Faculty and Staff Footnotes

April–May 2009

Awards and Prizes
Conferences, Presentations, and Educational Programs
Recordings, Films, Exhibitions, and Performances
Publications

Awards and Prizes

SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence
Student Engagement Awards
Professional Staff Development Awards

Faculty Research & Development Awards:
Senior Faculty Research Awards
Dee and Robert Topol Faculty Development Awards
Junior Faculty Development Awards
Peter and Bette Fishbein Junior Faculty Research Award
Spring 2009 Faculty Support Awards

Other Awards and Honors

SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence
The recipients of the 2009 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence, announced in late April, will be honored as the centerpiece of Convocation in the fall:

1. Prof. Gerry Hecht, Conservatory of Music: Excellence in Teaching
2. Prof. Morris Kaplan, School of Humanities: Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities
3. Prof. Jan Factor, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Excellence in Faculty Service
4. Barbara Moore, Institutional Research: Excellence in Professional Service

Student Engagement Awards
The Student Learning and Success Committee is pleased to announce that Dr. William Needham, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Octavio DaEira, Mailroom Supervisor, have been selected to receive this year’s Student Engagement Awards. The Student Engagement Awards are given to one faculty member and one staff member who demonstrate extraordinary commitment, initiative, and dedication, and whose efforts are “above and beyond” their performance programs in helping the College serve its students.

2008–2009 Professional Development Awards for Professional Staff
A total of $3,175 in professional staff development awards was awarded by the Peer Review Committee of the Professional Staff Council:

1. Timothy Fann, Residence/Student Life: $500
   Expenses for the Certificate Program in Fundraising and Board Development.
2. Christopher Kaczmarek, Art+Design: $500
   Toward tuition for a certification course in Max/MSP/Jitter from Harvestworks.
3. Jerzy Klebieko, Art+Design: $500
   Toward tuition for a certification course in Max/MSP/Jitter from Harvestworks.
4. Tim Lampron, Physical Education: $225
   Registration fee to attend the 2009 NATA National Conference.
5. Glorivee Rojas, EOP: $475
   Registration fee to attend the Tri-State Conference for Educational Opportunities.
   
6. Deidre C. Sato, International Programs and Services: $500
   Toward expenses for her doctoral dissertation on the impact of short-term study abroad programs on students’ attitudes and academic and career choices. This study will be conducted at Purchase College.

Senior Faculty Research Awards
Each recipient of a Senior Faculty Research Award receives $5000 over two years to subsidize research, performances, exhibitions, conferences, travel, and/or recital expenses. These awards are made possible thanks to the generosity of Doris and Carl Kempner and Juanita and Joseph Leff. During these two years, the selected faculty members also assume the title of Doris and Carl Kempner Distinguished Professor or Juanita and Joseph Leff Distinguished Professor.

    Doris and Carl Kempner Distinguished Professors, 2009–2011:

1. Lisa Jean Moore, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Researching and writing a gender studies textbook and working on long-standing research projects.
2. Michelle Stewart, School of Humanities: Researching and developing a book project on the circulation of film between France and North Africa, with particular attention to the media production of North African exiles and French–North African immigrants between France and the Maghreb.

    Juanita and Joseph Leff Distinguished Professors, 2009–2011:

1. Shemeem Abbas, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Support for a manuscript of the book On the Margins of State and Empire: Theorizing Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws.
2. Joanne Tillotson, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Altering approach to teaching scientific writing in the General Biology I laboratory and preparing online tutorials that include description, demonstration, animation, and interactive exercises to improve student learning in laboratory-based courses in biology and biochemistry.

Dee and Robert Topol Faculty Development Awards
This new award is provided by the generosity of Dee and Robert Topol. Recipients receive a summer stipend of $3000 to help defray the costs of writing a grant, developing a new course, or significantly redesigning an existing course. The recipients for Summer 2009 are:

1. Frank Bellevue and Nancy Zook, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Develop an interdisciplinary team-taught course in the area of neuropharmacology.
2. Suzanne Farrin, Conservatory of Music, and Jennifer Uleman, School of Humanities: Develop a team-taught course on the subject of beauty that employs collaborative pedagogy and innovative methods of assessment.
3. John Forrest, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Redesign Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology as an online course.
4. Chrys Ingraham, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Develop an interdisciplinary major and minor in Latin American studies.
5. Anthony Lemieux, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Redesign the Psychology of Terrorism course to enable a more extensive use of collaborative Web 2.0 tools.
6. Kathleen McCormick, School of Humanities: Develop a new course, Italian-American Literature, Film, and Popular Culture.
7. Jim McElwaine, Conservatory of Music: Redesign Melody Writing and Lyric Writing as online courses.
8. Shaka McGlotten, School of Natural and Social Sciences, and Agustin Zarzosa, School of Humanities: Create a course that would serve as gateway for the majors in Cinema Studies, New Media, and Media, Society, and the Arts.
9. Peter Ohring, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Develop a new course, Search in the Age of Google, that will introduce students to data processes and structures and explore online search as a mechanism for humans to interact with information.
10. Jason Pine, School of Natural and Social Sciences, and Michelle Stewart, School of Humanities: Design an upper-level curriculum that might serve a collaborative media studies unit.
11. Brooke Singer, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Develop a new course, Community-Centered Media, for New Media students.

