Michael Johnson, associate professor and interim chair of the Modern and Classical Languages Department, presented his paper "Darkness Visible: Strategies to Help Students Reach Their Learning Goals" at the eighth World Universities Forum. Sponsored by Common Ground, the forum was held at Georgia Southern University, in Savannah, Georgia, February 5 and 6.

Frances Gage, associate professor of fine arts, published the article "New Documents on Giulio Mancini and Guercino" in the Burlington Magazine 156 (1339): 653–656.

Barbara Miller, associate professor emeritus of modern and classical languages, presented a paper, "Cuentos, leyendas y amantes solo hispánicos y El Baladro del sabio Merlín," at the first international colloquium of the Hispanic branch of the International Arthurian Society, held February 4–6 at the University of Granada, in Spain.

The colloquium, "Reescribir la materia artúrica / Rewriting Arthurian Matter," was held in honor of Professor Harvey L. Sharrer of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Sharrer had been a key member of Miller's dissertation committee, and by invitation, Miller presented a personal tribute during the special roundtable session, which culminated the homage ("homenaje") to a uniquely distinguished scholar.

Amitra Wall, assistant dean of intellectual foundations, was elected to the Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology (CAPACS) for a three-year term. CAPACS seeks to develop, promote, and support quality sociological education and practice through the accreditation of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs in applied sociology, clinical sociology, engaged public sociology, and sociological practice. The commission establishes standards for such programs, accredits programs that demonstrate that they meet these standards, and monitors accredited programs to ensure that they continue to meet the standards. Her completion of the commission's Accreditation Review Committee and Site Visit Team Training Workshop at the AACS annual meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 2014 allows Wall to participate in site visits for the purpose of accrediting postsecondary programs in applied, clinical, and engaged public sociology and sociological practice.

Kimberly Blessing, professor of philosophy, initiated and hosted the first meeting of BLIP, Buffalo Ladies in Philosophy, on Friday, February 6, at Campus House. The group consists of 12 women, representing Buffalo State, UB, Canisius, Niagara, Daemen, and D’Youville colleges and universities, which exhausts the number of women working as full-time philosophers in Buffalo.

BLIP will continue to meet monthly. They are currently working on a summer 2015 seminar or workshop which will, among other things, address the underrepresentation of women in philosophy. Only about 20 percent of professional philosophers are women. At 50 percent, Canisius and Daemen are doing the best with gender diversity; UB has 15 percent women. At Buffalo State, Blessing is only the second female philosopher ever hired on a tenure-track line. BLIP hopes to take actions to improve these numbers in philosophy and provide this small number of Buffalo women with support and outlets.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his article "Coping Skill as a Moderator between Negative Life Events and Suicide among Young People in Rural China," coauthored with Sun Long, in the Journal of Clinical Psychology 71 (3): 258–266. Sun Long is now a visiting scholar to Buffalo State from Shandong University School of Public Health.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his paper "Testosterone Differs between Suicide Attempters and Community Controls in Men and Women of China," coauthored with Jia Cun-Xian and Wang Lin-Lin, in Physiology & Behavior 141: 40–45. Jia Cun-Xian was a visiting scholar to Buffalo State from 2009 to 2010.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his paper "Suicide Risks among Adolescents and Young Adults in Rural China," coauthored with Zhao Sibo, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 12 (1): 131–145. Zhao Sibo was a visiting scholar to Buffalo State in 2010–2011, when she was pursuing her master's degree in sociology in China. She is now a Ph.D. student in the University at Buffalo's Department of Sociology.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, delivered the talk "Suicide in China: A Confucianism Perspective" at the UB Confucius Institute's Distinguished Lecture Series on Friday, February 13, on the University at Buffalo's North Campus.

Kimberly Blessing, professor of philosophy and humanities, and Samantha Wezowicz, '14, philosophy alumna, coauthored the chapter "What [HBO's] Girls Can Tell Us About Millennials and the Meaning of Life," in Girls and Philosophy: This Book Isn't a Metaphor for Anything (R. Greene and R. Robinson-Greene, eds.; Open Court, 2015). Wezowicz is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in philosophy at Temple University.