Faculty and Staff Notes

In an article for NPR Books, Myriam J.A. Chancy cites The Immortals by Makenzy Orcel, translated by Oberlin Visiting Assistant Professor of French Nathan H. Dize, as one of four books to understand why Haiti should be hold our attention through earthquakes and tropical storms. The Immortals was one of the first novels written about the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti and one of the first of these novels to be translated into English.

The latest book by Professor of Politics Stephen Crowley, Putin's Labor Dilemma: Russian Politics Between Stability and Stagnation, is now out from Cornell University Press. The book questions the popular assumption that Russia's workers are Putin's "core supporters," and explores the challenges the Russian leadership faces between undertaking painful reforms to boost economic growth, and preventing economic grievances from leading to demands for political change.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Shuming Chen and Anthony Gao '21 published two research articles on transition-metal catalysis: "Mechanism and Selectivities in Ru-Catalyzed Anti-Markovnikov Formal Hydroalkylation of 1,3-Dienes and Enynes: A Computational Study" in the Journal of Organic Chemistry; and "Catalytic α-Deracemization of Ketones Enabled by Photoredox Deprotonation and Enantioselective Protonation" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The latter work was published in collaboration with Professor Eric Meggers' research group at the University of Marburg, Germany.
 

Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Stiliana Milkova interviewed the Bulgarian-born writer Nataliya Deleva and her English translator, the Bulgarian-born Izidora Angel, about Deleva's novel Four Minutes (2021), and her forthcoming novel, written in English, Arrival (2022). In the interview, Milkova, Deleva, and Angel reflect on exophonic writing, literary translation, and the power of collaboration between women.

Assistant Professor of Physics Jillian Scudder published a first author paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society comparing 11 different ways of assessing the fraction of non-hydrogen gas in nearby galaxies. She found variations in how well these methods convert into each other, and determined some of the properties which influence the quality of the conversion. 

Beyond Civil Disobedience: Social Nullification and Black Citizenship (African American Philosophy and the African Diaspora), by Associate Professor of Africana Studies Charles Peterson, was published in July by Palgrave Macmillan. The book interrogates the nature and state of African American citizenship through the prism of Social Contract Theory. Challenging the United States’ commitment to African American citizenship, the book explores the idea of Social Nullification, the decision to reject, revoke and re-define the social contract with a state and society. 

Assistant Professor of Politics David Forrest published an essay about Steven Lubet and urban ethnography in Politics, Groups, and Identities.

Assistant Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies Paul Brehm presented at the SEA Annual Conference (November 21-23, 2020, virtual). He presented joint work with Professor Margaret Brehm, "Drill, Baby, Drill: Resource Shocks and Fertility, Evidence from Indonesia” and chaired the session.

Dustin Evatt-Young, interim director of the Career Development Center, co-authored an article in the Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, a peer-reviewed journal published by the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE). The article titled "White Higher Education Leaders on the Complexities of Whiteness and Anti-Racist Leadership" examines the manifestations of whiteness in higher education and offers insight into the development of anti-racist policies, practices, and tools.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Lisa Ryno gave the keynote presentation, "The Impact of Undergraduate Research: A Personal Vignette" for Trinity University's 2021 Summer Experiential Learning Symposium. An alumna of TU (Class of 2008), Ryno was honored to reflect on some of the most meaningful aspects of undergraduate research as a student and how she now applies them as a mentor to undergraduate researchers in her lab.