Junior Faculty Development Awards
The President’s Award for Junior Faculty Development is designed to encourage and support junior faculty in their field of research. Awardees receive a Title F leave at regular salary for one semester to devote exclusively to their project. At the end of the project, the awardees submit a detailed report of their accomplishments. This year’s winners are:

1. Laura Chmielewski, School of Humanities: Revising a historical monograph, The Spice of Popery: Converging Christianities on the Main Frontier, 1688–1727.
2. David Gluck, Conservatory of Music: Writing a book and producing a DVD that explores the parallel mindsets of professional artists and athletes.
3. Shaka McGlotten, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Completing a manuscript of the book Virtual Intimacies: Media Cultures and Queer Sociality.
4. Sarah Warren, School of Humanities: Completing a manuscript of the book Painting Beyond Sense: Mikhail Larionov and the Cultural Politics of the Russian Avant-Garde.

Peter and Bette Fishbein Junior Faculty Research Award
Ahmed Afzal (Anthropology) is the first recipient of this research award. Thanks to the generosity of Peter and Bette Fishbein, this new award provides $5000 to subsidize the costs of a scholarly research endeavor in a liberal arts discipline. Prof. Afzal plans to conduct an ethnographic study of Pakistani and Indian mass media in the United States, resulting in a book tentatively titled Transnational Lives and the Cultural Politics of Pakistani and Indian Mass Media in the United States.

Spring 2009 Faculty Support Awards
The goal of these awards is to encourage faculty in their professional endeavors and to further their own and the College’s mission and reputation. The maximum possible amount for each applicant was $1000 for junior faculty and $700 for senior faculty. (Awards were also for smaller sums, as appropriate to the project.)

1. Laura Chmielewski, School of Humanities: Attending and presenting at the Organization of American Historians and National Council on Public History conferences.
2. Peggy DeCooke, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Collecting data for the project “Middle-School After-School Program: The Family’s Experiences.”
3. Carrie Eastman, Library: Attending and presenting at the Academic, College, and Research Libraries national conference.
4. John Forrest, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Assistance with production of the book Subject Lessons: Life History as Reciprocal Empowerment.
5. Matthew Immergut, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Travel and filming the project Three Years, Three Months, and Three Days: A Documentary Film about Long-Term Solitary and Silent Buddhist Meditation Retreats.
6. Paul Kaplan, School of Humanities: Lodging in Italy while conducting research for the project “The ‘Original’ Othello.”
7. Anthony Lemieux, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Attending and presenting at International Society for Political Psychology conference.
8. Martin Lewinter, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Attending and presenting at Southeastern International Conference on Combinations, Graph Theory, and Computing.
9. Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum, School of Humanities: Conducting research for the novel Dangerous Girls.
10. Greg Lock, School of Art+Design: Complete and install project “The Pixelated Log.”
11. Hugh Murphy, Conservatory of Music: Provide accompaniment for a series of performances with Kaori Sato in Japan.
12. Bill Needham, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Attending and presenting at the Association for Psychological Science conference.
13. Karima Robinson, School of Humanities: Attending and presenting at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference.
14. Carolina Sanin, School of Humanities: Conducting research for the book Calila y Dimna.
15. Kaori Sato, Conservatory of Music: Presenting a series of classical vocal recitals in Japan.
16. Karen Singer-Freeman, School of Natural and Social Sciences: Attending and presenting at the Society for Research in Child Development conference.
17. Michael Torlen, School of Art+Design: Costs associated with the exhibition Michael Torlen: Seamarks.
18. Jennifer Uleman, School of Humanities: Attending and presenting at the American Philosophical Association conference.

Other Awards and Honors

Prof. James Mulligan (Art+Design) received an industry gold award for his package design illustrations from Hermes Creative Awards.

Prof. Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum (Creative Writing) is the recipient of a MacDowell Colony Fellowship for the summer of 2009. While in residence at the MacDowell Colony in Petersborough, New Hampshire, she will work on her novel-in-progress.

Conferences, Presentations, and Educational Programs

Prof. Laura Chmielewski (History) presented two papers recently: “Preparing the Next Generation: Undergraduates as Public History Students and Consumers,” at the National Council for Public History/American Association of State and Local History in Providence, RI (April 2009); and “The Ways of ‘His Industry’: Men of God and Their Transatlantic Ministries on the Maine Frontier, 1688–1727,” at the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians in Seattle, WA (March 2009).

