CLASS Departments Excel in 2014-2015

March 1, 2015

Foreign Languages

Dr. Horst Kurz was recognized with the FLAG President’s Award, which recognizes his lengthy, dedicated, multifaceted, and sustained contributions to the Foreign Language Association of Georgia. He received the award at the annual meeting of the association. Congratulations, Dr. Kurz!

History

Our greatest point of pride in the Department of History this past year is that five faculty members in the Department of History have published books with major presses, including Johns Hopkins, Georgia, North Carolina (two), and WW Norton.

Literature & Philosophy

Professor Caren Town Examines Banned Books
In her book, “Unsuitable” Books, Caren Town focuses on the attempted and successful banning of young adult fiction from media centers and classrooms across the nation. This book examines the legal and experiential history of censorship in libraries and public schools, looking closely at young adult novels from the early 1970s until today that have been the subject of book challenges.

Music

Dr. John Thompson (Associate Professor of Music) presented his eight-channel audiovisual composition “Accretion Flows” at the International Festival For Innovations in Music Production and Composition in Leeds, U.K. in March 2015.  iFIMPaC is an annual event focusing on practice-related innovations in Music Production and Composition. iFIMPaC creates a unique environment for composers, producers, music industry representatives, academics, educators and students to discuss their compositional, pedagogical and production work as practice-led research.

Political Science

The Department of Political Science had more than 20 students participate in internship opportunities at the national, state, and local levels. This is more than double the number of those that participated in internships in the previous year. These internships were fulfilled in the office of White House Personnel, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Georgia State Legislature, and local attorneys-at-law offices.

Psychology

The Doctor of Psychology program received its first ever accreditation from the American Psychological Association.

Sociology & Anthropology

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology established a new entity to support research, community outreach, and student engagement. The Center for Social Gerontology (CSG) is a multidisciplinary collaboration of faculty, students, alumni, and community members who are interested in making a positive difference in the lives of aging persons and their families.

Writing & Linguistics

The top story/event is still the major book contracts awarded to our two alumni sisters, Cassie (2010) and Kate Beasely (2011), both of whom who graduated with perfect 4.0 GPAs.  While faculty have also had a productive year of publishing, this event takes priority because it involves not one but two students.  In fact, Cassie’s Circus Mirandus, a middle-grades fantasy novel, will be officially released tomorrow, and it has already earned 4.9 out of 5 stars on Amazon.

Public & Nonprofit Studies

Our top story/event from the past year centers around the pursuit of the Institute’s mission to engage our students in community service and outreach.  Last year, graduate students in the Institute for Public and Nonprofit Studies completed 35 different service learning projects and internships (of 300 hours or more) in local, state, and federal governments, as well as nonprofit organizations throughout the region.  Through the Institute’s partnership with the Georgia Municipal Association, students completed projects ranging from a citizen satisfaction survey for the City of Statesboro, a solar panel analysis for the City of Baxley, to a historic homes preservation plan for the City of Tybee Island.  Students also held internships with Governor Deal’s Office of Planning and Budget in Atlanta, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, and with the United Nations’ Division of Economic and Social Affairs.  In these positions, students were engaged in important projects, developed hands on experience and expertise, and continued honing the skills necessary to lead the next generation of public servants.

Women’s & Gender Studies

The Women’s & Gender Studies program was proud to present the 2015 Georgia Southern University Keynote Address for Women’s History Month.  Professors Ann Short Chirhart and Kathleen Ann Clark delivered a fascinating talk, “‘Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History:’ Georgia Women Shape the Twentieth Century,” based on their new book, Georgia Women.

Irish Research & Teaching

C.I.R.T. successfully inaugurated its Wexford-Savannah Axis Research Project, which interrogates the causes and effects of the disproportionate representation of Wexford, one of Ireland’s 32 traditional counties, among the Irish community in Savannah.  One highlight was five weeks of archival research by a dozen undergraduate students at the Georgia Historical Society, the Catholic Diocese of Savannah Archives, the National Archives of Ireland, and the Wexford County Archives.