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Dear Friends of CSSME:
As many of you know, last year I made the decision to retire, and as a result, I am now in my last semester as
dean of the College of
Social Sciences,
Mathematics and
Education. I have served as dean for the past 10 years and I have truly loved every minute of it. The growth and development of the college, as well as the entire university is nothing short of amazing; and to be a small part of it has been remarkably fulfilling. But most gratifying was the opportunity to work with so many talented colleagues and engage with so many smart students.
As a way to express my sincere gratitude to UT, I have established an endowed scholarship fund to be known as the “Dean’s Scholarship in CSSME.” This renewable scholarship will be awarded to selected students in CSSME who have a demonstrated financial need and maintain a GPA of at least 3.0. Preference will be given to students majoring in Sociology, but the scholarship can be awarded to students in all CSSME departments.
But most exciting is that while I have established this endowment, anyone is free to add their donation to it. And of course, the more that is donated, the more the endowment grows, and the more it grows, the more CSSME students in need we can help! So, if you are so inclined to help our CSSME students in need, please consider a contribution of any size online and designating it to the Dean’s Scholarship in CSSME.
Finally, as you review the articles in this edition of Community Connection, you can certainly see why it has been such a rewarding 10 years here at UT.
With nothing but gratitude, I am …
Sincerely,
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Jack M. Geller, Ph.D., Dean | | |
UT Student Delivers Senior Thesis Research at the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association | |
On January 7, Marin Burke, senior History major and Latin American Studies minor, presented her senior thesis research at the Undergraduate Poster Exhibition at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA) in Philadelphia. Marin and Professor Pompeian attended the AHA conference, the largest and oldest professional association for historians in the United States. Marin’s poster presented the findings of four months of rigorous research and writing after she conducted summer-long field research at the Roman Catholic Church’s Diocesan Archive of the Mexican State of Chiapas in San Cristóbal de las Casas (Chiapas, Mexico). Marin’s industriousness and hard work was funded by a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) she was awarded by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry that enabled her to travel and live in Mexico from May to August 2022. | |
UT Competes at the American Moot Court Association National Tournament | | |
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Students Asia Couillard, a History major, and Timothy Peacock, a Political Science major had the distinction of qualifying for the National Moot Court Tournament held at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA on January 14th and 15th. Couillard and Peacock qualified as a team by finishing third overall out of a field of twenty-seven teams at the regional tournament held in Orlando, Florida in November. At the national tournament, they competed against the top undergraduate moot court teams from across the country, and they admirably represented the University of Tampa, giving excellent arguments on Fourth Amendment and Eighth Amendment constitutional law issues. Their prestigious accomplishment of making the national tournament capped a highly successful season for the UT Moot Court team, congratulations Asia and Tim! | |
Research by UT Students Published in Acta Spartae | |
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UT Alumnae, Pamela Font, Danusia Mryczko, Tina Brown, Alexandra M. Rodriguez, and graduate student; Hannah DeCosta published their co-authored articles under the guidance of Drs. Sara Festini and Erica Yuen in a new issue of Acta Spartae: The Journal of Undergraduate Research in the Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Tampa. In the sixth volume of this publication, undergraduates discuss topics as diverse as public health, amateur astronomy, and cognitive psychology.
