South-of-the-Border Second Home</h1> <article> <h1>South-of-the-Border Second Home</h1> <p>eburnett — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:37:28 +0000</p> <span>South-of-the-Border Second Home</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-06-16T11:37:28-04:00" title="Friday, June 16, 2023 - 11:37">Fri, 06/16/2023 - 11:37</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Anna Sheik makes no secret of her love of languages, teaching, and culture.</p> <p>Born in Philadelphia, she spent a transformative year in Cuernavaca, Mexico, prior to beginning studies at 91ֱ��. The gap year presented immense challenges: After all, she had studied German—not Spanish—throughout middle school and high school. Yet Sheik immersed herself in the culture: enrolling in a local school, living with a host family, and forging enduring bonds. </p> <p>“When I first arrived in Mexico, I didn’t speak any Spanish,” she says. “But by the end of the year, I had gained a new language and formed lifelong friendships. I also developed a deep appreciation for Mexican culture and realized that I love traveling and exploring new places and communities. I’ve wanted to return to Mexico ever since.”</p> <p>In May, Sheik graduated from 91ֱ�� with majors in <a href="/node/70776">history</a> and <a href="/node/3406">Latin American studies</a> and a minor in <a href="/node/3206">Hispanic studies</a>. A former resident advisor in 91ֱ��’s <a href="/node/4086">Spanish House</a> residence hall, she’s now set to return to the country that originally sparked her fascination for Latin American culture and teaching: This summer, she embarks on a year-long adventure as an English Teaching Assistant in Mexico, an opportunity made possible through the <a href="https://us.fulbrightonline.org/about/fulbright-us-student-program">U.S. Fulbright Program</a>.</p> <p>Throughout her four years at 91ֱ��, Sheik worked with <a href="/node/55496">America Reads</a>, serving as a literacy tutor at the local elementary school. The experience allowed her to witness the transformational power of education: From guiding young minds as a tutor to her tenure as a student-leader, she found that teaching became a rewarding facet of her college experience.</p> <p>It’s a feeling she also sensed during her gap year, when she volunteered to teach the string section of an elementary school orchestra. With her own limited Spanish proficiency at the time and her students knowing little English, she used a combination of languages, hand gestures, sounds—and above all, music—to fashion an effective means of teaching. The experience cemented her belief in the value of music as a language-teaching tool, a skill she looks forward to utilizing once again in the year ahead.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Anna Sheik returns to Mexico to follow her love of language, history, and teaching.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-06-16T12:00:00Z">Fri, 06/16/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tyler Applegate</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2391">Languages & Literatures</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25381">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25276">Latin American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4796">Hispanic Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25226">Education Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=245971">International Affairs</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/yorki-encalada" hreflang="und">Yorki J. Encalada Egúsquiza</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/pablo-mitchell" hreflang="und">Pablo Mitchell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/history" hreflang="und">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/latin-american-studies" hreflang="und">Latin American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies" hreflang="und">Hispanic Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pull-images field--type-list-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yes</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-32092" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--quotemark" data-text-color-red data-text-size-large data-text-size-giant> <p>I’ve had so many incredible professors at 91ֱ��, but I’m especially grateful to these two for believing in me from the beginning.”</p> <p style="text-align: right;"><em>—Anna Sheik, on professors Encalada and Mitchell</em></p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-27736" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>Sheik returned to Mexico in 2022 for research made possible through an Artz Grant earned through 91ֱ��’s History Department. “My honors project, on representations of La Malinche—the infamous Mexican translator for Cortés—in Mexico and the Borderlands from 1960-1980, led me deep into histories of Mexico and U.S.-Mexico relations that I hope to observe further in my year abroad,” she says. She credits a longtime 91ֱ�� mentor, Professor of History and Comparative American Studies <a href="/node/5906">Pablo Mitchell</a>, for guiding her development in research throughout her time at 91ֱ��. “This past year, he advised my honors project, which I could not have completed without his wisdom and encouragement,” she says.