Recent Faculty Publications, Presentations, Service and Honors

Assistant Professor of Nursing Mary Agoglia, DNS, MA, RN-BC, attended the Sigma Theta Tau International 46th Biennial Convention in fall 2021 as a presenter, moderator and delegate. She presented her research on the use of an original checklist for safety with medication administration and moderated a panel on nursing research with participants from South America, Asia and North America.

Russell Sage College President Christopher Ames, Ph.D., was a guest on the The Reel Woman podcast with Emmanuelle Perryman in July 2021. The episode is “Movies About the Movies: Hollywood Reflected.” His article, “The Lessons and Virtues of Reluctant Leadership,” appeared in the newsletter for members of the International Leadership Association in April.

In a collaboration supported by the Louis and Hortense Rubin Community Fellows Program, Professor of Theatre David Baecker, MFA, collaborated with Creative Action Unlimited to connect the organization’s creative and social justice work to local educational and service organizations.

“Incarcerated Women’s Strategic Responses to Intimate Terrorism” by Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies Marisa Beeble, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Law & Behavioral Science Janel M. Leone, Ph.D., appeared in the Journal of Family Violence in April. They presented “Race as a Moderator of The Relationship Between Social Support and Psychological Distress Among Female Incarcerated Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence” at the 18th Biennial of the Society for Community Research and Action (Virtual) in 2021. Also in 2021, Beeble was named the Judith A. Barnes Faculty Fellow in Communications at Russell Sage College; coauthored “Community Reintegration of Repeat Female Offenders in County Jails,” which appeared in Women & Criminal Justice; and presented on the same topic at the American Society of Criminology Meeting in Chicago. 

Older Women Who Work: Resilience, Choice and Change, co-edited by Professor of Psychology Ellen Cole, Ph.D., was named to the Association of College and Research Libraries list of Outstanding Academic Titles published in 2021. 

Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Debra L. Collette, OTD, OTR/L, and Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Margot T. Elacqua, OTD, MBA, OTR/L, presented “Navigation of Fieldwork Supervision and Capstone Mentorship: Perceptions From a National Survey” at the American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference in April in San Antonio. Professor Collette presented a poster with Professor of Biology Mary Rea, Ph.D., and Occupational Therapy students at the New York State Occupational Therapy Association conference in fall 2021. She led the effort to achieve full accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education of the American Occupational Therapy Association for Russell Sage College’s doctoral program in Occupational Therapy. 

Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Francesca Durand, Ph.D., is lead author on an article, “Framing Leaders’ Discourses on College and Career Readiness,” which appeared in the American Journal of Education in February. She presented “Alumni Surveys: Development and Use in Educator Preparation programs” at the Association for Advancing Quality Educator Preparation Quality Assurance Symposium in March and served as team lead on national AAQEP accreditation visits at two colleges.

Associate Professor of Writing Maureen M. Gokey presented “What Can Be Added More: Defoe, the Plague and Biopolitics” at the 53rd annual Northeast Modern Language Association convention in March in Baltimore. She discussed Daniel DeFoe’s The Journal of the Plague Year alongside Michel Foucault’s concept of biopolitics. While Defoe’s novel pre-dates Foucault’s notion of modern populations (read through data and statistics), a close reading of The Journal reveals a text on the cusp of the biopolitical world. Her paper examines Defoe’s use of statistics, mortality charts and personal narrative to try to capture what seems destined to be underestimated: the human cost of the plague. Professor Gokey is completing her dissertation, which examines the Writing Program Administrators Outcomes Statement alongside emerging research and pedagogies in the field of composition and rhetoric. The current outcomes statement focuses on end-of-semester outcomes, ignoring much emerging research related to threshold concepts and developing writers. The goal of her research is to demonstrate that the current statement is ripe for revision and to propose a revision using a Threshold Concept framework. The hope is that the proposed revision will recognize students as writers and thinkers who develop over time and will challenge notions of “checklist” assessment; a further hope is that a threshold concepts framework, including concepts rooted in antiracist and disability studies-focused pedagogies, will provide a way of conceptualizing the outcomes that can endure the changing, expanding field. 

Associate Professor of Nutrition Sonya Hauser, Ph.D., received the Commission on Dietetic Registration Faculty Fellowship Award from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2021.

Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Nancy Hellman, DPT, completed and defended her dissertation for a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Russell Sage College’s Esteves School of Education. Her dissertation is titled “Doctoral Students Belief in their Persistence to Degree Completion.”

