all Union in the Media Archive

Mary O'Keeffe, a public policy economist who supervises the College's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, was recently honored with a Jefferson Medal, the "Nobel Prize of public service," at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Jefferson Awards Foundation, the annual honors recognize "unsung heroes" from across the country for their community service.

A public policy economist who teaches the College’s service-learning class, “ Income Tax Policy and Practice,” O'Keeffe has helped Union students secure nearly $4 million in state and federal refunds for low-income working families and senior citizens.

To read an article in the Times Union, click here.

George Bizer, professor of psychology, and Erika Wells, visiting assistant professor of psychology, were mentioned in a recent article examining the popularity of the Disney blockbuster Frozen.

The article was among the most viewed on The New Yorker's website.

To read the article, click here.

Dr. Deborah L. Birx, a renowned international expert in the in the filed of HIV/AIDS, was the featured speaker at Union's 220th Commencement June 15.

Approximately 500 students in the Class of 2014 received their degrees during the ceremony on Hull Plaza.

To view a photo gallery in the Times Union, click here.

Elaine Houston from WNYT-Channel 13 visited campus recently to check out Union's new 3D printer.

Housed in the Collaborative Design Studio in the basement of the Wold Center, the printer was purchased through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Michael Warrener '16 and Rebecca Koopmann '89, professor of physics and astronomy, recently observed at the WIYN 0.9m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz. The observations of the star formation properties of nearby galaxies will clarify the role of a galaxy's environment on its evolution. Earlier in the year, Warrener observed with Koopmann and Lucas Viani '14 at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Both trips were funded by Koopmann's Undergraduate ALFALFA Team grant from the National Science Foundation. Warrener received a Hoffleit Undergraduate Astronomy Research Scholarship at Yale University for the summer to continue his study of galaxy evolution. Lucas Viani will begin graduate studies in astronomy at Yale this fall.

An article by Joyce Madancy, associate professor and chair of the History Department, was published in the winter edition of The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs: An Interdisciplinary Journal. The piece was titled, “Smoke and Mirrors: Gender, Colonialism and the Royal Commission on Opium.”

Daniel Mosquera, associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, was invited to give a seminar in the Department of Portuguese at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He presented “Between Ecology and Necropolitics: Of Trash and Self in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema." He also attended the two-day conference at Oxford, “The Tunisian Revolution: Origins, Process and Outcomes.”

An editorial piece by Eddie Summers, chief of staff, was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal. The article strategized how the city of Poughkeepsie could use its assets to remain viable in the global economy. Read his article here.

Christine Henseler, associate professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies and chair of the department of Modern Languages, is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post on the arts and humanities.

She is involved in the advocacy of the arts and humanities through 4Humanities.org and "The Arts and Humanities in the 21st Century Workplace" campaigns about the arts and humanities.

To read the clip, click here.

Bunkong Tuon, assistant professor of English, recently published an article on the poetry of Chanrithy Him in Mosaic: a Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature. His poetry has also been anthologized in With Our Eyes Wide Open: Poems for the New American Century (West End Press, 2014), edited by Doug Valentine. As part of this publication, he read with four other poets at Smith College on April 1. To read more about this event, click here.

A review by Tim Olsen, associate professor of music, was published in the winter edition of "The Hymn," the journal of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. The article discusses jazz- and gospel-based recordings by pianist Dan Damon and saxophonist Kirk Whalum.

Nicholas Weidhaas ’15 was awarded the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America Stephen Pollock Undergraduate Research Program grant. His research involves Holocene climatic change in the Peruvian Andes where he will study the impacts of climate change on glaciers and lakes. The award includes $800 to fund analyses in Union’s new Stable Isotope Laboratory, and he will travel to the Peruvian Andes this summer to collect samples.

Chief Diversity Officer Gretchel Hathaway and Associate Professor of Sociology Deidre Hill Butler were speakers on a panel, “Powering Through Institutional Obstacles: The State of Women of Color in Higher Education.” The event was hosted by the Leadership Council on Inclusion at Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y., on April 17.

An article by Frank Wicks, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was featured in a recent issue of “Mechanical Engineering,” a publication of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. “Hubbert’s Peak and Mitchell’s Boom” connects oil geologist King Hubbert and his Peak Oil graph with the game-changing new techniques pioneered by the late George Mitchell, a Texas billionaire known as the “Father of Hydrofracking.” The article traces the history leading to the new techniques, and notes the good, the bad and the uncertainties.

Daniel Mosquera, associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, attended the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference in Seattle, where he delivered a paper. “Favelado/Fabulado: Participatory Indexicality and Trash Aesthetics in Contemporary Brazil” was part of a panel dealing with uses and subversions of documentary immediacy in recent autoethnographic visual media.

Research by Scott Kirkton, associate professor of biology, was featured on WAMC’s “Academic Minute.” He explained his work on the biochemistry that triggers a grasshopper’s molting process. The radio piece was also featured on Inside Higher Ed.

Jordan Smith, the Edward E. Hale, Jr. Professor of English, recently released “Clare’s Empire,” a sequence of poems on the life and work of British poet John Clare. The work is available as an e-book and online (Kindle, iTunes) from The Hydroelectric Press, a digital publishing company founded by Michael Allen Potter ‘94. Read more about Smith’s work here.

Jillmarie Murphy, assistant professor of English, presented a paper, “Anti-Landscapes and Urban Attachments in Charles Brockden Brown's Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793," as part of the "Urban Psychologies" panel at the 19th Century Studies Association Conference in Chicago in mid-March.

Hilary Zelson ‘11 was selected as lead artist for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Community Arts Initiative Artist Project. This project involves teaching young children and is a year-long collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts and 10 community organizations in Boston.

Deidre Hill Butler, associate professor of sociology and director of the Africana Studies program, participated on a “Faculty Transitions: Joining, Tenure, Promotion, Administration and Committee Work" panel at the NY6 Faculty of Color in Liberal Arts Conference at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Butler is also facilitating an adult reading group, "Conversations on Giving, Serving and Learning," at the Schenectady Public Library main branch Wednesday evenings in April. This program is sponsored by a grant from the New York State Council on the Humanities.

Edward Summers, chief of staff, attended the American Council on Education’s 96th annual meeting in San Diego. The discussion focused on issues critical issues in higher education. Sessions highlighted emerging technologies and data, and how they are transforming campus operations, teaching and research.

Christopher Chabris, associate professor of psychology, co-authored an essay for Slate with David Z. Hambrick, a professor at Michigan State University

The pair weighed in on the impact of new changes to the SAT.

To read the piece, click here.

Union's recent A Day 4 U fundraising event, was mentioned in an article in the Albany Business Review looking at what colleges are doing differently to engage alumni and raise funds.

To read the article, click here.