At the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, we expect our students, faculty, staff, and alumni to be aware of the rapid rate at which our world is changing. At the same time, we want more. We want them to be active participants in facilitating that change.

That means while our students are here in Morgantown, we work hard to prepare them for the growing “community” that extends across the country and beyond. Our students and faculty are encouraged to take advantage of, and create, opportunities that globalize the learning environment.

That’s why we’ve focused this issue of Eberly on the influence our students, faculty, staff and alumni are having abroad, and the impact those experiences are having on them.

This issue highlights some of the initiatives our College, and our University, have taken to ensure that our students have access to a life-changing, global education.

Like Marlenea Morgan, a first-generation college student, who took her first flight this summer when she traveled to Israel through the Religious Studies Program’s annual archeological dig in Bethsaida.

Our faculty are building graduate-level and post-graduate bridges for students through international opportunities including the Atlantis Program, a dual enrollment initiative whose participants receive both a master’s degree in history from WVU and either a master’s in social sciences from the University of Tartu in Estonia or a master’s in international relations from Collegium Civitas in Warsaw, Poland. Students spend at least one full semester in each of the three locations.

And the University as a whole continues to strengthen the United States’ partnership with China through collaborations with individuals in disciplines such as nanotechnology, world languages, business, and the arts.

Awareness of the evolving global landscape makes our students competitive and is just as important as knowledge of physics formulas, math equations, and historical dates.

I couldn’t be more excited about the global opportunities facing our students and faculty, and I hope you agree with me in finding that this edition of Eberly provides a glimpse of how the College is extending its reach and fulfilling its global mission.

Thanks to your generosity, Eberly is able to keep pace with constant innovations around the world. We appreciate your support of us in this undertaking.

Sincerely,

Robert H. Jones, PhD Dean

Dear friends,

ContentsIN THIS ISSUE2 Around the College

6 Vox Populi6 Understanding “Oneness”

8 From WVU to the Cold War and its Aftermath

11 Discovering Atlantis

14 Tangé Ne Giri

16 Ancient Wonder, Modern World

20 East Meets West Virginia

24 A Mountaineer in Paris

28 Where the Art Grows

32 New and Notable 32 Writing the Book on Inequality

34 Science on Tap

37 Escaping the Poverty Trap

38 Awards and Honors

38 Adding Wisdom to Knowledge

40 Meet WVU’s First WiSE Women

42 Making ADVANCEs in Research

ADMINISTRATIONJames P. Clements, PhD, President, West Virginia University

Michele Wheatly, PhD, Provost

Robert Jones, PhD, Dean

Joan Gorham, EdD, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs

Fred King, PhD, Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies

Asuntina Levelle, JD, Associate Dean, Financial Planning and Management

Katherine Karraker, PhD, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies

L. Christopher Plein, PhD, Associate Dean, School of Applied Social Sciences

Bonnie Fisher, Director of Development

EDITORIAL STAFFDevon Copeland, Executive Editor

Rebecca Herod, Executive Editor

Kathy Deweese, University Editor

Dustin Mazon, Web Designer

ART DIRECTION & DESIGNForrest ConroyAngela CaudillSue CristGraham CurryChris Schwer

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSEmily Christensen

Jared Lathrop

Diana Mazzella

Christine Schussler

Jake Stump

Ashley Wells

PHOTOGRAPHYM.G. Ellis, Senior Photojournalist

Brian Persinger, Photojournalist

Daniel Friend, Photography Manager (Ret.)

Jake Lambuth, Photography Intern

Todd Latocha, Photography Intern

COVER ILLUSTRATIONForrest Conroy

EDITORIAL OFFICERebecca Herod

Director of Marketing and CommunicationsPO Box 6286Morgantown, WV 26506-6286

Rebecca.Herod@mail.wvu.edu

CHANGE OF ADDRESSWVU FoundationPO Box 1650Morgantown, WV 26507-1650

wvuf@wvuf.org

VISIT OUR WEBSITE ATeberly.wvu.edu

WVU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution.

West Virginia University is governed by the West Virginia University Board of Governors and the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

Eberly alumna Heather Hartley is the author of Knock Knock (Carnegie Mellon University Press 2010) and Paris editor for Tin House magazine. Her poems, essays and interviews have appeared in or on PBS Newshour, The Guardian, and other venues and anthologies.

24

More than 450 WVU students have traveled to China to expand their studies in language, culture, nanotechnology, ceramics, painting, forestry and business, among other disciplines.

20

WVU graduate and former research hydrologist Annie Morris Simcoe now works as a paper/mixed media artist in Accident, Maryland. The artist makes her own plant-based paper, dyes it and then sews it into her colorful, signature designs.

28

Starting this month, we’ve created “digital jumps” that take you from the pages of Eberly to additional online content.

Using a Quick Response (QR) reader for your smartphone, you can now view additional video, photos or interesting facts that enhance what you’re reading. For a list of free QR readers, visit http://bit.ly/3xundO to download a compatible reader for your smartphone.

If you would like to access archival editions of the magazine, go to eberly.wvu.edu and select the Alumni link.

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 1

Around the College

Military couples face a number of

hardships and obstacles not experienced by

other couples. However, couples with one

member in the military actually experience less

stress in their interpersonal communication

than other couples, according to research

performed by the WVU Communication

Studies Department.

Melanie Booth-Butterfield, a commu-

nication studies professor, collaborated with

four graduate students on the research after

teaching a graduate seminar on interpersonal

communication in which students voiced

interest in how couples communicate when

one person is in the military.

Up until this point, little research on

military couples has focused on how these

couples talk and seek information in their

relationships — most has focused on conflicts,

self-disclosure, and adaptation problems.

The results of the research, Booth-

Butterfield said, were surprising.

“Nonmilitary couples are actually more

stressed out in their relationships than military

couples,” she said.

This research, which was published in

the June issue of Communication Studies,

raises additional questions. Is this because the

“value” of what they communicate when they

might not get to see someone again is higher?

Is it because nonmilitary couples don’t know

how to take advantage of every minute they

have with their partners? Is it that “everyday

talk” actually helps to relieve stress?

Couples engage in “everyday talk” when

they discuss their daily activities and how they

spend their time, sharing the mundane small

talk that normalizes relationships, Booth-

Butterfield said. Military couples, overall,

see this as being more important than other

couples do and make more of an effort to

engage in this “everyday talk.” An example

WVU research discovers military couples experience less stress over communication than non-military couples

would be when couples discuss

how they spent their day, such

as getting the kids ready for

school and other routine activities.

She said it is also possible that military

couples are naturally more resilient to stress

than other couples or that they handle stress

more effectively, because they are expecting it

and prepare themselves. Alternatively, people

who know they would not be able to handle

separations may opt out of such relationships.

These results, Booth-Butterfield said, will

likely lead to further research on the subject of

communication in military relationships. The

next step could be to apply this study to see if

these variables predict how well veterans will

readjust to civilian life. She also is working

on a study with an undergraduate student

about relationship satisfaction during different

phases of deployment.

Miles Wheaton-Hill uses fingerprint analysis during a mock crime scene investigation staged at the Evansdale Crime Scene Complex in July.

“I gave a speech at University High

School in Morgantown on the O.J. Simpson

trial,” said Tina Moroose, camp director. “I

realized after talking to the students there was

a great interest in forensics. When I got back

to campus, I proposed the idea for a camp

and we immediately started planning. We’ve

had 44 students between both camps, so I’d

say it has been very successful in its first year.”

Campers learned to collect evidence using

photography, fingerprinting, blood

spatter analysis, DNA analysis,

trace evidence microscopy, and

tool marks. The students were

taught by forensic science faculty,

and supervised by students from

the program. At the end of the

week, campers were able to process

a mock crime scene at the WVU

Crime Scene Complex.

“I’ve learned so much this

week it’s unreal,” said Keri

McDaniel, a senior from Morgantown.

“I’ve always thought this stuff was cool

on TV, but seeing hair samples under a

microscope really puts it in perspective. I

definitely want to learn as much as I can before

I come to WVU next year to study forensics.”

For more information about next

year’s camp, contact Tina Moroose at

tina.moroose @mail.wvu.edu.

A Glimpse into Forensic Science

When CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

premiered on CBS in October 2000, few

could have guessed the effect the television

show would have on pop culture or the

increased interest it would spark in forensic

science careers.

Now, 11 years later, the Forensic and

Investigative Science Program at West

Virginia University has given middle and

high school students the chance to experience

a week in the life of a real crime scene

investigator by hosting its first day camp.

The Forensic Science Day Camp ran

July 18-29 with separate one-week sessions

for 7th-9th grade students and 10th-12th grade

students. The camp was promoted at 15 local

middle and high schools in Morgantown,

Fairmont, and Bridgeport. However, students

came from as far away as North Carolina to

participate in the camp.

every minute counts

resilient to stress

“everyday talk”

photo by Brian Persinger

2 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

teeth in the Devonian Period

were useless against new species

of fish that used “crushing” teeth.

Through research, scientists

become more knowledgeable

about how species deal with their adversaries in the wild, said Lewis

Cook, a 1973 WVU alum who participated in the investigation

when he returned to the University to pursue his doctoral degree in

paleontology.

He said it is rewarding to discover new and original information

that may contribute to the understanding of how certain life forms

evolved and survived on Earth.

Funding for the research was provided by the National Science

Foundation, the Paleontological Association, the Paleontological

Society, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and

the Evolving Earth Foundation.

Geology Professor Researches Mass Extinction

What was bad for fish was good for the fish’s food, according

to a paper published in a May edition of Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences. New information about a mass extinction that

decimated ocean life 360 million years ago is giving researchers

further insight into long-term predator-prey relationships. Researchers

from West Virginia University, the University of Chicago, and the

Ohio State University found that the mass extinction, known as the

Hangenberg event,

produced a “natural

experiment” in the

fossil record with

results that mirror

modern observations

about predator-prey

relationships.

“The effects of

predation not only

cause individual species

to either adapt or go

extinct, predation can

also cause entire groups

of organisms to either adapt or go extinct. Also, when mass extinction

greatly affects either predator or

prey groups, we see a corresponding

impact in the other group,” said

study coauthor Thomas Kammer,

Eberly College Centennial Professor

of Geology.

The Devonian Period was a time of astonishing diversity for

marine vertebrate species. That thriving world was devastated by the

Hangenberg event, a mass extinction of unknown origin 360 million

years ago that set the stage for modern biodiversity. The next 15

million years in the fossil record are dominated by crinoids, a surviving

species similar to modern sea lilies and related to starfish.

“We’ve been puzzled for many years as to why there were so many

species and specimens of crinoids,” Kammer said. “There had to be

some underlying evolutionary and ecological reason for that.”

Datasets revealed that as fish populations thrived in the Devonian

Period, crinoid diversity and abundance remained low. However,

after the Hangenberg event devastated fish species, crinoids thrived,

diversified, and multiplied.

As fish species recovered to previous levels, crinoid populations

declined. Fossils suggest that the long period of dominance left the

crinoids especially vulnerable to a new predator. The hard armored

shells they had developed to defend against fish with sharp “shearing”

An artist’s rendering of a shallow marine ecosystem during the early Carboniferous Period. Crinoids include the camerates Dizygocrinus (under attack, bottom center, left) and the spiny Dorycrinus (bottom center, right), and the cladids Decadocrinus (bottom left) and Abrotocrinus (bottom right). Fishes include the cochliodont Deltoptychius (bottom center), the petalodont Janassa (left of center), the chondrenchelyiform Chondrenchelys (far left), and the actinopterygian Amphicentrum (upper right).

Learn about the Devonian Period.

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/devonian/

“We’ve been puzzled for many years as to why there were so many species and specimens of crinoids,” Kammer said. “There had to be some underlying evolutionary and ecological reason for that.”

Thomas Kammer, PhD

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eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 3

Around the College

Bullying Goes DigitalIn the online universe, freedom of

speech operates on a largely anonymous,

round-the-clock forum that can be relatively

consequence free. Researchers at West Virginia

University are examining what happens

when someone uses that forum as a digital

schoolyard in which to bully college students.

William Fremouw, a psychology professor,

and graduate student Allison Schenk

conducted the third survey in the world (so

far) about college students who are bullied by

someone via technology.

They presented their findings last March

at the American Psychology and Law Society’s

international conference in Miami, Florida.

Cyberbullying is repeated and intentional

bullying using mediums of technology, such

as the Internet and cell phones. Schenk is

crafting her master’s thesis on cyberbullying’s

effect on college students. While experts say

that online aggression typically peaks in high

school, college students are increasingly finding

themselves victims of online harassment.

“When I began my thesis in fall 2009,

I was not able to locate any published

research about cyberbullying among college

students,” she said.

“As far as I have found, my thesis is the

first examining the psychological impact,

suicidal behaviors, and coping strategies of

cyberbullying victims in college.”

In 2010, high-profile cases of college

students committing suicide — including the

death of a Rutgers University student who

jumped off of New York’s George Washington

Bridge two days after his roommate secretly

broadcast him having a sexual encounter with

another man — have led to the issue evolving

from water cooler conversation to a legislative

platform.

Schenk conducted an online survey to

examine whether undergraduate students

at WVU had ever considered themselves

victims of cyberbullying, and she received 799

responses. More than half of the respondents

— 572 — were females. The other 227

If you or someone you know is experiencing cyberbullying, there are resources available to you.

Anti-Defamation Leaguehttp://www.adl.org/education/cyberbullying

Provides information on in-school workshops and tips for responding to cyberbullying.

Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Usewww.csriu.org

Provides effective strategies to assist young people in developing the skills to behave in a safe, responsible, and legal manner when using the Internet.

