Ignite – Fall 2010

At its heart, The University of Scranton is an academic community driven by a talented and engaged faculty and living out the transformational vision of education of Saint Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. Scranton is distinctive even among our Jesuit peers in the individual attention that we provide to our students. Our embodiment of the Jesuit maxim of cura personalis manifests within the classroom and beyond.

Our faculty invite students into their research and in turn provide a level of mentoring and support that fosters uncommon achievement. For example, more than 50% of students in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics participate in research; 45% of these students wrote a formal thesis and 38% of these students authored or coauthored a publication and/or conference paper. Since 2005, almost 500

students have taken part in the Faculty/Student Research Program. The world takes notice of the results. Scranton faculty are regularly featured in national media for their research results and

expertise. They are also working near and far to make a difference in a world longing to be made more just and more gentle. From Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa to Central America and points across our nation, we are applying our expertise in projects and partnerships that enrich the educational experience of our students, build the body of knowledge for various disciplines, and address real problems for communities.

We are proud to celebrate the work of our faculty and students. I invite you to learn more through the pages of Ignite. As the name suggests, it is a reflection of our goal to inspire our students to, in the words of Ignatius, “go and set the world on fire.”

Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.President

Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.

Introduction toFALL 2010 • Vol. 1, Issue 1

Harold W. Baillie, Ph.D.

Self-knowledge is as important to an institution as it is to an individual. This is particularly true when an institution is undergoing rapid development that risks altering its mission or limiting new hires from becoming new colleagues. Rapid development can also challenge the public and professional perception of the institution, fogging the answer to the question “Who are those guys?”

The University of Scranton is in the midst of rapid development. The campus has changed dramatically in the last few years, a sprint forward in what has been a long period of significant campus development. The process of the construction of a new unified science center, the biggest and most architecturally sophisticated building on campus, and the development of a new strategic plan present a compelling opportunity to reflect on and to expand our understanding of ourselves and the image we present to the world.

Dramatic changes in the campus physical environment can inspire with the new but they also incorporate the old, as traditional buildings are preserved and renewed, yielding a visual blend of development in the context of tradition. More subtle are the transitions in curriculum and the faculty. New programs can alter interrelations between individuals and departments, and the constant ebb and flow of faculty hires exert a constant influence on the community of the institution. For example, in the last five years, thanks to growth, attrition and a window-plan to assist senior faculty in their retirement plans, The University of Scranton has hired more than 100 new faculty, and yet the average stay of a faculty member at the University is 20 years.

This publication is the first of a series of reviews of our faculty, presenting some of our colleagues in their teaching, research and scholarship, and service. By mission and tradition, we are a Catholic, Jesuit university with a masters one Carnegie classification. Teaching is our primary concern, but we recognize that the best teacher is a scholar, living the life of the mind with the companionship of students and colleagues. This model is a Jesuit model, a time-tested pedagogy of experience, reflection and action.

The examples presented in these pages are only a sample of the activity of a faculty of which The University of Scranton is quite proud. We hope you enjoy the review. There is more to come.

Harold W. Baillie, Ph.D.Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs

2 Building on Community: The Unified Science Center at The University of Scranton

6 Latin American Studies & Women’s Studies Highlights from the 09-10 Research Seminar Series

7 MELUS Conference: A Voice for All

10 Serving the Underserved

12 The One Who Tries, Succeeds

14 Women Teaching Women

18 Bridging the Colleges, One Foot at a Time

20 A Campus Culture of Cooperation

22 Finding Opportunity in the Middle of the Perfect Environmental Storm

26 Provost’s Faculty Enhancement Awards Award Narratives

28 Highlights from the 09-10 Research Seminar Series tabl

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EDITORSteven G. Jones, Ph.D.,

Associate Provost for Civic Engagementand Academic Mission

DESIgNERJason Thorne

CONTRIBUTINg EDITORSValarie Clark

Tommy Kopetskie

Lori Nidoh

Anne Marie Stamford

CONTRIBUTINg AUTHORSCynthia W. Cann, Ph.D.

Michael C. Cann, Ph.D.

Paul A. Datti, Ph.D., C.R.C.

Joseph H. Dreisbach, Ph.D.

George R. Gomez, Ph.D.

Joseph E. Kraus, Ph.D.

Linda Ledford-Miller, Ph.D.

Gary E. Mattingly, Ph.D.

Sharon Meagher, Ph.D.

Susan Carol Méndez, Ph.D.

Maria Oreshkina, Ph.D.

Georgios A. Stylianides, Ph.D.

PHOTOgRAPHyCynthia W. Cann, Ph.D.

Michael C. Cann, Ph.D.

Terry Connors

Carol McDonald

Sharon Meagher, Ph.D.

Eileen Notarianni

PRESIDENTRev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.

PROVOST & VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Harold W. Baillie, Ph.D.

Ignite is published by The University of Scranton for its faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends.

Office of Academic AffairsThe University of Scranton,

Scranton, PA 18510 (570) 941-7520

Website: www.scranton.edu/academics/provost/index.shtml

Public Relations OfficeThe University of Scranton,Scranton, PA 18510-4615

(570) 941-7669Website: www.scranton.edu/pr

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4 Ignite Faculty work in the Ignatian tradition

When the architectural firm of Einhorn, Yaffee and Prescott (EYP) entered the competition to design the new unified science center (USC), the architects’ research first focused on what we were doing correctly in terms of science education. They found that The University of Scranton pos-sesses a very strong reputation for success in the natural sci-ences and mathematics that was based on an extraordinary historical record of placement of our graduates in medical schools, and on our role as a national leader among non-doctoral universities in producing students who eventually earn their doctorate degrees in the sciences. EYP also learned that the faculty at Scranton had been active for nearly 10 years in imagining what they would like to see in a new science facility and had authored a concept paper in 2001 outlining the project goals.

The faculty certainly wanted space to support their teach-ing and research – both central to a University of Scranton science experience. But the faculty also desired a facility that would serve as a destination place, an environment that would invite students, science majors and non-majors, to engage in learning and discussions throughout the day and

evenings. The facility would ideally allow for students and faculty to engage in crossdisciplinary teaching and research and to soften the disciplinary edges that seem to define science education but have so little in common with how science is done outside of academia. EYP’s experience with Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), a national effort to enhance science teaching and learning, quickly led to confirmation and reinforcement of our faculty’s broad goals.

However, their research revealed something more; our campus possesses a character that enables this project to do more than guarantee the success of the future of our science education; it provides us a unique opportunity to shape the culture and the character of our University and of our academic community as a whole. As EYP conducted their campus interviews and discussed the project with focus groups of students, faculty, administration and staff, a single consistent theme was voiced by all these groups: our school

Einhorn, Yaffee and Prescott and The University of Scranton Experience

Building on Community:The Unified Science Center at The University of ScrantonDr. Joseph DreIsbach & Dr. GeorGe Gomez

Fall 2010 The University of scranton 5

was distinctive because of the sense of community; people maintain a friendly atmosphere and faculty genuinely care for their students. Most importantly, our faculty share the learning experience with students as they engage with one another in multiple venues – in classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices, and through extracurricular activities and a variety of service, travel and field courses. Our friends from EYP learned what we at Scranton so often take for granted – that our faculty are accessible to our students, and that this accessibility is critical to our teaching and learning en-vironment. Based on the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, the care of a person by recognizing him or her as a unique individual, our educational experience is a distinctive one, especially so in the sciences and mathematics where so many of our faculty involve their students in scholarly projects.

FIGURE 1: View from the Central Scranton Expressway.

Areas of Excellence DefineD by OUTcOmeS

Student/Faculty Researchmore than 50% of students in the sciences, engineering,

technology and mathematics (STem) disciplines participate in research; 45% of these wrote a formal thesis; 38 % of these

authored or co-authored a publication or conference paper.

A Pipeline for Doctoral Degrees in the SciencesData from the 2008 nSf Survey on earned Doctorates

reveals that in 2006 Scranton ranked ninth of 568 masters institutions for alumni who earned doctoral degrees in the

life sciences, and 37th of 568 in the physical sciences.

The Pre-Med StoryOf the 428 senior applicants to medical schools over the

last ten years, an average of 80% were accepted. With more than 1,700 medical alumni, Scranton graduates remain engaged with current students through symposia and

service projects sponsored by the medical Alumni council.


Armed with this culture of engagement as our guiding principle, we focused on designing a facility that would serve the educational needs of the science and mathematics pro-grams, as well as create a physical space that would deepen our culture of engagement. This facility should enable fruit-ful interactions among faculty, major students, non-major students and visitors by promoting the synergies that come from situating faculty and students with common interests in close proximity to one another to foster “effective intel-lectual collisions” and conversations that are not stymied by a single disciplinary perspective.

The Design of the Unified Science CenterFaced with incorporating the faculty and facilities for bi-

ology, chemistry, physics/electrical engineering, mathematics and neuroscience into the design, EYP also sought to pre-serve the sense of community that is one of our core values. They did so by developing small “neighborhoods” of faculty offices, student learning spaces, laboratories and classrooms. The application of the concept is evident from the exterior elevations which show the USC not as a single massive form, but rather, three smaller substructures. (Figure 3)

These “neighborhoods” will be permeated with a variety of student learning spaces which, we expect, will serve as desti-nation places for all students who seek to engage in academic work and conversations. The spaces are afforded ample natu-

ral light to enhance the feeling of comfort and to orient the visitor or the resident. This level of comfort is intended to allow students to feel at home in the building and to facilitate their ability to spend time interacting with one another.

Social Spaces as Science SpacesIn addition to the “neighborhood” concept implemented

in the design was the creation of spaces that would facilitate interaction among the users of the building. Although the laboratory is clearly where scientific research is executed, it is not necessarily where science is actually done. As a hu-man endeavor, science is more than laboratory investigation; it is a way of understanding the world as a whole, a way of asking questions, a way of finding meaning, and a way of thinking about ourselves and about nature. Much of the best science doesn’t happen in the laboratory; it happens while interacting with others, discussing data, experimenting, de-bating ideas and concepts, or even while relaxing over a cup of coffee. This building is therefore designed to have multiple interaction spaces throughout the building and adjacent to faculty offices and research laboratories. More importantly, these are spaces where science can intersect with other aca-demic disciplines. It is our hope that this building will help create a culture and a community of scholarship that tran-scends traditional disciplinary boundaries.

