Jennifer Blessing, assistant director of human resources, received the 2004 Anthony Salerno Volunteerism Award at “Community Celebration,” the annual awards event sponsored by Schenectady County United Way. Blessing was cited for her work since 1996 as a community investment volunteer. Since 1998, she has been a member of the investment steering committee, where she was the first volunteer to lead a committee in review of collaborative projects.
Michelle Chilcoat, assistant professor of French, has written an article, “Idéologie et romanticisme: habitude et réflexion,” accepted for publication in L'Année stendhalienne (No. 4, 2004). The journal is edited by internationally renowned Stendhal scholars. In the article, she situates the classic French author Stendhal between enlightenment and romance epistemologies, suggesting that both are integrated in his literary production.
Lorraine Morales Cox, assistant professor of visual arts, presented a paper, “The Intersection of Critical Race Theory and Visual Activism,” at the Cultural Studies Association's second annual conference at Northeastern University. The paper deals with the possibilities of visual arts to challenge viewers to contemplate their racial and gendered consciousness. The paper considered the work of Adrian Piper and highlighted the recent work in critical race theory.
Chris Duncan, associate professor of visual arts, has installed a sculpture, “Lost World,” on the SUNY Ulster campus in Stone Ridge. The work is part of the exhibit “Stepping Out (doors)” and is at the main entrance to the campus. His eight-foot-high steel and wood structure employs abstract gesture and representational elements to reflect on the nature of the observed world. The show was organized by sculptor Iain Maichell in celebration of the college's fortieth anniversary.
Megan Ferry, Luce Junior Professor of Asian Studies and assistant professor of Chinese, has written an article, “Women's Literary History: Inventing Tradition in Modern China,” that is to appear in Modern Language Quarterly (66.3, September, 2005). This article stems from a book-length manuscript on early 20th-century Chinese women writers.
Robert L. Fleischer, research professor of geology, gave a talk to the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. The annual lecture, a Jones Seminar with the title “Serendipitous Radiation Monitors,” described how past radiation doses can be measured by studying accidental tracks that have been left in ordinary solids such as eyeglass lenses, decorative glasses at Hiroshima, an optical filter on the moon, and frame glasses from living rooms.
William García, associate professor of Spanish, has published an article, “De locos y cocolos: identidades híbridas en el teatro de Carlos Canales” in a special issue of Latin American Theatre Review (Spring 2004) dedicated to Caribbean theater. The article centers on the characterization (representation and performance) of hybrid national identities in five monologues by Puerto Rican dramatist Carlos Canales. Also, he participated in the “Theater in May” Festival in Havana and attended a workshop on political cabaret taught by renowned performers Jesusa Rodriguez and Liliana Felipe at Casa de las Americas.
Karin Hamm-Ehsani, assistant professor of German, presented a paper titled “Screening the Transnational Turkish Community in German Film” at the 9th International Cultural Studies Symposium at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey. The paper explores recent cross-cultural films and their representation of identity formation and negotiation by the second- and third-generation Turkish migrants in Germany. The symposium, “City in [Culture in] City,” was organized by the Ege University Department of American Culture and Literature, the Department of English Language and Literature and the American Studies Association of Turkey (ASAT), the Cultural Office of the American Embassy, and the British Council.
Christine Henseler, assistant professor of Spanish, gave a lecture at Harvard University in honor of retiring University of Kansas Professor Robert C. Sprires at a conference titled “Narrative Aspirations: Spain, Modernity, and Literature.” The title of her talk was “Uncovering Lucía Etxebarria: The Visual Power of Female Authorship in Contemporary Spain.” Also, her interview with contemporary Spanish writer Espido Freire was accepted for publication by the academic journal Letras Peninsulares. “Del bien y del mal: una entrevista con Espido Freire” for the Fall 2004 issue.
Héctor A. León '91, associate dean of admissions, was one of fifteen African American and Latino business and community leaders honored at the Capital District Black and Latino achievers recognition awards banquet. Proceeds of the event go toward programs for youth of color at the YMCA, where León has worked with students on college admissions and the application process. Keynote speaker was Coretta Scott King, founder and chair of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
Daniel Mosquera, assistant professor of Spanish, had an article in Dispositio: American Journal of Cultural Histories and Theories published by the University of Michigan (Vol. 25, No. 52, 2004). The article, “In Search of the Political within and without the Politics of Theory,” deals with the accomplishments of the Latin American Subaltern Studies Group in the context of larger geopolitical issues related to the emergence and institutionalization of subaltern studies. He also had a paper accepted for the 2004 Modern Language Association conference in Philadelphia: “Of Marketplaces and Passion Plays: An Inquiry into the Chalco-Amecameca Inquisition Investigation and Nahua-Christian Devotions.” It is part of a panel dealing with “Public Spectacles and Clandestine Performances in Colonial Latin America.”
Cheikh M. Ndiaye, assistant professor of French, published an article, “La Mort, signe de révélation de soi dans une si longue lettre de Mariama Bâ et dans L'Interdite de Malika Mokeddem” in Francographies, a Francophone review for the SPFFA (Society of French and Francophone Professors in America) (Issue 12, Nouvelle Série 2003: 69-77). He also published in the same review, “Voix d'une femme exilée: L'écriture de l'espace et de la mémoire chez Calixthe Beyala,” in 2002 (Issue 11, Nouvelle Série: 135-143).
Frank Wicks, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Richard Wilk, professor of mechanical engineering, have been awarded a $10,000 research grant from the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, a subsidiary of National Grid. Their research will identify and evaluate more efficient methods of interfacing electricity from wind turbines, solar panels, and fuel cells with the electric power system.
Wilfried Wilms, assistant professor of German, published an essay, “Taboo and Repression in W.G. Sebald's On the Natural History of Destruction.” This essay examines critically Sebald's provocative engagement with the traumatic histories of World War II and its aftermath. The essay appeared in W. G. Sebald: A Critical Companion, (eds. Anne Whitehead and Jonathan Long, University of Edinburgh Press, UK, 2004) A paperback of this volume is being prepared by a publishing house in the United States.