Nov 05, 2008 Minutes

Nov 05, 2008 Minutes

 

• Alberto Giordano, Associate Professor, Geography: In the past several years, my research work has focused on how to employ Geographic Information Science and Technologies to explore historical and historical geography questions. These efforts have resulted in several refereed publications and conference presentations, two internal grants, and one externally funded NSF grant. In the past few years, I have concentrated on two research topics: the Geography of the Holocaust and the history of Nantucket.As concerns the former, I am one of the two PIs of a recently awarded two-year (2008-2010) NSF research grant for a project titled Collaborative Research - Holocaust Historical GIS. The project involves researchers from universities in the U.S., England, and New Zealand, as well as the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies (CAHS) at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. In the context of this project, I intend to spend a period of three to six months at CAHS in Washington, DC, as a Visiting Scholar in their Fellowship Program.
• David C. Caverly, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction: I intend to update my knowledge of college reading instruction and digital literacy as I prepare to teach and direct research in a new doctoral program in Developmental Education. The merits of the project - Eighty percent of new jobs in the information age require some college (Carnevale, 2001). However, only 28% of the population over 25 years of age report attaining some college or a degree (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). In Texas, the Closing the Gaps initiative seeks to change this by increasing participation by 650,000 students from 2000 figures (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board [THECB], 2000). Still, 28% of students nationally and 41% of students in Texas are underprepared to succeed in college (THECB, 2005). One solution has been developmental (i.e., remedial) education programs, which offer non-credit courses and learning support centers to help these students. At Texas State 10% of the freshmen class are underprepared.
• Julie Westerlund, Associate Professor, Biology: I intend to design a science program that models Uteach (http://uteach.utexas.edu) program at Texas State University. Uteach is a program at the University of Texas – Austin that is founded on inquiry-based teaching in science and mathematics. It has been successful for the past 10 years. Currently, Uteach is graduating 70 secondary science and mathematics teachers per year,up from graduating 32 secondary teachers per year to 70 per year. Furthermore, 85% of their graduating teachers are still teaching after 4 years.
• Susan L. Kirby, Associate Professor, Management: I have become increasingly interested in sustainability. In December, I will represent the McCoy College at the 1^st Global Forum on PRME. Participants will discuss increasing faculty and student knowledge and understanding of sustainability. I plan to use my leave to refocus my research and teaching towards sustainability. I plan to leverage the experience at the conference to help the McCoy College implement PRME into our curriculum and research programs. I am planning to write two articles exploring the process of changing the business curriculum, and sustainability issues in general.
• Joseph Yick, Professor, History: I propose to make research trips to domestic and foreign archives and libraries, and to devote time to analyzing the collected data and writing upon my return, for a project titled, “A Different Kind of Collaboration: The Political Legacy of Chen Bijun in China under Japanese Occupation, 1940-1945” during the 2009-2010 development leave. In fall 2009, I will conduct research at Stanford’s Hoover Archives and at the libraries of the University of California-Berkeley and University of Hong Kong. In spring 2010, I will conduct research at the Shanghai Municipal Archives in China and at the Bureau of Investigation in Taiwan.
• Raul I. Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Music: Embouchure dystonia is a relatively new term used to describe a neurological disorder that affects many musicians. Symptoms include noticeable tremors or involuntary contractions of the muscles in the face. Conducting research on this subject will include interviewing leading neurologists in Spain and New York. Once interviews are conducted, I will be able to compare their research with the research I have compiled for the last 18 years. My aim is to be able to help other musicians develop a coping mechanism that will enable them to continue performing. Articles will also be generated for the leading brass instrument journals.
• James Kimmel, Professor, Geography: The purpose of this project is to interpret the past, present, and trends of the Rio Grande region in the United States to try to determine if and how a paradigm shift from power-domination to Earth Community is underway. The Rio Grande is an appropriate focus for this study for four reasons. First, the literature is abstract and hypothetical, none of it is set in a real place, so by bringing the concepts and hypotheses “down to earth” I hope to effectuate a realistic and valid critique. Second, the Rio Grande, as most rivers, is a system of complex biophysical and cultural processes set within the boundaries of its watershed. Few other systems provide such clear boundaries for a holistic study. Third, the Rio Grande has been the locus of human involvement for thousands of years, ranging from the more-or-less sustainable cultures of prehistoric people to the intensive modifications of modern cultures. An important continuing link between these extremes is provided by the Rio Grande Pueblo Cultures. Fourth, a variety of conservation initiatives and intentional communities that may represent the Earth Community paradigm are present in the Rio Grande region.
• Daniela Ferrero, Associate Professor, Mathematics: I request a developmental leave for the academic year 2009-2010 with the purpose of focusing on my research. I plan to update and enhance my current research agenda by performing individual and joint research with colleagues from other universities. I have applied for a travel funds to Italy to visit the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and the Politecnico di Milano. My research is in the field of applied mathematics, where due to the impact of new technology, updating represents a crucial factor for me and affects my teaching as well as my research.
• Lijun Yuan, Associate Professor, Philosophy: My project is “Chinese Thoughts on Self and Gender: Confucianism and the Feminist Relational Self”. It includes studying at the Women’s Studies Center of Peking University and the Department of Women’s Studies of China Women’s University, and writing a draft of a book, The Relational Self and Gender Philosophy in China. First, I will immerse myself in the investigative reports and research projects available at the two universities. Through exchanging ideas with Chinese scholars during the first semester, I will be able to collect enough data and write, and finisha draft of my book inthe second semester.
• Valentina Glajar, Associate Professor, Modern Languages: I am seeking a Faculty Developmental Leave for the academic year 2009–2010 to complete my fifth book titled Generational Tales of Flight and Expulsion in German Culture. My study tackles the much-discussed, but only partially studied, Polish and Czech expulsions of 14 million ethnic Germans at the end of World War II in German cultural representations. The differentiated generational approach allows me to focus on the changing understanding of national/transnational and cultural memory; Germany’s drive to “normalize” the past; and the very thorny notion of guilt, shame, and lustration across generations. 

• Maureen Keeley, Professor, Communication Studies: My goal for my Developmental is to help me extend my current program of research in which I examine communication at the end of life. Phase I explored adults’ final conversations and resulted in numerous publications (1 book, 8 articles/chapters; many conference presentations). Phase II of this research program explores children’s communication experiences at the end of life. I will primarily be focusing on the perspective of those that go on living; specifically I will talk with children who are losing or have lost a loved one to a terminal disease. One difference from Phase I is that in Phase II, I also hope to talk with children who are dying; thus I hope to look at both sides of the dying process by including the voices of children and teenagers who are dying (to see what they want to talk about and what they are talking with their loved ones). Specifically, I will examine the messages (verbal and nonverbal) and the functions of end-of-life communication by exploring children’s (age range: 5 years-18 years) stories of their final conversations (FCs) with a loved one. FCs is operationalized as all interactions, both verbal and nonverbal, that a child had with the loved one who was dying between the point of a terminal diagnosis and the moment of death.