Featured Articles
Reducing Stress Among College Students: Mindfulness
Meditation Versus Adult Coloring
Authors
Authors: Pamela Font, Hannah DeCosta, and Erica K. Yuen
Busyness and Cognition in Undergraduate Students:
End-of-Semester versus Beginning-of-Semester Cognitive
Performance
Authors
Danusia Mryczko, Tina Brown, and Sara B. Festini
Working Memory Deficits in Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors
Alexandra M. Rodriguez and Sara B. Festini
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Honors Oxford Student Conducts a Tutorial in Intelligence Studies | |
Martin Stavro, a Political Science and Philosophy major recently began his studies at Oxford University through UT’s Honors Program. Over the course of the Spring semester, he is working on a tutorial in Intelligence Studies with a research fellow at Oxford’s Changing Character of War Centre. The tutorial explores the intelligence processes and structures of different countries. Additionally, he is studying the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Warfare, focusing on issues like autonomous weapons and national security. | |
Psi Chi Organizes a Supply Drive to help Hurricane Ian Victims | |
Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology, led a supply drive to benefit the victims of Hurricane Ian. Co-faculty advisors Dr. Deletha Hardin and Dr. Kim Cummings along with Psi Chi President Katie Joyce, Vice President Reece Belmont, and Secretary Maya Durham, partnered with the Psychology Club at Cape Coral High School to restock the Dignity Closet after Hurricane Ian. A variety of hygiene supplies were collected and Psi Chi member Samantha Diaz delivered the items to Cape Coral High School. The Psychology Club members at Cape Coral High School were very appreciative! | | |
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Professors Merrie Tankersley and Debbie Anderson were invited to Leadership Day at Lanier Elementary on January 27, 2023. Lanier is a Leader in Me school, whose curriculum integrates The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People with the Florida Standards to provide a whole-child approach to Education. As part of this symposium, guests were escorted by fifth graders to observe teachers in all grade levels implementing this transformational process in their classrooms. The UT Education Department is fortunate to have a wonderful partnership with this local elementary school which places our elementary interns under the guidance of their phenomenal teachers. At Lanier Elementary, numerous graduates from UT's Elementary Education program have been hired as teachers and administrators. | |
Spencer Segalla, Professor of History, was featured in a New Books Network podcast regarding Segalla's 2021 book, Empire and Catastrophe: Decolonization and Environmental Disaster in North Africa and Mediterranean France since 1954. The podcast interview was conducted by Dr. Mike Vann of Sacramento State University and is available at Apple Podcasts and at newbooksnetwork.com. | |
The North Tampa Bar Association (NTBA) now offers University of Tampa students in the Law, Justice, and Advocacy Minors free annual membership. This was a first order of business for Adjunct Professor Jared Krukar when he began his term as NTBA President in January. The NTBA will provide students opportunities to meet and network with local attorneys at over a dozen events throughout the year (many free of charge). Students may also choose to work alongside NTBA members in coordinating or working the numerous service and speaking events the association organizes, should their schedules allow. Reach out to Professor Krukar or go to www.northtampabarassociation.com to learn more. | |
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Douglas T. Pfeffer, Assistant Teaching Professor of Mathematics, recently co-authored an article in the Journal of Math Circles titled From Mirrors to Wallpapers: A Virtual Math Circle Module on Symmetry. The article provides an in-depth look at the activities used in the (virtual) Tucson Math Circle that were specifically developed for strictly online implementation, where focus is placed on providing a scaffolded, hands-on approach to cover old and new mathematical topics on symmetry -- all made available through free, web-based platforms. Overall, the experience concludes that a strictly online implementation has unique benefits and increased accessibility over a traditional in-person approach. | |
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Liv Coleman, Associate Professor of Political Science presented a paper co-written with UT political science and sociology major Ana Hernandez at the Southern Political Science Association's annual meeting in St. Pete Beach on January 12, 2023. The paper was titled, "Steering the Elephant: The Role of Para-Party Organizations in Pushing the Republican Party Toward Right-Wing Extremism."
Dr. Coleman participated in a panel discussion on American Domestic Politics and US-Japan relations with Dr. Kazuhiro Maeshima and Dr. Hiroki Takeuchi at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas on January 24, 2023. The event was held to commemorate the late scholar Dr. Toshihiro Nakayama.
A piece she co-wrote with UT Alumna '21 Alayna Alaras, titled "Southern Strategy in the Sunshine State: Race-Based Political Appeals in Rick Scott and Donald Trump's Florida Campaigns," will be published in the Florida Political Chronicle.
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Adjunct Professor Nicolè Ford was featured in Politico's newsletter about Israel's approach to the Ukraine war. According to Dr. Ford,
despite the Russian deployment of Iranian drones in Ukraine, Israel's new government is unlikely to alter its position on providing military assistance to Ukraine anytime soon.
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Dr. William Myers was invited to attend and present his research paper "Executive Authority and the Diversity of Responses to COVID-19 in the U.S. States" in New Delhi, India at the Federalism in Times of Crises international conference organized by the Central University of Haryana and the Hanns Seidl Foundation from December 6-9, 2022. The paper demonstrated that differences in public health regulations and restrictions implemented by governors were a function of their ability to act unilaterally and share responsibility with the legislature rather than explicit partisan motivations. | |
The Department of Political Science at the University of Delhi invited Dr. Myers to give the opening remarks at the valedictory session of the "Trends in Federalism: Expanding Horizon, Exploring New Terrains" international conference in New Delhi, India on December 10, 2022. His remarks centered on the importance of the study of quantitative federalism in India and the lessons the Indian case can share with federal systems around the world. | |
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It is with great pleasure that we announce that as of August 15, 2023, Dr. Stephen Blessing will serve as the inaugural chairholder of the Janet R. Matthews, Ph.D. Endowed Chair in Psychology.
