Bryant University College of Arts & Sciences Fall 2018 Magazine

A Magazine of Bryant University’s College of Arts & Sciences ~ Our Programs Are Among The Nation’s Best ~ 

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#3 in Broadcast Journalism, College Magazine  #9 in Applied Mathematics, College Factual In Top 15% of schools, “Highest Paid Graduates,” Communication and Media Studies, College Factual  Top 50 Actuarial Science Programs (No. 30), Value Colleges

Bryant Economics Major Wins Prestigious Fulbright Scholarship Professor Edi Tebaldi for the Fulbright Program. Vivian is looking forward to going to Brazil, where she expects to experience first-hand “economic development and race issues in Latin America’s biggest country.” She believes that “this experience will better prepare [her] to engage with the community upon [her] return and serve as a lawyer fighting for racial and economic justice.”

Vivian Tejada ’17 is among the best of Bryant’s many success stories. She majored in Economics with a concentration in International Political Economy, is currently a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in Los Angeles and has received a highly prestigious Fulbright scholarship to teach and engage with the local community in Brazil this coming year. She was selected from over 10,000 highly qualified candidates who applied

Vivian’s story is still being written, but her achievements are a testament to her academic excellence, perseverance, and unmatched passion for engaging with the community and promoting social and political justice. Vivian leveraged her opportunities at Bryant and global experience to develop her leadership skills and an impressive portfolio that includes leading the “I Am an Immigrant Campaign” at Bryant University and serving as a fellow at Management Leadership for Tomorrow, in Washington, DC. In college, Vivian also studied abroad in Cuba, joined Bryant’s Sophomore International Experience in

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Issue 7, Fall 2018 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fulbright Scholarship…...1-2 Mentor Match: Environment ………………….2 Mentor Match: Healthcare 3 Arts, Entertainment and Publishing …..…..………….. 3 Healthcare Communication ………...…. 3 SURFing……………………….. 4 Best in Economics Competition...……....……... 5 Arts & Sciences Advisory Council………………….…….. 6 Mentor Match: Education…...................... 6 Bryant Fed Challenge…….. 7 A&S Block Party…………. 8-9 New Faculty ….……….…10-11 Human Rights Speaker Series …………………………..11 Layout and Design: Kimberly Keyes, Academic Support Manager Edited by: Brad Martin, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences and Joseph Trunzo, Professor and Department Chair for Psychology.

Chile and Argentina, and served as a political affairs intern at The Borgen Project in Seattle, WA, which advocates for foreign aid initiatives through political engagement.

“I’m fortunate to have graduated at Bryant with not only a degree in Economics but also several meaningful experiences. Many of those experiences were shared with my Economics professors who were passionate, candid, and invested in my learning. Easily accessible and always willing to go the extra mile for me, the Economics Department supported me in my academic journey in every way possible.”

Mentor Match Group: Environment Professor Nicole Freiner The Environmental Mentor Match group has been busy doing inter-disciplinary work across History and Social Sciences, Science and Technology and English and Cultural Studies. Students were excited by a recent discussion with Narragansett Tribe member Hiawatha Brown on the Waterkeepers of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, who famously protested the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline through sacred tribal lands. Mr. Brown explained the different federal categories of tribes and discussed the importance of protecting these ancestral lands. The event closed with drumming and sharing of medicine with students.

the Land Meets the Sea,” a conversation about the intersection of art and environmental science by Artist/ Cartographer Mark Adams. A Native American Cultural Celebration sponsored by the Center for Diversity Inclusion and Multi-Cultural Student Union is planned as well. Members from several Wampanoag tribes of the Northeast will be present, along with drummers and dancers who will perform while Miss Native America 2017-18 will speak about her work and experiences.

The Environmental Mentor Match group also invited students to attend a discussion of the Voting Rights Act, which included student speaker and Narragansett tribe member Scott Reels ’19. Scott explained how the ACLU decision regarding voting rights in North Dakota constitutes voter suppression.

These events were well attended and emphasize the holistic view of the Environmental Mentor Match group, especially in regard to connecting knowledge bases across the College of Arts and Sciences. Future events include a talk by Poet/Naturalist Elizabeth Bradfield and “Where

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Healthcare Mentor Match Student Lands Job at Harvard Affiliated Hospital Professor Joe Trunzo The purpose of the Healthcare Mentor Match Program is to connect students interested in healthcare issues with faculty from different disciplines outside of their own major. Faculty from Biology, Psychology, Economics, Politics and Law, and Communication all serve as mentors.

