COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
NewsLETTER
SPRING 2016
Editor’s Note: The College of Arts and Sciences consists of 13 departments and about 3,000 students with majors and minors in the arts and sciences. The college teaches over 90 percent of the General Education courses offered at Georgia College; it is at the heart of Georgia College’s liberal arts mission. This issue of the Newsletter highlights the works of students and faculty in the College, with a spotlight on the Department of Mathematics, as the featured department. The Department of Mathematics has a diverse faculty of 18 lecturers and professors. The chair of the Department is Dr. Robert Blumenthal, who has chaired the department since 2009. For details about the department, visit the website at gcsu.edu/artsandsciences/math
Olufunke A. Fontenot Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Dean’s Message is newsletter presents snapshots of the college and zooms in on the Mathematics Department. As an original liberal art, math has pride of place in the college. Because so much of our modern world depends on math and math skills, we have an obligation to our students and society to provide the very best math programming and education. Our math faculty are more than up to the challenge-they are leading the way.
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER SPRING 2016 DeAN KENNETH J. PROCTER
Over the last year, the college invited a number of alumni and friends of the college to join us as an advisory board. e Advisory Board will assist in developing resources to support and advance college programming, instruction, research and our service mission. e inaugural board meeting took place in September, 2015; a second meeting was held in February, 2016. With this newsletter we welcome and introduce our members. Meet our board members at the following link: gcsu.edu/artsandsciences/advisory-board
eDitOr
PhOtO CreDits TIM VACULA
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OLUFUNKE A. FONTENTOT
KENNETH PROCTER Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Professor of Art
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 2 GEORGIA COLLEGE
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CONTENTS ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER SPRING 2016
4
Mathematics
12
Washington, D.C.
20
Sumita Sadhu
| INSIDE > STEAM Night > NSF Award > Conference Presentations > Why Faculty Research is Essential > Theatre > Engaged Learning > Department, Faculty and Student News < Critical Thinking Part of the Research Team.
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 3 GEORGIA COLLEGE
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 4 GEORGIA COLLEGE
Dr. Robert Blumenthal, Chair, Mathematics
Featured Department
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MAtheMAtiCs ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 5 GEORGIA COLLEGE
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 6 GEORGIA COLLEGE
Math Enrichment at Georgia College Early College
O
n April 21, 2015, members of the GC Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) in collaboration with Crystal Little, 8th grade math teacher, organized a math event at Georgia College Early college. The purpose of the event was to engage the middle school students in mathematical thinking, to help them discover the fun of doing math and reinforce their positive attitudes toward mathematics. The GC AWM students, advised by Dr. Marcela Chiorescu, put together six math activities that make connections between undergraduate learning experiences and the learning experiences of the middle school students. The activities were chosen to align with the standards of the 8th grade math, to strengthen concepts that raise difficulties to students and to be fun. In the process of developing these activities, the students integrated what they learned from their math or math education courses. The activities included solving puzzles, having fun with numbers, using logic to solve problems and making connections between real world and the concept of function. â&#x2013;
Georgia College Math Major, Megan McGurl (right) assisting students in GCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Early College.
Fun problem solving in action.
Contributor: Brandon Samples
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 7 GEORGIA COLLEGE
TWO Math Majors Selected For Research Experience for Undergraduates
Samantha Clapp working on writing up
GC math major Kirsten Morris (with Jack Ryan) presenting their REU research
T
wo GC Math majors, Samantha Clapp and Kirsten Morris, were selected for the competitive 2015 summer research experience for undergraduates (REU). Samantha was recruited by the University of Washington, Bothell, and Kirsten by California State University, Channel Islands. According to Dr. Marcela Chiorescu, assistant professor of mathematics and Morris' capstone advisor, “This is a unique experience which will plant the seeds for their future research plans.” Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer programs are great opportunities for students to get a sneak peak of what it means to do research in an environment that resembles the graduate school environment. The mathematics REU program is sponsored by National Science
Foundation (NSF) and recruits about 10-18 undergraduates students to work with faculty mentors exploring the world of mathematics in an 8 weeks summer residential program. The students also receive stipends and accommodation. The big goals of REU’s are to actively involve promising undergraduate students in mathematics research, improve students writing and presentations skills, and increase awareness of mathematics graduate degree programs. The REU consists of 17 students organized in four research groups. Morris was in a research group with four other students studying Matrix Completion Problems. Other group members are from New York, Chicago, Oxnard, CA and Los Angeles. The group’s project involves studying various patterns for solutions to matrix equations and determining
whether these patterns can be completed to solve the matrix equation. “This experience has greatly impacted my student experience at Georgia College and my future plans. I have absolutely loved this experience researching math, and I am now more motivated to make the most out of my capstone research and have a strong, academic senior year. This experience has also greatly furthered my desire to go to graduate school and pursue an advanced degree in mathematics. I am so grateful to my professors at Georgia College for mentoring me, informing me of these opportunities, and encouraging me to pursue experiences like this REU,” said Morris. Clapp describes the goal of the math research experience as solving something that has not