• 34 teaching & research laboratories

• Rooftop greenhouse for teaching & research

• 180-seat lecture hall for symposia & seminars

• numerous faculty/student research & meeting areas

• Designed for Silver LeeD certification

• 22 class & seminar rooms • 80 offices

• multi-story atrium • Vivarium

Some Facts about the Unified Science Center at The University of Scranton

FIGURE 2: View from Dionne Campus Green and the Commons

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CUrriCULUm: • contains a feedback loop of setting goals for student learning, choosing pedagogies appropriate for those goals, and assessing whether and how it all works

• incorporates promising practices from the work of pedagogical pioneers

• is grounded in research, reflecting solid understanding of how people learn and of the efficacy of specific pedagogies relative to particular learning styles

• is designed to promote lifelong learning, focusing on critical thinking, problem-solving, communication (writing, speaking, electronic) skills

• is infused with topics relevant to the current and future lives of students

• brings contemporary science and technology into the learning environment

• demonstrates intentional and communal efforts to ensure that the goals of the department/program are being met in the sequence of courses offered.

FaCiLitieS: • are flexible enough to support and adapt to multiple pedagogies and learning styles

• foster sustainable learning communities

• are fully mediated and interactive (wireless, chairs/tables on wheels)

• have ubiquitous opportunities for writing, for collaborating, for connecting to and through technologies

• send a message about the efficacy of active, discovery-based learning, and about the relationship of the quality of space and the quality of learning.

Source: Project Kaleidoscope website: www.pkal.org/documents/WhatWorksPedagogies.cfm.

FIGURE 3: View from Monroe Avenue.

It is our hope that this building will help create a culture and a community of scholarship that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. — Dr. Joseph Dreisbach & Dr. George Gomez‘‘

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Anticipating the Dedication and BeyondWith the dedication of the new construction portion of the

USC planned for October 2011, and the renovation portion expected to be completed in summer 2012, we already look forward to the impact of the facility on our campus. We fully expect that the USC will be used by all of our faculty and all of our students in a variety of ways. The faculty commons area is specifically intended to serve as a place for all faculty to gather for meetings and colloquia, as well as for social events. We also expect that the facility will maintain, and likely ex-pand, our community approach to teaching and learning in the sciences. We are anxious to see how, over the years, the faculty will choose to locate in the building and how they will work in crossdisciplinary efforts.

As with any project, we seek some outcomes that will maintain the richness and strengths of a particular culture or an organization. But we seek others that will drive change and enhance existing strengths. We are confident that the USC’s design will address both sets of goals with great success.


Joseph H. Dreisbach, Ph.D., is currently serving as interim associate provost for academic affairs at The University of Scranton. Dr. Dreisbach served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for 11 years after a 20-year career on the faculty of the Chemistry Department, which included assignments as chair of the department and director of the graduate chemistry program. In addition to his administrative duties, Dr. Dreisbach continues to teach chemistry. His research areas involve microbial degradation of non-biological compounds and applied enzymology.

George Gomez, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the University’s Biology Department. His research and teaching interests include avian and human olfaction; nerve cell growth and function in vitro ; and cellular effects of hypoxia and hyperoxia. He is a member of the core faculty for neuroscience; biochemistry, cell and molecular biology; and the Asian studies programs. He also currently serves as the project shepherd for the unified science center project.

www.scranton.edu/sciencecenter


Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies at The University of Scranton

The Research Seminar Series, sponsored by the Office of Research Services, was established in 2005 to meet the need for a time and place for faculty and staff to exchange information on current research being conducted across the University. The series is intended to build community and collegiality by providing a venue for faculty members to share their current research activities with their peers. Approximately 16 events are held per academic year, with about 40-45 participants at each event. Below is a sample of presentations made during the past academic year.

Smartphones & Information LiteracyDigital Services Librarian Kristen Yarmey presented on the effects of smartphones on student information literacy in an academic library setting. in her research, Yarmey analyzes the relationships between smartphone features and capabilities and the Association of college & Research Libraries’ information Literacy competency Standards for Higher education, determining how the devices can either help or hinder student achievement of the standards. The presentation also included a discussion of the evolving meaning of information literacy, as well as recommendations for adapting academic library services and instruction to accommodate smartphone users’ information-seeking needs.

Kristen Yarmey,Weinberg Memorial Library

Performing ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ in the Twenty-First CenturyTwo features of Shakespeare’s play “The Taming of the Shrew” cause problems for both literary scholars and theatrical directors staging the comedy. first, the play seems to put forward an outdated sense of the power relations between husbands and wives that conflicts with modern notions about equality within marriage. Second, the play begins with an induction featuring characters who drop out of the action and fail to reappear after Act 1. in his presentation, michael friedman, Ph.D., described how he dealt with these interrelated issues in a production of “The Taming of the Shrew” that he directed for Actors circle at the Providence Playhouse in 2005.

Michael Friedman, Ph.D.English & Theatre

English Theatre

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Highlights continued on page 26

HIgHLIgHTS from the 2009-2010 Research Seminar Series

in 2008, the Latin american Studies and Women’s Studies programs were combined into a single academic department, which is currently chaired by Sharon

meagher, Ph.D., who also directs the Women’s Studies program. The Latin American Studies program is directed by Lee m. Penyak, Ph.D. This spring, the Board of Trustees of The University of Scranton approved Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies as new academic majors. Previously, students could select one or the other program as an academic “concentration,” the equivalent of an interdisciplinary minor, but could not receive an academic degree in either. The Women’s Studies major provides an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to understanding the social and cultural constructions of gender that shape the experiences of women and men in society. The integration of curricular and extracurricular programming helps to create a learning community for students that integrates and encourages lifelong learning and civic engagement. Through its partnership with the Jane Kopas Women’s center, as well as other community-based organizations and agencies, the Women’s Studies program offers students the opportunity to integrate theory and practice and develop leadership skills. The Latin American Studies major is a multidisciplinary program designed to advance students’ understanding of the Latin American region as a whole and an in-depth knowledge of specific countries, regions and cultures. The curriculum includes courses in history, political science, philosophy, natural history, and Spanish and Portuguese language and literature. furthermore, students in the program are encouraged to study abroad in Latin America for at least one semester. The creation of the Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies Department and the approval of the programs as academic majors reflect increased student interest in the programs, as well as the University’s commitment to educating students for global citizenship.

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Fall 2010 The University of scranton 9 Christine Zecca, Black Madonna. Reproduced with permission of the artist.

MELUSconference: a Voice for All

Dr. Joseph e. kraUs & Dr. sUsan carol ménDez

Editors’ Note: Dr. Joseph E. Kraus, associate professor of English and theatre and director of the Honors Program, and his colleague, Dr. Susan Méndez, assistant professor of Eng-lish and theatre, organized the 24th Annual Conference of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS), which was held on campus April 8-11, 2010. In the reflective essays that follow, Drs. Kraus and Méndez reflect on the themes of the conference in light of the enactment of recent laws in Arizona, the content of which gives reason to reflect on the question, “Who is an American”?

Joseph E. Kraus, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the English and Theatre department and has been a member of our full-time faculty since 2004. Dr. Kraus received his doctorate from Northwestern University. He was recently named the director of the Honors Program, which he will conduct in addition to his teaching and scholarship. His areas of scholarly interest are creative writing and 20th century American literature.

Susan Carol Méndez, Ph.D., has been a member of The University of Scranton’s faculty since 2006. She received her doctorate from the University of California at Riverside, and currently holds the rank of assistant professor. Her research and teaching interests include Latina/o literature, African diaspora literature and studies, feminist discourse, women’s literature, ethnic literature, spirituality in literature, minority discourse and cultural studies.

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Dr. Joseph Kraus, May 25, 2010

In graduate school, when I first began to think about multi-ethnic literature, I talked with my dissertation director, Carl Smith, about how to understand such literature in contrast to the American mainstream. I had a lot of vague ideas, some turn-ing on the ways that non-ethnic writers imagined ethnic figures such as the gangster, and others turning on how ethnic literature explores minorities adjusting themselves to a majority culture. All of my early ideas rested on the clear idea that there was some-thing called “the American mainstream,” that there was an inside and an outside to American experience.

Carl listened carefully to my ideas – he was a generous advi-sor – and then he challenged me: What did I think mainstream was? How did I intend to identify it? If I were proposing that Italian-American, Jewish-Amer-ican, Irish-American or some other immigrant tradition lay outside the majority experience, then what lay unquestionably within it? Even if I could point to something by, for instance, Henry James, as representing that mainstream, what were its boundaries?

In the end, Carl helped me see that there really is no such thing as an American mainstream. There may be a widely shared sense – shared generally by those without full access to employ-ment, education or housing opportunities – that someone else is fully integrated into the culture, but such a sense is always neces-sarily tentative and subject to change. The line between who is “in” the culture and who is “out” shifts constantly, not just over time but across geography and class. We, as a country, are an as-sortment of different backgrounds coming together as part of an ever-changing mixture, a One out of Many in constant flux.

As a result, I was trained from the start to understand that “America” is always a story that we tell about our culture, always a work in progress, and it seemed a truth of my sub-discipline that the concept of inside/outside is a perpetual fiction. My fel-low scholars, represented most fully by the Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS) un-derstand that in different ways – we talk among ourselves about how best to read ethnic literature in light of the established tradi-tions of American literature – but we take it as a given that one culture after another has found the way to write itself into our literature and history.

One reason I wanted to be involved with the University’s hosting of the MELUS conference was to assert that fundamen-tal notion as widely as possible. However much we have per-suaded one another of the truth that “America” is something our authors constantly rewrite, we still have work to do in our larger discipline. There are still many English departments in the country that do not have scholars in ethnic literature and many that do not require their students to read such literature.

So, having our University get involved with MELUS meant asserting a notion of broad acceptance that sits comfortably alongside Jesuit principles. (For that matter, given that Ameri-can Catholics have been, in almost all cases, simultaneously Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Polish-Americans or other ethnics,

it meant celebrating an ethnic experience almost synonymous with American Jesuit history.) What seemed a good theoretical fit turned out to be a superb practical one, and my co-conference coordinator, Dr. Susan Méndez, and I found help with the con-ference from all corners of the University. The academic truths of our discipline fit seamlessly with the habits and hospitality of our local traditions, and it was deeply rewarding to show off the University and our Jesuit heritage to outside scholars.

In the light of being surrounded by so many sympathetic colleagues, it was easy to forget that our core idea – the sense that America is not a closed set of identities but rather a place and an idea open perpetually to newcomers – remains contro-versial. In our own Northeast Pennsylvania region, for instance,

we have the example of the city of Hazleton, which passed its Il-legal Immigration Relief Act just three years ago. However well-intentioned that act was, however much its supporters defended it as something geared only to address the problem of illegal immigra-tion, we who criticized it saw it as resting in effect on the same false divide that I first proposed to my dissertation director: a sense that

there is an inside and an outside to legitimate America. That is, because the law’s enforcement depended on the presump-tion that Latinos and Latinas are more likely to be illegal im-migrants than whites, many of the legal Latino citizens of the city and region came to feel that others were questioning their American-ness.

