Other News in the College of Arts & Sciences

In the Department of Chemistry, Dr. Larry Yet, Assistant Professor, published a book, Privileged Structures in Drug Discovery:  Medicinal Chemistry and Synthesis (Wiley Press). In addition, Dr. Matthew Reichert, Associate Professor, will serve as President of USA’s Faculty Senate for 2018-2019. 

 
In the Department of Communication, Dr. Jim Aucoin, Professor and Department Chairperson, secured the funding for the new documentary film Journey to the Wilderness, based on the book with the same title by USA Writer-in-Residence, Frye Gaillard. The film premiered on April 5, 2018 at USA’s Marx Library Auditorium, and the film will be shown on Alabama Public Television this year. Included in the documentary are Dr. Martha Jane Brazy, Associate Professor of History, Dr. Mel McKiven, Associate Professor of History, Dr. Kern Jackson, Assistant Professor of English and Director of the African American Studies Program, Dr. Steven Trout, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of English, Dr. Susan McCready, Professor of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature, and Aucoin. 

 
In the Department of History, Assistant Professor Dr. Claire Cage was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend for research in France for her book on the development of forensic science in 19th century France. Cage received another award as well: for her first book, Unnatural Frenchmen: The Politics of Priestly Celibacy and Marriage, 1720-1815, she received the Baker-Burton Prize for the best first book on European History published between 2013-2017 by the European History Section of the Southern Historical Association. Also in the Department of History, Dr. Timothy Lombardo, Assistant Professor, has been selected for an A & S Support and Development Award for completion of the book Blue Collar Conservatism: Frank Rizzo’s Philadelphia and Populist Politics (forthcoming fall 2018, University of Pennsylvania Press). Assistant Professor Dr. David Meola and others, in conjunction with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum of Washington, D.C., participated in a discussion on the Holocaust and the Jim Crow South on the USA campus on October 10, 2017. Meola, the Director of Jewish and Holocaust Studies, and undergraduate student Shannon Ludgren presented original research in Birmingham, in February 2018.

 
In news from the Center for the Study of War and Memory, Co-Director Dr. Susan McCready, Professor of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature, worked with Dr. Mara Kozelsky, Professor of History, to produce the podcast “War and Memory: Mara Kozelsky and the Russian Revolution,” on October 10, 2017. Kozelsky also co-authored a USA press release, “Putin Wins, So What’s Next,” with Dr. Nicholas Gossett, Assistant Professor of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature, and Jeb Shrenk, Associate Director of University Marketing. https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/publicrelations/pressreleases/032018russia.html.

 
In Arts & Sciences student news, Meteorology major Rebekah Cheatham in the Department of Earth Sciences has won the NOAA Hollings Scholarship this year. In addition, six other Earth Sciences majors were selected as University Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows for 2018 (three from Meteorology, two from Geology, and one from Geography). In the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, undergraduate student Sam Formichella has been awarded the Auburn University REU in Algebra and Discrete Mathematics for Summer 2018. Recently, Formichella presented his research on "Gaussian binomial coefficients with negative arguments" with Dr. Armin Straub, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, at the 97th Annual Spring Meeting of the MAA Southeastern Section at Clemson University.

 
In the Department of Political Science & Criminal Justice, Dr. Zohair Husain, Professor, was named the "Inaugural International Studies Professor of the Year" in spring 2018. Dr. Corina Schulze, Associate Professor, and Dr. Sam Fisher, Associate Professor, participated in the “History of the FBI, Creative Writing, and Forensics” mini conference hosted by USA’s Honors College this spring. In March, the Department hosted the Alabama Political Science Association Conference. Dr. Jaclyn Bunch, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Thomas Shaw, Associate Professor, organized the conference. 

In the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Dr. Roma Hanks, professor and chairperson, was recently named the 2018 recipient of the Heart of Gold Volunteer Award for Mobile County presented by the United Way of Southwest Alabama. Previously, in February, Hanks received the Arlene Mitchell Award for Service at the Via Center’s Celebrate Our Seniors Awards Lunch.

 
In other news, in March, the College of Arts & Sciences and the Office of the Dean of Students hosted the second annual USA Democracy Day Teach-In at the Student Center Amphitheatre. Faculty members and students from the College participated in interactive panel discussions on a range of timely topics, including Democracy & Free Speech, Science & Democracy, Voting Rights, Representation & Democracy, Media & Democracy, DACA, Immigration, & Democracy, and Black Lives Matter & Democracy. A campus march from the Amphitheatre to Moulton Tower capped off the event.

In April, the College’s Diversity Committee hosted the “#MeToo” panel discussion along with members of the University’s student group SAVE (Sexual Assault and Violence Educators) at USA’s Faculty Club. Dr. Selvi Beyarslan, Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Statistics, moderated the panel discussion. Dr. Schulze participated as a panelist, and her colleague, Dr. Sarah Koon-Magnin, Associate Professor of Political Science & Criminal Justice, worked on the panel planning. Dr. Yet chaired the College’s Diversity Committee.