People & Places: June 2024-August 2024
Amelia Finaret, Associate Professor of Global Health and Economics, published an open-access textbook based on her course, Economics of Food and Agriculture, with Palgrave-MacMillan in May of 2024 as part of the series on Agricultural Economics and Food Policy called Food Economics: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health.
The book manuscript has benefited greatly from many Allegheny students reading draft chapters and providing feedback.
It provides a unified introduction to the economics of agricultural production, business decisions, consumer behavior, and the government policies that shape our food system.
The material is suitable for students and learners everywhere who have never taken an economics class before or for experienced economists who want to learn about the food system.
The electronic version of the book is available in PDF and ePUB formats and is free for everyone around the world. The book is available here.
Casey Bradshaw-Wilson, Associate Professor of Environmental Science & Sustainability and Co-Director of the Watershed Conservation Research Center, attended the International Conference of Aquatic Invasive Species in May held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Bradshaw-Wilson gave an oral presentation on a collaborative, 3-year study, titled “The use of eDNA as a detection tool for prioritizing invasive round goby survey’s in a Pennsylvania (USA) stream).”
This presentation highlighted using eDNA as a detection tool, helping prioritize survey efforts to characterize range and population densities of Round Gobies in the French Creek Watershed.
Round Gobies are an aquatic invasive species priority in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States. Effective management actions require a thorough characterization of range and population, a foundational aspect that this study provided.
Tricia Humphreys, Professor of Biology, published a paper titled “Transmission of viable Haemophilus ducreyi by Musca domestica” with four student co-authors:
- Haley Stabile ’23
- Kayla McCandless ’20
- Rachel Donlan ’21
- Jordan Gaston ’16
The project represents a combination of senior projects, summer research, and independent study work and was published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases in May 2024.
The study provides evidence for vector-borne transmission for a pathogenic bacterium previously known only to be transmitted by direct contact.
Ryan M. Pickering, Associate Professor of Psychology, was selected as a 2024 Fellow of the Institute for Academic Feminist Psychologists (June 18-20) and attended the annual convening of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI; June 21-23), both in Philadelphia, PA.
He presented a talk titled, “Taking action on belongingness through community interventions” as part of a symposium on “Perspectives on action research: Transforming communities through diverse approaches.”
Pickering also led two interactive discussions on “Building a SPSSI action research interest group” and “Defending diversity, equity, and inclusion in our local communities.”
Pickering was also recently selected as the SPSSI (Division 9) Representative for APA Council, a three-year term, which will begin in January 2025.
Current Allegheny students NealeyClare Wheat ’25 and Madison Kermis ’25 presented their research poster titled “The impact of group membership on social class disclosure norms.” Recent graduate, Steffi Puthenpurayil ’24, is also an author on the poster.
Guo Wu, Associate Professor of History, presented his current research entitled “The Treatment of Animals in Ming-Qing Fiction and Reality” to the Institute of Philosophy and Literature, Academia Sinica, Taipei, during his research trip to Taiwan in June.
Shannan Mattiace, Professor of Political Science, and Tomas Nonnenmacher, Professor of Business and Economics presented a paper entitled, “Alternative Security Systems: Community Police and Autodefensas in Guerrero, Mexico” at the Latin American Association Meetings in Bogotá, Colombia in June 2024, which was hosted by the Jesuit Javeriana University.
Shannan Mattiace, Professor of Political Science, presented her work on Community Police in Mexico at the Organization of American States for 75 civil servants from around Latin America (remote) on July 16, 2024.
Guo Wu, Associate Professor of History, published a research article entitled “From the Deer to the Monkey: how the transmission of the Jātaka animal stories to medieval China enriched Chinese culture and complemented Confucianism” in Studies in Chinese Religions Vol.9, No.3, pp 273-289.
In July, Katrina Yeung, chief information officer, was nominated and won the ISACA Pittsburgh Foundations Board seat to help promote opportunities in technology for underrepresented populations. DE&I efforts have been Yeung’s passion, and she looks forward to leveraging the ISACA seat to continue her efforts.
As a globally recognized leader in IS/IT for over 50 years, ISACA is a professional membership organization committed to advancing digital trust by empowering IS/IT professionals to grow their skills and knowledge in audit, cybersecurity, emerging technology, and more.
Molly Smith ’12, programmer/analyst and database administrator in the Office of Information Technology Services, has been accepted into the 2025 KINBER MOR Leaders Program.
The KINBER MOR Leaders Program, facilitated by MOR Associates, is an opportunity for Pennsylvania higher education professionals, anchor institution leaders, and champions of digital equity to develop their workplace and leadership skills within a trusted framework.
This program is designed to strengthen relationships and foster collaboration across the participating programs and organizations within the commonwealth, leading to greater statewide success in the digital equity and inclusion sphere.
Aisha Yusuf, Assistant Professor of Business and Economics, chaired a session at the 99th WEAI Conference and also presented their paper titled “Female Genital Mutilation: Laws and Attitudes.”
This past June, Mark Cosdon, Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies, delivered a guest lecture at Italy’s University of Bergamo on “The Emergence of the English Playwright and Playhouse, 1576-1616.”
Cosdon also researched Renaissance theatres in Ferrara and Padova and a multitude of frescoes.
Along with Shannan Mattiace, Professor of Political Science, Cosdon co-taught the 2024 Italy travel course.
Xiaohan Sun, Assistant Professor of Business and Economics, published a peer-reviewed article, “Food Security and Health Outcomes Following Gray Divorce,” in the journal Nutrients (Impact Factor: 5.7) in February 2024, in collaboration with Allegheny College faculty member Hang Zhao and a faculty member from the University of Connecticut.
She also attended the 5th International Conference on Aging and Gerontology in June 2024.
Tamanika Ferguson, Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, published “Lessons in Resistance, Activism, and Solidarity: Incarcerated Women and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners” in Feminist Formations (Vol. 36 No. 2, Summer 2024).
Ferguson started their two-year visiting appointment in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in August 2022.
Their research projects draw on ethnographic methods to investigate the lived experiences of incarcerated people in women’s prisons, particularly black and poor and marginalized women and queer and trans people of color, and their politics and practices of collective and confrontational resistance and actions to predatory state and institutional violence.
Over the summer, Ryan M. Pickering, Associate Professor of Psychology, published the book chapter “Ironic exclusion: Refocusing the classroom to prioritize the oppressed when learning about oppression” in Promoting Equitable Classroom Practices in Higher Education: Approaches beyond Curriculum.
In this chapter, Pickering describes the irony of diversity training (including active learning and simulation activities) in their lack of consideration of disability, in their centering of the learning of privileged individuals during these experiences, and the extraction and potential (re)traumatization of marginalized students during these activities. Best practices are also discussed.
Ryan M. Pickering, Associate Professor of Psychology, recently published the book chapter “Practical suggestions for the inclusion of social class in social psychology courses” in Teaching Social Psychology.
In this chapter, Pickering describes ways to create a more inclusive environment for low-income students and suggestions for incorporating social class into introductory social psychology lectures. Resources for the inclusion of social class in social psychology curriculum are also provided.