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 8 GEORGIA COLLEGE
Kirsten Morris (left) enjoying the beaches of California with her collaborators in her REU group
been solved before. “I find this concept both exciting and intimidating. The REU program format is an excellent format for introducing a student to this type of research." Clapp’s research group is made up of nine students and three mentors. They are organized into three groups of three, with a mentor assigned to each group. Three of the students are from Washington State, three from Texas, one from Pennsylvania, one from New Jersey and Clapp from Georgia. Clapp’s group project was on optimization. Clapp said, “This experience is definitely making me consider grad school as an option for future plans. Moreover,
it greatly strengthens my résumé in that I will have research experience, presentations and possibly a published article.” In addition to the academic experience, it also provided the students the opportunity to visit new places. For Morris, this was her first time out west, and she “took the opportunity to travel around Southern California and experience the beauty of the beaches, mountains and major cities.” For Clapp as well, one of her favorite things about the experience was being in a completely new place. She had the opportunity to go into Seattle several times and visited many places in Washington State. ■ Kirsten Morris biking the California coastline
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 9 GEORGIA COLLEGE
STEAM Night
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at Creekside Elementary SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION, ARTS AND MATHEMATICS
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n spring 2015, Creekside Elementary hosted its second annual STEAM night. STEAM is a community event designed to showcase Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics for the children in a fun and exciting way. Dr. Angel Abney, Dr. Brandon Samples, and Dr. Doris Santarone were invited to represent the Georgia College Math Department during the event. Students in Abney’s Concepts in Geometry Course were charged with creating developmentally appropriate and engaging activities for the students and parents who attended the event. Undergraduate students Margaret Snoddy, Hallie Pangborn, Pheobe Pearson, Korielle Harris, Heather Miller, Courtney Horne, Kristen Stack, Jenna Allenson, Heather Harrison and Tiffani Gray were on hand to assist. Also, Mark Antley, a graduate student and administrator at Oak Hill Middle, volunteered to participate. Activities included building geometric shapes with pretzels and marshmallows, classifying shapes, drawing snowmen on the computer using the dynamic geometry software GSP, and manipulating tangrams. e experience was both enlightening and encouraging for Georgia College faculty and students to see how willing children are to persevere when tackling challenging mathematical tasks. e event was a huge success and was documented by University Communications as well as the folks from ENGAGE (the Office of Student Engagement supporting community-based engaged learning). . ■
Contributor: Brandon Samples
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 10 GEORGIA COLLEGE
Grants and Publications
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Biological and Environmental Sciences Receive NSF Award
N
ational Science Foundation awarded a
valuable resource for innovative research. The imaging
grant of $263,320 to faculty members in
capabilities will be used to advance knowledge in a
the Department of Biological and
number of areas, including conch biology in the
Environmental Sciences. This is a historical
Caribbean; systematics and taxonomy of diatoms and
grant since it is Georgia College’s very first
other algae; the ultrastructural analysis of plant families to
NSF Major Research Instrumentation Grant. Only 150 of
understand plant evolution; microscopic nanoparticle
841 proposals submitted were awarded.
morphology on soil and soil-organism interactions; bacteriophage identification and characterization; and
The project, under the
amyloid and prion biology.
direction of the department
Dr. Indiren Pillay
chair, Dr. Indiren Pillay, is
Beyond the obvious benefits to faculty and student
entitled "MRI: Acquisition of a
research, the SEM will further support our mission of
Scanning Electron
supporting students’ development of core competencies
Microscope." This is a
such as applying the process of science and recognizing
collaboration of six faculty
the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of science.
serving as Co-Principal
The instrumentation is also intended to broaden GC’s
Investigators, encompassing
participation in the region’s research and education
the research of Drs. Melanie
communities. “We plan on installing the SEM in the
DeVore, Mike Gleason,
Natural History Museum, where we will establish a working
Gretchen Ionta, Kalina
laboratory that will have windows and video monitors so
Manoylov and Allison
that visitors can observe science at work. Since the
VandeVoort, as well as significant institutional support.
museum is a venue to over 10,000 visitors a year, this
“We are proud to be among the 18 percent who were
working laboratory will add to this showpiece that the
successfully awarded this grant from the NSF. This will not
Natural History Museum has become,” said Pillay. “Getting
only positively impact the research interests of our faculty,
external funding is extremely challenging, so I am very
it will enhance our students’ education experiences, and
proud of our department who have been particularly active
provide exciting educational opportunities in the
this year. In 2015, our faculty in Biological and
community,” said Dr. Manoylov, one of the Co-PIs.
Environmental Sciences have received in excess of $500,000 in new external grants and contracts from
The addition of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to
federal, state and private funding sources.” The
the department will provide faculty and students with a
instrument will be installed in March 2016. ■
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 11 GEORGIA COLLEGE
GC AWM Student Chapterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit to
Washington, DC during MathFest
Founded in 1971, the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a non-profit organization designed to help encourage women and girls to study and pursue active careers in mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity and equal treatment of women and girls in mathematical sciences. Currently, the organization represents more than 3,000 members (women and men) and 200 institutions in the United States and around the world.
