Professional notes
Dr. Mark Neuzil, Journalism and Mass Communication Department, is the author of “The Great Moon Hoax of 1835” in the October issue of The History Channel Magazine. The article details the New York Sun’s stories on men (and women) on the moon, along with bipedal beavers, a blue unicorn and dwarf bison – a hoax that fooled many, including (perhaps) Edgar Allen Poe. Neuzil also wrote a short sidebar on the phenomenon of the penny press in the same issue.
Dr. William Ojala, Chemistry Department, presented a poster, “Molecular Packing Preferences of ‘Bridge-Flipped’ Isomeric Molecules,” at the 20th annual Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography Aug. 23-31 in Florence, Italy. The poster described work he and his students did on a project supported by a grant from the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society. Co-authors were Charles Ojala of Normandale Community College and current and former St. Thomas students Ann Brigino, Jessica Engebretson, Tera Ketel Deal, Heather Sexe, Jonathan Smieja and Vinita Solomon. Recent work by summer research students Trina Arola and Jill Spude was highlighted as well.
Dr. David Penchansky, Theology Department, announces the publication of his new book, Twilight of the Gods: Polytheism in the Hebrew Bible, published by Westminster/John Knox. The book interprets Biblical texts that portray ancient Israelites who believed in many gods.
Dr. Teresa Rothausen-Vange, Management Department, is the author of “Family Diversity” on the Boston College Sloan Work and Family Research Network Web site (search on article title). She also presented results from her research study, “Why Good People Leave Good Companies in the 21 st Century,” in June at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Thomas Hickson and Dr. Melissa Lamb, Geology Department, will give presentations at the 177th annual meeting of the Geological Society of America Oct. 16-19 in Salt Lake City. Hickson’s presentation is titled “Constraints on the Complex Miocene Deformational History of the Lake Mead Area, Using Detailed Basin Analysis: New Data From the East and West Longwell Ridge Area, Bitter Spring Quad, Nev. ” Lamb’s presentations are titled “Unraveling the Complex Record of Growth and Deformation in Asia: Details From the Eastern Gobi Altai, Southwestern Mongolia” and “Fundamentals of the Lithosphere: An Upper-Division Majors’ Course That combines Structure, Petrology and Tectonics With Best Practices in Geoscience Pedagogy.”
Dr. Martin Warren, English Department, is the author of an article, “Is God in Charge? Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow, Deconstruction, and Theodicy,” published in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (Vol. IX, Spring 2005). The peer-reviewed journal is produced at the University of Saskatchewan.
