Faculty and Staff Notes

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Janet Fiskio contributed the chapter “Where Food Grows on Water: Food Sovereignty and North American Indigenous Literatures” to the book The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature (Ed. Deborah Lea Madison. New York: Routledge, 2015. 238-48).

Professor of Mathematics Jim Walsh was profiled by the Mathematics and Climate Change Research Network (MCRN) about his climate-modeling research. Walsh has been a member of MCRN since 2011, and he currently co-organizes a weekly webinar that focuses on mathematical models arising in the study of paleoclimate.

Rick Baldoz, associate professor of sociology, and Shelley Lee, associate professor of comparative American studies and history, published the article “Decades of Xenophobia Shape US Response to Syrian Refugees” on Truthout.

Baldoz also recently published the article “The 1965 Immigration Act: Its Legacy and Lessons” in the same publication.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Chie Sakakibara visited the Inupiaq community of Barrow, Alaska, November 22-28 for two current projects: 1) climate change and indigenous cultural resilience; and 2) the community-partnered Inupiaq music repatriation project for which she collaborates with the Center for Ethnomusicology at Columbia University, New York.

Reference and Instruction Librarian Eboni A. Johnson '97 has contributed a chapter to the forthcoming book Crucible Moments: Inspiring Library Leadership. Johnson's chapter, "Navigating Choppy Waters: Catalysts for Smooth Leadership Sailing,” joins contributions from 15 other library leaders who tell the stories of their leadership journeys.

Crucible Moments is set to publish in early January 2016. Read more about the book on the Mission Bell Media website.

Associate Professor of History Zeinab Abul-Magd was awarded the Roger Owen Book Award for her book Imagined Empires: A History of Revolt in Egypt at the 2015 Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting November 21-24 in Denver.

The Roger Owen book award is a biennial award and the highest recognition for books produced in Middle East studies with a special focus on economic history, economics, and political economy of the Middle East and North Africa. It is one of only two book awards presented by MESA.

Crystal Biruk, assistant professor of anthropology, presented her paper "Fixed categories, liminal selves: Becoming "MSM" and "WSW" in Malawi" at the American Anthropological Association Meetings in Denver, Colorado (November 18-22).

Assistant Professor of Economics Martin Saavedra presented his paper "Early-Life Disease Exposure and Occupational Status: The Impact of Yellow Fever during the 19th Century" November 23 at the Southern Economic Association 85th Annual Meetings in New Orleans. Saavedra also served as a discussant on the paper "Long-Term Effects of Access to Health Care: Medical Missions in Colonial India" by Rossella Calvi of Boston College.

See the program for the meetings on this webpage.

Evangeline Heiliger, visiting assistant professor of LGBT/queer studies in the comparative American studies program, presented her paper "Salvaging the Material: Feminist Science in the DIY Tiny House Movement" on November 14 at the 2015 National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference in Milwaukee.

Heiliger also recently published a chapter— "Queer Economies: Possibilities of Queer Desires and Economic Bodies (because "the economy" is not enough)”—in Global Justice and Desire: Queering Economy (Routledge Press 2015).

Associate Professor of Economics Ron Cheung presented his paper “Household Debt and Local Public Finances” November 19 at the National Tax Association’s 108th Annual Conference on Taxation in Boston.

See a PDF of the program from the event.