Summer 2024 Faculty Update

Associate Professor of Linguistics Jane Chandlee received a grant from the National Science Foundation for a three-year research project called Subregular Inference of Morpho-phonology. This research is a collaboration with co-PIs at Rutgers and Stony Brook Universities. Together, they will be developing computational models of phonological and morphological acquisition based on formal language theoretic typological properties.

Professor of Chemistry Lou Charkoudian was awarded a $462,351 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will fund her continued work on engaging Haverford College undergraduate students in studying natural product biosynthesis with the goal of using knowledge gained to develop new sustainable routes to medicinally relevant molecules. 

She also gave keynote talks for the international Directing Biosynthesis VII Conference as well as the National Science Foundation Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology meeting. Charkoudian also co-organized the 2024 Cottrell Scholars Conference on “Inclusive Science Communication: Making Science Make Sense for Everybody” in Tucson, Arizona.

Executive Director of the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship Eric Hartman published a review essay, "Isn’t global thinking relevant — even essential — for any civic education?" in the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement.

Hartman was also invited to publish an essay in the NAFSA Global Studies Literature Review, Re-centering, Reprioritizing, and Re-Engaging a Sense of Community within International Education. The resulting essay, "Wanted: Community of global educators seeking global community," appears in Volume 13 of the journal.

In June, Hartman delivered an invited talk and workshop on community-engaged learning at Franklin & Marshall College titled “Pedagogy, Partnerships, Forced Migration, and the Liberal Arts.”

The C.V. Starr Professor of Asian Studies, Professor of Chinese and Linguistics, and Director of the Chinese Language Program Shi-Zhe Huang published “Cross-linguistic comparisons on distributive universal quantification: Each vs. every vs. mei” (Shi-Zhe Huang, Tyler Knowlton, and Florian Schwarz). Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 9(1). 5678. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5678.

She also presented a paper titled “Topical vs. Non-topical mei (每)” at the 30th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics, at Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, held May 25 to 27.

The John R. Coleman Associate Professor of History Andrew Friedman appeared on Washington, D.C.-based poet Ethelbert Miller's radio show On the Margin in May. In addition, Friedman spent the past year as a Mellon Fellow in Democracy and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University.

Associate Professor of Computer Science Alvin Grissom II presented work on intrinsic biases of facial generation algorithms at Hiroshima University and Waseda University. He was also one awardee of a multi-institution National Science Foundation research grant to study language models: "Collaborative Research: RI: Medium: Hard Data to the Model: Personalized, Diverse Preferences for Language Models."

Term Professor and Chair of the Bryn Mawr/Haverford Education Department Alice Lesnick published two papers: 

Lesnick, A., Evans, S. K., Schall, M., & Cook-Sather, A. (2024). “Midterm conversations as co-creation of equitable and inclusive formative assessment.” International Journal for Students as Partners, 8(1), 180–189. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v8i1.5466

Cook-Sather, A. & Lesnick, A. “Engaged voices, engaged beings: Exploring tensions, transgressions, and risks in using co-created, shared Google Docs to build classroom community and to co-author.” Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, no. 23. 

Associate Professor and Haverford Chair of Linguistics Brook Lillehaugen was an invited panelist at the ACLS-hosted panel "Digital Justice and Disaster Recovery" at the DH2024 conference in Arlington, Virginia, on August 6.

The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) presented Emeritus Professor of Music Thomas Lloyd with the Elaine Brown Award for Choral Excellence. The award is a lifetime achievement award named in honor of the founder of the Singing City Choir in Philadelphia. This year's award was presented at the annual summer conference on August 5 at West Chester University by Assistant Professor of Music Nate Zullinger, who is also president-elect of ACDA-PA and current director of choral and vocal studies program at Haverford.

Professor of Physics and Astronomy Karen Masters joined a U.S. Department of State Discussion Group on the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS)-affiliated “Group of Friends for Dark and Quiet Skies” and attended its first meeting in June.

