Professors mentor award-winning student projects, publish research and speak at conferences around the world. Students perform in international movies and create online videos, and alumni attain respected posts in government and win the Canadian equivalent of the Superbowl.

David C. Alexander, Ph.D. (M.Ed. ’78), has been appointed by the New Jersey Department of Human Services as the director of the Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Alexander will assume responsibility for the division and take on many duties to elevate access to programs, services and information for Deaf or hard-of-hearing people residing in New Jersey, including legal, medical, educational, employment and vocational opportunities.

Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Greg Alles published two articles: "Cargo Cult Science and the Study of Religions: Genealogy in an Age of Globalization” in “Introducing Religion: Essays in Honor of Jonathan Z. Smith,” W. Braun and R. McCutcheon (eds), London 2007, and “Rudolf Otto, Cultural Colonialism, and the ‘Discovery’ of the Holy” in “Religion and the Secular: Historical and Colonial Formations,” ed. Timothy Fitzgerald, London 2007.    He presented two papers: “Much Ado about Little? Reflections on the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature Split.” at the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature Meeting in San Diego in November, and “Is Religion Sometimes a Bad Bet?” at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C. in December. One of Greg’s Journal of the American Academy of Religion book reviews is listed as one of the top 10 downloads from the Journal of the American Academy of Religion-Oxford University Press website for 2006.

Art and Art History Professor Susan Bloom was a speaker at the International Photographic Society at the World Bank Nov. 14.

Associate Professor of English Mary Bendel-Simso, Assistant Professor of English Julia Jasken and reference librarian Rhonda Stricklett attended the "Getting to Know Text and Coding Initiative P5" workshop at the 20th Annual International Meeting of the Text Encoding Initiative Consortium at the University of Maryland in October in support of an NEH Scholarly Editions Grant application headed by English Professor LeRoy Panek.  Panek also gave a talk on the backgrounds of police and police fiction to a first-year seminar class on "Police and Media" at Randolph Macon College.

Foreign Languages Lecturer Cathy Bodin edited volume 26 (2005) of “Linguistica Atlantica” for the Atlantic Provinces Linguistic Association (Canada).

Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies Mike Brittingham published "China's Contested Rise: Sino-US Relations and the Social Construction of Great Power Status" in “New Dimensions of Chinese Foreign Policy,” eds. Sujian Guo & Shiping Hua (2007), and "The 'Role' of Nationalism in Chinese Foreign Policy:  A Reactive Model of Nationalism and Conflict" in Journal of Chinese Political Science, vol.12 (2007).

Foreign Languages Lecturer Annette Budzinski-Luftig presented "Objectified Dante - Objectification of Bildung in Early German Romanticism" at the International Conference on Romanticism at Towson University in October.  She also offered a workshop on “Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis” on campus at this year’s 13th German-American Day.

Associate Professor of English Becky Carpenter presented “‘It’s a Job for Dad’:  Reinforcing Gender, Class, and Familial Norms in “The Dangerous Book for Boys” at the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association.  She also mentored students from her 2004 First Year Seminar who presented at the conference: Christine Frieman on "Complexities of Race, Class, and Gender in the Women's Suffrage Movement as Depicted in ‘Iron Jawed Angels,’” and Eric Danforth on "The Other Closet: The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Rights Movement & the Queer Working Class."

Social Work Lecturer James Corbin published "Confidentiality and the duty to warn: Ethical and legal implications for the therapeutic relationship" in The New Social Worker, vol. 14.4 (2007).

The summer research of Teresa Tilyou ’09, Jessica Dickerson ’10, and Eric Lemmon ’10 in Assistant Professor of Chemistry Peter Craig’s lab, resulted in two posters at the 10th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciences at UMBC in October.  Lemmon won first prize in the Chemical Sciences 1 division for “Quantifying the Cadmium Over Calcium Ion Selectivity of [BHEDTC]- and [BHEXAN]-.”

Music Lecturer Nicholas Currie performed with the Azimuth String Quartet at Carroll Community College and Frederick Community College and as Concertmaster with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony and Concert Artists of Baltimore, played Principle Second with the Baltimore Opera Orchestra in “Maria Stuarta,” and won spots on the sub lists for the National Symphony and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Assistant Professor of English Becky Davis accompanied two students who delivered papers at the Moravian College Undergraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies: Maria Lathroum ’08 on "'Lust' and the Subjectification of Women in ‘The Canterbury Tales,’" and Kris Breeden ’09 on "Nature and Femininity: Otherworldly Influences in ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,’ ‘Lanval,’ and ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale.’"

