovsky, professor of business administration and accounting, has been appointed to serve on the board of the Vermont Education Health Initiative (VEHI). It’s his first term on the VEHI board – six-year term. Vermont’s legislature last year passed a law (Act 11) increasing the board to six members, three named by the union representing the majority of the state’s teachers (the NEA) and 3 by the organization representing the majority of the state’s school boards (the Vermont School Boards Association, which nominated Robert).

Crystal L’Hote of the Saint Michael’s philosophy faculty was quoted extensively in a feature appearing on the website Bustle noting the 15th anniversary of the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Bustle is an online American women’s magazine founded 2013, with 50 million monthly readers. Crystal also was deeply involved in Public Philosophy Week during April in the greater Burlington area again this year as in past years, as are some of her fellow St. Mike’s faculty members. Crystal coordinates the College’s participation and also hosts a session.

Declan McCabe, professor of biology, has continued periodically writing his nature column “The Outside Story” — assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands Magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (and reprinted in several Vermont newspapers Also, each spring the University of Vermont Biology Department honors outstanding undergraduate students, graduate teaching assistants, and accomplished alumni for their achievements in the study of Biology, Declan was among the honorees this year.

Molly Millwood, on leave for the 2018-2019 academic year from the Saint Michael’s psychology faculty), on May 10 was interviewed by Brian Lehrer on the major New York City public radio station WNYC. While Molly does not plan to return full-time to the faculty after her leave, she will continue to teach in the graduate program every fall as an adjunct.

Tara Natarajan, professor of economics, in May was named by the College administration as the new Dean of Faculty. She also chaired a session on “Development and Growth in Theory and Practice” at the International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics on Jan 3, 2019, in conjunction with the annual economics convention held in Atlanta from January 4-6, 2019.  One of the articles from the special issue of the Forum for Social Economics edited by Tara received the Patrick J. Welch award for best paper published in 2018 in the journal.

Bob Niemi, professor of English and American Studies, will be presenting a paper on actor/writer/sailor Sterling Hayden at “Over Seas: Melville, Whitman, and All the Intrepid Sailors,” a literary conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in early July.

Paul Olsen, associate professor of business administration and accounting, reports his most recent publication. Here’s the citation: “Olsen, P., Siplon, P., & Nathanson, M. (2019). Symbolism or Substance? Managing Livable Wage Ordinance Enforcement. North American Management Association (NAMS) Annual Conference Proceedings, p. 167-182.  Chicago: MBAA International.” Paul also made several presentations at a recent management educators’ conference in Chicago.

Ingrid Peterson of the College’s Career Education & Alumni Engagement Center in March presented a workshop on “Head+Heart=Hustle: Identifying work that aligns your interest in social, civic, humanitarian or environmental issues with your unique gifts and talents.” This was for the Vermont Women in Higher Education Annual Conference at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort.

Karen Popovich and Robert Letovsky of the Department of Business Administration & Accounting faculty accompanied a team composed of Saint Michael’s College student, on March 1 as the students competed in the 7th annual “Free Enterprise Marathon” (FEM) held at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh. This year’s event, again sponsored by the Charles Koch Foundation, boasted its largest field ever with 13 colleges and universities from New York, Vermont and New Hampshire sending student teams.

Reza Ramazani of the economics faculty published several book reviews over recent months in Choice, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Reza also was invited again this year by the University of Colorado, Boulder to be part of 8 panel discussions at 71st Annual Conference on World Affairs (CWA) in April. In January, Reza was invited to be part of discussions on the maple market at Vermont venues. He plans to attend the Western Economic Association International conference in San Francisco this summer.

John Reuwer, adjunct professor of peace and justice, was serving with the Nonviolent Peaceforce in South Sudan for four months this past winter and spring. John hopes to learn from the people of South Sudan about the human potential for resilience under extremely traumatic circumstances, the methods they have devised to survive prolonged warfare, and how grassroots efforts can contribute to lasting peace. He expects this will enhance the material in his course on nonviolent conflict at Saint Michael’s, and he hopes to share with the wider campus community.

