June 2024
Lise Abrams, Peter W. Stanley Chair of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, co-authored the introduction to the special issue of Psychology and Aging “,” along with co-editor Elizabeth Stine-Morrow (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Abrams also published two research articles in this issue: “,” co-authored with collaborators Meredith Shafto and Lori James (University of Colorado Colorado Springs) and “” co-authored with cognitive science majors Benjamin Cote ’23, María José Najas ’24 and Aysha Gsibat ’24 and collaborator Katherine White (Rhodes College).
Nicholas Ball, associate professor of chemistry, completed his Downing Fellowship at University of Cambridge. Hosted by Matthew Gaunt (chemistry), he learned about new high-throughput techniques for synthesis. He also gave research talks at University of Bristol, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.
Lisa Beckett, professor of physical education, was honored with a scoreboard naming dedication at the Pauley Tennis Courts. Student-athletes, alumni, colleagues, family and friends gathered for a dedication ceremony at court 7. The evening included a formal program of speakers, the unveiling of the naming of the scoreboard, a reception and dinner.
Graydon Beeks, emeritus professor of music, published an article on “Coroliano Transformed: The Early History of Ariosti's First Royal Academy Opera” in the 2024 issue of the Handel-Jahrbuch.
Amelia Bransky, visiting assistant professor of theatre, collaborated with on their production of Lynn Nottage’s ’s as the scenic designer.
Charlotte Chang, assistant professor of biology and environmental analysis, co-organized a symposium titled Text Analysis for Conservation at the 2024 North American Congress for Conservation Biology in Vancouver, Canada.
Toni Cook, visiting assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive science, published an article with Case Miranda ’24 and Clara McGilly PZ ’24, “,” in the journal Linguistics Vanguard.
Anne Dwyer, associate professor of German and Russian, was an associate at the Summer Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in June, where she conducted research for her book manuscript Viktor Shklovsky after Russian Formalism and a related article on Soviet cultural production/propaganda around the 1939 annexation of Eastern Poland/Western Ukraine. The award was made possible by the U.S. Department of State through its Title VIII Program for Research Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union.
KJ Fagan, senior director of public programming and strategic initiatives, was appointed to the Professions Committee of the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP), a global organization dedicated to advocating for the discipline of change management, supporting the global community of change managers through educational and professional development, and maintaining a standard for the accreditation of professionals working in the field. As a board-appointed member of the Professions Committee, Fagan will be responsible for implementing ACMP’s strategic initiatives in the areas of education, partnerships and advocacy.
Robert Gaines, Edwin F. and Martha Hahn Professor of Geology, and a team of international colleagues published the article “Rapid volcanic ash entombment reveals the 3D anatomy of Cambrian trilobites” in the journal Science. This “Trilobite Pompeii” was featured on the cover of the June 28 issue of Science and was featured in news outlets including and .
Melissa Givens, assistant professor of music, was one of five Davidson College alumni selected by the alumni association to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award for “providing leadership or attaining recognition on a national or regional level in their profession or business” during the recently concluded 2024 Reunion Weekend. The citation read in part, “Because of her deep and varied contributions to the worlds of music and art; and because of her commitment to the liberal arts and preparing the next generation of leaders who will serve in the world, the Alumni Association is pleased to present Melissa Givens, class of 1989, with the Distinguished Alumni Award, on the occasion of her 35th Reunion, June 2024.” Givens also co-chaired the reunion for her class.
Elizabeth Glater, associate professor of neuroscience, presented “Chemical Basis of Behavioral Preference for the Microbiome” at the C. elegans Topic Meeting: Neuronal Development, Synaptic Function & Behavior in Madison, Wisconsin. The co-authors were Dylan Blackett ’24, Emily Church ’23, Victor Chai ’23, Tiam Farajzadeh ’23 and Charles Taylor, chair and professor of chemistry.
Esther Hernández-Medina, assistant professor of Latin American studies and gender and women’s studies, participated June 13 in the roundtable “Todavía pensamos, todavía escribimos: ¿Qué tiene para decir la academia frente a la encrucijada que vivimos?” (“We still think, we still write: What can the academy say about the crossroads we are living in?”) at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Annual Congress in Bogotá, Colombia. On June 14, she was part of the LASA book presentation session about the edited volume Women’s Rights in Movement: Dynamics of feminist change in Latin America and the Caribbean along with the editors and other authors and talked about her chapter “The Right to a Complete Life: Struggles of the Dominican Feminist Movement.” On June 15, she presented the paper “The Anti-Gender and Anti-LGTBQ Conservative Backlash in the Dominican Republic” in the LASA section panel “Presentes de odio, futuros distópicos” (Hateful presents, dystopic futures).
