USM Public Affairs

KATHLEEN ASHLEY, professor of English, had her article, “Reforme Sociale at Desir d”Immortalite: Abigail Mathieu, une Bienfaitrice d’Exception,” published in the French journal Les Memoires de la Societe d’Histoire et d’Archeologie de Chalon-sur-Saone Tome LXXVII (2010, pp. 47-60).  Ashley also designed a reading series about “Growing Up Between Cultures” for the Maine Humanities Council’s “Let’s Talk About It” program, which will pilot in spring 2012.  This past fall, Ashley was an outside reader for a University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada dissertation on medieval drama, and was on the program committee for the New England Medieval Conference on “Medieval Miseries” at Bates College in October.

JOSEPH CONFORTI, distinguished professor emeritus of American and New England Studies, participated in a plenary panel on the mythologies of Plymouth, Plimouth and New England at the New England American Studies Association conference in November at Plimouth Plantation, Plymouth, Mass. Four American and New England Studies students also presented at the conference. LUCINDA HARRINGTON presented “The Maps of 66: How Roadmaps Built an American Legend”; MICHELLE KEW presented “Answering the Woman Question: William Dean Howells and 19^th Century Literary Discourse”; RACHEL MILLER presented “A Staple Winter Article of Not the Standard Caucasian Variety: Currier and Ives’ Darktown in the Northern Winter”; and MARIEKE VAN DER STEENHOVEN presented “Home Sweet Home: The Role of Homeownership in American Popular Imagination and Public Policy.”  Rachel Miller was recognized with an Honorable Mention for the Mary Kelley Prize, which is awarded to the best paper presented at the conference by a graduate student or non-tenure track scholar.

LOUIS F. GAINEY, JR., professor of biological sciences, had his article, “The Effects of Temperature, Season, and Nitric Oxide on Clearance Rates in Isolated Gills of the Heterodont Clams Mercenaria mercenaria and Arctica islandia,” published in the December 2011 Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (Vol. 409, pp. 160-165).

WILLIAM F. GAYTON, professor of psychology, and undergraduate students TARA OUELLETTE, LINDSEY THERIAULT AND PETER MORNEAU, presented two research posters at the New England Psychological Association meeting at Fairfield University in October.  The presentations were about “The Relationship of Athleticism and Facial Attractiveness of National Hockey League Goalies” and “An Investigation of Home Disadvantage in Fed Cup Tennis.”

DAVID B. JONES, associate professor of recreation and leisure studies, had his article, “Playgrounds Helping to Heal Traumatized Children,” published in the July/August issue of the Journal of Emergency Management (Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 11-12).  In August, Jones was named one of Keystone College’s most notable alumni.

JERRY LaSALA, professor of physics and director of the USM Southworth Planetarium, was invited to present the keynote address, “The Pluto Story,” and chair a workshop, “What’s New Under the Dome: Innovative Uses of the Planetarium,” at the annual meeting of the British Association of Planetaria in Liverpool, England on September 9.  LaSala is currently on Chair’s leave in Winchester, England, where he is working at INTECH Science Centre and Planetarium.

JAMES W. MESSERSCHMIDT, professor of sociology and criminology, completed five publications this past year.  His book, “Gender, Heterosexuality, and Youth Violence: The Struggle for Recognition,” will be published in March 2012 by Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group.  Messerschmidt had two works accepted as chapters in books: “Masculinities” in the “Handbook of Critical Criminology” (New York: Routledge, 2011); and “Hegemonic Masculinities and the ‘Selling’ of War: Lessons from George W. Bush” in “Rethinking Transnational Men: Beyond, Between, and Within Nations” (New York: Routledge, 2012).  In April 2012, Messerschmidt’s article, “Engendering Gendered Knowledge: Assessing the Academic Appropriation of Hegemonic Masculinity,” will appear in Men and Masculinities (Vol. 15, No. 1), and his other article, “The Struggle for Heterofeminine Recognition: Bullying, Embodiment, and Reactive Sexual Offending by Adolescent Girls,” was published in Feminist Criminology (Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 203-233).

DANIEL PANICI, associate professor of communication and media studies, and DAVID PIERSON, chair and associate professor of communication and media studies, served as presenters on the Entertainment Studies and Religion and Media Interest Groups’ co-sponsored panel, “Amusing Ourselves to Death?: The Merging of Information and Entertainment in the Age of Infotainment,” at the Association for Educators of Journalism and Mass Communication on August 17.

DAVID PIERSON, chair and associate professor of communication and media studies, had his chapter, “Unleashing a Flow of Desire: Sterling Cooper, Desiring-Production, and the Tenets of Late Capitalism,” published in “Analyzing Mad Men: Critical Essays on the Television Series” (North Carolina: McFarland Publishing, 2011).  Pierson also had his book, “The Fugitive,” published as part of the TV Milestones Series of the Wayne State University Press (November 2011).

EVE A. RAIMON, professor of English, delivered “Beyond the Black Heritage Trail: Race, Place, and Public Memory in New England” at the American Studies Association conference in Baltimore, Md. in October.  Raimon is also facilitating a Civil War reading series at the Portland Public Library this fall for the Maine Humanities Council’s “Let’s Talk About It” reading and discussion program.