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Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) / News

SMCM Alumna Awarded Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant

SMCM alumna and adjunct instructor Rie Moore ’19 was recently awarded a Creativity Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) for her project titled “Decaying”. The funding will cover expenses associated with creating a prerecorded audio-visual program for piano and violin on the theme of finding beauty in what is decaying. The filmed program will be made available virtually to the public for free via Moore’s YouTube channel as well as embedded on her website.

Inspired by her experience at the Piano Festival by the River at SMCM, Moore began studying with Brian Ganz, a member of the piano faculty at the College, which eventually led to completing a degree in music through SMCM’s second bachelor’s degree program in 2019. She was awarded Alice Fleury Zamanakos and Arthur S. Zamanakos Prize in Music upon graduation. In 2020, she received the Regional Independent Artist Award from Maryland State Arts Council for her program “As if heard from within” and was selected as one of the 48 competitors to perform at the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition in 2022. Her latest project “Beyond Darkness”, a prerecorded program sponsored by St. Mary’s County Arts Council, was made available online in March 2021.

In “Decaying”, Moore will explore beauty in what is decaying in a setting that communicates the theme through effective filming to reach audience members in a way that is different from the standard recital experience. Her desire to pursue the theme of finding beauty in what is decaying stems from her Japanese heritage as well as a wish to create a space that invites audience members to appreciate beauty beneath the surface and the process and journey of our living. The 45-minute program consists of pieces for piano and violin and poetry reading, categorized into three sections: Scenery, Thoughts, and Physical Existence. Prior to the premiere of the program, Moore will launch “Project Decaying”, an initiative to invite artwork that expresses beauty in what is decaying from the community to create a space for contemplation on the theme as part of the community engagement.

The following collaborators will participate in essential program components:

  • Eliza Garth, a member of the piano faculty at SMCM (piano and poetry reading)
  • Beatrice Baker (violin)
  • Nick Hughes ‘12 (filming and video editing)
  • Sean Mercer (audio engineering, mixing, and editing)

Moore hopes to generate interest for her project during a TED talk titled “More Than Music: A New Approach to Concert Programming” at TEDxGreatMills on September 18, 2021.

Alumna Awarded Research Grant from Phi Chi Honor Society

SMCM alumna Oates (left) and Dr. Howansky

India Oates ’21 was awarded a $509 Mamie Phipps Clark Research Grant from Psi Chi over the summer of 2021. The award “highlights research projects by Psi Chi students and faculty advisors focusing on diverse populations and issues.” Her project, “Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals’ Dehumanizing Beliefs and Experiences” was originally conceived and developed though directed research with Assistant Professor of Psychology Kristina Howansky in the spring 2021 semester. The study aims to identify how transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) individuals experience dehumanization and examine how their beliefs about stereotypes may mediate the association between dehumanization and harmful mental health effects and the association between dehumanization experiences and self-dehumanization. This study will help fill in gaps in the current psychological body of literature. Limited research has examined the associated effects of dehumanization, nor has past dehumanization work focused on transgender and GNC individuals’ perspectives. Grant funding will be used to compensate a large sample of online survey participants recruited from Academic Prolific.

India is currently studying morality and empathy as a full-time lab manager at Pennsylvania State University – the perfect combination of her double-major in religious studies and psychology.

SMCM Physics Professor and Student Conducting Physics Research with NAS Pax River

Dr. Adler (left) and Mr. Marx

Charles (Chuck) Adler, Professor of Physics, and Evan Marx, SMCM undergraduate student, collaborated over the 2021 summer break with researchers from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWDAD) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

Dr. Adler and Mr. Marx worked on a project simulating how orbital angular momentum beams propagate through turbulent and scattering water.  These beams, also called “optical vortex beams”, carry a twist (orbital angular momentum), unlike standard laser beams.  The Navy is interested in understanding whether these beams are more effective than standard laser beams for various imaging and laser ranging technologies. This work is being done in partnership with the Advanced Lidar Systems Team (A-LiST) at NAWCAD, led by Dr. Linda Mullen, Alan Laux, and Dr. Brandon Cochenour.

