Union in the Media

An article by Frank Wicks, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was featured in a recent issue of “Mechanical Engineering,” a publication of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. “Hubbert’s Peak and Mitchell’s Boom” connects oil geologist King Hubbert and his Peak Oil graph with the game-changing new techniques pioneered by the late George Mitchell, a Texas billionaire known as the “Father of Hydrofracking.” The article traces the history leading to the new techniques, and notes the good, the bad and the uncertainties.

Daniel Mosquera, associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, attended the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference in Seattle, where he delivered a paper. “Favelado/Fabulado: Participatory Indexicality and Trash Aesthetics in Contemporary Brazil” was part of a panel dealing with uses and subversions of documentary immediacy in recent autoethnographic visual media.

Research by Scott Kirkton, associate professor of biology, was featured on WAMC’s “Academic Minute.” He explained his work on the biochemistry that triggers a grasshopper’s molting process. The radio piece was also featured on Inside Higher Ed.

Jordan Smith, the Edward E. Hale, Jr. Professor of English, recently released “Clare’s Empire,” a sequence of poems on the life and work of British poet John Clare. The work is available as an e-book and online (Kindle, iTunes) from The Hydroelectric Press, a digital publishing company founded by Michael Allen Potter ‘94. Read more about Smith’s work here.

Jillmarie Murphy, assistant professor of English, presented a paper, “Anti-Landscapes and Urban Attachments in Charles Brockden Brown's Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793," as part of the "Urban Psychologies" panel at the 19th Century Studies Association Conference in Chicago in mid-March.

Hilary Zelson ‘11 was selected as lead artist for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Community Arts Initiative Artist Project. This project involves teaching young children and is a year-long collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts and 10 community organizations in Boston.

Deidre Hill Butler, associate professor of sociology and director of the Africana Studies program, participated on a “Faculty Transitions: Joining, Tenure, Promotion, Administration and Committee Work" panel at the NY6 Faculty of Color in Liberal Arts Conference at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Butler is also facilitating an adult reading group, "Conversations on Giving, Serving and Learning," at the Schenectady Public Library main branch Wednesday evenings in April. This program is sponsored by a grant from the New York State Council on the Humanities.

Edward Summers, chief of staff, attended the American Council on Education’s 96th annual meeting in San Diego. The discussion focused on issues critical issues in higher education. Sessions highlighted emerging technologies and data, and how they are transforming campus operations, teaching and research.

The men's hockey team's national championship has generated widespread national and local media attention. ESPN, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times are just a few of the outlets that have chronicled the title.

Christopher Chabris, associate professor of psychology, co-authored an essay for Slate with David Z. Hambrick, a professor at Michigan State University

The pair weighed in on the impact of new changes to the SAT.

To read the piece, click here.

Union's recent A Day 4 U fundraising event, was mentioned in an article in the Albany Business Review looking at what colleges are doing differently to engage alumni and raise funds.

To read the article, click here.

Scott Kirkton, an associate professor of biology, was recently featured on WAMC's Academic Minute.

The daily program features professors from colleges and universities around the world sharing their research. It airs on public radio stations across the country.

Vice President for Finance and Administration Diane Blake, Chief of Staff Edward Summers and Senior Director of Communications and Marketing Gail Glover presented workshops at the annual conference of the National Association of Presidential Assistant in Higher Education in San Diego. Blake and John Pecchia, vice president for business affairs at Marist College, addressed “Understanding Institutional Finances: Lessons for Strategic Advisors to the President.” Summers and Glover co-presented a workshop on social media, “The Online Presidency.” Summers hosted two other sessions: “Managing, Supervising and Leading Others in the President’s Office: Where Do I Start?” and “Using Institutional Research to Enhance Your Roles as a Presidential Assistant.” He also led a roundtable discussion, “Dual Role: Presidential Assistant/Board Secretary.”

Brad Hays, associate professor of political science, was a guest on WAMC’s “Congressional Corner” with host Alan Chartock. The two discussed the Supreme Court’s recent decision on campaign spending.

Andrew Burkett, assistant professor of English, was accepted into the Digital Humanities at Oxford Summer School (DHOxSS) at Wolfson College, Oxford. In July, he will enroll in a course of study titled “Introduction to Digital Humanities” and will present his ongoing work in digital studies. The DHOxSS summer school program is a joint initiative of the Oxford e-Research Centre, IT Services, the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities and Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries.

Jillmarie Murphy, assistant professor of English, published a journal article in Studies in American Naturalism 8 (Winter 2014). "Chains of Emancipation: Place Attachment and the Great Northern Migration in Paul Laurence Dunbar's The Sport of the Gods," employs the psycho-social construct of “place attachment” to broaden the implications of Dunbar's staging of late 19th African-American familial disruptions experienced during the nadir of race relations in the U.S.

Jennifer Matsue, associate professor of music, director of the Asian Studies program and director of World Musics and Cultures program, presented at the “Voices of Asian Modernity: Women, Gender and Sexuality in Asian Popular Music” at the University of Pittsburgh. Matsue’s talk was titled “Female Passivity or Musical Democracy?: Making Music with Hatsune Miku.”

The men's hockey team's run to a national championship generated a wealth of national and regional media coverage.

Bloomberg News took a look out how the College is able to field a successful team despite being outspent by its much larger rivals.

To read the article, click here.

The College recently held a ceremony celebrating the new home of a 1914 “Duplex Drive Brougham” Detroit Electric automobile that once belonged to Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the great electrical engineer and inventor.

Found rotting in a Glenville field 40 years after Steinmetz’s death in 1923, the car was purchased by the College in 1971. For the next 10 years, it was painstakingly restored by Union faculty and engineering students.

Used sparingly for campus ceremonies, the vehicle has been on display at a number of places, including the Saratoga Auto Museum and the Edison Tech Center. Mostly, it has been stored in off-campus garages.

To help celebrate Steinmetz’s 149th birthday, the College Wednesday christened the car’s new permanent display in the first-floor corridor between the Wold Center and F.W. Olin building.

To read a story in the Daily Gazette, click here.

To view a photo gallery in the Times Union, click here.

Brad Hays, associate professor of political science, was a recent guest on "Congressional Corner" on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio.

Northeast Public Radio is a member of National Public Radio serving parts of seven northeastern states. These include New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, was recently was interviewed for an article on her work for the Oxford University Press’ Music blog. The story was part of their ongoing series asking composers eight questions about their musical likes, dislikes, influences and challenges. Read the article here.

Mary Carroll, professor of chemistry, Ann Anderson, the Agnes S. MacDonald Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Caroline Gorka ’14, a chemistry major, published a video article, “Preparing Silica Aerogel Monoliths via a Rapid Supercritical Extraction Method” in the Journal of Visualized Experiments.

Kaitlyn Suarez ’15 received one of three $5,000 scholarships awarded to undergraduates from the Liberty Mutual Responsible Scholars Scholarship Program. Suarez was chosen for creating the Dutchmen Dip and Good Eats, two community service programs held on campus.

Ellen Borkowski, the College’s chief information officer, was voted one of the Huffington Post’s Top 100 CIO’s to Follow on Twitter. Check out the full list here.

Stephen Berk, the Henry and Sally Shaffer Professor of Holocaust and Jewish Studies, was a guest on WAMC. He discussed if anti-Semitism is playing a role in the recent events in Ukraine with host Alan Chartock.