CSSPS Summer News 2015

Faculty Research

Under the direction of Associate Professor Dr. Bob Sasso, 15 UW-Parkside students gained hands-on training in archaeological field methods while involved in investigations into an early historic Euro-American settlement in our own neighborhood. The students surveyed and excavated the location of the earliest known cabin in Kenosha County, built and occupied by 1834 by Jacob Montgomery and his family. Investigations yielded critical evidence that intact underground deposits still remain at the site, which promise to provide an enhanced understanding of frontier life here at that time.

Dr. Sandra Moats (history) conducted archival research at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston. She examined shipping records from the 1790s to see how European wars affected America's transatlantic commerce. This research will be included in her book "Enforcing Neutrality in America's Atlantic: The Domestic Origins of a Landmark Proclamation" under consideration at Cornell University Press.  

Dr. Ed Schmitt (history) met with activist and entertainer Dick Gregory as part of his research for his biography of Gregory. This book is under consideration at the University of North Carolina Press.

Dr. Kenny French (geography) revised and resubmitted a manuscript "The Diffusion of American Rap" (title subject for change) to GeoJournal, an international geography journal. Research done this summer included researching and mapping around 1,100 rap artists by their hometowns and noting when their debut albums were released. The manuscript was edited after suggestions from two reviewers and resubmitted in mid-July. Dr. French also worked on and sent a manuscript "Mapping a Fading Italian-American Ethnic Enclave in Kenosha, WI" to the Applied Geography Conference Proceedings (conference will be in November). Research included geocoding restaurants, barber shops, and bakeries from Kenosha City Directories from 1929, 1959, and 1989. Photos were also taken of specific Italian-American places in Kenosha. The manuscript was sent for review in mid-June.

Dr. Ross Astoria (politics, philosophy and law) finished writing the following article: "Design of an International Law Compliant Carbon Border Tax Adjustment."

Dr. Jenny Keefe (politics, philosophy and law) completed the final version of her book chapter "The Early British Idealists and the Metaphysics of the Self," which will be published in the forthcoming book "British Idealism and the Concept of the Self," ed. W.J. Mander and Stamatoula Panagakou by Palgrave-Macmillan.   

Dr. Kate Gillogly (sociology/anthropology) has been working with students on research involving Kenosha's Pike Creek, doing oral history interviews about people's relationship to this critical but forgotten water resource.  

Dr. Joy Wolf (geography) is doing field work in Oregon with community groups and contacts for her research on bird migration patterns. 

Faculty Presentations 

Dr. Elizabeth Brownson (history) has been invited to present a paper to a Middle Eastern history conference in Ankara, Turkey. Her paper is entitled "Reform or Restrictions? The Ottoman Family Law Code (OLFR of 1917) and Muslim Women's Status in Mandate Palestine." Dr. Brownson also served as a consultant on a documentary film on Palestinian women and the law entitled "Three Judges."   

Dr. Seif Da'Na (sociology/anthropology) was invited to deliver the keynote address to a media event in celebration of the end of the Apartheid in South Africa. The event will take place in early September. The keynote address is titled "Media Accuracy - Context and Controversy." Dr. Da'Na was also invited to the following events:

• "Rise of ISIL" by the Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice
• The Middle East and the Arab Israeli Conflict in Sweden in May; the lecture was attended by members of the Swedish parliament
• Interviewed, almost daily, by major TV stations in the Middle East as a commentator on the regional and international events in prime time shows and news broadcasts watched by millions (Al-Mayadeen TV station, Al Jazeera, Russia Today, Press TV, Iran State TV, Palestine Today, Real News TV, South Africa, the Arabic Hour)
• Write the political analysis regarding the Iranian nuclear agreement with the p5+1 in April and July for Al Jazeera Net   

 

Dr. Kate Gillogly (sociology/anthropology) gave a keynote address on "Sustainability in Diverse Places: Universal Principle, Local Expressions" to the joint SEASSI/SASL/CESSI Student Conference at UW-Madison. SEASSI is the Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute; SASLI is the South Asian Summer Language Institute; and CESSI is the Central Eurasian Summer Studies Institute. Dr. Gillogly moderated a panel on "Sustainability and Symbiosis."

