AMERICAN.EDU/CAS/CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012
Making
Russia
Real
Why We Do
the Things
We Do
Empowering
Teachers to
Lead
Fall
for the
Arts
Hiroshima
Mon
Amour
Letter
from
the
Dean
On the Cover
Magazine Production
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Disregard: Rapture.
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of Jules Olitski,
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Publisher: College of Arts and Sciences //
Dean: Peter Starr // Managing Editor: Charles
Spencer // Writers: Maggie Barrett, Abbey Becker, Josh
Halpren, and Angela Modany // Editor: Ali Kahn, UCM //
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NEW IDEAS, NEW PERSPECTIVES, NEW CHANCES for students to expand their intellectual
horizons. Nothing revitalizes a university more than adding new faculty, and this fall the College
of Arts and Sciences has hired experts on everything from artificial sweeteners and the brain to
HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. In this issue of Connections, we explore a common theme of
intellectual growth.
Terry Davidson has joined the College from Purdue to lead our new Center for Behavioral
Neuroscience. AU’s highly successful Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program prepares students
with bachelor’s degrees to meet the prerequisites for admission to health professional schools in
pursuit of careers such as medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine.
With the addition of Andrew Taylor to the faculty of the Department of Performing Arts, AU
solidifies its status as a leader in the study of arts management. And the College’s Fall for the Arts
fund-raiser gave those lucky enough to attend a chance to enjoy everything from conducting an
orchestra to engaging in stage combat and constructing a collage.
Max Paul Friedman’s new book, Rethinking Anti-Americanism, examines that phenomenon in
the context of the war on terror; Bryan McNeil’s Combating Mountaintop Removal helps readers
understand the realities of coal mining’s impact on West Virginia; and Juliet Bellow’s Modernism
on Stage explores the work of such artists as Picasso, Matisse, Delaunay, and de Chirico, who
designed costumes, sets, and other materials for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
Thanks to the generosity of businesswoman and philanthropist Susan E. Lehrman, Eric Lohr
has been selected to fill a new endowed chair in Russian history and culture. Chip Gerfen, an
expert in phonetics and phonology, is the new chair of the recently renamed Department of
World Languages and Cultures. And AU alum Koko Tanimoto Kondo, a survivor of the Hiroshima
bombing, continues to make important contributions to peace.
Addressing our need for top-quality schoolteachers who can help lead educational reform, AU’s
School of Education, Teaching, and Health has partnered with Teach for America to offer degree
programs with discounted tuition.
And speaking of students, nobody exemplifies the kind of scholars AU attracts better than
Jonathan Wallen, mathematics and economics ’15, who uses both quantitative and qualitative
research to look at international business cycles and what they mean for economic forecasts.
Happy reading,
Peter Starr
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
AMERICAN.EDU/CAS/CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012
Letter from the Dean
Making Russia Real 2
History professor Eric Lohr named to endowed chair in Russian history and culture
Why We Do the Things We Do 4
Psychologist Terry Davidson heading up new Center for Behavioral Neuroscience
Arts Management Scores Superstar 5
New recruit Andrew Taylor taking the team to the top
A Manner of Speaking 6
Chip Gerfen appointed chair of Department of World Languages and Cultures
Empowering Teachers to Lead 6
AU and Teach for America partnering on graduate programs
Fall for the Arts 8
Fund-raiser enlivened by array of artful activities
Fruits of Our Labors 10
New books by faculty
In Sickness and in Health 12
Postbac premed program growing and people are talking
Hiroshima Mon Amour 12
Bomb survivor Koko Tanimoto Kondo ’69 paying forward a message of peace to students
A Future in Futures 14
Jonathan Wallen ’15 finding equilibrium in economic forecasting
New Faculty 15
Donors 19
Achievements 21
humanities
Making
Russia
Real
“I firmly believe in the
importance of building
lasting connections between
Russians and Americans.”
­— Susan E. Lehrman
AU’S FLEDGLING Initia-
tive for Russian Culture (IRC), launched in
2011, had a big first year.
The IRC expanded its
presence both on and
off campus, introducing innovative programming and educational
opportunities in Russian
history, art, politics, and
culture to students at
AU and throughout the
2
Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area.
More than 5,000 students and guests have
attended IRC events.
On track with the
IRC’s mission, Susan E.
Lehrman—whose donations kick-started the
initiative last year—has
now generously endowed
a chair in Russian
history and culture in
AU’s history department, a major development that will advance
the goals of the IRC.
