JMU Research, Scholarship & Creative Endeavors
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We are pleased to announce the 2022 class of Provost Award Winners for Excellence in Research and Scholarship: Ailton Coleman (CHBS), Rebecca French (Libraries), Kelly Naletelich (COB), Matt Pardo (CVPA), Paul Raston (CSM), Maryam Sharifian (COE), Case Watkins (CAL), and Kayla Yurco (CISE). This award recognizes early career, tenure-track faculty who have demonstrated significant achievement in research, scholarship and/or creative work. Learn more about their research agendas.
Congratulations to Virginia Clean Cities (VCC), who is the recipient of two Virginia Green Travel All-Star Awards. VCC as an organization received the Most Innovative & Impactful Green Project award for its efforts supporting the Mid-Atlantic Electrification Partnership, a regional project advancing electric vehicle infrastructure in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, DC. One component of this project included integrating equity mapping and educational guidance into meetings with community planners statewide, with positive results in Norfolk, VA. Program Coordinator at VCC, Sarah Stalcup-Jones, was recognized with the Virginia Green All-Star Award for her leadership in the area of electric school buses.
With support from the Office of Fellowships & Awards, Norman Jones III was named James Madison University's first-ever Mitchell Scholarship finalist. Named to honor Senator George Mitchell, Mitchell Scholars receive a fully-funded master's degree in Ireland or Northern Ireland. Out of over 350 applicants, Norman made it to the top 20 for this prestigious scholarship. Norman graduated with a degree in Public Policy and Administration and a minor in African, African American, and Diaspora Studies. Additionally, Norman’s work developing the Mitchell application served as a catalyst for at least part of his graduate school decision, as he will be pursuing a master’s degree at Queen’s University Belfast this fall.
Speaking of graduation, our warmest congratulations to the more than 4,500 JMU Dukes graduating this week!
Office of Research & Scholarship
James Madison University
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U.S. Representative Brian Mast speaking at an International Mine Awareness Day event on Capitol Hill in April. To the left of Congressman Mast are U.S. Representative Bill Johnson, U.S. Representative Jackie Speier, and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, who were joined by a JMU contingent represented by the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery. |
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Robert Brent (School of Integrated Sciences) received $23,816 from Rockbridge County to develop a lake management tool to assess sediment conditions in real-time and inform lake management to optimize dam operations.
Samy El-Tawab and Ahmad Salman (School of Integrated Sciences) received $22,000 from George Mason University to adopt a user-centric design approach to ensure that cybersecurity training meets users’ needs from minority groups.
Brent Finnegan (Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) was awarded $217,800 from Early Impact Virginia to complete full Spanish translation, design, narration, and videography for VHV modules and maintain the Rapid Response Website and VHV modules at the Institute.
Christine Hughey and Isaiah Sumner (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) received $522,092 from the National Science Foundation to provide research opportunities for regional students, deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and undergraduate American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting students.
Gwyneth Mellinger and Morgan Smalls (School of Media Arts and Design) were awarded $25,000 from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to delve into the representations of black womanhood and friendship and explore if viewers construct the portrayals of the characters in the HBO show “Insecure” as authentic or inauthentic to their lived experiences.
Sara Snyder (Department of Educational Foundations and Exceptionalities) received $61,160 from George Mason University to develop and implement a statewide program to meet the initial and continuing education needs for teachers of students with severe disabilities.
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Student Research Testimonials (Part 2)
Here are two additional student research testimonials that speak to the importance of high-impact practices like mentored research to enhance the student experience. If you missed the first two testimonials, please visit our March newsletter issue.
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Exploring Access to University Makerspaces |
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Faculty from the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Integrated Science and Engineering partnered with colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology to better understand how women access makerspace resources in university settings and negotiate barriers to their participation. This research, led by Professor of Communication Studies Melissa Alemán and Associate Professor of Engineering Robert Nagel, builds on a multi-year, $156,263 National Science Foundation grant award, which supports an investigation into the relationship between student learning, creativity and expertise built within makerspaces at two universities. JMU Engineering and Honors student Kelly Sadel (pictured in the Fabrication Lab) participated in this engaged learning research experience.
