March
Sweta Baniya, English, published “#RageAgainstRape: Nepali Women’s Assemblage and Networked Performances Against Rape,” Grassroots Activisms: Public Rhetorics in Localized Contexts, ed. Lisa Phillips, Sarah Warren-Riley, and Julie Bates (Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 2024), pp. 172–85.
Planning, Governance, and Globalization doctoral student Shukirya Bradost participated as one of four speakers in the panel “The Iran-Hezbollah-Houthi Network” for the conference “The Houthis, Iran, and Red Sea Security,” which was organized by the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., and took place February 6.
Brian Britt, Professor of Religion and Culture and Director of ASPECT, published “Samson in Gaza” on the Sightings page of the University of Chicago Divinity School website.
Ralph Buehler, Public and International Affairs, published “COVID-19 and Cycling: A Review of the Literature on Changes in Cycling Levels and Government Policies from 2019 to 2022,” Transport Reviews 43.2 (2024): 299–344, with John Pucher.
ASPECT doctoral student Reed Byg, Higher Education doctoral student Rebecca Steele, and Audrey Reeves, Political Science and ASPECT Core Faculty, collaborated on an aerial circus project with Vianna Isbister, Night Owl Circus. The project, “Utilizing Aerial Circus Arts as a Form of Inclusive Physical Exercise,” was funded by an ICAT mini SEAD grant and culminated in a free aerial workshop and demonstration session on February 5 in The Cube of the Moss Arts Center.
María del Carmen Caña Jiménez, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, published
“Resonancias quijotescas y crisis nacionales en La que se avecina” (Resonances of El Quijote and National Crises in La que se avecina), ALCES XXI: Journal of Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film 5 (2021–2023): 479–514.
A fellowship has been established in memory of Glen Earthman, Associate Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership, by his wife, Julie; it recognizes the legacy of Earthman, who was a member of the Virginia Tech community for 46 years. The fellowship provides $47,500 to support the academic and professional development of 15 doctoral student candidates selected as recipients. Each student may receive $2,000 toward tuition, and the remaining $17,500 may be used for state, national, and international conferences where the students can present their research.
Ed Falco, English, published X in the Tickseed (Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 2024). Falco’s recorded reading from the collection of poems is available here.
ASPECT doctoral student Hannah Glasson published a review of The Digitally Disposed: Racial Capitalism and the Informatics of Value by Seb Franklin, Lateral 12.2 (2023).
Aarnes Gudmestad, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, published “Usage and Variationist Approaches to SLA,” Usage in Second Language Acquisition: Critical Reflections and Future Directions, ed. Kevin McManus, Second Language Acquisition Research Series (New York, New York: Routledge, 2024), pp. 67–86.
Erin Hopkins, Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management, published Sustainable Property Management (Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Tech Publishing, 2023).
Two Instructional Design and Technology doctoral students gave presentations at the Eastern Educational Research Association annual conference, which took place February 8–9 in Clearwater, Florida. Lumbini Barua presented “Faculty Innovation Groups Approach to the integration of Emerging Technologies in Higher Education” with Barbara Lockee, Professor of Instructional Design and Technology in the School of Education and Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Catherine Amelink, and Aaron Bond. Bryce Platt Kayanuma presented “Using Quick Response Research to Track the Rapid Evolution of AI for Learning” with Lockee and Glen Holmes, Education.
James Ivory, English, and ASPECT doctoral student Michael Senters published “He’s One of Them: Social Identity and The Mandalorian,” The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: The Mandalorian, ed. Jessica E. Tompkins (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press, 2024), pp. 101–18.
Tonisha Lane, Education, published “‘That Cross-Curricular Business’: The Engineering Design Process in Mathematics and Science Classrooms,” The Qualitative Report 29.1 (2024): 355–76, with Eugenia Vomvoridi-Ivanovic et al.
