Faculty Accomplishments

Tanya Sheehan, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Art, has participated in a virtual roundtable discussion with two other editors of leading journals in the field of American art. In conversation with Jennifer Marshal and Jacqueline Francis of Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art, Sheehan discussed her work since 2015 as the executive editor of the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art Journal. The oldest periodical devoted to art in America, Archives of American Art Journal has undergone a significant transformation under Sheehan’s leadership. The Nov. 19 event, focusing on the history, current goals, and future trajectories of these two prominent journals for American art, was organized by Jennifer Greenhill of the University of Arkansas School of Art in collaboration with the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art. A recording of the discussion is available here.

Professor of Art Véronique Plesch was invited to participate in the workshop "Écritures exposées: la fabrique des espaces 'publics'" (Exposed Writings: The Making of "Public" Space) organized by the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris (School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences). The meeting took place Nov. 27, 2020, and Plesch provided a response to a paper on 16th-18th-century graffiti left by religious prisoners and contributed to a discussion of the aims of the workshop, focusing on the concepts at stake and, in particular, issues concerning writing and space.

Assistant Professor of Anthropology Britt Halvorson has published a new paper in Anthropological Quarterly. The article, “Reassessing Charitable Affect: Volunteerism, Affect and Ethical Practice in a Medical Aid Agency,” draws upon ethnographic research with the long-term US volunteers of a faith-based medical aid organization in Minneapolis/St. Paul and explores the widely-theorized relationship of affect/emotion and volunteerism in humanitarian agencies. It argues for finer attention to the way different affective norms get reproduced within the everyday work of aid.

Assistant Professor of Geology Bess Koffman has coauthored a new paper, "New Zealand as a source of mineral dust to the atmosphere and ocean," published in Quaternary Science Reviews. The study characterizes New Zealand's South Island as a source of dust to the high-latitude Southern Hemisphere. To learn more about why dust is important in the climate system, watch Koffman's video, highlighting the field sampling for this project:   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN1VWyuf2AM&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

Assistant Professor of Government Carrie LeVan joined a webinar, organized by FairVote as part of its series called "The Future of American Elections," to discuss Maine’s historic first use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in a presidential general election. The conversation was moderated by FairVote Senior Policy Coordinator Pedro Hernandez and the panelists included LeVan, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Maine Anna Kellar, and Utah State Representative Marc Roberts. The video of the webinar, which took place Nov. 17, 2020, has just been released online.

Associate Professor of German Arne Koch has been selected as one of the seven recipients of the Goethe‐Institut/AATG Certificate of Merit, given by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) to recognize achievements in furthering the teaching of German. Koch said the selection is a tremendous honor. "A big thank you has to go to my colleagues and, of course, our students for letting us try out different ways of digging into German Studies. It is important to note that this award is again recognition of the German Program at Colby because it explicitly acknowledges innovative curricular design, interdisciplinary cooperation, and significant contributions to the profession—all hallmarks of our small but vibrant academic home here on Mayflower Hill.” This award comes two years after Colby's German Program was named a 2018 Center of Excellence by the AATG, an honor that speaks to the strength of the program’s scholarship, teaching, and engagement on campus and in the community. Koch will be receiving his award at a virtual presentation Nov. 21.

Associate Professor of Psychology Christopher Soto has published a new paper, exploring the link between gender and extraversion, in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. "The Big Five personality traits have been linked with a broad range of consequential life outcomes," writes Soto in the abstract. "The present research systematically tested whether such trait–outcome associations generalize across gender, age, ethnicity, and analytic approaches that control for demographic and personality covariates."

Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie has coauthored a paper, "Recurrent neural network reveals overwhelming sentiment against 2017 review of US monuments from humans and bots," published in the journal Conservation Letters. "US federal agencies solicit public comments to scope for ideas, solve problems, and use the best available science for policy‐making, legislation, and management," writes the authors in their abstract. Using machine learning techniques, the study analyzes "comments received by the Department of the Interior in response to the proposed executive review of 27 national monuments designated and expanded between 1996 and 2016."

Associate Professor of French Mouhamédoul Niang published a new paper, "In defense of secular modernity: Politicizing the body and space in Malika Mokeddem’s Of Dreams and Assassins," in the Journal of the African Literature Association. "This paper argues that Malika Mokeddem champions secular modernity through Kenza, the female protagonist in Of Dreams and Assassins," according to the abstract. "It examines the processes and practices that shape her as a secular modern woman who castigates exclusivist identities that intolerant religious and state patriarchies seek to impose on Algerians in two different contexts of historical discontinuities."

Associate Professor of Italian Gianluca Rizzo has published a new book titled Poetry on Stage: The Theatre of the Italian Neo-Avant-Garde. "The book sheds light on a forgotten chapter of twentieth-century Italian literature, arguing that the theatre was the ideal incubator for stylistic and linguistic experiments."