Contributor: Marcela Chiorescu
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 12 GEORGIA COLLEGE
O
n March 14, 2014 (Pi day), Dr. Chiorescu together with three math major students: Kirsten Morris, Emily Baum and Kendall Brown initiated the Georgia College AWM Student Chapter (GC AWM). The Chapter is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of gender. The goals of GC AWM are to encourage students of all genders to study and have active careers in the mathematical sciences, to facilitate networking with professional mathematicians, and to engage in outreach activities to local schools. “We enjoy being involved with the GC AWM Chapter because it gives us the avenue to promote equal opportunities for males and females in mathematical sciences. More importantly, we get to instill a love for mathematics into the boys and girls in the community schools, encouraging them to pursue a career in any aspect of STEM.” said Emily Baum. “Over its first year, GC AWM has grown across campus by working in our community to promote equal opportunity and access to the study of mathematical sciences. We have accomplished this through leading engaging math activities for high school and middle school students, and hosting campus events to promote discussions about the impact of women in mathematics,” said Dr. Marcela Chiorescu, assistant professor of mathematics and faculty advisor of GC AWM.
Students with Dr. Chiorescu in the middle, posing in front of the Mathematical Association of America’s Centennial MathFest Meeting backdrop.
Dr. Marcela Chiorescu, Emily Baum and Kirsten Morris presenting their AWM poster at MathFest.
The GC chapter was invited to MathFest 2015, held in Washington D.C., to present a poster to display the chapter’s activities. Emily Baum and Kirsten Morris presented at the poster session. The President of AWM, Dr. Kristin Lauter, also selected Kirsten Morris, president of GC AWM to join AWM leadership for a visit to the congressional offices on Capitol Hill. This visit was intended to foster opportunities for AWM Student Chapters to connect with local congressional representatives. Morris met the staff of the senior U.S. Senator from Georgia Johnny Isakson and the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s first congressional district, Buddy Curter, with whom she shared her experiences with AWM. She also had the chance to share with the congressional staff, the impact STEM education can have on students. ■
Kirsten Morris outside of Senator Johnny Isakson’s office in DC.
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 13 GEORGIA COLLEGE
Dave Bachoon,
Department of Biology was the recipient of several grants including: A grant of $23,924 by the University of
All of the research in Dr. Bachoon’s lab
Puerto Rico- Mayagüez Campus. The title
involves undergraduate and graduate
of the project is “Outfall Reconnaissance
students.
Inventory of the San Juan Estuary Bay Watershed.” The award is effective May
The following graduate research students
22, 2015 through March 1, 2017.
work in Bachoon's lab : Iyoti Lama and Amanda Davis (both work on pathogens
A United States Department of Agriculture
carried by feral pigs); Lillie Brennan, Ronell
(USDA) grant of $56,900 (2015-2016) Title:
Bridgemohan, Ryan Carter (work on water
Evaluating the Presence of Pathogenic
pollution). Undergraduate students—
Bacteria in Fecal Samples of Feral Pigs and
Sanjay Patel, Maria Lopez, Zamara Truit,
Their Transport to Surface Waters.
Maria and Shayna Markel— assist the
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graduate students in their research. ■
STEM Field Trip
Georgia College math major, Kendall Brown, working with students from Northeast High School
Georgia College math majors, Lindsay Yates (back left) and Kirsten Morris (right)
On October 16, 2014, a group of 30 high school students from Northeast High School visited Georgia College for a STEM field trip. Five of the GC AWM (Association for Women in Mathematics) Chapter students together with their chapter advisor, Dr. Marcela Chiorescu, met with the high school students and engaged them in a math activity. e students were arranged in three groups and worked on math problems by rotation. For the math activity, we chose to solve survey problems using venn diagrams. e high school students were very excited to meet our students and to work with mathematics. ■
Contributor: Brandon Samples
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 14 GEORGIA COLLEGE
MFA Faculty
|Peter Selgin Publishes a New Memoir
H
awthorne Books & Literary Arts will publish Peter Selgin’s memoir, “e Inventor,” in April 2016. Peter is an assistant professor in the Masters of Fine Art program. e following excerpt is from the publisher’s website:
In the fall of 1970, at the start of eighth grade, Peter Selgin fell in love with the young teacher who had arrived from Oxford wearing Frye boots, with long blond hair, and a passion for his students that was as intense as it was rebellious. e son of an emotionally remote inventor, Peter was also a twin competing for the attention and affection of his parents. He had a burning need to feel special. e new teacher supplied that need. Together they spent hours in the teacher’s carriage house, discussing books, playing chess, drinking tea, and wrestling. ey were inseparable, until the teacher “resigned” from his job and left. Over the next ten years, Peter and the teacher corresponded copiously and met occasionally, their last meeting ending in disaster. Only after the teacher died did Peter learn that he had done all he could to evade his past, identifying himself first as an orphaned Rhodes Scholar, and later as a Native American. As for Peter’s father, the genius with the English accent who invented the first dollar-bill changing machine, he was the child of Italian Jews—something else Peter discovered only after his death. Paul Selgin and the teacher were both self-inventors, creatures of their own mythology, inscrutable men whose denials and deceptions betrayed the trust of the boy who looked up to them. e Inventors is the story of a man’s search for his father and a boy’s passionate relationship with his teacher, of how these two enigmas shaped that boy’s journey into manhood, filling him with a sense of his own unique destiny. It is a story of promises kept and broken as the author uncovers the truth—about both men, and about himself. For like them—like all of us—Peter Selgin, too, is his own inventor. Selgin’s essay, “From a Paris Notebook,” will appear in PARIS ANTHOLOGY, forthcoming in the spring from Serving House Books. In March the Colorado Review will publish “Swimming with Oliver,” a memoir of my twenty-year friendship with author and neurologist Oliver Sacks, who died in August. Selgin’s novel, “THE WATER MASTER,” which won the William Faulkner – William Wisdom Prize for Best Novel, is currently under representation by my agent Christopher Rhodes of e Stuart Agency. Also under representation: “IN THE BEGINNING”: a guide to and analysis of first pages, how they get written, what can go right and wrong with them, and what they reveal about all the pages that follow. ■
