In Print
 
Michelle Albert Vachris published the paper "Dynamism as a Bump on the Road to Crony Capitalism?" in the Winter 2019 issue of The Independent Review.
 
 
Gabi Martorell published "Child" Second Edition, a brief but thorough account of human development from conception through adolescence, exposing students to culture and diversity and immersing them in practical applications. "Child" includes roughly 40% new content and combines a commitment to scholarly content, critical thinking, and real-life application of theory with a visually engaging and dynamic, interactive format.
 
 
   
Alain Gabon published " A Travesty of Justice. The Incarceration of Tariq Ramadan," available at the U.K. Islamic Think Tank, The Cordoba Foundation.  
 
Kathy Merlock Jackson published an article titled "Patty Duke, Marlo Thomas, and Mary Tyler Moore -- Three Stars, Three Iconic Shows, and a Young Generation of TV-Watching Females" in The Popular Culture Review, Vol. 301, No. 1, Winter 2019.
 
President Scott D. Miller's monthly higher education column appeared in The Virginian-Pilot ("To survive, colleges must adapt and change," February 2019). In January, Dr. Miller was among a group of 93 presidents from Methodist colleges and universities across the country who released a statement calling on the United Methodist Church to amend their policies concerning the LGBTQ community. Following the release of the statement, Dr. Miller was quoted in the Washington Post ( United Methodist university leaders call for LGBTQ acceptance by church , January 2019) and Religion News Service ( Methodist university presidents call on denomination to amend LGBTQ policies , January 2019). The topic has also been covered by Inside Higher Ed, The Chronicle of Higher Education's Daily Briefing, and in the Laredo Morning Times. Dr. Miller also regularly contributes to Enrollment Manager ("When Celebrating Success is not Enough: Avoiding Complacency in Enrollment Management," November/December 2018) and edits the presidential thought series, President to President ("Meeting the Needs of the Next Generation of Learners: The Agile University," January 2019). His daily blog about campus life can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com. 
Presentations and Panels  
 
Kathy Merlock Jackson moderated a panel titled "Multicultural Perspectives on the News" at the Osgood Center for International Studies two-week program on Change and Continuity in American Leadership at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Journalists from Informa, Reuters, and DPA German Press Agency participated.
 
Soraya Bartol presented a poster titled "Swimming Kinematics of Loggerhead Sea Turtles During Early Ontogeny" with Kelly Zalaskus (Jacobson) '15 at The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference in Tampa, Florida.
 
Mort Gamble presented a two-hour class on circus history and traditions for the Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR). The presentation was titled "This Way to the Big Show: The Circus in American Society and Culture," and traced the development of the circus from origins in Philadelphia to traveling tent shows with menageries, and influences on popular culture.
 
As an invited speaker, Bill McConnell provided a professional development session entitled, "Performance-Based Learning and Assessment" to nearly 200 Chesapeake Public Schools' teachers, staff, and administrators at G. W. Carver Intermediate School.
 
Micaela Morris moderated a panel for the private screening of the documentary, "Emanuel: The Untold Story of the Victims and Survivors of the Emanuel Church Shooting in Charleston, SC." Micaela is pictured with one of the survivors, Polly Sheppard.
 
Elizabeth Malcolm gave a presentation on the Greer Environmental Sciences Center at the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges' STEM Education Workshop on Spaces, held at Randolph Macon College.
 
At the invitation of the President's Task Force on Inclusive Excellence, Jeff Toussaint served as a panel expert for a community awareness forum at Old Dominion University. The program, organized by the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, was entitled "CommUNITY Conversation: Empowering Monarch Citizens," and it focused on addressing bias, bigotry and bullying.
 
Ten VWU faculty members presented at the 11th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia:  
  • Gabi Martorell led a session titled "Embedding Culture and and Diversity Within Psychology Courses (With Further Applications)."
  • Sherry Matis presented the session, "Applying the Framework to an Existing Credit Bearing Information Literacy Course."
  • Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson and Gabi Martorell presented a paper titled, "STEM Scholars Program at VWU: Lessons on Retention" and a poster titled, "STEM Scholars Program at a Small Liberal Arts Institution."
  • Craig Jackson presented the poster, "Student Poster Sessions within an Online Delivery Format." 
  • Brian Kurisky, Kathy Stolley, Robin Takacs, and Denise Wilkinson presented the session, "Transferring Skills and Theories into Civic Engagement: Expanding Your Courses."
  • Paul Ewell and Sandra Ewell presented the poster, "Multi-Disciplinary Assessment Using Portfolium: Lessons Learned."
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
 
Brian Kurisky was appointed to the Study Abroad Committee for the 2018-2020 Biennium by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
 
Lisa Lyon Payne has been asked to serve on the national board for the Society of Collegiate Journalists as Associate Vice President for Communication. SCJ is the nation's oldest honor society for student media.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
 
In "Service Learning and Issues of Civic Engagement in Hampton Roads," 70+ students logged 1,700 hours of service during Winter Session. The class, taught by
Takeyra Collins, Kathy Stolley, and Robin Takacs, featured a panel of community professionals (including two shelter manager alumnae) and Skyping with the award-winning author of the course textbook.

On January 23 , Takeyra Collins and four students-- Alexandria Bibb, Alyssa Jamison, Jocelin James and Cale b Mercer--provided scarves and implemented activities during the Project Homeless Conne ct event at the HRC in Virginia Beach. The scarves were developed by art major, Sindy Jessup, and created by students during VWU's Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Lock-In, implemented by Takeyra Collins, in November.
   
 
Students from Denise Wilkinson's Math 150 Winter Session course led students at Tidewater Collegiate Academy in an activity that involved cutting out patterned snowflakes to discuss rotation and reflection symmetries associated with each.
 
As part of the HON 150 "Leadership and Civic Responsibility" course, led by Joyce Easter and Kathy Merlock Jackson, Batten Fellows engaged in service in both Washington, D.C. and Virginia Beach. Both service experiences were with organizations that address the core issues of hunger, poverty, and housing insecurity. Half of the class volunteered at the D.C. Central Kitchen, a community kitchen in the basement of the largest homeless shelter. They prepped food for thousands of meals that would be cooked during the dinner shift. The other half of the class worked at the D.C. Central Kitchen Nutrition Lab, which provides 4,500 daily meals to 38 at-risk after-school programs, adult care cente
rs, child care center. As volunteers for the Project Homeless Connect held at the Virginia Beach Housing Resource Center, students escorted individuals to the different services available. These two experiences allowed students to see the magnitude as well as the individuals affected by the complex problem of poverty, hunger and homelessness.
 
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