Faculty and Staff Notes

Sheila Miyoshi Jager, professor of East Asian studies, received an International Security & Foreign Policy grant ($121,311) from the Smith Richardson Foundation to complete her book, The Other Great Game: The "Opening" of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia, which is under contract with Harvard University Press. The book provides a major new "big picture" narrative of the geopolitical context surrounding Korea’s “opening” in the late 19th century that will provide a deep historical context for understanding Northeast Asia's present situation, as well as over the long term.

Professor of Physics Yumi Ijiri was interviewed for a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, where Ijiri discussed the effects of the government shutdown on science, specifically at the NIST Center for Neutron Research.

Robert S. Danforth Professor of History Renee Romano gave two presentations in January related to her new edited collection, Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical is Restaging America's Past. On January 14, she participated in a panel on "The Legacy of Hamilton" sponsored by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and held at the Hyundai Room at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. On January 27, she spoke on "The Hamilton Phenomenon: How a Blockbuster Musical is Reenergizing American History" at the Dunham Tavern Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Professor of Mathematics Jim Walsh's invited paper appeared in a Special Issue of the CODEE Journal (Consortium for Ordinary Differential Equations Educators), titled "Linking Differential Equations to Social Justice and Environmental Concerns." Walsh's article concerns a conceptual model of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which is an important component of the ocean circulation that has been linked to climate change.

Professor of Dance Ann Cooper Albright's spring 2018 Varsity Contact class writings have been published in Contact Quarterly Vol.44 #1. For the program of their performance “One Breath: an evening of stillness and motion,” the students each came up with a word that captured an essential element of Contact for them. 

Associate Professor of Classics Drew Wilburn was awarded a Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society to support research in the United Kingdom on his project, "Architectural Magic and Social Space in the Roman Mediterranean." The project analyzes the myriad and overlapping methods that individuals and communities employed to control risk and protect themselves, their children, and property from seen and unseen dangers, including physical barriers, architectural elements, gestures, objects worn on the body, and images built into living spaces. Wilburn will be conducting research at the Wellcome Library, the British Museum, and the Senate House Library.

Professor of Physics Stephen FitzGerald served on an international panel in Leipzig, Germany to review hydrogen isotope initiative.

Assistant Professor of Music Theory Megan Long gave an invited talk called "What Do Signatures Signify? The Curious Case of 17th-Century English Key" at the University of Toronto on January 31, 2019.

Professor and Chair of Hispanic Studies Sebastiaan Faber wrote about Spain’s left-wing party Podemos in the Nation.

Associate Professor of Politics Kristina Mani was an invited panelist in Bogotá, Colombia, at a conference on security sector reform for Colombia sponsored by the Universidad del Rosario and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. She spoke about choices and lessons learned by other South American countries in reforming their military and defense institutions. The conference was directed at generating broader public debate over transformations in defense and security practices as Colombia pursues a historic peace agreement to end its long internal war. Government and military officials, academics and civil society organizations attended.