French and psychology double major Sarah Woods ’21 is now a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, studying cognition and neural science in the department of psychology. She was recently selected as a recipient of the prestigious and nationally competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations to Sarah and her SU faculty champions who prepared her for this next step!

The following individuals were recently recognized as award recipients for the 2022-23 academic year. Teaching awards: Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chelsea Massaro, Assistant Professor of Philosophy Jorge Lizarzaburu, and Associate Professor of French Francis Mathieu. Assistant Professor of Art Ron Geibel won the Jesse E. Purdy Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Works Award. The Advising Award went to Associate Professor of Chemistry Michael Gesinski.

Associate Professor of French Francis Mathieu recently published a peer-reviewed article titled “An All-Divine Love: Conjugal Love Versus Romantic Love in Lafayette’s Princesse de Clèves” in the interdisciplinary French literature journal Cahiers du Dix-septième.

Meili Criezis  ’17 published a peer-reviewed article as part of the CTC Sentinel  special June issue on coronavirus and counterterrorism: “Pandemic Narratives: Pro-Islamic State Media and the Coronavirus.” Criezis also published “Islamic State Telegram Stickers: Purposes, Themes, and Narratives” for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology at King’s College London.

Associate Professor of French Francis Mathieu chaired a panel organized by Women in French and titled “Women’s Infidelity” at the 117th annual conference of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, in San Diego, CA, in November 2019.  Women in French is a scholarly association whose goal is to promote the study of French and Francophone women authors, the study of women’s place in French and Francophone cultures or literatures, and feminist literary criticism.

Associate Professor of French Francis Mathieu  has just published a book review of Herrick Chapman’s France’s Long Reconstruction: In Search of the Modern Republic in the French Review  (vol. 92, no. 4, pp.217–218).

Associate Professor of French Francis Mathieu presented a paper titled “Seduction or Harassment? The Case of Lafayette’s Princess de Cleves” at the 50th Northeast Modern Language Association in Washington, DC, on March 23. His paper was presented as part of a panel titled “Confronting Sexual Assault in French and Francophone Literature.”

Eleven Southwestern University faculty members have won Sam Taylor Fellowship grants to support their research, with award amounts ranging from $1,000 to $1,600. Sam Taylor Fellowships are selected through a competitive application process and are provided by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. This year’s recipients are

• Professor of Physics Steven Alexander, “Generating Energy from Hot Sidewalks” (awarded $1,200)
• Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Lamiyah Bahrainwala, “The Politics of Stealth Halal: Re-Presenting the Islamic Origins of U.S. Meat Products” (awarded $1,600)
• Associate Professor of German Erika Berroth , “Nature Education in the German Classroom: Possibilities for Integration and Inclusion?” (awarded $1,400)
• Professor of Biology Romi Burks, “Unravelling the Mystery: Genetic Differentiation of Chinese and Japanese Mysterysnails Using 16S” (awarded $1,400)
• Assistant Professor of History Jethro Hernandez Berrones, “With Indigenist Spirit: Doctors on Spiritual Practices in Post-Revolutionary Mexico” (awarded $1,500)
• Professor of Anthropology Melissa Johnson, “Human–Jaguar Becomings and Racial Capitalism in Belize” (awarded $1,000)
• Associate Professor of French Francis Mathieu, “Research on Claire de Duras’s Avant-Garde Novella, Ourika” (awarded $1,400)
• Associate Professor of French Aaron Prevots, “Gestures toward the Sacred: Guillevic, Vargaftig, Tellermann, Michel” (awarded $1,400)
• Associate Professor of Communication Studies Valerie Renegar, “Contemporary Modes of Parenting: Disrupting the Representation of Stepmothers in Popular Culture” (awarded $1,500)
• Associate Professor of Spanish Maria De Los Angeles Rodriguez Cadena, “Cultural Memory and Historical Fiction: Women of the Past on Television and Film by Four Contemporary Mexican Women Directors” (awarded $1,400)
• Assistant Professor of Political Science Emily Sydnor, “Researching Attachments to American Political Institutions” (awarded $1,600)

Associate Professor of French Francis Mathieu chaired a special session titled “Married Female Characters of French Women Authors” at the 2018 Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association annual conference, in Bellingham, WA. Until just a few decades ago, French women were expected to marry, be submissive, and not strive for much more. French women authors have reflected a range of responses to such social expectations through their married heroines by imagining alternative life choices, subverting oppressive societal norms, and disrupting paradigms. In the wake of the Me Too movement, Mathieu successfully proposed this special session to the conference organizers in order to allow fellow French literature scholars to share their recent research on this topic.