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 15 GEORGIA COLLEGE
Conference Presentations Donovan Domingue e 2015 Georgia Regional Astronomers meeting was hosted by the Department of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy. is year's meeting, organized by Kaolin Chair Dr. Donovan Domingue, was held Oct. 23 - 24. Astronomers from around the state gathered to present their research and educational activities. Institutions represented include UGA, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Columbus State, Georgia Perimeter, and North Georgia along with Georgia College astronomy faculty Donovan Domingue and Arash Bodaghee. Friday evening of the event, invited speaker, William Keel of the University of Alabama, presented his research on active galaxies and the Galaxy Zoo collaboration. e Kaolin Endowment provided support for the event. ■
Front left to right: Dr. Amy Sumpter; Jessica Craigg; Dr. Doug Oetter
Department of History and Geography Two Georgia College professors and a geography major from the college presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers in Pensacola, Florida last November. Jessica Craigg, a senior Geography/ Environmental Science major, presented her poster “An Evaluation of Southern Cultural Perceptions of Meat Consumption through Interviews, Surveys, and Analysis of Secondary GIS Data” in the Undergraduate Honors Competition. Jessica’s attendance at the conference was funded through the Mentored Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors program, which sponsors undergraduate research opportunities. Dr.
Amy Sumpter presented a paper on her current research titled “e Location and Meaning of Religious Businesses in Georgia,” and Dr. Doug Oetter presented a paper on his recent work titled “Recycling the Southeast: Analysis of the Spatial variation in Recycling Rates in SEDAAG States.” Dr. Oetter, Dr. Sumpter and the student, Jessica, attended poster and paper sessions on a variety of topics and heard a moving keynote address by Dr. Sarah Bednarz, President of the Association of American Geographers and Professor of Geography at Texas A&M, titled “Survival in a Time of Disruption,” which highlighted the critical role of geography in addressing current issues across the planet. ■
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 16 GEORGIA COLLEGE
PALS News Maria Bermudez, a sophomore philosophy major, presented a paper on Cynthia Willett’s recent book, “Interspecies Ethics” (Columbia Un. Press 2015), at the 19th meeting of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy on Sunday Oct. 11, 2015. is 3day event is a professional conference dedicated to the study of environmental philosophy and drew faculty scholars from some of the most prestigious Universities in the country. Having a sophomore Philosophy major present a paper at such a prestigious professional conference is indeed remarkable. Maria wrote a paper on Willett’s book in her upper level Ethics course with Dr. James Winchester in the spring of 2015 and had
previously presented a portion of that paper at the North Georgia Student Philosophy Conference in April 2015. Professor Willett who is a professor of philosophy at Emory University responded to Maria’s paper during the session. Afterwards Professor Willett asked whether Maria was at all nervous about presenting at professional conference as a sophomore because professor Willett saw no evidence that she was! Maria confided that she was indeed nervous—but she hid it well and presented her fine paper with great poise! Maria Bermudez is spending spring 2016 in Washington, D.C. as part of the GC in DC program. ■
Art Department collaborates with the High Museum of Art
Art Department professor and students collaborate on a show (Dox Thrash: An American Journey) at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Carlos Herrera curated the exhibit at the Underwood House, before it went to the High Museum of Arts in Atlanta last Spring. ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 17 GEORGIA COLLEGE
ENGAGED LEARNING
Department of Mathematics:
| Learning outside the Classroom M athematics conferences provide undergraduate math students with one of the most interesting and educational opportunities. While at conferences, students have the opportunity to meet mathematics students from different schools, talk with graduate schools or future employers and attend research talks given by mathematicians from other universities. For freshman and sophomore students, these research talks could spark an interest for a student’s future senior capstone research project. Junior and senior mathematics students can make connections with graduate schools or
From Left to Right: Emily Baum, Kirsten Morris Brian Minter, Emily Baum and Kendall Brown presented at the 2015 GAMTE conference with math education professors Brandon Samples, Angel Abney and Doris Santarone.
future employers as well as get information that could influence their future careers. Students also can apply to present their own research at conferences as well. e students of the Georgia College math department have had a busy academic year traveling to various conferences across the country, and still plan on attending more conferences before the year is over. In August of 2015, Emily Baum and Kirsten Morris attended the MAA MathFest conference in Washington, D.C. and presented a poster about the AWM Chapter at Georgia College.
