For the Record

Article by UDaily staff November 15, 2019

University community reports recent publications, presentations, honors

For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and achievements of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent publications, presentations, honors, exhibitions and service include the following:

Publications

Theodore E. D. Braun, professor emeritus of French and comparative literature, has recently published an interview (conducted by Nathan Brown of Furman University). It is the first of five projected articles concerning the history of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) and covers the first 10 years of ASECS, 1970-79. Braun has been an active participant in the organization since its inception and is one of the few members participating in the first meeting who is still alive. The article is entitled "ASECS at 50, Interview with Theodore E. D. Braun", and has been published in ASECS's principal journal, Eighteenth-Century Studies, Volume 53, Number 1, Fall 2019, pages 3-12.

Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, has a chapter in War and Sexual Violence: New Perspectives in a New Era, edited by Sarah K. Danielsson, a collection published by Brill/Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh. Stetz's essay, titled "Teaching about the 'Comfort System' of World War II: The Hidden Stories of Girls," emphasizes the positive role that American educators can play in many settings, in and outside the classroom, by bringing attention to the history of military sexual slavery (and the enslavement, in particular, of young Asian girls by the Japanese Imperial Army) to young people in the U.S.

Suzanne L. Burton, interim associate dean for the arts and professor of music education, published a book chapter in the new Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education entitled, "Preparing Preservice Music Teachers to Nurture the Musical Growth of Young Children."

Presentations

Daniel Stevens at the meeting of the Society for Music Theory.

At the recent annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, of the Society for Music Theory, Daniel Stevens, associate professor of music theory, gave a research presentation titled "The Predominant V4/2." Chosen for the conference program through a peer-review selection process, this talk focused on J.S. Bach's paradoxical usage of the dominant (V) 4/2 chord as a functional predominant. Philip Duker, associate professor of music theory, presented a paper titled "Integrating Historical Improvisation into Core Theory Classes" for the Society for Music Theory Improvisation Interest Group Lightning Talk Session.

Trevor A. Dawes, vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian, was invited to give a presentation at the Charleston: Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition Library Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, on Nov. 7, 2019. Dawes was one of two speakers at the session, The Time Has Come to Talk of Library and Museum Collaborations. He spoke about the collaborations between libraries and museums and the specific experience of the University of Delaware model of a unified reporting line of these units. At the same conference, Dawes also served on a panel, Displaying Your Impact, Protecting your Patrons: Ethical Use of Library Analytics to Understand User Success, in which panelists discussed the ethical and practical aspects of use of library data to aid in the success of the students at their respective institutions.

Carla Guerrón Montero, professor of anthropology with joint appointments in Africana studies, Latin American and Iberian studies, and Women and Gender Studies, traveled to Oslo, Norway, to continue her role as U.S. liaison to the Applied Anthropological Network (AAN) of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA). In Oslo, she also attended the seventh international symposium on "Why the World Needs Anthropologists," held Oct. 25-27, 2019. In November, Guerrón Montero presented the paper "The Freedom to Signify: Remembrance, Resistance, Renaissance in Brazil’s Quilombola Tourism“ at the 10th biennal conference of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide Diaspora (ASWAD), held Nov. 5-10, 2019, in Williamsburg, Virginia. From Nov. 19-24, 2019, she will attend the American Anthropological Association's (AAA) annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, to continue her service to the association as an elected member of its Executive Board.

John Jeka, right, with Yadati Narahari, professor and chairman of the Department of Computer Science and Automation at IISc.

John Jeka, chairperson of the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, recently presented two seminar talks at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in Bangalore, India. IISc is considered the leading science university in India. He was invited as part of the Pratiksha Brain Computation and Data Science initiative, which began in 2015. The initiative's mission is to foster intense research collaboration leading to capacity building, ecosystem creation and high impact research outcomes in brain, computation and data science in IISc and India. Jeka's seminars were titled “Multisensory Fusion and System Identification of Human Postural Control” and “A Computational Model of Human Locomotion: How We Stay Upright while Walking.” The participating departments and centers of IISc include: Computer Science and Automation, Computational and Data Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Electrical Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronic Systems Engineering, Mathematics and Molecular Biophysics. Jeka was invited by Shihab Shamma, professor from the University of Maryland who is a visiting chair professor at the IISc.

A production by Heinz-Uwe Haus, professor of theatre, of Aeschylus’ The Persians has opened the winter season of one of Germany’s smallest chamber theatres, piccolo teatro Haventheater in Bremerhave on the North Sea. Haus also designed the stage and costumes. The world’s oldest surviving drama, The Persians deals with the sinking of the Persian flett during the naval battle of Salamis from the fictitious view of the Persian royal court. According to Haus, “the ancient Greek theatre is irreplaceable because of its great emotions and powerful stories, and it is a practice site of democracy, full of home for the evolutionary energies of history.”

Honors

Suzanne L. Burton, interim associate dean for the arts and professor of music education, was recently appointed to the board of the Delaware Arts Alliance, a statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates on behalf of the arts and arts education.

Mezzosoprano Courtney Porter, who received her master of music in vocal performance earlier this year, is this year's first place winner of the Mary E. Singletary Vocal Arts Competition for Emerging Artists (formerly known as the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition), recognizing young African American classical vocalists.

UD music students garnered wins at the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing District Auditions on Oct. 26, 2019, at Temple University. Ryan Colbert, who is pursuing a master of music degree in voice; Hannah Andrews, a first-year student in applied music--voice, Tara O'Connor, a sophomore honors music education student in general, choral, voice; and John Murphy, a first-year student majoring in applied music--voice, participated in the post-competition Winner’s Concert. Students of Noël Archambeault, associate professor of music, and Isai Jess Munoz, assistant professor of music, placed top three in their respective categories. Student winners included soprano Ryan Colbert (first place Advanced College Division and Best Overall Performance); soprano Nicole Cherecwich, master of music in performance student (second place Advanced College Division and second place Adult Music Theater Division); mezzosoprano Helena Rhein, a junior applied music student in voice (second place Upper College Division); baritone John Murphy (first place Classical Lower College Men and third place College Musical Theater Men); tenor Justin Witwick, a sophomore music education student in general/choral, voice (Lower College Men participant); sopranos Hannah Andrews and Tara O'Connor (tied for first place Lower College Division Treble) and tenor Leon DeShields, a sophomore majoring in applied voice (second place Collegiate Musical Theater Men and 3rd Place Collegiate Classical Men).