Chair and Professor of Nursing Glenda Bartholomew Kelman, P.hD., RN, ACNP-BC, was a finalist in the Albany Times Union’s annual Salute to Nurses.

“Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts: Mechanisms of Tumor Progression and Novel Therapeutic Targets” by Associate Professor of Biology and Health Sciences Stacie Kutz, Ph.D., and colleagues from Albany Medical College appeared in the Cancers journal. 

Associate Professor of Biology Kristi LaMonica, Ph.D., is the second author on a multipart survey for women with Parkinson’s Disease through the Michael J Fox Foundation’s Fox Insight platform and affiliated with PD Avengers, a global alliance of people affected by Parkinson’s Disease. She presented “Gaps in the Literature for Women with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease” at the 10th annual Capital District Feminist Studies Consortium Conference at Siena College in April. 

Associate Professor of Nursing Nancy Michela presented “Nurses’ Voices: COVID-19 & Financial Safety Net” at the Capital District Feminist Studies Consortium 2022 Conference in April.

“Protecting and Defending our People: Nakni tushka anowa (The Warrior’s Path),” a report co-authored by Professor of Psychology Gayle Skawen:nio Morse, Ph.D., is cited in the American Psychological Association’s apology for contributing to systemic racism, issued on Oct. 29, 2022.

English Professor Tonya Moutray, Ph.D., fulfilled a library fellowship at Durham University in England. She studied archival materials with a focus on refugee experiences during and after the French Revolution. She presented “Fugitive Virgins: Refugee Women Religious in British Culture, 1792–1815” at Ushaw College and “Navigating Religious Difference: Catholic Nuns in England 1792-1829” at Durham University as part of a seminar series for the International Society of History of Women Religious Association. In 2021, she delivered “Catholic Schooling and Refugee Nuns in England: Restrictions and Receptions” online for the Center for Early Modern Studies seminar series offered by the University of Limerick and Mary Immaculate College in Ireland, and “Taking the Veil: Regency Fashion and Female Religious” for the  International Society of History of Women Religious Association at Durham University. 

Associate Professor of Chemistry Emilly Obuya, Ph.D., is collaborating with the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, New York, to establish an after-school program for high school students and an ongoing community organizing effort that will address environmental racism using a community-based participatory research model.

A literature review of social communication interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder in general education settings, coauthored by Associate Professor of Applied Behavior Analysis Cheryl Ostryn, Ph.D.,BCBA-D, is forthcoming in Current Developmental Disorders Reports. Her coauthored evaluation of early childhood program adaptations for implementing the Pyramid Model for children with and without developmental disabilities was published in March in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders. “Tips for Implementing the ASKED Model: An Empirically-supported Instructional Strategy for Teaching Wh-Questions” appeared in Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention in March and “Text-Only Communications May Offer a Research Springboard for Learning More Complex Communications and Literacy Skills for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders Utilizing AAC” appeared in the same publication in 2021. 

Assistant Professor of Physics Sandra Penny, Ph.D., joined a National Science Foundation-funded project that aims to invigorate the way aspiring elementary teachers learn science, in the hope of inspiring how they go on to teach science. As a member of the Teaching with Investigation and Design in Science program — known by the acronym TIDeS — Professor Penny is collaborating with colleagues from Howard Community College and the University of Montana to develop new curriculum materials and instruction methods for science-based teaching methods classes. 

Professor of History Harvey Strum, Ph.D., presented and published widely on Jewish history in New York’s Capital Region; aid to Ireland during its Great Famine; and the impact of foreign policy on politics and elections in New York in the early 1800s. He was a consultant/reviewer for a political science textbook; moderator for the National Social Science conference, held online in 2021; was a consultant for a biography about a Jewish athlete from Syracuse University barred from the 1936 Berlin Olympics by the American Olympic Association to not offend Hitler; organized, as section chair, panels on international relations and American foreign policy for the April virtual meeting of the New York State Political Science Association; and reviewed conference papers for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference.

A chapter titled “Art Assisted Grief Therapy” coauthored by Professor of Occupational Therapy Barbara Thompson, OTD, LCSW, OTR/L, will appear in a book titled The Handbook of Grief Therapies, published by SAGE Publications, London. The chapter reviews the therapeutic use of art-based approaches for addressing specific clinical considerations and challenges that characterize diverse grief presentations and populations. Empirical evidence is presented and a demonstration of the practical value of art-assisted grief therapy is offered in a case vignette.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Julie Verette-Lindenbaum, Ph.D., will serve a third term as chair of the teaching committee for the International Association for Relationship Research.