Catawba College

SALISBURY — Catawba College faculty members continue to have scholarly papers published or accepted for publication, or have enjoyed professional achievements outside the college. Following are details of their accomplishments.

Dr. Forrest Anderson, associate professor of English, associate provost for student academic success and acting dean of students

Dr. Forrest Anderson has received word that a grant application he helped author has been successful. Anderson learned that Catawba received a $7,500 Reacting Endeavor Challenge Grant that will allow him and several colleagues from Catawba to participate as a team in a January 2018 Reacting Consortium and the Winter Conference to be held on the University of Georgia campus.

The Reacting Endeavor Challenge helps institutions develop curriculum for teaching role immersion games as a way to engage students in active learning pedagogies.

Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, provost, chair and professor of politics

Dr. Michael Bitzer, along with Dr. Charles Prysby of UNC Greensboro, have had a book chapter entitled “North Carolina: A growing partisan divide” published in the textbook, “The new politics of the old South: An introduction to Southern politics.” The chapter provides an overview of the state politics in North Carolina by focusing on the development of partisan competition in the state, the development of party differences, partisan cleavages and coalitions and the potential future direction of North Carolina in a divided partisan era. The textbook, edited by Drs. Charles Bullock of the University of Georgia and Mark Rozell of George Mason University, is currently in its sixth edition.

Dr. Luke Dollar, chair and professor of environment and sustainability

Dr. Luke Dollar has raised and received $88,500 to support building an additional new school in Madagascar over the summer and during the 2018-2019 academic year. These funds will be used to construct the final school in a primary-middle-high school (multi-school) complex that Dollar has helped fundraise for and spearhead, along with fellow partners from the Friends of Madagascar, in Ampalagantsary, Madagascar. The complex is located near the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, home to the famous Indri (largest living lemur species). He anticipates Catawba College students who opt to study abroad in Madagascar will assist in the final construction or dedication of this school during summer 2018.

Dollar has also had an article entitled “Novel photographic and morphometric records of the Western Falanouc Eupleres major in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar” accepted for publication in “Small Carnivore Conservation.” The article details the live trapping and camera-trapping study of the elusive and endangered Western Falanouc.

Dr. Gary Freeze, professor of history

Dr. Gary Freeze was honored during the inaugural presentation of the film, “Charles A. Cannon. A mind for business. A heart for people.” in Kannapolis at the Gem Theatre on Oct. 15. Freeze was recognized for his 40 years of research on the industrialization of the Piedmont, particularly for his work on the dynamics of labor relations in the Cannon textile mills. He was joined by scholars from Gardner-Webb and Duke universities, as well as the Museum of the New South. The film was a tribute and scholarly analysis of the paternalistic achievements of the found of Cannon Mills, once the largest towel maker in the United States.

Freeze was part of a panel on the subject of the Confederate monument controversy in North Carolina. He appeared on “Capital Tonight,” Spectrum’s political reporting show, and was available to cable subscribers in more than 50 communities across North Carolina.

Carrie Graham, assistant professor of athletic training

Carrie Graham has had a paper accepted for presentation at the American Education Research Association Fall Conference on the Research on Women and Education. The paper titled “Female faculty from distinct racial and ethnic identities perceptions of career advancement and mentoring” was based on a portion of her dissertation which explored the career advancement and mentoring experiences of female faculty across distinct racial and ethnic identities in athletic training. Her research finding provided support of existing theories in education and social justice and also presented a new perspective on faculty development.

Amanda Grieshaber, coordinator of therapeutic recreation

Amanda Grieshaber has co-authored an article with Dr. Danny Johnson of UNC Wilmington and Dr. Brandi Crowe of Clemson University that has been accepted for publication in the “American Journal of Recreation Therapy.” The article is entitled “Returning to golf after a cerebrovascular accident in collaboration with a PGA golf pro and a recreation therapist.”

Dr. Eric Hake, professor of economics and associate dean of academic affairs for the Ketner School of Business

Dr. Eric Hake presented the keynote address at the 17th annual conference on Financial and Economic Cycles at the National Autonomous University of Mexico on March 20, 2017. His presentation was titled “Capital, debt and the remaking of the American corporation.” It brought previous analysis of the role of equity finance in the coordination of industrial supply chains through merger and acquisition into the modern era. Focusing on the period of “new finance” associated with growth of the modern bond market, his presentation explained how the current process of financialization is a continuation of practices associated with the first appearance of the modern industrial corporation. Issues of consolidation, market power, and the rise of competing income claims that undermine the traditional distinction between creditor, debtor, and owner were developed. 

Dr. Racquel Ingram, chair and associate professor of nursing

Dr. Racquel Ingram participated in a panel discussion on S.T.E.M. Leadership at the third Annual Contemporary Issues in Transformative and Innovative (CITI) Leadership Conference. The conference, entitled “From demographics to accountability: Reframing the dynamics of inclusive leadership,” was presented by N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University Department of Leadership Studies on the N.C. A & T campus on Oct. 20.

Ingram has also been invited and agreed to serve on the MEDSURG Nursing Journal Manuscript Review Panel.

Dr. Mahsa Khoshnoud, assistant professor of business and finance

Dr. Mahsa Knoshnoud served as a presenter and discussant at the Financial Management Association (FMA) conference held Oct. 13. She was a discussant for a paper titled “Executive compensation under common ownership,” and presented a paper titled “Investors’ limited attention: Evidence from REITs.”

Dr. Scott Morton, visiting professor of communication arts

Dr. Scott Morton attended the American Journalism Historians Association Annual Conference on Oct. 14 and presented a research paper and sat on a panel while there.

His research paper was titled “Hanoi Hannah and the anti-war movement: How the american print media covered a female enemy radio propagandist who exploited U.S. societal unrest during the Vietnam War.” Hanoi Hannah was the “Tokyo Rose” of the Vietnam War. Each night, she broadcast to tens of thousands of U.S. troops, warning them of certain doom should they continue to fight, and reminding them of the rapidly growing anti-war movement at home. She represented a new type of female shortwave propagandist, unlike her predecessors, and the American media seemed to take the propaganda element of her broadcasts more seriously than her predecessors. This study explores how Hanoi Hannah made use of the societal unrest in the U.S. during the Vietnam War as covered through the American print media, and how it helped construct the legacy for which she is remembered.

The panel that Morton participated in was titled, “Thinking internationally: Research opportunities connecting media history in the U.S. and abroad.”

Dr. Buster Smith, chair and associate professor of sociology

The American Academy of Religion (AAR) favorably reviewed a book authored by Dr. Buster Smith. His book, “American secularism: Cultural contours of nonreligious belief systems,” was reviewed on the AAR’s new online book review site, “Reading Religion.”

Smith also made a presentation titled “Success, what is it good for?” at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion annual meeting on Oct. 15 in Washington, D.C. His presentation was based on research from a paper he co-authored with Dr. Edward Polson from Baylor University. He posited that the sociology of religion frequently deals with the issue of success, both implicitly and explicitly.

Professor Sandra Yamane, assistant professor of nursing

Sandra Yamane made a presentation titled, “A survey of cybercivility learning in interprofessional education,” on Oct. 15 at the Duke Academy for Health Professions Education and Academic Development Education Day. Her presentation concerned website-based research that analyzes to what extent U.S. nursing schools use social media, their policies or guidelines on cybercivility in social media, online classrooms and email correspondence, and whether these protocols are readily available to students.