Last Faculty Research Forum of 2015 Fiscal Year

CSU libraries will host the last Faculty Research Forum April 7, 2015 at 12 p.m. on the first floor of the Simon Schwob Memorial Library. The lecture will feature Dr. Jennifer Newbrey, Assistant Professor of Biology, and Dr. Gary Sprayberry, Chair of the History and Geography Department.

This faculty forum will conclude the CSU libraries’ Faculty Research Forum for the fiscal year. Newbrey will present “Eastern Bluebirds in West-Central Georgia” and her discussion will be followed by the Department Chair’s presentation over “The Atlanta Pop Festival.”

The Assistant Professor, Newbrey, will discuss the features and importance of Eastern Bluebirds in the West-Central Georgia area. “Effects of West Nile Virus Infection and Immune Function on Female Yellow-headed Blackbird Reproduction” is one of the many works by Newbrey. She earned her PhD from North Dakota State University and also earned her Master and Bachelor of Science at the University of Wisconsin.

Sprayberry’s most recent professional works include his latest “One Doesn’t Integrate on Sunday: The Creation of the Human Relations Council and the Origins of Desegregation in Anniston, Alabama, 1961-1963” in the April 2008 edition of the Alabama Review. The Jacksonville State University alumni will discuss the iconic 1970 Atlanta International Pop Festival that features many musicians such as Canned Heat, Jimi Hendrix, the Chamber Brothers, and Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductee, Johnny Jenkins.

All patrons, students, faculty and staff members are encouraged to attend this Faculty Research Forum. Before each faculty member’s presentation, a lunch will be provided in the Forum Area of the Schwob library. For more information, review and browse the CSU libraries official page.

CSU Libraries to Sponsor Annual Faculty Research Forum Lectures

The Simon Schwob Memorial Library is to sponsor its Annual Faculty Research Forum, Tuesday, March 17, 2015 starting at 12:00 noon. The CSU Libraries will host the second, of three, faculty research forum lectures. There will be two distinguished speakers proceeded by a light lunch. The presentations will take place in the forum area of Schwob Library.

Assistant Professor, and Chair, of the Department of Political Science and MPA program, Frederick Gordon and The Threading Stone author and Auburn University alumni, Carey Wilkerson, will both present.

Gordon is known for other accomplishments outside of CSU’s campus; his first book, Freshwater Resources and Interstate Cooperation examines the nature of how nation states cooperate over scarce water resources. The Assistant Professor’s most recent work includes his 2014 article titled "Is the Executioner Wrong?" which explores how certain teaching controversies can enhance college student writing.

Wilkerson, an English professor at CSU since 2007, is greatly involved in the creative writing and poetry sector in the Columbus area, nationally, and as a published, performing and prolific literary artist. Many of Wilkerson’s professional works include numerous poetry selections in Polymatheme, Creative Loafing, and Frame. The Auburn graduate is also a recipient of the Lillian E. Smith Center for Creative Arts Writing Fellowship, twice.

Both CSU faculty members are to conduct a light dialogue, open for inquiries, after their presentations. Students, as well as, faculty and staff members are encouraged to attend the CSU libraries second faculty forum lecture. For more information, please see official CSU libraries webpages for additional details.


Dr. Frederick Gordon, Political Science
Topic:  "Game Over or have the Games Just Begun: How Executive Orders have Reshaped Environmental Policy Making"

Carey Scott Wilkerson, English
Topic:  "Late Stages: Writing Drama with a Post-modern Hand and a Neo-classical Heart"

Faculty Research Forum Lectures

Since 2002 the CSU Libraries has sponsored the Faculty Research Forum Lecture series. The purpose of the series is to provide an opportunity for faculty to share their research and creative interests with the entire CSU community.  Each hour-long forum consists of two 20 minute presentations with time for questions. During the past twelve years we have presented 49 forums featuring the work of 108 CSU faculty members. 

This year's Faculty Research Forum Lecture series comprises five lectures from distinguished faculty representing Biology, English, History, Political Science and Sociology.  They are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, February 17, 2015 @ 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm.

Dr. Dan Crosswell, Colonel Richard P. Hallock Distinguished University Chair in Military History.

Topic:  "Throw Hegel Under the Bus."

Dr. Florence Wakoko-Studstill, Sociology 

Topic:  "Integrating Women's rights into College Education." 

Tuesday, March 17, 2015 @ 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm.

Dr. Frederick Gordon, Political Science, 

Topic:  "Game Over or have the Games Just Begun; How Executive Orders have Reshaped Environmental Policy Making

Carey Scott Wilkerson, English

Topic:  "Late Stages: writing drama with a post-modern hand and a neo-classical heart

Tuesday, April 7, 2015 @ 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm

Dr. Jennifer Newbrey, Biology

Topic: "Carotenoid Pigments and Reproduction of Eastern Bluebirds and other Cavity-Nesting Songbirds in West-central Georgia."