From Left to Right: Emily Baum, Brandon Samples, Doris Santarone, Brian Minter, Angel Abney and Kendall Brown
Contributors: Emily Baum and Samantha Clapp
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 18 GEORGIA COLLEGE
During the fall of 2015, Kirsten Morris and Samantha Clapp attended the Southeastern Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics. e conference was held in Durham, North Carolina at Duke University. Both Kirsten and Samantha presented talks on research each of them had performed in different REU programs the previous summer.
On March 25th- 26th 2016, mathematics students Emily Baum, Samantha Clapp and Kirsten Morris will be attending the MAA Sectional Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama to present their research from past Senior Capstone and REU research projects. e conference will also be attended by the GC Math Jeopardy team which includes Cuyler Warnock, Rylan Lawson, Brian Minter, Austin McTier, Kirsten Morris, Samantha Clapp, Cason Butler, and Austin Bryan.
On November 21st, 2015, the math department hosted the 4th annual Senior Capstone Day, which showcased the projects senior mathematics students have been working on. Keri Spetzer, Brian Minter, Emily Baum, Kirsten Morris, Kendall Brown, Austin McTier, Matthew Mitchell, Jordan Orlandini, Dylan Hogan, Sue Prestwood, Elijah Jordan and Misty Kent gave presentations.
Over winter break mathematics students Emily Baum, Samantha Clapp and Kirsten Morris attended the 2016 Joint Mathematics meetings. e meeting was held in Seattle, Washington from January 6th-9th. During the conference, Emily and Kirsten presented talks on the research that had performed as part of their Senior Capstones. Emily also gave a poster presentation on her Senior Capstone, while Samantha and Kirsten gave poster presentations on research done at REU’s the previous summer.
On March 3rd, 2016, Georgia Southern hosted the Georgia STEM Teaching and Learning Conference. Emily Baum gave a poster presentation on her senior capstone research project. Emily and her research advisor Brandon Samples also did a joint presentation on the research project.
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 19 GEORGIA COLLEGE
The Research and Scholarship of
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Dr. Susmita Sadhu Dr. Susmita Sadhu, assistant professor of Mathematics, joined the Georgia College faculty in the fall of 2012. Her research is in the area of applied mathematics, and she focuses on applying tools of dynamical systems to problems arising from ecology, epidemiology, fluid mechanics and other fields of the natural sciences.
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 20 GEORGIA COLLEGE
n nature, every species interacts with other species through a web of complex relationships and tries to remain in an equilibrium state within the ecosystem. However, sudden large fluctuations in population densities have been often observed in natural populations, most commonly in small mammals and insects. Some examples of such mammal cycles are the snowshoe hares in North America, voles in Northern Europe and arctic tundra of Siberia, lemmings in the high arctic tundra of Eurasia and North America, and house mice in southeastern Australia. Similarly, there exist records of insect outbreaks such as the spruce budworm in Northern America, the larch budmoth in the European Alps, and devastating locust outbreaks in Australia. ese outbreaks could result in large scale defoliation of forests, or lead to farming losses or cause damage to stored food grains. In the case of diseasecarrying insects or animals, such outbreaks can lead to large scale epidemics. On the other hand, a sudden decrease in the population density of a species due to adverse climatic conditions or encroachment of habitat may also bring an endangered species perilously close to extinction. Dr. Sadhu works on mathematical models that capture such extreme dynamics and uses tools of dynamical systems to study and understand the inherent nature of the irregularities observed in population dynamics of species in the wild. She applies mathematical tools to predict long term behavior (if possible) and analyze the mechanisms behind such irregularities. For example, in one of her ongoing projects, she argues that external factors such as change in climate or loss of habitat etc. can bring changes in the reproduction patterns which in turn could lead to extreme events of outbreaks and collapses of population. In addition, Dr. Sadhu uses tools from stochastic differential equations to model the effect of environmental fluctuations and study their effects in the long term patterns of animal populations. ese studies are essential to environmentalists, entomologists, and conservationists. To prevent such extreme events, sometimes external interventions are necessary. One of the best examples is the reintroduction of wild wolves to the Yellowstone National Park system and the restoration of the park ecosystem. Due to lack of wolves, the elk population grew to such extreme levels that trees like aspen and cottonwood suffered from overgrazing and the whole ecosystem was rendered unstable.
