Dr. Andrea Davis, associate professor of history, is completing a three-month residential research fellowship at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History. During her time in Europe, Davis also collaborated with the Center for the Study of Dictatorships and Democracy at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona to organize an international colloquium and working group, “Towards a Spanish Civil War and Francoist Repression Digital Research Infrastructure,” in late November.

A collection of short stories by Dr. Khem Aryal, associate professor of English, has been published by Braddock Avenue Books. His collection, The In-Betweeners,  provides a deeply human perspective on both the challenges and the triumphs experienced by a group of Nepalese immigrants who are struggling with the unforeseen consequences of their decision to enter the United States. Details about Aryal's book are available on the Braddock Avenue website.

Dr. Argelia Lorence, professor of metabolic engineering and James and Wanda Lee Vaughn Endowed Professor, is the program director of a new $297,976 grant funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This work, in collaboration with co-PIs Dr. Emily Bellis and Dr. Mariano Alvarez, leverages computational, field and wet-lab approaches to identify novel sources of drought tolerance in rice.

Dr. Rachel Wilkins, assistant professor of physical therapy and director of clinical education, presented a session at the Educational Leadership Conference, a national meeting in Philadelphia for physical therapy educators. Wilkins focused on structures, processes and collaborative efforts used to plan and implement an interprofessional educational clinical experience using the hippotherapy program. Her co-presenter was Farley Schweighart, former instructor in physical therapy at A-State.

An article by Dr. Jaein Lee, assistant professor of sociology, and a co-author was published in the journal PLOS One. The article concerns the suicidal ideation issue in South Korea. Their principal finding is that the protective power of having same-gender peer groups and having a mentor was significant for Korean girls, but not significant for Korean boys. The authors include recommendations to school counselors and practitioners.