In Print
 
Terry Lindvall' s article, "Homo ridens and animate viverra: cartoon risibility as exemplary mod el" appeared i n animationstudies 2.0 (May 2019).
 
   

President Scott D. Miller's
monthly higher education column appeared in The Virginian -Pilot ("Partnerships a remedy to admissions scandal," April 2019) and the Daily Press ("A better way to enter college," April 2019). Dr. Miller regularly co ntributes to Coll ege Planning and Management ("Maintaining Enrollment Momentum," March 2019) and Enrollment Manager ("C oncurrent Enrollment: An Innovative Approach to Transfe r Succ ess," March 2019). He also edits the presidential thought series, President to President ("All at Once: Never is the Past" April 2019). His daily blog about campus life can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com.    
Presentations and Panels  
 
 
" The Fluid Humanities" was the topic of the 2019 Virginia Humanities Conference hosted by VWU on April 12-13. More than 60 scholars from a diverse set of disciplines representing 19 schools of higher education shared their research. Special guests Matthew Gibson, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Executive Director, and Carolyn Fuqua, American Academy of Arts
and Sciences Senior Research Associate, led the plenary session on the "State of the Humanities." A reception in the new Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center preceded the keynote address given by the Mexican artist Julio Ca rra sco Bretón, whose mural depicting fluidity called "Inocencia y Maldad," served to illustrate the general theme. The two-day event was presided by Diana Risk and the organizing committee, Rich Bond, Vivian Teter, Cathal Woods, Stephen Hock, Susan Wansink, Sherry Matis, Patrick Goold, Kellie Holzer, and Dan Margolies.  
Joyce Easter, Carol Johnson, and Sue Erickson
also served as panel chai rs for some of the 15 discussion tables the conference featured. Additionally, Susan Wansink presented a paper titled "'Flow' in Doris Dörrie's  Enlightenment Guaranteed." Read more in the conference program.
 

 
Mort Gamble presented his paper, "The Soul of the Circus: What Animals Under the Big Top Continue to Teach Their Audiences," at the national conference of the Popular Culture Association in Washington, D.C.
 
Kathy Merlock Jackson presented two papers, "Mister Ed, 1960s Television, and the Horse Who Was Not Just a Horse" and "The Journal of American Culture Then and Now: Politics, Purposes, and Perspectives," at the Popular Culture Association Conference in Washington, D.C.
 
Doug Kennedy , along with Jason Boccaro of North Carolina State University, conducted a four-hour webinar to train accreditation visitors. This was sponsored by the Council on Accreditation of Park, Recreation, Tourism, and Related Professions.
 
Dan Margolies gave a paper on "Offshore Submerged Lands and U.S. Legal Spatiality" for the Coastal Waters and Terraqueous Histories of the Pacific panel at the American Society of Environmental History conference, Columbus, Ohio.  
Margolies also gave an invited lecture on "Migrant Music Cultures of the American Southeast" for the Global String Band course at Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
 
Sherry Matis facilitated the Nexus Interfaith Dialogue entitled "Same Sex Relationships, the Bible, and Christianity" sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, and Hands United Building Bridges. The panelists included Rev. Craig Wansink and Rev. Brandon Nichols '12.
 
As an invited presenter at the National Science Teaching Association conference in St. Louis, MO, Bill McConnell presented his published article, "Constructing Arguments with 3D Printed Models." McConnell also presented a paper entitled, "Reflective Journaling and Inclusive Co-Teaching," at the Virginia Council For Learning Disabilities Symposium at Old Dominion University.
 
Kathy Stolley presented a paper titled "Beautiful Bodies: Body Adornment, Lifestyle Holism, and Cosmetic Surgeries for Animals" at the Popular Culture Association in Washington, D.C.
 
Jeff Toussaint presented a paper titled "If You Can't Trust Women, Whom Can You Trust? Feminist Identity, Hostile Sexism, and Generalized Trust in People" at the annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta, GA. Toussaint   also gave a talk (originally presented with Takeyra Collins ) on "Diversity and Organizational Advantage" as part of the Professional Development Workshop series (via webinar) for the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology.
 
Michelle Albert Vachris presented a paper, "Persuasion in Jane Austen and Adam Smith," at the annual meetings of the Association of Private Enterprise Education meetings in Nassau, Bahamas.
 
Denise Wilkinson presented "Integrating Web-based Engagement into a Mathematics Course for Generation Z students" at the national Teaching Academic Survival and Success (TASS) conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  
Other Accomplishments  
 
The accomplishments of more than 75 VWU faculty and staff were c elebrated at the annual "Feather in Your Cap" event, hosted by The Center for Innovative Teaching and Engaged Learning (INTEL) and the Hofheimer Library on April 26.
 
Ben Dobrin recently earned the professional certifications for the Open Water Scuba Instructor Trainer, Course Director, ERDI Instructor, ERDI Drysuit, ERDI Full Face Mask, ERD rescue swimmer and ERDI Contaminated Water from Scuba Diving International and Emergency Response Diving International.  These are the highest rankings in professional diving. He can now instruct instructors and is currently the only professional diver in Coastal Virginia with these particular credentials.
 
Larry Hultgren has been re-appointed to the Conflict of Interest Committee, the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
 
Kathy Merlock Jackson received the President's Award for Outstanding Contributions to t he Popular Culture Association and The Journal of American Culture at the Popul ar Culture Association conference, April 17-20, 2019, in Washington, D.C. Kathy ser ved on the PCA Governing Board and 
edited The Journal of American Culture for 15 years. In addition, Merlock Jackson assumed the presidency of the Popular Culture Association, an interdiscipl inary academic organization of more than 3,000 members from all over the world who gather annually in a major American city to share and discuss their research and attend events exploring popular culture studies. This year's conference speakers included April Ryan (CNN) and Doug Jones (The Shape of Water).

During the spring business meeting, Joyce Easter was elected to another three-year term (2019-2022) as secretary-treasurer for the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council.
 
Lisa Lyon Payne received a $2,000 grant from 1 for All, a nonpartisan educational program based at Middle Tennessee State University's Free Speech Center. The funds will be used in her fall public relations class to implement a campus campaign to raise awareness of First Amendment freedoms among students.
 
Recognizing his efforts to advance ethical practice in his field, the Southeast Recreational Therapy Symposium honored Wayne Pollock for his s e rvice and established the Dr. Wayne Pollock Ethics Session to be conducted at the yearly symposium. Wayne retired this year from the organization's Board of Directors after serving 25 years furthering the mission and practice of recreational t herapy.

Terry Lindvall was appointed to the Animators Educators' Forum (AEF) Faculty Grant Committee of ASIFA, the international animation society.
 
Sharon Swift participated in the Art Exhibition, "Artists Who Teach," at the Charles Taylor Art Center in Hampton, Virginia.
 
Denise Wilkinson was reappointed to serve on both the Proposal Review Committee and the Advisory Board for the National Teaching Academic Survival and Success conference.
 
Travis Malone
directed "Legally Blonde: The Musical," which was th e firs t theatre production held in the new Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Ar ts Ce nter.
Jason Squinobal directed the Pit Orchestra. Malone and Sally Shedd played Elle Woods' parents in the musical, which was presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International.    
Community Engagement 
 
Students in Kathy Stolley's SOC 237 " Animals and  Society" course organized the annual " Animals and  Society Educational Fair" in the Batten Student Center. Class members presented poster displays, handouts, and interactive activities that highlighted diverse topics on human interactions with, and about, the animals with which we share this wonderful world. The class also took guided tours of the Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center (organized by Kathy Bartkus) at the Norfolk Zoo in April. 
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