From mentoring student projects to participating in international conferences, McDaniel professors’ summer activities were vast and varied. Here are some of their current projects:

English Professor Terry Dalton attended the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication national convention in Washington, D.C., where he moderated a panel about press coverage of the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

Education Professor Francis “Skip” Fennell continued his role as president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and his work as a member of the President’s National Math Panel.

Associate Professor of Foreign Languages Colette Henriette presented a paper at the 21st World Congress of Conseil International d'Etudes Francophones (International Counsel of Francophone Studies) in French Guiana. Upon her return to the Hill, she participated in the July Technology Summer Institute. Henriette has been working on an innovative approach to teaching the French language using films.  Students "author" their manual and are responsible for their learning materials.

Associate Professors of Biology Randy Morrison and Ralene Mitschler attended a natural history conference about San Salvador, held in the Bahamas. Morrison learned about the research conducted on the island in order to enhance the annual Jan Term trip that he leads for students with Biology Professor Emeritus Sam Alspach and Counseling Director Susan Glore.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Melanie Nilsson mentored six students working on independent projects at the College.

Biology Professor Louise Paquin participated in an AP Biology program in Kentucky, and the Wye Conference in July.

English Professor Pam Regis traveled to the Chawton House Library in the UK for a study day on Austen and Contemporary Literature and Culture. Her paper is titled "Austen in California: The Jane Austen Book Club and 21st-Century Courtship." 

Assistant Professor of Biology Greg Szulgit worked with students Kristina Belich ’08 and Chris Richards ’08, as they examined the connective tissues of starfish. Read more about it here.

Assistant Professor of History Bryn Upton worked on his manuscript “Black Sisyphus,” which will be published by University of Massachusetts Press. He also conducted research for books about Emmett Till and expatriate African American veterans during the early years of the Cold War. Additionally, Upton worked with Sarah White ’08 on an article about the Supreme Court’s role in ending Reconstruction that he plans to submit to the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He also wrote a review of the book, “The Rosenwald Schools of the American South” by Mary S. Hoffschwelle, for The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.

Theatre Arts Assistant Professor Elizabeth van den Berg directed Theatre on the Hill in its productions of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Oliver,” “The Jungle Book: Rudyard Kipling’s India Stories,” “Heard Any Good Books Lately?” and “Singing the Bard: A Fabulous Musical Shakespearean Revue.” Van den Berg also coached dialect and voice for “Rue 13 De L’Amour” at Olney Theatre Center for the Arts.

Art and Art History Lecturer Linda Van Hart directed the successful Visual Arts Program for Common Ground on the Hill. In August, she traveled to the world-famous Indian Market in Santa Fe, N.M., to look for some of next year’s Common Ground instructors. Additionally, she pursued her art as a metalsmith both in the studio and at some of the top juried shows on the East Coast while working with advanced students studying Metalsmithing at McDaniel.

A team of six professors from McDaniel College attended the annual "Reacting to the Past" conference, a critical thinking program in which students reconsider historical situations, debate and reason with their peers through role-play. Their participation in the program at Barnard College was made possible by the Ira G. Zepp Teaching Eenhancement Grant. The faculty who attended are Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Peter Bradley, Associate Professor of Sociology Lauren Dundes, Associate Professor of English Robert Kachur, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Associate professor of Art History and Director of the Honors Program Gretchen McKay, Associate Professor of Biology Ralene Mitschler and English Professor and Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence Pam Regis.