She also spent a lot of time vetting eclipse glasses for recycling with Astronomers without Borders. Thousands have been mailed to the observatory since the April eclipse.

Masters had the following publications accepted: 
Nora Salem ’26 & Masters: "Finding Passive Galaxies in H I-MaNGA: The Impact of Star Formation Rate Indicator" Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, vol 8, page 188

Masters & Galaxy Zoo team, "Galaxy Zoo: Morphologies based on UKIDSS NIR Imaging for 71,052 Galaxies" Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society 8, 198

Masters also attended the general assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, the first such meeting in 100 years of the IAU to be held on the African continent. Masters gave a talk titled "The Latest from Galaxy Zoo" and also participated in organizing a session on "HI in and Around Galaxies in the Era of the SKA."

Associate Professor of Computer Science Sara Mathieson published a paper and made the following presentations:

Publication: "Interpreting Generative Adversarial Networks to Infer Natural Selection from Genetic Data." Authors: Rebecca Riley, Iain Mathieson, Sara Mathieson. Journal: Genetics, February 2024

Presentation at the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) meeting: "Interpreting deep learning methods for population genetic inference," Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, July 10, 2024.

Presentation at the conference Machine Learning for Evolutionary Genomics Data: "Generative adversarial networks, transfer learning, and interpretability for evolutionary inference," Crete, Greece, May 14, 2024.

Presentation at TAGC/PEQG: "Generative adversarial networks, transfer learning, and interpretability for evolutionary inference," Washington, D.C., March 8, 2024.

Mathieson also had an NIH R15 grant renewed: "Adaptive evolutionary inference frameworks for understudied populations using generative neural networks" for 2024 through 2027.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Linguistics Gesoel Mendes published “Agreement Switch in Verb-Echo Answers: Evidence for Distributed Ellipsis” in Linguistic Inquiry.

Authors: Gesoel Mendes, Marta Ruda, Jana Willer-Gold, Boban Arsenijević, Bojana Ristić, Nermina Čordalija, Nedžad Leko, Frane Malenica, Franc Lanko Marušič, Irina Masnikosa, Tanja Milićev, Nataša Milićević, Petra Mišmaš, Ivana Mitić, Branimir Stanković, Matea Tolić, Jelena Tušek, Anita Peti-Stantić, Andrew Nevins. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/ling_a_00539.

Professor of Chemistry Alex Norquist recently published a paper in which his lab used active learning to more efficiently select surface ligands for perovskite nanocrystal growth, based upon the enhancement of luminescent properties. The lab developed an ML model designed to predict the relative PL enhancement of perovskite NCs when coordinated with a ligand selected from a pool of 29,904 candidate molecules. Ligand candidates were selected using an active learning (AL) approach that accounted for uncertainty quantified by twin regressors. After eight experimental iterations of batch AL (corresponding to 21 initial and 72 model-recommended ligands), the uncertainty of the model decreased, demonstrating an increased confidence in the model predictions.

The full reference for this publication is Kim, M. A.; Ai, Q.; Norquist, A. J.; Schrier, J.; Chan, E. M. Active learning of ligands that enhance perovskite nanocrystal luminescence. ACS Nano, 2024, 18, 14514-14522.

Professor Emerita of Classics and Comparative Literature Deborah Roberts’ new translation of Aeschylus' tragedy Persians, with introduction, notes, and selections from Herodotus' Histories, was published by Hackett this spring.

Visiting Assistant Professor of the Writing Program Christopher R. Rogers published Annunciating a Community Cultural Platform with Holistic Preservation, a report detailing the community-led efforts to revitalize the National Historic Landmark Henry Ossawa Tanner House in North Philadelphia alongside the Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites

Assistant Professor of History Marlen Rosas published  “‘God Save Me from a Civilized Indian’: Labor Union Schools and Contending Visions for Indigenous Education in Ecuador, 1936–1963” in the Hispanic American Historical Review.