That argument took on national implication in the weeks leading up to the MELUS conference when Arizona passed a similar state-wide law. Coupled with various efforts to have Eng-lish declared the national language and the disturbingly wide-spread questioning about whether President Barack Obama was himself born in the United States, the movement to push for-ward laws like Hazleton’s and Arizona’s seemed to grow out of a sense that Americans are supposed to look a certain way and acquiesce to a narrow story of who we are. Illegal immigration is a problem, one that we feel all the more in a time of economic straits, but when our solutions cause us to cast some of our citi-zens as suspect on the strength of their ethnicity, the solutions are as much a threat as the problem itself.

Hosting the conference, then, turned out to be one of those rare moments when, with our scholarly debate resolving itself into some clear and widely held convictions, we academics had something to say about contemporary politics. We did not ad-dress any of the controversies directly through our panels or speakers. Instead, we came together with the implicit presump-tion that American literature is one of the central ways in which we tell our collective stories to one another. With that, we took for granted that Americans come from a variety of places, have skin of varying color, and talk in different accents of different but overlapping ethnic heritages. We didn’t necessarily solve any of the crises facing our region or our nation, but we exchanged ideas about how we can better read the literature that’s writing the story we share.

. . . when our solutions cause us to cast some of our citizens as suspect on the strength of their ethnicity, the solutions are as much a threat as the problem itself.

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The MELUS conference was an opportunity to discuss how our shared stories constitute American literature. In that way, as it is every year, the MELUS conference was a success. Interestingly, I am in a position to compare the success and significance of this conference with an upcoming conference that is also being af-fected by the question of what America means.

Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social, MALCS (Women Active in Writing and Social Change), a collective of Latina schol-ars, teachers, activists and authors, was scheduled to have their annual summer institute/conference this year at the downtown Phoenix campus of Arizona State University. Due to the controversy over the Arizona immigration law, SB 1070, a much-heated, online debate ensued and the executive committee of MALCS decided to honor the economic boycott of Arizona and cancelled this year’s conference. Instead, several group members are organizing a MALCS Arizona State Conference in order to lend support and sustain the critical conversation on immigration reform while honoring the economic boycott. Conference organizers are also looking into ways that out-of-state members can still participate via technology. Thus, the MALCS executive committee and organizers have done all they can to uphold the boycott while still having the conference.

Because I received my training at the University of Califor-nia, Riverside, with Tiffany Ana López as my advisor (a long-time member and supporter of MALCS), I was always aware of the importance of MALCS. Having been a member for several years now, I was only just this year able to attend the confer-ence as luck would have it. When this controversy arose, I was at a loss over what the right decision might be and I was glad that it was not a decision that I had to make. I could see the importance of lending support to educators and activists in Ari-zona, but I could also see the value of speaking with dollars and demonstrative action. In the end, I am all too willing to honor MALCS’s decision and the boycott, especially since matters in Arizona have escalated with the passage of Arizona’s education reform bill, HB 2281, which makes it illegal for a school district to have any courses that “promote the overthrow of the United States government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, or advocate ethnic solidarity.”

All of these events have given me time to consider the signifi-cance of the MELUS conference and to be grateful that we were able to have it at The University of Scranton and that it was so well-attended. Yes, it is necessary to remember “that the concept

of inside/outside is a perpetual fiction” as it pertains to American culture and society. But what does one do with a fiction when it is made to have all too real consequences? What does a society do when what its members learn becomes supervised or when an in-dividual’s communal membership is questioned merely because of physical appearance? What does one do when the dichoto-mous, in/out thinking is ever-present and potentially lethal?

I find the reading and teaching of multi-ethnic literatures to be the critical juncture where the narratives of the classroom can meet the practices of the real world and address these ques-

tions. As an educator, I teach my students to recognize the dichot-omy and see the potential and productive value in it when pos-sible. Multi-ethnic literatures can show the worth of how “outside” authors write about their com-munities, cultural experiences and particular histories.

At MELUS this year, we had Marilyn Chin, Dara Horn, Jay Parini and Sonia Sanchez as our plenary speakers and panels that covered a range of authors such as Junot Diaz, Edward P. Jones, Bharati Mukherjee and Anzia Yesierska. All students need to learn the stories of these authors to be informed, critical Ameri-can citizens, but students of these “outside” communities espe-cially need to learn this information to have a more complete and realized sense of individual and communal being. Whether students find themselves on the inside or the outside, the future of what America looks like depends on all of their individual and communal identities.

Conferences like MALCS’s summer institute and MELUS are useful venues for reminding educators that although the inside/outside perspective of American society is an ideological falsehood, it can have real consequences as evident in SB 1070 and HB 2281. A response to this reality is to put the dichotomy to strategic use. Although the MELUS conference was useful in demonstrating that America is not composed of a closed set of identities, the MALCS conference has served and will continue to serve the purpose of allowing Latina scholars to not be vulner-able on the “outside” while simultaneously seeing the use value of being there to cement a sense of academic self. As long as the fiction presents a reality, we need scholars to acknowledge the inside/outside dichotomy and use it to their advantage as well as their students’. We need organizations like MELUS and MALCS to plan conferences, and Joe Kraus and I are very proud that The University of Scranton hosted MELUS this year and are grateful for our supportive colleagues and interested students in attendance.

Some MELUS Reflections: Part II

Dr. Susan Méndez, June 9, 2010

Multi-ethnic literatures can show the worth of how ‘outside’ authors write about their communities, cultural experiences, & particular histories.


M elting pot,” “salad bowl,” whichever metaphor is used to describe American society, we live in a nation of many different cultures. Ethnicity, religion, age, gender and sexual identity are all aspects of culture and combined they equate to one of the main challenges for the vocational reha-bilitation (VR) counselor. VR counselors must understand the culture in which their clients live in order to communi-cate with them, to develop trust with them, and to facilitate their clients’ return to the work force.

Paul Datti, Ph.D., has been a rehabilitation counselor for the last 15 years. His experiences living and working in New York City, Miami, Wash-ington, D.C., and Scranton have made him aware of the needs of the underserved. His most recent research, “Latino Men with HIV/AIDS in New York State: Factors Influencing use of Vocational Re-habilitation Services,” incorporates his experiences, while allowing him to do quantative research about the unmet VR needs of Latino men living with HIV/AIDS. His study utilized “Latino men with HIV/AIDS recruited from AIDS service organizations and networks funded by the AIDS Institute - New York Department of Health, who took the National Working Positive Coalition - Vocational Training and Em-ployment Survey, an instrument designed to assess the vo-cational-related needs of PLWHA1 (people living with HIV/AIDS).” His study also utilized a review of literature of past

VR needs and practices. His research found many variables must be taken into consideration when working with this population. Poverty, education, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity are all factors that may contribute to the use or non-use of Latino men living with HIV/AIDS of available, necessary VR resources that are meant to help them to reen-ter the work force.

Dr. Datti’s conclusion presents implications for the VR counselor. In order to overcome cultural barriers, one sug-gestion is the use of promotor/a, Spanish-speaking or Latino community outreach workers, who help communicate more

effectively the services that are avail-able to this marginalized group. Counselors with limited Spanish fluency may require the need for an intermediary who can develop trust, understanding and knowl-edge of the services offered before the VR counselor can be effective. In order to better serve their clients,

counselors must become educated as to the effects of living with chronic illnesses, effects of medications and cultural stigmas associated with being identified as living with HIV/AIDS. Many of the men in the study were on Social Security assistance, but they were unaware of vocational/rehabilita-tion opportunities, and often times Supplement Security In-come can be seen as a disincentive to return to work. A VR counselor who has knowledge of the system and the culture and expertise in the language would be most effective.

“This passionate researcher and teacher sees his role on campus as bringing multicultural issues to light ...”

The promotor/a model of community health worker was developed in Mexico during the 1960s as a means to connect

health care professionals to underserved communities in urban and rural areas. ideally, promotores/as are residents of the target

communities and as such, serve as effective intermediaries between other community residents and health care professionals.

Promotor/a programs started emerging in the United States during the 1980s, initially in communities along the U.S.-mexico border.

Since the 1980s, promotor/a programs have been put in place in hundreds of cities and towns across the United States with large

Spanish-speaking populations. Specific programs vary according to the degree of training and expertise required. in some states,

such as Texas and california, promotores/as are para-professionals and must complete a proscribed curriculum before being allowed

to practice. in others, promotores/as are volunteers who receive community and illness-specific training, usually from non-profit

organizations. As Dr. Datti’s research demonstrates, the assistance of promotores/as is essential to meeting the health care needs

of underserved families and individuals with limited english language proficiency.


As with all research, Dr. Datti’s interest in understand-ing and assisting the marginalized members of our society and his dissertation publication have led to more research opportunities. One such opportunity is a national version of his study of New York with Liza Conyers, Ph.D., who he assisted in the development of the National Working Positive Coalition – Vocational Training and Employment Survey. He has been invited to write a chapter in a book published by the American Counseling Association entitled “Counseling Rural LGBT Persons,” which will shift his focus from urban culture to the rural. The needs of rural clients are different from urban clients because of differing cultural attitudes and lack of readily accessible services that are more easily found in cities. This casebook’s audience will be aimed at graduate students and practitioners.

Service is yet another important aspect in Dr. Datti’s professional life. He is program director for undergradu-ate students in counseling and human services. He serves as the secretary for the National Working Positive Coalition, a coalition which works for the benefit of people living with HIV/AIDS and those who serve their needs. He also works with Resilience Counseling Associates, whose focus is on

clients who are living with family disabilities and chronic illnesses. He strongly feels that “coalitions are important for people with disabilities” because they provide for an ex-change of information and a place that will give voice to a group’s needs.

This passionate researcher and teacher sees his role on campus as bringing to life multicultural issues, so that his students can examine and understand “important issues for them” as professionals. Dr. Datti’s research and experiences reveal some of the challenges counselors will face as they go out into the community and deal with clients’ needs. His work provides sophisticated insight into how to best suc-ceed in meeting those challenges of the underserved. His teaching, service and scholarship are all relevant and mean-ingful for the professional lives of his students and the lives of their future clients.

1 Datti, Paul A. Latino Men with HIV/AIDS in New York State: Factors Influencing Use of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. State College, PA: Penn State, 2009.