Cyberbullying Research Centercyberbullying.us

Explores the causes and consequences of online harassment; includes fact sheets and resources.

Cybersmart!cybersmart.org/profile

Provides online professional development and free curricular resources on cyber safety, Internet ethics, creativity, and critical thinking.

Stop Cyberbullyingstopcyberbullying.org

Provides definitions, strategies, and legal considerations related to cyberbullying.

responses were from males.

Of the responses, 69 said they had

experienced cyberbullying at WVU and

had been the victim of at least one form

of cyberbullying four or more times. They

expressed higher occurrences of depression,

anxiety, and paranoia than the control group.

Of the survey respondents who had been

cyberbullied, four had attempted suicide.

Males and females tended to cope with

being cyberbullied in similar ways. Both males

and females told someone, avoided friends,

got revenge, and/or stopped going to events

and activities.

In addition females avoided the Internet

and cell phones. Males in the survey drank

alcohol and used illegal drugs as a coping

mechanism.

Schenk’s research will next explore the

perpetrators of cyberbullying, as well as the

people in their lives. Parents, peers, and

partners of those who cyberbully, she said,

will give some insight to their destructive

and dangerous behavior. She is looking for

differences in personality styles, criminal

behaviors, criminal thinking styles, alcohol

and drug use, psychological symptoms, and

suicidal behaviors. With this information, she

hopes to find ways to prevent cyberbullying

by understanding what causes bullies to start

hurting others.

Resources

4 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

One hundred and fifty years ago, the first

land battle of the Civil War was fought in

Philippi, West Virginia, then a part of Virginia.

Today, the Mountain State is

commemorating its origins, and a West Virginia

University professor is on the commission that

promotes awareness of the war’s anniversary and

marks the state’s unique role in the conflict.

Aaron Sheehan-Dean, the Eberly Family

Professor of Civil War Studies, is one of four

new members named to the West Virginia

Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission in

the spring. He serves as an academic historian

within the 13-member group.

“This anniversary is a great opportunity for

the state of West Virginia,” Sheehan-Dean said.

“As the only state to be created out of the Civil

War, and having been right in the middle of the

conflict, its history is very rich. This is a great

opportunity to draw in visitors to the state.”

Formed in 2009, the commission is made

up of representatives from the Legislature, key

state agencies, historians, and scholars.

It is helping various organizations and

groups around the state organize and coordinate

events, ranging from programs for grade school

children to events for the general public.

Throughout 2011, West Virginia

organizations are hosting battlefield tours,

lectures, and Civil War reenactments.

“My hopes for the commission are

educational in the broadest sense. I hope that

people from all different backgrounds get the

opportunity to learn about and discuss the Civil

War,” Sheehan-Dean said.

Sheehan-Dean is teaching a course this fall

that examines the Civil War and Reconstruction

era. He has published five books on the Civil

War, including Why Confederates Fought: Family

and Nation in Civil War Virginia. His most

recent book, Concise Historical Atlas of the US

Civil War, includes data maps and covers key

political and social changes before and after the

war years.

Professor Appointed to West Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission

Department of History Digs Into the Civil War

In 2008, the Department of History entered into an internship partnership with National Civil War sites at Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia.

In 2009, graduate students in the Department created podcast walking tours for Civil War sites in Shepherdstown and Morgantown, West Virginia.

Kati Singel (MA, 2010) has worked on the “Civil War to Civil Rights” mapping project since 2007. She oversaw the creation of the National Park Service Sesquicentennial website.

http://www.nps.gov/civilwar150/

A Whole New WorldThe term “foreign languages” does not

fully reflect all that the Department of Foreign

Languages at West Virginia University has to offer.

Because of this, the department decided

to make a change and has now more fittingly

become the Department of World Languages,

Literatures and Linguistics.

“The former name lacked inclusivity. We

have offerings such as linguistics, the Intensive

English Program, the Teaching English as a

Second Language minor, and the Teaching

English to Speakers of Other Languages

graduate concentration,” said Ángel Tuninetti,

chair of the Department.

“We needed to make the name more

modern and inclusive enough to represent all

we have to offer.”

The name change became official

September 9, and was approved by the WVU

Board of Governors after a months-long

process that started with a discussion within

the Department’s faculty as to whether the

change was necessary.

“The selection process wasn’t easy, and

it wasn’t perfect, but this new name is the

best we could do to cover the diversity of our

department,” Tuninetti said.

This new name, he added, also is more

compliant with the state Department of

Education, which lists language initiatives

under “World Languages.”

This is just one more in a series of

initiatives within the Department as it

strives to continue enlarging students’

understanding of, and appreciation for,

other countries. In addition to expanding

its teaching corps, in the past four years the

Department has grown to include a Chinese

studies major, a Japanese studies minor, an

Italian studies major, Arabic and Portuguese

language offerings, and new study abroad

opportunities.

For more information, contact Ángel

Tuninetti, chair of the Department of World

Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, at

angel.tuninetti@mail.wvu.edu.

Aaron Sheehan-Dean, PhD

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 5

Americans have predefined images of

Africa. Socially prescribed stereotypes

project a distorted and simplified idea of what

we have come to know, not as individual

countries, but as the “dark continent.”

Many of us envision Africa as a hot,

desolate jungle riddled with famine, war,

disease, misery, and poverty. We think

of a strange world beyond our realm of

understanding, a place unrelated and

incomparable to our own. We draw

divisions between “us” and “them,” and

often fail to recognize our existent and

overwhelming similarities.

In my time in Africa over a period of seven

months in seven countries, I saw relationships

established between white tourists and black

locals. Many tourists only travel and converse

with other tourists and fail to learn from, or

immerse themselves in, the culture.

This boundary often extends beyond skin

color and carries into economic class as well.

Whites in Africa, whether they are residents

or tourists, tend to be wealthy. Tourists are

almost universally white. Blacks tend to be

less traveled and poorer in Africa. Whether

it is the intention of many tourists to abstain

from cultural immersion, local blacks often

interpret their actions as intentional and racially

motivated. This reinforces ideas of separation

based upon skin color. The lack of interaction

between whites and blacks perpetuates ideas of

difference, strangeness, and “otherness”—ideas

we need to move away from in our globalized,

interconnected society.

The concept of the “other” stems from the

colonial era and attempts to maintain a degree

of intellectual control between “whites” and

“blacks,” and to instill a sense of inferiority

among “blacks.” Many Africans believe this

continues to dominate the framework of

thought for white tourists because of the way

many tend to travel. Damage from a great deal

of tourism continues to affect race relations

and project a distorted image not only of

Africa, but also of the intentions of the average

white tourist. The typical local African sees the

typical white tourist traveling with other white

tourists, staying in accommodations owned

by white Africans or other white, foreign

investors, and leaving without ever having any

meaningful interaction with locals.

Before traveling, we must think of the way

we travel, and how our actions can potentially

benefit or harm the country and culture we are

visiting. Many locals informed me that seeing

concentrated pockets of wealth among white

residents and tourists in Africa also reinforces a

sense of inferiority among blacks, yet another

product of colonization. What tourists need

to consider is how actions are interpreted

in whatever setting they are in, where their

money is going, and who is benefiting from

that investment.

This is important for race relations, as well

as learning to think in a global, unified way

in our modern world. From my experiences

in southern and eastern Africa as a student,

tourist, and volunteer, it became clear that

there isn’t often a positive or beneficial

exchange between tourists and locals.

I witnessed the negative cultural effect of

tourism on several occasions. In the Moremi

Game Reserve in Botswana, I stood with my

back bent against the African sun alongside

Botswana University students as we worked on

by Abra Sitler

Understanding ‘Oneness’: The Importance of Mutual Exchange in Tourism

Abra Sitler and her friend, local artist Prosper Jones, stand in front of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Sitler is a senior at WVU majoring in english and biology. After she graduates in May 2012, she plans to join the Peace Corps. Sitler is from Bramwell, West Virginia.

6 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

Understanding ‘Oneness’: The Importance of Mutual Exchange in Tourism

a wildlife conservation trip. Our chatter was

drowned out every few minutes by the roar of

jet engines as we watched flocks of European

and North American tourists descend to a

smooth landing in private jets.

Tourists experienced Africa from the

comfort of air-conditioned chalets, enjoyed

fine wines and exotic meats, and saw only

a handful of its wonders from safari game

drives. They departed without mingling with

or learning from locals, or gaining any true

sense of the culture in Botswana. Their trips

were documented with pictures of animals as

opposed to people, and many left without ever

having a single interaction with locals beyond

the purchase of cheap crafts.

Whether it was among coral sand

beaches in Zanzibar, Tanzania or in the mists

of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, I repeatedly

observed this separation. My artist friend

Prosper Jones was one such local who, prior

to our meeting, had never had a conversation

beyond the scope of financial transactions

with a tourist.

Growing up in a small village in

Zimbabwe, Prosper Jones is one of the

thousands who attempt to earn a meager

income to feed themselves and their families

by selling handmade crafts to tourists. He

approached me with pleading eyes and hands

full of carved wooden animals. However, we

transcended this established economic and

racial barrier, and learned to understand one

another. After conversing for several hours, I

asked him whether he felt tourism helped the

area. He began by telling me how he and

other locals felt trapped by their inability

to advance from their present economic

and educational state, and the often racial

separation that carried into the division

between tourists and locals.

He took me to his village for several

days to experience a microcosm of how the

tourism industry has affected many locals at

popular destinations. The village’s source of

economic revenue was based entirely upon

tourism and the sale of crafts, foods, and other

small goods. There was no diversification

in the community’s economy despite its

instability, as tourism is an often unreliable

and unpredictable industry.

Employment and educational

opportunities were extremely limited, and

all involved serving or appealing to tourists.

In nearly every instance I observed, tourism

seems to have done more harm than good

throughout southern and eastern Africa,

and little of the economic revenue is being

circulated throughout local economies.

The aspects of tourism that generate the

most revenue, safari companies and tourist

lodges, are almost uniformly owned by white

South Africans or foreign investors. Most of

the money from tourism is not alleviating

poverty in the area, but aggravating it.

Locals are left to sell cheap crafts in overly

competitive and crowded markets, and

appear to gain little or nothing from tourism.

Economies are often not diversified, so

opportunities outside of tourism in many

places are few and far between. Some of these

artists grow up earning the same unreliable

income as their parents, and earning it in the

same ways. Communities are crippled by

tourism, which, according to some scholars, is

becoming the world’s largest industry.

Studying abroad in Africa allows an

individual to more easily transcend these

barriers. Most of the foreigners who come

to Africa come as volunteers or tourists,

establishing a very “give and take” relationship.

Coming as a student changes the dynamic

entirely, and is an important step in the right

direction toward “oneness” and unification.

It no longer puts Westerners in the light

of tourists, but as people, and provides

more opportunity for cross-cultural

connections to be made, and for us to

understand one another.

Cross-cultural connection and an

exchange of information, ideas, and

understanding are vital for tourism to

be balanced and fair. Visiting a country

and leaving without experiencing the

culture and making connections with its

people compromises the tourists’ learning

experience and is a form of unbalanced

taking, and thus exploitation.

It is important for us to critically examine

the tourism industry and see how it affects

not only individuals visiting the area, but

the locals as well. It is vital to understand the

interconnection between all of our actions.

An acknowledgment of our “oneness” as well

as an understanding of our interconnection

are essential and can help us overcome the

“tourist” and “local” barriers to make social

and cultural progress.

It is important to remember that we no

longer rely only upon our own country for

support, education, resources, growth, and

development, but upon other nations around

the world. We live in an interconnected, inter-

dependent society, and our abilities to exist are

contingent upon international cooperation.

Despite a growing acknowledgment of this

interdependency, we continue to create spheres

of difference, speaking of the world in terms

of “Western” and the “non-Western,” the

“developing” and the “developed,” and “first

world,” and “third world.”

We are human, and fundamentally the

same with remarkably similar ideas, motives,

hopes, dreams, and desires. To move

forward as a global society, we must learn to

break down these barriers, to decolonize our

minds, and to think of humanity in terms

of our “oneness.”

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 7

was unclear whether the Soviets had erred or

lied. In the early 1990s when I was the US

Ambassador to Kazakhstan, a huge former

Soviet republic in Central Asia, its leaders

quietly approached us about a cache of leftover

Soviet highly enriched uranium (HEU).

With US support Kazakhstan was already

dispatching its remaining Soviet nuclear

weapons to Russia, and it asked for help from

the United States in disposing of the uranium.

Iranians had visited the factory where it

was stored but we were unsure whether they

knew of the 600 kilograms of HEU, enough

for dozens of nuclear weapons. Washington

could take no chances. A senior Russian

nuclear official was asked about interest in

the uranium, but denied it existed. Later a

Kremlin leader seemed better informed but,

surprisingly, told Washington that Russia did

not want it.

A secret effort was then launched to pack

and ship the uranium to America. After

a month of careful preparation by 40 US

experts sequestered in Kazakhstan near the

Chinese border, the uranium was loaded

Take my diploma before they seize it,”

a woman pleaded with me on a frigid

evening long ago in front of Moscow’s main

synagogue. “When I get out I must be able

to prove I’m a doctor.” As a diplomat I was

legally bound to refuse, but her plight seemed

real. The secret police, or KGB, threatened

to confiscate and annul university degrees of

Jews who sought to emigrate. Fortunately our

embassy’s experienced human rights officer

was nearby and said, “Not to worry, she’s

KGB and spies on refuseniks,” or Jews refused

permission to emigrate.

In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

(USSR) little was as it seemed. In 1939, then-

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

said it best: Russia is “a riddle, wrapped in

a mystery, inside an enigma.” He was right.

