Alexander Selimov, Elias Ahuja Chair and Professor of Spanish, has been named  International "Poet of the Year" and received the corresponding award at the seventh Boao International Poetry Festival, held Dec. 13-18, 2024, in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Two faculty in the Associate in Arts Program (AAP) have been awarded Community-Engaged Experiences and the Humanities grants from the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center in the College of Arts and Sciences. AAP students in Associate Professor of Mathematics Brad Thompson’s STAT200 will form a team to participate in the inaugural UD DataFest in Newark. Robin Kucharczyk, assistant professor of chemistry, and her students in SCEN107: Snack Science will organize a poster session featuring student research on food cultures around the world.

Presentations

Margaret D. Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, was an invited participant in a scholarly forum on the links among humor, violence and white masculinity in the history of the American nation. This event, held online on Feb. 12, 2024, was sponsored and organized by the AHSA (American Humor Studies Association).

On Jan. 25, 2025, Sean Gao, Trustees Distinguished Professor of Music and founding director of the Master Players Concert Series, and Denise J. Murphy, professor of dance and director of the dance minor, presented Journey to Oblivion at the Pittsburgh Lunar New Year Gala “CivilizASIAN,” hosted by the Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Center and presented at the Pittsburgh Playhouse PNC Theater. This unique collaboration brought together the UD ensemble-in-residence 6-Wire and dance minor students. Inspired by the immigrant experience and the universal journey of life, Journey to Oblivion explores the hopes, dreams and challenges faced as we move through time and across new cultural landscapes. Dance minor students worked collaboratively under Murphy’s choreographic direction to explore such themes in movement while embodying the beautiful original music of Gao, Cathy Wang and Matthew Brower of the 6-Wire ensemble. Music and dance came together live on stage in Pittsburgh in an event that highlighted cultural heritage, inviting UD students to be part of a truly multicultural experience.

Trevor A. Dawes, the vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian was the moderator of the panel, “The Impacts of Digitization and AI on Information Access” at the United States-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Exchange (CULCON) Symposium on “Shaping the U.S.-Japan Partnership: Creative Industries, Information Access, and Subnational Diplomacy,” held at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art on Feb. 18, 2025. The symposium covered topics on Japanese art and culture (including the debate over whether Godzilla serves as an "ambassador"), information access and subnational diplomacy. In the panel moderated by Dawes, speakers Yuko Takahashi (president of Tsuda University in Japan), Emily Singley (vice president of North American Library Relations at Elsevier), and Aiko Doden (distinguished senior fellow at the Edwin O. Reischauer Center at Johns Hopkins University) discussed challenges in accessing vetted, reliable information to strengthen U.S.-Japan relations. They also explored how technology, including AI, can help overcome these barriers. This panel aligns with the ongoing work led by Dawes and Takahashi as part of a CULCON-appointed Working Group.

Publications

Heinz-Uwe Haus, professor emeritus of theatre, published in the newest issue of Lumina Lina (The Romanian Institute of Orthodox Theology and Spirituality, New York, An XXX, Nr. 1, 2025, p. 149-151) a review of a collection of poems by Clelia Ifrim, titled The Lamb of Abel. The bilingual edition—translated from Romanian to English by the author; published at Cismigiu Books, Bucuresti, 2024—refers to the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel. While filled with tragedy, the story teaches us a valuable lesson about living with sincerity. Through their example, we learn how not just our actions, but our attitudes matter. "It reads (Genesis 4:7): 'Do not let seduction have its way, but rule over it!' The poet makes reference to Christian identity without any superficiality and with alert attention to what is happening around her. Her collection of poems reflects a creative perseverance to recognize human nature. Every attitude, every image is of lyrical sensitivity. Clelia Ifrim’s poems are a convincing example of how fragile lyrical formations grow out of divine spirituality," Haus said.             

Margaret D. Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, is the author of a poem titled "On Sultana's Dream" that was published recently in the special "Women and Peace" issue (Volume 4, No. 4) of the interdisciplinary peace studies journal, The Irenaut. Stetz's poem is a tribute to the utopian fantasy short story titled "Sultana's Dream" that was written by the Bengali Muslim feminist and education reformer, Rokeya Hossain (1880-1932), and first published in English in The Indian Ladies' Magazine in 1905. Stetz is also the author of the poem "A Tanka for Sylvia Plath" and its accompanying "A Note," both of which appeared in the online journal Libre, in its special issue on Sylvia Plath, in December 2024.

Service

Calaia S. Jackson, a fourth-year student in the public policy and administration doctoral program at the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, was nominated to the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Student Activities Committee. The eight-person committee helps identify ways to better serve the organization's student members. It is also tasked with planning and implementing professional development sessions for the APPAM Annual Fall Research Conference, which is scheduled for Nov. 13–15, 2025, in Seattle, Washington. 

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