</p> <p>Sheik also credits Hispanic studies professor <a href="/node/122501">Yorki Encalada Egúsquiza</a> for nurturing her interests in Spanish language and teaching. By her senior year, she served as his teaching assistant for two intermediate Spanish courses—an experience she calls “instrumental in my role as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant."</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Professor Pablo Mitchell (left) was instrumental in guiding Sheik's research on Mexican history and U.S.-Mexico relations. (photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97) </figcaption> </figure> <p>“I’ve had so many incredible professors at 91ֱ��,” she says, “but I’m especially grateful to these two for believing in me from the beginning.”</p> <p>As she steps into the next chapter of her life as a Fulbrighter, Sheik is filled with anticipation to return to a part of the world she loves so deeply.</p> <p>“I’m hoping my upcoming year will shed some light onto what I want to pursue next, whether that is teaching and education, foreign relations or immigration work, or going back to school for history or Latin American studies.</p> <p>“I’m really excited to explore more of Mexico,” she says: “See old friends, make new ones, and to soak up more Mexican history wherever I go.”</p> <hr> <p><em>The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries by sponsoring students and scholars to study, teach English, and conduct research overseas. The U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program, Fulbright supports exchanges between the U.S. and more than 150 countries around the world. In February, 91ֱ�� was named a <a href="/news/oberlin-top-producer-fulbright-students-2022-23">top producer of Fulbright students</a> for the 14th consecutive year. It ranks third among U.S. colleges and universities on the all-time list, with more than 260 Fulbright recipients.</em></p> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Ana María Díaz Burgos Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</h1> <p>anagy — Thu, 18 May 2023 15:30:23 +0000</p> <span>Ana María Díaz Burgos Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-05-18T11:30:23-04:00" title="Thursday, May 18, 2023 - 11:30">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 11:30</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p> 91ֱ�� has recognized six faculty members with <a href="/news/six-faculty-receive-2021-2022-excellence-teaching-honors">Excellence in Teaching Awards</a> for the 2021-22 academic year. The annual Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes faculty in the college and conservatory who have demonstrated sustained and distinctive excellence in their teaching at the college and conservatory.</p> <p>Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies <a href="/ana-maria-diaz-burgos">Ana María Díaz Burgos</a> specializes in Spanish and Spanish American early modern literature and culture with an emphasis on gender studies and social history. Her research explores the impact of institutional practices and legal systems on the creation of female subjectivities in Hispanic territories. Her work has appeared in a variety of academic journals and edited volumes.</p> <p>Most recently she published the chapter “Marital Pains, Heterodox Cures: Alternative Economies of Sorcery and Witchcraft in the Inquisition of Cartagena de Indias” in <em>Women Facing the Inquisition</em> (2021) and co-edited the dossier “Yo llana estoy’: jerarquías, transgresiones y despliegues de género en América hispana colonial (1492-1898)” for Revista de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades (2022). Her book <em>Tráfico de saberes: Agencia femenina, hechicería e inquisición en Cartagena de Indias 1610-1614</em> (Iberoamericana-Vervuert 2020) studies the first inquisitorial prosecution of female sorcery in early seventeenth-century Cartagena de Indias. </p> <p>“Associate Professor Ana María Díaz Burgos brings her superb pedagogical skills to a wide range of language, literature, culture, film and history courses in Hispanic Studies, while making the most of our extraordinary Special Collections and Allen Memorial Art Museum resources,” says Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences David Kamitsuka. “Ana has a rare talent for highlighting the contemporary relevance and significance of centuries and cultures often far removed from our students’ present-day experiences.”</p> <p>Díaz Burgos teaches Spanish language classes and early modern literature and culture courses in the Department of <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies">Hispanic Studies</a>, some of which are cross-referenced with the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Program. Collaborating with the Special Collections and the Allen Memorial Art Museum has played an essential role in her courses to increase students' opportunities to engage with class material. For instance, students in her classes this spring have written bilingual labels and are planning public programming initiatives for the exhibition “What is in a Spell?: Love Magic, Healing and Punishment in the Early Modern Hispanic World,” which she and Hannah Kinney, Curator of Academic Programs, are curating.