Associate Professor of Sociology Lauren Dundes won grant support from Carroll County Public Schools to continue the "Field of Wings" mentoring program for middle school girls. She and Associate Professor of Sociology Deb Lemke are leading a major study for the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, founded by alumnus Dave Martin ’62, of the phenomenon “Suicide by Cop.” The project, supported by a $22,000 grant from LELDF, employs four McDaniel students as researchers: Cody Crutchley ’09, Keegan Wenner ’09, Laura Sahm ’09, and Craig Taylor ’09. Deb was also on NPR’s Marc Steiner Show with Alex Kingsbury (US News & World Report) to discuss gender differences in academic performance.

Associate Professor of Foreign Languages Mohamed Esa led three workshops on “German pop and rock music in the language classroom” for German teachers at conferences in Stockholm and Gothenburg and gave three workshops to 280 German teachers in Sweden on “The Music of the Wise Guys and Rammstein in the German Classroom.” He traveled to Massachusetts to offer workshops on “German Proverbs and Idioms” and “Islam and Muslims in Europe” and a session on “Graffiti and Photo-Collages in the Foreign language Classroom” and to San Antonio to talk about “Arab-German Writers” and “Illustrating, Performing and Digitizing Goethe’s Erlkönig.” He also serves on the Advanced Placement German Language Commission and attended its meeting in Atlanta.  He again coordinated the 13th annual German-American Day at McDaniel College, which drew attendants from more than 20 area schools.

Education Professor Skip Fennell testified in October before the Congressional Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, for a hearing on “Assessment of the National Science Board’s Action Plan for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education.”

Jodi Foss ’05, a J.D. candidate at Regent University School of Law, wrote an article, "Do Two Wrongs Forefit A Constitutional Right? Revising Federal Hearsay Rule 804(b)(6) to Protect the Confrontation Clause," which will be published in The Federal Lawyer. Foss will graduate from law school in May.

Education Lecturer Becca Gibson attended the National Reading Conference in Austin and presented on "The Effects of Parent-Led Read-Alouds of Nonfiction Books on First-Graders' Vocabulary Acquisition and Motivation to Read."

Mike Gibson ’79, assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the Canadian football team the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is celebrating a Grey Cup win. The Canadian Grey Cup is the equivalent of the American Superbowl.

Nick Green ’10 has something to say about the liberal arts, and he’s not shy about getting the word out. For his final project in the course “Mass Communications,” Green made a 6-minute video that extols the virtues of a liberal arts education. To watch Nick's video, click here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNgYXGuY9HU

Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy and Science Hali Kilbourne presented “Exploring the Spatial Patterns of Changing Surface Ocean Conditions in the Tropical Atlantic and Pacific” at a workshop sponsored by the National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration and the International Pacific Research Center.  

Senior Music Lecturer David Kreider performed the Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the Frederick Youth Orchestra in November and with the Westminster Symphony in December at Carroll Community College.

Associate Professor of Education Eddy Laird served in November as the lead reviewer of the Council on Education for the Deaf (CED) site visitation and review of Gallaudet University graduate programs for CED/ National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Professor of Political Science and International Studies Christianna Leahy was on a panel on the NPR Marc Steiner Show at WYPR with two other distinguished panelists on the Middle East Peace Process after Annapolis.

Steven Lockard M.Ed. ’98 has been appointed by Frederick County Public Schools to the position of instructional director of elementary schools. Formerly a principal at Tuscarora Elementary, he began the new position December 1. He also recently won the Washington Post Annual Distinguished Educational Leadership Award. Lockard has worked at Frederick County Public Schools for the past 15 years.

With colleagues from the University of Delaware, Associate Professor of Psychology Stephanie Madsen published “Adolescent attachment hierarchies and the search for an adult pair-bond” in a special topics issue of New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, vol. 117 (2007).

English Professor Kathy Mangan read a selection of her poems as well as several poems by Louise Bogan, former U.S. Poet Laureate, at the Library of Congress in November as part of a poetry event to celebrate the centenary anniversary of the MacDowell Colony, an artists colony in New Hampshire. 

