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Research @ Pace
A newsletter highlighting faculty research & scholarship
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Sarah Blackwood, PhD (English, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) is a literary scholar with a research focus on representations of selfhood in literary narratives and visual art from the nineteenth century to the present. Her scholarship analyzes the changing aesthetic forms through which inner life has been represented across time—from portraits to novelistic free indirect discourse to narratives of self-development. Her scholarly monograph, The Portrait’s Subject: Inventing Inner Life in the Nineteenth-Century United States, was published in 2019 by UNC Press in their “Studies in American Culture” series.
Professor Blackwood often shares her specialist knowledge about nineteenth-century U.S. literature with general public audiences. She was commissioned to edit a new edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women for W.W. Norton, as well as to write new introductions for the Penguin Classics reissues of two Edith Wharton novels, The Age of Innocence and The Custom of the Country. She has published numerous reviews and essays in major national outlets such as The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Review of Books and has been an invited speaker at institutions ranging from the New York Public Library to the Smithsonian American Art Museum to The Mount (Edith Wharton’s estate).
After concluding a term as Chair of the NYC Department of English, Professor Blackwood will return to her work-in-progress: a new project titled “Women’s Work: Writing for Children at Mid-Century, 1960-1980.” This book tells the story of the intersecting professional and personal lives of renowned children’s book editors Ursula Nordstrom and Susan Hirschman, and a selection of the vanguard authors they worked alongside—Louise Fitzhugh, Peggy Parish, Virginia Hamilton, and June Jordan. “Women’s Work” will parse their relationships and creative achievements/failures, while reckoning with the promises and flaws of mid-20th-century feminism.”
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Jeanmaire Molina, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology (NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences). Growing up in tropical Philippines, she was inspired by its rich plant and cultural diversity and developed research interests in plant evolution, ethnobotany, and conservation biology. She is particularly enamored with the rare parasitic plant, Rafflesia. She has recently published on its seed transcriptome in Wiley’s Plants, People & Planet, which was featured by Flipscience and Mongabay. Part of this research was funded by Molina’s NSF Award. Since 2015, she has been collaborating with the United States Botanic Garden on the ex situ propagation and conservation of Philippine Rafflesia. Their recent partnership will provide funding for Molina’s research including exploring micropropagation initiatives in her lab at Pace.
Since her appointment in Fall 2022, Professor Molina has mentored several Pace students, including two students, who won the Ecology Poster award for their work on Rafflesia’s microbiome at the 2023 Eastern College Science Conference. Prof Molina also mentors high school students, as part of the Urban Barcode Research Program (UBRP). Her mentees received the outstanding poster award this May.
This summer, as visiting professor at University of the Philippines, Prof. Molina is training Filipino students in next-generation Nanopore sequencing. She will also be conducting field work to survey and collect Rafflesia in the Philippines.
Prof. Molina’s research is intimately integrated in her pedagogy. She has recently received the Classroom Based Undergraduate Research Experiences Award, which will allow her to fund Pace students in medicinal botany research this Fall. Prof Molina teaches courses in plant biology to encourage students to develop a renewed appreciation for plants for their vital and inextricable, yet often overlooked roles in human lives.
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Pace University’s OASIS program provides one of the most comprehensive support services for neurodiverse college students, including those that identify with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other learning disabilities. Students who participate in the OASIS Program adhere to the same standards of academic rigor and integrity and all university policies and procedures. OASIS students benefit from comprehensive academic and socio-emotional support imbedded within the program, such as one on one academic coaching, individual and group counseling, career preparation, housing and social skill building support and tailored academic advisement. OASIS students maintain an average GPA of 3.4 and an 80% post graduate employment rate. The program also serves as a retention initiative, offering support to current Pace students who need more individualized support beyond accommodations. OASIS students average a 90% first to second year retention rate, and a 90% graduation rate for those who remain in the program within 4-6 years. Within the program, OASIS provides students with leadership opportunities as Student Ambassadors, who provide peer mentorship to fellow OASIS students, meet with prospective students and families, offer campus tours for neurodiverse students, and provide peer lead social and educational programs for the OASIS community.