</p> <p>"I am truly honored to receive this award along with this amazing group of peers, Díaz Burgos says. “I am thankful to my students' curiosity and willingness to explore topics that at times seem completely foreign to them. I am inspired by the generosity and openness of my colleagues inside and outside my department and from the Special Collections and the Allen Memorial Art Museum, from whom I continuously learn how to create spaces for conversation and debate with and for students. This recognition is a motivation to continue building bridges that go beyond the classroom."</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Díaz Burgos teaches Spanish language classes and early modern literature and culture courses in the Department of Hispanic Studies.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-05-18T12:00:00Z">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2576">Excellence in Teaching Award</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2377">Arts & Humanities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4796">Hispanic Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25361">Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/ana-maria-diaz-burgos" hreflang="und">Ana María Díaz Burgos</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies" hreflang="und">Hispanic Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Jennifer Manna</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Keith Tarvin Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</h1> <p>anagy — Thu, 18 May 2023 15:17:43 +0000</p> <span>Keith Tarvin Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-05-18T11:17:43-04:00" title="Thursday, May 18, 2023 - 11:17">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 11:17</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p> 91ֱ�� has recognized six faculty members with <a href="/news/six-faculty-receive-2021-2022-excellence-teaching-honors">Excellence in Teaching Awards</a> for the 2021-22 academic year. The annual Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes faculty in the college and conservatory who have demonstrated sustained and distinctive excellence in their teaching at the college and conservatory.</p> <p>Professor Emeritus of Biology <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/biology/faculty-list">Keith Tarvin</a> came to 91ֱ�� in 2000 as a visiting assistant professor. He was hired as a tenure track faculty member in July 2001 and became a full professor in 2014. At 91ֱ��, he taught 11 lecture and discussion courses and four different lab courses in the fields of evolution, behavioral ecology, ornithology, and organismal biology.</p> <p>Throughout his career, Tarvin mentored 89 individual undergraduate research students (including 11 honors students) spanning 230 student-semesters, student-summers, or mentored student-winter term projects since fall 2000. These projects included field and laboratory studies of goldfinches, mockingbirds, tree swallows, snakes, squirrels, fish, salamanders, dolphins, and ants, as well as theoretical projects and preparation of bird specimens.</p> <p>“Throughout his career, Professor Keith Tarvin has instilled in his students a profound scientific sense of wonder through brilliant lecturing and mentoring of undergraduate researchers in biology,” says David Kamitsuka, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “The number of undergraduate student co-authors on Keith’s important peer reviewed publications would fill a classroom in our Science Center.”</p> <p>Tarvin was a mentor for junior faculty and served on a host of elected and volunteer committees related to faculty governance, undergraduate research, and curriculum.</p> <p>“Teaching at 91ֱ�� demands constant re-evaluation and reinvention, which makes it both scarily challenging and wonderfully stimulating,” says Tarvin. “To my great benefit, many colleagues have graciously shared pedagogical ideas, approaches, and strategies with me over the years. Being recognized at an institution bursting with so many amazing teachers is truly an honor.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">A scholar in the fields of evolution, behavioral ecology, ornithology, and organismal biology, Tarvin was honored for his approach to teaching and mentoring undergraduate researchers. </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-05-18T12:00:00Z">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2576">Excellence in Teaching Award</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2367">Science & Math</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25251">Biology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/biology" hreflang="und">Biology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Renee Romano Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</h1> <p>anagy — Thu, 18 May 2023 15:03:04 +0000</p> <span>Renee Romano Earns Excellence in Teaching Award</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-05-18T11:03:04-04:00" title="Thursday, May 18, 2023 - 11:03">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 11:03</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p> 91ֱ�� has recognized six faculty members with <a href="/news/six-faculty-receive-2021-2022-excellence-teaching-honors">Excellence in Teaching Awards</a> for the 2021-22 academic year. The annual Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes faculty in the college and conservatory who have demonstrated sustained and distinctive excellence in their teaching at the college and conservatory.