Dolores E. Battle, senior adviser to the president for equity and campus diversity, delivered the keynote address, “The World at our Doorstep,” to the special interest division on global issues at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s annual conference in Philadelphia, which was held November 18–20. She also delivered a paper, “The Earthquake in Haiti: Lessons Learned about Clinical Services to Developing Countries,” and participated in a panel on “Research and Researchers without Borders: Global Issues and Trends.” In addition, she presented a poster with colleagues on “Global Issues in Communication Science and Related Disorders.”

On December 3, Battle addressed students and faculty in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Xavier University in New Orleans on the topic “Developing Continuing Professional Competence—A Lifelong Commitment.”

Sharon F. Cramer, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, was a member of a panel at the American Association of University Professors’ Shared Governance conference. The conference was held in Washington, D.C., November 12–14. The panel, with SUNY University Faculty Senate (UFS) President Ken O'Brien and UFS Governance Committee Chair Dennis O'Brien, examined ways the University Faculty Senate engaged its membership during 2009–10. At that time, Cramer served as the UFS Governance Committee chair.

Shannon Schweitzer, assistant professor, Theater, is designing the lights for Theater of Youth's production of A Little House Christmas, which opens Friday, December 10, at 7:00 p.m.

Reva M. Fish, assistant professor in the Educational Foundations Department, presented her research, “Pedagogical Approaches in Head Start Classrooms,” at the annual Northeastern Educational Research Association conference in Hartford, Connecticut on October 21, 2010. She also presented her research with colleague Gerri M. Hura, “Tackling Plagiarism in Higher Education,” at the conference.

Jeffrey Zacko-Smith, assistant professor, Creative Studies, had an article titled “Reconsidering the Knowledge Base on Sexual Orientation for Teacher Education Programs” accepted for publication by the journal Multicultural Education. This work examines how queer theory can influence diversity in educational institutions, and was coauthored with G. Pritchy Smith of the University of North Florida.

Bruce Bryski moderated a discussion between Len Lenihan (Erie County Democratic Chairman) and Nick Langworthy (Erie County Republican Chairman) on November 29 in Bryski’s Politics and Media Criticism class, offered by the Communication Department. The two political chairs engaged in a lively discussion with the students and covered a wide range of issues in relation to the role of media in political campaigns, while examining political television ads and political cartoons.

Susan Schroeder, assistant professor, English, moderated and presented in a panel, “Expectations and Negotiations: Teachers and Students Creating Connections through LGBT Inquiry,” on November 20 at the annual conference of the National Council of Teachers of English held in Orlando, Florida.

Shannon Schweitzer, assistant professor, Theater, will be designing the lights for the Olmsted Parks Conservancy‘s “Olmsted Nights Winter Lights.” Schweitzer works with local theater companies as well as on Buffalo State’s productions. “Olmsted Nights Winter Lights” will feature more than 50,000 LED, solar, and other energy-efficient lights from Jewett Parkway to the Scajaquada Expressway, and from Parkside Avenue to the ring road in Delaware Park—about 15 acres in all.

Michael Johnson, associate professor, Modern and Classical Languages, conducted a 45-minute workshop on “Building critical thinking skills through Greek and Roman mythology” at the 47th annual fall institute of the Classical Association of the Empire State at Union College, Schenectady, October 21–23.

Kevin K. Williams, assistant professor, Earth Sciences and Science Education, is a coauthor of the research paper, “Field Testing of an Integrated Surface/Subsurface Modeling Technique for Planetary Exploration,” which was published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Robotics Research. This paper reports on field work in the Canadian Arctic that tested the remote analysis of data collected during simulated Mars Rover operations.