As a career foreign service officer in the US

Department of State, I saw this in many

years of dealing with the Soviet Union and its

successor states.

In the early 1980s, as the politico-military

officer at the US embassy in Moscow, I often

had to brief Western journalists to correct

false claims by the Kremlin of its restraint in

deploying new SS-20 missiles aimed at Europe

and Japan. The Kremlin wrongly thought

misleading propaganda would weaken the

resolve of America’s allies. Of course, I had

to be anonymous and so was quoted as a

“Western diplomat in Moscow.”

As a student at WVU in the mid-1960s,

I had no idea that a diplomatic career would

take me to Moscow and other places around

the world, much less that my experience

in Morgantown would shape it in three

important ways.

I couldn’t have predicted that I would be

working with Soviet diplomats. At times it

by William Courtney

From WVU to the Cold War and Its Aftermath

William Courtney, PhD

“ onto four large Air

Force C-5 cargo aircraft

and flown nonstop

halfway around the

world to a base in

Delaware. After it

had been transported

to a facility in Oak

Ridge, Tennessee, the

Secretaries of State,

Energy, and Defense

jointly announced the

success. Project Sapphire

became the largest known post-Cold War

clandestine nuclear recovery operation.

As a WVU student struggling to find his

ambition, I initially studied science. This paid

dividends when later I devoted much of my

career to security issues.

In 1975, while I was serving at the US

embassy in Brasilia, then-West Germany

and Brazil announced a sale of dangerous

technologies: plutonium reprocessing and

uranium enrichment. Overnight this became

the dominant issue in United States-Brazilian

relations. Although I was a junior officer, my

science background helped me become the

embassy’s action officer for this hot issue.

Another prominent issue is always human

rights. As Brazilians wearied of military rule,

the United States spoke out publicly about

abuses. Ambassador John Crimmins wisely

foresaw that undermining the legitimacy of

military rule would build leverage on the

nuclear issue. In the 1980s, Brazil returned

to democracy and its new leaders ended the

secret military nuclear program. I learned

8 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

a lesson about the value for diplomacy of

multiple sources of leverage.

My Brazilian experience led me to a

broader interest in politico-military affairs,

stimulated by a fellowship year at the Council

on Foreign Relations in New York. At the

Department in the late 1970s, I labored with

mid-level colleagues at the White House

and the Department of Defense to develop

policy options for expanding the US military

presence in the Persian Gulf. Washington was

uneasy about the escalating instability in Iran

and how Moscow might exploit it.

The plans we developed turned out to

be too little, too late. In November 1979, the

new revolutionary government in Tehran took

dozens of US diplomats hostage. Washington

responded by greatly augmenting US military

forces in the region. I learned a lesson about

how diplomats and soldiers could make

plans, but had to be ready to adapt quickly to

unexpected developments.

Political revolutions could also be

advantageous. Prior to the arrival of a reformist

Soviet leader in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev,

America had concluded several nuclear arms

accords with the Soviet Union but none

had done much to constrain weaponry.

At a 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland,

President Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev

endorsed a 50-percent cut in strategic

nuclear weapons, which are those mounted

on long-range launchers.

A friend who respected my expertise

asked if I thought such a cut could actually

be achieved. Judging by past Soviet behavior

I said no – and could not have been more

wrong. Over the next several years Gorbachev

brought about a dramatic political opening

in the USSR, making possible sharp military

cuts and later the collapse of communist rule.

I learned to be more circumspect in making

predictions about politics and diplomacy.

A lasting WVU benefit for me was

changing from a science major to economics.

An indulgence in student politics forced me to

regain my academic footing. My money and

banking professor, Betty Fishman, inspired me

to pursue graduate studies. I went on to earn

a PhD in economics at Brown University and

then chose a career involving my two passions,

economics and politics.

In the early 1970s during my first

Foreign Service tour, an Arab oil embargo

levied in response to US support for Israel

in the 1973 Yom Kippur war sparked higher

prices and temporary rationing and gasoline

lines. Other minerals producers decided to

emulate the oil exporters.

The leftist prime minister of Jamaica,

the source of bauxite for three-fifths of

US aluminum production, demanded an

eight-fold increase in taxes and royalties. The

White House wanted action. My superior,

Ambassador Tom Enders, however, made

a convincing case for patience and letting

market forces work. Over time they would

deny customers and investment resources to

producers seeking uncompetitive economic

rents. He showed how personal political

courage and a strong knowledge of economics

could benefit US diplomacy.

In the early and mid-1990s in Kazakhstan

and later Georgia, our embassies gave strong

diplomatic support to US companies seeking

to develop huge energy reserves in the Caspian

Sea region and export the energy to world

markets. The Soviet collapse had opened the

way for international investment, especially

in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Many of

the reserves were challenging to exploit

and required Western technology. A key

problem was Russian and Kazakhstani official

corruption and the Russian monopoly over

pipelines for energy exports to world markets.

For several years US leaders engaged

Russian leaders at the highest levels, but

to no avail. Then in March 1996 Georgia

and Azerbaijan agreed to build a pipeline

from Baku, on the Caspian Sea, to a

Georgian port on the Black Sea. This would

be the first energy pipeline to bypass the

Russian monopoly. Within weeks past

mendacious pipeline proposals collapsed

and a financially sustainable arrangement

was reached for a new and larger oil pipeline

through Russia to the Black Sea. Again I

learned how economic competition and

good diplomacy tend to go hand in hand.

WVU’s third influence on my life came

via my fraternity brother and 1964-65

president of the student body, the late US

Circuit Court Judge A. Blane Michael. I

was awed by his grace and good humor with

everyone during campaign events.

Treating others fairly and honorably

is a must in diplomacy. One should not

let political differences diminish personal

relationships. In 1986 Secretary of State

George Shultz and Secretary of Defense

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 9

Casper Weinberger voiced opposing views on

how to combat terrorism. After Abu Nidal

attacks at airports in Rome and Vienna, Shultz

publicly urged that America “fight back.”

Weinberger doubted this would “discourage

and diminish terrorism in the future.”

Shultz persisted but treated everyone with

respect, one reason he was a successful

Secretary of State.

During the late 1980s in Geneva talks, the

Soviets vigorously condemned a US plan to

develop nonnuclear defenses against Soviet

nuclear ballistic missiles. They claimed the

“strategic defense initiative” violated the

1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Our

diplomats contended, accurately, that new

nonnuclear technologies were at the time

far from posing a challenge to treaty limits.

Arguments sometimes became heated. Once

or twice I may have failed to heed Shultz’s

good example. I learned that emotions can

undermine diplomacy.

Student politics prepared me in another

way for diplomacy: the need to persuade

rather than compel. Diplomats spend

a lot of time organizing international

coalitions. We often did so to marshal

parallel diplomatic maneuvers and draw

public attention to the killing and maiming

of human rights activists and independent

journalists. Today Belarus is a case in point.

Diplomats are organizing international

pressure on President Viktor Lukashenko,

who has jailed election opponents and

ordered beatings of peaceful demonstrators.

When I entered the Foreign Service in

1972, only a tenth of America’s economy

involved foreign trade; today the percentage

is more than twice as high. US-owned assets

abroad have increased as a share of the gross

domestic product even more rapidly, and

praiseworthy overseas work by US charities

and other non-governmental organizations

has grown even faster.

Current and future WVU students will

live in a much more globalized world than my

generation and enjoy far more international

opportunities. Students should follow their

passions and, if they are interested, pursue

those international opportunities. Since

many of them cannot be foreseen until

sometime in the future, a broad liberal

education is the best preparation.

William Courtney lives in Washington,

D.C., and is director of strategy and

development at Computer Sciences

Corporation in Falls Church, Virginia,

where he assists with business and related

public policy strategies. He retired from

the Foreign Service in 1999, after having

served abroad in Brasilia, Moscow, Geneva,

Almaty, and Tbilisi, and in Washington at

the Department of State and the National

Security Council in the White House.

Courtney is a member of the Council on

Foreign Relations, the American Academy

of Diplomacy, and the board of directors of

the World Affairs Council of Washington,

D.C. His commentaries have appeared

in The International Herald Tribune,

Washington Post, Boston Globe, and

Moscow Times. He is pleased to talk with

students interested in a Foreign Service career,

email courtneywmh@gmail.com.

Stay ConnectedEberly College News & Notes

Your life, your story, in your words. Catch up on what former students are doing and take the opportunity to share your own story.www.eberly.wvu.edu/alumni

10 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

by Ashley Wells

phot

os c

ourt

esy

of A

tlant

is P

rogr

am

Forty-eight explorers will embark on the adventure of a lifetime — a

fully funded quest for knowledge called Atlantis that begins with a year

at West Virginia University before the voyagers jet off to study at two

European universities. Their pursuit? Not to find the fabled underwater

city, but to participate in the Transatlantic MA Program in East-Central

European Studies, or the Atlantis Program, for short.

The Atlantis Program is a dual

enrollment initiative whose participants

receive both a master’s degree in history

from WVU and either a master’s in social

sciences from the University of Tartu

in Estonia or a master’s in international

relations from Collegium Civitas in Warsaw,

Poland. Students spend at least one full

semester in each of the three locations.

Robert Blobaum, the Eberly Family

Distinguished Professor of History at

WVU and US director of the Atlantis

Program, has a long-standing professional

relationship with colleagues at Collegium

Civitas in Warsaw, Poland. Four years ago,

those colleagues were looking for universities

with whom they could partner and apply

for an Atlantis grant — a grant sponsored

by both the Fund for the Improvement for

Postsecondary Education and the European

Commission’s Directorate for Education

and Culture.

WVU had ties with the University of

Tartu in Estonia through the Department

of Political Science, and that university

joined to finish off the group. Faculty from

the three universities received an Atlantis

grant in 2009. To date, 29 students have

either graduated from the program or are

currently enrolled.

Max Reinke, who plans to complete

the program in December, stumbled across

the opportunity by chance, when his father

picked up a copy of the Daily Athenaeum

that contained an article about it. At the

time, he was enrolled in his last semester of

undergraduate study on track to graduate

with a degree in geography and Spanish.

Reinke chose to enroll in the

international relations program at Collegium

Civitas in Poland for his second degree.

“This program has not only advanced

my career goals, but has shaped them,”

he said. “I knew that I wanted to do

something with international relations.

But it’s such a broad and competitive

discipline; I didn’t really have any sort

of focus within it. I had never really

considered Central/Eastern Europe or the

former USSR being of much interest to me,

but after spending a year there I find that

whole region to be utterly fascinating.”

Reinke completed an internship

with the Permanent Secretariat of the

Community of Democracies.

The Community of Democracies is a

global coalition of democratic countries

that aims to promote democratic rules

and strengthen democratic norms and

institutions around the world. Reinke

interacted with ambassadors and

scholars, and was able to further narrow

his career focus within the field of

international relations.

Atlantisd i s c o v e r i n g

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 11

M A J A I S A K I E W I C Z

Currently enrolled as a visiting student at the University of Tartu. Has studied in the master’s program in history at West Virginia University and the master’s program in international relations at Collegium Civitas. Maja received her bachelor’s degree in international relations in January 2010 and a bachelor’s degree in international relations – Eurasian studies in July 2010 (both at Collegium Civitas). In fall 2009, she studied at the University of Limerick (Ireland) as an Erasmus exchange student. Maja is particularly interested in the Far East and South Asia. She believes that Central and East European states have an important role to play in Europe-Asia relations.

Read Maja’s Blog:http://bit.ly/pbm3yC

Like Reinke, the opportunity to

enhance knowledge of international

relations also drew Maja Isakiewicz to the

Atlantis Program. A Collegium Civitas

student, she spent the 2010-2011 academic

year studying in Morgantown. Atlantis’

unique dual degree system—complementary

degrees from different disciplines—stood

out. The opportunity to live and study for a

year in the United States was an added bonus

to Isakiewicz, who grew up in the decade

following the fall of communism and the

subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union.

“In communist Poland, people longed

for blue jeans, Hollywood films, music

records—all things with a cultural label

‘made in America.’ I grew up in the 1990s,

when our newly freed society was infatuated

with the abundance of Western goods

that suddenly became easily accessible,”

Isakiewicz said.

“What was ‘Western’ was often

synonymous with the US, so one could say

I inherited a certain attraction to the United

States by the very fact that I belong to the

first generation of Poles who had free access

to those goods.”

Studying abroad as a graduate student,

Isakiewicz said, provides invaluable

networking opportunities for students

who are on their way to being experts in

their fields. Plus, the lower cost of living in

Central and Eastern Europe compared to

their Western European counterparts, and

the regional history and culture provide a

unique living experience in a rich learning

environment, she said.

Students not enrolled

in the Atlantis Program

also reap the benefits of the

international partnership

through the faculty exchange

component. So far, three

faculty members from the

University of Tartu and two

from Collegium Civitas have

spent time at WVU, speaking

to students and providing

public lectures.

Blobaum, the program’s director; Lisa

DiBartolomeo, coordinator of the Slavic

and East European Studies program and

teaching assistant professor of foreign

languages; William Trumbull, associate

professor of economics; and Katherine

Aaslestad, professor of history, have all

represented WVU faculty at the European

universities. Joshua Arthurs, assistant

professor of history, is lecturing at the

University of Tartu this fall.

The program’s students also have joined

the lecture circuit and attended prestigious

conferences abroad. Cassandra Garcia, a

native of Fairmont, West Virginia, was

asked to speak at the Project Directors

Conference, which is sponsored by the

higher education wing of the European

Commission. She was the only current

Atlantis student to give a presentation and

spoke to the same audience as the director-

general of education and culture for the

European Union and other high-ranking

officials within the organization.