</p> <p><a href="/renee-romano">Renee C. Romano</a> is the Robert S. Danforth Professor of History and Professor of Comparative American Studies and Africana Studies. A specialist in 20th- and 21st-century American cultural and political history and in the field of historical memory, she is the author of <em>Racial Reckoning: Reopening America’s Civil Rights Trials</em> (Harvard University Press, 2014) and <em>Race Mixing: Black-White Marriage in Postwar America</em> (Harvard University Press, 2003.) She has also co-edited three collections: <em>Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical Is Restaging America’s Past</em> (Rutgers University Press, 2018); <em>Doing Recent History: On Privacy, Copyright, Video Games, Institutional Review Boards, Activist Scholarship, and History that Talks Back</em> (University of Georgia Press, 2012); and <em>The Civil Rights Movement in American Memory</em> (University of Georgia Press, 2006).</p> <p>“Professor Renee Romano has been at the forefront of deeply important curricular, pedagogical, and mentoring initiatives in undergraduate education, including the formal establishment of curricular pathways in Public Humanites at 91ֱ��,” says David Kamitsuka, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Renee trains her students not only how to grapple with the most challenging social, political, and institutional issues in American history, but also to share their learning for the benefit of the broader public.”</p> <p>Romano teaches courses on a variety of topics related to political, cultural, and racial history in the modern United States, including the History of Museums, Race and Sexuality in U.S. History, and Deconstructing Disney. She is also committed to the practice of public history. She is a founder and co-director of the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/public-humanities">Public Humanities Integrative Concentration</a> at 91ֱ��, and she has been involved in numerous public humanities projects, including consulting for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, directing the 91ֱ�� visit of “Courage and Compassion: Our Shared Story of the Japanese American World War II Experience,” and serving as a scholarly advisor for the Kent State May 4th Walking Tour and Visitor's Center, the Brooklyn Historical Society, Eyes on the Prize Revisited, and Radio Diaries. From 2016 to 2019, Romano was a member of the Executive Board of the Organization of American Historians, and she is currently on the board of National History Day. She has also served as an 91ֱ�� campus mentor for the Posse Leadership Program.</p> <p>“I am humbled and gratified to be recognized with this award, especially given how many wonderful and dedicated teachers there are at 91ֱ��,” says Romano. “I feel extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity to work with 91ֱ�� students, whose energy, intellect, and curiosity constantly push me to experiment with new pedagogies, to create new courses, and to keep working to improve my teaching.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">A specialist in 20th- and 21st-century American cultural and political history, Romano is instrumental in establishing a public humanities concentration.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-05-18T12:00:00Z">Thu, 05/18/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2576">Excellence in Teaching Award</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2377">Arts & Humanities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25381">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25311">Comparative American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/history" hreflang="und">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/comparative-american-studies" hreflang="und">Comparative American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/public-humanities" hreflang="und">Public Humanities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Jennifer Manna</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Student-Authored CBD Study Named Editors’ Pick</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 17:05:33 +0000</p> <span>Student-Authored CBD Study Named Editors’ Pick</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2022-11-23T12:05:33-05:00" title="Wednesday, November 23, 2022 - 12:05">Wed, 11/23/2022 - 12:05</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Caroline Morehouse, a fourth-year 91ֱ�� student majoring in neuroscience and Hispanic studies, was the lead author on a paper published in the neuroscience journal <em>Behavioral Brain Research</em> in late summer 2022. The article, titled <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432822002911">Cannabidiol (CBD) drives sex-dependent impairments in omission, but has no effect on reinforcer devaluation</a>, details research conducted in the lab of 91ֱ�� neuroscience professor <a href="/node/50471">Chris Howard</a>.