For questions about the Center, contact Kate Torres, Director of OASIS Programs and Accessibility Resources, at ktorres@pace.edu or Julie Saccoccio, Sr. Associate Director for OASIS, at jsaccoccio@pace.edu.
Oasis is located at NYC - 161 William St, 10th Floor and PLV - The Vineyard, 2nd Floor.
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Kimberly Collica - Cox, PhD (Criminal Justice and Security, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) published Women Corrections Executives: The Keys to Reaching the Top (Maryland: Lexington Books, 2023). The book examines women’s own perceptions of their experiences as corrections executives, their motives for seeking promotion, their career trajectories, and the challenges they face trying to rise through the ranks; challenges include gender bias, perceptions of leadership effectiveness; and the difficulties of maintaining work-life balance. As women advance into executive-level positions, and their numbers grow, information regarding their motivations, successes and challenges necessitate more substantive study. Yet, there are no works, based on empirical study, that provide a systematic account of women’s career trajectories in corrections as executives.
Professor Collica-Cox also published “Doing Time For A Parent’s Crime: When the Children of Incarcerated Parents Become the Collateral Consequences in Arrest and Sentencing,” Corrections Today 85.2 (March-April 2023). There are five million children in the United States who have been affected by the current or former incarceration of a parent. Although many of these children demonstrate resiliency to adverse life events, the disruption to the child parent bond places these children at high risk for both externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Attachment strength with one’s parent plays a large role in the development of a child’s relationship with others throughout their life span; an attachment rupture, such as what can occur during a parent’s incarceration, could pose long-term psychological effects for children that continue into their adult lives. Trying to foster prosocial bonds between incarcerated parents and their children mitigate these problems, providing an overall benefit to the child. Research results imply more friendly correctional-based visiting policies, parent management training opportunities, better access to transportation for correctional facility visits, individual and family interventions integrating CBT and more support-related services, especially in the school setting, can help children restore relationships with incarcerated parents, subsequently reducing their potential for emotional harm and at-risk behaviors.
Her article “The Power of Zoom Part 2: The Continuity of Jail-Based Educational Services for the Newly Released” was recently published in American Jails, 36.6 (2023). This was the second of a two-part series - the first part discussed the successful implementation and use of technology, to safely and securely, facilitate educational programming inside the Westchester County Department of Correction (WCDOC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This 2nd part examines how the WCDOC, New York State's second largest jail, leveraged technology to help the newly released (upon returning to the community) complete the educational classes they began while incarcerated.
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This July, the US Department of Energy (DOE) selected Nine Organizations that will Implement Regional Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnerships to Decarbonize America’s Industrial Sector. Pace is on one of the 9 winning teams selected.
James Freihaut, PhD, Chair of the Penn State University (PSU) Dept of Architectural Engineering serves at the Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of the combined Mid-Atlantic and New York/New Jersey Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnership. Tom Bourgeois, PhD, Director Policy Research at the Land Use Law Center, will have the title “Assistant Director” and will be responsible for running activities in NY/NJ, under the direction of PSU and Professor Freihaut.
This award has a 3 year term of performance, concluding in 2026. More information about the award is available here.
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Shamita Dutta Gupta, PhD (Mathematics, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) was awarded a Neff Outreach Grant from the Mathematical Association of America. The grant is to get the MS/ HS students to move towards STEM majors and hence STEM careers. Professor Dutta Gupta is working with local high schools to get the students enthused about problem solving and have them feel firsthand the joy and satisfaction when they can work through challenging multi-layered problems that looks at interplays between different topics of mathematics. The training will give them a pathway to American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) 10 contests, a national contest which draws in students who are interested in honing their math skills in a pursuit to better themselves.