Lloyd Simons, Barbara O’Donovan, and Zsu Kadas of the Saint Michael’s mathematics/statistics/engineering faculty accompanied five engineering seniors completing the Saint Michael’s College-University of Vermont 3+2 Program on Friday, April 26 as the students presented their Senior Capstone Projects at the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Engineering Design Night. These year-long projects involve teams of students working on applications proposed by local businesses, public services, or university research groups.

Patrick Standen, instructor of philosophy, in late May again completed the Vermont City Marathon, his “23^rd or 24^th” by his count; is teaching two summer classes at Saint Michael’s; and in recent months: gave a talk in Stowe about adaptive skiing; was invited essayist and panelist for the St. Mike’s MLK celebration; hosted an adaptive yoga clinic in Colchester, gave an ethics lecture for a St. Mike’s chemistry course; was keynote speaker at the Vermont Statehouse for Disability Awareness Day; and gave talks on a wide range of topics at various venues.

Trevien Stanger of the Saint Michael’s Environmental Studies and Sciences faculty just completed his one year “Vermont Master Naturalist” training in Richmond, Vermont. Trevien said he is “sure that this knowledge and set of teaching skills will be appreciated by my Environmental Studies students as they explore the Saint Michael’s Natural Area and continue doing ecological restoration work down there.”

Laura J. Stroup of the College’s Environmental Studies faculty took her Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies in March along on a visit to the office of Sen. Patrick Leahy ’61, D-VT, in Burlington to rally for the proposed federal Green New Deal.

Jerry Swope, department chair of Media Studies, Journalism & Digital Arts, organized and participated in a March 28 on-campus panel discussion sponsored by The Edmundite Center for Peace and Justice, “Nicholas Black Elk, Lakota Spirituality, and Catholicism on the Pine Ridge Reservation.” Panelists along with Jerry were Robert Brave Heart, executive vice-president of Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota; and Damian Costello, author of Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism.

Carlos Vega, associate director of admission for multicultural enrollment and athletics liaison, had a major personal and professional accomplishment in May: when he successfully defended his dissertation at the University of Vermont, for a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Carlos also in February was honored with selection to serve on the NCAA Division II Ethnic Minority and Women’s Internship Grant Selection Committee.

Melissa Ward, regional associate director of admission at Saint Michael’s College, has been named vice chair of the Communications Committee of Potomac & Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling (PCACAC). Melissa represents the Admission Office in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. Melissa will serve as Vice Chair for a one-year term before taking over as the Chair of the Committee.

Catherine Welch, Saint Michael’s assistant dean of students/Title IX coordinator, graduated on May 11 from New England College with her Doctorate of Education (EdD). Catherine also presented her dissertation research at New England College’s 3rd Annual Assessment Conference on May 15 in Henniker, N.H. In April Catherine was the chief organizer and leader for students during the annual Fresh Check Day on campus.

Ben White, director of MATESOL programs, recently organized two panel discussions on language teaching in Atlanta during the annual conference of the American Association of Applied Linguists in March Ben presented with scholars from other colleges in a colloquium entitled “Cognitive Linguistics and Sociocultural Theory approaches to L2 pedagogy: Targeting conceptualization and construal.” Also at that convention, Ben presented with others in a colloquium entitled “Verbing Out with Cognitive Linguistics and Sociocultural Theory.”

Joan Wry, professor of English/ Honors Program director, presented papers at academic conferences last semester: “Nineteenth-Century Gift Books as Aesthetic Material Objects” (in March at the College English Association Conference in New Orleans); “Skimeister Trains and the Material Culture of Weekend Ski Travel,” (in March at the Deerfield-Wellesley Symposium in Deerfield, MA); and “Portals of Transformation in Margaret Fuller’s 1844 Poems,” (in May at the American Literature Association Conference in Boston). Joan also received the third annual Northeast-10 Conference Dr. Dave Landers Faculty Mentor Award in Springfield, MA in June.

Xinting Zhen of the Saint Michael’s business and accounting faculty led and mentored the College’s team that traveled to Manhattan to participate in the Americas Regional CFA Institute Research Challenge in late April. The Saint Michael’s team won Vermont to compete against more than 50 colleges and universities from around the world. Paul Olsen of the St. Mike’s business faculty was along on the trip, which included a visit to NASDAQ on Times Square.