This endowed chair was established in 2019 by Lee Matthews ’67 in honor of his wife, Janet ’66. This is the first endowed chair in UT’s history to be named after a UT alumna or alumnus, and the first endowed chair in the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education.
Blessing, who has taught at UT since 2004, specializes in cognitive psychology. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, and his master’s and doctorate degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University. Blessing noted that he is excited about the opportunity to engage and mentor more psychology students in his area of cognitive psychology and heighten the impact that an endowed chair can make at UT for both our students and early career faculty.
Janet and Lee Matthews met as freshmen at UT in 1962, were married as undergraduates and went on to become established and renowned clinical and academic psychologists. Janet passed away in March 2019. Janet Matthews ’66 was a professor at Loyola University New Orleans, while Lee Matthews ’67 focused on the practice of clinical psychology.
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Dr. Sara Festini presented her research at the 63rd annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society in Boston in November. Her research discussed “Proactive interference for high-value and low-value verbal information within working memory”.
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Congratulations to Nicolette Barone '17 awarded the honor of Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year. Nicolette graduated from The University of Tampa with an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and also earned her Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from UT. She has hosted many Elementary Education interns in her fifth-grade classroom at Oak Park Elementary and is an adjunct professor in the Education department. Professor Merrie Tankersley and three Education majors were able to support and celebrate with Nicolette at the Hillsborough Education Foundation awards ceremony on January 26, 2023, held at the Straz Center. The School Teacher of the Year awards were also presented to UT Alumnae Stacie Lessoff (Dunbar Elementary) and Christina Roe Jackson (Pinecrest Elementary). Each graduated from The University of Tampa with an Elementary Education degree. | |
CSSME Faculty Members Granted Tenure and/or Promotion | |
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The tenured and/or promoted faculty for 2023 were announced by the offices of the President and Provost on Monday, January 30. Our very own CSSME professors were among the 36 faculty members who received tenure and/or promotions. Congratulations on your well-deserved success!
Granted Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor
Suzanne Ensmann, Ed.D., Assistant Professor, Instructional Design and Technology
Sara Festini, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Psychology
Giuseppina Holway, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Applied Sociology
Jonathan Lewallen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science
Benjamin Marsh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Psychology
Gabriel Paez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Criminology
Granted Tenure
Khyam Paneru, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mathematics
Granted Promotion from Associate to Professor
Liv Coleman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Political Science
Granted Promotion to Associate Teaching Professor
S. Katherine Cooper, Ph.D., Assistant Teaching Professor, Applied Sociology
Morgan McAnally, Ph.D., Assistant Teaching Professor, Mathematics
Granted Promotion to Lecturer II
Antony Cheng, MS, Lecturer I, Mathematics
Sasko Ivanov, MA, Lecturer I Mathematics
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Providing our students with outstanding out-of-classroom experiences is a hallmark of the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Education. This may include participating in an overseas travel course; being mentored on an undergraduate research project; or traveling with faculty mentors to present research findings at an academic conference. But of course, these important out-of-classroom activities take additional resources. The College of Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Education is committed to assisting all students to gain the benefits of these experiences. Help support these experiences for all students. Make a small contribution today. | | |
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If you have an upcoming event that you would like advertised in the newsletter, please send your event information to
Sasha Cunillera at scunillera@ut.edu
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Feb 17- Study Abroad Application Workshop/Reeves Theatre/Vaughn Center/ 2 P.M.
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Feb 20- Professionalism Within the Sociological World with Dr. Bruce Friesen via Zoom/Applied Sociology Students
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Feb 21- Lecture Series Talk with Dr. Douglas Pfeffer: Challenging Intuition: The Devil’s Staircase and Infinite Coinflips/ Brevard Community Room/ 4:00 P.M.
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Feb 22-Black History Month Luncheon/Vaughn Center/Crescent Room/11:30 A.M.
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