</p> <p>The lead researcher on a team of 91ֱ�� neuro students, Morehouse had devoted more than a year to studying the effects of CBD on lab mice before submitting an initial draft of the report. (The other students involved in the study—Charlie Maddox ’22, Rochelle van der Merwe ’21, Marwan Ghanem ’22, Robert McLaughlin ’21, and Jesse Scott ’21—graduated prior to Morehouse’s involvement.) With guidance from Howard and input from her peer researchers, she supplied an extensive revision of the first draft and braced for multiple more rounds of the same, as she had been advised to expect.</p> <p>That never happened. The journal approved the piece after a single round of revisions—and named it the editor’s choice. “I was crying in my bedroom,” says Morehouse, of Mystic, Connecticut, recalling the moment she learned of the honor. “It was just super-exciting!”</p> <p>“As someone who wants to go to medical school and do all these things that feel so far out in the future, this is one of the first times I’ve gotten immediate gratification for something that I want to put my abilities into. It’s important to have that marker for my time here at 91ֱ��. To have our hard effort being validated by an outside entity was just so meaningful to each one of us.”</p> <p>Fully legal and available in everything from deodorant to hamburgers, CBD has earned attention for its potential therapeutic effects in combating anxiety, insomnia, and addictive behaviors, though the link between CBD and addiction—if any—remains unclear. Conducted over a period of two years, the 91ֱ�� study examined the effects of CBD on habit formation and goal-directed behavior. The researchers found that CBD had no discernible effect on habit formation, but it inhibited behavioral flexibility—suggesting that CBD use has a negative impact on cognitive function.</p> <p>Even more surprising: The observed decline was more pronounced in males than females—a distinction similar to that seen in studies on THC, the cannabis derivative that fuels the high associated with marijuana. Future iterations of CBD research at 91ֱ�� may further probe the link between the impact of CBD and the sex of the user.</p> <p>“Whenever somebody says Should I take CBD? I say, ‘Do your research,’” Morehouse says. “Maybe invest in another vitamin.”</p> <blockquote class="blockquote--distinguished" data-text-size-large> <p>“I knew, in coming to 91ֱ��, that if I was doing research, I would actually be <em>doing research</em>...I can’t emphasize enough how well the 91ֱ�� Neuroscience Department prepares us for real-world research contexts.”</p> </blockquote> <p>Morehouse’s interest in neuroscience research stems from her overarching passion for geriatric medicine; the CBD study focused on processing ability in the striatum, the part of the brain responsible for decision making and habit formation—and a key factor in the onset of neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease.</p> <p>“Doing research is a really important part of the process of applying to medical school,” she says. “You learn to think creatively and question systems and experiments. I’d like to take what I’ve learned at 91ֱ�� and apply it to a medical system that is really stagnant and that doesn’t tend to change the ways we care for older adults.</p> <p>“I knew, in coming to 91ֱ��, that if I was doing research, I would actually be <em>doing research</em>—not just putting mice in a box. I would be doing experimental design and data analysis.</p> <p>“The Neuroscience Department here is incredible,” Morehouse adds. “Every one of the professors is amazing in their ability to get undergraduate students to a place where they can pursue their own projects. I can’t emphasize enough how well the 91ֱ�� Neuroscience Department prepares us for real-world research contexts.”</p> <p>In addition to her neuroscience major, Morehouse is completing an honors project in Spanish—she’s focusing on the effects of the Colombian armed conflict on the elderly—and serves as a student mentor in the <a href="/node/4406">Center for Learning, Education and Research in the Sciences</a>.</p> <p>Since 2020, she has worked alongside the medical staff of Kendal at 91ֱ��, a retirement community near campus—even living there for several months during the pandemic.</p> <p>“Some of my best friends are at Kendal,” she beams. “Kendal is wonderful. Visiting them each day while they were in pandemic lockdown informed what I want to do with my career and the ways I can be most helpful with my medical care.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Neuroscience major Caroline Morehouse led research on effects of cannabidiol on cognition.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2022-11-23T12:00:00Z">Wed, 11/23/2022 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2583">College of Arts and Sciences</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2358">Undergraduate Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/christopher-howard" hreflang="und">Christopher Howard</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/neuroscience" hreflang="und">Neuroscience</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies" hreflang="und">Hispanic Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Caroline Morehouse, a fourth-year student majoring in neuroscience and Hispanic studies, was the lead author on a study of CBD's impact on cognition. She plans to pursue a career in geriatric medicine.