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Faculty Scholarship Celebration

 

Wednesday October 15, 2025


The Faculty Scholarship Celebration is a daylong event in the style of an academic conference featuring the research of the Westminster College Faculty. Presentations occur in a panel format featuring two faculty members per session, with the entire day representing one third of our faculty scholars. This event is intended to not only introduce the students in the Inquiry course of the First Year Program to the wide variety of faculty scholarship, but also serves as an opportunity for all Westminster Undergraduates to discover and explore the research and creative works happening across all departments at the college. Academic panels are meant to foster intellectual exchanges and all members of the campus community benefit from the advancement of knowledge that will occur at this event. The academic engagement occurring at the 2025 Faculty Scholarship Celebration will culminate with an evening Keynote Session featuring the 2025 Henderson Lecturer Matteo Luisi.

 

 

Schedule of Events


8:10 - 9:10 a.m.

Teaching as Scholarly Identity

Dr. Jamie Frueh, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Russian Scholarship in a Time of War

Dr. Michael Aleprete, Professor of Political Science

Witherspoon Lakeview
8:10 - 9:10 a.m.

Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance

Dr. Joseph Balczon, Associate Professor Biology with Jenna Zendron, Junior Biology Major

Recovering Critical Minerals from Waste Streams

Dr. Pete Smith, Professor of Chemistry

Witherspoon Maple
9:20 - 10:20 a.m.

Being Invisible: Scholarship and Translation in the 21st Century

Dr. Jeffrey Bersett, Professor of Modern Languages

Making the Invisible Visible for Women in Men's Professional Sports

Dr. Martha McGrath-Brown, Assistant Professor Sports Management

Witherspoon Lakeview
9:20 - 10:20 a.m.

Documentary Poetry & the Ohio Train Derailment

Dr. Robert Craven, Assistant Professor of English with Kamryn Taylor, Junior English Major

Artist Opportunities and Support

Summer Zickefoose, Associate Professor Visual Art

Witherspoon Maple
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Empty the River (a book of poems)

Dr. David Swerdlow, Professor of English

The Effects of Nature Therapy on Affect and Cognition

Dr. Jessica Rhodes, Associate Professor of Psychology

Witherspoon Lakeview
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Using Computational and Experimental Chemistry to Understand Histone mRNA Degradation

Dr. Patrick E. Lackey, Associate Professor of Biochemistry with Kevin Walker, Senior Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Major

Performance Factors for Math PSSA Scores for Students Enrolled in Online Learning

Dr. Claire Fauzey, Assistant Professor of Education

Witherspoon Maple
11:40 a.m. - 12:40 p.m.

Exploring Different Methods of Inhibiting Biofilms Produced by Bacterial Pathogens

Dr. Joshua Corrette-Bennett, Associate Professor of Biology with Talia Morgenstern, Senior Biology Major

A New Model of Galactic Ionized Gas

Dr. Matteo Luisi, Assistant Professor of Physics

Witherspoon Lakeview
12:50 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

The Invisible People Behind College Textbooks

Dr. Robert Badowski, Associate Professor of Business

Not Everything is “Easy”: Improving Mathematics Textbooks

Dr. Pamela Richardson, Professor of Mathematics

Witherspoon Lakeview
12:50 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

Entrepreneurship and the Westminster Bee Company

Dr. Helen Boylan, Professor of Center for the Environment

Small Designs, Bold Thinking: Research in Graphic Designs

Kandice Hartner, Lecturer of Communications

Witherspoon Maple
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

What does it mean to be a 'Swiftie'?

Dr. Jamie Chapman, Associate Professor of Sociology and Dr. James Rhoads, Professor of Political Science

Academic Narrative on the Obama Legacy

Dr. James Rhoads, Professor of Political Science

Witherspoon Lakeview
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Unlocking History through Letterlocking

Teresa Leone, Adjunct Lecturer of English

Western Pennsylvania's Role in America's Independence

Dr. David Horst Lehman, Assistant Professor of History