Dr. Adler’s summer 2021 work was supported under the Office of Naval Research’s Summer Faculty Research Program (SFRP), and Mr. Marx who worked with the group as a summer student was funded by the Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program (NREIP). Adler and Marx recently received additional funding from NAWCAD to continue their collaborative research in the 2021-22 academic year.

Assistant Professor Argelia González Hurtado Awarded 2021 SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Argelia González Hurtado, assistant professor of Spanish, has been awarded an Insight Development Grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). González Hurtado received, along with María Soledad Paz­-Mackay from St. Francis Xavier University, the IDG grant in the amount of $59, 249 CAD for a two-year period to conduct research about cinematic landscape in Argentinian and Mexican cinema. This collaborative research project between González Hurtado and Paz­-Mackay will explore the complex meaning of rural landscape in recent narrative films from Argentina and Mexico that portray new identities shaped by socio-political changes at the turn of the 21st century.

SSHRC is the most important Canadian federal research funding agency in the promotion and support of research and training in the humanities and social sciences. Through its Insight Development Grants program, SSHRC supports research in its initial stages, enabling the development of new research questions as well as experimentation with new and innovative methods or ideas.

The Patuxent Partnership Physics Scholarship Awarded

St. Mary’s College of Maryland, in continued partnership with The Patuxent Partnership (TPP) – a local nonprofit organization that works with government, industry, and academia on initiatives in science and technology – has awarded the inaugural The Patuxent Partnership Physics Scholarship.

First-year student Caitlin Kubina, of Columbia, Maryland, has been selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship award for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Because of TPP’s investment, Kubina is better positioned to be among the more than 50 St. Mary’s College physics students to work with Navy scientists as part of her college experience. Kubina could even convert her physics experiences into a related field within the Navy upon graduation as more than 40 St. Mary’s College physics students have accomplished in recent years.

The Patuxent Partnership Physics Scholarship is the latest of many ways TPP has worked in strong collaboration with St. Mary’s College, its students and faculty over the years.

In 2012, TPP invested $1 million to grow and expand the College’s physics offerings, including applied physics, of particular value to the Navy and STEM careers.

“We are extremely grateful to The Patuxent Partnership for its generous and continued investments in our students,” said St. Mary’s College of Maryland President Tuajuanda C. Jordan. “Each year more and more St. Mary’s College students are making invaluable STEM connections with our community and TPP plays a tremendous role in those connections which support our Honors College Promise and our mission. I truly value the relationship the College has with TPP and look forward to it building even more momentum in the future,” Jordan said.

St. Mary’s College students benefit greatly from the College’s close proximity to NAS Patuxent River — headquarters for Naval Aviation — and other facilities in the region.

The College maintains educational partnership agreements with Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head (NSWCIHEODTD) and TPP. Through these relationships, St. Mary’s College students enjoy many opportunities, including internships, scholarships and careers. Opportunities are particularly abundant for students majoring in physics, chemistry, computer science and psychology. Examples include:

Physics

  • St. Mary’s College faculty work with Navy scientists and St. Mary’s College students on developing new types of sensors for navigation, imaging, and submarine detection including cutting edge research in quantum sensing.
  • In recent years, 30 physics students have done their St. Mary’s Project (SMP) — an eight-credit senior research project — with NAWCAD labs.
  • Over 50 physics students have done internships (summertime and academic year) at Navy facilities, with more than 40 converting their St. Mary’s College physics experience into jobs as engineers, physicists, and program managers with the Navy and its contractors.

Chemistry

  • St. Mary’s College faculty work with Navy scientists and St. Mary’s College students on developing new types of functional coatings and electronics like sensors and printable solid-state devices.
  • Over the past five years, 17 St. Mary’s College students have completed their St. Mary’s Research Projects on Navy related technologies. At least four chemistry students have accepted internships at Navy federal laboratories, seven students have co-authored Navy supported publications or patents, and six have been hired after graduation.
  • For students interested in applied materials careers, the chemistry and physics departments also support the materials science program on campus.

Computer Science 

  • St. Mary’s College faculty Navy projects include augmented reality and data science.
  • In the past five years, eight students have been hired directly by the Navy after graduation; one or two students a year in the Navy’s Pathways internship program; and one ongoing SMP with a Navy lab.
  • The Navy is heavily recruiting students with degrees in computer science.

