Spectrum - Volume 18 Issue 17 January 18, 1996 - Achievers

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Achievers

Spectrum Volume 18 Issue 17 - January 18, 1996

Deborah Mayo, associate professor of philosophy, has a book, Error and the Growth of Experimental Knowledge , forthcoming from The University of Chicago Press in its Series in Conceptual Foundations of Science.

Joseph Pitt , professor of philosophy and head of the philosophy department, gave an invited paper, "The Wages of Sin; King Arthur and Civil Society," at Clemson University.

Valerie Gray Hardcastle, assistant professor of philosophy, has a book, Locating Consciousness , forthcoming from John Benjamins Press in their Advances in Consciousness Research Series. She has a two-part series of articles forthcoming in Philosophical Psychology : "Discovering the Moment of Consciousness? I: Bridging Techniques at Work" and "Discovering the Moment of Consciousness? II: An ERP Analysis of Priming Using Novel Visual Stimuli."

John Cairns Jr., university distinguished professor of environmental biology emeritus, has been appointed a member of the Certification Review Board of the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals. This organization certifies environmental professionals in all professions from law to various fields of science and engineering. Cairns also was a member of the 17-person advisory board that put together the three-volume Encyclopedia of Environmental Biology published by Academic Press. The three volumes totaled 2,100 pages. Cairns also was one of the organizers of the recently published Houghton Mifflin Publishers' The Encyclopedia of The Environment.

John Christman, associate professor of philosophy, recently published the book The Myth of Property with Oxford University Press. He also gave a talk, "Public Funding for the Arts in a Liberal Culture," at the Thirteenth Annual International Congress of Aesthetics in Lahti, Finland.

Gary Hardcastle, assistant professor of philosophy and science studies, recently published "S.S. Stevens and the Origins of Operationalism" in the journal Philosophy of Science.

Richard M. Burian, director of the Center for the Study of Science in Society, and Jean Gayon, chair of the philosophy department at the University of Burgundy, co-organized an international symposium in honor of Marjorie Grene, honorary distinguished professor and adjunct professor of philosophy and science studies. The symposium, held at the University of Burgundy, was devoted to "Conceptions of Science: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." It featured symposiasts from eight countries, four from Virginia Tech: Grene, "The Life of Science and the Science of Life"; Roger Ariew of philosophy, "Pierre Duhem and the German Spirit"; Joseph Pitt of philosophy, "Seeing Nature: The Emergence of Scientific Observation"; and Burian, "`Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution' (Th. Dobzhansky)." Ariew and Pitt also served on the program committee.

Burian gave three presentations in Europe this past summer. He presented "Coutagne, Delage, and the Reception of Weismann in France" at the second meeting of a new French Society for History and Philosophy of Biology. "The Role of Technique: Some Transformations Wrought by Use of RNAse and Staining Techniques, 1938-1952" was one of six papers in a symposium organized by Burian and Denis Thieffry of the Free University of Brussels at a meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology in Leuven, Belgium. "On Conflicts Between Genetic and Developmental Viewpoints--and their Resolution in Molecular Biology" was an invited address at the 10th International Congress of Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science in Florence. Burian also has published "Ontological Progress in Science," with co-author J.D. Trout, in The Canadian Journal of Philosophy ; "Comments on Hans-Jorg Rheinberger's `From Experimental Systems to Cultures of Experimentation'" in Concepts, Theories, and Rationality in the Biological Sciences: The Second Pittsburgh-Konstanz Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science.

Rachel Holloway of the communication-studies department is one of 12 authors recognized as contributors to the award-winning book Eisenhower's War of Words , edited by Martin J. Medhurst. The book has been selected as a winner of the 1995 Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Public Address by the Speech Communication Association.

Sam Riley of the communication-studies department offered a workshop for graduate students and new faculty members on "Avoiding the Delivery of Verbal Chloroform: How to Do a Skillful Conference Presentation" at the annual National Convention of the American Journalism Historians Association in Tulsa, Okla.

Edd Sewell of the communication-studies department presented two papers at the International Humour Conference in Birmingham, England. One was on editorial cartoon images of Pope John Paul II and the other on the effect of varying levels of language intensity on joke appreciation. He also chaired a panel on international comics and cartoons with participants from Romania, South Africa, and the United States. Sewell also attended the annual meeting of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists and is the only "academic" who is an associate member and attends annual meetings of the professional association of Canadian and U.S. editorial cartoonists. Cartoonists from Ireland, Israel, Palestine, South Africa, Hong Kong, and the Philippines attended.

Jacqueline Bixler, associate professor of foreign languages, presented a paper on the theater of Mexican playwright Hector Azar at the Third Annual Congress on Latin American Theatre in Puebla, Mexico, in July. She later was a member of a special panel on "Emilio Carballido Abroad," which formed part of a national homage being paid to Carballido throughout Mexico as he celebrates his 45th year of playwriting. The roundtable was presented in both Mexico City and Queretaro, Mexico. Bixler recently published two essays: "Signs of Absence in Pavlovsky's `Theatre of Memory'" in Latin American Theatre Review and "From Indecency to Ideology: Sociosemiotic Subversion in Secret Obscenities " in an edited collection of play translations and essays on Chilean dramatist Marco Antonio de la Parra. She also had an essay on Carballido's play Photograph on the Beach in a collection of essays and Mexican plays published in German translation in Berlin.

