Michael Niman's book, People of the Rainbow: A Nomadic Utopia, second edition, has just been released by the University of Tennessee Press. The new edition builds on the first, adding a new introduction and two extensive new chapters, taking Niman's research in new directions. The new work questions some of the premises of the original 1997 book and expands Niman's examination of the efficacy of nonviolent conflict resolution strategies. It also uses the group that he studied as a constant by which declining civil rights in the decade since 9/11 can be measured. The Barnes & Noble at Buffalo State Bookstore will host a book signing during Bengal Pause on Thursday, October 27.

Kathryn Leacock, lecturer in museum studies, curated the new exhibit Journeys into Papua at the Buffalo Museum of Science. The exhibit features the museum's world-renowned collection of items from the Pacific Islands and is on view until January 8, 2012.

Kenneth Payne, professor of fine arts, and Buffalo State alumnus Michael Dominick, ’94, presented the performance and installation “Kiss My Action” on October 1 at WORK Gallery in New York City. Dominick created six molten iron paintings before a live audience in an event that was part performance–part creative act, while Payne poured the 2,500-degree molten iron into 300-pound blocks of optically pure ice to create two new “relics.” The cooled iron mass produced by the process is now displayed in the gallery. New York poet Heller Levinson opened the performance with a new poem he wrote for Dominick’s artwork.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his article “Suicide Means Used by Chinese Rural Youths: A Comparison Between Those With and Without Mental Disorders,” coauthored with Li Ziyao, in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 199 (6): 410–415.

Deborah Renzi, coordinator of field education in the Social Work Department, and Thomas Renzi, coordinator in the Academic Skills Center, received the John Henry Cardinal Newman award from the Newman Center on September 11 for their contributions to the Catholic Campus Ministry. According to the Reverend Patrick Zengierski, director of the Newman Center, the Renzis have been instrumental in supporting the center’s mission. They regularly attend the campus ministry’s Thursday Night Dinners, which provide students with an opportunity to connect with their professors in a meaningful way, and they also regularly support the Annual Convocation and Mass of the Holy Spirit. This marks the ninth year the Newman Center has presented the award to a faculty or staff member.

The John R. Oishei Foundation has awarded a grant of $151,200 to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society (BECHS). The funding proposal was prepared by Cynthia Conides, associate professor of history and social studies education and director of the museum studies program, and Melissa Brown, executive director of BECHS. Part of this award is designated for the revitalization of the museum’s Native American Gallery. A design and interpretation for the new gallery was undertaken by alumna Sonia Penaranda-Gonzalez, ’10, who will serve as a consultant on the project. The new gallery will be unveiled in early 2013. Buffalo State and BECHS have engaged in formal collaboration since September 2006. In January 2010, Conides was appointed as curator of special projects to BECHS after serving as the museum’s executive director for four years. The college-museum collaboration continues to provide fruitful intellectual exchange and opportunities for Buffalo State’s emerging museum professionals.

An article by Jane Cushman, assistant professor of mathematics, titled “Using Paper Plates to Find the Area of a Sector and Address Various Other PIs” appears in the current issue of the New York State Mathematics Teachers’ Journal 61 (2): 88–91. A photo from Cushman’s article also appears on the journal’s cover.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his article “Suicidal Intent Among Young Suicides in Rural China,” coauthored with Cunxian Jia, in the Archives of Suicide Research 15 (2): 127–139.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published his article “Psychological Autopsy Study of Gender-Specific Psychological Characteristics of Rural Young Suicides” in the Chinese Mental Health Journal 25 (4): 302–307. The study’s coauthor, Kong Yuanyuan, was a visiting Ph.D. student in 2009.

Erica Fire, costume director and shop manager in the Theater Department, recently completed her 13th season with the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York. Fire headed a team that built costumes for the festival's productions of Annie Get Your Gun, A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck, and Later the Same Evening. More about the Glimmerglass Festival, now in its 38th season, can be found at www.glimmerglass.org.