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Faculty Painting Exhibition at Mount St. Mary’s |
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Untitled Spirits 2, 2022. Oil on Copper
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An exhibit featuring paintings by Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing Kyle Hackett ran from February 8 – March 17 at the Delaplaine Fine Arts Center (Mount St. Mary’s University). From the exhibition statement:
Forward Facing, Inward Out, a solo exhibition of paintings by Kyle Hackett, explores forms of self-representation, the expanded portrait, and constructed image through interconnected bodies of work. Inspired by early portraiture’s fabricated depictions of race, class, and social status, Hackett’s paintings associate spatial relations, image inflection, and fixedness to concepts of double consciousness. This exhibition, curated by Elizabeth Holtry, features 22 paintings including Hackett’s newest work.
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Untitled Spirits Unified, 2022. Oil on Panel and Aluminum
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After Private John Hackett, After Image and more. Oil on Panel and Aluminum
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JMU’s Bold Achievers, Doers, and Aspiring Super Stars (BADASS) Fellows take on Washington DC! |
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BADASS Fellows at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture |
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The BADASS Fellows program is a six-week program bringing together the Black+ community and accomplices in the workforce and life. During the last week of April 2022, participants attended an in-person meet up in Washington D.C. to connect with professionals, experts, and other leaders. Tiffany Brutus, the Director of Inclusive Innovation and Leadership at JMU X-Labs partnered with the Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and Georgetown University Workers' Rights Institute to create an exhilarating 2-day experience for the BADASS Fellows. This D.C. meetup included a tour of the Innovation Center and presentations from NGC’s African American Task Group and University Relations. This was augmented by visits to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture as well as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Fellows also toured Georgetown Law School and attended a presentation at Georgetown Workers’ Rights Institute on matters related to intersections of race, gender, and immigration by Mark Pearce (Executive Director), Dr. Jamillah Williams (Faculty Director) and staff. Many thanks to JMU Offices of Research and Scholarship and University Advancement, JMU alum and CEO/President of NGC, Kathy Warden (’92), and Sandra Evers-Manly (VP of Global Corporate Responsibility for NGC) and Tiffany Ridley (NGC’s DEI Specialist). |
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Congratulations to all our Spring 2022 BADASS Fellows, Facilitators and Mentors! |
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BADASS Fellows visit Northrop Grumman's McLean, VA site |
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Chris Ashley, Crystal Barnes, Ashley Brown, Tiffany Brutus, Tylen Brutus, Julian Denizard, Gabriel Driver, Humera Fasihuddin, Jihad Gordon, D’Shon Green, Dakarai Johnson, Ramsey Moorman, Bomi Mosuro, Catherine Randle, Hannah Joy Root, Heidi Selby, Jeremiah Scanlon-Dean, Marlene Scherer Stern, Monica Simmons, Linda Thomas, Meredith Malburne-Wade, Jasmine White, Amira Williams, Kelsey Yancey.
Congratulations and many thanks to our fellows and mentors including Linda Thomas, Dean of the JMU Graduate School, who shared this testimonial: “My experience was surprisingly transformative. The content discussed allowed me to examine my own thoughts and misconceptions going much deeper in my thinking about difficult topics and how we can all become more compassionate toward others. I especially enjoyed the experience in DC and meeting face-to-face with the other fellows. Sharing my thoughts and learning with other faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, and people outside of JMU helped me expand my understanding of how we all experience the social construct of race in America.”
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CISR Participates in Capitol Hill Event on Mine Awareness |
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Heather Holsinger, CISR Communications & Publications Manager, and CISR student assistant, Jona Roka (’20, MPA’22) distribute copies of the To Walk the Earth in Safety reports of US government CWD programs. CISR assists the US Department of State to produce the annual report.