Paul a. Datti, Ph.D., C.r.C., was named assistant professor, counseling and human services, at The University of Scranton in fall 2009, having previously served as a lecturer at The University of Scranton and as a teaching assistant at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Dr. Datti earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Science degree in rehabilitation counseling from The University of Scranton and a Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision from The Pennsylvania State University.


The One Who Tries,Succeeds

“dorogy osilit idushiy”

Dr. maria Oreshkina, an assistant professor in The University of Scranton’s Education Department, has been on a professional journey that has taken her on a global od-yssey, researching educational systems and practices in Bel-gium, Russia, South Africa and the United States.

Dr. Oreshkina began her career in Russia as a speech ther-apist working with children who needed help learning how to communicate effectively in and with the greater world. Speech difficulties are often associated with developmental learning problems, but she recognized that other develop-mental factors were affecting her young clients’ ability to learn. This realization led her to seek a degree in educational psychology. Her studies in the United States intro-duced her to a variety of educational theories and re-search methodologies that allowed her to investigate the effect of different cul-tural contexts on teaching and learning processes and prac-tices. As a result of her cross-cultural research, she has begun to focus on helping children with disabilities find their voices, figuratively and physically, a theme that can be found in her most recent scholarly publication, “Education of Children with Disabilities in Russia: On the Way to Integration and Inclusion,” published in the International Journal of Special Education. It is evident in this article and other work that Dr. Oreshkina is an advocate of empowering parents and chil-dren in the educational process.

The Soviet and post-Soviet Russian educational system of the 1980s and 1990s sent children with special learning needs to specialized boarding schools that separated them

“Dr. Oreshkina is an advocate of empowering parents and children in the educational process.”

from their families. The practice had its advantages, one of which was a low teacher-to-student ratio, 1:12-15, which translated into a more individualized program of education. However, under this system, the role of the expert was su-preme. Parents and students had little-to-no voice in devel-oping educational plans. According to Dr. Oreshkina, the children and their families were merely “receivers of services rather than active agents,” without the opportunity to decide how they wanted to control and shape the children’s lives.

As glasnost progressed in the Soviet Union, Russia gradu-ally entered international discussions on education. Dr. Oreshkina recognized that years of isolation, however, had

greatly limited Russia’s role in international dialogues. Her research in South Africa had made her realize that the close connections of that country’s educational community with international peers and a com-

mon language of communication – English – were among the factors that introduced South African educators of the post-apartheid era to new and emerging educational ap-proaches. This in turn helped South African educators de-sign educational reforms to equip their students with the necessary knowledge and skills for life in the new South Af-rica. Her research in South Africa led her to conclude that the lack of a common language of participation remains one of the factors that prevents Russian educators from fully benefitting from the larger international discourse on edu-cational reform. Consequently, educational reform in Russia was slow to benefit from best practices that were emerging in other parts of the world.


maria Oreshkina, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Education at The University of Scranton, has been on the faculty since 2007. Dr. Oreshkina did her post-graduate work at Moscow State Pedagogical University and received her doctorate from the University of Tennessee. She teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in educational psychology and middle level education. Her research interests include special education and inclusion in Russia, the study of teaching and learning from a socio-cultural perspective, and students’ cognitive and metacognitive development.

Dr. Oreshkina has identified several challenges to implementing needed educational improvements in contemporary russia, including:

• acknowledging children’s and families’ needs;

• finding the funds to make schools more inclusive and adapting school facilities for special needs students;

• providing specialized training for teachers to meet the challenges of these students;

• keeping children and their families together rather than sending children to boarding schools;

• changing teachers’ and administrators’ attitudes to recognize the need to create active citizens, as well as promote academic excellence;

• educating parents to become advocates for their children’s needs; and

• passing legislation that will guarantee essential services for special needs children and their families.

Still, this does not mean that educational change has not occurred in post-Soviet Russia. Dr. Oreshkina’s research both chronicles some of the recent developments in Russian cultural and educational attitudes toward special education and advocates for new reforms. She has seen the most prog-ress made at the preschool and kindergarten level. For ex-ample, advancements in the early identification of learning problems beyond speech problems have led to more timely interventions that facilitate success in meeting the children’s needs and their integration into society. Still, all evolving educational systems have obstacles that must be overcome.

Dr. Oreshkina’s goal of helping students of all ages be-come independent thinkers and self-reliant, yet caring in-dividuals is grounded in her social constructivist view of learning. According to her, this means that learning is not just an individual process, it is a societal process. A socially constructed view of special education is emerging in Russia: as its sociopolitical beliefs change, the context of education for special needs students also changes, bringing with it “a quality of life paradigm” that focuses on the child as a whole and not as a problem. Her research on this emerging para-digm revealed “that the integration and inclusion movement

had uncovered the human potential of the Russian people and at the same time called for further re-evaluation of their belief system” (Oreshkina, 118)1. Furthermore, her research demonstrates that this new paradigm provides social ben-efits, as well as benefits to the students; the more inclusive the educational system becomes, the more understanding and tolerant the society will become.

In the conclusion to her article, Dr. Oreshkina uses the Russian aphorism “dorogy osilit idushiy.” Its translation is “the one who tries will succeed in walking the road or, shorter, the one who tries, succeeds” (119). Dr. Oreshkina’s work il-lustrates the positive effects that the interdependence of national culture, international research, individual com-mitment and education systems can make on the nature of trying to walk a road so all who travel it can succeed. The Russian national culture is being affected by international discussion and interpretation of these ideas. As cultures become more open to the world at large, so does research bring new views and possibilities of exchange of ideas and knowledge that can produce environments where students of diverse backgrounds can learn and grow to the fullest of their potential.

1 Oreshkina, M. (2009). Education of children with disabilities in Russia: On the way to integration and inclusion. International Journal of Special Education, 24(3), 111-121.


Dr. Sharon M. Meagher & Dr. LinDa LeDforD-MiLLer

f we are to prepare students who, in the words of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius Loyola, will “set the world on fire,” then we need to take our students out into that world and en-sure that they have a critical understanding of it. As Father Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., stated in an address at Santa Clara University, “Solidarity is learned through ‘contact’ rather than through ‘concepts,’ . . . Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively. They should learn to perceive, think, judge, choose and act for the rights of others, especially the disadvantaged and the oppressed.”1 In the first major collaborative effort between the Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies programs, the authors developed a January travel course, Women and Development in Latin America, in which students study “concepts,” but engage in “contact” as well.

As part of the course, faculty and students travel to ru-ral Huehuetla, in the state of Puebla, Mexico, in the high North Sierra region of the state. Huehuetla was founded in pre-Hispanic times by two indigenous groups, the Nahuas and the Totonacas. In 1550, the Spanish arrived; in 1574, the first titles to lands were given, and the town was named San Salvador Huehuetla. To this day many of the inhabit-ants speak only an indigenous language and do not speak Spanish.

We live and study at Kakiwín Tutunaku, an ecotourism lodge owned by an indigenous women’s economic coopera-tive called Taputsama Talakxtumit, S.S.S. Our course engag-es the students through readings and discussions of develop-ment theory in the context of Latin America, and provides them with the opportunity to learn directly from Totonac women who are working to sustain their livelihoods, their

language and their cultural traditions in an isolated rural area where farming is difficult and other modes of employ-ment extremely scarce.

By listening to the empowering stories of women who with few resources nevertheless succeed in making positive change for themselves and their families, our students come to appreciate how social change can happen and how they too can become social change agents. Perhaps, more impor-tantly, our students learn why social change is needed. In-digenous women, who initially were not allowed to attend organizational meetings without their husbands as constant companions, are now working together to run a cooperative that brings money to their families and their community. Microloans are made to women only, and the women in turn may choose to employ a few of the men.

Before we travel, students read and discuss a variety of texts that help them understand the crises of development from a global perspective and within the cultural, social, economic, political, historical and contemporary context of Latin America. We concentrate particularly on the complex role that gender plays in this dynamic, analyzing both why women were historically left out of international develop-ment efforts and why women have more recently become the focus of such efforts.2

During and after our stay, we encourage our students to reflect on the connections between social justice, sustain-ability and development issues in Latin America. We struc-ture the course using some of the same pedagogical princi-ples that the indigenous women use in their own organizing work, influenced both by Brazilian educator and philoso-pher Paolo Freire, as well as various feminist methodologies. These principles emphasize the value of lived experience and local knowledge as vehicles for learning and redefine the

I

Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies Go to Mexico

Professors Meagher (2nd from the left)

and Ledford-Miller (4th from the right)

and their students in Puebla, Mexico.


teacher-learner relationship as one of co-equality as opposed to one based on authority. These principles also value “con-nected knowing,” in which the learner is asked to evaluate new information and opinions on their own terms rather than through the lens of her own terms and opinions. As a result, all participants, whether University of Scranton stu-dents, Totonac men and women, non-indigenous Mexican community workers or University of Scranton faculty, learn to listen and learn from one another.

We partner with a Mexican nongovernmental organiza-tion (NGO), Xasasti Yolistli, which is based in the city of Puebla and provides many indigenous women’s cooperatives in the state of Puebla with capacity-building support and microloans.3 At the end of the trip, we visit the offices of

Xasasti Yolistli, and the students therefore gain the chance to meet other indigenous women’s groups and learn how NGOs play central roles in international development ef-forts. Students were astonished to learn that some of the women who came to meet with us had traveled more than four hours by bus over rural roads and would be making the long journey home the same day.

Not only do we and our students gain from our interac-tions with the women of Taputsama Talakxtumit, our brief one- to two-week class visit provides economic support for dozens of members in the community of Huehuetla that will last for months. Community members earn revenue both from our stay at the eco-tourism center and by provid-ing us with guest talks and workshops in which they share

University of Scranton students working with women of Taputsama Talakxtumit to build a natural water filtration system.


For more information about Xasasti Yolistli, see this YouTube video – in Spanish, but with great images:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6ysU6MF_bg

the stories of their work, explain the challenges of their current living conditions, lead nature tours that feature medicinal and edible native plant species, and demonstrate their cultural traditions. The women of the cooperative en-joyed sharing their knowledge and traditions with us. For example, prior to our visit, the economic cooperative held a cooking competition judged by the eldest women in the community to determine the menu for the ecotourism center. The winning menus provided our daily meals. Totonac women traveled on foot for miles via muddy mountain footpaths, often carrying small children, to pre-pare wonderful meals that included indigenous plants and pork and chicken that they raised.

The women of Huehuetla have a rich cultural tradition that features native healing modalities and many arts and crafts. Living simple lives, they are finding ways to address the ecological devastation caused by over-farming steep mountain slopes prone to erosion. Moreover, they have

learned to create positive change by networking with other indigenous groups.

