People & Places: May 2020
People & Places is published monthly during the academic year by the Office of College Relations. It reports on the professional activities of members of the College community and highlights student achievement.
On March 6, Assistant Professor of Global Health Studies Pamela Runestad participated in Teaching Ethnography for Social Engagement, a workshop sponsored by CU-Boulder. This pedagogy workshop brought together anthropologists interested in developing teaching tools and relationships with community partners to improve student understanding and engagement with issues such as immigration, climate change, and gun violence in Ethnographic Methods courses.
Associate Professor of Political Science Zachary Callen published a co-edited volume (with Phil Rocco, Marquette University) titled American Political Development and the Trump Presidency (University of Pennsylvania Press).
Mike Crowley, who teaches in the Journalism in the Public Interest Program and serves as adviser to The Campus, was recently recognized in the 2020 Keystone Media Awards given by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Crowley’s coverage of city and township governments for The Meadville Tribune received a first place honor for news beat reporting; his coverage of Crawford County schools earned a second place prize in the same category. Crowley’s story “Demolition derby puts brakes on fair for another year” was given an honorable mention award in the news feature category. In addition, he contributed to the Tribune’s Foundations Magazine, which received second place honors in the special section category.
Ivelitza Garcia, chair of the Biochemistry Program, hosted virtual postgraduate discussion panels with Allegheny College alumni on April 18, 2020. The event allowed students from Allegheny College to engage with women who are impacting the medical and scientific community. The panelists discussed the realities of medical school and various medical career paths as well as the realities of research laboratories, graduate school, and alternative STEM career paths. Participating alumni included Colleen Friel, Megan McGrath, Emily Eikey, Brittany Rauzan, Lisa Yoder, Erika Pack, Alissa Hill, and Heidi Mueller.
Assistant Professor of German Julia Ludewig has co-edited a special issue on “Transnationalism in German Comics,” published as the February 2020 issue of The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. This volume collects six analytical essays and an interview with a comics artist, all shedding light on reading German-language comics as part of a wider web of transnational influences. In this special issue, Ludewig also contributed an essay entitled “Different beasts? National and transnational lines in the German-Indian anthology ‘The Elephant in the Room’,” in which she compares the genre, style, and themes in a multi-national comics anthology. In February, Ludewig presented on a roundtable discussion about translation in/and comics as part of the Michigan State University Comics Forum. At the annual convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association in March, Ludewig chaired and presented on a panel about German-language comics by minority authors. Ludewig’s own paper dealt with “Migrant Experiences and Authorship in the Web Comic Collection ‘Alphabet des Ankommens’.”
Associate Professor of Global Health Studies Caryl Waggett presented at the Forum on Education Abroad’s 16th Annual Conference. Waggett, Moira Rogers (Child Family Health International), Tricia Todd (University of Minnesota), and Jess Evert (UCSF) discussed “Global and Public Health Education Abroad: Essential Updates and Research Briefing” April 21-23, 2020. The field of education abroad that focuses on global health and medical practice is a unique niche and community of practice. Programs operating as internships, volunteering, service-learning, and study abroad have unifying opportunities and challenges. This session provided a comprehensive overview of recently released research and standards.
In addition, Waggett was an invited panelist along with Jess Evert (UCSF), Charles Chineme Nwobu (Child Family Health International, Ghana), and Barb Astle (Trinity Western University (Canada) at AAC&U’s webinar, Shaping Teaching and Learning to Address a Global Health Crisis: COVID-19 and Global Health. An audience of more than 500 attended the live webinar addressing ways that global health education has been forced to respond during the past few months of the pandemic and engaging discussions about ways that it will need to adapt in the upcoming years.
Rachael Cohen ’20, who majored in global health studies and minored in Latin American & Caribbean studies and Spanish, has been the treasurer for Allegheny’s chapter of the foreign language honor society Phi Sigma Iota (PSI). As a member, she was eligible to apply for a PSI scholarship to support a project that resonates with PSI’s mission: to advance the knowledge and study of foreign languages and cultures. Cohen received one of the prestigious PSI scholarships to offset her next academic studies, a master’s in global health at Georgetown University.
Six Allegheny College professors will be featured on “The Academic Minute,” a national radio broadcast and podcast that highlights research from colleges and universities throughout the world, beginning on Monday, May 25.
The five Allegheny professors whose research will be featured the week of May 25–29 include:
- Brian Harward, the Robert G. Seddig Chair in Political Science, who will address “Congressional Responsiveness to Presidential Unilateralism” on Monday, May 25
- Janyl Jumadinova, assistant professor of computer science, who will present “A Submersible Robot That Tests Water Quality” on Tuesday, May 26
- Caryl E. Waggett, associate professor of global health studies, who will speak on “Links between Lead Poisoning and Food Insecurity” on Wednesday, May 27
- Eric Pallant, the Christine Nelson Endowed Chair of the Environmental Science and Sustainability Department, who will discuss “There is a Lot to Learn from Sourdough Bread” on Thursday, May 28
- Shannan Mattiace, professor of political science and international studies, who will present her research on “Drug Wars and Criminal Violence in Mexico” on Friday, May 29
In addition to the weeklong takeover by Allegheny faculty, Professor Barbara L. Shaw will share her research at a later date on “The Academic Minute.” Shaw, who holds the Brett ’65 and Gwendolyn ’64 Elliott Professorship for Interdisciplinary Studies, will speak on “Transforming Knowledge, Building Reimagined Futures.”
Maya Hackman, a biology major and psychology minor, has been awarded a scholarship through the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP), which provides financial assistance to individuals pursuing a program of study leading to a Master of Science in physician assistant studies. Hackman will attend Chatham University for physician assistant studies in the fall as part of the 3+2 cooperative program with Allegheny. The scholarship awards provide for the payment of a monthly stipend, tuition, required fees, and other reasonable educational expenses. This program helps to alleviate the health care workforce shortages in the VA by obligating scholarship recipients to complete two years of service at a VA health care facility after graduation and licensure/certification. Hackman was a member of the varsity women’s soccer team and a NaviGator peer mentor at Allegheny.
Will Crosby ’21, Mica Hanish ’21, and Megan Powell ’21, students in Professor of Mathematics Tamara Lakins’ Spring 2020 Mathematics Junior Seminar, chose the May 2020 winner of The College Mathematics Journal Next Generation Prize. The prize was awarded to the journal article in the May 2020 issue that the students selected as the best for undergraduate mathematics students nationwide to read. The prize was created to promote undergraduate students’ reading of The College Mathematics Journal (published by the Mathematical Association of America), and to encourage the writing of expository mathematics that is student-accessible. The Allegheny College students were thanked in the May 2020 issue.