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Martha W. Driver, PhD, FSA (Distinguished Professor, English, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) recently ran the eighteenth international conference of the Early Book Society, "Meaning, Memory, and the Making of Culture: Manuscripts and Books, 1350–1550," University of Limerick, Ireland, that brought together 100 scholars from around the world to discuss book history. As a patron of the American Patrons of the National Library and Galleries of Scotland (APNLGS), she also attended meetings at the National Library and Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh in July. In spring she published volume 25 of the annual Journal of the Early Book Society with Pace University Press; she is currently at work on volume 26. Professor Driver has also edited for the Pace UP for the last 26 years!
Her recent publications are: "Chaucer the Mage: A Brief Exploration of Magic in The Squire’s Tale, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale, and The Franklin’s Tale,”Interpreting Middle English Literature and Manuscripts: Essays in Memory of Derek Pearsall," The Chaucer Review 58, 3-4 (2023); “Pilgrim Portraits,” The Chaucer Encyclopedia, 4 vols., ed. by Richard Newhauser, Vincent Gillespie, Jessica Rosenfeld, Katie Walter (Wiley-Blackwell, 2023) and “Mandeville in the Twenty-First Century,” Medieval Travel, Proceedings of the 2021 Harlaxton Conference, ed. by Martha Carlin and Caroline Barron (Donington, UK: Shaun Tyas, 2023). She proposed, organized and ran seven sessions at the 58th International Congress on Medieval Studies (Kalamazoo, MI, 2023) and has proposed a further six sessions for the 59th International Congress, all of which have been accepted by the conference committee.
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Michelle Chase, PhD (History, PLV, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences), published "Picturing Solidarity: Photography and Cuban Internationalism during the Vietnam War” in Trans Asia Photography 13. 1 (2023). One of the first histories of Cuban-Vietnamese relations, the article explores the importance of photography in Cuban solidarity with Vietnam during the war years. It shows the way photography helped illustrate and articulate Cuba's evolving understanding of the Vietnam War as a conflict that was analogous to, and in some ways the culmination of, Cuba's own revolution. While Cuba enthusiastically embraced and disseminated photographs from Vietnam, the meanings attached to these photos were also modified to speak to domestic concerns. By focusing on the images used in two specific solidarity campaigns devoted to imprisoned activist Võ Thị Thắng and “martyr” Nguyễn Văn Trỗi, the article explores the way Cuban understandings of acceptable forms of revolutionary violence and its gendered expressions shaped the meanings attributed to these two figures.
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Todd Yarbrough, PhD (Economics, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) and coauthor Omer Bayar, PhD (Economics, University of Evansville) recently published "The Fiscal Consequences of Natural Disasters: Evidence from the U.S. States" in the Public Finance Review (July 2023). The paper explores the effect natural disasters have on the budgetary conditions of U.S. states in the years after such events. The focus is on state spending, state revenues, and federal transfers for the period from 1970 to 2015. Results show that a broad definition based on dollar damages from all emergency events and major disasters has a small effect on state-level fiscal conditions, which stands in contrast to prior studies. On the other hand, a narrower definition based on the occurrence of major disasters is associated with increased spending and transfers alongside spending effects that grow with disaster severity. | |
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Beau Anderson, PhD (Health Science, NYC, College of Health Professions), along with her colleagues, recently published “Cross-Sectional Survey of Acupuncturists in the United States Who Prescribed Chinese Herbal Medicine for Patients with Symptoms Likely Related to COVID-19” in the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine (March 2023) and "The History of Chinese Medicine Really Is Very Detailed Regarding Pandemics: A Qualitative Analysis of Evidence-Based Practice and the Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine by Licensed Acupuncturists During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States” in the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine (June 2023).
During the COVID-19 pandemic East Asian medicine practitioners (usually referred to as licensed acupuncturists) were prescribing Chinese herbal medicine for patients presenting with symptoms likely related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Between March and July of 2021, the authors undertook a mixed methods study aimed at understanding how prescribing decisions were made, given that this was a new virus, and an evidenced-based practice approach was not possible. Chinese herbal medicine formulas typically consist of 10-15 different constituents selected from a pharmacopeia of over 350 herbs that are used clinically for a wide range of different ailments. Herbal formulas are individualized for each patient reflective of their unique symptom picture.
