Westmont Magazine Faculty Footnotes
Activities and awards for Westmont’s outstanding professors
Gregg Afman (kinesiology) is the lead author of an article in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism exploring the “effect of carbohydrate or sodium bicarbonate ingestion on performance during a validated basketball simulation test.” He completed the project with scholars from England during his sabbatical at the University of Bath.
Scott Anderson (art) has published two illustrations in the Wall Street Journal accompanying “How to Help Your Debt-Laden Grad” and “Fatal Flaws in Your Retirement Planning.”
Shannon Balram (assistant director of residence life), Maurice Lee (religious studies), Tatiana Nazarenko (dean of curriculum and educational effectiveness) and Telford Work (religious studies) presented “Collaborating for Quality of Student Learning: Academic Affairs and Student Life Teamwork on Institutional Assessment” at the 2014 WASC Academic Resource Conference in Los Angeles.
John Blondell (theater) received a Distinguished Director of a Musical award from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival for his work on “Pirates of Penzance.” The production was one of three college musicals in the nation recognized by the Kennedy Center with a Distinguished Production award. For her work with “Pirates,” Danila Korogodsky (theater) also earned a Distinguished Scenography for a Musical award.
Alister Chapman (history) wrote a review for Books & Culture about “The Passage to Europe: How a Continent Became a Union” by Luuk van Middelaar. He presented “Immigration and Religion in Derby, 1945-1970,” with history major Rachel Hatcher at the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies, where he was appointed secretary of the conference’s executive committee. In March, he was elected for a second term as the Westmont faculty’s vice chair.
Four colleagues—Jesse Covington (political science), Maurice Lee (religious studies), Sarah Skripsky (English) and Lesa Stern (communication studies)—published a review, “Irreducibly Embodied,” in Books & Culture on the latest book by James K.A. Smith, “Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works.”
Michael Everest (chemistry) published an article in the American Journal of Physics, “Balanced polarimeter: A cost-effective approach for measuring the polarization of light,” with Ken Kihlstrom (physics) and Luke H.C. Patterson ’14.
Charlie Farhadian (religious studies) co-edited the “Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion,” published by Oxford University Press. The volume features scholarly essays on the philosophy and practices of conversion and missiology within various religious traditions.
Jane Higa (former dean of students and vice president for student life) has received the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Asian Pacific Islander Knowledge Community 2014 Doris Michiko Ching Shattering the Glass Ceiling Award.
Russell Howell (mathematics) wrote the lead essay, “The Matter of Mathematics,” for the American Scientific Affiliation’s journal, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. He will also select and edit response essays for the journal. He will be the keynote speaker at the reception for the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences.
Savannah Kelly (instructional services librarian) published “Librarians, Renounce the Research Paper! Using Rhetoric to Improve Assignment Design” in the College and Undergraduate Libraries journal.
Cheri Larsen Hoeckley (English) presented “‘Farebrother will believe’: Epistemologies of Science and Religion in ‘Middlemarch’” at the North American Victorian Studies Conference. She published two reviews in the journal Review 19 on current studies in Victorian literature and Christianity.
Nathan Huff (art) showed drawings and sculptures in the “Storytellers” exhibition at Biola University, which coincided with a symposium, “Transcending the iWorld: Extraordinary Stories in a Fragmented Age,” hosted by the Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts at Biola.
Tremper Longman (religious studies) has published another book, “Old Testament Essentials: Creation, Conquest, Exile and Return” (Inter-Varsity Press). He co-edited the Romanian edition of the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery.
Chris Milner (kinesiology) published “L’Arche, a Community of People with Disabilities, and the University Graduate in Allied Health Fields: A Potential Collaboration,” in the journal of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education.
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Senior Scientist Mentor Program has funded a proposal by Allan Nishimura (chemistry) for “Simple Aromatic Hydrocarbon Aerosols” for two years to support undergraduate research assistants.
Edd Noell (business and economics) presented “Capitalism and Christian Ethics” at the Free Market Forum Conference in San Diego as part of a panel on capitalism and poverty. He gave an interview at the Evangelical Theological Society meetings in Baltimore on capitalism and Christian ethics for an online podcast by the Institute of Faith, Work and Economics.
Greg Orfalea (English) has published a biography of Junípero Serra, “Journey to the Sun: Junípero Serra’s Dream and the Founding of California” (Scribner).
