Faculty and Staff Notes

Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde sold her debut novel, Eleutheria, and her second story collection, The Last Catastrophe, to Vintage. Eleutheria is a surreal parable about activism and systemic corruption that charts an idealistic woman’s quest for agency among a cult of eco-revolutionaries in the Bahamas intent on saving a world ravaged by climate change. The Last Catastrophe is a collection of speculative short stories on what it means to live in modern America.

Associate Professor of Music Theory Andrew Pau reviewed Alexandra Kieffer's book Debussy's Critics: Sound, Affect, and the Experience of Modernism for France Review, an online review dedicated to books on French history and culture. 

Associate Professor of Classics Christopher Trinacty recently published an article and a book review. The article discusses the way that Pliny incorporates Senecan material in his letters. The review is on a recent volume about Senecan intertextuality. 

Assistant Professor of Economics Evan Kresch's work was recently highlighted in an interview by the American Economic Association. 

Assistant Professor of Computer Science Roberto Hoyle participated in a panel on Humans and Technology for Inclusive Privacy and Security at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual meeting.

Sandra Zagarell, the Visiting Donald R. Longman Professor of English Emerita, published “Literary Recovery, #ReclaimHerName, Alice Dunbar-Nelson,” September 22, 2020, and “A Response to Baileys’ #reclaimhername: The Challenges of Literary Recovery, in LEGACY: A Journal of American Women Writers, (online), August 28, 2020. 

Steven Volk, Professor of History Emeritus, co-authored (with Beth Benedix) "The Post-Pandemic Liberal Arts College: A Manifesto for Reinvention” (Belt Publishing).

Donica Thomas Varner co-authored with Simone Himbeault Taylor a chapter in Reframing Campus Conflict (2 ed.) published by Stylus Publishing, LLC.  The chapter titled Reconciling Legal Obligations with Education Goals: Revisiting Foundations of Student Conflict Work is described by co-editor Jennifer Schrage as providing a "compass for all IHE leadership teams navigating the current educational landscape!"

James Monroe Professor of Politics and Professor of East Asian Studies Marc Blecher’s new book Politics as a Science: A Prolegomenon, coauthored with European University Institute Emeritus Professor Philippe Schmitter, was recently published by Routledge. It provides an overview of the core, eternal, universal issues of political science—or, as we argue it should be known, “politology.” It argues that politics is the most fundamental social activity because it involves the peaceful resolution of conflict without which all others would be impossible. The book includes chapters on politics’ (and politology’s) subject matter, foundations (concepts, agents, cleavages, motives, processes, mechanisms, temporalities, units and régimes), consequences (order, production and distribution, recognition and respect, externalities, and legitimacy), the discipline, research design, and its purpose and promise. It is available Open Access to make it affordable for students, scholars and citizens/subjects the world over. Portuguese and Spanish translations are in process, with more foreign language editions intended.

Professor of Hispanic Studies Sebastiaan Faber was interviewed by Jacobin Magazine about Spain's newly proposed memory law, a topic about which he published an op-ed last week in the Spanish magazine Contexto. This past month, the same magazine has run Q&As by Faber with journalist Tim Weiner (on Russian meddling in the 2016 elections), photography curator Cynthia Young (on Robert Capa), and author Benjamin Moser (on his Susan Sontag biography), all in Spanish.