New Tenure-Track Appointment.  In the spring of 2009, the Department successfully completed a search for a tenure track faculty member in Religious Studies.  Professor Erika Dyson, who begins with us this fall, received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and specializes in American religious history, church-state relations in America, and historical relationships between religion and science.  She joins us after a year as a Faculty Fellow at Colby College in Maine.  For further information on Professor Dyson’s teaching and research interests, see our current profile on her in the Faculty Spotlight section.

Visiting Faculty.  We are also pleased to be joined this fall by two visiting faculty members: Jennifer Tucker of Wesleyan University will spend the year with us as our Hixon-Riggs Visiting Professor.  An historian of science whose recent work explores epistemic issues arising from the interplay between photography and science, Professor Tucker will offer courses both semesters, as well as organize a fall reading group for interested faculty and a spring conference entitled Science—A Moving Image.  The conference will be held on campus February 18-20, 2010. 

Jacqueline Wernimont begins a two-year appointment with us as Visiting Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, following an appointment last year as Visiting Lecturer.  Professor Wernimont received her Ph.D. from Brown University in 2009.  Her areas of interest include 16th and 17th century British literature and the history of science and mathematics (1500-1700). 

Other Comings and Goings.  The department welcomes back to campus three faculty members who took sabbaticals last year: William Alves, Isabel Balseiro, and Rachel Mayeri.  Two faculty members—Gary Evans and Paul Steinberg—have begun year-long sabbaticals, and the department wishes them a rewarding and productive time away. 

Faculty Publications.  Debra Mashek was a co-author on “The Moral Emotions, Alcohol Dependence, and HIV Risk Behavior in an Incarcerated Sample,” which appeared in Substance Use and Misuse 44: 4 (2009).  Richard Olson’s book Technology and Science in Ancient Civilizations will be published this December by Praeger Publishers.  Paul Steinberg’s article “Institutional Resilience Amid Political Change: The Case of Biodiversity Conservation,” was published in Global Environmental Politics 9:3 (August 2009).  Darryl Wright’s article “Ayn Rand’s Ethics: From The Fountainhead to Atlas Shrugged” was published in Robert Mayhew, ed., Essays on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (Lexington Books, 2009).

Mayeri’s Work in Two Upcoming Local Exhibits.  Several videos from Rachel Mayeri’s Primate Cinema will be installed as a solo exhibition at Pomona College Museum of Art's Project Room, opening October 31 and closing December 20.  Primate Cinema is a series of videos exploring the on-screen social dramas of human and nonhuman primates.  Professor Mayeri’s work will also be part of a group show at UC Riverside's Sweeney Art Gallery.  Entitled “Intelligent Design: Interspecies Art,” the show runs from September 5 through November 28, with a reception on September 26.  Primate Cinema will also show in London as part of a show called “Interspecies.

Mashek Receives Named Professorship, National Award.  Harvey Mudd College has named Debra Mashek the Critchell Assistant Professor.  The Critchell Professorship is awarded to a junior professor as a way of recognizing faculty who, in the early stages of their careers, have exhibited an unusual talent for mentoring and counseling students in all aspects of their lives.  Professor Mashek has also been awarded the Jane S. Halonen Early Career Teaching award by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association.  This national award is given to one person per year in recognition of excellence in teaching during the first five years of full-time teaching.  The Department congratulates Professor Mashek on these achievements.