Stephanie Barczewski’s (history) new book Heroic Failure and the British has just been published by Yale University Press. The book, which argues that the British celebrated heroic failure as a means of mitigating the more violent and coercive aspects of their massive overseas empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries, has been widely reviewed in the British press, including the Times, the Sunday Times and the Guardian, where it was the “book of the day,” and has stirred a lively debate.
Anthony Bernarducci (performing arts) had two music publications released this January for the 2016 catalog of choral music through Hinshaw Music Publishing. The first, titled Dies Sanctificatus, uses a traditional Latin text. It was performed by the Illinois All-State Choir in January. The second piece, titled Winter Roses, utilizes portions of a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier and is scored for three-part women’s voices and piano accompaniment.
In an interview about the South Carolina presidential primaries, Vernon Burton (history) was featured in NPR’s Feb. 18th “Here & Now” segment titled “How South Carolina’s Primaries Became ‘First in the South.'”
In late January, Paul Buyer (performing arts), presented his workshop “Working Toward Excellence” to music majors at the University of Central Florida.
Caroline Dunn (history) published “All the Queen’s Ladies: Philippa of Hainault’s Female Attendants,” Journal of Medieval Prosopography 31 (2016).
Andrea Feeser (art history) was a member of the committee that rewrote the AP Art History exam. Feeser’s committee was specifically mentioned in The Atlantic magazine article “Rewriting Art History.“
A new book by Keith Green (architecture), Architectural Robotics: Ecosystems of Bits, Bytes, and Biology, has just been released from M.I.T. Press (2016). The subject matter looks toward interactive, partly intelligent and meticulously designed physical environments and how robotic systems will support and augment us at work, school and home over time. Green also received an invitation to present the new book as a featured speaker at Border Sessions in June 2016 (The Hague, Netherlands), for the fifth international technology conference exploring how emerging technologies shape our future society.
Steven Grosby (philosophy and religion) has been accepted to publish under “Nationalism and the Catholic Church” in Oxford Handbooks in Religion, New York: Oxford University Press (forthcoming). Along with that, the following were very recently published:
Elizabeth Jemison (philosophy and religion) has been selected for the 2016 cohort of the Young Scholars in American Religion program, organized through the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture at IUPUI. This highly selective program works with 10 pre-tenure faculty in American religions selected from colleges and universities across the U.S. and Canada. Through mentorship with senior scholars and multiple seminars in Indianapolis over the course of two years, this program helps young faculty become even better teachers and more productive researchers while navigating the tenure process.
Steve Katz (R. Roy and Marnie Pearce Professor of Professional Communication and Fellow of the Rutland Institute for Ethics) published three poems in February in the Elohi Gadugi Journal (Winter 2016):
Barton Palmer, (Lemon Professor of Literature) along with co-editor Amanda Ann Klein, has just published Cycles, Sequels, Spin-Offs, Remakes, and Reboots: Multiplicities in Film and Television with the University of Texas Press. Also, along with Julie Grossman, Palmer edited a special double issue of the South Atlantic Review. The issue includes his article “John Huston and Postwar Hollywood: The Night of the Iguana in Context,” South Atlantic Review 80 3.4 (2016): 25-45.
Catherine Paul (English, emerita), along with Lisa Rapaport (biological sciences) and Patrick Gerard (mathematics) co-authored an article titled “Hwæt!: adaptive benefits of public displays of generosity and bravery in Beowulf,” in the journal Behaviour. It is a piece unusual for its marked interdisciplinary involvement and process. The paper began as Paul’s term paper in Rapaport’s class, “The Evolution of Human Behavior,” where the two wished to proceed with it beyond the class. To help with statistical analysis, they enlisted Gerard, and the three became co-authors for the published piece. For more information on the process concerning this piece, Clemson’s research magazine Glimpse previous featured a profile on Paul as a part of the Creativity Professorship program.
Mike Pulley’s (English) poem “The Father Poet” is included in the Great American Wise Ass Poetry Anthology, released Feb. 20. The anthology is published by Lamar University Literary Press and includes poems that are “snarky, irreverent, impudent, subversive, and smart ass.” More than 800 poets submitted work, and about 100 poems made it into the anthology.
Michael Silvestri (history) traveled to Ireland as an invited speaker at the conference “Globalizing the Rising: 1916 in Context” at University College, Dublin, on February 5th and 6th. He spoke on ‘The Arts of Sedition’: The Easter Rising, British Imperial Intelligence and Anti-Colonial Nationalism.” The conference is one of a series of public events exploring the impact and legacy of the Easter Rising of April 1916, a rebellion which ultimately led to the establishment of the Republic of Ireland. During the first day of the conference, the conference hashtag #UCD1916 was the top trending twitter hashtag in the Republic of Ireland.
Kelly Smith (philosophy and religion) has just received approval to host an interdisciplinary workshop under the auspices of the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology. The workshop will bring senior scholars from all over the world together with graduate students and junior researchers to begin a wide-ranging conversation on the complex “extra-scientific” (philosophical, ethical, social, etc.) questions surrounding the search for extraterrestrial life. Clemson faculty and graduate students are encouraged to participate, click here for more information.
In January, Charles Starkey (philosophy and religion) attended the fourth annual Jubilee Center workshop “Cultivating Virtues: Interdisciplinary Approaches” at Oxford University and presented “Virtue, Emotion, and Perception.” Starkey also traveled to Miami, Florida to present “Virtue without Character,” an invited talk at Florida International University.
David Stevenson (performing arts) just received a patent for the X-Strap, a device that allows guitarists to secure their instruments more tightly to their bodies when they perform.
On February 11, Rhondda Robinson Thomas (English) presented the keynote address, “Call My Name: African Americans in Early Clemson University History,” for the Black History Month program sponsored by the Black Affairs Committee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation field office in Columbia, SC. The theme of this year’s program was Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories.
Kathleen Thum (art) has work in several group exhibitions:
Remembering Paul (Oxford University Press), Benjamin White’s (philosophy and religion) recent book, was described in a January 2016 review for the Catholic Biblical Quarterly as “by far the most important book on Paul in some decades.”
Valerie Zimany (art, ceramics) was featured in CeramATTACK at Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO, from December 18, 2015 — February 13, 2016. The exhibition forayed into “motivations beyond pure form and function, the selected artists take ceramics into an entirely new realm, fusing contemporary aesthetics with a traditional art form,” and emphasized multidisciplinary approaches. Zimany is also being featured in Cognitive Dissonance, Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg, S.C. from January 26th – March 25th, 2016. The exhibition features nine artists, and focuses on interpretations of imperfection.