Faculty and Staff Notes

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Meredith Gadsby participated in the panel “Diasporic Vision of Toni Morrison and Aimè Cèsaire” at the Toni Morrison Society’s 2024 Summer Symposium in Martinique June 22-27. It was the first in-person gathering of Morrison and Cèsaire scholars to discuss the shared vision of the African Diaspora in their works. Gadsby's paper, “The Greatest Kitchen Table Poets of All: Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, and Edwidge Danticat in Diasporic Dialogue,” examines Morrison's work in dialogue with that of Marshall and Danticat, exploring “kitchen table poetics” to mobilize a philosophy of Black love in resistance to Cesaire’s concept of “thingification.” Gadsby is a life member of the society and a member of its board.

Professor of East Asian Studies Sheila Miyoshi Jager's book (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2023) The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia, received the 2024 Robert L. Jervis and Paul W. Schroeder Best Book Award from the International History and Politics section of the American Political Science Association.

The Society for the Study of Social Problems selected Assistant Professor of Sociology Alicia Smith-Tran's article, "'There's the Black Woman Thing and There's the Age Thing': Professional Black Women on the Downsides of 'Black Don't Crack' and Strategies for Confronting Ageism at Work," as Honorable Mention for this year's Kimberlé Crenshaw Outstanding Article Award.

Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Stiliana Milkova presented her new book Natalia Ginzburg's Global Legacies (Palgrave, 2024) at the 2024 American Association of Italian Studies Conference in Sorrento, Italy. In addition to presenting the book, she also gave a paper on posing and passing in translation, focusing on migrant and exophonic writing.

Assistant Dean and Director of International Student & Scholar Services Josh Whitson and International Student Program Coordinator Jackie Zubin attended the NAFSA: Association of International Educators 2024 Annual Conference & Expo. Josh cotrained the Trainer Corps Enrichment Workshop focused on adult learning and training plans as a member of the Trainer Corps Development Team, and also copresented the session Department of State Consular Affairs Current Issues. Jackie presented the poster Introducing International Education Week to a University Campus.

Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Religion and Chair of Jewish Studies Shari Rabin presented at the "Ways of Being: Evolving Religion and America" symposium hosted by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation at Jamestown Settlement in Virginia.

Professor of Politics and Chair of Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies Stephen Crowley published an article titled "Does Putin Want to End the War in Ukraine? It’s Time to Find Out" in The Nation.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies Anna Lordan presented her current work on modes of knowledge in Ukrainian writer Lesia Ukrainka at the Association for Women in Slavic Studies.

Associate Professor of Creative Writing Emily Barton publishes a 2,500-word essay on Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, the leader of Liberal Judaism in France, and on her book Living with Our Dead, newly translated into English.

Media Lecturer of Cinema Studies Joey Rizzolo's film Hot Idiot (featuring the work of alums Alba Robledo Diaz ’23, India Gray ’23, Shaina Lin Chung ’20, Olivia Bentley ’21, and Rachel Yee ’23) premiered at the Astoria Film Festival this week where it took the award for Best Comedy Short.