Participants in this study had to be licensed acupuncturists who had treated more than five patients with symptoms likely related to COVID-19. A 28-question survey was undertaken by 103 participants and 14 were interviewed for qualitative analysis. The outcomes demonstrated that appointments were mostly by phone and videoconference and that granular and pill forms of Chinese herbs were most commonly prescribed. A wide variety of information sources informed prescribing including information disseminated through informal international and US collegial networks, and information from continuing education providers, herbal medicine suppliers, and published in biomedical and East Asian medicine journals. Scientific publications demonstrating the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine in the SARS and H1N1 influenza epidemics was an important source of evidence that informed prescribing.
Acute supply shortages of herbs were encountered due to increased global demand. Licensed acupuncturists shared herbs from their own pharmacies with colleagues and delivered herbal formulas to patients’ homes to overcome delayed delivery services. Formulas were often changed every few days in response to changing symptoms. This study suggests that an evaluation of the use of traditional medicines should be considered for future pandemics where there is no effective biomedical treatment. Following the study, systematic reviews demonstrating the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine for treating COVID-19 were published.
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Professor Nicholas Robinson’s, JD (Elisabeth Haub School of Law) article
“The Judiciary: Breathing Life into the Human Right to Life” was published in Environmental Policy and Law (EPL) 53. 2-3 (2023). The UN General Assembly (UNGA) recognized the human right to the environment on July 28, 2022 (resolution. 76/300). It came as a sequel to the Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution (48/13) of October 8, 2021 on the identical theme. The right is the foundation for all other human rights and for the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs 2030). Most States have recognized the right in national constitutions and law. While international tribunals can be expected to clarify and enforce the human right to the environment, it is the national and sub-national courts where the right will be invoked and enforced. These national legal proceedings have begun. They face significant opposition by vested interests, as well as the inertia favoring business as usual. A case study examining the initial decisions in the State of New York (USA) illustrates the character of opposition to observing the right to the environment. Ultimately, procedural “due process of law” will combine with the substantive “human right to the environment” to build needed rigor into laws mandating stewardship of the nature and human wellbeing.
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Professor Camila Bustos's, JD (Elisabeth Haub School of Law) article (with Juliana Vélez-Echeverri), “A Human Rights Approach to Climate-Induced Displacement: A Case Study in Central American and Colombia,” was published by the Michigan State International Law Review. The past decade was the warmest decade ever recorded. As climate impacts intensify, numbers of people displaced and in need of relocation increase. International law has yet to adapt to a changing climate and its implications for those most vulnerable. Experts still debate whether the existing refugee regime could provide a solution for those displaced by climate across international borders, while national governments continue to reckon with the domestic implications of internal displacement fueled by climate impacts. In this article, the authors apply a human rights lens to climateinduced displacement, drawing from two case studies to highlight the human rights obligations of the national governments and the international community towards individuals facing climate-induced displacement across and within borders. The authors explore the plight of communities in the Northern Triangle of Central America and Raizal communities in the island of Providencia, Colombia to understand and address current protection gaps in international and domestic frameworks with respect to climate-induced displacement.
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Melanie La Rosa’s, MFA (Media, Communications, and Visual Arts, PLV, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) film, “The Poetry Deal, a film with Diane di Prima” (streaming on PBS till 2025), was included as part of a tribute to di Prima this August - Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Diane di Prima: Presented by her Family. The tribute, which took place at the historic Castro Theater in San Francisco, was organized by her family. It featured several other poet laureates and high profile friends and fans, including Peter Coyote and Amber Tamblyn. Bringing together artists, writers, poets, and musicians from around the world, the event celebrated di Prima’s work and explored its ongoing relevance. The celebration, and Professor LaRosa’s film, were also featured in the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) Announcements
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For the upcoming 2023-2024 academic year, the Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences is offering the following funding opportunities:
Provost’s 2023-2024 Academic Year Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Program
Deadline: Thursday, August 31, 2023
This university-wide, academic-year research grant program is for undergraduate students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year in September 2023. The program supports projects started in courses, or research and artistic settings that merit further independent development through sustained faculty mentoring and steady student work throughout the academic year. These grant awards will be made for the full academic year and will not support projects that fulfill academic course requirements for 2023-2024. Please share this information with your students.