One day, we assisted cooperative members in gathering plants from the jungle and replanting them to create an ecologically sound natural filtration system for the toilets. On another day, we performed a river clean-up that was

necessitated by recent flood-ing that had washed plas-tics and other garbage into the local river. By working side-by-side with them in these projects, we learned to value the local, situated knowledge of the Totonac

women. Furthermore, as we listened to the women of Ta-putsama Talakxtumit and learned from them, we were at the same time validating their culture and their work.

We intend to continue our relationship with Taput-sama Talakxtumit and strengthen our partnership. Over time, we will then be able to share with our students the continued change that has taken place in the community. During our next iteration of the course, we plan to visit an-other ecotourism center; this one run by a Nahua women’s cooperative in the city of Cuetzalan. We want students to envision what the more fledgling Kakiwín Tutunaku might become, as the center in Cuetzalan has prospered more than 20 years.

It is important, too, for students to recognize the fact that members of indigenous women’s groups have learned Spanish so that they might network and learn from one another. When women speaking two or three different indigenous languages meet at Xasasti Yolisti in the city of Puebla, they must use Spanish to communicate. We further that network by extending it to Scranton. Students who take the course commit to sharing what they have learned with other students on campus through a variety of presen-tations and forums. The students have also expanded the

“By listening to the empowering stories of women . . . our students learn why social change is needed.”

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18 Ignite Faculty work in the Ignatian tradition Fall 2010 The University of scranton 19

Sharon M. Meagher, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, has been a member of The University of Scranton’s faculty since 1989. Dr. Meagher is the chairperson of the Department of Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies. Her teaching and research focuses on contemporary social and political theory, with particular emphases on urban issues and women and development.

1 Kolvenbach, S.J., P.K. (2000). The service of faith and the promotion of justice in American Jesuit higher education. Address at the Commitment to Justice Conference, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Calif., October, 2000.2 Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, most economic development programs focused on providing assistance to institutions, such as the government or large-scale businesses, which tended to be dominated by males, as were the development agencies themselves. In the 1980s and 1990s, many programs began to focus on small-scale, community development. The most successful programs found that providing assistance to women was a better investment than providing assistance to men, as women were more likely to invest earnings into improving family and community welfare. 3 Our connection to Xasasti Yolisti came through two Mexican academics. Isabel Bueno Lázaro, a medical doctor who was then director of a project in Women’s Studies and Gender Violence at our sister Jesuit university, Iberoamericana in Mexico City, introduced us to Lourdes Pérez Oseguera at the Iberoamericana branch in the city of Puebla. Lourdes directs the Violence Prevention certificate program at Ibero-Puebla, attended by physicians, psychologists and other health professionals. Through Lourdes, we met María Luisa Patrón, the social anthropologist who heads Xasasti Yolisti, which focuses on women’s education and development, working particularly with the indigenous.

organization’s network by developing an English language website, www.xasasti.org, to help promote Kakiwín Tutu-naku to North Americans.

The formation of women and men for others can only happen when it reveals the challenges faced by those who are economically vulnerable and how they meet those chal-lenges. Through their contact with the women of Taputsama Talakxtumit, our students learn to see the poor and disad-vantaged not as “the needy,” but as individuals and com-munities with resources and ingenuity; not as recipients of service, but as teachers who can guide them to reframe their self-concepts and their concepts of the greater world so as best to participate in it fully.

Linda Ledford-Miller, Ph.D., is professor and chairperson of the World Languages and Cultures Department at The University of Scranton. Her primary teaching areas are Spanish, Portuguese, literatures of the Americas, and minority literatures. Dr. Ledford-Miller has received two Fulbright lectureships and has traveled abroad extensively. Her general research interests include modern and contemporary prose of Latin America and the United States, women and other minority writers, Portuguese and Spanish language, travel writing and popular culture in Latin America and the United States.

University of Scranton student Stephanie Ramirez (center) dressed in traditional

clothing with assistance from members of the Taputsama Talakxtumit cooperative.


Bridgingthe colleges:One Foot

at a Time

RResearch is viewed by some as falling into two categories: applied and basic. Applied research is used to solve practical problems and, in the end, improve the human condition. Basic research is used to expand knowledge for its own sake; it generally has no commercial value, although it also improves the human con-dition through enhancing our understanding of our world. In academics the two types of research exist in tension with one an-other. The Exercise Science Department’s course in biomechanics and the Biology Department’s comparative biomechanics course are two very different courses that deal with the same principles. Although one tends to emphasize applied research and the other basic research, the knowledge from both courses enlightens stu-dents, through different means, to the nature of motion.

Georgios Stylianides, Ph.D., teaches the biomechanics courses in the Exercise Science Department. He came to The University of Scranton two years ago after working at Tulane University and in the National Biodynamics Lab at the Michoud NASA Facility, analyzing movement in varying environments for the Navy and NASA. In his previous work and here at the University, his focus was and is on how to apply engineering and physics to a bio-logical system, such as the human body. In his short tenure here, he has created a biomechanics laboratory where his students can analyze movement for the purpose of improving sport dynamics or analyzing gait problems so as to correct anatomical problems.

The biomechanics lab is equipped with high-speed digital cameras to satisfy a real-time, three-dimensional environment,

a forceplate, electromyography (EMG) equipment, and some powerful software and computers. It is here that Dr. Stylianides’ students learn the basics of human motion, and at the same time, how complicated that motion can be. He has the students place specially made reflectors on certain joints of their test subjects’ (usually themselves) bodies along with surface electrodes to pick up information on muscular activity. Then the 3-D system al-lows them to recreate the human body’s motion in real time and in three dimensions on the computer. Students can then see the differences and similarities of motion in humans from multiple angles. They analyze the data created in the lab so that one day they may be able to improve the wrist action of a basketball player to produce a better shot; or guide a surgeon on how to rearrange damaged or misaligned muscles in order to produce a stronger, more efficient gait; or how best to design an orthopedic prosthesis to make movement better for wounded soldiers and civilians; or how to develop more realistic animation for films or video games. The biomechanics lab opens the students to many possibilities for future studies and careers. Indeed, many of Dr. Stylianides’ students will pursue master’s, Ph.D. or Doctor of Physical Therapy programs.

Janice Voltzow, Ph.D., is the chair of the Biology Depart-ment and has been at the University since 1996. Dr. Voltzow also teaches a biomechanics course that analyzes animals and plants using a multi-level approach ranging from individual molecules and cells to whole organisms and their ecological systems. Her

Georgios A. Stylianides, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Exercise Science and Sport Department at The University of Scranton, specializing in biomechanics and anatomy. A native of Greece, Dr. Stylianides completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in the United States, and was awarded his doctorate from the University of Toledo. In addition to his teaching and research, Dr. Stylianides is internationally active in the 3-D Analysis of Human Movement technical group of the International Society of Biomechanics.

Georgios Stylianides, Ph.D., (top, second from right) associate professor of exercise science and sport atThe University of Scranton, works with students in the Jesuit University’s biomechanics laboratory, analyzing

human motion. In the spirit of academic cooperation, Dr. Stylianides has teamed with the University’s Biology Department to share resources, expand on ideas and create a stronger learning environment.

Dr. Janice Voltzow’s undergraduate degree is from Yale University and Ph.D. from Duke University. Her research interests include the relationship between structure and function in marine invertebrates and how that information can be used to understand invertebrate evolution. Professor Voltzow serves as the chair of the Biology Department and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Morphology, Journal of Molluscan Studies, American Malacological Bulletin and Malacologia.


comparative biomechanics course, an upper-level course for bi-ology majors, examines the mechanics of how slugs crawl, how flowers open and close, how birds fly, how kangaroos jump, and how fish swim. The course applies physics and engineering prin-ciples to biology to give students a greater understanding of the functions of organisms. Many of her students, like Dr. Stylian-ides’, will also pursue degrees beyond the bachelor’s level, gener-ally in biology or in medicine. On a recent field trip to the biomechanics lab, Dr. Voltzow and her class discovered com-mon ground between basic and applied research.

In the spirit of academic co-operation between departments (Exercise Science and Biology) and schools (Panuska College of Professional Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences), Professor David Hair, chair of the Exercise Science Department, suggested that Dr. Stylianides and Dr. Voltzow combine their knowledge and utilize the biome-chanics lab together. Dr. Stylianides, who thrives on collabora-tive efforts, contacted Dr. Voltzow and invited her class into the biomechanics lab. Dr. Voltzow’s students’ experience in the lab brought an added dimension to the application of the principles they had been investigating. In the lab, students learned that at a certain speed on the treadmill it is easier to run than to walk and

that while running both legs are off the ground. The experience highlighted a video they had examined in class of the motion of a horse running. (If you are interested, you can find this video at www.horselocomotion.com/horse_motion_capture_data_faq.html.) According to Dr. Voltzow, the “students really enjoyed the visit.” She added that the next time she offers the class, she will take her students earlier in the semester to allow for more interaction

between the classes, which will also create more opportunities for research collaboration.

Dr. Stylianides’ and Dr. Volt-zow’s professional research could not be more different. Dr. Styl-ianides and his colleagues from a Veteran Affairs hospital in Flori-da have just finished a three-year

study entitled, “Effect of Type of Exercise on Gait and Balance in Peripheral Neuropathy,” and recently presented their findings at a national conference. Dr. Voltzow has also conducted research on gaits – the gaits of marine snails such as conch, whelks and abalone. Both Stylianides’ and Voltzow’s studies integrate struc-ture and function, yet the goals of their studies emphasize the dif-ference between applied and basic research. While their research has different ends, their teaching and the principles of biome-chanics overlap and this commonality allows them to share their resources and ideas with their students.

“The biomechanics lab opens the students to many possibilities for future studies & careers.”

biomechanics


Dr. Mattingly has been at the University since 1983. He attended St. Ambrose College, The University of Scranton and St. Louis University, where he completed his Ph.D. in anatomy. Dr. Mattingly was chosen as Teacher of the Year at The University of Scranton in 1999 and received the Coun-cil for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Teacher Award in 2000. He teaches gross anatomy for the Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) program in the cadav-er lab in the basement of Leahy Hall, where he supervises dissection and instructs D.P.T. candidates during the sum-mer. Rapidly moving from cadaver table to cadaver table, he attempts to personalize the experience and attend to the learning needs of his students. What most people don’t real-ize is that Dr. Mattingly makes his expertise and the cadaver lab available to other departments, especially the Nursing and the Exercise Science departments. His collaboration is at the heart of a culture of sharing resources and research at The University of Scranton.

