School of Liberal Arts Faculty Accomplishments

Berkeley College faculty members were recognized for various accomplishments during recent months. Here are the highlights:

Michael Montlack had several poems published: "Schroeder" and "Future Lover" in American Journal of Poetry, "This Balcony Is Not Yours" in Impossible Archetype, "Tryst with a Former Self" in North American Review, "To My Birth Mother" in Columbia Poetry Review, "Elsewhere" in Mudfish, "Dor" in Hotel Amerika, "I Tell My Twin Sister" in The Florida Review, and "The Bachelor's Dilemma" in New Orleans Review.

Cezar Giosan presented a paper on “BeatSadness.com - A Mobile App for the Prevention and Treatment of Depression” at the 5th Annual Public Health Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thomas Miller participated in an international University of the Arctic planning meeting in Finland, resulting in the creation of a new thematic research network CAFÉ (Circumpolar Archives, Folklore and Ethnography). Thomas also had his original remix music piece, “Zimbabwean Genealogy,” contributed to “60 Secondes Radio” broadcasts in France, Italy, and Spain. This remix produced in collaboration with Zongwe FM (Zambia) and the women of Zubo Trust (Zimbabwe), was released by Radio Continental Drift on the digital album “A Radio-Bridge Across the Zambezi.” Additionally, Thomas presented a paper, “Out of Sight: Spiritual Geography and the Invisible City of Kitezh,” to the inaugural session of the Institute for Russian Music Studies at the Orfeo Music Festival in Italy.

A book by Stephen Wolf, Central Park Love Song: Wandering Beneath the Heaventrees, was published on June 1 by Griffith Moon Press. A lovely review of his book was printed in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/nyregion/central-park-love-song.html.

Gregory Hotchkiss presented at the International Religion and Society Conference at the University of California, Berkeley. The title of the presentation was "Religion, Children, and the Problem of Consent."

Gloria Davy contributed a chapter titled “Humanities, Social Sciences and Entrepreneurial Education” for a book to be published under the title Emerging Trends in Entrepreneurial Education. She also attended the Conference on Women and Gender at Seton Hall University, as well as the Eighth Annual Women’s History Month Celebration: Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Awards at Kean University.

Michael Montlack had several poems published: “Purple Haze” in Barrow Street, “My Father’s Workshop” in Poet Lore, “Ruth” and “Birth Was a Wordless Meadow” in Los Angeles Review, “Father” in The Good Men Project, and “1959” in Ascent. 

Donn Mitchell completed his new book, set for launch in May, which is observed nationally as Labor History Month. Tread the City’s Streets Again: Frances Perkins Shares Her Theology is the first book to explore the religious life of the settlement house worker who went on to become U.S. Secretary of Labor, lifting millions of Americans out of poverty through the creation of the Social Security system.

Jason Gulya had a proposal accepted to present the paper, “Minds Coming into Contact with One Another: Using Collaborative Writing to Teach Composition as Communal Practice,” at the Transitions and Transactions Conference in New York City. He also submitted a book chapter titled “’Consigned to a Florida for Tropes': Theorizing Enlightenment Allegory,” which will be published in the book Allegory Studies (forthcoming from Routledge).

Peter Lubrecht spoke and conducted a book signing at the New York City Revolutionary War Round Table regarding his new book, “NJ Hessians Truth and Lore." He will be repeating the presentation at both the Princeton Bar Association and the Bergen County Historical Society. He has also signed a contract with Fonthill Media’s “America Through Time” series for a new biography of German-American Patriot Reformer Carl Schurz and has accepted an invitation to speak on Carl Schurz at the National Steuben Society’s luncheon celebrating National-German American Day.

Cezar Giosan co-published a paper titled “The Evolutionary Fitness Scale: A Measure of the Independent Criterion of Fitness” in EvoS Journal: The Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium, 7(1), 181–205. He co-presented on the topic of “Reducing Depressive Symptomatology with a Smartphone App” at the 9th International Congress of Cognitive Psychotherapy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania; as well as the 5th CPSYC International Congress on Clinical and Counseling Psychology, Bari, Italy.

As a Rutgers University alumna, Melissa Baralt, Ph.D., Math and Sciences, was invited to give a presentation to graduating seniors. The subject was guiding future doctoral students toward alternative career paths that can be fulfilling. Her talk was focused on the importance of pedagogy and how future science Ph.D.s can get involved in teaching. It was part of an informative seminar/workshop that included hands-on activities, with questions and answers at the end.