Learn more and apply here
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Undergraduate Research Assistantships Program 2023-2024
Academic Year funded by Federal Work Study (FWS)
Proposals will be accepted through September 11, 2023, for prioritized posting; applications will be accepted after that date until funds are depleted.
The Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences launched a pilot undergraduate research assistantship program funded by federal work-study during the 2020-2021 academic year. The goal for 2023-2024 is to continue to increase both the number of faculty research assistantship positions and the pool of students eligible for these positions.
Successful expansion requires the following two essential elements:
1) faculty proposals for assistantship positions, and
2) student awareness that federal work-study awards can be used for faculty-mentored research assistantships. Students sometimes decline FWS awards in their financial aid packages and take more loans because they do not understand how they can earn FWS dollars.
To advance this program expansion, propose a research assistantship position to support your scholarship or creative inquiry. To recruit qualified student applicants, please inform students about this research opportunity so they can better understand the value of their federal work-study funds and how those funds can be earned while serving as research assistants!
Click here to propose your undergraduate research assistantship position
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Undergraduate Research Webinar Series
Fall 2023 Student Undergraduate Research Webinar Series
Tuesday common hour – 3:25 p.m. - 4:25 p.m.
Wednesday common hour – 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.
Maria Iacullo-Bird, PhD, Assistant Provost for Research
*Applying to present at Upcoming External Conferences: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
Tuesday, 09/12/23 and Wednesday, 09/13/23
*Getting Started in Research across Majors and Schools
Tuesday, 10/10/23 and Wednesday, 10/11/23
*Justice and the Responsible Conduct of Research
Tuesday, 11/14/23 and Wednesday, 11/15/23
*Applying for a Summer 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Tuesday, 12/12/23 and Wednesday, 12/13/23
Register in advance for Tuesday’s meeting
Register in advance for Wednesday’s meeting
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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Fall 2023 Faculty Undergraduate Research Webinar Series
Monday and Wednesday common hours – 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.
Maria Iacullo-Bird, PhD, Assistant Provost for Research
*Learn about Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Opportunities and Resources
Wednesday, 09/27/23
*How to Get Started in Grant Writing and Include Undergraduate Research
Wednesday, 10/18/23
*Applying for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program Site or Supplement
Monday, 12/11/23
Register in advance for Monday’s meeting
Register in advance for Wednesday’s meeting
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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Prestigious Awards and Fellowships | |
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The Luce Scholars Program is a nationally competitive fellowship that offers early career leaders immersive, professional experiences in Asia. The program aims to forge stronger, more informed, more compassionate relationships across geographic borders by creating opportunities for young Americans across diverse sectors and interests to deepen their ties and understanding of the countries, cultures, and people of Asia. Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, the Luce Scholars Program provides stipends, language training, and individualized professional placement in Asia for 18 Luce Scholars each year.
The program welcomes applications from college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals in a variety of fields, with a range of backgrounds and experiences, who have had limited exposure to Asia. This transformational program is experiential rather than academic and is not for those seeking research funding. In any given year, Luce Scholars are living and working throughout Northeast, Southeast, and South Asia. The Scholars contribute their talents to NGOs, government agencies, private companies, universities, think tanks, and museums.
Please encourage interested students to register for an information session with the Luce Foundation staff on September 14th during common hour.
For questions, contact Moira Egan, PhD., Director of Prestigious Awards and Graduate Fellowships, at megan@pace.edu.
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