John M. Carroll, professor of computer science and psychology and computer science department head, and Edward A. Fox, professor of computer science, were invited participants at the NSF-sponsored 37th Allerton Institute, "How We Do User-Centered Design and Evaluation of Digital Libraries: A Methodological Forum," in Monticello, Ill. Carroll gave a talk on "How to avoid designing digital libraries: A scenario-based approach," and Fox served on the organizing committee.

John Christman, associate professor of philosophy, had an article called "Feminism and Autonomy" in the anthology Nagging Questions: Feminist Ethics in Everyday Life .

For the second year in a row, Mark Gifford , assistant professor of philosophy, will deliver an invited paper on Aristotle as a Symposium at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association in December.

Deborah Mayo, associate professor of philosophy, has two papers forthcoming: "Severe Tests, Arguing From Error and Methodological Underdetermination" will be in Philosophical Studies; "Ducks, Rabbits, and Normal Science: Recasting the Kuhn's-Eye View of Popper" will be in the British Journal for Philosophy of Science.

Roger Ariew, professor of philosophy, and Majorie Grene, honorary distinguished professor of philosophy, have co-edited a book titled Descartes and His Contemporaries: Meditations, Objections, and Replies . As well as contributions from a number of scholars elsewhere, the book also contains articles from both Ariew and Grene and an article they co-authored. The book is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press.

Barbara Carlisle, associate professor of theatre arts, was invited to be a founding director of a new Rockefeller Foundation initiative, The Learning Communities Network, a project to improve teaching and learning in urban schools with a focus on creating an environment for continued effective adult learning. Carlisle has been leading retreats, doing planning with staff of the foundation, assisting in structuring the application process and rethinking all the issues around professional development. Ten school districts participate in the network, whose center is now in Cleveland, Ohio. Carlisle will now be doing work on leadership issues as well as alternative strategies for addressing adult learning. Carlisle also continues to work with schools in Tennessee, the seventh year of a project to encourage more absorption arts learning in elementary schools. She is advising three schools in Cleveland and Maryville, Tenn., that are making major curriculum and structural changes that put the arts more at the center of the school experience.

George Thorn, director of the MFA programs in arts administration and stage management and co-director of Arts Action Research, was invited to the White House ceremony honoring the recipients of the National Medal of Arts and the Charles Frankel Prize. The hosts of the ceremony and reception were President and Mrs. Bill Clinton.

Patricia Raun,

associate professor of theatre arts, has recorded five essays on "My View of the World" that will be aired during National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Raun wrote and recorded the human-interest essays.

Stephen K. White, professor of political science, has published an edited volume, Cambridge Companion to Habermas , with Cambridge University Press. He has also had his article " Diskurs Ethik " published in Deutsche Zeitschrift Fur Philosophie . He also gave an invited lecture at Harvard University on "Weak Ontology and Liberal Political Reflection."

Charles E. Walcott and Karen M. Hult, associate professors of political science, have had their book, Governing the White House: From Hoover Through LBJ , published by the University Press of Kansas.

Richard C. Rich, professor and chair of the political science department, gave an invited address to the Community Involvement section of the International Congress on Hazardous Waste in Atlanta. He discussed the ways communities respond to environmental contamination, and recommended public policies to promote positive outcomes.

Wayne D. Moore , assistant professor of political science, has had his article "Taking a Stand for Speech" published in the Magazine of History , Winter 1995 issue. Moore also recently presented a paper entitled "A Case for Expanding Constitutional Theory and Practice to Account for Unofficial Sources of Law" at a conference on Constitutional Politics held at Princeton University.

Michael Mills, assistant manager and pilot at the Virginia Tech Airport, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Virginia Airport Operators Council. He also has been accepted as an executive candidate in the American Association of Airport Executives. Professional membership in A.A.A.E. requires the successful completion of a three-part process that confirms the candidates eligibility to use the designation of Accredited Airport Executive (A.A.E.). The process consists of a management paper, an objective written test, and an oral examination.

D. Phillip Sponenberg, a professor in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, has published "A Conservation Breeding Handbook." The book discusses the importance of different livestock and poultry breeds and ways individual owners can ensure genetic diversity in those animals.

Terry Lawrence, a graphic designer in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded the 1995 Dean's Office Service Recognition Award. Lawrence also is completing a term as president of the VMRCVM's Staff Association.

James D. Lutz, a visiting associate professor of civil engineering, presented two papers at the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) Construction Congress in San Diego, Calif. He presented "Strategies for Fostering Enabling Technologies" in a session sponsored by the ASCE Construction Research Council titled "Technology Strategies for the Construction Industry." Ossama Salem , a former Ph.D. student of Lutz, co-authored the paper. Lutz also presented "Impact of Functional Illiteracy in the Construction Industry" in a session sponsored by the ASCE Construction Division titled "The Changing Construction Work Force." Rebecca Burleson , another former graduate student, co-authored this paper. Both papers were published in the conference proceedings.

Pushkin Kachroo, P.E., of the Center for Transportation Research, has been selected as chairman of the Mobile Robots XI (including Advanced Vehicle Systems for Automated Highway Systems) session of the 1996 Photonics East conference. This conference is sponsored by SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering, and will be held in Boston, Mass., Nov. 18-22, 1996.