casnewsletterspring2020

FACULTY Research and Publications STUDENTS Success DR. ERIN BROWNLEE, assistant professor of mathematics, published an article titled A C*-Algebra Construction for Undirected Graphs in the Bulletin of the Malaysian Mathematical Sciences Society . The article was co-authored with B. Duncan. DR. GUANGWEI DING, associate professor of chemistry, published an article titled Persistence of Cry1Ac Protein from Transgenic Bt Cotton Cultivation and Residue Returning in Fields and Its Effect on Functional Diversity of Soil Microbial Communities. The article, co-authored with Meijun Zhang, Meichen Feng, Lujie Xiao, Xiaoyan Song, and Wude Yang, was published in the journal Pedosphere . DR. ANDRZEJ DUSZENKO, professor of English, published an article titled Oystrygods Gaggin Fishygods: Conflict and the Compression of Language in Joyce’s Finnegans Wake in the journal Yew . DR. JOSHUA HAGEN, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, co- authored a book titled Building Nazi Germany: Space, Place, Architecture, and Ideology , published through Rowman & Littlefield. He also co-authored a chapter titled The Political Sociology and Political Geography of Borders” in The SAGE Handbook of Political Sociology and three book reviews in The AAG Review of Books and European History Quarterly . Dean Hagen was also an invited speaker at the Geography 2050: Borders and a Borderless World symposium sponsored by the American Geographical Society and Columbia University. DR. ALYSSA KIESOW, professor of biology, published an article titled The Association of TAS1R2 to Dental and Cardiovascular Health in the American Journal of Undergraduate Research . The article was written in collaboration with NSU students J. Keryakos and A. VanOosbree. Dr. Kiesow has also collaborated with M. Redlin, J. Eduful, C. Anderson, P. Mabee, P. Rowland, and A. Surovek in a presentation titled Salaries in Higher Education Systems: A System-wide Perspective on Career Advancement and Gender (Sex) Equity and delivered at the Conference on Equity in STEM Community Convening. DR. GINNY LEWIS, professor of German, published an article titled Land Ownership and Agency in Mahasweta Devi’s Tale ‘Seeds ,’ in the anthology Critical Insights: Greed , edited by Robert C. Evans (Amenia, NY: Grey House Publishing, 2019). She also translated two books, In the Godforsaken Hinterlands: A Tale of Provincial Hungary and Orphalina , both written by Zsigmond Móricz. NSU student PARKER HEGER was selected for a prestigious summer research position at Sanford Research last summer. Heger worked in Dr. Savinov’s lab studying the underlying mechanisms that control organ-specific autoimmune diseases (such as type I diabetes) as part the Sanford Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR)—a highly selective program that considers applications from all over the country. Several other students have been accepted to prestigious graduate programs. DREW PETERS from Sioux Falls, S.D. has been accepted into the USD physical therapy program. Drew is a fall 2020 graduate of NSU who earned a B.S. in biology along with two minors in chemistry and business. MITCHELL TSCHAKERT from Watertown, S.D., has been accepted into Creighton Dental School. Mitchell is a fall 2020 graduate of NSU who earned a B.S. in biology, an A.S. in biotechnology, and a minor in chemistry. ZACHARY MOHS from Fargo, N.D., has been accepted into UND Medical School. Zach will be graduating with a B.S. in biology and chemistry in spring 2020. SHAYLA STEINLEY from Lakeville, Minn., has been accepted into the University of Nebraska Medical Center PA Program. Shayla will be graduating with a B.S. in biology, a minor in psychology, and an allied health certificate in spring 2020. She is also in the honors program. At the USD Student History Conference on Feb. 28, 2020, NSU history majors JONATHAN FARGHER and JAMES HEISINGER were invited to present their work. Heisinger won Best 20th Century U.S. History Paper for his Barry Goldwater: Losing the Battle but Winning the War, which he originally wrote for a class, History 361, US in the 1960s, taught by Professor Ric Dias. Well done, students and faculty! DR. JON D. SCHAFF, professor of political science, published his most recent book in December 2019. Co- authored with Dr. Anthony M. Wachs, formerly of Northern State and now at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Age of Anxiety: Meaning, Identity, and Politics in 21st Century Film and Literature , applies political philosophy and rhetorical theory to popular culture. The book considers the obstacles to developing a meaningful life in today’s age. Schaff and Wachs argue that the modern world, which promised to liberate individuals from all constraints to enjoy blissful autonomy, has instead left citizens of the modern West anxious and adrift as they are given no guidance regarding who they are and what they are supposed to do. As such, the modern autonomous self is prey to economic, political and technological exploitation. Using such films and novels as Downton Abbey, WALL-E, Westworld, Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, The Lord of the Rings, and the zombie genre, Schaff and Wachs illustrate the way the modern anxious self is displaced from a meaningful life, but they also suggest that we might reclaim hope in an anxious age. The book ends on a note of optimism, concluding that a significant life is still possible in the age of anxiety. FACULTY Spotlight DR. JON MITCHELL, associate professor in the Department of Science and Mathematics, can claim many accomplishments in the last few years. Most notable is his involvement in research with viruses and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats—a family of DNA sequences). Dr. Mitchell’s viral research is funded through Howard Hughes Medical Institute, in which undergraduate students as part of their biotechnology program conduct research via viral isolation and annotations. Further, Dr. Mitchell is in the process of creating a STEAM Institute as part of a collaborative effort with other South Dakota institutions through EPSCoR funding. He is an asset to the Science and Math Department, the Biotechnology Program, and undergraduate research on NSU campus. NEW BOOK PUBLICATION by Dr. Schaff