Faculty News December 2019
Dec 6, 2019 12:00 AM
Hunan First Normal University in Cahngsha, Hunan, China, honored Dr. Amy Branam Armiento (English and Foreign Languages) with a short-term distinguished scholar position. Armiento recently traveled to the university, giving a series of lectures on U.S. children's literature, observing American and British literature classes, teaching a class on Edgar A. Poe's poem "To Helen," and consulting on a textbook. She also presented lectures at Hunan University of Science and Technology (Xiangtan), Hunan University of Technology and Business (Changsha), and Changsha Normal University. Moreover, she reunited with thirteen former visiting scholars to FSU's Department of English and Foreign Languages. This opportunity was made possible by Kang Xiangying (Cathy), who was a visiting scholar at FSU from January to December 2016, and by the FSU Center for International Education.
October 31, Studio 360’s “American Icons: The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe” aired on public radio stations. Dr. Amy Branam Armiento, president of the Poe Studies Association, was featured, along with other scholars. Armiento also served as the show’s consultant, assisting with research, fact checking parts of the script, and recommending individuals for interview. Chuck Dicken, director of WFWM, facilitated the recording of Dr. Armiento’s contributions. HTo hear the show, visit this link: Hear the show
The Allegany Arts Council hosted an exhibition, “Art and Craft of the Puppet,” featuring the puppets of Dr. Gerald Snelson (English and Foreign Languages). Dr. Snelson says that after spending decades crafting and building puppets, what’s most important to him is sharing them – through his work with students at FSU and with traveling shows in the region and beyond.
Kara Rogers Thomas (Sociology) directed FSU’s annual Appalachian Festival in September. She also participated as a facilitator and interviewer at the National Folk Festival in Salisbury, MD. In October, Dr. Rogers Thomas participated in a presentation forum on festival planning at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in Baltimore. She was also named an Applachian Regional Commission Teaching Fellow for her participation in the ARC Teaching Project administered by Tennessee State University.
Elizabeth Green, an adjunct faculty member in Biology, won a graduate student poster award for the Natural Areas Association Conference in Pittsburgh. Her poster was on Culturally Important Plants of the Rosebud Lakota at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. This was her Master's thesis work, under the direction of Dr. Sunshine Brosi, that assessed the distributions of 13 medicinal, edible, and culturally important plants within the Wind Cave National Park boundary to inform Lakota tribal members and the National Park Service about their natural resources. This supplements a permitting process for potential reintegration of traditional harvesting practices of abundant species that would not pose significant negative impact to Park resources as per 36 CFR 2.6. This project is funded by the National Parks Service (NPS #P17AC01441) and supported by FSU.
In the fall of 2019, Hang Deng-Luzader (Physics and Engineering) gave two seminars on STEM education in the United States to science teachers in Beijing, hosted by the College of Teacher Education, Capital Normal University. She introduced participants to FSU, STEM festivals in Allegany County and other locations in the U.S., as well as Maryland Summer Center programs.
Dr. Deng-Luzader also taught graduate school Quantum Mechanics at Beijing Normal University in fall 2019. The class consisted of 23 students, including international Ph.D. seeking students and Chinese students in the physics honors program.
Dustin Davis (Visual Arts) has been awarded “Best of Show” for his sculpture “Yellow Abstract,” which was featured in “The HUMAN Figure,” September-October online show by the Bauhaus Prairie Art Gallery, which celebrates the modernity of creative contemporary and traditional art through online art competitions.