“The success of any academic program

can be measured by the successes of its

students, and (Cassandra’s) invitation to

speak at such an important conference

highlights the caliber of students enrolled in

the Atlantis Program,” Blobaum said.

Another student who is already proving

the program’s worth is Jessica Slattery

Karich. She was invited to attend a seminar

called “The United States Meets Europe: A

Forum for Young Leaders.” She presented

research examining the accessibility of the

justice system in the United States versus

the European Union. The seminar gave

her the opportunity to hear ambassadors,

ministers, social activists, and scholars share

their knowledge.

The legacy of the program will live on

in the successes of its graduates, as well as in

future collaborations.

“It is likely that other exchange

opportunities for students will arise from

the current partnership, since faculty

members and representatives from the

international exchange offices at the three

universities are in such close contact,”

Blobaum said.

As for the 48 students who are lucky

enough to be accepted into the program, there

can be no doubt that it lives up to its promise

to be the academic adventure of a lifetime.

“The success of any academic program can be measured by the successes of its students ...”

- R O B E R T B L O B A U M

12 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 15

Estonia……boasts the 3,000-year-old crater of an iron meteorite that

influenced the religions and customs of the Baltic Sea region.

… is home to Tartu Jaani Church, a Gothic sanctuary dating back to

the 14th century. About 1,000 terracotta sculptures in the church are

unique in Europe.

… is small, both by area and population, but it has more than a hundred

historical parishes, each one with its own traditional clothing.

… is egalitarian – 51 percent of engineers and scientists are women

(European Union average being 29 percent).

… uses two different words for “bread.” For Estonians the word bread

stands for a dark rye bread. The food commonly referred to as bread in the

rest of the world has a separate word in Estonian – sai (white bread).

… has more spas per capita than anywhere else in the world – there

are more than 40 spas for 1.3 million people.

Source: Introduce Estonia

Poland…… is the the 9th largest country in Europe.

… dogs are often named Burek, which translates to “brownish-grey color.”

… residents marry the youngest of all the members of the European Union.

… boasts 17 Nobel prize winners, including four Peace Prizes and

five in Literature.

… has a tradition called Marzenna, where people weave straw dolls

and decorate them with ribbons. These represent the end of winter, and

the beginning of spring. When the snow starts to melt, they proclaim the

beginning of spring and chuck the Marzennas into the river or stream,

symbolically ‘killing’ the winter.

… restaurants do not put tomato sauce on pizza. The waiters

bring sauce to the table in a pitcher, and diners pour it on top. Sometimes

the sauce is just ketchup.

Source: Swift Passport Services

Did You Know?

M A X R E I N K E

Currently enrolled in the master’s program in history at West Virginia University and the master’s program in international relations at Collegium Civitas. Attended the University of Tartu as a visiting student in fall 2010.Max graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in geography and a minor in Spanish in December 2009. His study abroad experience includes a semester at Linköping University in Sweden, where his courses focused on European integration and Swedish language and culture.As an undergraduate student, he was involved in the work of the American Association of Geographers, the WVU Honors College Study Abroad Club, the WVU Geography Club, and WVU Students for Barack Obama. He also served as an intern for the National Geographic Educational Foundation.

Read Max’s Blog:http://bit.ly/qFOohs

phot

o by

Mar

k B

row

n

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 13

16 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

It all began with a presentation by one of the

fall 2010 class participants. Washington Gondi

came to West Virginia University from the tiny

village of Magwar, Kenya. Some of his relatives

had attended the University, and the people of his

village pooled their resources to provide him with

money for plane tickets and other necessities.

Gondi outlined the daily

life of his fellow villagers.

They have no plumbing,

electricity, or running water

in the village and live in a

community plagued by a staggeringly high

rate of HIV and AIDS. Gondi spoke about

his parents, who have been influential in

village life. His mother is part of a women’s

group called Tange’ Ne Giri. For these women,

being mindful of themselves means serving

the whole community. The women take in

orphaned children who have nowhere to go

and are not likely to be adopted.

Tange’ Ne Giri by Ashley Wells

Tange’ Ne Giri, a phrase meaning “to be mindful of yourself

and your well-being,” has taken on a special meaning for

graduate students in Doris Nicholas’ Social Work 621 class.

Men from the village often leave to search

for employment in cities and never return.

The Tange’ Ne Giri group tries to empower

women by starting micro-lending projects,

such as farming and raising dairy cows. From

the income this provides, the women were

able to start a health clinic for HIV and AIDS

testing and pay for school tuition for the

orphans they take in.

“It’s unfortunate what children have to

undergo at a young age, especially when

they have to deal with the loss of both

parents,” Gondi said.

“Some of the kids also have to live with the

stigma of their parents dying from HIV/AIDS, a

condition that doesn’t make their lives any easier.”

Gondi’s father was responsible for the

building of a school in the village. Villagers

relied on him to coordinate weddings, make

sure people attended church services, and form

committees to retrieve the bodies of relatives

who died away from home in the city.

Two years ago Gondi’s father died, leaving

behind a list of unfinished business goals for the

village that would enhance the villagers’ quality

of life. It was this list that fascinated Gondi’s

classmates and spurred them into action.

Each semester, students in 621 must

take up a community service project, either

individually or in groups. The fall 2010 group

of students, inspired by Gondi, decided to

work together to help the villagers of Magwar.

“I really want people to recognize that these students made a difference in the lives of people in a village halfway around the world in one semester…” —Doris Nicholas

Members of Tange’ Ne Giri, a women’s group in Magwar, Kenya, work in the fields.

photos courtesy of Doris Nicholas

14 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 17

“It was important that the village be

allowed to decide what they needed and

choose the goals of the project for themselves.

The goal of the social work class was to help

the village while still leaving as few ‘footprints’

as possible,” Nicholas said.

The class developed and executed the

project, focusing on raising money to buy a

cow. The type of cow they wanted to purchase

produces enough milk for the women of the

Tange’ Ne Giri group, with extra left over to sell.

The sale of milk and milk products provides

extra income for the women and orphans.

The students,

most of whom

work in places

outside of

Morgantown and

some of whom

travel quite a

distance to get

to class, hit the

pavement in their

communities to

raise the necessary

funds. They

approached their

church groups,

families, childrens’ schools, and other

community groups, taking donations to go

toward purchasing the cow.

Several area schools and organizations

allowed the class to give presentations.

Nicholas’ students brought in photos of the

Kenyan children in their school uniforms,

just like those of some of their West Virginia

counterparts. Local students were able to learn

about similarities between themselves and the

Kenyan children, despite the distance between

their classrooms. A pen pal program was

started to further link the classrooms.

“The entire social work class was involved

with the project, using the unique skills of each

student. One student made the PowerPoint

presentation child-friendly, for the classroom

presentations; another created a spreadsheet to

keep track of the money that had been raised

and all expenditures. Each student contributed

in a way that made best use of his or her

knowledge,” Nicholas said.

When all was said and done, the class

raised $1,600 more than expected. They were

able to purchase two cows for the village.

The group was later informed that one of the

cows was pregnant when it was purchased,

tripling the impact that the social work students

originally hoped to achieve. A private company,

where one of the students worked, donated a

public address system, which will announce

when public health officials are coming to the

village for screenings.

“I really want people to recognize that

these students made a difference in the lives

of people in a village halfway around the

world in one semester, and they sowed seeds

that will continue to grow,” Nicholas said.

“This is the kind of social work that I love—

grassroots organization.”

The project continues. A group of students

in the spring 2011 semester of the same course

decided to continue the partnership. Parents of

children at two Morgantown schools and one

school in Bruceton Mills continued the pen pal

program. At the Bruceton Mills school, a lesson

plan on difference was created to help students

broaden their world view.

Nicholas hopes that this will become a

long-term project and that the

social work students

can take on other

needs of the

village.

“I want this project to extend beyond my

tenure here,” said Nicholas, who plans to retire

next year. “This is a legacy I would love to see

continue beyond my time at WVU.”

The villagers are “overjoyed” by the

progress that has been made by the efforts of

the social work students, organizers said. They

are especially excited and appreciative of a pen

pal program. This initiative exposes children to

an international community that they would

not have known otherwise, a community that

Gondi said he feels fortunate to have met.

“The good in the people of West Virginia,

and the school, and

the opportunity the

school gave me of

traveling through every

county and meeting

people that I could

not have met in my

life —sharing their

experiences has been

important for me,”

Gondi said.

For Gondi,

this experience is

continuing the

work that his

father left behind and helping his mother

continue her work.

“Something I did not realize until I began in

social work was that my father and mother are

community organizers. I didn’t even know what

that meant before I started my studies,” he said.

“You take people for granted when they are

around. Now that my father is gone, I realize that I

should have told him how much he was worth.”

Gondi has wandered many country roads

here in West Virginia and in Kenya, and they

truly do all lead him home.

Kenya native Washington Gondi (front left) and social work professor Doris Nicholas, PhD (center), are joined by members of the Fall 2010 Social Work 621 class that raised funds for the village of Magwar.

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 15

18 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

ANCIENTWonder, Modern World

16 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 19

Opposite page: Mosaic from the ancient synagogue floor at Sepphoris.

Above left to right:

A Roman-era juglet found at the Religious Studies Program’s 2011 archaeological dig.

Marlenea Morgan at the 2011 dig site.

WVU freshmen Julia Zorn and Marlenea Morgan at the 2011 dig site.

Alexis Whitley holds the gold coin she found in 2010 at Bethsaida. About three-quarters of an inch in diameter, the coin carries the image of Antoninus Pius, the 15th Roman emperor, who reigned between A.D. 138 and 161.

Photo provided by Treasure Hunting

by Rebecca HerodPhotos provided by Marlenea Morgan and Aaron Gale, PhD

While there have been many milestones in Morgan’s college career, she counts the most recent as one of the most life-changing. She took her first flight in an airplane, not a domestic flight, but a flight to Israel to take part in the Religious Studies Program’s annual archaeological dig at Bethsaida.

Bethsaida translates to “House of the Fisherman.” It is a fishing village near the Sea of Galilee. Mentioned in the New Testament, it is associated with several of Jesus’ miracles. It was also the birthplace of the apostles Peter, Andrew, and Philip. The location of Bethsaida was discovered in 1987 by archaeologist Rami Arav, PhD, professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the departments of philosophy, religion, and history and director of the Consortium of the Bethsaida Excavations Project.

Beneath the Hellenistic-Roman village of Bethsaida is a much older Iron Age site. This city was fortified with a massive city wall and a gateway, one of the largest and best-preserved Iron Age gates in the region. In addition to the gate, numerous discoveries have been made at Bethsaida, in 2010, WVU student Alexis Whitley discovered a solid gold Roman coin — the only coin of its type discovered in Israel to date. This season, Arav and volunteers worked to uncover an earlier phase of the city’s gate as well as continue excavations on the Roman-era residential quarter.

Marlenea Morgan’s journey of discovery began with a ten-hour plane ride and a week of touring historical and religious sites.

“When we got off the plane, we went right to the tour guide and a full day of

hen Marlenea Morgan left Wilsondale in Wayne County, West Virginia, she had never seen fireworks or

the ocean. She had never been in a boat or learned to swim. She had never been to a zoo or left the confines of her small community. When she came to West Virginia University she brought a suitcase; no computer, no cell phone, no money, no car. She did not know a soul in Morgantown.

Today Morgan is on her way to graduating with a major in anthropology and religious studies and a minor in women’s studies. She learned to swim at 19, saw Fourth of July fireworks while riding in a row boat, visited the Pittsburgh Zoo, and has traveled to a number of states with friends she met during her time in Morgantown. When you speak with her you get the sense that everything in her life is a new experience, an adventure sometimes scary, like making friends in a new town, and sometimes sublime, like seeing the ocean for the first time on a recent trip to Florida.

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 17

20 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

pottery found during the dig were washed and separated by type: edges, handles, decorated, intact, etc. Then the students were taught how to determine a shard’s period, Hellenistic-Roman or Iron Age. In the evening they participated in lectures by the professors.

“I was amazed that Rami could just pick up a tiny piece of pottery and tell you what period it came from. I don’t think I could ever do that,” she said.

Then in the next breath she explains how to identify Roman pottery.

“I learned that Roman pottery frequently has ridges and that’s how you can tell. It’s also thinner than the Iron Age pottery,” she explained proudly.

touring. The first week was awesome, totally overwhelming. It was a sensory overload,” she said. “I think they planned it that way so we would sleep at night, and it worked because we were exhausted when we got to the church.”

Exhaustion gave way to excitement as they began the second phase of the two-week trip—the archaeological dig in the Roman-era residential quarter. Each morning the group of seven WVU students and three faculty rose at 4:30 a.m. to begin digging. They broke for breakfast and then finished digging at 12:30 p.m., when the desert sun reached temperatures in the low hundreds. Following lunch, the students took a pottery reading course. Pieces of

“I know it seems like a cliché, but if you aren’t trying new things and just jumping in, if you are always afraid, you are not living. Not really. You can wish something will happen, but wishing doesn’t get it done. You have to try; you have to work at it to make things happen for yourself.”—Marlenea Morgan

Marlenea Morgan stands in front of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation.

It’s those kinds of contradictions that make talking with Morgan such a wonderful experience. On the one hand, she is still cautious and unsure of herself, like when she relates the story of how she did not want to ride in a cable car up to Masada on the trip because she was worried it would fall, and on the other, she is ready to run full-tilt at the world and take it by storm.

“I really think the quote ‘there is nothing to fear but fear itself ’ is true,” she said.