I
Dr. Sadhu has several ongoing collaborations with various researchers within the U.S. as well as internationally. She is pursuing a collaborative work with Professor C. Cosner in the department of mathematics at the University of Miami. Professor Cosner is an expert in the field of partial differential equations with an emphasis in spatial ecology. She is also working with Dr. S. C. akur from the University of California at San Diego on nonlinear systems of equations involving multiple time scales that can model the phenomena of outbreaks. Her other collaborators include Dr. C. Kuehn
from the vienna Institute of Technology at Austria on stochastic differential equations and Professor J. Chattopadhyay and Professor S. Bhattacharya from the Agricultural and Ecological Research Institute at the Indian Statistical Institute at Kolkata in India on other ecological problems. Even before she started her research on ecology and epidemiology, she collaborated with Professor X. Chen from the University of Pittsburgh and Professor J.E. Paullet from Penn State at Erie on various other topics in the natural sciences such as boundary layer formation and thermal diffusion of heated rods immersed in fluids. She has always been interested in extending and expanding her research spectrum that entails theoretical ordinary differential equations, stochastic differential equations, partial differential equations and their applications to different fields. Lately, she has introduced her research to her students through capstone projects (Monica Pescitelli and Matthew Mitchell, majoring in Mathematics at GCSU) and through independent studies (Ryan Lawson majoring in Mathematics and Jairus Elarbee, a Physics major at GCSU). Matthew and Ryan will be presenting their work at the 19th Annual GC Student Research Conference in April 2016. Dr. Sadhu also actively participates and contributes talks about her research in several mathematical conferences nationally as well internationally. Among some of the more notable recent ones, she was invited to present her research at the Seventh International Conference on Dynamic Systems and Applications held in Atlanta, GA, in May 2015. In December 2015, she received the best paper presentation award at the National Conference on Emerging Trends in Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences organized by the Calcutta Mathematical Society in Kolkata, India. She has been subsequently invited to contribute her work to their prestigious journal titled Bulletin of Calcutta Mathematical Society, one of the oldest journals in mathematics in Asia. She has also been invited to present her research at the 40th Southeastern Atlantic Section Conference organized by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) at Athens, GA as well as at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Southeastern Section Spring 2016 Meeting at Birmingham, AL. Dr. Sadhu loves the challenge of getting involved in various research topics in applied mathematics, pursuing collaborations, introducing her students to her research to motivate them towards pursuing higher studies, and disseminating the results of her research through conferences and publications while representing Georgia College. In her leisure time, Dr. Sadhu loves to take a walk beside the Oconee River or play badminton. She enjoys hiking in national parks, walking on sandy beaches, cooking traditional Indian cuisine, and visiting different places. ■
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 21 GEORGIA COLLEGE
Critical Thinking FACULTY NEWS Dr. Maureen horgan, Professor of Music presented at: the 23rd Annual women’s studies student research symposium “Feminist research Across the Disciplines” Friday, February 26, 2016, Miller Learning Center (MLC), University of Georgia the 38th Annual American trombone workshop March 9-12, 2016, Brucker Hall, Fort Myer, Virginia Dr. horgan was also interviewed by Symphony Magazine, the quarterly magazine of the League of American Orchestras, for an upcoming article on women musicians in symphony orchestras.
Angela Criscoe, Senior Lecturer in Mass Communication and the students in her Documentary Filmmaking class collaborated with Dr. Michael Tobias (Martha Daniel Newell Visiting scholar) to produce a film on the bio diversity of the environment of Milledgeville. The team worked with a diverse group of scientists, artists, writers, photographers and nature enthusiasts in the production. Earlier in the fall, Dr. Tobias organized a “Bio Reverie”, an experience in which an individual observes, analyzes, and interprets a natural and somewhat undisturbed environment through a quiet, noninvasive and meditative mode. Each individual experience is different depending on the participant’s personal goals. The overarching objective of the Bio Reverie is to place a window on the biodiversity of the region and to document this in a meaningful way for students and the public The documentary, which premieres at the end of spring 2016 semester, documents the Bio Reverie experience. ■
Public and Collective Memory: Department of English and Rhetoric Dr. Katie Simon, associate professor of English, taught a GC1Y class entitled Critical inking: Public and Collective Memory in fall 2015. In one of the projects for this course, students collaborated with San Francisco artist Jack Leamy, the GC Library, and the Georgia War Memorial home for veterans in Milledgeville. ey conducted oral histories and created a popup museum and their own archive of 50 oral histories of veterans. e idea was to create a public event and a more lasting public memory in the form of an archive (now housed in the library digitally) that would contribute to collective knowledge about the veteran experience. Jack Leamy produced something like 40 original paintings of the veterans, based on photographs students texted him ahead of time, and we displayed them along with iPads with videos of the interviews that students shot and edited. Students were on hand to mingle with guests, discuss their interviews, and to talk with visitors about the issues it raised about public memory, particularly memories about war. e event lasted two hours, and we had more than 150 visitors. A total success! To set up for this project, we read theories about memory and forgetting, historical memory, archives and cultural memory, and memory and trauma. We also read literary accounts that problematize memory in terms of public/private, such as Primo Levy's autobiographical writings of surviving the concentration camp in WWII. en Josh Kitchens trained them to conduct oral histories, and Joe Windish gave them a quick course in video editing. is project helped ground all their thinking about theoretical and literary issues in very practical ways. One veteran interviewed, Jordan Welcher, is a current GC student. He attended the event and was really moved by it. A cluster of students gathered around a table watching a video of him sharing his experiences, under a big portrait of him painted by Jack. He told Jack that the event was profound for him, that he had never felt like anyone was that deeply interested in his experience. He was so moved that he founded the first Georgia chapter of a fraternity for veterans on the GC campus, as he wanted to provide a place for more veterans to connect and share their experiences. He would be a great person to interview for the College newsletter, by the way. ■
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Left Photo: San Francisco artist Jack Leamy talking about the Citizen Soldier project for GCTV. Right Photo: GC1Y students at the pop-up museum greeting visitors, near the displays they created. The painting in the photo is of the grandfather of a student. The grandfather was present at the event.
Photo: Courtesy of Katie Simons
ALUMNI NEWS A Note of Gratitude from Former Student, Chemistry Major, Caleb Dyer It was a red-letter day for me and I want to share it with you and show thanks. Today was the Nike Innovation summit in NYC and my first major innovation was revealed. news.nike.com/news/anti-clog (Of the other innovations unveiled I was lucky enough to spend my first 18 months in the company working on vapor max and I'm currently working on a version of hyper adapt but I can't go into details: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nike-unveils-waveinnovation-defines-194700657.html) Anti-clog has been my main focus, however. Two coworkers and I singlehandedly tripled the number of utility patents filed by all of Nike (YTD) and it's been an amazing journey. But we haven't done it alone. We had a small army of product developers and engineers, injection molders, extrusion houses, legal teams, factory partners, shoe dogs, etc all over the world that have helped us get there. î &#x201C;e list would usually stop there but I want to extend it to you all as each of you have had a hand in helping me get into the R&D role I'm in now. Dr. France, the research I did with you was a great experience into the world of experimental science. Dr. Lisse, your passion for analytical chemistry and dedication in the classroom was something I very much respected
and appreciated. Dr. McGill, your P-chem class was an experience within itself and, moreover, your influence on me early on in college cannot be understated. You were a beacon of hope in a time when I only knew darkness and uncertainty. Dr. Metzker, your influence as I was exiting undergraduate may have been the single most important influence I had, tied only with Dr. McGinnis' O-chem classes. Your one-on-one guidance in group theory made me believe I could do more than what I previously believed and launched me into an inorganic track in grad school at UT (which I ended up doing polymer chemistry, but I wouldn't have been there without you). Dr. McGinnis, your O-chem course was an unbelievable course that challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before and "turned the light on" regarding what I could do. And that's with me making a "D" in your first course. I've never studied so hard or learned so much for a "D" haha! (But you all might recall that I might have been an okay student but I was a notoriously awful test-taker). None the less, all of you believed in me and helped me along to where I am in life's journey now. It's a very good place to be for me and I'm very appreciative of your support, help, and influence. I wish you all the best, please keep doing what you do. Kind regards, Caleb
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ALUMNI NEWS Government and Sociology Alumni
Villages. This experience helped her better develop her leadership skills and therefore was promoted. Today, Kaitlin is a MultiSystemic Therapy Clinical Supervisor. In this position, she supervises the counselors and the cases.
Kaitlin Mullins graduated from Georgia College in 2012 with a double major in Criminal Justice and Sociology. After graduating, she attended Appalachian State College and graduated with her Masters in Social Work in 2014. During her time at Appalachian State, she completed two internships. Her first internship was a school social worker internship. She worked at an elementary school for grades kindergarten through 5th grade. She was able to work in various ways to help children (e.g. development of behavioral and social skills, as well as other basic skills). Her second internship was with a Guardian Ad Litem program. She was in charge of about eight to ten kids ranging from nine months old to 15 months old. She attended the Department of Social Services and custody court hearings and advocated for the best interest of the child whether that be a reunification plan with the parents or terminating the parents’ rights and moving toward an adoption. After graduating from Appalachian State University, she moved to Asheville, North Carolina to begin a job as a Multi-Systemic Therapy Family Therapist with Youth Villages, which is a non-profit that serves different populations in mental health. With this non-profit, she was able to work with 12 to 17 year olds who display anti-social and delinquent behavior. She also worked in the homes of families three times a week in order to work with both the child and parents in order to decrease negative behavior. Kaitlin was also a part of the Emerging Leaders Program at Youth
During her time here at Georgia College, she was greatly influenced by the faculty and staff in the Department of Government and Sociology. She learned how to look at the world from many different perspectives and she was able to be more compassionate and empathetic towards people. She was also able to find how her two passions, Sociology and Criminal Justice, could be merged. With all this, she was able to find her calling in social work and now she can help people like the one she always wanted. She is a true expression of the liberal arts mission employed by the Government and Sociology faculty. Not only did she develop her passions towards working with troubled youth, she also utilized her majors to develop her passions further.