Psychology

  • St. Mary’s College faculty and students work with Navy scientists on human factors in aviation research including attention, performance, and decision making.
  • A number of psychology graduates have transitioned their psychology degrees to employment at NAWCAD in positions such as engineering psychologists, contract specialists, analysts, recruiting managers, and financial managers.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education through 2024-2025. St. Mary’s College, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best public liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Approximately 1,600 students attend the college, nestled on the St. Mary’s River in Southern Maryland.

SMCM Title IX Office Collaborating with Johns Hopkins University on Sexual Violence Prevention Initiative

Michael Dunn (L), Assistant Vice President of Equity and Inclusion / Title IX Coordinator and Helen Ann Lawless (R), Assistant Director of Title IX Compliance and Training

Michael Dunn and Helen Ann Lawless from SMCM’s Office of Title IX Compliance and Training recently finalized a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The new initiative aims to conduct evaluation research on ‘Hot Spot Mapping’ as an environmental change strategy for sexual violence prevention on college and university campuses. The three-year project is titled: Creating Protective Higher Education Environments for Sexual Violence Prevention: Practice-based Evidence and Evaluation.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will lead the initiative, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and several college and university partners. Goals of the project include:

  • Development of campus- and program-specific logic models, outlining the inputs, activities, process measures, and outputs of a Hot Spot Mapping intervention to reduce sexual violence
  • Identification of existing survey instruments and evaluation data sources, and conceptualization of new data sources to meet evaluation goals
  • Identification of students and additional stakeholders for further discussion and activities related to logic model development
  • Identification of a diverse set of appropriate initiatives to respond to Hot Spot Mapping findings in order to reduce sexual violence
  • Review and advise on the resulting practice-based monitoring and evaluation guide for campus-based Hot Spot Mapping, as well as related dissemination of project outputs

Subsequent project phases may include:

  • Testing of new measures and evaluation procedures, and
  • Pilot hot spot mapping evaluation

The SMCM Title IX Office has already begun work on the initiative and will receive $15,000 during the three-year project to compensate for the time involved in attending meetings, reviewing documents and coordinating stakeholders for meeting participation.

Southern Maryland Folklife Center Presents Southern Maryland Folklife Summer Workshops at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, June 23-25, 2021

The Southern Maryland Folklife Center will present the first annual Southern Maryland Folklife Summer Workshops at St. Mary’s College of Maryland this June 23-25, 2021. Attendance registration is required by visiting https://www.somdfolklife.org/.

During the three-day event, workshops will be offered celebrating and supporting community-based living cultural traditions of Southern Maryland. The workshops will culminate in a public exhibition and celebration event at the College’s Boyden Gallery. Workshops will take place from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. each day. Registration costs are $10 for one workshop, $20 for two workshops and $30 for four workshops. A separate music and dance performance and Historic St. Mary’s City excursion are also available for $10 each.

Choose from an array of folklife workshops:

  • SOMD genealogy
  • History of wampum
  • Contra dance
  • History of bluegrass
  • Small farm entrepreneurship
  • Stuffed ham two-day event
  • Landscape painting
  • African American hair
  • Learn a folksong

This year, the Southern Maryland Folklife Summer Workshops will maintain a hybrid approach with both virtual and in-person offerings. The latter will adhere to the State of Maryland’s guidelines, including face coverings and social distancing. In person workshops will take place at the Jamie L. Roberts Stadium, River Center, Goodpaster Hall and Montgomery Hall on the St. Mary’s College campus, along with Trinity Church Parish Hall.

The summer workshops will be the backbone of the newly formed Southern Maryland Folklife Center, which is part of the Maryland State Arts Council’s (MSAC) Folklife Network. This summer’s event is funded by the MSAC’s “Maryland Traditions” program.

For more information, email somdfolklife@gmail.com.