The College expresses its sorrow at the death of Myriam Lechuga, a former Administrative Assistant and Graduate Coordinator in the Urban Affairs and Planning and the Government and International Affairs programs. A beloved member of the Virginia Tech community, she was especially valued for her work with graduate students in Northern Virginia. Additional information is included in the funeral home obituary and the Virginia Tech In Memoriam.
Barbara Lockee, Professor of Instructional Design and Technology in the School of Education and Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, coedited Learning, Design, and Technology: An International Compendium of Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy (Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, 2023) with J. Michael Spector and Marcus Childress. As a Living Reference Work, the volume is online in a continuously updated edition.
Timothy Luke, University Distinguished Professor, Chair of the Department of Political Science, and Interim Director of the School of Public and International Affairs, published “The Forms of War After 1945: From a World of ‘Great Wars’ to a Planet for ‘Special Military Operations,’” Telos: Critical Theory of the Contemporary 205 (Winter 2023): 9–39.
Michael Moehler, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, received a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The award recognizes outstanding international research accomplishments and exceptional promise for lasting impact beyond one’s research field. It includes a research stay of about six months at the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf as well as an award ceremony and a reception hosted by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal President of Germany.
ASPECT doctoral student Rebekah Mui Pei Em presented “The Crisis of Lust in American Conservative Evangelical Sexuality” at the Florida State University Department of Religion Graduate Student Symposium titled “Crisis and Calamity: The Aesthetics of Apocalypse, Immorality, and Conspiracy,” which took place February 9–10 in Tallahassee, Florida. In addition, Mui published a guest article, “Uncovering the Ungospel of Empire,” on the personal blog of Beth Felker Jones, Northern Seminary.
The Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) has established an international partnership with the PPE program at the Heinrich-Heine-University (HHU) Düsseldorf in Germany. Beginning in the spring of 2025, PPE students at Virginia Tech will have the opportunity to spend a semester in Düsseldorf, taking courses in PPE and related departments at the HHU that will contribute to students’ PPE degree programs at Virginia Tech.
The College notes with sadness the death of Barbara Reeves, retired instructor who taught in the departments of History, Religion and Culture (and its predecessor Interdisciplinary Studies), and Science, Technology, and Society. Reeves was a member of the Virginia Tech community from 1993 to 2019. She was the recipient of an Earth Sustainability curriculum development and teaching grant from the Center for Excellence. An informal memorial service was held on campus in February 22. Additional information can be found in the Roanoke Times obituary and the Virginia Tech In Memoriam.
ASPECT doctoral student Muhammed Shah Shajahan published “‘Distorting the History’: Padmaavat and the Performative Production of History in Indian Popular Culture,” National Identities (January 30, 2024): 1–16.
Max Stephenson, Jr., Professor of Public and International Affairs and Director of the Institute for Policy and Governance (IPG), and IPG research associate Neda Moayerian published “Storytelling, Performing Arts, and Collective Capacity in One Rio Favela,” The International Journal of Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts 19.1 (2024): 75–95.
Trevor Stewart, Education, published Two Years in the Lives of Two English Teachers: To Be, To Do, To Become (New York, New York: Routledge, 2024) with Bob Fecho et al.
Yannis Stivachtis, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for European and Transatlantic Studies, coedited Nineteenth Century America in the Society of States: Reluctant Power, Routledge Studies in U.S. Foreign Policy (Abingdon, United Kingdom, and New York, New York: Routledge, 2024), with Cornelia Navari. His individual contributions to the volume were “The United States in the Nineteenth Century International Society: An Introduction” and “America and the Other Revolutions: Neutrality and Non-engagement in Latin America and Greece,” pp. 1–16 and 54–83 respectively.
Three CLAHS students were among seven from Virginia Tech who attended the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which took place from November 30 to December 12, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Participating from the College were: Anna Pletch, a senior French and Environmental Resource Management major; Philip Ray, a doctoral student in Sociology; and Shruti Punjabi, a doctoral student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization.