Life of the Mind is a lecture series showcasing the research, scholarship, and
creative activity of Pamplin College faculty.
The dates for the 2021-2022 Life of the Mind presentations are:
- Wednesday, October 6, 2021
- Tuesday, November 9, 2021
- Thursday, January 27, 2022
- Thursday, March 17, 2022
All presentations are from 1-2 p.m.
Faculty Presentations
- “Administrative Burden in TANF: An Assessment of Welfare Rules”
Presented by Dr. Rhucha Samudra, Department of Social Sciences
- “The Recent Performance of Cuba’s External Sector”
Presented by Dr. Paolo Spadoni, Department of Social Sciences
- “Expertise on the Internet: The Construction of Authority and Difference”
Presented by Dr. Trent M. Kays, Department of English and World Languages
- “Unnatural Disasters in the Autobiographical Narratives of Nathalie Sarraute and Marguerite
Duras”
Presented by Dr. E. Nicole Meyer, Department of English and World Languages
- "Perfect Timing? Exploring how learners of Spanish perceive and benefit from immediate
vs. delayed grammar feedback in face-to-face vs. online chat environments"
Presented by Dr. Carly Carver, Department of English and World Languages
- "Bringing a Transnational Research Project to Fruition: Politics, Culture, and the
Irish-American Press"
Presented by Dr. Debra van Tuyll, Department of Communication
- "Understanding Cyberthreats through the lens of Young Adults"
Presented by Dr. Candace Griffith, Department of Social Sciences
- "Israel and South Sudan: A Convergence of Interests"
Presented by Dr. Michael Bishku, Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy
- “Tocqueville’s Theologico-Political Predicament: Leo Strauss, Religion, and Democracy”
Presented by Dr. Craig Albert, Department of Social Sciences
- “Elasticity in the Photograph ‘Scherzo di Follia’”
Presented by Dr. Melanie O’Meara, Department of Art and Design
- "Those 'Dam' Indians: Water, Power & Protest in Guatemala, 1920-2020"
Presented by Dr. Heather Chiero, Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy
- "Blue Lives Matter: Relinquishing and Reclaiming Narrative Control in the 'Post-Ferguson'
Era"
Presented by Dr. Melissa Powell-Williams, Department of Social Sciences
- "U.S.-Cuba Economic Relations under the Trump Administration"
Presented by Dr. Paolo Spadoni, Department of Social Sciences
- "Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot' at 150: Textual Transactions"
Presented by Dr. Brian Armstrong, Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy
- "Meet in the Middle: Terrorism and Centrist Party Vote Shares in Legislative Elections"
Presented by Dr. Lance Hunter, Department of Social Sciences
- "Women to the Rescue of Mythical Female Figures: Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer
and Malinalli"
Presented by Dr. Giada Biasetti, Department of English and Foreign Languages
- "'Moments of Wholeness': Reading Marie Howe's and Mary Jo Bang's Elegiac Verse"
Presented by Anna Harris-Parker, Department of English and Foreign Languages
- "Women Writing Pain: Faïza Guene's 'Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow'"
Presented by Dr. Liana Babayan, Department of English and Foreign Languages
- "Lincoln, Douglass, and Freedom"
Presented by Dr. David Bulla, Department of Communication
- "A Not So Native Son: Richard Wright, 'Black Power,' and the African Postcolonial
State"
Presented by Dr. Guirdex Massé, Department of English and Foreign Languages
- "Occupations as Status Hierarchies: Evidence from Workplaces in Sweden"
Presented by Dr. Dustin Avent-Holt, Department of Social Sciences
- "From Ox-Pens to Re-education Camps and the Erasure of Uyghur Identity"
Presented by Dr. Sandrine E. Catris, Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy
- "Eye-Tracking and Pupil Dilation in Second Language Acquisition: A Collaborative Project"
Presented by Dr. Giada Biasetti, Department of English and Foreign Languages
- "Personas of the Past: Poetry as Archive"
Presented by Anna Harris-Parker, Department of English and Foreign Languages
- "Off the Wall and Onto the Page: A Screenplay Process"
Presented by Matthew Buzzell, Department of Art and Design
- "Plastic Fantastic: Citizenship in a Superpower Nation"
Presented by Kristin Casaletto, Department of Art and Design
- "Investigating Gender Differences in Environmental Attitudes"
Presented by Dr. Mary-Kate Lizotte, Department of Social Sciences
- "Giving Light and Help: Susie Wiseman Yergan and the Unity Home-Makers' Club of South
Africa"
Presented by Dr. Brandy Wells, Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy
- "Sound and Vision: The Inspiration of Rothko"
Presented by Dr. Robert Foster, Department of Music
- "The Homicide of Transgender People in the U.S.: A Descriptive (Baseline) Study"
Presented by Dr. Melissa Bemiller, Department of Social Sciences