Nursing and the Cadaver LabDr. Catherine Lovecchio and Dr. Sharon Hudacek use the ca-daver lab as an element of the Nursing Department’s senior-level surgical nursing course. According to Dr. Lovecchio, the Nursing Department utilizes Dr. Mattingly’s “highest level of expertise.” The experience is one of Dr. Hudacek’s “favor-ite days” because of the impact it makes on her students. Her students do not see the cadavers as cadavers; rather they see them as “anatomical landmarks.” The cadavers present 65 nurs-ing students with a spectrum of varying ages and problems. Each cadaver offers a new means of applying book knowledge to actual anatomy and physiology. They are used to illustrate differences in the human body as the students study the univer-sal human neurological, orthopedic and renal systems, which are the focus of this unit of the course. In examining the ca-davers, nursing students find anomalies created by aging and disease, such as knee replacements, arthritis, polycystic disease and heart stents. Students get to examine the spinal cord and peripheral nerves in varying conditions. Dr. Hudacek says that her students are always amazed that a person with a 6-foot-4-inch frame will have a spinal cord no longer than a person with a 5-foot-4-inch frame, between 12 to 16 inches. The experience provided by Dr. Mattingly brings together the theoretical and the practical. Through their reading and classes, most nursing students see only the external evidence of disease and wear and tear on a patient’s body. Seeing the nature of health problems from the inside makes tasks that may seem unimportant, like the positioning of a patient in a bed, as nec-essary and central to the comfort and treatment of the patient and possibly key to helping the patient heal. Based on her and her students’ experiences with Dr. Mattingly and the cadaver lab, Dr. Hudacek hopes to one day have an interdisciplinary course that will bridge nursing and physical therapy.

A Campus Culture of Cooperation

hen Gary Mattingly, Ph.D., of The University of Scranton’s Physical Therapy Department was approached about an article highlighting his collaboration in the use of his cadaver lab with members of the Nursing Department and the Exercise Science Department, he didn’t think there was a story to tell. Dr. Mattingly’s assumption that sharing the lab with other departments is a “no-brainer” is indicative of his generosity with his time, talents and resources, and what he assumes is the natural process of working with others in a university setting. Dr. Mattingly’s attitude and work ethic reflect a campus culture of pedagogical cooperation between professionals. This cooperative endeavor not only benefits professors but also students and makes The University of Scranton is unique in its collaboration between its departments and its different schools. Like most acts of generosity, Dr. Mattingly’s openness ripples outward to others, who in return, give of their time and knowledge.

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Exercise Science and the Cadaver LabThe cadaver lab is also shared with Dr. Georgios Stylianides’ applied anatomy and kinesiology class in the Exercise Sci-ence Department. Dr. Stylianides specializes in biomechan-ics and anatomy and has been teaching at The University of Scranton for the past two years. Upon learning that the University had a cadaver lab, he approached Dr. Matting-ly with a request to utilize the facilities. Having taught at other universities, Dr. Stylianides had found his previous colleagues reluctant to share their resources. Dr. Mattingly’s cooperative attitude was not just limited to opening his lab; he made himself available to the exercise science students and enriched their educational experience. Under Dr. Mattingly’s and Dr. Stylianides’ tutelage, more than 75 exercise science majors have utilized the cadaver lab this year. Clearly the advantage to this aspect of the course has been the hands-on experience. Touching and feeling the differences between a nerve and artery makes a lasting impression on Dr. Stylianides’ students. When Dr. Stylian-ides had the students evaluate their experience, he was over-whelmed by the success of their visit to the lab. Bridgette Sakar, a sophomore exercise science major, found that “it’s a whole different story when you actually see the muscles on a human as compared to drawings in a book.” David Hopp, sophomore, found “our applied anatomy and kinesiology textbook pretty much separates every muscle, tendon, and ligament as a separate entity. Dr. Stylianides and Dr. Mat-tingly showed that it is not always the case by showing exam-ples, such as how the quadriceps were not exactly four sepa-rate muscles.” For Lauren Miller, learning about the organs and nerves of the cadaver by touching them was far different from theoretical classroom instruction: “I had learned about the human heart all year, but to hold it in my hands was entirely different. Last week in the cadaver lab when I pulled on the exterior hallucis brevis, and watched the big toe ex-tend, I was able to apply what I learned in the classroom to real-life experience and that is something I can take beyond college.” Finally, Brittany Grady, class of 2012, summed up her experience, which echoes that of most physical therapy, nursing, and exercise therapy majors, when she wrote: “ I am very grateful that The University of Scranton has such a great resource on its campus and that I was able to utilize it as an undergraduate student.”

An Atmosphere of CooperationDr. Mattingly’s practice of opening labs and sharing knowl-edge and expertise contributes to a culture of campus coop-eration that benefits faculty as well as students. Last year, Dr. Maria Squire of the Biology Department and Dr. Stylianides volunteered their time to work with Dr. Mattingly and his graduate students in the cadaver lab. For Dr. Stylianides it was an opportunity to refresh the knowledge that he applies in his biomechanics classes. In the past, he ran his own ca-daver lab at other institutions, but last summer he realized that he “truly misses his gross anatomy hands-on experi-ences, and it was great to get involved again; it has been an exceptionally refreshing and rewarding experience” for both him and his students. Faculty cooperation maximizes inter-disciplinary learning opportunities for students and allows professors to refine and practice their knowledge and skills. It does “take a village” as the adage says, and it also takes the commitment and generosity of talents of faculty to create an atmosphere of excellence.

Gary E. Mattingly, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy, has been teaching at The University of Scranton since 1983. His main teaching interests are anatomy, neuroscience and pathology. His scholarship is in the mechanics of the shoulder girdle and shoulder joint. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, Dr. Mattingly is a practicing orthopaedic physical therapist.

FACToIDS:

PHYS

ICAL

THE

RAPY

Doctorate Program

100% overall pass rate National PT license exam

100% graduates employed within 6 months of graduation

Nursing Program

65 Senior Nursing Students

99% pass rateNursing Board Exam

24 Igni te Facul ty work in the Ignat ian t radi t ion

FFueled by human ingenuity and innovation, the last 100 years have witnessed more technological advances than all of preceding human history. Remarkable discoveries in-clude rocket ships taking men to the moon, drugs that ease suffering and cure ills, electronic devices that were not even imaginable a century ago, transportation that allows us to journey around the world in far less than 80 days, and the human genome project that unlocked many of the secrets of life. However, most of these technological advances have been made with little attention to their local, regional and even global environmental consequences. We are left with a legacy of toxic waste dumps, denuded landscapes, unprec-edented climate change, spent natural resources and accel-erated extinction of species. This same period was set apart by unprecedented growth in the human population from 1.7 to 6.8 billion, with predictions of 9 billion by mid-21st century. At the same time, although many people still live in poverty, never have so many lived so well. This com-bination of technology, population growth and affluence has created the perfect environmental storm and stretched the world’s natural resources so that we are in an ecologi-cal overshoot. The anthrosphere, “that part of Earth made by, modified by, or operated by humans” (Manahan, 2005, p. 25), now extends from the stratosphere to the depths of the oceans. Never has a species had such a far-reaching and significant impact on the environment of the Earth.

Charting a path to a sustainable society is the most sig-nificant challenge that humanity faces in the 21st century. However, it also presents wonderful opportunities to those with the proper education, skills and mindset. The Uni-versity of Scranton has taken a leadership role in sustain-able development education, operations and outreach. “Sustainable development is development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising the ability

of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development: Brundtland Commission, 1987).

A significant catalyst in this endeavor is a faculty couple who have married their disciplines. For the past 16 years, Michael, Ph.D., and Cynthia, Ph.D., Cann have pursued an interdisciplinary approach to infusing sustainability across the Scranton campus and beyond.

Editors’ Note: As a Catholic, Jesuit university, The University of Scranton is committed to educating our students and staff about sustainability issues and to helping them develop a sense of personal and collective responsibility toward caring for the environment. Cynthia, Ph.D., and Michael, Ph.D., Cann were early adopters of sustainability education and research, not only on The University of Scranton campus, but in their respective disciplines of business (Cynthia) and chemistry (Michael). Their integration of sustainability into their individual and joint teaching, research and professional service activities is a reflection of their passion for and commitment to social justice. Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., former Superior General of the Society of Jesus, posed the following question in his 2000 address to the Commitment to Justice Conference at Santa Clara University, “A legitimate question, even if it does not sound academic, is for each professor to ask, ‘When researching and teaching, where and with whom is my heart?’” 1 As you read the Canns’ article, you will find that they have answered that question and applied the answer to their personal and faculty work.

1 kolvenbach, s.J., p.k. (2000). The service of faith and the promotion of justice in american Jesuit higher education. address at the commitment to Justice conference, santa clara University, santa clara, ca., october 2000

Dr. cYnThIa cann & Dr. mIchael cann

Michael and Cynthia Cann visit the Hogar de Cristo offices in Guayaquil, Ecuador.


In 1994, Patrick Carson, author of “Green Is Gold” (Carson & Moulden, 1991), spoke at a University of Scran-ton President’s Breakfast, an event that brings noteworthy speakers onto campus to address the business community. The subject of Carson’s speech was the importance and benefits of incorporating environmental management into every business. After hearing Carson speak, Cynthia, an as-sociate professor of management/marketing, envisioned a business curriculum centered upon a theme of sustainabili-ty. The University’s Chemistry and Biology departments had already taken a step in this direction; 1994 was also the year that saw the admission of the first class of environmental science majors, a program that was the vision of Michael, a professor of chemistry. Michael later began the sustain-able/green chemistry program at Scranton in 1996, when sustainability in higher education was recognized by only a few. Scranton broke new ground by greening the chemistry curriculum in 2000 and it continues to be a leader in green chemistry education.

In 2002, Michael and Cynthia took their passion for sustainability to China as part of their sabbaticals. Cyn-thia brought her lectures on sustainable business practices to the international MBA program at Peking University, while Mike lectured on green chemistry at Peking, Tsinghua and Beijing Normal universities, and the Beijing Chemi-cal Society. They both shared their work on sustainability

with Baosteel Shanghai, the largest steel company in China. The couple published a portion of their work in the book “China’s Environment and the Challenge of Sustainable De-velopment” (Day, 2005).

In 2004, at the invitation of officials from the Univer-sity of Zagreb, Michael took his environmental chemistry course to Dubrovnik, Croatia, as part of the curriculum for the graduate environmental management master’s degree program. This course of study was created to develop a cadre of scientists, engineers and technicians who understand how to manage environmental issues. The program was necessary to prepare Croatia for entrance into the European Union.

