Faculty and Staff Notes

Jillian Scudder's upcoming book, The Milky Way Smells of Rum & Raspberries, was positively reviewed in Publisher's Weekly: "From Saturn’s slowly decaying rings to diamond rain on Neptune, Scudder delivers entertaining pop science, all explained in accessible prose. Armchair astronomers will come away with a renewed sense of wonder at the strangeness of the universe."

Professor Stiliana Milkova's book of short fiction written in Italian Storia delle prime volte (Voland 2022) was reviewed in the major Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. The reviewer compared Professor Milkova's literary style to that of Italo Calvino.

Associate Professor of Computer Science Cynthia Taylor published an interview with Beth Simon in ACM Inroads magazine. The interview discusses how to get people to adopt pedagogical innovations, peer instruction, and the differences between working with K-12 instructors and higher ed instructors on changing pedagogy.

David Forrest was interviewed on WAMF (New Orleans) about his book, A Voice but No Power: Organizing for Social Justice in Minneapolis. The interview was conducted by Wade Rathke, who founded the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in 1970 and served as its chief organizer for 38 years.

Assistant Professor Jenny Garcia published in the Washington Post's Monkey Cage.

Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy Jillian Scudder's book, Astroquizzical: The Illustrated Edition (MIT Press & Icon Books) has been named as one of four finalists for the 2023 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books in the Young Adult Science Book category.

Leonard V. Smith has recently published two articles, “The Armistices of 1918,” Richerche Stroriche 52: 2 (2022): 9-25; and “The Politics of Recognition at the Paris Peace Conference,” in Postwar Continuity and New Challenges in Central Europe, 1918-1923: The War that Never Ended, Tomasz Pudłocki and Kamil Ruszała, eds., (Routledge, 2022), 9-34. Both are extrapolations from his most recent book, Sovereignty at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (Oxford, 2018).

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Shuming Chen has recently published an article in ACS Catalysis, "Visible Light-Mediated, Diastereoselective Epimerization of Morpholines and Piperazines to More Stable Isomers." Co-authors include Elizabeth Rigby ’22 and collaborators from Yale University.

Alicia Smith-Tran published an article in the Journal of Autoethnography titled, "Expecting in Unexpected Times: Navigating a Pandemic Pregnancy."

Professor Emily Barton, along with seniors Dora Neiden and Helenor Harris-Evans, visited the Westlake fourth-grade classroom of Ms. Erin Vanek to observe and respond to student presentations on which element of storytelling is most important. Each student had chosen an element of craft (such as character, plot, or point of view) and prepared a PowerPoint presentation to argue their point, using specific examples from source texts. Professor Barton, Neiden, and Harris-Evans were amazed at the nuance of the students' arguments and their passion in arguing them.