Associate Professor of Art and Art History and Associate Dean and Director of the Honors Program Gretchen McKay, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Peter Craig, Associate Professor of Physics Apollo Mian, and Associate Professor of Biology Ralene Mitschler presented a panel on how McDaniel actively engages students in science-based First Year Seminar courses at the joint American Conference of Academic Deans/Phi Beta Kappa conference in October, emphasizing hands-on activities and how science can intersect with other disciplines in the liberal arts.

Visiting Instructor in Biology Brett McMillan received his Ph.D. in October from Old Dominion University.

Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages Amy McNichols presented "Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and the Myth of Venus" at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention in Atlanta in November.

Associate Professor of Education Debbie Miller was appointed as a lead writer for the 2010 International Reading Association Standards for Reading Professionals, one of six writers from institutions across the country.  Debbie will lead the development of “Standard 03: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Evaluation.” She co-presented at a state conference presentation for administrators (CEASOM) with Carroll County Public Schools and an adjunct faculty member, and also presented two sessions for college reading professors at the College Reading Association in Salt Lake City.

For a second year, Economics and Business Professor Susan Milstein arranged “speed interviews” for Accounting students with companies invited to campus. The event was featured in The Carroll County Times on October 14.

Bob Morrow M.Ed. ’75 has been appointed to the Board of Commissioners of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind (SCSDB). He will fill the open at-large seat representing the statewide deaf community. Morrow retired from SCSDB as athletics director after 35 years on the SCSDB faculty, during which time he taught physical education, coached sports and directed athletics.

Professor of Foreign Languages Martine Motard-Noar presented "Les filles frappent-elles fort?  Filles et femmes dans la bande dessinée 'Titeuf'" at the Université de Saint-Etienne-Jean Monnet Colloquium on "Cherchez la femme! Espaces féminins dans la culture populaire" held in Roanne, France, in October.

Tamás Palcsó, the McDaniel College Budapest student who won runner-up in that country’s version of American Idol, could be coming to a theatre near you. The singer/actor recently played the lead in “56 Drops of Blood,” a film about the 1956 Hungarian uprising. The film was shown in Los Angeles to great acclaim and the Hungarian press is talking Oscar.
Click here to watch a scene from “56 Drops of Blood.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ceLTUmBjiU

Assistant Professor of Biology Susan Parrish and B. Moss published “Characterization of a second vaccinia virus mRNA-decapping enzyme conserved in poxviruses” in the Journal of Virology, 81(23), 2007.

English Professor Pam Regis was quoted in the November issue of Publishers Weekly in an article by Sarah J. Robbins titled "Textually Promiscuous:  Romance Readers Definitely Read Around."

Director of Hoover Library Michele Reid published "Hiring the Right Person" in Library Leadership Commons, November, 2007.  She also serves as an American Library Association New Members Roundtable mentor.

Associate Professor of Art and Art History Susan Scott published "Sacred Earth: Daoism as a Preserver of Environment in Chinese Landscape Painting from the Song through the Qing Dynasties" in East-West Connections: Review of Asian Studies, vol. 6.1 (2006).

Visiting Associate Professor of Education Margaret Trader co-chaired the NCATE/MSDE Board of Examiners for the accreditation of Towson University in October.  Margaret was also elected Vice Chair of the Governor-appointed Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board for 2007-08. 

Assistant Professor of Communication Deborah Vance wrote “‘Like a neighborhood of sisters’: Can Culture Be Formed Electronically?” as a chapter for Electronic Tribes by Tyrone L. Adams and Stephen A. Smith.

Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Elizabeth van den Berg served as dialect coach for “Shining City” at the Studio City, which the Washington Post called a "spellbinding production.” She also assisted with “Fiddler on the Roof” at Olney Theatre Center for the Arts and “A Christmas Carol” at Synetic Theatre.

Members of the College’s Student Affairs office staffed the telephones Dec. 3 during Maryland Public Television’s December pledge drive, and raised $20,690. Maryland Public television is a non-profit that relies on community organizations to answer phones during fund drives. M.P.T. broadcasts on Comcast channels 22 and 26.

McDaniel College theatre students have been invited to perform a scene from Edward Albee’s “Zoo Story” at the 2008 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s regional festival, to be held at Carnegie Mellon University in January. This is the second time that a scene from a McDaniel production has been invited to participate. “Zoo Story” will be directed by Tony Cimino ’07. The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide.

The McDaniel College ROTC was featured Dec. 10 in the Carroll County Times. Click here for the full story.