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JMU Center for International Stabilization and Recovery staff along with a student assistant participated in an exhibition and reception hosted by the Congressional Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)/Demining Caucus on April 5 in recognition of International Mine Awareness Day. CISR shared copies of the recently released To Walk the Earth in Safety annual report about the US government’s Conventional Weapons Destruction programs. CISR Communications and Publications Manager, Heather Holsinger, works with officials from the Department of State to compile and publish the report. CISR Interim Director Suzanne Fiederlein connected with representatives of more than a dozen organizations and government agencies in attendance, including eight JMU alumni. Accompanying the CISR staff was research assistant Jona Roka who has worked at CISR since last summer and is graduating in May with a Master of Public Administration degree. This was her first visit to Capitol Hill and topped off her time working with CISR this past year. The CISR team enjoyed being able to gather in person again and recognize the important role of US government support for UXO and landmine clearance, and the operators and support organizations working together to help eliminate the threat such weapons present long after armed conflicts end.
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College of Business Research Highlights |
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From COB’s Showker Shoutouts:
Interim Academic Unit Head and Professor of Computer Information Systems and Business Analytics Pam Drake published a new book Introduction to Finance: Financial Management and Investment Management with co-authors Frank J. Fabozzi of Johns Hopkins University and Francesco A. Fabozzi of the Stevens Institute of Technology. Drake and her co-authors dive into risk management, budgeting decisions, company analysis and investing in common stocks. This is Drake’s eighth book and the fifth on the topic of finance.
Paul Copley, Professor of Accounting and RSM Faculty Scholar, received the Enduring Lifetime Contribution Award for 2020-21 from the Government and Nonprofit Section of the American Accounting Association, the organization of academic accountants. The award recognizes Copley's exemplary service, over the course of his long career, to accounting education and research in the section, and was recently presented at a luncheon in Washington, D.C.
Director of the Hart School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management, Stephanie West, was recently elected as a Fellow into The Academy of the Leisure Sciences. Fellows of the academy are recognized as outstanding performers and leaders in the leisure profession, and have a minimum of ten years of experience.
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JMU-W&M Team Research K-12 Interprofessional Collaboration |
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A research team including Sara Snyder (Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations and Exceptionalities), Tiffany Hornsby (Assistant Professor of Graduate Psychology), Brian Leventhal (Assistant Professor of Graduate Psychology) and Heartley Huber (Assistant Professor of Special Education at the College of William & Mary) has been working on a comparative investigation into the collaboration between school psychologists and board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs). Both psychologists and BCBAs provide K-12 students with behavioral support to enable student success, but they differ in training, approach and assessment. The research team has launched two phases of investigation so far: a national survey delivered in July 2020 and a second survey, supported by a $4,900 4-VA grant, directed to pre-service teachers.
Snyder noted that their findings indicate, “Both [school psychologists and BCBAs] report extensive training in behavior assessment and interventions, however, school psychologists appear to receive more pre-service training in interprofessional collaboration. Both groups report that not having enough time to collaborate was a significant barrier, and identified that more time would help collaboration. BCBAs were more likely to report that different philosophies hindered collaboration. Both groups identified that school division policies and procedures that allowed for interprofessional collaboration were factors that supported collaboration. Finally, both groups report that they are likely to adopt recommendations provided by the other professional, but school psychologists were more likely to implement the BCBA’s recommendation than vice versa. This is a promising finding and suggests that more collaboration training, more time and supportive policies might pay off to improve collaboration.”
The team has shared their results at several state- and national-level conferences, with the goal of turning their conference presentations into a journal publication. One of their other primary goals is to refine the preparation that pre-service teachers in their respective programs receive, enabling these future educators to feel better equipped to engage in interprofessional collaboration that results in better outcomes for K-12 students.
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Research & Scholarship AVPs Selected for Leadership Programs |
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Associate Vice Provost for Scholarship, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Dr. Besi Muhonja has been selected to join the fifth cohort of the APLU’s Council on Research’s (CoR) Research Leader Fellowship Program. The council appoints from across the nation 5-7 senior research leaders as fellows annually through a competitive process. Leveraging APLU’s network of research leaders, this program provides training and development while also growing professional connections across APLU member organizations. During their term, fellows “visit several campuses (in person or virtually), participate in the identified meetings and conferences, and contribute to projects within COR working groups that contribute to future training and literature related to research capacity and competitiveness.”