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Office of Communications</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id class="o-flex--video-embed"> <h2>How Caroline’s interests converged at the retirement community...</h2> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video"> </div> <p>As people everywhere turned inward during the height of the pandemic, fourth-year premed student Caroline Morehouse immersed herself in the world of Kendal at 91ֱ��, a retirement community near campus. She created in-depth oral histories with guidance from 91ֱ�� professor Renee Romano, an experience that resulted in deep bonds with residents and invaluable insight on the ways she might advocate for the elderly through her own career in medicine.</p> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Associate Professor Charles Peterson Appointed Director of the Lemle Teaching Center</h1> <p>anagy — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 16:22:15 +0000</p> <span>Associate Professor Charles Peterson Appointed Director of the Lemle Teaching Center</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-08-26T12:22:15-04:00" title="Thursday, August 26, 2021 - 12:22">Thu, 08/26/2021 - 12:22</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies <a href="/charles-peterson">Charles Peterson</a> will oversee and create programming that focuses on teaching and scholarship among 91ֱ�� faculty as the new director of the <a href="/lemle-teaching-center">Gertrude B. Lemle Teaching and Scholarship Center</a>.</p> <p>With the center’s recent expansion of focus from teaching and learning to teaching and scholarship, Peterson says much of the work in his role will involve sharing the accumulated experience and knowledge of 91ֱ��’s faculty and staff members, while also inviting guest instructors and scholars from other institutions to share their insights and experiences.</p> <p>The Lemle teaching center programs are funded by a donation from Robert Lemle ’75 and Roni Kohen-Lemle ’76 on behalf of their family. The center’s mission is to help faculty and staff address the challenges and share the joys of teaching and learning in a residential liberal arts setting. The center sponsors and organizes a variety of programs each semester, including themed workshops and lunchtime discussions. </p> <p>“My goals are to continue discussions about teaching at 91ֱ�� College in light of the technological challenges over the past year and a half, and to develop a regular way to share insights and achievements in scholarship within our community,” says Peterson, whose new book <em>Beyond Civil Disobedience: Social Nullification and Black Citizenship</em> was released in July 2021.</p> <p>Peterson says the most important resources the Lemle teaching center can offer are the support for the communities of teachers and scholars at 91ֱ��, information about access to networks that focus on teaching and scholarship, and in light of the pandemic, a site of communal reconnection. “I believe the impact will be to open up the doors of experience between individuals and units within the college, for the benefit of students, faculty, and the institution.”</p> <p>He says he looks forward to encouraging faculty who find it a challenge to unlock the seeming disconnect between teaching and scholarship. </p> <p>“I believe many 91ֱ�� faculty have met this challenge, but I hope that the center can be a place to support those who still see a disconnect between teaching and scholarship and those who would benefit from learning about the resources and perspectives that can connect the two.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2021-08-26T12:00:00Z">Thu, 08/26/2021 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amanda Nagy</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/charles-peterson" hreflang="und">Charles Peterson</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies Charles Peterson.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Charles Peterson</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Professor of Africana Studies</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/charles-peterson">View Charles Peterson’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Emeritus Professor of Physics Dan Stinebring at the Forefront of Gravitational Wave Research</h1> <p>swargo — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 19:16:51 +0000</p> <span>Emeritus Professor of Physics Dan Stinebring at the Forefront of Gravitational Wave Research</span> <span><span>swargo</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-03-18T15:16:51-04:00" title="Thursday, March 18, 2021 - 15:16">Thu, 03/18/2021 - 15:16</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Emeritus Professor of Physics Dan Stinebring is a senior member of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, known as NANOGrav. The group consists of about 120 astronomers and physicists from the United States and Canada who study how gravitational waves affect the universe and our Earth.</p> <p>Recently, NANOGrav has discovered an exciting low-frequency signal, which might be coming from gravitational waves.</p> <p>“We’re seeing evidence in our data that is consistent with gravitational waves,” says Stinebring. “At this point, we're agnostic about where those gravitational waves might be coming from. Our expectation is that the most likely source is supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.”