As such, students get different perspectives on healthcare, which potentially opens new doors for careers and internships. Amber Thomas ’18, decided to double major in Psychology and Biology after her first healthcare mentor match meeting. "I've always been interested in Psychology and in how the brain works," she says. "That's why I want to pursue neuropsychology. It's a perfect blend of both interests." Amber has taken full advantage of the double degree and the Mentor Match program. Her background in both fields helped her land a research job at a Harvard affiliated institution, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. After getting more experience, she plans to pursue her doctoral degree in clinical neuropsychology.

She said her faculty advisors and mentors helped her make it all work. "My mentor has been my advocate from the start,” says Thomas. “He helped me find required courses, make professional contacts, and get research experiences to help me prepare for graduate school, since I’ll also need my Ph.D." Faculty dedication to helping students is just one reason why Thomas found being a part of Bryant's close-knit community so rewarding. “You form strong relationships here. Many of my opportunities first came to me through a professor.”

Arts, Entertainment and Publishing Mentor Match Arts, Entertainment and Publishing Mentor Match attracts students from a broad range of CAS majors, such as English and Cultural Studies, Psychology, Global Studies, Actuarial Math and Communication. First year student Mariah Rogers ‘22 became interested in the Arts, Entertainment and Publishing Mentor Match in order to have guidance and support in areas such as the arts, in which she feels passionate. Rogers came to Bryant with a background in

writing, film and media arts and an interest in both the artistic and business aspects of working in the arts. With a desire to learn more about arts administration, Rogers is interested in meeting people in the field and finding unique internships to explore career possibilities.

Rogers says, “I feel the arts are a very collaborative field and this [Arts, Entertainment and Publishing Mentor Match] would give me the opportunity to converse with both students and faculty who share my interests, as well as serve as a resource for me to ask questions and get advice on expressing myself creatively. It’s also a great way for a first-year student like me to become more involved on campus!”

Strategic Healthcare Communication and Massachusetts General Hospital Communication major, Micayla Rothberg ’19, is putting her classes in strategic healthcare communication to use during her internship at Massachusetts General Hospital this fall.

As a health communication intern, she is supporting on-going programs to train clinicians and healthcare providers in better communication with their patients for CME accreditation, especially in how to communicate about serious illnesses to patients and their families. She is actively involved in the training sessions with social workers, psychologists and others. Micayla is supporting MGH’s research in patient engagement and writing for MGH’s social media, among other communication outreach efforts.

Communication Department have helped me be an active participant in what MGH is doing. I’m seeing the importance of communication skills for doctors being critical to help patients and their families navigate difficult times and situations.”

“I have truly found a passion for health communication and a career path,” says Micayla. “The classes at Bryant in the 3

Fall 2018

Biology and Psychology Students SURFing the Summer Away as Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows Professor Heather Lacey Science isn’t a product, it’s a process. Students in the sciences can’t just sit back and accumulate a collection of “scientific facts” established by others. They must engage in the process, developing hypotheses, designing and running experiments, analyzing and reporting their data, and critically considering their findings. They have to do the science.

Research skills are a critical component of all of our science programs, but students in Biology and Psychology have the opportunity to go deeper and gain valuable research experience as Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF), part of the Rhode Island Idea Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE). RI-INBRE is a partnership connecting colleges and universities across Rhode Island to promote undergraduate research in the biomedical sciences. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, RI-INBRE provides lab facilities and covers research costs for students and faculty studying cancer, neuroscience, and molecular toxicology.

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The SURF program is a 10-week paid summer fellowship where students receive research training similar to graduate school and present their research at a conference alongside SURF fellows from across the state. Students can be placed at labs at URI or Brown or can work with mentors here at Bryant. Associate Professor Chris Reid in the Science and Technology department has mentored numerous SURF students over several years, involving them in his work on antibiotics. His students have gone on to high profile doctoral programs. More recently, Associate Professor Heather Lacey in the Psychology Department started mentoring SURF students in her research on risk perception, and has seen students go on to graduate programs in school and forensic psychology.

Bryant has long emphasized hands-on applied work across all disciplines, to develop skills alongside content knowledge. For students in the sciences, the SURF program is an incomparable opportunity to get in there and do the science.

