Zhang Jie, professor, Sociology, and director, Center for China Studies, was invited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to review research grant applications in Atlanta, Georgia, November 18–21. It was the third time that Zhang participated in the review of federal grants.
John Thompson, associate professor, Computer Information Systems, co-chaired the Texas Computer Education Association’s (TCEA) third annual Educational Technology Research Symposium on February 3 in Austin, Texas. He also presented a concurrent session, “50 Ways to Energize Your Teaching Using Web 2.0 Applications,” at TCEA’s 29th Annual Convention and Exposition, held in Austin February 2–6. The convention is the largest educational technology conference for a state educational technology association in the United States.
Gerald Nosich, professor, Philosophy and Humanities, presented “Critical Thinking Fundamentals and Motivation Strategies” at Lee College, in Baytown, Texas, on August 19. He also presented two workshops at Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, August 21 and 22: “A Foundational Workshop on Critical Thinking” and “Teaching for Critical Reading and Critical Writing.”
Buffalo State alumni are creatively involved with Playhouse of American Classics (PAC) and its February production of Elmer Rice’s romantic comedy Dream Girl.PAC’s artistic director, Terence McDonald, associate professor, English, and director, CADET, has cast Buffalo State alumni Joseph P. Long, William Laurie, and Shaun McLaughlin in major roles. The romantic leads will be played by Kelly Ferguson-Moore and David Hayes. The design elements of Dream Girl are also the work of Buffalo State alumni: Scott Wood serves as set and light designer, and Claudia Marschall serves as sound designer, music coordinator, and stage manager. A delightful comic valentine set in New York City circa 1945, Dream Girl tells the story of a female “Walter Mitty” whose daydreams are interrupted by a smart young man who helps her learn to live life to the fullest rather than dream it away. Performances run February 13–15. For more information, visit the Playhouse of American Classics Web site.
Two of Kimberly Hart’s photographs, “Hatice and Landscape” and “Yasemin’s Mother,” were selected as finalists in the 2008 American Anthropological Association Photo Contest.
Frances Gage, assistant professor, Fine Arts, published her article “Exercise for Mind and Body: Giulio Mancini, Collecting, and the Beholding of Landscape Painting in the Seventeenth Century,” in Renaissance Quarterly 61 (4): 1167–1207.
Marianne Ferguson, professor, Philosophy and Humanities, presented “Infancy Narratives in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels” and “Transformation in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians and the Gospel of John” at St. Mary of the Angels Regional Center in Williamsville, New York, in December.
John Draeger, assistant professor, Philosophy and Humanities, presented “Calming the Anxious Student” at the 2008 conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, held at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, October 16–19.
Julian Cole, assistant professor, Philosophy and Humanities, presented “Creativity, Freedom, and Authority: A New Perspective on the Metaphysics of Mathematics” at the Buffalo Logic Colloquium, held at the University at Buffalo on September 29.
Dolores E. Battle, senior adviser to the president for equity and campus diversity, was elected to a three-year term (2009–2012) on the executive board of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.