In October 2017, Dr. Baralt appeared on the Nivel Magazine Hispanic lifestyle series “Desayuno del Domingo.” Dr. Baralt discussed the many ways she helps Latino and minority students succeed, as well as the importance of education and a positive lifestyle.

Yesudas Choondassery, Ph.D., Humanities and Social Sciences, wrote “Rights-based Approach: The Hub of Sustainable Development” for the journal Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education. This journal was published in December 2017 by the Chair of UNESCO/UNITWIN (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization/University Twinning and Networking) in cooperation with the Center of Sustainable Education at Daugavplis University, Latvia. Dr. Choondassery stated that a rights-based approach to environmental issues has been gaining momentum since the United Nations Environmental Agency proposed an agenda for sustainable development in its document Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He added that our moral responsibility toward the environment is essential for sustainable development.

Gloria M. Davy, Ph.D., Humanities and Social Sciences, contributed a chapter to Emerging Trends in Entrepreneurial Education by Zeetarz Publishing. Titled “Humanities, Social Sciences, and Entrepreneurial Education,” she explained how, in this era of globalization, entrepreneurship education has been acknowledged by scholars and educators as evolving and challenging. She proposed a multidisciplinary model of entrepreneurship education around the humanities and social sciences methodology. The book gives insight on the formation of entrepreneurship in this era, and the importance and contribution of knowledge from the humanities and social sciences perspective. It was published in conjunction with the International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Abakaliki, Nigeria, in March 2018.

Heidi Hoefinger, Ph.D., Math and Sciences, Science, spoke at the American Anthropolitical Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in November 2017, on “Understanding Sexual Humanitarian Bordering in the US Through Participative Ethnographic Filmmaking: Preliminary Findings from New York City and Los Angeles.” Her paper described the innovative genre and method of ethnofiction and the ways it forefronts the experiences and expertise of the migrant sex workers and the survivors of trafficking. Also in November 2017, for Transgender Day of Remembrance hosted by Berkeley College, Dr. Hoefinger was an invited panelist on “Beyond the Binary: A Forum on Gender Diversity and Identities within the LGBTQIA Spectrum.” One outcome of the event was setting up the first Gender and Sexuality Alliance held at Berkeley College in January 2018.

In November 2017, Thomas Miller, Ph.D., Humanities and Social Sciences, an anthropologist and sound artist, was invited to conduct Sonic Anthropology workshops at Texas A&M University’s Department of Performance Studies. In his workshops, he explained how radio is undergoing a transformation from broadcast signal to multipath intermedia. He explored radio as a performative medium, re-animator of ethnographic memory, and a contemporary art form. He presented an auditory matrix of field recordings, sound archives, narrative voices, shortwave signals, and more.

In October 2017, Peter Lubrecht, Ph.D., English, was appointed to the Advisory Board of the German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA. The national membership organization, which runs the German-American Heritage Museum in Washington, D.C., promotes German language and culture in the United States and works toward preserving the history of Americans of German ancestry. Dr. Lubrecht is the author of Weekly Thoughts from the Life of Martin Luther, a book published in October 2017. Proceeds from the book will be donated to local food banks and pantries.

Michael Montlack, English, is the author of “The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus,” a poem published in the magazine Tupelo Quarterly in October 2017.

Francesco Ranci, Humanities and Social Sciences, is the author of the preface to “La Mente Vista da un Cibernetico,” a series of lectures by Italian philosopher and linguist Silvio Ceccato. Initially published in 1972, Mr. Ranci’s preface appears in a version published by Mimesis in October 2017.

In October 2017, Hui-wen Tu, Humanities and Social Sciences, co-presented “Measurable Learning Objectives for Flipped Classroom” at the World Conference on E-Learning in Vancouver, Canada.

In October 2017, Maria Katerina Ventouras, Humanities and Social Sciences, was inducted into Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. She is enrolled in the Doctor of Philosophy program for Psychology at Grand Canyon University, and will begin her dissertation in June 2018.

In September 2017, Hugo Walter, Ph.D., English, led a book club discussion on the novel The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton and its 1993 film adaptation at Princeton Windrows, an independent living facility in Plainsboro, NJ. Dr. Walter also led a book club discussion on the folk tale Cinderella by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm at Princeton Windrows in July 2017.

In September 2017, Byron Hargrove, Ph.D., Humanities and Social Sciences and Director, Honors Program, served as a peer-reviewer for “Profiles of Burnout among Professional Psychologists,” a manuscript submission that is being evaluated for publication in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice.