Faculty Accomplishments

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson's 2020 article on research on climate change adaptation in small island developing states is a top-cited article in WIREs Climate Change for 2020-21. The article explored the shifts in the academic literature before and after the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released in 2013-14. The article specifically identified shifts in (a) when, where, and by what means knowledge was being produced (e.g., subject areas, methodologies), and the ways in which adaptation was being framed (i.e., conceptually, operationally), (b) the narratives, consensuses, and tensions across the key emerging themes in the literature, and (c) the knowledge gaps that exist. WIREs Climate Change is currently ranked ninth of the 124 ranked environmental studies journals.

Professor of Art Véronique Plesch contributed an essay to the 2022 spring issue of the Maine Arts Journal: UMVA Quarterly titled “Utopia: Retreating, Engaging, and Effecting Change.” Plesch also wrote the introduction to this issue, As Things Fall Apart: Dystopia or Utopia?

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, the Crawford Family Professor of Religious Studies, has been honored by California's City of Fresno by having March 26 officially declared as Nikky Singh Day. Singh, a scholar of Sikh feminism was invited to deliver the keynote for the Sikh Women's Organization of Central California by Amandeep Matharu, president of the organization's board. Fresno City Council member Esmeralda Soria presented Singh with the proclamation, which reads, in part, "Dr. Kaur Singh's academic exploration and analysis of the creation of the Khalsa from a feminist perspective in Sikh scripture and literature, and her story of the Guru Granth Suhib, has done nothing short of opening the door to the study of women and Sikhism, and enabling the recognition of different features of shared humanity."

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Alison Bates has coauthored a paper titled "Energy justice and the co-opting of indigenous narratives in U.S. offshore wind development." Published in Renewable Energy Focus, the study finds that discourses in offshore wind decision-making de-legitimize marginalized communities and appropriate indigenous values, failing to meet the standards of justice in public engagement processes. Eana Bacchiocchi ’21 and Ingrid Sant ’21 are coauthors of the paper.

Sculptor and Associate Professor of Art Bradley Borthwick has a new piece that will be included in the exhibition Antiquity & America: The Ancient Mediterranean in the United States, on view at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art March 31, 2022-Feb. 5, 2023. The exhibition "uncovers a new history of curious and related phenomenon: the intensity and passion with which Mediterranean antiquities have long been collected by Americans, and the prominent role the ancient Mediterranean has played in the history of American cultural and political life," according to the museum's website.

Associate Professor of Anthropology Winifred Tate was lead author of the newly released report "A Better Path for Maine: The Case for Decriminalizing Drugs." Cowritten with Meagan Sway from the ACLU and James Mydall from the Maine Center for Economic Policy, the report details the "enormous toll that drug laws take on our communities," both from an economic and a social perspective. In the report, Tate used research done by the Maine Drug Policy Lab, which she directs, as well as additional research. "The report illustrates the harm that criminalization does to individuals and their families and how much money the state has spent to do so," the introduction to the report states. "Our recommendations will not only help people who use drugs, but will mean wiser investments of public funds." The full report is available by clicking here.

Perry World House, the University of Pennsylvania’s hub for global affairs, has announced that Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson will be its 2022-23 Lightning Scholar. Since 2018 Perry World House’s Lightning Scholars Program has brought exceptional junior scholars to Penn to engage with a globally minded, interdisciplinary community of faculty, students, scholars, and policy experts. Robinson will spend her sabbatical year in residence, working on major research output. Alongside her research, she will connect with Perry World House’s diverse and vibrant community of scholars and practitioners. Already an important member of the Perry World House community, Robinson is currently a 2021-22 visiting scholar and will participate in their forthcoming Spring Colloquium on the climate crisis.

Associate Professor of German Arne Koch authored the article "The paradoxical reality of racism: German soccer and the irreversibility of multiculturalism" published in the journal Soccer & Society. The paper analyzes "three domains of German soccer and their role within debates about multiculturalism and race," and reveals that "German soccer at once presents itself as a harmonious multicultural microcosm while failing to grasp enduring challenges of racism. But it suggests also that despite claims of a failure of multiculturalism, German soccer may in fact be at the fore of showing German multiculturalism as an irrevocable, if highly contested reality."

Associate Professor of Art Marta Ameri has published the chapter "Women, Seals, and Power in Prehistoric Iran and Central Asia" in the newly published volume Gender and Status Competition in Pre-Modern Societies. This volume, published by Brepols, offers a unique exploration of how gender and status competition have intersected across different periods and places. The contributions focus on the role of women and the practice of masculinity in settings as varied as ancient Rome, China, Iran, and Arabia, medieval and early modern England, and early modern Italy, France, and Scandinavia. Ameri's chapter explores the ways in which seals buried with women at third-millennium BC sites in Iran and Central Asia can be viewed not only as markers of social status but also as evidence of women's economic power.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has coauthored a paper titled "A new framework for rapidly assessing national adaptation policies: an application to small island developing states in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans." Published in the journal Regional Environmental Change, the paper finds that countries are mostly successful in identifying climate and climate-related vulnerabilities and linking associated risks to other national development priorities such as poverty reduction. It also finds that countries struggle with establishing and maintaining systems to review and improve adaptation interventions, which is not entirely unique to them or their circumstances.