Salem State University faculty and staff are educators, scholars, and leaders in their respective fields. Following are highlights and accolades celebrating the outstanding research and creative activities conducted by Salem State faculty and staff in November 2021.
Faculty and Staff News in November 2021
As part of his Fall 2021 sabbatical, Professor Brian Alves (art + design) completed a 10-day visiting artist residency at William Penn University. The residency culminated in a live and live-streamed talk “Proxy / Prognosis: Art as Intermediary.” You can view the talk followed by a short interview with Professor Alves on the William Penn website.
Professor Haig Demarjian (art + design) debuted the screenprint “Songs of the Sea” at Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA, as part of its “Fake Gig Posters” exhibition. Invited artists had the assignment to create a promo poster for a fictional band or performer from a movie or TV show.
Professor Jeff Driskell (social work) published the article “Telemental Health Through a Racial Justice and Health Equity Lens” on SSRN.
Professor James Gubbins (interdisciplinary studies) presented “Creating a Happy Life: Empirically Proven Ways to Happiness” in which he spoke of the convergence of Positive Psychology and Eastern and Western religious and philosophical teachings. This was an invited speech for the Rotary Club of Salem for an event held on November 2.
Professor Rebecca Hains (media and communication) was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about changes in gendered toy marketing practices. She noted that some retailers have already stopped classifying toys by gender, while the Toy Association industry stopped making top “girl” and “boy” toy awards in 2017. “There are many individual data points that, taken together, indicate a broader shift in attitude towards gender marketing within the toy industry,” she said, but “there's still room to make progress on being inclusive.”
Professors Karen Kieffer and Monica Leisey (social work) presented “If We Can't Decolonize What Can We Do” at the Taos Institute's Virtual Conference “Education as Relating” that was held November 4-6. Professors Kieffer and Leisey also presented “No Wrong Door” an interactive session at The Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education 2021 remote conference. The presentation focused on how to enhance engagement and inclusion in post-pandemic classrooms.
Professor Emerita Krishna Mallick (philosophy) published her book “Environmental Movements of India: Chipko, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Navdanya” by Amsterdam University Press.
Professor Dane Morrison (history) published his book, “Eastward of Good Hope: Early America in a Dangerous World,” published by John Hopkins University Press.
Professors Kimberly Poitevin (interdisciplinary studies) and Keja Valens (English) presented “Cooking, Cosmetics, and Colonialism,” at the CRCA Faculty Lecture Series held on October 5. The 2021-22 Faculty Lecture Series showcases the scholarship of faculty and offers an opportunity to learn more about research taking place at Salem State.
Professor Emeritus Barbara Poremba (nursing) was a guest speaker at the Salem Veterans Day Ceremony for the dedication of a memorial to WWII Army Nurse Lt Catherine Larkin, the first and only Salem woman to lose her life in wartime service. Professor Poremba highlighted the contributions of WWII military nurses including the US Cadet Nurse Corps who are seeking recognition as Honorary WWII Veterans, S1200/HR2568 US Cadet Nurse Corps Service Recognition Act. Watch the speech here.
Professor Emeritus Barbara Poremba was also interviewed by Boston Sunday Globe for her work as a pediatric COVID-19 vaccinator at the Museum of Science.
Professor Kathleen Schlenz (occupational therapy) presented the workshop “Promoting Development Through the Lens of Social Justice in Early Intervention: Exploring Provider Perceptions of Preparedness and Comfort” to an international audience of health, human service and education professionals who support children and families navigating neurodiversity. The workshop was part of the 2021 Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) Conference held on November 4.
Professor Donna Seger (history) discussed local history, tourism, and teaching the Salem Witch Trials as a first-year seminar with Destination Salem Executive Director Kate Fox in The Destination Salem Podcast. The episode aired on November 13.
Professors Cindy Vincent (media and communications) and Sara Moore (sociology), Center for Civic Engagement Executive Director Cynthia Lynch, and co-authors Robert Awkward and Jacob Lefker published “Critically Engaged Civic Learning: A Comprehensive Restructuring of Service-Learning Approaches” in the Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning. Their article elaborates a new equity-based framework to guide the development, implementation, and assessment of community-campus partnerships to promote meaningful collaboration, civic learning, and social change.
Professor Stephen Young (geography and sustainability) with colleagues from Kazakhstan: Gulnara Nyussupova and Gaukhar Aidarkhanova (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) recently coauthored the publication: “The impact of the transformation of the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the reproduction of human capital: socio-economic aspect” published in: Studies of the Industrial Geography Commission of the Polish Geographical Society.
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