6/29/2004

Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199;  e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu

10 SRU FACULTY GET PROFESSIONAL TRAVEL GRANTS

TO PRESENT RESEARCH RESULTS AROUND THE WORLD

           SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Ten Slippery Rock University faculty have been awarded Presidential International Professional Development Grants by SRU President Robert Smith to use in presenting academic papers and reports in their areas of expertise at educational conferences around the world.

        The $1,000 grants, provided by funds from the Slippery Rock University Foundation, Inc., are to be used this year. In awarding the grants, Smith praised the faculty for their research and academic efforts, saying, "Such international opportunities allow Slippery Rock University to showcase the quality of academic programs available on our campus to the world community and the research being undertaken by our faculty. By participating in such academic endeavors, our faculty clearly show the caliber of academic study under way at SRU." Smith has continued to stress the importance of joint faculty-student research programs at SRU, noting a number of the papers being presented at the international venues involved student assistance.

        Receiving awards and their intended use are as follows:

Dr. Richard Altenbaugh, professor of secondary education/foundations of education, to present “Life with Polio” at the European Conference for Educational Research at the University of Crete, Greece in September;

Dr. Abigail Amissah-Arthur, assistant professor of geography, geology and the environment, to present “Recognizing Recommendation Domains for Targeting Actionable Climate Forecasts to Rural Stakeholders in Kenya” at the Second International Conference on Climate Impacts Assessment in Grainau, Germany later this month.

Dr. Deborah Cohen, professor of modern languages/cultures, to present on feminist theater in Costa Rica at the 12^th Annual Jornadas Internacionales de Teatro Latinoamericano in Puebla, Mexico in July. She will also present work on historical theater by Costa Rican Miguel Rojas at the VII Congreso de Historia in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in July, and will attend another conference and workshop while visiting Latin America.

Dr. Jace Condravy, professor of English, will present “Humanizing the Curriculum: Beyond ‘Add Women and Stir,’” Dr. Cornelius Cosgrove, professor of English, will present “Humanizing Academic Knowledge: Creating Critical Thought Via a Rhetorically-based Liberal Arts” and Dr. William Zeiger, associate professor of English, will present “The Humane Rhetoric of Trauma Narrative” at July’s Second International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities at the Monash University Center in Prato-Tuscany, Italy.

Dr. Suzanne Rose, assistant professor of elementary education/early childhood, presented “What Can You Do When They Don’t Want to Read the Book?  Strategies for Supporting Students’ Text-based Learning,” at the eighth Annual Conference on University Teaching and Learning at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dr. Tamra Schiappa, assistant professor of geography, geology and the environment, to present “Cisuralian Biostratigraphy of the Great Basin, Western United States” at the 32^nd International Geological Congress in Florence, Italy, in August.

Dr. Anne Slanina, assistant professor of elementary education/early childhood, who presented “The Impact of Art and Music on Early Childhood Literacy Development” at the Oxford Early Childhood Roundtable atManchester College in the University of Oxford, Oxford, England.

Melissa Teodoro, assistant professor of Dance, to present “Masculinity that emanates from under the skirts:  The Farotas de Talaigua and their portrayal of gender inversion in the Carnaval de Barranquilla” at the XXIII Symposium of ICTM Ethnochoreology in Bologna, Italy, in July.

PN, PgN, WPN