E-town Experts: Summer 2019 Achievements

The following achievements were submitted by faculty across Elizabethtown College. It highlights their commitment and dedication to furthering their research and sharing their expertise with broader audiences. Please view the list below to recognize the outstanding efforts being made by faculty at E-town.

September 2019

Faculty

Ed Frick, lecturer and clinical supervisor for education, will co-present with Ron Kennedy of the Donegal School District on the topic of School Leadership and the Transgender Experience at the annual Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and Pennsylvania School Boards Association School Leadership Conference in Hershey Oct. 16 through 18. Kennedy and Frick were invited back given last year’s response to the session. This is an opportunity to present to school board directors and school administrators state-wide on this topic.

Frick will also co-present with William Frick, Rainbolt Family Endowed Presidential Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma, at the Consortium for the Study of Leadership and Ethics in Education (CSLEE) Values and Ethics Conference in New Orleans Nov. 20 to 21. They will present on the topic of Faculty and Administrator Attitudes Toward Internet-Based Technologies and Virtual Networking leading to the Development and Support of Social Capital. This topic is very relevant to both higher education and local-level school contexts.

Jeffery Long, professor of religion and Asian studies, presented “Peaceful Warriors: The Origins and Ongoing Vitality of Jainism” at the Museum of Asian Art in San Francisco Sept. 6. The presentation, which was given to a full capacity audience, was part of the museum’s series on lesser-known religions of Asia.

Oya Dursun-Ozkanca, professor of political science and international studies, published “The Western Balkans in the Transatlantic Security Context: Where Do We Go from Here?” in “Insight Turkey” vol. 21 no.2.

Mark Stuckey, professor of physics, Michael Silberstein, professor of philosophy, Timothy McDevitt, professor of mathematical and computer sciences and Ian Kohler, ’18 published a paper in the journal “Entropy” explaining exactly why quantum probability differs from classical and superquantum probabilities for two-particle entangled systems; i.e., they explained the so-called Tsirelson bound. This result is significant because it shows that the mysteries surrounding two-particle entangled systems in quantum mechanics arise for the same reason as the mysteries of special relativity, i.e., moving clocks run slow and moving rods shrink. Both sets of mysteries obtain because ultimately, no one can experience a privileged view of reality. This then answers a desideratum of quantum information theory, i.e., to explain the mysteries of quantum mechanics via a physical principle, as is the case with special relativity. Current students Alex Pecher, ‘21 and Tuyen Le worked with Stuckey in a SCARP project this summer to produce a video series explaining this result. Those videos are now on YouTube.

August 2019

Faculty

Jean Batista Abreu, assistant professor of engineering and Brenda Read-Daily, associate professor of engineering and physics, presented their paper “Energy-Efficiency Assessment of Windows Using Temperature Sensors” at the American Society for Engineering Education’s First-Year Engineering Experience Conference held on July 28 to 30 at Penn State University.

Kurt DeGoede, professor of engineering, is developing students’ ability to navigate professional ethics in the Introductory Engineering course. In seven sessions, students will examine ethical decision making both at the big E – societal impact of the profession – level and the little e – individual professional responsibility – level. Instead of the typical ethics gone wrong at the corporate level, often captured in classic case studies (i.e., Challenger Disaster, VW emissions scandal), students are encouraged to both consider the grand implications of their responsibility as engineers alongside issues of personal integrity as an engineering student. Too often, students react to the case studies with critical judgment but feel detached from such a situation. DeGoede intentionally developed activities that challenge students’ thoughts and beliefs so they can connect their actions as students to their lives as working professionals.

DeGoede also developed a first-year multidisciplinary design project, which compels students to think in terms of circular economies. This project focused on introducing students to the design process and project management. He structured the project for teams of four or five first-year students, requiring 40 to 50 hours per student throughout the semester. The students are required to keep their vehicle battery charged with use of a photovoltaic module. The competition goal prominently features a measure of the reusability of components.

DeGoede also utilized the Gallup StrengthsFinder inventory to foster diversity and inclusivity in the first-year Introduction to Engineering group projects. StrengthsFinder helps students better understand themselves and others, improving team communication and performance. He also use this technique to address stereotype threat. Students discover the diversity of ways each individual engineer contributes to the profession through their unique set of strengths.

Jeffery D. Long, professor of religion and Asian studies, spoke at the United Nations on August 2 for the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Declaration in Support of Developing a Culture of World Peace. The theme of the panel on which Long spoke was the role of Yogic values in promoting peace and nonviolence.  The other speakers on the panel were former Zambian Ambassador Isaiah Chabala; Gayatri Naraine, representative to the UN of the Brahma Kumari movement and Martha Gallahue, UN representative for the Global Movement for a Culture of Peace. Attendees at the event included Elizabethtown College alumni Danielle Bates and Anushka Katikaneni and Mahua Bhattacharya, associate professor of Japanese and Asian studies at Elizabethtown College.

Michael G. Long, associate professor of peace and conflict studies, has published the paperback version of “Gay Is Good: The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny.”

Michael Long has also published “Troublemaker for Justice: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington.” The co-authored book has earned early starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and the School Library Journal.

Michael Long has also signed an advance contract for “Race Man: The Collected Works of Julian Bond.” The book will be published this January and will include prefaces by Jeanne Theoharis and Pamela Horowitz as well as an afterword by Douglas Brinkley.