Prof. Elizabeth Guffey (Art History) organized and chaired the symposium “Design on Film,” held at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum on March 21.

Beth S. Gersh-Nesic, a lecturer in the School of Liberal Students & Continuing Education, presented her paper “André Salmon, Picasso et l’histoire du cubisme” on April 4 at the International André Salmon Colloquium at the Université du Sud of Toulon-Var, sponsored by the Université de Paris III—Sorbonne Nouvelle, Université de Provence, and members of the Unité de Recherche Babel. The conference marked the 40th anniversary of André Salmon’s death and took place in Toulon and Sanary-sur-Mer, where Salmon retired after living in Paris. Dr. Gersh-Nesic is the co-founder and manager of the official André Salmon Web site, La Bande à André Salmon.

Paul Nicholson, Director of EOP, presented as part of a panel at the 2009 NYGEAR UP Annual Conference in Westchester. The panel’s purpose was to educate early-awareness practitioners and educators on postsecondary opportunity programs.

Robin Aleman (Academic Affairs) was interviewed for the April 2009 edition of Jazz Improv Magazine.

Recordings, Films, Exhibitions, and Performances

Prof. Kate Gilmore (Art+Design) has several exhibitions this spring:

• Franco Soffiantino Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy (solo exhibition); closing April 28
• “Chewing Color,” Creative Time, Times Square, New York, NY; curated by Marilyn Minter; artists: Patty Chang, Kate Gilmore, Marilyn Minter; April 1–30
• “Reflections on the Electric Mirror: New Feminist Video,” Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY; curated by Lauren Ross; May 1, 2009–January 10, 2010
  
• San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA; April 4–June 20
• Locust Projects, Miami, FL (solo exhibition); May 16–June 28

The Purchase Jazz Endeavor, a sextet including Sam Dillon (tenor saxophone), Bruce Harris (trumpet), Frank Niemeyer (trombone), Noah Haidu (piano), Michael Kujawski (bass), and Jerad Lippi (drums), and directed by Prof. Todd Coolman, performed live on WBGO radio, 88.3 FM, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. on April 20 in celebration of “Jazz Appreciation Month.” The sextet also performed on April 30 at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY, as part of “An Evening with the Purchase Jazz Sextet.”

In an unprecedented move virtually unheard of in the recording business, Origin Records CEO John Bishop has announced an exclusive agreement to release all future recordings by veteran pianist Hal Galper (Music). Hal’s latest recording, Art-Work, follows in the footsteps of the critically acclaimed Origin release, Furious Rubato. Recorded live at William Paterson University’s Jazz Room Series, Art-Work features jazz icons Reggie Workman on bass and Rashied Ali on drums. This February 2009 release is already garnering rave reviews.

Publications

Prof. Ahmed Afzal (Anthropology) published the article “‘It’s Allah’s Will That I Am Here’: State Surveillance and Pakistani Muslim Immigrant Experience in Texas Following 9/11,” in a peer-reviewed collection of essays, Shifting Positionalities: The Local and International Geo-Politics of Surveillance and Policing (María-Amelia Viteri and Aaron Tobler, eds.; UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, March 2009).

Prof. Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum’s short story, “The Nursery,” was selected for The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories anthology (Anchor Books, May 2009). Prof. Lundstrum (Creative Writing) also recently placed a personal essay with the journal Southern Humanities Review.

Prof. Kathleen McCormick (Literature and Writing) recently published “Satan’s Snakes, Vanilla Cokes” in Calyx. Her story “I Always Felt Like I was on Good Terms with the Virgin Mary, Even Though I Didn’t Get Pregnant in High School” is being reprinted in Kestrel. Her essay “Death at the Kitchen Window” will be published in the Chrysalis Reader, which has a 2009 theme of “Lenses on Reality.”

Prof. Donna Dennis’s 1988 public art commission, a decorative fence and ceramic medallions for P.S. 234 in lower Manhattan, is included in Public Art New York by Jean Parker Phifer with photography by Francis Dzikowski (W.W. Norton & Co., New York and London, March 2009). It is the first inclusive color survey of a varied selection of public art in all five boroughs of New York City.

Michael Taub’s (Liberal Studies) translation of Ilan Hatzor’s play, Masked, has been published by Samuel French Publishers.

Many of the above awards are supported by funds for faculty development generously provided by Eugene and Emily Grant, and by the Purchase College Foundation.

Faculty and Staff Footnotes is compiled in the Office of the President by Agnes Benis from information supplied by the deans and directors. Professional staff members are requested to contact Fern Becker, president of the Professional Staff Council, or to e-mail news items directly to Agnes Benis.