This week, SUNY Oneonta celebrated the best research, scholarly/creative activity, teaching, service and other contributions made by faculty with its Life of the Mind XIII and Community of Scholars events.
"A major part of the college’s mission is to nurture a community where students grow intellectually. Our faculty model intellectual growth through their research and creative activities," said Dr. Eileen Morgan-Zayachek, acting vice president of academic affairs. "College events such as the Community of Scholars and Life of the Mind put forth some of the best work our faculty have completed over the year and create opportunity for students, faculty and staff to engage that work, participate in our academic community and celebrate faculty achievements."
The Community of Scholars, an evening awards program, was held Nov. 17 in the Morris Conference Center. The event celebrated four "Scholars of the Year," who were recognized for their scholarly and creative work between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
Scholars of the Year included:
Sarah Rhodes, reference and instruction librarian, Milne Library
Rhodes is an alumna of SUNY Oneonta's Adolescence Education: English program. She and her colleagues Kjersti VanSlyke-Briggs and Gina Solano recently received funding through a Humanities New York Vision grant for their study, "Reaching Rural Readers: Linking Living Authors and Young Adult Literature to Foster Growth in Literacy."
Dr. Suriati Abas, assistant professor of elementary education and reading, School of Education, Human Ecology and Sports Studies
Dr. Abas recently published the chapter "New Literacies, Empathy and Advocacy – Reconstructing a Pedagogy in Pandemic Times" in the book "Disaster Pedagogy for Higher Education: Research, Criticism, and Reflection." Dr. Abas has published in the peer-reviewed journal articles "Navigating the Land of Opportunities as Muslim Immigrants: A Geocriticism Perspective to Transnationalism in Multicultural Children's Literature (Journal of Children's Literature), "Pursuing Literacy Research in Precarious Times" (International Studies of Sociology in Education), and "S(h)elfies in Bitmoji Classrooms – A Trend or a Literacy Practice?" (Journal of Digital Culture in Education).
Dr. Sheena Mason, assistant professor of English, School of Liberal Arts and Business
Dr. Mason is the author of "Theory of Racelessness: A Case for Philosophies of Antirace(ism). This past year, her work was also referenced in the following articles "Theory of Racelessness: A Case for Antirace(ism) | To Eliminate Racism We Must Eliminate Race" (Journal of Free Black Thought), "Undoing Racism Means Undoing Race | Opinion" (Newsweek, Dec. 6, 2021), "and "To Transcend Racism We Have to Transcend the Idea of Race Itself" She contributed to an article for "Common Sense" that focused on the meaning of Black History Month. She was interviewed by the Black News Channel (BNC) to discuss her theory of racelessness. She received a Pluralism and Civil Exchange Grant from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and another grant from the Jazz Leadership/Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.
Dr. Sallie Han, professor of anthropology, School of Sciences
Dr. Han, a specialist in the anthropology of reproduction, has served as co-editor and co-author of The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Reproduction (Routledge, 2021) as well as the peer-reviewed journal article "Social Capital as Mediating Factor on COVID-19 Induced Psychological Distress" (Journal of Community Psychology) with SUNY Oneonta colleagues Gregory Fulkerson, Kirsten Kemmerer, Elizabeth Seale, Alexander Thomas and James Zians.
In addition to the four scholar honorees, the Innovation Pedagogy Award was presented to Dr. Shahin Kachwala, assistant professor of women's and gender studies, School of Liberal Arts and Business. Her work focuses on the interconnections between gender, violence and political cultures. She published the book, "Revolutionary Trouble: Gender, Political Violence, and Nationalism in India," in which she analyzes the often-neglected militant or revolutionary struggle for Indian independence (1905-1947), specifically women's engagement with violence by combining historical (archival sources) and media analysis (film and news). Dr. Kachwala's teaching includes courses on transnational feminisms; feminist theories; women's political resistance; Bollywood and gender; and gender, power and society.
Life of the Mind, a faculty showcase held Nov. 16-17 in the Morris Conference Center, celebrated the rich intellectual life found on the SUNY Oneonta campus. This was the 13th showcase held, with more than 90 faculty members presenting posters, computer displays and other exhibit formats. Topics ranged from consumer perceptions of Band-Aid Ourtone bandages to young people's decision-making styles to computational physics simulations of Saturn's ring particle dynamics. A full list of faculty presenters and their abstracts can be found online.