Faculty and Staff Notables

1212
Fall Quad

Dr. Leah Panther, assistant professor of literacy education, had an article, titled “’This is Manist’: Counterscripts as Catalysts for Change in the English Curriculum,” published in Multicultural Perspectives.

Dr. Katherine Perrotta, assistant professor of middle grades and secondary education, presented her research, “Revisited: A study on conditions that promote historical empathy with ‘The Elizabeth Jennings Project,’” at the virtual meeting of the National Council for the Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly.

Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor emeritus of French and interdisciplinary studies, had his translation of Michael Edwards’ Pour un christianisme intempestif: Savoir entendre la bible (Fallois, 2020) accepted for publication by Fortress Press. The book’s English title is Untimely Christianity: Hearing the Bible.

Dr. Riku Kawaguchi, assistant professor of sociology, was interviewed by WGXA-TV in Macon for a story, titled “‘The COVID Effect:’ Professor discusses how the pandemic impacts homicides in Macon.”

Dr. Eric Klingelhofer, professor emeritus of history, published the results of his 2015 Mercer-supported field work in Ireland in an article, titled “Molana Abbey: from medieval monastery to Tudor manor to Georgian folly,” which appears in the 2020 issue of the British journal Post-Medieval Archaeology, Vol. 54, pp. 237-50.

Peter Leary, adjunct professor of criminal justice, was named acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.

Dr. Paul Lewis, professor of religion, published “In Gun We Trust? A Homily” in Review and Expositor 117 (3). This issue of the journal was a theme issue on “Bullets, Baptists and the Bible.”

Dr. Chinekwu Obidoa, associate professor of global health and Africana studies, co-organized the viewing of the film “Deepsouth” to mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 at the Douglass Theatre in collaboration with the Macon Film Guild and her Coalition for Collaboration on HIV/AIDS Research and Intervention in Middle Georgia. She also delivered a short presentation on the burden and factors of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region and served as co-discussant of the film at the event.

Chelsea Rathburn, assistant professor of English and creative writing, serving in her role as Georgia poet laureate composed an original poem, “My Home in Georgia,” for the 2020 Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities, held virtually Dec. 1. The poem about her love for an Otis Redding song was designed, illustrated and letterpress-printed by Tennille Shuster, associate professor of graphic design, and served as the physical award that presented to each of the 10 recipients. Rathburn was also included in a New York Times Thanksgiving Day feature, “Verses vs. Virus: What These Poets Laureate Are Thankful For,” which asked state poets laureate to contribute poems or statements about gratitude in a challenging year. Rathburn’s poem was titled “What Are You Grateful For?” Furthermore, Rathburn chaired two sessions, titled “Courting Scandal and Risking Truth: Creative Writers on the Pleasures and Limits of Self-Disclosure,” at the virtual South Atlantic Modern Language Association conference held Nov. 15. In addition to chairing the panels, she presented a paper titled “Confessional Sleight of Hand: Concealment through Revelation.”

Dr. Charlotte Thomas, professor of philosophy, was appointed executive director of the Association for Core Texts and Courses (ACTC). She was invited on Dec. 2 to serve on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Campus Free Expression COVID-19 Working Group and moderated a live Q&A on Dec. 11 with Dr. Emma Cohen del Laura, senior lecturer of political theory at Amsterdam University College, on Plato’s Laws for ACTC’s “Core Conversations” series.

Dr. Natasha Laibhen-Parkes, clinical assistant professor, co-authored with colleagues and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta an article, titled “Improving assessment of child growth in a pediatric hospital setting, published in BMC Pediatrics.

Dr. Clinton Canal, assistant professor, was appointed reviewer for the International Journal of Molecular Sciences Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

Dr. Nicole Metzger, clinical assistant professor, was awarded a $5,000 grant from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy for her project titled “Impact of Inpatient Pharmacy-Driven Transitions of Care Services on Clinical Outcomes.”

Dr. Rita Nahta, assistant professor, authored “PPM1D a serine/threonine kinase and pharmacological target in cancer” in Biochemical Pharmacology. She was also appointed to an additional two-year term to the Editorial Advisory Board of Biochemical Pharmacology. Furthermore, Dr. Nahta was appointed to a four-year term on the federal Cellular and Molecular Medicine Advisory Panel for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Villa Zapata, clinical assistant professor, published a manuscript, titled “Hierarchical modeling of blood pressure determinants and outcomes following valsartan treatment in hypertensive patients with known comorbidities: pooled analysis of six prospective real-world studies including 11,999 patients,” in Current Medical Research and Opinion.

Dr. Arla G. Bernstein, assistant professor of communication, had her submission, “Harboring Hope through Community Journalism,” accepted for presentation at the Southern States Communication Association 91st Annual Convention to be held virtually April 7-9. She will be moderating a panel, as well as presenting her own research. The panel also includes Dr. Steve Hamilton, assistant professor of human services and psychology; Dr. Jay Black, associate professor of journalism in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and Dr. Justin Brown, adjunct professor of communication.

Dr. Maxine Harlemon, adjunct professor of mathematics and health informatics, was the invited speaker for the 2020 INFORMS Annual Meeting, as well as the Prostate Cancer Transatlantic Consortium’s biennial meeting. She also published “A Custom Genotyping Array Reveals Population-Level Heterogeneity for the Genetic Risks of Prostate Cancer and Other Cancers in Africa” in Cancer Research. Dr. Harlemon’s research involves genomic analysis of prostate cancer cases and controls.

