Exalted Nature: The Real and Fantastic World of Charles E. Burchfield, a traveling exhibition, opened at the Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, on August 23, where it will be on view through November 16. Exalted Nature was co-organized by the Burchfield Penney Art Center and the Brandywine River Museum of Art. The exhibition was co-curated by Nancy Weekly and Audrey Lewis, who both provided essays in the illustrated 128-page catalog. The exhibition will travel to the Burchfield Penney Art Center from December 12, 2014, through February 22, 2015.

The world’s leading scholar on the American artist Charles E. Burchfield (1893–1967), Weekly returned to the Brandywine River Museum of Art on September 10 to present “A Hidden World Revealed.” Her talk addressed Burchfield’s range of interests, his passionate devotion to nature, his synesthetic perceptions, and cyclical approach to subjects. She focused on his pioneering watercolor painting techniques and invention of “Conventions for Abstract Thoughts” to convey emotions and “audio-cryptograms” to symbolize sounds from the animated world that taps all the senses.

Weekly is the head of collections and Charles Cary Rumsey curator at the Burchfield Penney. She is also a lecturer in Buffalo State's museum studies program.

Media coverage for Exalted Nature: The Real and Fantastic World of Charles Burchfield:

Brandywine River Museum of Art

Burchfield Penney Art Center

“Exalted Nature: The Real and Fantastic World of Charles Burchfield,” ARTfix Daily (June 22, 2014)

Sarah E. Fensom, “Back to Nature,” Art & Antiques magazine 36 (8): 84–89

Thomas Hine, “Art: Burchfield dazzles at the Brandywine,” Philadelphia Inquirer (August 31, 2014)

Frances Gage, assistant professor of fine arts, published her essays "Observing Order," "The Social Aesthetics of the Gift," and "Must See: Guidebooks," in the volume Display of Art in the Roman Palace, 1550–1750, pp. 204–214, 215–216, 287–288 (G. Feigenbaum, ed.; Getty Research Institute, 2014).

Heidi Dietz Faletti, associate professor of English, read her paper "Cinematic Transformations of Desire and Dissolution in Robbe-Grillet's Film L'Immortelle" at the 12th International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, held at Universidad CEU San Pablo in Madrid, Spain, June 11–13. The conference section was "Psychoanalytic Studies."

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, presented three research papers at the 109th annual conference of the American Sociological Association held in San Francisco, California, August 16–19.

Jean Gounard, director of international student affairs, chaired the annual business meeting of the NAFSA Francophone World Special Interest Group at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators meeting in San Diego, California, May 27–30, and was subsequently reelected chair of the group. During the meeting, official representatives from various parts of the Francophone world spoke on the status of the French language today. Gounard co-chaired the session "The Importance of NAFSA/Special Interest Group Worldwide."

These meetings also marked the 13th anniversary of the signature of the Memorandum of Friendship between NAFSA and l’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, initiated in 2001 by Gounard as chair of the NAFSA Francophone World Special Interest Group.

Brad Mazon, lecturer in the Higher Education Administration Department, has been hired as the director of foundation and community relations at WNED/WBFO. He previously served as dean for resource development at the College of the Marshall Islands.

The 4th edition of Bruce Bryski's book, Public Speaking for Success: Strategies for Diverse Audiences and Occasions, was published by Hayden-McNeil. Coauthored with Timothy Brown, professor of communication studies at West Chester University, the book has reached 5,000 copies in sales.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published the chapter "Male Suicide in China" in the book Suicide in Men: How Men Differ from Women in Expressing Their Distress (pp. 193–203; D. Lester, J. F. Gunn, and P. Quinnett, eds.; Charles C Thomas Publisher Ltd.).

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his article "Preventing Psychological Strains in the Elderly," coauthored with Lin Lin, in Popular Medicine 2014: 57. Lin was a visiting scholar to Buffalo State in 2013–2014.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his article "Lessons of Governing from the West" in the People's Tribune, 2014: 39–40.