“I know it seems like a cliché, but if you aren’t trying new things and just jumping in, if you are always afraid, you are not living. Not really. You can wish something will happen, but wishing

Waterfall near the Dan Forest.

18 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 21

The synagogue at Capernaum, the oldest ever discovered, dates to the second or third century.

doesn’t get it done. You have to try; you have to work at it to make things happen for yourself.”

“Most people where I am from don’t go to college,” said the first-generation student.“It’s just not done. Girls graduate from high school and marry their high school sweet hearts. I wanted to go to college and I always thought I couldn’t do it. Then I came here,” she said.

Morgan is a member of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. Participants are

from disadvantaged backgrounds and have demonstrated strong academic potential. Institutions work closely with participants as they complete their undergraduate requirements. Students are assigned a faculty mentor who supervises research and other activities. The goal is to increase the attainment of PhD degrees by students from under represented segments of society. William Arnett, professor emeritus of history, acted as Morgan’s mentor for her research on the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, father of King Tut.

“In 2010, when they discovered that King Tut was Akhenaten’s son through DNA testing, Dr. Arnett called me to tell me. He said I was the only person he knew who would be as excited about the discovery as he was. That was really cool,” she said.

All these discoveries bring the past closer to us. Surprisingly, Morgan said she did not notice many differences between ancient and modern societies.

“The group did discover a

skeleton during the dig, it was much closer to living quarters than we would find today, but other than that life is the same. We work, we eat, and we build homes for our families. We may have more technology now, but basic life is the same.”

Administrators and faculty can tell you about how transformational experiential learning can be, but talking with a student like Marlenea Morgan makes it real. Her growth and enthusiasm are obvious.

“The trip to Israel, in addition to being an archaeological dig, is also a cultural immersion. Students have the unique opportunity to explore the histories and practices of three major world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. At the end of the trip, for example, students visit important historical and religious sites in Jerusalem. They also interact directly with Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the marketplaces, restaurants, etc. Almost every student who has participated in this program said that it was life changing,” said Aaron Gale, coordinator of the Religious Studies Program.

This trip inspired Morgan to consider graduate school in the United Kingdom, in Wales.

“I’m very interested in women’s roles in ancient religions, particularly ancient Egypt. I found a faculty member in Wales who specializes in exactly that area,” she said.

On the way down the mountain at Masada, despite her nerves, Marlenea Morgan rode in the front of the cable car for a better look at the spectacular view.

“Almost every student that has participated in this study abroad program to Israel has said that it was life changing.” —Aaron Gale, Coordinator of the Religious Studies Program

Undergraduate Academic Enrichment ProgramMarlenea Morgan received funds from the Program for Religious Studies and the Academic Enrichment Program to support her travel to Israel.

The program provides undergraduate students enrolled in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences opportunities to participate in activities that complement, extend, and enhance their academic experiences at WVU. The program supports such activities as research projects, conference attendance, internships, study abroad, and public service work.

Since the inception of the Undergraduate Academic Enrichment Program in 1995, thousands of students have benefitted from opportunities that might not otherwise have been realized. Most students agree that their enrichment experience would not have been possible without the financial assistance the College offers through this unique program. In 2011, 350 awards totaling $70,000 were given.

If you would like to support the Undergraduate Academic Enrichment Fund, you may send a check in the enclosed envelope.

For more information, please contact Bonnie McBee Fisher at bonnie.fisher@mail.wvu.edu.

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 19

EASTMEETS

WEST VIRGINIA

20 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

EASTMEETS

WEST VIRGINIA

On any given night this summer, when most Morgantown residents were deep in their slumber, dozens of West Virginia University students were half a world away, well-entrenched in their days as scholars scattered across China.

At times the differences between the United States and China can seem as if much more than a body of water separates the two continents. WVU students—a number of whom are leaving the United States for the first time—step outside their comfort zone and travel to a country full of new sights, smells, customs, and different languages.

But more often than not, the two countries’ similarities and shared goals emerge as a common ground on which strong partnerships are being built. WVU students, faculty, and staff are on the forefront of these collaborations. Whether it is cutting-edge energy research or the exploration of the historic connections of Western ceramics to China, WVU is there and embracing the Chinese proverb, “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

by Devon Copeland

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 21

Hannah LinAssistant Professor of Chinese Studies

Chinese Studies: Chinese is spoken by

nearly one-fifth of the world’s population,

including more than one billion people

who speak Chinese as their native language.

Through the Chinese Studies Program

students are prepared for the opportunities

and challenges of the Greater China region,

and to better engage in the global socio-

political and economic arena. Learning

Chinese, Lin says, opens up a unique

window into one of the world’s most

ancient civilizations as well as the fastest

growing market.

The Department of World Languages,

Literatures and Linguistics started offering

Mandarin Chinese in fall 2006. In fall

2008, the Department added the Chinese

Studies major and minor to its programs.

The Chinese Studies program has an

interdisciplinary orientation. In addition

to Chinese language courses, including

Business Chinese and Chinese Media in

the advanced level, the program also offers

culture and literature courses to enrich the

students’ knowledge of Chinese civilization

and intellectual history. Students also can

take classes that are related to Chinese

studies from other fields such as history,

religion and a political science.

Students who take Chinese classes are

encouraged, with the support of generous

scholarships, to participate in the Chinese

study abroad programs, including the short-

term faculty-led programs in the summer

and the long-term semester exchange

programs in China and Taiwan. The

number of students majoring in Chinese

Studies has grown from three in 2008 to

almost fifty this year. Several graduates

from the program are currently working in

China and Taiwan.

Visit http://chinese.forlang.wvu.

edu/ to learn more about the Chinese

Studies program.

James P. Lewis Associate Professor of Physics

Hong WangResearch Professor of Physics

Nanotechnology Exploration: Through

the International Research Experience for

Students (IRES), WVU students have the

opportunity to conduct research in Jilin

University in China. The program, which is

funded by the National Science Foundation,

includes several research projects that are

related to nanomaterials.

The program started in the summer

of 2009 when professor Hong Wang took

thirteen WVU students—both undergraduate

and graduate—to Jilin University where they

spent eight weeks conducting research. This

past summer, eleven undergraduate students

participated in the program.

The goal of the IRES program is to

provide an opportunity for WVU students to

gain interdisciplinary research experience and

learn how to interact and adjust themselves

to different cultures. Students from WVU

face an increasingly global society, one where

it is crucial for professionals to be able to

perform and collaborate with international

stakeholders. The IRES program officials at

WVU are in the process of securing more

funding for the program. Contact James

P. Lewis, associate professor of Physics,

at james.lewis@mail.wvu.edu, for more

information about the program.

Michael ShiAssistant Professor of Chemistry

STEM Collaboration: Michael Shi,

assistant professor in the C. Eugene Bennett

Department of Chemistry, has established

a summer research program to send

undergraduate students in the science,

Hannah Lin, PhD James P. Lewis, PhD Hong Wang, PhD

22 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

technology, engineering, and math fields

(STEM) to China to conduct research.

Students work in the State Key Lab of

Supramolecular Chemistry and Materials

at Jilin University. The program enables

undergraduate students to experience and

adapt to research in a different culture. The

proposal was supported by the National

Science Foundation as part of Shi’s CAREER

Award. For more information, contact

Michael Shi, assistant professor of chemistry,

at Xiaoodng.shi@mail.wvu.edu.

Hong-Jian LaiProfessor of Math

Math Theories: Professor Lai has

established a number of collaborations

in China, exposing students from abroad

to the math program, which is growing

in prestige. The Department has worked

with professors at South China Normal

University since 1996, on algebraic graph

theory and matroid theory. Three of

SCNU’s top graduate students in graph

theory have come to WVU to pursue PhDs

since the partnership began. Graduate

students from a number of institutions in

China including South China University of

Technology, Jinan University, and Shandong

University have come to the University

to complete doctoral degrees. For more

information, contact Hong-Jian Lai at

hjlai@math.wvu.edu.

Tim CarrMarshall Miller Professor of Geology

Sequestration: One of West Virginia

University’s top geology researchers,

Carr has been active in studying carbon

sequestration and storage issues associated

with fossil fuels both in the United States

and in China. He is associated with the

US-China Energy Center based at WVU.

He has traveled to China numerous times

in the past year to discuss advances in

converting coal to transportation fuels

while capturing and storing CO2 emissions.

With support from the US Department of

Energy, WVU and the Shenhua Group in

China have been evaluating the economic

and environmental impacts of the direct

coal liquefaction technology.

While commercial coal-to-liquids

processes exist, these are known as

indirect coal liquefaction and require

breaking coal down into molecules

of carbon monoxide and hydrogen,

which are building blocks that are then

processed into diesel fuel. Direct coal

liquefaction processes attempt to bypass

the breakdown of the coal into such

small molecules to make liquid fuels

directly. Information gained by the

researchers will be shared with those in

the United States to help promote the

transfer of clean coal technologies.

Visit http://www.nrcce.wvu.edu/USCEC/

for more information about the US-China

Energy Center.

“With China’s tremendous economic growth and its emergent political power, the task of increasing the number of American students who can demonstrate a functional proficiency in Chinese and a general understanding of Chinese culture is undeniably urgent.”—Hannah Lin

Michael Shi, PhD Hong-Jian Lai, PhD Tim Carr, PhD

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 23

Did You Know? In the past five years (2005-2011), WVU’s China initiatives

involved six memorandums of understanding.

An average of 75 students per year have traveled

to China to expand their studies in language, culture,

nanotechnology, ceramics, painting, forestry, and business.

453 students have traveled to China since fall 2005.

That’s compared to 158 in the nine years previous to that.

In August, WVU signed on to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s

“100,000 Strong” initiative to send 100,000 American

students to China over four years.

This list is not intended to be inclusive of all the partnerships that WVU has cultivated in China.

24 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

WVU in China

Locations: Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an

College of Business and Economics

Locations: Jingdezhen, Nanjing

College of Creative Arts

Locations: Chengdu, Shouzou (Shanxi)

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design

Locations: Hangzhou, Jilin, Qingdao, Suzhou, Taipei (Taiwan)

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Location: Jilin (Changchun)

WV NANO

Location: Guangzhou, Jilin, Shanxi, Suzhou, Xuzhou

College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Location Interests: Wuhan

Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center

Location: Guangzhou

Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism

Location: Shanghai, Tianjin

College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 25

28 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

As told to Christine Schussler

Heather Hartley didn’t

exactly take a direct

route from Charleston, West

Virginia, to Paris, but you won’t

see her complaining. These days the

WVU alumna is known for many things,

namely her roles as professor, curator,

editor, and writer in the City of Light.

Illus

trat

ion

by G

raha

m C

urry

26 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 29

Heather Hartley

She has picked up a few souvenirs along her journey from English student to literary tour de force—a deep passion for the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, a hopeless case of wanderlust, an affinity for teaching in Nantes (a city on the West coast of France), a serious weakness for LU Pure Butter Biscuits, otherwise known as Le Petit Beurre, and her lasting gratitude to Drs. Valérie and Michael Lastinger at the University for helping her chart the first point in her adventure.

Eberly Magazine: How does a girl from Charleston, West Virginia, make her way to living in Paris?

Heather Hartley: During my senior year, the Lastingers—both of whom had been

inspiring professors throughout my undergraduate years—strongly encouraged

me to apply for a position in France as an assistante d’anglais, an English teaching

assistant. Although only having studied French for a minor, I applied for a position

in the winter of my senior year and a few weeks before graduation in May, I

received an offer as a teaching assistant at Lycée Carcouet, a high school in Nantes. I

accepted without hesitation, having no idea where Nantes was located on a map or

what it meant to teach in a high school, but I did know that it happened to be the

headquarters for the delectable butter biscuit, Le Petit Beurre. I was just delighted

to have a job—and not one down the street, but a job across the Atlantic Ocean.

In Baudelaire’s poem “L’Invitation au voyage (Invitation to the Voyage),” he

writes:… Think of the rapture / Of living together there! / Of loving at will, / Of

loving till death, / In the land that is like you! . . . / There all is order and beauty,

/ Luxury, peace, and pleasure” (translation by Roy Campbell, Poems of Baudelaire,

New York: Pantheon Books, 1952). Although moving to Nantes was not quite as

idyllic or dreamy as this, it was a fantastic opportunity for me to begin a career

in teaching, continue writing, and improve my language skills—especially the

imperative mode when working with high school students with expressions like

“Sit down!” “Listen!” or “Please pass me that croissant!”

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 27

30 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

EM: Have you ever thought of returning to the States or is there some sort of “pull” keeping you in Paris?

HH: Both. Having lived in Paris for nearly ten years, it is a second home to me. I feel

comfortable in the city and am fluent in the language—my pronunciation may not be

perfect, but I’m working on it. I return to the United States twice a year to visit family

and friends and more specifically to Charleston, West Virginia, where my family roots

run deeply. Here, of course, is my home—and more than this, here is my hometown.

When I return to Charleston, things that I miss when back in France come forth so

vividly: hot buttered corn on the cob, a fire in the fireplace at my mother’s home, the

smell of honeysuckle, bagels, brick buildings. A wonderful parallel between Paris and

Charleston is that both have rivers that serve to break and bridge the city at the same

time. In this way, there is a “pull” for me from both the Kanawha and the Seine rivers.

EM: What places have had the most “global influence” on you? How?

HH: Paris, Saint Petersburg in Russia, Naples in Italy and Charleston and Ravenswood,

West Virginia. I think that the poems in my first collection, Knock Knock (Carnegie

Mellon University Press 2010), explore these influences from different perspectives and

points of view. My poems and nonfiction essays are sometimes punctuated with words or

expressions from French, Italian or other languages—not to distance the reader, but rather

to draw them into the landscape or image being described by incorporating a foreign

word or phrase into the context of the writing. I think that my poems might better express

than I could in this interview how these particular places have influenced and inspired me.