Dr. Xun Wang (sociology/anthropology) gave four talks on non-profit organizations in the US at Jianghan University, Wuhan. China. He also gave the following presentations:

• 5/27/15. "Professor Xiaotong Fei and Development of Sociology in China," at Jianghan Forum of Jianghan University, Wuhan, China. Jianghan Forum is a university-wide forum with distinguished guest speakers.
• 7/5/15-7/14/15. Sponsored by a grant from the China's Department of Education, Dr. Wang headed a delegation of 13 Chinese American professors visiting six universities in Wuhan, China including world famous Wuhan University (in 2014, US News and World Report ranked Wuhan University 301st) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (in 2014, US News and World Report ranked HUST 294th in the world). Among 13 members, there were nine full professors (including two associate vice presidents of two universities and one former assistant vice president), two associate professors and two assistant professors.
• 7/6/15. Dr. Wang gave a talk "Public Sociology: Theory and Practices" at Wuhan University.   

 

Faculty Professional Development

The Controlling Community Violence program (Criminal Justice Department) is a collaborative effort between the Criminal Justice Department and The Healing Connection in Racine to affect positive changes in behavior and consequences for individuals arrested and/or convicted of domestic violence abuse offenses. Referrals are made from the court, district attorney's office, private attorneys, probation and parole and some agencies. Monthly sessions continued through the summer.   

Dr. Ross Astoria (politics, philosophy and law) supervised a judicial internship and an independent study.

Dr. Jenny Keefe (Politics, Philosophy & Law) attended the online training workshop and reworked PHIL 205 Philosophy of Religion into an online format.   

Joe Pearson (politics, philosophy and law) attended the online workshop and reworked PHIL 101 Introduction to Philosophy into an online format.   

Dr. Kate Gillogly (sociology/anthropology) worked on online course development for a course that was scheduled for fall and is doing a general education workshop to revise a course to be offered in spring.   

Dr. Xun (George) Wang (sociology/anthropology) successfully completed the 2014-2015 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars program. This program targets and connects outstanding early career and later-career teachers, respectively. Each participant completes a year-long SoTL project with dissemination of results as an essential part of the process. Participants then serve as a model and mentor in their discipline and on their campus, leading efforts to advance the practice of teaching through scholarly inquiry into student learning. Dr. Wang has also worked on the following projects:

• Published a co-author paper "Consumer Xenocentrism in China: An Exploratory Study" in Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
• Submitted two journal articles for review in China
• Submitted the abstract of a paper to The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) International Conference on Education
• Working with two colleagues in China to prepare a presentation "Resource Mobilization and Integration: Non-profit Organization Development in China" at the American Sociological Association annual meeting; the presentation is scheduled Aug. 25.   

 

Dr. Rich Walasek (geography) conducted a fund-raising effort for the Duncan Memorial Scholarship and the Redlin-Walasek Scholarship.

Students 

Christopher Allen, a sociology major with a concentration in anthropology who minored in history and earned a certificate in GIS is the International Studies Outstanding Graduate of 2015. Chris worked on the Winter Farmers Market research project and presented his research at the American Anthropological Meetings. He carried out historical research in support of the summer archaeological field school dig of the first Anglo homestead in Kenosha County. He has presented on this research at the Central States Anthropological Society, UW System Posters in the Rotunda at the Capitol in Madison, and the Association of American Geographers.   

Zachary Patterson, a political science and international studies major, was an intern at the Venezuelan embassy in Chicago this summer.   

Brianna Hayden is the Lillian Trager Fellowship awardee. Brianna is particularly interested in cross-cultural communication and interactions.  Her research this summer was about methods and effective strategies in English Language Learning.  She is doing research on English language schools and programs in universities in Poland.  Her goal is to use this knowledge in her International Studies Senior Seminar to implement an ELL tutoring program for international students at UW-Parkside.