People News, April 2017 vol 2

One hundred and six Smith students and two research associates have been initiated into the scientific research society Sigma Xi.

Morgan Cooper ’17 is one of six recipients of a 2017 Jean Freeman Scholarship from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Cooper, a graduate student in Smith’s Exercise and Sport Studies program, is an assistant coach for the college swim team.

Megan Shaw AC ’17 is listed in BusinessWest’s newest “40 Under 40” roster of accomplished business leaders in western Massachusetts. Shaw, a Spanish major at Smith, is owner and instructor of MEGAdance Fitness in Greenfield, Mass.

Ginetta Candelario ’90, newly promoted to professor of Latin American and Latina/o studies, has been appointed to the Hampshire-Franklin Commission on the Status of Women and Girls by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.

Brent Durbin, assistant professor of government, is a panelist for “Wiretaps and National Security Policy: A Panel Discussion on U.S. Intelligence, the Russians and What’s Next for America” to be held Thursday, April 27, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Durbin will focus on U.S. intelligence agencies’ role in the Trump administration.

Floyd Cheung, newly promoted to professor of English language and literature, is editor of Sadakichi Hartmann: Collected Poems, 1886-1944 published in March by Little Island Press.

Paula Giddings, Elizabeth A. Woodson ’22 Professor of Africana Studies, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest scholarly societies. Giddings—one of 228 new society members—will be inducted at a ceremony in October in Cambridge, Mass.

Mehammed Mack, assistant professor of French studies, was a panelist for an April discussion and film screening on “Islamophobia and Its Discontents” at Hampshire College. Mack spoke on “Islamophobia in France.”

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, newly appointed to associate professor of history, is a guest faculty member for “In Black and White: Race and American Visual Culture,” a seminar the American Antiquarian Society is hosting next month in Worcester, Mass.

Professor of Africana Studies Kevin Quashie was a panelist for a recent “Questioning Aesthetics Symposium on Black Aesthetics” at Hampshire College. Quashie spoke on “Aesthetics in Terrible Times.”

Professor of Religion Vera Shevzov has been awarded a $4,300 grant from the American Academy of Religion for “God and Gulag: Religion and ‘Ultimate Questions’ in Post-Soviet Russia.”

Sophie Ong ’12 has been awarded a Samuel H. Kress Foundation Institutional Fellowship in the History of European Art. Ong—who majored in art history at Smith and is now pursuing a doctorate at Rutgers University—will spend two years studying at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris.

“Franklin,” a play by Samantha Noble ’12, premiered this spring at Boston Playwrights Theatre. The play depicts English explorer Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated 1845 expedition to the Northwest Passage.

Luma Mufleh ’97 is the recipient of the National Council of Jewish Women’s Hannah G. Solomon Award, named for the organization’s founder. Mufleh, who majored in anthropology at Smith, is founder of the Atlanta-based Fugees Family, Inc., which began as a soccer club and has grown into a school serving immigrant youth. Mufleh was one of three award winners, including Hillary Clinton, honored at NCJW’s March convention in Atlanta.

JoAnna Schilling AC ’88 has been named the 12^thpresident of Cypress Community College in Cypress, Calif. Schilling, who majored in English language and literature at Smith, holds an MFA in playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in education from Oregon State University.