Faculty News
Nalini Rao – Associate Professor of World Art
Dr. Nalini Rao, Art Historian held an International Conference on ‘The Growth and Development of Indian Culture: Historical and Literary Perspectives’ (Prehistoric Period – 12th C CE.) from 29th June - 1st July 2018 in Bengaluru, India. A total of 67 papers were read by scholars present from 9 countries. The theme of the conference pertained to the interaction between various cultural traditions and local influences that have inspired the growth of Indian culture, and its self- definition. Participants added, “it was an exhilarating and enlightening experience,” “the conference has given me the incentive and encouragement to strive towards excellence in my chosen field” etc. Dr. Rao published a book recently, in Gujarati (language) on the historical site of Lothal in Western India. Read More
Edward M. Feasel – Professor of Economics, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Chief Academic Officer
Professor Edward M. Feasel’s book “Exports, Trade Policy, and Economic Growth in Eras of Globalization” was published by Routledge in June, 2018. The book contains two chapters that were co-authored with SUA Alumnus Daiki Kumazawa, c/o 2017. Feasel also chaired a session and presented a paper entitled “International Business Cycles: On the Relative Importance of Common and Idiosyncratic Shocks” at the European Economic and Finance Society, City, University of London, June 21-24.
Ted Lowe – Associate Professor of Anthropology
Prof. Ted Lowe was an invited speaker at the inaugural meeting of the European Network for Psychological Anthropology, which was convened at the European Association for Social Anthropology (EASA) Biennial Meetings in Stockholm, Sweden in August. Prof. Lowe was also invited to be the discussant for a session titled, “Pedagogies on the Move - Parental Interventions” at the EASA meetings. Prof. Lowe published a chapter titled, “Kinship, Funerals, and the Durability of Culture in Chuuk” in the new book, Advances in Culture Theory from Psychological Anthropology(Palgrave) edited by Naomi Quinn. Finally, in August, Prof. Lowe ended his six-year term as Editor-in-Chief of Ethos: The Journal for Psychological Anthropology.
Verónica Quezada - Assistant Professor of Spanish Language and Culture
Professor Verónica Quezada presented her paper, “La fila india: la intrahistoria de la migración centroamericana” (“La Fila India: the intra-history of Central American migration”) at the XXXVI International Conference of Latin American Studies Association (LASA), which took place in Barcelona, Spain, on May 23-26, 2018. The topic of the conference was “Latin American Studies in a Globalized World.” Professor’s Quezada paper analyzes migration from Central America to the United States as portrayed in the novel titled La fila india (loosely translated as The Single File) written by the Mexican author Antonio Ortuño.
Tetsushi Ogata – Visiting Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
Professor Ogata participated in the 6th Global Conference of the International Network of Genocide Scholars in Marseille, France and presented a paper on “Is Japan apologizing or denying? Memories and narratives of the wartime responsibility of sexual violence in East Asia” on 7 July. This paper drew a comparison between the conservative Japanese discourse on denying wartime atrocities, especially the comfort women issue, and the Turkish state narrative denying the Armenian genocide. He also presented a paper on “Competing images of national identity in East Asia: the new nationalism in search of stability and coherence,” discussing emerging characteristics of more exclusionary variants of nationalism in China, Japan, and South Korea, at the FLACSO-International Studies Association Joint Conference, on 25 July, in Quito, Ecuador.
Dongyoun Hwang – Professor of Asian Studies
Professor Dongyoun Hwang published a short article (in Korean) titled “Notes on Wang Jingwei’s Wartime Collaboration and Asianism during the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945,” in Perspectives on Interlocking East Asia (pp. 345-365), published in June 2018 by Changbi Publishing Co. He also published a review of Xu Guoqi’s Chinese and Americans: A Shared History (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014) in China Review International (published by the University of Hawaii Press), vol. 23, no. 2 (pp. 199-203). The Korea Times in Los Angeles interviewed Professor Hwang on August 28, 2018. The interview was about the forthcoming newly expanded edition of Song of Arirang: The Story of a Korean Rebel in Revolutionary China by Nym Wales and Kim San, which he and the late Professor George O. Totten III co-edited with additional historical notes and materials. The book is scheduled to be published in Fall 2018 by Kaya Press.
Ryan Ashley Caldwell – Associate Professor of Sociology
Ryan Ashley Caldwell organized and presided over a panel section for the Marxist Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association in Philadelphia at the annual meeting.
Sandrine Simeon – Assistant Professor of French Language and Culture
Sandrine’s latest article, “Film-théâtre, intermédialité et nouveau x enjeux esthétiques” on the esthetics of filming theater, was accepted by the Canadian review, Intermediality: History and Theory of the Arts, Literature and Technologies, for publication in the Spring 2019 edition, « Restituer (le temps) / Rendering (Time) . Earlier this year, she presented a paper at the NeMLA (North-east Modern Language Association) in Pittsburgh, “The Gleaners and I: gleaning ‘en abyme’, a reflexive cinematic writing of the authorial self.” Romance Studies also published her article “Film-Theater as an Intermedial Occurrence of Theater: Recycling Ionesco’s Bald Soprano”.
Kristi Wilson – Associate Professor of Rhetoric
Dr. Kristi M. Wilson participated in several events to promote the upcoming book: A Trail of Fire for Political Cinema: The Hour of the Furnaces Fifty Years Later (edited by Javier Campo and Humberto Perez-Blanco).
Wilson’s chapter ”‘The Hour of the Furnaces’, May 1968, and the Pesaro International Film Festival” explores the history Pesaro festival and the debut of the iconic documentary. She presented her work at the following academic conferences: The Legacy of 1968 in Latin America, Symposium, May 18, 2018 at the University of Leicester, UK; the Latin American Studies Association, 36th International Congress, May 23 – 26, 2018, in Barcelona, Spain; and Visible Evidence XXV, August 8 – 12, 2018, in Bloomington, Indiana.
Dr. Wilson also led a workshop for the Latin American Studies Association, 36th International Congress (along with Moira Fradinger, and Juliana Martínez) entitled: “Gender, Sexuality, Film and Media in Latin America: Challenging Representation and Global Structures.”
Bryan Penprase - Professor of Astronomy, Dean of Faculty, Undergraduate Program
Professor Bryan Penprase conducted his fourth ZTF Summer Undergraduate Astronomy Institute at Caltech that featured lectures, tours and observations by 26 students from Caltech, Pomona College, Williams College and SUA. The students were able to learn about astronomy from Caltech researchers, and spent a night observing with the historic Mt. Wilson 60” telescope and made a visit to the Palomar Observatory and helped with observations with the 200” telescope. During the summer, Prof. Penprase also conducted astrophysics research with two SUA students and a former student from Yale-NUS College in Singapore. The work from the summer resulted in a publication in the Astrophysical Journal entitled, “Optical and Infrared Photometry of the nearby SN 2017cbv” which measured the properties of a supernova which occurred in the galaxy NGC 5643 using remotely operated telescopes in Chile to measure the distance to the galaxy, and changes in colors and temperature of the supernova over several months.