EM: How did you deal with adversity/stereotyping, if you encountered any?

HH: It may sound clichéd, but living abroad you become a sort of diplomat for your home

country. I tend to disagree with former French President Charles de Gaulle when he said,

“Diplomats are useful only in fair weather: as soon as it rains they drown in every drop.” It

rains a lot in Paris and I find that both umbrellas and discussing current politics and issues to

be important ways to move communication forward—be it with other Americans, French

friends and colleagues, or someone of any nationality. It may be cloudy for a few days, but it

makes such a difference getting out there and being in the rain.

EM: What is your favorite French tradition/food/author/book/music/movie/place?

HH: My favorite food is éclair au café—it can illuminate even the greyest of Parisian

days. My favorite author is Charles Baudelaire, and I love the music of Eric Satie

and Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien,” because I don’t regret my decision

of having made France (and more specifically Paris) my second home,

although it does include some compromises. The best French movie

of all time for me is Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard. My favorite

place is the square Réné Viviani, next to Shakespeare and

Company Bookshop in the fifth district—it’s a

little public garden where the oldest tree of

the city still grows—a locust tree planted

in the early seventeenth century.

28 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 31

—At a poetry reading

Around the room, merry-go-round,you find Mr. Desmond, the tax collector

writing villanelles, his head a hurricaneof baldness, sucking on the stub of a cigarette.

Next to him, a convention of Barbie dolls in black Tencel pantsfollowed by scant PhDs scouting their own knot

with a nod to patrons, of course, dull in thick gold and polyester blends, older than Ganesh.

The shrine of the bar floats in the foggy distance, beatitude passes by on a bamboo tray

and smiling with salsa between my teeth, I persevere in my quest—

to search for the face that will reveal my fate in a wine glass, on a paper napkin, let slip between beer nuts

my being and nothingness, who will pull outfrom beneath me a rabbit, a rubber duck,

disclose the future in my fingertips and bra straps, who from behind my ear will pull out a silver ducat.

About Heather Hartley

Heather Hartley is the author of Knock Knock (Carnegie Mellon University Press 2010) and Paris editor for Tin House magazine. Her poems, essays and interviews have appeared in or on PBS Newshour, The Guardian, The Rumpus and other venues and anthologies including The World Within: Writers Talk . . . and Satellite Convulsions: Poems from Tin House. She lives in Paris, where she curates Shakespeare and Company Bookshop’s weekly reading series, and teaches creative writing and poetry at the American University of Paris. She graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Tau Delta from WVU in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in English with a French minor and women’s studies certificate. She received a master’s degree in French from Middlebury College in 1996.

The Karma Club

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 29

32 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences MagazinePoppies, 2011

30 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

“I come from a long line of people who can’t help but be artists...”

Where the Art

T he famed twentieth-century artist

Marc Chagall may have said that

“art picks up where nature ends,”

but Eberly alumna Annie Morris Simcoe

is building a career out of blurring the line

between the two.

In 2009, the Valencia, Pennsylvania,

native made the leap to full-time paper/mixed

media artist after spending years as a research

hydrologist at the West Virginia University

Hydrology Research Center.

At the center, Simcoe worked with

Department of Geology Professor Joseph

Donovan and other researchers on applied

water research problems in West Virginia and

the mid-Appalachian region, including water

availability, contamination, and development.

“I loved the energy of the University,

loved the students,” she said. “I loved

working with the graduate students and with

watershed associations. It was sort of cool

being the translator for all the groups.”

And it didn’t hurt that her job enabled

her to spend a considerable amount of

time outdoors, surrounded by the natural

beauty of the Appalachian Mountains as a

landscape.

Today Simcoe’s art, the creative process

she employs, and the materials she uses are all

organic and natural, much like her decision

to pursue her longtime dream of becoming

an artist. She may have successfully made

the transition from researcher to artist, but

Simcoe said the evidence is in her art that her

heart will always be in geology.

Take for instance her “Eddy Line”

collection. The completed pieces are a swirl of

rich, opulent tones of red, orange, yellow, teal,

and purple. The pieces are named for the

effect that occurs when leaves churn around

in the current created after water goes behind

a rock and spins in the reverse current.

“Geologists look at my work and say,

‘this was done by a geologist,’” she said

before laughing.

Like a number of artists, Simcoe’s

path took a winding route over some hills,

through some valleys — and changes in

By Devon Copeland Photos by Dan Friend

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 31

Artist Annie Simcoe makes paper out of plant materials such as cat tails, corn husks, iris leaves, rye grass, onions, and leeks.

To break down the cellulose in plant fibers, they are boiled in a caustic solution for several hours.

The fibers are beaten in a blender with a binder fiber called Abaca. Then they are poured into a large tub of water. A mold is dipped into the tub and a sheet of paper is lifted out.

The mold is turned upside down on a piece of felt. The sheet of paper sticks to the felt, and the mold is peeled away in a process called couching.

After several sheets have been couched, they are pressed to remove as much water as possible. Then they are then placed on sheets of plastic to dry.

Source: annabellepetuniahead.com

Annie Simcoe’s process

32 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

with the pieces of handmade paper hand

stitched together like a quilt. But her style

has since evolved from the traditional to

reflect more of her confidence as an artist.

Simcoe now uses a sewing machine and her

work now incorporates her paper designs

into quilts, creating non-traditional and

modern designs.

Her line has grown and she offers quilts,

jewelry, note cards, print reproductions of

her pieces, sculptures, lamps, and baskets,

and a clothing line is in the works.

As Simcoe’s style as an artist continues to

evolve and she introduces her collections to

more people, she hopes her soothing, earthy

work is a draw. Her style reflects her love

for the outdoors and Appalachia, and she

hopes that others can see the region’s natural

resources staring back at them.

“It basically conveys a basic emotion,”

she said. “It appeals to everyone, I hope.”

To visit Simcoe’s studio, learn more

about her papermaking gardens, and see

how she makes paper, call (301) 245-4585, or

email annie@annabellepetuniahead.com.

Her studio is open by appointment and groups

and children are welcome.

college majors — before bringing her to a

studio and farmhouse sitting on two acres in

Accident, Maryland, where she lives with her

husband Jeff and their dogs Elzie and Bo.

Two loves remained constant in Simcoe’s

life growing up — crafts and nature — but

she was still reticent to major in art when she

enrolled at WVU in 1996.

“I come from a long line of people who

can’t help but be artists,” she said. “My

parents were saying ‘take the classes you are

interested in and don’t worry about jobs.’”

“But despite my parents encouraging

me to be an art major I had it in my head

that I wouldn’t be able to get a job, which

is funny.”

After switching majors a couple of

times, Simcoe became a geology student,

a discipline where she instantly felt that

she belonged. She earned both a bachelor’s

degree and a master’s degree in geology in

2000 and 2002, respectively.

“I wanted to do environmental work,”

she said. “It got me in touch with a lot of

people who are more in line with what I am

interested in. I fit in.”

Similarly, Simcoe’s husband Jeff, who she

met in college, made a

commitment to pursuing

a “green collar” job. He

earned his bachelor’s

degree in environmental

and natural resource

economics and a master’s

degree in agriculture

and natural resource

economics from

WVU. Jeff Simcoe

is vice president of

environmental markets for GreenLight

Environmental, a start-up firm that focuses

on projects that reduce deforestation and

enhance forest preservation to create carbon

credits.

It’s no coincidence that the Simcoes

have opted for careers that look to sustain

the environment and recognize their global

responsibility.

When not working, the two are hiking,

exploring rivers, biking, and cross-country

skiing. When the weather permits, Annie

Simcoe works in her garden where she grows

produce for her home as well the materials

she uses to make paper, a nod to her goal

of creating art through a more sustainable

process. Simcoe’s paper-making supplies

read one part recipe, two parts greenhouse

offerings: onions, leeks, rye grass, cat tails, iris

leaves, lily leaves, hostas, and ramps.

She boils the plant fibers in a solution

of caustic soda to break down the cellulose

fibers before beating the fibers into a pulp.

Sheets of paper are hand-dipped from the

pulp, pressed, and dried. After the paper is

dry, Simcoe stitches them into patterns.

It has been 10 years since she was

introduced to the art of papermaking.

At the time, Simcoe said, she was firmly

hooked on pottery.

In her spare time in college, she found

herself in the Craft Center in the basement

of Braxton Tower on the Evansdale campus,

where she learned how to make pottery.

“I fell in love,” she said. “I made pottery,

I made pottery, I made pottery. If it’s

something that you are interested in, it’ll

reduce your stress,” she recalled.

In graduate school she spent

four hours a day, six days a week in

the Craft Center, making pottery.

While learning to make paper one

year for Christmas cards, she was

instantly attracted to papermaking,

its portability and its low cost.

“It was something I could do

at home,” she said. “I didn’t have

to have a wheel and kiln. It didn’t

need such a dedicated space.”

When Simcoe began seriously

considering pursuing art full time, she said

she weighed whether to turn to pottery as

an outlet. But she ultimately decided the

field was too crowded.

“One of the advantages of

papermaking is it’s not something a whole

lot of people do,” she said. “This allows

me to be sort of unique.”

Even so, Simcoe has made sure to put

her personal spin on papermaking. Early on,

Simcoe’s art reflected her affinity for quilts,

Eddy Line, 2011

“It was something I

could do at home,”

she said. “I didn’t

have to have a

wheel and kiln. It

didn’t need such a

dedicated space.”

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 33

36 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

With such topics as hate crimes,

urban neighborhoods and feudalism,

the works “showcase the diversity of

research in the department and the

enormous growth in book writing,”

Latimer said. “These topics are all over

the map but they’re connected. There’s

an inequality theme to all of them.”

The Division of Sociology and

Anthropology has traditionally pushed

its professors to publish articles in

academic journals. But the ways

in which WVU sociologists and

anthropologists present their research have

evolved. More professors are now taking

the book route, skipping the creative

limitations associated with writing for peer-

reviewed journals.

Bringing with him a wealth of real-

world experiences as a former police officer

in Wilmington, Delaware, and FBI unit

chief, Jim Nolan has taught a hate crime

course at WVU since the early-2000s.

The FBI defines a hate crime as a criminal

offense committed against a person,

property, or society that is motivated, in

whole or in part, by the offender’s bias

against a race, religion, disability, sexual

orientation, or ethnicity/national origin.

Nolan’s dedication to the topic led

him to co-author The Violence of Hate:

Confronting Racism, Anti-Semitism, and

Other Forms of Bigotry with Jack Levin,

a sociology professor at Northeastern

University. This book—along with The

Essential Hate Crime Reader, which Nolan

edited with sociology instructor Susie

Bennett—is required reading for his hate

crime classes.

“An important aspect to the book is

that it points out that the causes of hate

violence are not really the hatemongers

people who are ranting and raving about

the inferiority of, and danger presented by,

different minority groups,” said Nolan,

whose strides in the classroom earned him

the title of West Virginia’s 2010 Professor

of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation

for the Advancement of Teaching and the

Council for Advancement and Support

of Education. “It’s because the average

person won’t get involved to stop it. It’s

important for the average person to develop

an understanding of the true nature of

hate violence. Most of it occurs because of

misunderstanding.”

Rachael Woldoff, an associate professor,

also draws on her classroom experiences for

research projects. Her latest undertaking

involved three years of fieldwork and 90

interviews that culminated in White Flight/

Black Flight: The Dynamics of Racial Change

in an American Neighborhood, published

by Cornell University Press. In a capstone

Writing the BOOK

THE DIVISION OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY, tucked away a bit off the beaten path in Knapp Hall, can be easy to overlook in West Virginia University’s sea of 191 degree programs.

But a recent explosion of books by three professors, addressing a diverse mix of societal issues, as well as more works to come off the presses soon, signal this small department is ready to make a big noise.

Currently, the sociology department has only 13 faculty members required to do research. To have three of those professors with books out at the same time is quite a feat, said Melissa Latimer, outgoing chair of the Division and director of the WVU ADVANCE Center.

Jim Nolan, PhD

34 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 37

class, Woldoff was teaching students how

to utilize United States Census Bureau

data. Figures for one working-class urban

neighborhood, located in the northeast,

caught her eye. From 1990 to 2000, the

black population in that area skyrocketed

from 2.2 to 58.8 percent. Engaging her

sociological imagination, Woldoff ended up

driving to the neighborhood.

“I casually started talking to people

and thought I’d hear the typical narrative,

‘The whites here left and were afraid of the

blacks, crime and violence,’” Woldoff said.

“But that’s not what happened.”

Instead, Woldoff discovered that the

white residents live in harmony with the

black population. In her new book, she

highlights three types of residents: the white

stayers, the black pioneers and the second-

wave blacks.

The white stayers are mostly elderly,

Caucasian residents who never left the

neighborhood. The stayers compliment the

black residents for their acts of kindness,

which include shoveling snow for them,

Woldoff said.

The second group, the black pioneers,

consists of the African Americans who

first moved into the neighborhood. These

residents take an active approach seeking an

integrated, safe, and orderly environment

for their children.

Slight conflict arises, however, with the

addition of second-wave blacks, the most

recent migrants to the neighborhood. This

group is uninvolved and isolated from

the community, Woldoff said, and their

norms on child-rearing and the

maintenance of order clash with

those of the black pioneers.