Dr. Richard Martin, professor of criminal justice and homeland security, conducted a review of a manuscript, titled “Effects of Overnight Shift Work on Heart Rate,” for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Dr. Dina M. Schwam, assistant professor of psychology and human services, had her manuscript, “Individual Differences in Self-regulated Learning of College Students Enrolled in Online College Courses,” accepted for publication in the American Journal of Distance Education. The manuscript was based on her dissertation research as an educational psychologist investigating the profiles of self-regulated learning of college students taking online courses at a traditional college using latent class analysis.

Dr. Tyler Wilkinson, associate professor of counseling, Dr. Morgan Kiper Riechel, assistant professor of counseling, and counselor education and supervision Ph.D. students Austin Shugart and Ashley Williams co-authored “Racial Group Differences in the Predictive Validity of Undergraduate GPA, GRE, and MAT Scores on Counselor Knowledge Acquisition” in the International Journal for the Advancement in Counseling.

Dr. Antonio Saravia, associate professor of economics and director of the Center for the Study of Economics and Liberty, had his paper, “Socialist Indoctrination in School Textbooks: The Case of Colección Bicentenario in Venezuela,” co-authored with Dr. Clara Mengolini, assistant professor of Spanish literature in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Robi Ragan, associate professor of economics, accepted for publication in the Journal of Private Enterprise Education. Dr. Saravia also made the keynote presentation, “Economic Policies and Modern Monetary Theory,” Dec. 10 for the Students for Liberty International Conference. Additionally, he participated in a Liberty Fund panel discussing “Capitalism, Free Trade and Globalization” in Antigua, Guatemala. Dr. Saravia was interviewed Nov. 18 and Dec. 2 by CNN and Dec. 3 by TVV regarding the announcement of new stimulus packages and the accumulation of fiscal debt.

Dr. Jennifer Goode, instructor of technical communication, published an article, titled  “A Collaborative Multimedia Project Model for Online Graduate Students Supported by On-Campus Undergraduate Students,” in Vol. 51, Issue 1 of the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.

Dr. Dorina Marta Mihut, associate professor of mechanical engineering, gave a poster presentation at the Defense TechConnect Virtual Innovation Summit and Expo held Nov. 17-19.

David Hricik, professor, gave a presentation for the American Intellectual Property Law Association as part of its “Practice Innovation Webinar Series” and a presentation on “Ethical Issues Created by AI, Innovation, the IoT and 3D Printing” to the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association/University of Houston Law Center 36th Annual IP Institute, as well as to the State Bar of Arizona Annual Meeting and also to the Washington Intellectual Property Law Association Monthly Meeting. In addition, he gave a presentation to the 25th Annual Advanced Patent Law Institute in Austin, Texas, on “The Ins and Outs of Conflicts of Interest,” as well as a presentation to the 30th Annual All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property on “Conflicts of Interest: From Migrating Lawyers to Subject Matter Conflicts and Back Again.” Furthermore, he co-chaired his pupilage group’s presentation titled “Who’s Zoomin’ Who[m]” to the Atlanta IP Inn of Court.

Dr. Bonzo Reddick, professor and chair of community medicine, professor of family medicine and associate dean for diversity and inclusion, was selected to give the inaugural Scott Fields Lecture for the upcoming Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Medical Student Education Conference to be held Jan. 31-Feb. 3.

Amy Schwartz Moretti, director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, professor and Caroline Paul King Chair in Strings, was featured soloist Nov. 1 with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra (HSO), Gregory Vadja conducting, for the opening concerts of the HSO Fall Festival in two performances of “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi including all four concertos: “Spring,” “Summer,” “Autumn” and “Winter,” at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The video premiere was also Nov. 1 and can be accessed on the HSO website. In October, Moretti was guest artist in two livestreamed concerts for the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta, “Bach’s Lunch” with William Ransom, piano, performing Beethoven Sonata No.8, Oct. 9, and Beethoven Sonata No.5, Oct. 30, both at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Moretti was guest artist for the opening Ovation Concert of Chamber Music Charleston (CMC) performing Beethoven Quartet, Op.59, No.2 and the Joseph Bologne Violin Duo No.3 in A Major with the musicians of CMC: Frances Hsieh, violin; Ben Weiss, viola; and Timothy O’Malley, cello; streamed live from Sottile Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina, Oct. 13, and then on-demand until Oct. 26. This season Moretti has curated and appeared in the Fabian Concert Series, which was relocated to The Grand Opera House in downtown Macon to assure social distancing and COVID-19 precautions.

Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, associate professor of practical theology, was one of seven women honored by the Women’s Caucus of the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Biblical Literature at this year’s joint meeting, where she was selected for inclusion in their 1000 Women in Religion Wikipedia Project. A paper on her work was presented at the conference. Her book, I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision of Racial Reconciliation, was also featured in a separate session on noteworthy publications by female scholars. Additionally, she convened and participated in an exploratory session, titled “Critical Whiteness Studies and Global Religion.”

Cenitra Stevenson, academic advisor with the Educational Opportunity Center, received her master’s degree in higher education from Georgia Southern University.