Cynthia began the infusion of sustainability into her courses in the business curriculum in early 2004. She de-veloped and teaches the cornerstone course of the MBA program, “Responsibility, Sustainability and Justice” (RSJ), and courses in sustainable marketing. Infusing sustainability throughout all her courses elicits robust discussions of top-ics such as the importance of using the model of the “triple bottom line” in all business decisions. The triple bottom line refers to finding a balance between financial success, social justice and environmental stewardship. The triple bottom line concept came about as a result of the “Declaration of Rio on Environment and Development” (Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Sustainability, 1992). International students, especially in the MBA courses, bring interesting

Right: Sustainable housing project by Hogar de Cristo, a Jesuit-founded NGO in Ecuador.

Below: Front cover of “China’s Environment andthe Challenge of Sustainable Development,”

which features chapters by the Canns.

“Bringing government, industry, universities, community leaders, NGOs and non-profits together can lead to robust opportunities for solutions [to environmental problems].”


ideas and points of view to the discussion, emphasizing that solutions to sustainability must be viewed from a global per-spective. The Kania School of Management is embracing sustainability in its 2010-15 strategic plan. RSJ will soon become one of the major themes that informs the entire business curriculum.

Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., president of The University of Scranton, arrived on campus in the summer of 2003. Cynthia and Michael met with this “green” president and presented him with an outline for moving the campus on a path toward sustainability in education, operations and outreach. Fr. Pilarz immediately recognized the value of this endeavor and instituted the Sustainability Task Force (STF) in the fall 2004. The STF sponsored the formal kickoff of the sustainability initiative at Scranton in 2005 at the spring Trustee Day. The Canns opened the discussion with a pre-sentation on sustainability.

In 2005, under the auspices of the STF, Michael initi-ated and continues to co-facilitate a workshop for faculty to blend sustainability across the curriculum. The workshop emphasizes the triple bottom line, with Cynthia providing the business perspective; Sharon Meagher, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, explaining the social perspective; and Mi-chael delivering the environmental perspective. To date, the annual, four-day workshop has been attended by 50 faculty members from 21 different departments and three colleges. The intention is that all Scranton graduates will take away an understanding of how they can contribute to sustainabil-ity in both their personal and professional lives.

The Canns’ work on sustainability has taken the couple to many countries in Europe, including France, England, Italy, Croatia, Spain, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Re-public. In addition, they have traveled to Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and, most recently, Ecuador. In Ecuador, they worked with Hogar de Cristo (HDC), a non-profit, Christian charity organization.

HDC was started in 1944 in Chile by Rev. Alberto Hur-tado, S.J., and in 1970, the Jesuits expanded their operation to Guayaquil, Ecuador. HDC’s core mission is to comfort the poor by empowering them to help themselves. The initial goal of providing inexpensive housing to the poorest of the poor has been expanded to include education, health clin-ics, microfinance, micro-businesses and job training. HDC in Guayaquil constructs more than 50 houses and processes loan applications from more than 200 people each day.

While on sabbatical in fall 2008, Cynthia and Michael worked with Hogar de Cristo to develop a sustainable busi-ness plan, and to improve sanitation and the potable water supply for the poor. The University of Scranton has an on-going relationship with HDC as part of our Jesuit mission. Students, administrators and faculty from Scranton contin-ue to work with Hogar de Cristo on an ongoing basis.

During their stay in Ecuador, Cynthia and Michael were invited by the director of the environment for the munici-pality of Guayaquil to present a public lecture on sustain-ability. The presentation elicited a lively discussion among politicians, government officials, scientists, business people and local citizens on the international nature of the topic. Discussions in developing countries around the world often center on the same question: Why should we be concerned about sustainable development when there is such great need for the basics such as food, shelter, potable water, health care and a living wage? In these cases, addressing the social dimen-sions of the problem is critical. As the Canns indicated to HDC, one way to accomplish this is through partnerships. Bringing government, industry, universities, community leaders, NGOs and non-profits together can lead to robust opportunities for solutions. The Canns always suggest that before remedies have been secured to bring sewage, water and energy to the poor, leapfrog technology should be con-sidered. “Leapfrogging is the notion that areas which have

EnvironmentalProtection

Today’sGeneration

Tomorrow’sGeneration

EconomicGrowth

SocialDevelopment

SocialDevelopment

Source: NGO Sustainability. (1991). Retrieved May 7, 2010, from UN NGO Sustainability: http://www.unngosustainability.org/CSD_Definitions%20SD.htm

FIgURE 1: The Three Dimensions of the Triple Bottom Line

The charge of The University of Scranton Sustainability Task Force is To increase knowledge of and educate students, faculty and staff on sustainability issues, campus-wide, to become a model for effective environmental practices in higher education.


a poorly-developed technology or economic bases can move themselves forward rapidly through the adoption of mod-ern systems without going through intermediary steps” (Cas-cio, 2004). Leapfrogging encourages countries to bypass the mistakes made by developed nations and move forward in a sustainable fashion.

Michael and Cynthia’s sustainability endeavors have led to several publications and presentations at local, regional, national and international venues. Supported by the EPA and the American Chemical Society, Michael, along with student co-author Marc Connelly, published “Real-World Cases in Green Chemistry” in 2000 (Cann & Connelly, 2000). This book was one of the first educational materials in green chemistry. With support from the Green Chemis-try Institute, Michael and student co-author Tom Umile, penned the second volume of this work in 2008 (Cann & Umile, 2008). Colin Baird and Michael co-authored the third and fourth editions of “Environmental Chemistry” (Baird & Cann, “ Environmental Chemistry,” 2004) (Baird & Cann, “ Environmental Chemistry,” 2008) and they have just begun work on the fifth edition. Michael is also cur-rently working as part of the author team on the forthcom-ing seventh edition of “Chemistry in Context.” These books have been translated into several foreign languages, includ-ing Chinese. Michael led a team of five Scranton faculty members to produce web-based green chemistry teaching modules. These very popular modules have been translated into Spanish and Portuguese. Michael also serves as the se-ries editor of the forthcoming “Sustainability: Contributions Through Science and Technology.” This book series from

CRC Press boasts nationally and internationally known au-thors from China, India, Canada and the United States.

Between them, Michael and Cynthia have earned several awards for their sustainability efforts, including the Provost’s Faculty Enhancement Award for Excellence in Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum, the Northeastern Penn-sylvania Green Powerhouse Award, and the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.

In addition to knowing it is the right thing to do, the Canns have five very personal reasons for their passionate promotion of sustainability – their grandchildren.

As Fr. Charles Currie, S.J., president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, wrote (Currie, 2009): Since this is a global issue affecting both developed and develop-ing nations, rich and poor – but especially the poor – concern for sustainability is an important part of the contemporary Je-suit commitment to education for solidarity and for justice. The early environmental movement tended to be something nice to be involved in. Today, we are becoming more and more aware that it is a moral imperative in which we have no choice. Many of our campuses are showing us the way.

And The University of Scranton is doing just that.

American Chemical Society. (2009). Chemistry in Context (Sixth ed.). The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Baird, C., & Cann, M. (2004). Environmental Chemistry (Third ed.). W. H. Freeman.

Baird, C., & Cann, M. (2008). Environmental Chemistry (Fourth ed.). W. H. Freeman.

Cann, M. C., & Connelly, M. C. (2000). Real-World Cases in Green chemistry. Washington D.C.: American Chemical Society.

Cann, M. C., & Umile, T. P. (2008). Real-World Cases in Green Chemistry. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society.

Carson, P., & Moulden, J. (1991). Green is Gold. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Cascio, J. (2004, December 15). WorldChanging. Retrieved May 7, 2010, from Leapfrog 101: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001743.html

Currie, R. C. (2009, April). The Promise of a Green Campus. Connections .

Day, K. A. (Ed.). (2005). China’s Environment and the Challenge of Sustainable Development. M.E. Sharpe.

Manahan, S. (2005). Environmental Chemistry (Eighth ed.). New York: CRC Press.

NGO Sustainability. (1992). Retrieved May 7, 2010, from UN NGO Sustainability: http://www.unngosustainability.org/CSD_Definitions%20SD.htm

The University of Scranton. (2010). Retrieved May 7, 2010, from Sustainability Task Force: http://matrix.scranton.edu/sustainability/taskforce.shtml

World Commission on Environment and Development: Brundtland Commission. (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. United Nations.

Works Cited

Michael C. Cann, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and co-director of the environmental science program, has been a member of The University of Scranton faculty since 1975. Dr. Cann is the co-author of two textbooks in the field of environmental chemistry and has published widely on the topics of sustainability and green chemistry. In 2010, Dr. Cann was awarded the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Environmental Improvement National Award for incorporating sustainability into chemical education.

Cynthia W. Cann, Ph.D., is an associate professor in The University of Scranton’s Department of Management and Marketing. Dr. Cann’s main areas of interest are environmental and sustainable marketing and management. She developed and teaches the cornerstone MBA course: Responsibility, Sustainability and Justice. Her current research focuses on sustainable business and incorporating sustainability into to the business curriculum.

Provost’s Faculty Enhancement Awards Award Narratives Friday, March 26, 2010



unity

Peter Folan, S.J., received an appointment as lecturer in the Department of Philosophy after having served so well as an adjunct faculty member in 2008-09. During these past two years, Professor Folan has established himself as an extremely popular faculty member with incredibly strong student evaluations. But looking beyond this popularity, one will note that he is a very careful, reflective and meticulous educator. This is clearly evident in his syllabi which are detailed in a way so that they serve as important educational tools for his courses.

Lecturer of the Year PeTeR fOLAn, S.J.

Dr. Ann Pang-White joined the Department of Philosophy in 1997. She is rightfully recognized as a remarkably popular and effective educator. But she is also a well-established scholar having published 13 articles and more than two dozen conference presentations. Born in Taiwan and having earned her baccalaureate degree at Tung-Hai University, Professor Pang-White has incorporated her heritage into many of her scholarly and teaching projects. We are happy that she chose to dedicate some of her time to leading our faculty and administrators to the successful development and completion of a new interdisciplinary program in Asian Studies. She has worked with great diligence in establishing cooperative programs with Wuhan University and with Henan College of Education and we await with great optimism the outcome of the University’s proposal to the People’s Republic of China’s Office of Chinese Language Council International for a University of Scranton–based Confucius Institute.

Excellence in Advancing Global Learning Ann A. PAnG-WHiTe, Ph.D.

Dr. Kevin Wilkerson only joined the University in 2004 as a faculty member in the Department of Counseling and Human Services, but he has established a superb record for his work in teaching and learning, both on campus and in the national arena. His work encompasses the traditional classroom setting and includes his restructuring of certain key program course courses, his role as mentor to more than 30 graduate-level counseling students, and his leadership in the CACREP (Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs). Dr. Wilkerson’s involvement with the Educational Trust Transforming School Counseling Initiative program allows him to engage the broader community in issues related to contemporary school counseling, and he is recognized as one of the best national trainers in this initiative.

Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning KeVin S. WiLKeRSOn, Ph.D.

Dr. Robert L. McKeage has been the creative force behind the University’s Business Leadership Honors Program for the past 15 years. His tenure as the director of the program has been characterized by constant innovations in curriculum and pedagogy which have benefited not only our students, but also educators across the nation who have heard his presentations or read his articles about education for leadership. His work includes study of emotional and spiritual intelligence, experiential exercises, overcoming cross-cultural differences, and nurturing self-discovery. For many years, Dr. McKeage has been in the forefront in classroom applications of technology, and he has been a recipient of a State of Pennsylvania Higher Education Technology grant.

Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning ROBeRT L. mcKeAGe, Ph.D.

Dr. Abhijit Roy, from our Marketing/Management Department, is receiving broad recognition as a leading scholar in critical areas of growing importance in the marketing discipline. Some of his articles involve topics on marketing to and through associations, online marketing, development of marketing students’ critical-thinking skills, international marketing, and marketing ethics and values. His articles appear in Journal of Database Marketing, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of International Marketing and Industrial Marketing Management. Dr. Roy has presented at 21 business and marketing conferences since 2002. We are pleased that the quantity of his work is also characterized by the Ignatian values of our University mission as exemplified by his articles: “The Promise of Social Entrepreneurship” and “Redeveloping an Urban Slum: A Case Study and Marketing Implications.”

Excellence in Scholarly Publication ABHiJiT ROY, D.B.A.

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Dr. gerald Biberman is one of the “old-timers” at The University of Scranton having joined the University in 1981. He was promoted to full professor in 2001 and has served on nearly every committee that has existed on our campus. His teaching, scholarship and service as a faculty member and a former chairperson in the Department of Management/Marketing have reflected his dedication to his professional discipline and the mission of the University. His scholarly work is evident in more than 30 articles, 25 publications in proceedings and 50 scholarly presentations. Dr. Biberman’s bibliography reveals an interest in “spirituality in organizations,” which he developed mid-career here at Scranton. He has incorporated this scholarly interest in his teaching and service to the University and the broader community.

Dr. Biberman was one of the founders and the first chair of the Management, Spirituality and Religion Special Interest group of the Academy of Management; editor of the Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion; and co-author of “Work and Spirit: A Reader of New Spiritual Paradigms for Organization,” and “At Work: Spirituality Matters,” both published by The University of Scranton Press.

Excellence in Integrating Mission & Justice into the Curriculum GeRALD BiBeRmAn, Ph.D.

Well established as an exceptional professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Services and across the University, Dr. Lori Bruch is also acknowledged as a person committed to the development of new faculty and to her service to a wide variety of University committees and programs. She is successful because she understands people, and she has a remarkable ability to use structures and professional activities to engage colleagues, or students, or staff to weave new and productive relationships within and among these groups. In 2008-09, she was asked to bring this expertise to our Department of Education where, with her colleagues in the department, she established a greater level of collaboration that will provide for continued excellence in development of educators of the future.

Excellence for University Service & Leadership LORi A. BRUcH, ed.D.

Professor David Hair is cited as a “model for promoting interdisciplinary work” within the Panuska College and with other colleges as well. His role as chair of the Department of Exercise Science has actually increased his effectiveness in moving forward these goals for greater collaboration among faculty and students. His many projects include faculty from physical therapy, nursing and occupational therapy who engage in cooperative teaching and learning projects. His efforts and the work of his faculty colleagues have resulted in the laboratory facilities and equipment in Leahy Hall, the Long Center and in the Leahy Community Health and Family Center being shared by faculty and students from these programs for teaching and research. Professor Hair also moved forward to link students and the exercise science and physical therapy programs in joint projects and outreach endeavors. His efforts to encourage collaborative and cooperative work also led him to join the Biology and Physics departments as potential partners in teaching and research.

Excellence in Advancing Interdisciplinary Study PROfeSSOR DAViD A. HAiR

Dr. Bob Spalletta and Dr. Argy Varonides, professors in the Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, have collaborated very successfully in devising ways to increase solar cell efficiencies. They have an active publication record in this field of study and also received a state grant to purchase and implement a solar energy demonstration unit on campus. The system generates electricity during the typically sunny Scranton days which is sold back to PPL in exchange for the night lighting of the lot.

Excellence in Integrating ROBeRT A. SPALLeTTA, Ph.D. & ARGYRiOS c. VAROniDeS, Ph.D.Sustainability into the Curriculum

Bob Spalletta, Ph.D. Argy Varonides, Ph.D.

Father Ron McKinney has been the director of Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program (SJLA) for more than 20 years. With his energy, his intellect and his “sleeves-rolled up” approach to Ignatian education, he has developed SJLA into a truly distinctive academic program on our campus. In his role as director, Father Ron has engaged students and faculty to recognize The Magis and to push them forward to understanding its impact on their learning and teaching as they strive for excellence in their fields. The effort requires many skills including basic organization, logistics, counseling, conflict-resolution and, above all, accessibility nearly 24-7. All of this is done well and with commitment. But his success with SJLA, and his recognition for this success, masks his most impressive achievements as scholar. Fr. Ron has published more than 35 articles in professional journals and monographs.

Excellence in Adapting Classic Principles ROnALD mcKinneY, S.J., Ph.D.of Jesuit Pedagogy into the Curriculum: The Magis Award


HIgHLIgHTS from the 2009-2010 Research Seminar Series

educationThe Teacher as Ethical Subject

in “The Teacher as ethical Subject,” Dr. Darryl Demarzio explained how the service ethos in teaching – an ethos which he argued undergirds society’s cultural and social expectations of the teacher as being morally

bound to the welfare and flourishing of the student – might actually support an ethics of teaching insofar as it contributes to the teacher’s own project of self-formation. Through a close reading of Plato’s “Apology,”

in which Socrates accounts for his peculiar practice of teaching, Dr. Demarzio argued that the frequent allusions Socrates makes to various acts of self-renunciation are intended to convey that the distinctive work

of the teacher is a work of the self upon the self. in this way, the teacher can be viewed as an ethical subject – that is, the subject of their own ethical and existential projects. Dr. Demarzio concluded by referencing

other Platonic texts in which the idea of self-sacrifice appears in order to conjure up the ancient Greco-Roman notion of sacrifice as “making sacred” – a notion in stark contrast to our modern idea of “loss of self.”

Darryl DeMarzio, Ph.D., Education

mathematicsSociodynamics: a Monadic View of Social EvolutionDr. masood Otarod presented his mathematical hypothesis of social change in which he posits that the state of a social system can be described by a mathematical model analogous to the rate of chemical reactions in terms of a finite number of parameters which are abstractions from the effective, inherent and distinctive properties of the social system. His mathematical model is developed on the assumption of the following laws of social change: (1) the time rate of change in the state of a society is equal to the difference between the rate of change of the “effective social brilliance” and the rate of change in the status quo, and (2) the rate at which a social phenomenon exerts an influence in shaping the state of a society is proportional to its effective value.

Masood Otarod, Sc.D., Mathematics

Cultural Conflict: Thoreau, Great Britain and the American civil Warin november 1861, a U.S. warship stopped the British steamer Trent and removed the confederate commissioners James m. mason and John Slidell, precipitating an international crisis known as the “Trent Affair.” major British writers of the time responded with harsh criticisms of American culture and values. One of the most prominent, matthew Arnold, observed that the American Union was “full of rawness, hardness, and imperfection” and was vastly inferior to Britain’s sophisticated civilization. Dr. Len Gougeon analyzed Henry David Thoreau’s classic essays “Walking,” “Autumnal Tints,” “Wild Apples” and “Life Without Principle” through the context of this decline in U.S.-British relations. According to Dr. Gougeon, in these essays Thoreau offered a subtle defense of American naturalness and “rawness” and strong criticism of Britain’s effete and superficial culture. for the patriotic Thoreau, the future belonged to a free America. He was confident that with the defeat of the South and the end of slavery, someday “the poets of the world will be inspired by American mythology.”

Len gougeon, Ph.D., English and Theatre

English theatre

Protein Disulfides: Reading between the Lines of the Genetic CodeDr. Tim foley’s presentation focused on the role of protein bonds in the regulation of our bodies’ cells.

Proteins are comprised of chains of amino acids. The 20 common amino acids found in proteins are encoded by the genetic code. Protein disulfide bonds are a special type of reversible chemical bond that can form

between the sulfur atoms of two nearby cysteine amino acids in response to a chemical reaction known as oxidation. Dr. foley and others believe that formation of disulfide bonds in certain key regulatory proteins may play important roles in cellular communication and regulation. in his presentation, he explained how

his lab has recently developed a chemical method to trap proteins forming disulfide bonds so that these proteins can be identified and studied further. He and his colleagues are now applying this method to the

capture and identification of proteins from the brain that form disulfide bonds most selectively.

Tim Foley, Ph.D., Chemistry

chemistry

Highlights continued from page 6


unity

An Accomplished Faculty

From 2005 – 2010, the University has committed upward

of $22 million to faculty development and scholarly

support initiatives. The production of our scholars from

2005 – 2010 has been prodigious: 94 books, 668 articles,

231 book articles and chapters, 1,435 presentations at

national and international conferences, and 1,057 other

creative and scholarly activities.

• Our full-time faculty positions have grown from 259 in 2005 to 281 in 2010.

• Eighty-three percent of our full-time faculty hold doctorates or terminal degrees, and 65% are tenured.

• Our student-to-faculty ratio is 13:1.

Scranton is nationally recognized for the quality of its education.

• For 17 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition has ranked the University among the

10 top master’s universities in the North. U.S. News also ranks Scranton in its listing of “great Schools at a great Price” and among colleges expressing a “Strong Commitment to Teaching.”

• Scranton is among just 119 colleges in the nation named to the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement in 2008.

• The Princeton Review has included Scranton among its “373 Best Colleges.”

• The University is listed among the 198 colleges in the nation included in the 11th edition of Barron’s “Best Buys in College Education.”

• The University is named among just 115 colleges in

the nation to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction.

For more information, visit www.scranton.edu

Spotlight on Scranton

About The University of Scranton

Founded in 1888, Scranton is a Catholic and

Jesuit university in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains

region. The University offers 61 undergraduate

programs, 25 graduate programs and a doctor of

physical therapy degree to approximately 5,800

students. Since 2005, the University has invested

nearly $200 million in campus improvements,

either completed or under way.

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Ignite – Fall 2010

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