Archives for April 2019

SMCM students present at 2019 National Conference on Undergraduate Research

April 23, 2019

From left to right: Katie Gross, Alejandra Diaz, Rachel Yates, Alana Demones, and Katherine Kempton

SMCM International Languages & Cultures students Kathleen (Katie) Gross, Alejandra Diaz, Rachel Yates, Alana Demones and Katherine Kempton presented their research projects at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA, held from April 10-13, 2019. Katie Gross and Rachel Yates were awarded the Geneva Boone Award to support presenting their St. Mary’s Projects (SMP) at the conference. The Geneva Boone Award for Outstanding St. Mary’s Projects is given annually to support students who will present work from their SMP to a wider audience beyond the College.

NCUR is an annual conference promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity done in partnership with faculty or other mentors and is sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). As part of SMCM’s enhanced institutional membership with CUR, all students, staff, and faculty can become members and have access to CUR publications, webinars, and reduced rates for conferences and events such as NCUR.

Katie Gross’s SMP is titled: “Racial Discourse and Why it Matters: White Privilege, Race and Colorblindness in France and America”. Alejandra Diaz presented: “The Cultural, Economic and Educational Impact in Latin America of Technology in the Age of Globalization: Latin America as Adopter and Agent of Technology Development”. Rachel Yates’s SMP is called: “The Académie française vs. Anglicism: Franglais and the politics of language in France’s Fifth Republic”. Alana Demones is researching: “Black and White: How language reflects Colorism in China”, while Katherine Kempton’s SMP is titled: “I am from the Gutter Too”: Institutions, Power, and Identity Formation in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables”.

Dr. Brandon Guernsey, Visiting Assistant Professor of French, stated that the International Languages & Cultures Department is very proud of these students’ accomplishments – a sentiment broadly and strongly shared across campus. Keep up the great work!!

Professors Receive Grant to Develop Teacher Education Program in Computer Science

April 22, 2019

Professors Lindsay Jamieson, Alan Jamieson, and Angela Johnson (left to right)

Lindsay Jamieson, associate professor of computer science; Alan Jamieson, associate professor of computer science; and Angela Johnson, professor of educational studies and director of teacher education, received a $19,049 grant from the Maryland Center for Computing Education to develop a preservice teacher education program in computer science.

The three will develop a course that will work with two existing courses and, as a sequence, prepare students to take the computer science Praxis exam to be certified to teach computer science at the high school level. Additionally, they will have a limited number of scholarships available for community members who may be interested in adding a certification in computer science to their current knowledge.

The Maryland Center for Computing Education, housed at the University System of Maryland, is designed to expand access to high-quality pre-kindergarten through year 12 computing education by strengthening educator skills and increasing the number of computer science teachers in elementary and secondary education.

SMCM Title IX Office Awarded Five-year Grant from the Maryland Department of Health

April 18, 2019

Michael Dunn, SMCM Title IX Coordinator

Over the next five years, the College’s Title IX Office will receive a total of $50,000 from the Maryland Department of Health’s Rape and Sexual Assault Prevention Program at the Center for Injury and Sexual Assault Prevention. The focus of the grant is “Preventing Campus Sexual Assault through Social Norms Change” and on implementing strategies to mobilize men and boys as allies to prevent sexual violence. This is the College’s third, and most significant, award from the Maryland Department of Health in the past three years.

The College will use these funds to continue developing a relationship with A Call to Men, a national violence prevention organization first brought to campus in 2017. A Call to Men is known for its important work with professional sports leagues, the U.S. military, and many other institutions.

For the next five years, trainers from A Call to Men will come to campus each semester to engage in ongoing programming and development with the general campus community as well as specific male populations, such as men’s sports teams and residential communities. The College will also use grant funds to support student professional fellows and upperclass students working on St. Mary’s Projects on related topics.

Michael Dunn, SMCM’s Director of Title IX Compliance and Training/Title IX Coordinator is “very excited about the opportunity to develop impactful, sustained prevention work with influential campus communities, and to weave together academic and pre-professional opportunities”. Dunn appreciates the support of campus partners, including Student Affairs, Athletics, and Academic Affairs, in helping pull the pieces of the grant proposal and planned programming together.

SMCM History Student Receives Simpson Scholarship in Egyptology

April 5, 2019

Student on a camel in front of a pyramid in Giza, Egypt

Poppell at pyramid in Giza, Egypt

St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) student Brandon Poppell ’19 recently received the prestigious Simpson Scholarship in Egyptology. The Simpson Scholarships in Egyptology are available to students who wish to focus their studies on the history and culture of Ancient Egypt.

When asked about the scholarship and his current research Poppell stated “I am a Classics-trained student meaning I have taken ancient history classes at SMCM through the lens of the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds, and my main research interest is Ptolemaic Egypt, which was a Macedonian Dynasty”. In order to gain further background in Egyptology and to understand the way Ptolemaic Egypt functioned, Poppell aspired to study at the American University in Cario (AUC). At AUC, Poppell will pursue courses ranging from archaeology, to history, to art and architecture under Salima Ikram, one of the leading scholars in the field.

Poppell is currently awaiting responses from graduate schools but plans to continue his research on Ptolemaic Egypt for the rest of his academic career. In the meantime, during the 2019 summer he will be working on an archaeological site on Crete which is a Minoan site (1700-1430 BC), while also possibly working at a Greco-Roman site (4^th century BC- 4^thcentury AD circa) later in December. Poppell would like to thank Dr. Sarah Malena, Dr. Michael Taber, Dr. Linda Jones Hall, and Dr. Julia King for being extremely supportive in his academic endeavors while at SMCM. Poppell “would not be where I am without them”.

This article was written by St.Mary’s College of Maryland student and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Fellow Mackenzie Brooks ’21.

A statue of Seraphis, a Greco-Egyptian deity (left) and clay depictions of amulets Poppell worked on for an experimental archaeology project.

SMCM Student Awarded Grant in Support of St. Mary’s Project

April 4, 2019

St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) student Brooke Steinhoff ’19, was selected to receive a research grant by Beta Beta Beta to support her SMP in Psychology under the mentorship of Dr. Aileen Bailey. Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) is an honor society for undergraduates dedicated to enhancing and improving not only the understanding but the appreciation of biological study through experimental research.

Steinhoff’s study aims to evaluate the effects of direct infusions of L-655,708 into the medial prefrontal cortex utilizing an animal model of depression. The study animals will be given various behavioral tests including the sucrose preference test, social interaction test, open field test, and novelty suppressed feeding test. Steinhoff believes that L-655,708 will have an antidepressant-like effect when infused directly into the medial prefrontal cortex. All research involving vertebrate animals must be approved by the St. Mary’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Steinhoff is a biology major and neuroscience minor, and is conducting this study jointly with biochemistry major and neuroscience minor, Katie Robey ’19. More information about this collaborative research can be found on the Current Sponsored Research tab of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs webpage.

This article was written by St. Mary’s College of Maryland student and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Fellow Mackenzie Brooks ’21.