History professor Eric
Lohr has been named to
the inaugural position.
“I firmly believe in the
importance of building lasting connections
between Russians and
Americans,” Lehrman
says. “A chair is a longterm and important step
towards that goal.”
“The Lehrman chair
will enhance American
University’s academic
strengths in Russian
studies, history, and
international affairs,
while laying the foundation for the university to
establish a world-class
center for Russian history and culture,” says
American University
president Neil Kerwin.
Appropriately, the IRC
was born of dialogue—
between Lehrman; Peter
Starr, dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences;
and Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the
United States. The three
discussed the need for
a program that would
enable young Americans
and Russians to come
by
Josh
Halpren
together to build the
foundation of a relationship between the two
nations for the future.
“The project really
resonated with me since
so many Americans,
whether they realize it
or not, have connections to Russian culture,”
says Lehrman, citing
the music of composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
and the works of Fyodor
Dostoevsky. “Our mutual
connections are historical and strong.”
Since its launch at the
Library of Congress in
September 2011, the
IRC has created innovative programming and
classes for students interested in Russian studies and sponsored film
screenings and discussions on Russian culture,
history, and politics. IRC
events have also explored
cross-cultural influences,
such as the rise of jazz
in Russia in the 1920s.
Through the IRC, Russian studies students can
sign up for such innovative courses as the Cold
War and the Spy Novel
or Dostoevsky’s Russia—
which includes an optional trip to St. Petersburg
and Moscow with professor and IRC executive
director Anton Fedyashin.
“The Lehrman chair
builds on the spectacular success of the
IRC, which has stimulated great thirst among
consortium students
for all things Russian,”
Fedyashin says. “[It] not
only complements the
IRC but also reinforces
the academic commitment that AU has made
to developing a robust
Russian cultural studies program that we
hope will become a
national landmark.”
Pamela Nadell, chair
of the history department,
says that she and her
department could not be
more thrilled about Lohr’s
appointment. “This justly
recognizes Eric Lohr as
one of the leading scholars of Russian history
of his generation,” she
says. “I can think of no
more fitting appointment
to this endowed chair.”
Both the IRC and
the chair, Lohr says,
come at a time of crisis
in Russian studies in
this country, referring to
the federal government’s
40 percent cut in Title VI
funding in fiscal year
2011. (Title VI has been
the mainstay of support
for this academic field.)
“Across the country
every university is being
forced to cut back . . .
on Russian studies,”
he says. “Add in new
funding conditions that
research and educational programs be ‘policy
relevant’ and the shifting
of resources from Russian studies to those
focusing on China and
the Arab world, and the
future looks bleak, even
though student interest in
Russian studies remains
strong. Thanks to Susan
Lehrman, we at AU have
a unique opportunity to
move in the opposite
direction from these
national trends, as we
meet and stimulate interest in Russian culture on
campus and beyond.”
Lohr made his mark
with his book Nationalizing the Russian Empire:
The Campaign against
Enemy Aliens during
World War I (Harvard,
2003). With his latest
book, Russian Citizenship: Empire to Soviet
Union released this year,
he is already at work
on another, Russia’s
Great War:1914–1918.
He has been actively
engaged in the dialogue
on U.S.-Russia relations,
serving on the RussiaEurope advisory group
for Hillary Clinton’s
presidential campaign.
Committed to the ideal
of the scholar-teacher,
he brings his experience
and research back into
his undergraduate and
graduate classrooms.
“The future of U.S.Russia relations is in the
hands of this generation
of students,” says Starr,
Courtesy of ImageLink Photography
humanities
From left: IRC executive director Anton Fedyashin, CAS dean Peter Starr,
Susan E. Lehrman, Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and Lehrman
chair Eric Lohr at inaugural IRC event at the Library of Congress
honorary co-chair of the
initiative. “The IRC has
shown its dedication to
making this future a reality and has proved its
ability to do so through
its unique programming
and course offerings.
In giving AU and consortium students the
tools they need to understand Russia beyond the
stereotypes left over from
the Cold War, the IRC
has actively worked
to make this vision of
the future a reality.”
Lehrman hopes the
endowment of this chair
will be a catalyst for the
creation of a center for
Russian studies, based at
AU. “We are in a unique
position at the IRC,”
she says. “We have
the opportunity to work
closely with the Embassy
of the Russian Federation
and Ambassador Kislyak
to provide the consortium
students with authentic
connections and a rare
insider’s look at Russian perspectives.” 