Each lecture presentation will include a light lunch starting at 12:00 noon. Presentations begin at 12:30.  Please mark your calendar and join us for food, fellowship, and the presentation of faculty research. 

Faculty Research Forum

This Faculty Research Forum will be hosted March 20th, from 12 - 1:30 pm  in our 1st floor Library Forum area and lunch will be provided. This session will feature:

Dr. David. Schwimmer, Professor of Geology
Topic: Ancient Ecology Revealed in Fossil Feces

Dr. Jennifer Brown, Assistant Professor of Education Foundation
Topic: Examining Retention at Home & Abroad

February 20th Faculty Research Forum

Because of the bad weather on January 28, we were not able to hold our first Faculty Research Forum for 2014 that day.  Both presenters from January 28 have been rescheduled.

Please plan to attend the next 2014 Faculty Research Forum sponsored by CSU Libraries on February 20, 2014 at 12:30 pm.  A light lunch will be served at 12:00 noon, and the program will start at 12:30 pm.  Our presenters are:

Dr. Nick Norwood, Department of English, "Eagle & Phenix: The Local as Theme"

Mrs. Carol Bishop, Department of Accounting & Finance, "The Effect of CEO Social Influence Pressure on CFO Financial Reporting Decisions"

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, February 20th.

Faculty Research Forum

The 2014 Faculty Research Forums will begin on January 28, 2014 at 12:30 in the Schwob Library's forum area.

This session will feature Dr. David Schwimmer whose presentation is entitled "Ancient Ecology Revealed in Fossil Feces."  Featured also is Dr. Nick Norwood who will present "Eagle & Phenix: The Local as Theme."

For more information, please see:  http://library.columbusstate.edu/forums/2014_forums/index.php.

Please join CSU Libraries for an hour of two interesting presentations.

Lunch will be served at noon.

First Installment of the 2012 Faculty Research Forum Series

Please join us for the 2012 Faculty Research Forum Series. We invite all members of the CSU community to join us at the Main Campus Library on three consecutive Thursdays -- January 19th, January 26th, and February 2nd to enjoy presentations by our own CSU scholars. Lunch will be served at all three Forums, and presentations will begin at 12:30 p.m.


The first installment on January 19th will be presented by Dr. Ilaria Scaglia, Assistant Professor of History and by Dr. Erinn Bentley, Assistant Professor of English Education.


Dr. Scaglia will be presenting:

Exchanging Books for Peace: The Development of Intellectual Practical Cooperation, 1919-1939: The League of Nations called it 'technical;' political scientists preferred the adjective 'functional;' other authors used the term 'practical' to emphasize the importance of concrete and pragmatic approaches to international cooperation. The main idea, nevertheless, remains the same: cooperation in a variety of different fields can contribute to the preservation of international peace. In the realm of culture in particular, a connection and a fundamental agreement among people of learning in different countries needed to be reached in order for peace to be achieved. It was in this context that starting from 1922 International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation began its activities, which included the exchanges of objects (such as books, archives, and artifacts). As the most successful and enduring of the League's initiatives, international practical cooperation survived the Second World War and persists in international cultural policy to this day.

Dr. Bentley will be presenting:

Continual, Collaborative, and On-the-Job: Supporting Pedagogical Knowledge Through Professional Learning Communities: This study examines the nature of teacher development – specifically, how participation in a professional development model affects teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. Drawing upon scholarship from the fields of rhetoric and composition, English education, and teacher education, this study analyzes current trends in ongoing, job-embedded professional development for English teachers. In particular, my research focuses on the Professional Learning Community (PLC), and this study provides key insights on how the PLC can be used to increase teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, promote faculty collaboration, and assess student learning. This presentation may be of interest to faculty members who wish to explore the PLC as a means for supporting their own professional development.

Final Installment of the 2011 Faculty Research Forum Series.

Please join us for the 2011 Faculty Research Forum Series. The one hour forums are held from 12:30 - 1:30, and offer an excellent opportunity for the faculty to share their research interests with faculty, staff, students, and the community. Each hour long forum consists of two twenty minute presentations and a twenty minute question period.

The third and final forum is scheduled for tomorrow, February 3. The final installment this year will be presented by Mr. Orion Wertz, Associate Professor of Fine Art in Painting and Ms. Jacqueline Radebaugh, Assistant Professor of Library Science.

Mr. Orion Wertz will be presenting:

Floating World, Floating Captions

My installation exhibits are comprised of drawings that I turn into stickers and use to "label" a space. This process of converting drawings to labels is a reaction to my place in a landscape of consumerism. I am interested in the dubious space that individual acts must occupy in a world of mass-production and disposability. The artworks are highly legible and appear to fill up space even though they are physically disposable.