Professor of Art Sue Johnson Awarded a 2021-22 Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Maker-Creator Research Fellowship

Professor of Art Sue Johnson will be in residence for one-month to carry out collection research for her project, Woman, As Advertised, which focuses on 19th and early 20th century material culture sources for the creation of new works for her on-going project, Hall of Portraits from The History of Machines. She explains the importance of the process of research that informs her creative work that “mining the archive is like building a time machine; I look at the material culture of the past as a way of understanding what has come into being in our contemporary times.“

The Maker-Creator Fellowships are designed for artists, writers, filmmakers, horticulturalists, craftspeople, and others who wish to examine, study, and immerse themselves in Winterthur’s vast collections in order to inspire creative and artistic works. Fellowships include a research award of 1750.00 per month and access to Winterthur’s museum, garden, and library collections that focus on American life from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Fellows share their work by giving a public lecture and gain new perspectives from others on site, including librarians, curators, conservators, students, and other fellows.

About Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library: http://www.winterthur.org

According to the website, “Almost 60 years ago, collector and horticulturist Henry Francis du Pont (1880–1969) opened his childhood home, Winterthur, to the public. Today, Winterthur (pronounced “winter-tour”) is the premier museum of American decorative arts, with an unparalleled collection of nearly 90,000 objects made or used in America between about 1640 and 1860. The collection is displayed in the 175-room house, much as it was when the du Pont family lived there, as well as in permanent and changing exhibition galleries.”

Image: Sue Johnson, exhibition view of Briinng and Western Electric Sculptura ‘doughnut” telephone, Hall of Portraits from The History of Machines, 2021, Workhouse Arts Center.

Professor Patterson and Assistant Professor Cai Named 2021 Independent Arts Award Recipients by Maryland State Arts Council

Professor of Art Carrie Patterson and Assistant Professor of Photography Tristan Cai are 2021 recipients of the Independent Arts Awards presented by the Maryland State Arts Council. In addition to the recognition, both will receive grants to support their continued artistic growth. Patterson will receive a regional grant of $2,000 to recognize promise, and Cai will receive an award of $10,000 to recognize notable artistic achievement.

“As an artist and educator, I am always in the practice of communicating ideas, both visual and verbal. And it feels really good when the objects I make have a positive impact on other people,” said Patterson. “This award affirms my commitment to continue making work in Maryland and it feels good to be recognized by my peers as a Maryland artist.”

“The award encourages me to take more creative risks in my art practice and to dive deeper into the research-based works that I have been creating. I also want to thank MSAC and my colleagues for all their support,” said Cai.

This year’s awardees were chosen from a pool of 540 applicants through a public panel process. With this year’s awards focused on visual and media arts, 2021 awardees represent a wide range of artistic talents from all across the state, from painting, ceramics, and works on paper to digital media, film, and installation. Click here for the full list of winners.

Awardees will be highlighted during the virtual Maryland Arts Awards event at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 16. Visit marylandartscouncil.eventbrite.com for more details.

Professor Julia King Receives Prestigious Fellowship in Landscape Studies from Dumbarton Oaks

Julia King, professor of anthropology and chair of that department at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, has been awarded a prestigious residential fellowship at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C.

Administered by the trustees for Harvard University, Dumbarton Oaks supports research and learning in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships, internships, meetings, and exhibitions.

King will spend her fellowship researching the experiences of Indigenous communities in the Rappahannock River valley in eastern Virginia between 1500 and 1900, linking these experiences to the river valley’s Native landscape. Using the extensive archaeological database assembled during the College’s recently concluded NEH-funded project in the Rappahannock valley, King will draw on Dumbarton Oaks’ extensive library holdings to place the finds in their greater context. The fellowship will allow King time to prepare a book exploring how the Native Rappahannock communities negotiated settler colonialism over the course of four centuries.

“The Dumbarton Oaks Library holds one of the most extensive collections anywhere of published and unpublished materials on landscape, including Indigenous landscapes,” King noted. “The opportunity to have access to DO’s holdings for the fellowship period will enhance my understanding of the Native landscapes my students, staff, and I have been studying over the last decades.”

King is an anthropological archaeologist who has 30 years’ experience researching, studying, and teaching about the Chesapeake region’s rich past and its relationship to the present. She is a past president of the Society for Historical Archaeology and the recipient of the Society’s 2018 J. C. Harrington Award in recognition of her scholarship and contributions to the field of historical archaeology. Her work has also been recognized by the Archaeological Society of Virginia and the Register of Professional Archaeologists.