Michael Long has also signed an advance contract for the publication of “Jackie Robinson: An American Icon” with the New York University Press. The book will be published in fall 2020 and will include a foreword by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon.

Michael Long has also signed an advance contract for the publication of a new book on Fred Rogers. It has yet to be titled.

Michael Long, associate professor of peace and conflict studies and Jeffrey D. Long, professor of religion and Asian studies, have signed an advance contract for the publication of “Nonviolence and the World’s Religious Traditions” with Routledge Press.

Fletcher McClellan, professor of political science; Kyle Kopko, associate dean of institutional effectiveness, research and planning; Kayla Gruber, ’18 and Amanda Hafler, ’19 MPP ’20 presented the paper “Reforming the Political Science Major: How Much, What Kind, and What For?” at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in Washington DC Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.

Paula Nelson, adjunct professor of flute, performed at the National Flute Association Convention held in Salt Lake City, Utah August 1 through 4.  The Sandpiper Quartet – Paula Nelson, Eileen Grycky (University of Delaware), Kim Reighley (West Chester University) and Melinda Bowman (Music School of Delaware) – gave the national premiere of “Chincoteague” by Jennifer Margaret Barker.  The Quartet was chosen to appear on one of the featured convention recitals out of over 500 submissions of recorded entries.

In 2018, the Sandpiper Quartet, along with other donors, commissioned composer Jennifer Margaret Barker to write a piece in honor of our colleague and friend who recently retired, Lynne Cooksey.  The flute quartet “Chincoteague” is inspired by the wild Chincoteague ponies on Assateague Island off the coast of the Delmarva peninsula.  The music captures the natural elements on the island as experienced by these beautiful wild animals: gentle ocean breezes, whirling grasses, calm inlets, beckoning tidal flats, sand dunes and plateaus, peaceful glades and ocean waves breaking on the shore.

July 2019

Faculty

Jean-Paul Benowitz, director of student transition programs and prestigious scholarships and fellowships, gave the presentation “Our Pennsylvania Dutch U. S. Presidents” for the Mt. Gretna Chautauqua Summer Program on July 5.  The presentation was sponsored by the Mt. Gretna Area Historical Society and the Pennsylvania Chautauqua Hall of Philosophy.  He gave this same presentation at the Masonic Village on February 7, the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren on March 24 and the Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church on May 31.

Benowitz and Kyle C. Cappucci, ’22 gave a joint presentation of “Putting Historic Marietta on The Map: This Place Matters!” at the Marietta Borough Council meeting on July 9 and at a Marietta town hall public forum on July 17.  The presentations were about launching a historic preservation awareness and economic development campaign for Marietta based on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s program “This Place Matters!”

David Bowne, associate professor of biology, co-authored the white paper “Recognizing and Valuing the Mentoring of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (URSCA) by Faculty Members: Workload, Tenure, Promotion, and Award Systems” for the Council on Undergraduate Research.

Richard Fellinger, fellow in The Writing Wing, published the op-ed “About Joe Biden’s Frontrunner Problem” in LNP on June 14 about Joe Biden’s frontrunner status for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Fellinger also published the op-ed “In Defense of the Seemingly Lost Art of the Apology” in LNP on why politicians and others should apologize.

Badiah Haffejee, assistant professor of social work, authored the chapter “‘We’re not asking for handouts!’ Voices of women refugees from Africa on rapid economic self-sufficiency in the United States” in “Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives” by S.M. Berthold and K. R. Libal. This chapter focuses on the lived experiences of 20 women refugees that have resettled in the United States. It also employs Critical Race Theory to elucidate the lived and racialized experiences, as well as the multiple dimensions and complexities of the resettlement context, as faced by these women.

Colin Helb, associate professor of communications, published the chapter “This Chapter Goes to Eleven: This Is Spinal Tap and the Blurring of Authenticity and Fabrication” in “The Routledge Companion to Popular Music and Humor.”

Katherine Hughes, assistant professor of communications, published the book “Graphic Design: Learn It, Do It.” It is an introduction to the fundamentals of graphic design and the Adobe Creative Cloud applications used to put these concepts into practice. This book is intended for production-oriented audiences – those interested in the what, why and how of graphic design.

Sanjay Paul, associate professor of economics, has three op-eds published with Pennlive.

Michael Roy, associate professor of psychology, Holly Gasper, ‘18 and Heather Flowe from the University of Birmingham published the article “Improving Time Estimation in Witness Memory” in “Frontiers in Psychology: Forensic and Legal Psychology.” The research was supported by the SCARP program.

Students of Roy presented at the Association for Psychological Science conference in Washington, D.C.

Erin Mowery, ‘18 presented the poster “Water-Hand Illusion: A Novel Extension of the Marble-Hand Illusion” in collaboration with Catherine Lemley.

Kristie Hoppe, ’18 presented the poster “Threat Objects May Influence Peoples’ Susceptibility to Change Blindness” in collaboration with Lemley and Roy.

Allyson Killen, ’18 presented the poster “Meditation May Diminish the Symptoms of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)” in collaboration with Lemley and Roy.

Killen, ‘18, Cheryl Errichetti, ‘19 and Kim Holleran, ‘19 presented the poster “Autotuned songs sound superior, if sequenced second” in collaboration with Roy.

June 2019