Rick Pointer (history) presented a paper at the Organization of American Historians on Johannes Papunhank, a Munsee Indian religious reformer. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography will publish his article on the relationship between Papunhank and the Quakers. Pointer appeared in a British television documentary on early American missionary David Brainerd and serves as a historical consultant for a documentary on the history of the Channel Islands.
In March, Tito Paredes (anthropology) led a workshop at Peru’s Orlando E. Costas Mission Center on “The Relationship of Anthropology to the Mission of the Church in Latin America.” He was selected to join a multidisciplinary research-study team for “On Knowing Humanity,” funded by a grant from the Templeton Foundation.
Susan Penksa (political science) spoke on “The EU in Global Security: Continuities and Challenges,” hosted by Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies. She authored a chapter, “The Roles and Impact of EU and NATO Assistance in Post-Conflict Georgia” in the book, “Panorama of Global Security 2013,” released by the Centre for European and North Atlantic Affairs in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Helen Rhee (religious studies) presented “Where Are the Poor in ‘Charity’?: Thoughts on Gary Anderson’s ‘Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition’,” at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Baltimore. She received a Ping Faculty Development Fellowship for International Faculty Development Seminar on “Comparative Business Perspective in Tokyo and Shanghai” from the Council on International Educational Exchange in March.
Carmel Saad (psychology) will speak on “Biculturalism from Around the World: East Asians Report More Bicultural Identity Harmony Than Other Bicultural Groups” at the conference for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Austin, Texas.
Sue Savage’s (art) painting, “First and Last,” was included in the traveling exhibition “Come to the Table,” sponsored by CIVA (Christians in the Visual Arts).
Amanda Sparkman (biology) spoke at a meeting of researchers involved in an NIH-funded planning grant on the longevity of wolves, presenting “Aging, Reproduction and Social Behavior in Wild Canis.” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology will publish her article, “Physiological indices of stress in wild and captive garter snakes: Correlations, repeatability, and ecological variation.”
Mitchell Thomas (theater) developed a program for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Delacroix exhibit, “Surprised by Shakespeare: Pop-up Performance,” featuring performances inspired by the artist’s “Hamlet Suite.” Thomas and Alister Chapman (history), Marianne Robins (history), Celeste Tavera (music), Paul Willis (English), Casey Caldwell ’08 and Lauren White ’14 participated in the performance.
Cynthia Toms (director of global education) and her co-writers published “The Effects of Religious Engagement on College Students’ Affective Outcomes: Differences by Gender and Race” in the Journal of Research on Christian Education. She also spoke on “The Impact of International Volunteerism and Service on Participatory Community Development” at the International Service Learning Summit at Northwestern University.
Sharon Tang-Quan (English) joined a three-day panel hosted by the American Comparative Literature Association at New York University that discussed “The Horizons of Sinophone Studies.” She presented a paper, “Cultural Capital Post-Tiananmen Square: The Transnational Sensibility of Cultural Difference in Wang Ping’s Poetics.”
Jim Taylor (philosophy) received a $15,000 course development grant from the Biola University Center for Christian Thought to support his new class, “Intellectual Virtue and Civil Discourse.”
Niva Tro (chemistry) published a textbook, “Chemistry: Structures and Properties” (Pearson). Pearson is also releasing the fifth edition of his book, “Introductory Chemistry,” with an eText. Michael Everest (chemistry) developed a companion workbook for the textbook.
Tom Walters (kinesiology) will give a lecture, “Movement System Analysis: Using Technology to Differentiate Your Practice,” at the American Physical Therapy Association’s NEXT Conference.
Paul Willis (English) gave a lecture and poetry reading at Dallas Baptist University in April.
Jane Wilson (education) and Paige Harris ’14 presented “Preparing One’s Heart to Teach” at the Christians for Diversity in the Academy Conference at Azusa Pacific University.
Rachel Winslow contributed the chapter, “Thinking Historically about International Adoption,” to the book, “The Intercountry Adoption Debate: Dialogues across Disciplines,” released by Cambridge Scholars Press. She also presented “Make Way for Mavericks: U.S. Adoption, Volunteerism and ‘Can-Do’ Policymaking during the Vietnam War,” at the American Historical Association conference in January.