Ms. Jacqueline Radebaugh will be presenting:

Searching Library Databases: A Social Approach to Information Retrieval

My presentation will use the study of Social Informatics to propose real life examples of how social activities inherent to information retrieval, such as browsing print library resources, can be implemented in modern journal article databases. I will discuss the popular idea of "berry picking" for information as the basis of my analysis and how this practice directly relates to the social structures that people use to find information. I will then present some ideas of how modern journal article databases can be enhanced to promote activities, such as browsing and chaining of seed documents that are so important to the "conversations" needed to promote research and scholarship.

We hope that you have enjoyed this educational and informative series. Many thanks to the presenters and all associated with the program.

Second installment of the 2011 Faculty Research Forum Series.

Please join us for the 2011 Faculty Research Forum Series. The one hour forums are held from 12:30 - 1:30, and offer an excellent opportunity for the faculty to share their research interests with faculty, staff, students, and the community. Each hour long forum consists of two twenty minute presentations and a twenty minute question period.

There are two more forums scheduled this year on January 27th and February 3. The second installment this year will be presented by Dr. Daniel Gullo, Assistant Professor of History, Dr. Kimberly Shaw, Director, Math & Science Learning Center, and Dr. Zdeslav Hrepic,

Assistant Professor in Physics Education.

Dr. Daniel Gullo will be Presenting:

The Fragmentary World of the the Post-Medieval Book: A Bonaventure Fragment from the Library of Joan Jeroni Besora

Whether as fragments, loose leaves, or whole folios, early modern European printers and book owners readily used medieval manuscripts as binding aids, cover pages, or flyleaves for their printed books. In sixteenth-century Barcelona, the early modern library of Joan Jeroni Besora, a canon and president of the Generalitat, demonstrates how the city's booming printing industry pilfered libraries for manuscripts to use as materiel for binding their new publications. More than finding lost texts, however, the investigation of Bersora's collection unfolds the development of libraries in Barcelona as they moved between religious institutions, to private collections, to the creation of a university library system.

Dr. Kimberly Shaw and Dr. Zdeslav Hrepic will be presenting:

Open Policy for Wireless Computers in Classrooms: Lessons from CSU Implementation

As mobile computing devices become more ubiquitous, so does their presence in university classrooms. Recently, an increasing number of studies as well as a number of media articles have been looking into possible adverse effects of open policies for using wireless ready computers in classes. In this study we gauge performance of students who were encouraged to voluntarily bring their personal wireless computers to introductory physics classes. We compare frequency with which students utilized computers with their test scores and the course grades and contrast them with available background measures such as HS GPA and SAT Math scores. We also gauge student attitudes and recommendations related to DyKnow software and Tablet PC usage in this and other courses.

We hope that you join us for this educational and informative series. Also, please take a look at the third and final installment this year.

First installment of the 2011 Faculty Research Forum Series.

Please join us for the 2011 Faculty Research Forum Series. The one hour forums are held from 12:30 - 1:30, and offer an excellent opportunity for the faculty to share their research interests with faculty, staff, students, and the community. Each hour long forum consists of two twenty minute presentations and a twenty minute question period.

This year we have three separate forums scheduled January 20th, 27th, and February 3. The first installment this year will be presented by Dr. Barbara Johnston, Assistant Professor of Art History and Dr. Angela Green, Assistant Professor of English

Dr. Johnston will be presenting:

The Magdalene Model: Paradigm and Parallel in Louise of Savoy’s Vie de la Magdalene.

Among female saints, Mary Magdalene is second only to the Virgin Mary as a source of inspiration for Christian women. One of the saint’s most ardent devotees was Louise of Savoy, mother of French king Francis I. In 1516 Louise commissioned François Demoulin de Rochefort to produce a manuscript depicting the life of Mary Magdalene for her personal use. In the Vie de la Magdalene, Demoulin presents the saint as the exempla of Christian love and feminine virtue. By including issues of personal concern to Louise and establishing thematic parallels between the two women, Demoulin provided his patron with a model for her own devotions made more accessible through the correspondences in their lives. This paper examines the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Louise of Savoy as presented in the Vie de la Magdalene, elucidating the saint’s role as Louise’s spiritual paradigm and feminine parallel.

Dr. Green will be presenting:

Lost In Language: Rhetorical Illiteracy in The House Of Mirth, Absalom, Absalom!, And Invisible Man

This study explores rhetorical illiteracy within the novels of three writers spanning the first half of the twentieth century. Each novel grapples with the often baffling and sometimes alienating changes that swept through American culture and forever altered the texture, pace, and complexity of life as well as the lexicon with which we describe or shape it. Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth (1905), William Faulkner’sAbsalom, Absalom! (1936), and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952) might seem to have little in common with one another, depicting as they do such disparate experiences of American life. All three novels feature characters ill at ease in their putative “home” language and illustrate that literacy in the first half of the twentieth century was far more complex than is often assumed and not nearly so removed from the kinds demanded of present citizens of the “information age” and “knowledge economy.”

We hope that you join us for this educational and informative series. Also, please take a look at the upcoming speakers and topics.