Associate Professor of Anthropology Zainab Saleh published an article titled “The De-Nationalization of Iraqi Jews: The Legal and Rhetorical Production of Otherness,” in Palestine/Israel Review. She also delivered a lecture, titled “Autobiographical Archives as Politics of Reclamation” at The Centre for Ethics and Critical Though, Edinburgh University, and another lecture titled “Gender Ruptures: Citizenship and Honor in Iraq” during a two-day symposium at University of Minnesota that focused on violence and knowledge production in the Middle East.

Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature Ulrich Schönherr performed with his quintet at the International Jazz Festival in Idstein, Germany, on July 7. The playlist included compositions by McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Keith Jarrett, Sam Rivers, and Horace Silver.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology Zeynep Sertbulut’s article “They don't care what we watch: on ratings and culture-making in the Dizi industry” has been accepted for publication in the Visual Anthropology Review’s Fall 2024 issue. She has also been invited to speak at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, where she will present her paper, "Mediating Gender in Turkey’s Streaming Industry,” in a roundtable on Global South streaming platforms. Additionally, Zeynep has been invited to present her work on the politics of audience measurement and media censorship in Turkey at the 2024 annual conferences of the American Anthropological Association and the Middle East Studies Association. 

Associate Professor and Director of Peace, Justice, and Human Rights Jill Stauffer presented “On listening, and hearing difficult stories” at the Annual Meeting of Law, Culture, and the Humanities in May at UBC Allard School of Law Vancouver.

Audrey A. and John L. Dusseau Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Fine Arts William Williams was a guest of the Peabody Museum at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 16, which included the following programming:

Manifest: Thirteen Colonies Exhibition Preview & Conversation
Wendel A. White, Distinguished Professor of Art, Stockton University; 2021 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University in conversation with William E. Williams, Audrey A. and John L. Dusseau Professor in the Humanities; Professor of Fine Arts, Haverford College

Visual artist Wendel A. White photographs objects, documents, and books held in public collections to explore the complexities of American history, slavery, abolition, concepts of race, and Black life and culture. In this program, marking the upcoming exhibition of his work at the Peabody Museum, White engaged in a conversation with photographer William E. Williams, whose own images of architecture, landscapes, and African American historical sites examine similar topics. Both artists shared their approaches to documenting complex and painful aspects of U.S. history. Their conversation highlighted marginalized or overlooked Black and African American stories of resilience, ingenuity, and agency. Among the topics discussed was reconnecting consciousness and memories to places and objects that signify the lives and experiences of Black communities.

A reception and exhibition preview followed in the galleries of the Peabody Museum. Advance copies of the related book Wendel A. White: Manifest | Thirteen Colonies were made available to view and preorder. 

Williams’ work was also included in the exhibition Core / Collections: Let's Talk About It from March 21 to May 19 at Colgate University’s Picker Art Gallery. Williams also participated in an Underground Railroad colloquium at Colgate in July, and his catalog A Wicked Commerce, published by The Picker Gallery, was selected by World Wide Books for wider distribution. 

The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, held a study day focused on Williams’ photographs in March. The day was an opportunity for museum associate curator Jenny Parsons and independent historian Carolyn Wakeman to share current research and receive feedback gathered over the past year with invited scholars, curators, and artists. The focus of the research is on slavery and resistance to it in Old Lyme and beyond. 

An exhibition and publication are planned to open at the museum in February. The day also included site visits around Old Lyme where the enslaved lived, worked, self-emancipated, and are buried. 

In June, Professor Emeritus of History and Visiting Professor in the Writing Program and Quaker Studies Emma Lapansky-Werner published a biography of Chuck Fager titled Tell It Slant:: A prophetic life of adventure & writing on religion, war, and justice, love and laughter via Kimo Press.

Assistant Professor of Music Nate Zullinger recently presented at the state conference of the American Choral Directors Association. The focus of his presentation was maintaining good mental health for artistic and educational leadership. Zullinger has also been elected to a term as president of ACDA-PA, which will take effect in 2026.