Jun Lang, assistant professor of Asian languages and literatures, delivered a talk titled “New Practices in Chinese Courses at a Liberal Arts College: Richness, Diversity, and Timeliness” at the 2024 Forum on the Research and Teaching of Chinese Language and Culture, organized by the China-U.S. Alliance of College Teachers of Chinese at Xiamen University in China. In the presentation, she shared her recent pedagogical innovations in teaching Mandarin Chinese, including collaborative grading and creative project-based learning approaches in foreign language classrooms.
Jonathan Lethem, Roy E. Disney ’51 Professor of Creative Writing, will have a collection of his art writings Cellophane Bricks published on July 25.
Joyce Lu, associate professor of theatre and Asian American studies, participated in a roundtable discussion titled “Leading with Performance: Interdisciplinary Arts-led Innovations Inside the Neoliberal University" at the Canadian Association of Theatre Research Conference: Staging Justice, moved from McGill University to Université de Montreal, Teesri Duniya Theatre and Concordia University.
Lu was a discussant in The Dramaturgy and Ethics Working Group and participated in the Critical Race Studies Working Group at The Performance Studies International Conference in London at Senate House and Hoxton Hall.
Denise Machin, assistant director of the Smith Campus Center and director of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company, was elected as president of the , the tri-state ballroom dance circuit the Claremont Colleges belongs to. Machin was also elected as a board member of (North American Same-Sex Partner Dance Association).
Susan McWilliams Barndt, professor of politics, spoke at the Oxford Union at the University of Oxford, where she was part of a panel titled “Intrigue & Insiders: American Politics in the Age of Trump vs. Biden” on June 3.
McWilliams gave a talk titled “The Book Banning Epidemic,” first to the residents of Pilgrim Place in Claremont and later to the members of the United Nations Association of Pomona Valley.
On June 24, McWilliams published an essay on “” in Current.
Char Miller, W.M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History, is the author of “Wild, Managed, and Reclaimed: The Complex Environmental History of the San Antonio River Watershed,” in Greg Gordon, ed., Rewilding the Urban Frontier: River Conservation in the Anthropocene. Miller also chaired a session devoted to the anthology at the recent meetings of the American Society for Environmental History.
Miller was featured in “,” Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation podcast.
Miller published an essay on his participation in a series of humanities Texas teacher programs in the Humanities Texas Newsletter.
Jon Moore, lab coordinator and associate professor of biology, presented a poster with co-authors Anaya Ramkumar ’24 and Bernice Sule ’26 titled “Assessing Local Ecological Genetic Diversity as an Introductory Biology CURE” at the Association for Biology Laboratory Education’s annual conference in College Park, Maryland.
Jorge Moreno, associate professor of physics and astronomy, published a paper titled “Size-Mass Relations for Simulated Low-Mass Galaxies: Mock Imaging versus Intrinsic Properties” in the .
On June 3, Moreno delivered an invited talk titled “The intriguing lives of galaxies lacking dark matter” at the Cosmic Signals of Dark Matter Physics: New Synergies conference held at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, California.
Moreno served as reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Gilda L. Ochoa, professor of Chicana/o Latina/o studies, presented “The Branches of Greenberry Drive: African Americans and Activism in the East San Gabriel Valley Suburbs, 1960s-1970s” at the Inland Empire People’s History Conference at California State University, San Bernardino on June 1.
Mary Paster, professor of linguistics and cognitive science, gave a keynote address titled “What, if anything, is ‘myopia in grammar’?” at the Workshop on Myopia in Grammar, University of Leipzig on June 13.
Hans Rindisbacher, professor of German, delivered a plenary address at an online conference at the Centre for Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths College of the University of London titled “.”
Richard S. Savich, lecturer in economics, was awarded a Wig Curriculum Development grant to update ECON 131, Economics of Entrepreneurship, for possible offering during the 2025-2026 academic year. The course was last offered in 2018.
Gary Smith, Fletcher Jones Professor of Economics, wrote two opinion pieces: “” (MindMatters, June 27) and “” (FastCompany, June 28).
Smith signed a contract for a second edition of .
Smith’s co-authored paper , American Journal of Preventative Medicine, was selected as the AJPM paper of the year.
Ken Wolf, John Sutton Miner Professor of History and professor of classics, recently returned from his 14th alumni trip May 29 to June 9, this one focused on 12th- and 13th-century papal responses to heresy in Languedoc and Catalunya. This year marked the 25th anniversary of his first such medieval-themed trip in 1999.