Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department

Allegheny College student Sarah Shapley will participate in a Fulbright Summer Institute to study in Wales in the United Kingdom through one of the most prestigious and selective summer scholarship programs operating worldwide.

Shapley, a rising junior, is from Fairport in suburban Rochester, New York. She is a major in international studies with a minor in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.

Beginning in mid-June, Shapley will participate in a three-week summer program to study identity and nationhood in Wales at Aberystwyth University. The students she will be among will be able to discover the National Library of Wales, one of the U.K.’s five copyright libraries; learn some of the Welsh language; participate in roundtable discussions with key figures in Welsh politics; and explore the countryside of mid-Wales, including a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage site.

“Upon learning I received the placement, I was incredibly excited and thankful to have received an opportunity that would enrich both my academic and personal experience,” Shapley said. “As a Fulbright summer program participant, I hope to learn more about the Welsh language and culture, as well as delve into and engage in a topic of study that interests me.

“I am also excited to meet new people and be immersed in a new culture,” she said. “I hope this work will enable me to have a deeper understanding of the concept of identity and nationhood, so that in the future I can apply this new understanding to whatever work I end up doing.”

The U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission is a bilateral, transatlantic scholarship program, offering awards and summer programs for study or research in any field at any accredited university in the United States or United Kingdom.

The commission selects participants through a rigorous application and interview process. In making these awards, the commission looks not only for academic excellence but a focused application, a range of extracurricular and community activities, demonstrated ambassadorial skills, a desire to further the Fulbright Program, and a plan to give back to the recipient’s home country upon returning.

“I think the fact that Sarah is the third student in a row that we have sent to participate in this program says something about the kinds of things our students are doing at Allegheny,” said Patrick Jackson, director of fellowship advising at the College.

“In a supremely competitive field, they stand out,” Jackson said. “The Fulbright Summer Institute in the U.K. is one of the most competitive fellowships that first- and second-year students can pursue and our continued winning of them is a testament to our young students’ potential. I think Sarah is going to come back from her summer in the U.K. with some new and interesting perspectives to share. If the experiences of our previous winners is any indication, she’ll also come back with a much better idea of how she wants to proceed with her education here.”

Each year, the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission supports around 60 U.K. and U.S. undergraduate students to undertake a demanding academic and cultural summer program at leading institutions in the U.S. and U.K. Fulbright Summer Institutes cover all participant costs. In addition, Fulbright summer participants receive a distinctive support and cultural education program including visa processing, a comprehensive pre-departure orientation, enrichment opportunities in country, a re-entry session and the opportunity to join alumni networks.

The U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission is part of the Fulbright program conceived by Senator J. William Fulbright in the aftermath of World War II to promote leadership, learning and empathy between nations through educational exchange. Award recipients and summer program participants will be the future leaders for tomorrow and support the “special relationship” between the U.S. and U.K.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Barbara L. Shaw has been named the first recipient of the Brett ’65 and Gwendolyn ’64 Elliott Professorship for Interdisciplinary Studies at Allegheny College.

Shaw teaches in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and has been at Allegheny since 2009. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Colby College and a doctorate in American Studies with a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.

“I am humbled by, and it is an honor to receive the Brett ’65 and Gwendolyn ’64 Elliott Professorship for Interdisciplinary Studies,” Shaw said. “I only know how to think across and through disciplinary boundaries and it is clear that to address the most pressing questions of the 21st century, higher education will need to blend the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

“At Allegheny, I have had the good fortune to teach incredible students, work alongside tremendous colleagues to build the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program, contribute to the Global Health Studies Program and the Black Studies Program,” Shaw said, “and write about the integration of women’s studies and LGBTQ+ studies as I have come through the tenure process.”

The Elliott Professorship will allow Shaw to spend more time mentoring and collaborating with students on research that analyzes the intersections of sexual and state violence in the Caribbean diaspora; to develop further two collaborative projects that have emerged from GLCA (Great Lakes Colleges Association) grants; and spend more time traveling to conferences with students and colleagues to discuss these works in progress before their publication, she said.

The Elliotts, both Allegheny graduates, established the professorship as part of Allegheny’s comprehensive fund-raising campaign, Our Allegheny: Our Third Century Quest.

“We both have that personal connection with the College, and so Allegheny has always held a special place in our hearts,” said Gwen Elliott, a retired librarian. “We come from library and science backgrounds so it is natural to be interested in disciplines working together.”

“For our nation to prosper, we need individuals well versed in the physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities,” said Brett Elliott, an ophthalmologist. “Allegheny has excellent curricula in these three critical categories, and we believe this professorship will prove valuable to students of all disciplines.”

Prior to endowing the professorship, the Delaware couple established the Brett and Gwendolyn Elliott Faculty Support Fund that has helped fill the College’s research and travel needs.