</p> <p>At NANOGrav, Stinebring studies pulsars, which are dense clock-like stars, made when massive stars blow off their outer layers during a supernova explosion. The remnants of these massive stars are a special class of neutron star, which rapidly spins around their rotational axes. As these neutron stars spin, they generate pulses of radio waves, which astronomers detect using the world’s largest radio telescopes.</p> <p>Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time triggered by extremely massive objects moving, which could possibly be orbiting black holes or colliding neutron stars. Scientists monitor these ripples by measuring very small changes in the locations of objects, such as Earth itself.</p> <p>“Over the past 15 years, we have set up to look for irregularities in the timing of the ticks of the pulsars that would indicate the presence of gravitational waves,” Stinebring says. “We’ve noticed that pulsars are jiggling around and they're all jiggling around at about the same level of disturbance.”</p> <p>The presence of gravitational waves can cause irregularities in the timing of the pulsar ticking, as the ripples create stretching and shrinking in space-time. This change results in tiny fluctuations in the expected times of the pulsar signals, which tell us that earth’s position has changed.</p> <p>At this point, NANOGrav has discovered the possible first hints of gravitational waves, and Stinebring hopes the organization will soon have enough data to officially declare the presence of gravitational waves.</p> <p>Though Stinebring no longer teaches classes at 91ֱ��, he still works as an emeritus faculty researcher and also mentors several students. His research is funded by two grants from the National Science Foundation, one through the <a href="https://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1430284&HistoricalAwards=false">NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center</a> and one directly to <a href="https://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2009759&HistoricalAwards=false">91ֱ�� College</a>, that support his exploration of the interstellar medium using pulsars. Both grants provide funds for student support during the academic year and summer.</p> <p>“I've been working with about three students a year, trying to understand exactly how much the pulsar signal gets delayed by traveling through the interstellar medium or the gas between stars. That’s what I train 91ֱ�� students to work on, and we work side-by-side,” Stinebring explains.</p> <p>Jakob Faber, a fourth-year physics and philosophy major, began working with Professor Stinebring on radio astronomy during his first semester at 91ֱ��. He has collaborated on projects and research modeling scintillation in pulsars, studying fast radio bursts, and investigating branched flow. In addition, Jakob’s research experience has involved several major science conferences and some international travel.</p> <p>“During the summer following my second year, Professor Stinebring took me and Hengrui Zhu to a conference on scintillation in Hermanus, South Africa. We spent ten days listening to fascinating talks, having deep discussions with brilliant scientists from around the world, and hiking through gorgeous mountains and vineyards. That trip will always be one of my favorite memories at 91ֱ�� and probably my life.”</p> <p>Hengrui Zhu is a fourth-year math and physics major who has also studied alongside Stinebring since his first year at 91ֱ��. In their research, Hengrui has helped observe pulsars and analyze the data with numerical models and theoretical analysis.</p> <p>“I have had so many memorable experiences. I gave my first academic talk at a global conference held in Shanghai, China, when I was a sophomore. Our trip to South Africa for a conference in the summer of 2019 was another memorable one. Studying the neutron stars hundreds of light-years away has always been a privilege, especially with Dan's supervision.”</p> <p>The feeling is mutual—Stinebring also enjoys the collaboration.</p> <p>“The wonderful thing about working with smart 91ֱ�� students is that very quickly they are asking me questions that I can't quite answer. It leads us in new directions and we have so much fun trying to figure things out, and the students have some amazing experiences along the way.”</p> <p> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2021-03-19T12:00:00Z">Fri, 03/19/2021 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Jane Hobson ’22</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2583">College of Arts and Sciences</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3501">Teaching & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2358">Undergraduate Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/physics-and-astronomy" hreflang="und">Physics and Astronomy</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">From left, Jakob Faber ’21, Emeritus Professor of Physics Dan Stinebring, and Hengrui Zhu ’21 at a NANOGrav presentation to the NSF in April 2019 at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy Dan Stinebring</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>