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Bryant Students Compete Against the Best in Economics Competition Professor Laura Beaudin The Principles of Economics Competition is a multi-section, team-based competition in which introductory Economics students explore how their new economic knowledge can be applied to understand and suggest solutions to current economic issues. Students work in teams throughout the semester and apply many economic concepts such as theoretical models, data analysis, and welfare implications to comprehensively understand economic issues. Past topics which student groups have considered include the minimum wage, the rising cost of healthcare, immigration, inequality, social security, resource scarcity, pollution, energy, and gun control. Once students have a deep understanding of the issue, they use advanced theory and economic concepts to suggest creative solutions for mitigation.

Student teams present their analysis to their faculty members and peers in their own class. One group from each class then moves on to the inter-class round to compete for a cash prize. Winners of the inter-class round present to judges from across the university and celebrate their success during an end-of-semester ceremony. The competition not only allows students to apply their economic knowledge in a fun, challenging, and exciting way, but also helps them to enhance their collaborative, communication, quantitative, qualitative, analytical, theoretical, and critical thinking skills. Successful students have gone on to succeed in advanced economic classes, participate in our Fed Challenge, and enjoy a wide range of accomplishments in the work place.

SAVE THE DATE Thursday, February 14, 2019 Arts and Sciences Showcase: Love Your Major Fall 2015

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College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council Dean Brad Martin On October 10, we hosted the first official meeting of the College Advisory Council, an early Wednesday evening dinner. The Council seeks to celebrate and support our CAS programs, faculty, and students; create student opportunities and internships; and solicit insights into our curriculum from professionals in a variety of fields.

The Council’s 18 members represent a diverse mix of experienced professionals from a variety of fields, enthusiastic recent alumni, and corporate recruiters. The directors of Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, representatives of Commerce RI, the insurance industry, privacy and security law, robotics software, finance, a music production and co-working space, and environmental activism all shared lively discussion about the College’s activities and future initiatives.

Current students Colby Norris ’19, a double major in Biology and Psychology from Toano, Virginia, who is applying to medical school, and Emily Nunez ’20, a Politics and Law major from Cranston, Rhode Island, spoke to the Council about their experiences in the College of Arts and Sciences. Both stressed the role of faculty, who helped them discover their passions and set them on rewarding and meaningful career paths. Additionally, our Writer-in-Residence Matthew Null, of the English and Cultural Studies Department, shared his experiences in helping shape students’ personal creative voice through writing workshops and author events.

Following these presentations, the Council members offered their perspectives on furthering the College’s engagement with a variety of partners in the fields they represented. As we made plans for our second meeting in February, I emerged from the evening truly excited and heartened by the idea that we had welcomed so many talented and accomplished leaders into the College’s community.

Mentor Match: Education Professor Allison G. Butler The Mentor Match Education Group brings together students and faculty with shared interests and expertise in the field of education. Students with diverse majors—Psychology, Mathematics, Biology, Literary and Cultural Studies, History and Social Sciences, and others—have enjoyed the opportunity to explore career pathways in education through Mentor Match programming over the past few years.

Bryant graduates have an excellent track record of admissions to prestigious Master’s and Ph.D. programs in education, elementary and secondary teaching, school psychology, educational psychology, special education, administration/educational leadership, and school counseling. For students who are interested in learning more about graduate study or careers in these fields, the Mentor Match Education group provides an enthusiastic and multidisciplinary team of faculty mentors who are eager to answer questions and share their knowledge and expertise.

Each year, we hold interactive events to foster connections among education-minded students and faculty. We also invite Bryant alumni back to campus to connect with current students and share how they transitioned into a teaching or education-related graduate program or career. Mentor Match Education has hosted two film screenings, each followed by a lively discussion. Shortly after the Academic Innovation Center opened, we hosted an official screening of the documentary Most Likely to Succeed, an eye-opening film which challenges traditional teaching approaches and offers a reimagined view of high school teaching and learning. Last spring, we watched Waiting for Superman and examined current educational policy to determine whether we are still waiting for “Superman” to save American schools.

Our first program for this year will be a screening and discussion of Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the 2018 documentary about Mr. Rogers, an icon and pioneer in early childhood education. This inspiring film is the highest grossing biographical documentary of all time!