Assistant Professor Josh

Woods also released a book

this year and has another one

coming out. Woods teamed up

with Vladimir Shlapentokh, a

sociology professor at Michigan

State University, to write Feudal

America: Elements of the Middle

Ages in Contemporary Society.

The idea for this book grew

out of Shlapentokh’s research

on post-Soviet Russian society.

From there, Woods and Shlapentokh

examined similarities between European

feudal societies of the Middle Ages and

contemporary America.

“Feudal America urges readers to

think critically about the naïve labels

that are often used to characterize the

United States,” Woods said, “labels such

as ‘democracy,’ ‘liberal capitalism,’ ‘free

markets,’ and ‘meritocracy,’

that are lavishly expressed

on INEQUALITYBy Jake StumpPhotos by M.G. Ellis

New &Notable

in social studies textbooks and the

speeches of American politicians.”

Woods, who came to WVU in 2009,

teaches courses on social psychology

and complex organizations. One of his

research interests includes the social and

psychological responses to terrorism and

other perceived threats, which led to his

work on yet another book. Freaking Out:

A Decade of Living with Terrorism, is slated

for release in January 2012.

That publication will examine how the

9/11 attacks changed American society,

from immigration policy shifts to the

Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Not only are the books padding

professors’ vitas, but the lessons outlined

within those pages are transferring to the

classroom and aiding in the development of

the Division of Sociology and Anthropology.

Rachael Woldoff, PhD Josh Woods, PhD

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 35

Mad scientist. The very phrase

conjures up the image of something

inaccessible, strange, and difficult to

understand. For some people just the

words scientist and science illicit the

same feelings. West Virginia University

wants everyone to know that science

and scientists are accessible and

relevant. Learning about the sciences

doesn’t mean you have to be a brainy

intellectual in a lab coat, with no

people skills, trapped in a laboratory,

and doing experiments that have no

bearing on reality.

“We want to put a public face on science. The idea of science

seems disconnected from the individual and can be strange to

some groups. We want them to see that scientists are real people

in the real world. We like the same things that other people

like – to sit down and have a drink from time to time. We like

to get out of the classroom and the lab and sit down and talk

about ideas with other people,” explained Jim Belanger, associate

professor of biology.

That desire to sit down with people, relax, and discuss ideas is

what inspired the science café movement.

It all began in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s. Groups

of people started coming together to discuss matters related to

science in a way that was engaging and welcoming of the general

public. It was designed to be as unintimidating as possible and

to draw in people who did not necessarily have a background in

science. From there, it grew.

Science cafés sprung up all over the United Kingdom, and

it wasn’t long before they made the trip across the pond to the

United States. These cafés have been operating all around the

country for years now. Belanger and Bia Vianna, a graduate

by Ashley Wells, Photos by Jake Lambuth

36 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

candidate in biology who took one of his

courses, noticed something curious: West

Virginia was one of the few states that did

not have any science cafés.

Vianna had already experienced the

benefits of an informal gathering with her

students. She taught a biology laboratory

course once a week and made a deal with

her students: she would bring coffee for

them, if they would promise to be alert

and ready to participate. During these

coffee breaks in the hall, she noticed that

the group would actually start talking

about the science behind what they were

learning. The discussions were informal

and relaxed, and they spoke about the

material in a different way than they did

in the classroom.

Belanger and Vianna decided to start

a Morgantown science café, and Science

on Tap was born. The concept is simple.

Come and relax, get some food, and talk

about science.

“Why can’t you talk about science in

a bar? Most people think entertainment

is talking about sports, “Brangelina,” etc.

. . . understanding that talking about

science can be entertaining can change the

way you look at the world. It can change

lives,” explained Belanger.

Twenty-five people attended the

first Science on Tap event, the “Real

Science of CSI,” presented by Clifton

Bishop, associate professor of biology,

and Stephanie Young, a recent alumna

of the Department of Biology’s doctoral

program. By the end of the semester, that

number grew to 45 attendees.

Other topics that have been showcased

at Science on Tap include “Scents of

Direction: What Moths Taught the US

Navy about Finding Things by Smell,”

presented by Jim Belanger; “Engaging

Minds: Bringing the Science of Learning

into the Classroom,” presented by

Michelle Withers, assistant professor of

What are science cafés?Science cafés are live—and lively—events that take place in casual settings such as pubs and coffeehouses, are open to everyone, and feature an engaging conversation with a scientist about a particular topic.

The science café format has spread across the globe, adapting to different cultures and audiences. No matter the location, each café encourages conversation, debate, and interaction.

Science cafés welcome people who may or may not typically get involved with scientific discussions. They are not exclusive club meetings for scientists and science majors.

Is there a single organization that oversees science cafés?Science cafés represent a grassroots movement. They exist all over the world and can vary from place to place. Many science cafés in the United States draw inspiration from Café Scientifique, a network based in the United Kingdom. Even the names of science cafés vary, including Science on Tap, Science Pub, Ask a Scientist, and café Sci.

Who can start a science café?Anyone can organize a science café—you don’t have to be a scientist! All you need is a passion for science and a willingness to reach out and talk with people.

Where can I find resources and support for science cafés?NOVA scienceNOW, in association with Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, runs sciencecafes.org. Created with the help and input of many science café organizers, the site is intended as a community resource to support and encourage the growth of science cafés.

The online network helps café organizers share ideas, tips, and advice.

Visit http://www.sciencecafes.org/ for more information.Source: Sciencecafes.org

Science on Tap series creators Jim Belanger, associate professor of biology (front left), and Bia Vianna, a graduate candidate in biology (front right) listen and take notes in the audience during the “Top 10 Mysteries of Sleep —Solved” session at Mountain State Brewery in June.

New &Notable

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 37

“I strongly believe that in a world shaped by science and technology, the appreciation of the scientific method, critical thinking, imagination, and all other processes and concepts involved in science literacy should be extended and practiced by everyone in our society. Science on Tap is my “baby,” and I think it is a great way to help in the accomplishment of engaging people in talking and discussing interesting scientific topics.”— Bia Vianna

biology; and “Top Ten Mysteries of Sleep:

Solved,” by Hawley Montgomery-Downs,

associate professor of psychology.

When these scientists talk, other

people tend to listen. The first meeting of

Science on Tap happened to share the bar

with a French Club meeting.

“I looked over, and they were paying

attention to us. It was nice to think that

we were already reaching a different

audience,” commented Vianna.

The Science on Tap events are

also beginning to bring the University

community closer to the Morgantown

community, as a whole. Belanger has

gotten emails from parents of home-

schooled children who are interested in

bringing them along for a fun learning

experience, and Belanger hopes this leads

to even more participation by people

without connections to the University.

To make their discussions even more

accessible, ideas have been tossed around

to create a Science on Tap podcast. This

would allow people to still listen to the

discussions, even if they cannot make it to

the actual event.

Another goal of these events is to

foster communication between different

departments at WVU. During the spring

semester, representatives from the Health

Sciences Center, WVNano, and the

WVU Center for Neuroscience attended

the events. They expressed interest in

participating as speakers at future events.

“We want to collaborate with other

science departments and colleges that

are interested and want to help in the

planning of Science on Tap events,”

Vianna said.

“I strongly believe that in a world

shaped by science and technology, the

appreciation of the scientific method,

critical thinking, imagination, and all

other processes and concepts involved

in science literacy should be extended

and practiced by everyone in our

society. Science on Tap is my “baby,”

and I think it is a great way to help in

the accomplishment of engaging people

in talking and discussing interesting

scientific topics.”

Apparently, she is not the only

one. Since Vianna first noticed that no

science cafés took place in West Virginia,

according to the map on the Science

Cafés website, one has shown up in the

Charleston area.

These events coincide with

an important time for science

communication at WVU and nationally.

Over the past year, speakers have given

public lectures on the importance of

effective communication of scientific

subjects, and a symposium in April was

entirely devoted to the topic.

The WVU 2020 Strategic Plan

for the Future specifically stresses the

importance of better and more science

communication. Nationally, the

conversation about the importance of

STEM (science, technology, engineering,

and math) and communication about

STEM grows.

Belanger, Vianna, and all others

involved plan to continue organizing

regular events where the University

community and the rest of Morgantown

can sit down, have an ice cold drink or

a slice of pizza, and bring the national

discussion to a fun and accessible local

level.

For more information about monthly

Science on Tap events contact Bia Vianna at

bia.vianna@mix.wvu.edu.

Audience members listen to Hawley Montgomery-Downs’ presentation.

Hawley Montgomery-Downs, associate professor of psychology, presents “Top 10 Mysteries of Sleep—Solved.”

38 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 41

Calistus Ngonghala

PovertTrapBy Christine Schussler

a recent West Virginia University graduate has published a paper examining

whether it’s more effective to give people money or health care to help them

overcome poverty.

Calistus Ngonghala, who earned his doctorate in mathematics in May,

collaborated with Mateusz Plucinski of the University of California at Berkeley,

and Matthew H. Bonds of Harvard Medical School, on “Health Safety Nets can

Break Cycles of Poverty and Disease: a Stochastic Ecological Model.”

The paper, which was published online in the Journal of Royal Society Interface

in May, uses a mathematical model to analyze the effect an enforced minimum

level of health and economic support can have on an impoverished community.

The research, Ngonghala said, had personal implications.

“Coming from a part of the world (Cameroon) where a greater portion of

the population suffers from extreme poverty and deadly diseases such as malaria,

tuberculosis and HIV almost all the time, I fully understand the impact of these

on individual lives and economic development,” he said.

“As an applied mathematician, I have always been interested in applying

mathematical modeling to assist in the fight against poverty and such mass killer

diseases. Poverty and the prevalence of infectious diseases happen to depend on

each other.”

Through the study, Ngonghala and his partners adapted a version of an

infectious disease model and incorporated a per capita income into the model.

They then examined an individual’s susceptibility to disease based on their per

capita income.

Their theory — higher income, better nutrition and health-related

investments in areas such as sanitation, disease carrier eradication, inoculation,

and drug therapies tend to reduce infections, while a highly infected population is

less productive, leading to smaller per capita income.

“Within a specific population or country, there are rich and healthy, rich and

unhealthy, poor and healthy, and poor and unhealthy individuals,” Ngonghala said.

“My immediate research plan is to extend this research to explore within a

population or within a country disease-driven poverty traps (that will track the

income and disease status of individuals within a population or country).”

In addition to his doctorate in mathematics from WVU, conducting

research in the Department of Chemistry and teaching in the Department of

Mathematics, Ngonghala has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in

computer science and a master’s degree from the University of Buea, Cameroon.

In July, he began a two-year post-doctoral appointment as a researcher at the

newly created National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis at the

University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

TH E

y

New &Notable

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 39

KNOWLEDGE

During his final year as an

undergraduate at Duke University in 1961,

he was accepted as part of the first group

of Americans to teach in East African

secondary schools. He found the experience

of teaching in Kenya so rewarding that he

stayed to teach for three more years. After

his return to the United States, his heart

remained with Kenya.

Maxon joined the West Virginia

University faculty in 1969 and received

his doctoral degree in history from the

University of Syracuse in 1972. He

pioneered the University’s African history

curriculum, and has served as an academic

leader and nationally recognized scholar

in the field.

Early in his career at WVU, he

developed a two-semester survey of African

history, a graduate readings course, and

a research seminar. He went on to build

the core of the African History Program,

eventually developing nine courses for the

department, including East African history,

WISDOM TOADDING

by Emily Christensen and Rebecca HerodPhoto by Todd Latocha

A Kenyan proverb states, “we add wisdom to knowledge.” It is a

fitting way to describe the life and career of Robert “Bob” Maxon. As a child, his

goal was to become a teacher and coach. Although he envisioned a career as a

high school social studies teacher, he ultimately traveled a different career path.

Throughout his more than 40-year career as a member of the WVU Department

of History, Maxon has moved a phalanx of students from simple knowledge of

a subject to true wisdom. He has turned them from learners into teachers, and

from teachers into scholars and leaders in the field of African history.

a world history survey, and a capstone

course for undergraduate majors.

Maxon regards as one of his greatest

accomplishments the supervision and

teaching of 21 doctoral students who earned

their PhDs through the History Program.

Eleven of the doctoral dissertations he has

directed have subsequently been published

as books. The impressive record of

publication for these students does not end

there, by Maxon’s count his students have

published a total of 18 books.

40 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

Awards & Honors

history at Saint Louis University.

Maxon has twice risen to leadership

of the Department of History, serving as

the chair from 1983 to 1989, and again

from 1998 to 2004. Following his first

stint as chair, he spent an academic year on

sabbatical serving as a visiting professor at

Moi University in Kenya, the first of four

such visits. Maxon was instrumental in

the inauguration of the master’s program

in history at Moi. Additionally, he has

trained a number of Kenyan students, four

“We have exchanged ideas for

research, commented on each other’s

projected publications, and exchanged

career ideas,” Maxon said. “A close

relationship with former students

represents an immensely satisfying

outcome of my teaching experience.”

Steve Zdatny, a former colleague and

current chair of the Department of History

at the University of Vermont, notes Maxon’s

ability to recognize and nurture graduate

students as one of his strongest attributes.

“… he is a fine judge of talent;

the young men and women he has

brought to WVU from Kenya have

been a remarkably consistent group

…. The payoff of his efforts and the

proof of their effectiveness lie in the

extraordinary professional success

his students have had,” he said.

Maxon’s students have earned

prestigious scholarships, published

dozens of articles and books, and

gone on to become professors at

universities around the country and

in Kenya.