“It was my pleasure to spend time recently with Brett and Gwendolyn Elliott when they were on campus and I look forward staying in touch with them as interdisciplinary work grows at Allegheny,” Shaw said. “I extend my sincere thanks to the Elliotts for their generous gift and Provost Ron Cole and President Jim Mullen for this opportunity.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Associate Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Global Health Studies Sarah Conklin presented her research at the American Psychosomatic Society annual meeting held March 18-21 in Savannah, Georgia. Two students attended the conference with her. Nicole Masters ’15 presented the results from her Senior Project conducted with Professor Conklin and Associate Professor of Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Deb Dickey. Her project was titled “Experiences of physical and emotional abuse are associated with blunted cardiovascular reactions to psychological stress.” The project, currently under peer-review, was a multi-year effort. Her coauthors also attended the meeting: Annie T. Ginty ’09, now at the University of Pittsburgh as a postdoctoral fellow in behavioral medicine; Eliza B. Nelson ’12, now at the University of Saint Andrews School of Medicine, Health Psychology, UK; and Karen Kaye ’14, now at Brandeis University, Psychology. Katelyn Nicewander ’15 also presented the results of her Senior Project, which she conducted with Professor Conklin and Assistant Professor of Psychology Lydia Jackson. Her project was titled “Lavender essential oil aromatherapy does not reduce cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress in the laboratory: results from a preliminary randomized control trial.” Katelyn’s project is currently being prepared for peer review.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Students Connect Science and Humanities through Interdisciplinary Research

Chris Schuchert ’16 stood in a semi-dark room, arms outstretched, while Laura Holesh ’16 snapped his photo.

Leanne Siwicki ’15 repeated the same pose, with Holesh capturing her image as well.

Although the two theater majors looked as if they were practicing for an upcoming performance, they actually were serving as subjects for a psychological study. Holesh and Annie Utterback ’16 are conducting this independent study with Associate Professor of Psychology Aimee Knupsky and Associate Professor of English M. Soledad Caballero.

According to Utterback, a psychology major and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies minor from Sewickley, Pa., the project came out of an interdisciplinary class she took last semester called “Cognitive Humanities – Expressions of Emotion: When Psychology and Literature Converge” with Professors Knupsky and Caballero. The course was created through the support of a New Directions Grant from the Great Lakes Colleges Association.

“The class was about the study of emotion during the 19th century to present day and the reciprocal relationship between science and the humanities,” Utterback says. “It was about how the study of emotion was shaped by literature and theater and medical records. That provided a basis for our project, where Laura and I are studying facial recognition and emotion.”

To conduct this research, Utterback and Holesh selected 20 poses from a manual on gesture and emotion written in 1806 by Henry Siddons, an English actor and theatrical manager now remembered as a writer on gesture. Each page in the book shows an actor making a gesture, with each page labeled with an emotion like “devotion,” “happiness,” anger,” “despair,” or “enthusiasm.”

Utterback and Holesh then asked theater majors Schuchert and Siwicki to recreate the gestures from Siddons’ book while they took photos of each pose.

The student researchers then will project the photos onto a screen and ask study participants to choose which emotion the actors are expressing. Utterback and Holesh will use equipment in the College’s eye-tracking lab to study where participants are looking on the photos in order to make their guesses.

“The eye-tracker will produce what is similar to a ‘heat map,’ allowing us to see where people are looking in the image and for how long,” says Holesh, a neuroscience and psychology double major and biology minor from Gibsonia, Pa. “This will help us to capture their thought process to figure out what emotion it is.”

“We’ll then be able to see if they’re guessing the emotion that the book said it was and how that’s been congruent over time. We’ll also be able to see what part of the gesture is cuing them to the emotion,” Utterback adds. “It will be interesting to see how emotion has developed over several centuries.”

One of the unique components of this study is that it allows the students to conduct interdisciplinary research, meaning the study involves both science (psychology) and humanities (English and theater).

“The wave of the future is really interdisciplinary research, and Allegheny is leading the way by offering research with interdisciplinary courses,” Professor Knupsky says. “It’s about getting students to realize that humanities and natural sciences really are asking the same questions.”

“I’m very interested in the sciences, but I’m also interested in English and theater. So I really like the interdisciplinary focus,” Utterback says. “I like connecting all these subjects. It requires critical thinking and being creative to tie all these things together. It’s been an eye-opening experience.”

Even though the project is not yet complete, Holesh says she already has learned a lot.

“This project definitely has helped me to read scientific literature, analyze it, and see the process of thinking. The creative process also has helped me with my junior seminar,” she says.

“The study has helped me to realize that psychology and science are a lot different than what I thought they were in high school,” Utterback adds.” Science is a study and a way of thinking more than content. You can scientifically study anything.”

The pair also likes the ability to do hands-on research as an undergraduate student.

“I don’t believe other undergrads are doing research like we are and shaping it in the way we are. Laura and I are involved in shaping what the project is and what we’re researching,” Utterback says.

“One of the main reasons I came to Allegheny was to do research, because I knew the opportunities were incredible. Coming in freshman year, I started doing research. At other schools, I don’t think that’s the experience students get,” Holesh adds.

In addition, they appreciate the close relationships they have developed with professors at Allegheny.

“I truly value my relationships with my professors,” Holesh says. “I adore talking to them about their research. They are more than willing to have you come into the lab and see things and be hands-on.”

Holesh and Utterback plan to continue their research next semester and may use this work as a springboard for their comprehensive projects.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research