Fall 2015

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Fall 2018

Bryant Fed Challenge Professors Robert Reinauer and Allison Kaminaga

Federal Reserve, Boston, MA On Monday, October 29, eight Bryant University undergraduate students traveled to the Federal Reserve in Boston to compete in the Fed Challenge Competition. The Fed Challenge Competition is a team project that challenges students to analyze the current state of the U.S. economy, identify strengths and risks and make a monetary policy recommendation. It is a student-led active and applied learning experience that provides an opportunity for students to not only hone their economic and financial expertise, but also enhance research, communication and presentation skills. Preparation for the competition requires dedication and motivation. The Bryant team began work in June and met a minimum of five times a week once the fall semester started. This year's Fed Challenge team included: Michael Alfieri (Class of 2021), Kathleen Bannon (Class of 2021), James Baxter (Class of 2019), Juliana Cappola (Class of 2021), Richard Mydland (Class of 2019), Hannah Sheldon (Class of 2020), Francesco Volpi (Class of 2020), and Andrew Gibbs (Class of 2021). Professor Reinauer and Professor Kaminaga served as advisers.

The Federal Reserve Challenge is structured into multiple divisions. All of the 25 schools are randomly assigned into 5 divisions (A, B, C, D, E) with 5 schools in each division. The winner from each division moves on to the regional finals. Then the winner of the regional finals goes on to the national finals. While Bryant has done extremely well in this competition in the past, we unfortunately lost to Harvard in our division, who then went on to place 2nd in the regional finals behind Yale.

THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS Psychology  Joseph Trunzo, Chair Communication  Kevin Pearce, Chair Economics  Jongsung Kim, Chair English & Cultural Studies  Martha Kuhlman, Chair

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History & Social Sciences  John Dietrich, Chair Mathematics  Rick Gorvett, Chair Modern Languages  Tony Houston, Chair Science & Technology  Kirsten Hokeness, Chair

Fall 2018

College of Arts and Sciences Block Party—October 4, 2018 The College of Arts and Sciences held its Fourth Annual Block Party in October, celebrating Arts and Sciences at Bryant and helping students connect with professors, career advisors, and each other, while eating some great food, listening to great live music, and grabbing some great SWAG! The Block Party has become a Bryant tradition, where students can get together, relax, enjoy each other, learn more about the various Arts & Sciences departments, and just have fun.

Students enter the Block Party area on the main lawn, then visit all of the departments’ tables, where there are interactive activities run by faculty and department majors. Once they’ve visited all of the tables, they get to collect their SWAG. This year everyone got a Bryant Arts & Sciences hoodie!

The Block Party is a great opportunity for students to connect with other members of the Arts & Sciences community and learn what A&S has to offer in terms of majors, concentrations, and minors. Many faculty even bring their dogs, so there is an easy, relaxed vibe to the event. There is great food, music, games, and lots of fun for the whole campus. We hope to see you there next year!

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Bryant’s Fourth Annual Arts & Sciences Block Party is a Huge Success

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Fall 2018

Welcome to Our New Faculty 2018-2019 Drea Brown holds a P h.D. in Afr ican and Afr ican Diaspora Studies from University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in Poetry and poetics from the University of Oregon. She published a chapbook, Dear Girl: A Reckoning with Gold Line Press in 2015, as well as several poems in journals and anthologies. Before coming to Bryant, she taught in the Center for Geographies of Justice department at Goucher College. Dr. Brown teaches poetry, black women’s literature, black feminisms, women, gender, sexuality, and queer studies, and African diaspora spiritualities.

This spring she will teach Black Feminist Foundations and Futures, as well as a poetry writing workshop. We are thrilled that Dr. Brown is joining us as an Assistant Professor in the department of English and Cultural Studies.

Kathleen Daly joined th e h istor y faculty as a Lecturer after having previously taught at Bryant and elsewhere. She completed her B.A. at Smith College. She has a Ph.D. in American Studies from Boston University. Her research has focused on the portrayal of healthy women’s bodies and American cultural history.

At Bryant, she has taught introduction to U.S. history, introduction to American Studies, U.S. Women’s history and upper level courses on recent American history and Contemporary Thought. She is an innovative teacher and has published an article on teaching students with learning differences.