“Professor Maxon has

produced more PhD candidates

in African history, in the last three

decades, than most mentors of

African history doctoral students

in the United States. And therein

lies what might be one of his

most far-reaching contributions

not only to the University,

College, and Department, but

also the history profession,” said

former mentee George O. Ndege,

PhD, associate professor of

“A close relationship with former students represents an immensely satisfying outcome of my teaching experience.”—Robert Maxon

Robert Maxon Honors and AwardsRobert Maxon’s academic leadership and commitment to scholarship is reflected in the many awards he has received. In fall 2010, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Moi University in Kenya in recognition of his many contributions to the study of African history.

His honors include:

1972-73 WVU Outstanding Teacher Award

1992 Cheikh Anta Diop Award for Outstanding Faculty Scholarship in African and African-American Studies from the WVU Center for Black Culture and Research

1993-94 WVU Benedum Distinguished Scholar Award

1993-94 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Researcher Award

2007-08 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award

2007-08 WVU Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award

2009 Kenya Scholars and Studies Association Lifetime Achievement Award

of whom have taken positions within Moi

University as members of the Department

of History or administrators in the College

of Arts and Sciences.

In addition to teaching generations

of WVU students, Maxon is the author

of a widely used textbook, East Africa: An

Introductory History, first published in 1986

and reprinted twice since then. An East

African edition was published in Nairobi,

and a Chinese version was published in

Beijing in 2010.

Maxon is an American citizen,

but part of his heart has been

in Kenya since his first visit. He

married a Kenyan woman, Felicia

Ayiro Maxon, and together they

have two adult children. Maxon

also was an active participant in

Kenyan soccer, becoming involved

as a player on several competitive

teams while living there. An article

announcing his 2010 honorary

doctoral degree from Moi touts

his talent for soccer, noting that he

once played with some of Kenya’s

greatest “footballers.”

“Bob’s heart is truly in Kenya,”

said Liz Fones-Wolf, chair of the

Department of History. “His deep

love and respect for the country

and its people have translated into

the creation of a legacy at WVU.

He has trained the next generation

of African historians and created a

long-lasting partnership between

West Virginia University and Moi

University.”

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 41

WVU’sMEET

WOMEN

FIRST

By Rebecca Herrod

Two outstanding female faculty researchers and two graduate students have been awarded West Virginia University’s first Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Awards.

Mikel “Mickey” Holcomb, assistant professor of

physics, and Jennifer Weidhaas, assistant professor of

civil engineering, will receive $3,750 to pursue their

research. Kathleen Burke and

Mary Kylee Underwood, both

graduate students in the Eberly

College of Arts and Sciences,

will receive $1,250 awards.

The award supports

faculty initiatives and student

scholarships. The WiSE

Giving Circle brings together

alumni and friends who seek

to impact the field of science

by encouraging and mentoring

young women in their pursuit

of professional careers within the National Science

Foundation-funded STEM disciplines: science,

technology, engineering, and math.

The giving circle is an internal program that was

developed simultaneously with WVU’s National

Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional

Transformation Grant, which seeks to increase

the participation and advancement of women in

academic science and engineering careers.

“Through the WiSE Program, the philanthropic

community has endorsed WVU’s commitment to

advancing women in the STEM fields. Private/public

partnerships like this will be necessary for WVU to

achieve the goals of the 2020 Strategic Plan,” said

Provost Michele Wheatly.

Mickey Holcomb joined the Eberly College

Department of Physics in 2009. Her funds will

support research of multiferroics, materials that

can exchange magnetic fields with electric fields.

The material’s properties show promising device

applications, allowing for the creation of smaller

components, particularly in computers.

Mickey Holcomb

42 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

Jennifer Weidhass is a member of

the environmental/hydrotechnical group

in the WVU Department of Civil and

Environmental Engineering. She has

experience working in academia, industry,

and government agencies. Her research

focus includes biological, chemical, and

physical environmental engineering

approaches, including water/wastewater

treatment, hazardous waste and emerging

contaminants remediation, water quality

modeling and bacterial source tracking

of contaminants. She will use her award

to purchase a benchtop, refrigerated

microcentrifuge

for her research

laboratory.

“This

refrigerated

microcentrifuge

will be invaluable

in the generation

of data in my

research area,

environmental biotechnology,” she said.

“The equipment will be used to

generate the final set of data required for a

manuscript to be submitted

to a peer-reviewed journal. I

look forward to publication

of the research, which will

serve as a concrete outcome

from the use of the award

dollars.”

Graduate students

Kathleen Burke and Mary

Kylee Underwood

will use the awards

to establish their

professional and

postdoctoral paths.

Burke will use her

funds to attend the

2012 Hereditary Disease

Foundation’s conference

in Boston, Massachusetts.

There she will have the

opportunity to deliver a

seminar outlining her study results on the

cause of Huntington’s disease.

The long-term goal of her research in

chemistry professor Justin Legleiter’s lab

in the C. Eugene Bennett Department of

Chemistry is to understand the biophysical

properties and molecular mechanisms

that contribute to the pathology of

nanoscale self-assembled macromolecules

in neurodegenerative diseases, like

Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

“These funds will give me an excellent

networking opportunity,” Burke said.

“By demonstrating the importance of

techniques that I have become proficient

in, specifically in atomic

force microscopy, I hope

to establish myself as a

viable candidate for a

postdoctoral position.”

Underwood plans to

continue research—begun

as an undergraduate in

the lab of professor James

Lewis—on delafossites,

a family of oxides

that could possibly

be used as catalysts to

reduce carbon dioxide

emissions. Increasing

the visible light photo

activity of an oxide

would make it an

optimum candidate

for the photo catalysis

of carbon dioxide into

usable products such as methane. This could

provide a reduction in carbon dioxide fossil-

fuel power plants.

“This research is the beginning of what

will be presented as my PhD dissertation in

the course of the next three years,” she said.

“The expected outcome of this work

includes at least three scientific papers in

the next two years, collaborative experience

with experimental scientists and multiple

conference presentations.”

The 2011-2012 WiSE Awards are

funded by WiSE annual membership and

donations, the Hall-de Graaf Endowment

for Women in Science and Engineering, the

Research Trust Fund Hall-de Graaf Science

and Engineering Fund, and the Eberly

College of Arts and Sciences.

To learn more about the WiSE

Giving Circle contact Bonnie Fisher,

director of development in the Eberly

College of Arts and Sciences or visit

wisewomen.wvu.edu.

To learn more about WISE, visit wisewomen.wvu.edu

Kathleen Burke

Kylee Underwood

Jennifer Weidhaas

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 43

Awards & Honors

in ResearchADVA N C EsMaking

by Diana Mazzella, Photos by M.G. Ellis

44 FALL 2 0 1 1 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Magazine

Leslie Hopkinson was raised on math and science.

Her parents—a math teacher and an engineer—inspired her to pursue a career in science. She also liked being outdoors and wanted to preserve it for everyone else.

She journeyed into ecological

engineering with the help of her adviser and

teaching mentors (all three were women),

and participated at her graduate institution’s

seminars and networking experiences

for young female scientists funded by a

National Science Foundation grant called

ADVANCE that is designed to support

female faculty.

Now Hopkinson, as an assistant

professor at West Virginia University, is

faced with climbing the faculty career

ladder while building her research team and

lab. Once again she is receiving assistance

from the women around her.

She is one of eight women who are

receiving $15,000 grants through WVU’s

$3.2 million National Science Foundation

ADVANCE Grant. The funds, part of the

WVU ADVANCE Sponsorship Program,

will allow them to receive mentoring from

faculty members outside their department

and to explore their science in new ways.

The overall grant is designed to create a

network of support and resources for female

faculty in science, technology, engineering,

and math careers.

“By ensuring that women scientists

consider academia as a viable and attractive

career option, we are contributing to a more

diverse science and engineering workforce,”

said Melissa Latimer, director of the WVU

ADVANCE Center. “These role models

also help to inspire the next generation of

female faculty and researchers.”

These professors’ interests are far-reaching.

Hopkinson is exploring how to restore

riverbanks to allow plant and animal life to

thrive. Karen Culcasi wants to figure out the

identity issues that Palestinians living long

term in Jordan are facing. Jessica Deshler

wants to see how better to teach college

calculus with gender in mind. Yuxin Liu is

developing a microvessel model combining

biology and engineering to allow the

investigation of human tissue, which could

contribute to cancer research.

Jennifer Weidhaas is using bacteria to

clean up pollution. Jennifer Ripley Stueckle

is curious to see if fish in the Potomac River

are showing both male and female sex cells

because of pollution, while Shikha Sharma

will track carbon dioxide in the Appalachian

Mountains. Robin Hissam is researching

biological polymers.

All eight women got into their fields in

different ways.

For Jennifer Ripley Stueckle, a teaching

assistant professor in the Department of

Biology, it was an eighth grade trip to

Wallops Island in Virginia that convinced

her aquatic life would be in her future.

“Over the week, we visited intertidal,

marsh, eelgrass beds, and estuarine

environments, and I was amazed to see all

the different fishes, crabs, and invertebrates

dart between my legs,” Stueckle said.

“From that point on, I focused my

education on marine science.”

Some, like Hopkinson, had female

scientists and engineering role models

guiding them to the place they are now.

Yuxin Liu grew up watching her

parents, both electrical engineering

professors, teach and research at universities

in China. Seeing her mother work as a

faculty member showed her a direct path to

research, and she didn’t see the difficulties

women face in engineering.

But the statistics tell another story.

According to the Society of Women

Engineers, women made up 17 percent

of freshman engineering majors earlier

in the last decade, and fewer than 20

percent of those in science, engineering,

technology and math careers were women.

The National Science Foundation reports

that women with science and engineering

doctorates made up 30 percent of full-time

faculty in 2006.

“I think as women faculty in the

engineering department, we really need to

do something to change that,” Liu said.

Why women in science?

When it comes to the question of

why support women in science, for some

the answer is obvious: it’s the science that

should be supported no matter who is

practicing it.

But diversity, some note, allows new

ideas to flourish.

Jennifer Weidhaas, who researches

and teaches in the Department of Civil

“Having a diverse faculty in terms of gender and race provides the multiple lines of thought and disparate approaches that are needed to solve complex problems in science and engineering.”— Jennifer Weidhaas

eberly.wvu.edu FALL 2 0 1 1 45

Awards & Honors

Awards & Honors

more confidence that I will be successful in

doing this research.”

Shikha Sharma, an assistant professor

in the Department of Geology and

Geography, said the mentorship she will

receive from Rosemary Capo, an associate

professor of geology and planetary science

at the University of Pittsburgh, could turn

into something more.

“I have had very limited networking

and mentorship opportunities in the U.S.

as my entire schooling was in India,” she

said. “This is a great opportunity for me

to get a good mentor who has a successful

academic career. Since our research

interests and fields of specialization

greatly complement each other, I foresee

a potential for long-term research

collaboration.”

From 2012 to 2015, ten women a

year will be selected to receive the WVU

ADVANCE sponsorships.

To read detailed biographies of the

women in science, technology, engineering

and math fields at WVU, go to

http://wisewomen.wvu.edu/.

and Environmental Engineering, said

that, “Everyone approaches problems

differently.”

“Having a diverse faculty in terms of

gender and race provides the multiple lines

of thought and disparate approaches that

are needed to solve complex problems in

science and engineering.”

Jessica Deshler researches

undergraduate mathematics education, a

field in which she stands out.

“Successful women and minorities in

science and academia can have the greatest

influence over others right now who might

not be sure if this is the career choice for

them,” Deshler said.

“Showing others by our own example

is a great way to demonstrate what we’re all

capable of doing. I hope that female and

minority students see me as an example

of the nontraditional—a female Hispanic

mathematician, and that that might

influence even one student to pursue a

career choice that he or she might not have

otherwise.”

Feeling encouraged was certainly the

route that led Karen Culcasi to pursue a

career in geography.

With the ADVANCE sponsorship,

she will be meeting and questioning

Palestinian refugees in Jordan about how

their displacement after the formation of

Israel in 1948 affects their identity. She’ll

bring students with her to learn about

refugees and other cultures, and she’ll

be strengthening a bond with Yarmouk

University in Jordan that is leading to an

exchange program between the Jordanian

university and WVU.

The grant allows her to both learn

more about the refugee experience, an

area she hasn’t delved into before, and to

increase her understanding of the Arab

world, an area that has fascinated her since

high school.

She could pull off the project on her

own, but there’s something reassuring

about the mentoring aspect.

“I would attempt this on my own but

having her assistance is encouraging,” she

said of her project mentor Alison Mountz

of Syracuse University. “It gives me a lot

Your Legacy is PersonalNo student’s passion for learning should be derailed by a lack of money.

That’s what almost happened to Drs. Sophia and David Blaydes. The couple married during their final year in graduate school and struggled financially. Despite years of success, they still remember the anxiety-filled days.

That’s why in June, the Blaydes designated provisions from their estate to create the David Fairchild Blaydes Biology Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship, to support a PhD student in his or her final year. Their gift makes sure that the WVU graduate student experience is firmly rooted in the pursuit of academic excellence, not worry.

Make a planned gift today and plant seeds for tomorrow’s future. For more information on how you can contribute to the Eberly College through your will, living trust or IRA, contact Bonnie Fisher, Director of Development, at (304) 293-4611 or Bonnie.Fisher@mail.wvu.edu.

The WVU Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization that generates, receives and administers private gifts for the benefit of WVU.

From left to right: Jeffrey Blaydes, Dr. William Peterjohn, recipient Zachariah Fowler, Dr. Richard Thomas, Drs. David and Sophia Blaydes.

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY PRESSORDER ONLINE AT WWW.WVUPRESS.COM OR PHONE (800) 621-2736.

FALL/WINTER 2011

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Look for the Spring Vision Issue of Eberly in your mailbox in May 2012.