Mathematics Alumni
Success after graduation The mathematics major in the Georgia College Department of Mathematics consists of a curriculum designed to prepare students to meet the challenges of careers in government, industry, and academia upon graduation. The mathematics program of study facilitates the development of skills that graduate programs and employers identify as essential. Such skills are acquired as a result of a rigorous curriculum that supports critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, as well as providing a dynamic research experience through our senior capstone project. The students’ strengths and accomplishments are being noted every year as indicated by their job prospects, REU participation, and graduate school acceptances. As we wind down the academic year, we are proud to highlight some of our upcoming and recent graduates along with their accomplishments. Austin McTier was recently accepted into the Ph.D. program for economics at the
Georgia Institute of Technology with an offer of a full assistantship. Emily Baum was recently accepted into the M.Ed. program at the University of Georgia where she will complete her certification and work towards achieving her goal of working in higher education. Kendall Brown was recently accepted with full support in the form of a Thirty Thousand Dollar fellowship to attend Georgia State University with a goal towards K12 education. Kirsten Morris has been accepted into eight PhD programs for mathematics with full assistantship support, one of which has offered up to 3Thirty Thousand Dollars per year. Some of her prospects include LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Iowa. She will be making her final decisions in mid-April. Samantha Clapp has been accepted into and will attend an REU for summer 2016 at the University of Maryland – Baltimore County. Recent graduate, Aubrey Kemp, graduated in May 2013 and is working on her Ph.D. at Georgia State University in Atlanta. She recently organized a session at the 2016 southeastern sectional meeting of the American Math Society held March 5 – 6, 2016. Alex Reid graduated in May 2015 and now works at Calvary Day School teaching 6th and 7th grade math and is the coach for the basketball and golf teams. Moriah Gibson, class of 2015, is a student at Georgia Southern University. She is working on obtaining her master’s degree in mathematics and hopes to teach math at the college level upon graduation. She was the recipient of the `Spirit of Ingenuity’ award for having the best senior capstone project in the math department in 2014. Tricia Swift graduated in December 2013 with her math degree and obtained her masters of arts in teaching degree from Georgia College in May 2015. She now teaches at Franklin High School in Franklin, TN. Sally Gilbreth graduated in 2013 and started the Masters of Arts in Teaching program at Georgia Southern University for secondary math in Aug 2014. She will graduate in May 2016 with a T-5 level teaching certification. Meanwhile, she is teaching 7th – 10th grade at a small Christian school. Upon graduation, she hopes to obtain a permanent position at a STEM charter school or work in higher education.
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 24 GEORGIA COLLEGE
From Left to Right: Austin McTier, Kendall Brown and Sally Gilbreth
From Left to Right: Aubrey Kemp, Emily Baum, Moriah Gibson and Kendall Brown
From Left to Right: Kirsten Morris, Emily Baum, Samantha Clapp and students at the Math Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual awards banquet
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Exciting Summer Internship Placements for Theatre Students
T
his past summer over a quarter of our Georgia College Theatre majors were busy on theatre-related internships. While a number of students spent their summers at theatres in Georgia, several went to stages in other states to further their education through practical experience in theatre. As part of its commitment to community outreach, the Department of Theatre and Dance has been providing exciting touring theatre productions and weekday matinee performances in Russell Auditorium for children throughout the Central Georgia schools. Senior Theatre major Elaine Friend ran our Georgia College summer theatre camp in Russell Auditorium to rave reviews by parents and children. The three Theatre majors who assisted Elaine this past summer were Ross Democko, Justin Harrison and Andy Stanesic. Elaine played the French actress Sarah Bernhardt and Justin stage managed in the June 2014 Georgia College production of the new play about the life of art nouveau artist Alfons Mucha, “The Mystery of Mucha,” that was performed at the National Gallery of Art in Prague and at an international theatre festival in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. Lexi Williams in “Much Ado About Nothing”
One Theatre student, Christina Bignotti, went to Lexington, Kentucky to teach in the summer at the Lexington Children’s Theatre. Christina was one of the leads in the Georgia College touring production for children of “Miss Nelson is Missing.” Another student, John Osorio, spent the summer in Washington, D.C. as an intern at Theatre J where he worked as a casting and production assistant. John was Don John in Georgia College’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing,” that celebrated Shakespeare’s 450th birthday. Patrick Hamilton and Will Washburn worked as Technical Director and Costume Coordinator, respectively, in Macon. Will played the lead role of Billy Flynn and Patrick was Assistant Technical Director for Georgia College’s production of the musical “Chicago.” Two of our other Theatre students worked this summer in Atlanta as Stage Managers, Justin Kalin at the Out of Box Theatre and Curtis Stallings at Alliance Theatre’s Performer’s Warehouse. Both Justin and Curtis are in their senior year and both are directing full productions in the 2015-2016 Theatre season of “Next Fall” and “Blindfolded” at Georgia College as their senior Capstones.
Christina Bignotti (right) with Haley Fusia in “Miss Nelson is Missing.”
Two more of our Theatre students, Aspen Brown and Lexi Williams, were in Atlanta at Alliance Theatre teaching drama this summer. Lexi played the lead role of Beatrice in Georgia College’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” She has co-presented with Theatre and Dance Department Chair Dr. Karen Berman and Assistant Professor Kristi Papailler at numerous teaching and learning conferences throughout the Southeast. The conference presentations emphasized Georgia College’s work with Early College utilizing Theatre for Social Change techniques based on the teachings of the late Brazilian theatre theorist Augusto Boal. ■
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 26 GEORGIA COLLEGE
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER 27 GEORGIA COLLEGE
ARTS AND SCIENCES NewsLETTER SPRING 2016 UNIVERSITY PRINTING SERVICES | 04/2016