Rick Gorvett, Pr ofessor and Ch air of the Mathematics Department, has a background as a Staff Actuary of the Casualty Actuarial Society, where his primary activities involve research, education, a spokesperson for CAS and helping to create the new professional predictive analytics credential. He is also editor-in-chief of Variance, the CAS’s scholarly publication and served on the board of directors of the CAS. He has a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MBA in statistics and econometrics from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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At the University of Illinois, he often taught undergraduate classes with 150 students and is excited to be at Bryant with smaller classes, where teaching, mentoring, and personal interaction is both valued and emphasized.

Gerald Francis John, Lectu r er in the Depar tm ent of Science & Technology since September 2018, received his Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Anna University (Chennai, India). He then went to Auburn University to pursue his Ph.D. in Civil/ Environmental Engineering. His research predominantly focused on the fate of oil spill residues related to Deepwater Horizon Accident in the beaches of Alabama. After graduation, he worked in a commercial environmental laboratory specializing in environmental forensics before joining Bryant University.

At Bryant, he teaches courses in Organic Chemistry, Energy Management, and Sustainable Air and Water. He also manages Bryant’s Research Analytical Laboratory.

His research interests include water quality, environmental forensics, fate of pollutants and micro-plastics.

Jeremy Pearson jo in ed the h istor y faculty as a Lecturer after completing a post-doc at Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute. He completed his B.A. and M.A. at San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee. His dissertation The Islamic World and the Latin East: William of Tripoli and His Syrian Context draws from his extensive fieldwork in the Middle East and mastery of several modern and ancient languages.

At Bryant, he is teaching World History before 1500, and two eras of European history. He will be teaching history of Britain and of East Asia where he can focus on the interactions of those regions with others and Early Modern European history that directly covers his research areas.

Fall 2018

New Faculty 2018-2019 Mary Robins brings more than 20 years of experience in business and corporate education from a variety of industries, where she facilitated management and leadership classes, created and managed curriculum to support competency-based learning for executives, and oversaw the design of instructional programs. Prior to joining Bryant as a Lecturer in the Department of Communication, Mary taught at Northeastern University and Nichols College as well as worked as a marketing consultant for a social media marketing firm and an online media education company. In her spare time, Mary enjoys sailing, skiing, hiking, travel, reading, learning and spending time with her husband, 3 daughters, and 2 dogs.

Zhongyuan Williams r eceived a Master ’s degree in Chinese language and pedagogy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2012. She taught Chinese as a foreign language in Japan, starting from 1999. After she moved to the U.S. in 2007, she taught Chinese language in a variety of educational institutions, including Amherst Regional High School and the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures at UMass Amherst. In 2012, she joined the faculty at Bryant University as an Adjunct Lecturer and is currently a Lecturer of Chinese in the Modern Languages Department. At Bryant, she has been teaching Chinese classes at all levels and organizing most of the Chinese cultural workshops and events. Zhongyuan is a dedicated educator and compassionate instructor for her students.

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC POLICY MENTOR MATCH STUDENTS ATTEND HUMAN RIGHTS SPEAKER SERIES Professor Alex Perullo During the fall semester, the Global Studies program created the Human Rights Speakers Series to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Professor Alex Nading, Senior Fellow for International and Public Affairs at the Watson Institute at Brown University, opened the Series with a talk on "Human Rights, Justice, and Global Epidemics." In his talk, Nading discussed Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its connection to different forms of justice. He used his work on chronic kidney failure among sugarcane workers in Nicaragua and recent events surrounding the Zika virus in Latin America to discuss the elasticity of rights and justice in these regions.

The second speaker was Professor Navid Fozi who spoke on the “Question of Religious Freedom in Iran.” Professor Fozi has done extensive fieldwork among religious minorities in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora in Turkey and Malaysia. In his talk Professor Fozi drew various historical links to the UDHR to discuss notions of rights for and religious persecution of religious minorities in Iran.

The third speaker in the series was Dr. Richard Wilson, Gladstein Chair of Human Rights at the University of Connecticut. His talk was titled, "How to Deal with Hate: Balancing Security and Freedom of Speech" and focused on a variety of issues, including an analysis of hate speech cases and the challenges of prosecuting cases where vulnerable populations are impacted by hate crimes. Dr. Wilson offered an alternative means to determine the risk of hate speech, which included understanding the attributes of the speaker, the content of the message, and the context of the speech.

The final speaker will be Dr. Annelies Verstichel. Dr. Verstichel is part of the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the United Nations, and she holds a Ph.D. in human rights and minority rights from the European University Institute.

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