Associate Vice Provost for Research & Innovation Dr. Keith Holland was selected to join the 2022 class of Lead Virginia. This program of approximately 50 leaders from across the Commonwealth “immerses participants in a new region, with the opportunity to interact directly with local and state leaders to examine that area’s unique concerns and discuss potential solutions. Surrounded by deliberative and dynamic regional leadership, each class learns that leaders must embrace their role in advancing Virginia’s future and engage in that shared responsibility.”
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Public History Scholar Publishes Race, Place, and Memory
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Margaret Mulrooney, faculty in the Department of History and Senior Associate Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Equity, recently published her 2018 book, Race, Place, and Memory: Deep Currents in Wilmington, North Carolina in paperback. Funding to publish the paperback format was made possible through a National Endowment for the Humanities grant – Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan, which supports the University Press of Florida’s “Exploring Diverse Stories of America through Humanities Publishing.” The book description:
A revealing work of public history that shows how communities remember their pasts in different ways to fit specific narratives, Race, Place, and Memory charts the ebb and flow of racial violence in Wilmington, North Carolina, from the 1730s to the present day. Margaret Mulrooney argues that white elites have employed public spaces, memorials, and celebrations to maintain the status quo. The port city has long celebrated its white colonial revolutionary origins, memorialized Decoration Day, and hosted Klan parades. Other events, such as the Azalea Festival, have attempted to present a false picture of racial harmony to attract tourists. And yet, the revolutionary acts of Wilmington's African American citizens―who also demanded freedom, first from slavery and later from Jim Crow discrimination―have gone unrecognized. As a result, beneath the surface of daily life, collective memories of violence and alienation linger among the city's black population. Mulrooney describes her own experiences as a public historian involved in the centennial commemoration of the so-called “Wilmington Race Riot” of 1898, which perpetuated racial conflicts in the city throughout the twentieth century. She shows how, despite organizers' best efforts, a white-authored narrative of the massacre’s origins remains. Mulrooney makes a case for public history projects that recognize the history-making authority of all community members and prompts us to reconsider the memories we inherit.
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JMU Civic Publishes Article on Assessing Civic Engagement |
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Abe Goldberg, formerly the Executive Director of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement, Carah Whaley, Associate Director of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement, and Dena Pastor, Associate Director for Assessment Operations in the Center for Assessment and Research Studies, published “Let’s Get Political: Co-Creating and Assessing Civic Learning and Engagement” in PS: Political Science & Politics. From the article:
"To understand how engagement in JMU Civic activities may have affected change over time in student political learning and civic engagement, we analyzed student engagement in activities. We categorized activities in two ways: (1) those that involved discussing political or social issues or being aware of political information; and (2) more participatory acts (e.g., attending town halls). Although most of the programming was offered only virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found discuss/aware activities more common than participation activities: 55% of students participated in four or five discuss/aware activities compared to 68% who took part in none or one of the participation activities."
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What is Book Art? ART 276 Students Have Answers! |
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Book art structures include accordion books, pop-ups, miniatures, altered books, and more. This is an art medium that is book-like in its form, function, or concept. Explore a selection of artists’ books from JMU Libraries Special Collections, curated by students in professor Lyall Harris’ ART 276 class (Introductory Book Arts: Materials and Structures), with assistance from Kate Morris, Faith Benavides, Julia Merkel, and David Vess of JMU Libraries. The exhibit is located outside the Special Collections Reading Room in Carrier Library until December 2022.
Learn more about book art, including accordion books, pop-ups, miniatures, altered books, and more, by visiting our Artists’ Books Research Guide.
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Biology Professor Analyzes Local Poisonous Plant
Professor of Biology Conley McMullen provided expert commentary in a WHSV story about the poisonous Hemlock plant, which was identified in the Strasburg area along the Shenandoah River. McMullen, an expert in pollination biology and plant systematics, described the significant risk to animals if the plant is consumed, “It contains a little chemical called coniine, an alkaloid that is deadly to animals that eat that. So it’s not really the sort of thing you need to worry about unless you thought that there were cattle around or individuals who might not know what it is.” Professor McMullen is the author of Flowering Plants of the Galápagos, a location that he has visited more than 30 times (since 1983) to conduct field work.
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