Donors Feted
In recognition of the establishment of the
Susan E. Lehrman Chair, AU hosted a reception
in April 2012, following an IRC symposium,
“Overcoming Cold War Stereotypes.”
The reception celebrated the new Richard
Stites Library, the generous bequest of Andrei
Stites, Russian and Soviet culture scholar
and son of Richard Stites. The senior Stites
collected books as cultural artifacts, as well as
tools of learning. His collection includes works
of Russian-language literature and history, from
Kievan to post-Soviet Russia, and an extensive
multilingual anthology of art catalogs, art histories,
artists’ correspondence, and biographies of
cultural figures. The library also contains slides
and audio and video recordings, including a
collection of rare, prerevolutionary silent films.
3
sciences
social sciences
arts
the Things
­— Terry Davidson
Courtesy of Purdue University
by
Josh
Halpren
TERRY DAVIDSON wants
to understand the brain—
that is, its processes and
the disorders that plague
people around the world.
The new director of the
Center for Behavioral
Neuroscience arrived at
AU this fall from Purdue
University to pursue this
research. And he couldn’t
be more thrilled.
“I’m very pleased that
AU has given me the
opportunity to help build
4
a center for research
and training in the field
that has been the lifelong
focus of my professional
career,” he says. “The
administration and faculty are very forward
looking and supportive
of further developing
the research and science education missions of the university.”
Davidson’s passion for
understanding behavioral
neuroscience comes
from years of practice
and investigation. As an
undergraduate, he volunteered at a school for
emotionally disturbed
children and later at a
juvenile detention center. The young people
he encountered were
dealing with a range
of behavioral problems
beyond their control.
And these problems,
he observed, were negatively affecting their lives.
“I decided back then
that the best way I could
help people with these
and other harmful behavioral and psychological
dysfunctions was to identify and study the complex brain substrates and
processes that underlie
those problems,” says
Davidson. “In various
ways, I have spent my
research career trying
to achieve this goal.”
Davidson specializes in the neural and
associative bases of
learning and memory,
as well as the integration of learning, memory, and physiological
processes in the control
of food intake and body
weight. His experience
at Purdue, where he
headed up large, externally funded research
programs dedicated to
addressing problems
in the area of neuroscience, will serve him well
in his new position.
“I hope to use these
experiences to promote
the research and teaching interests of many of
the outstanding faculty
who are currently at AU,”
says Davidson. “But I
also hope that these faculty members and I can
use the center to entice
young neuroscientists
with excellent potential
to start their careers at
AU and to attract established researchers, with
strong records of scientific and teaching excellence, to come to AU to
continue their careers.”
The center, he says, will
boost AU’s national and
international visibility as
a “hub of excellence” in
behavioral neuroscience.
As a faculty member at
St. Olaf College and Virginia Military Institute, as
well as Purdue, Davidson
says that what he finds
most rewarding about
teaching is the opportunity to interact with
students on an individual
basis. “I have worked
Arts Management Scores
SUPERSTAR
Photo by Jeff Watts
“The administration
and faculty are very
forward looking and
supportive of further
developing the
research and science
education missions
of the university.”
with and been trained
by some of the most
outstanding scientists
in the world,” he says.
“Many of these have also
been among the best
people I have known.
These relationships have
been the most positive
aspects of my experience as a professor.”
He’s been paying forward that experience
to his own students,
with payoffs: Among his
recent advisees, one, an
undergraduate, won a
prestigious National Science Foundation Predoctoral [now NSF Graduate
Research] Fellowship
and is pursuing a PhD in
psychological and brain
sciences at Johns Hopkins University; another,
a doctoral student, just
accepted a tenure-track
assistant professorship in
biology at the University
of Southern California.
Davidson believes that
the study of neuroscience will help students
at AU fulfill their mission
to create meaningful
change. “Knowledge of
the structure and function of the brain is key to
understanding serious
cognitive, motor, and
behavioral disorders,
such as Alzheimer’s
disease, Parkinson’s
disease, and obesity,”
says Davidson. “For
students who are scientifically curious, undaunted by complexity, and
exhilarated by intellectual
challenges, the study of
behavioral neuroscience
offers the chance to
have a genuinely positive
impact on the world.” 
“With Andrew, the current
faculty, and new adjuncts,
AU is going to be the place
to study arts management.”
­— Sherburne Laughlin
THE DEPARTMENT of Performing
Arts welcomes Andrew Taylor
as an arts management professor this fall. His schedule
calls for him to teach a new
arts enterprise course in the
fall and a seminar in arts management in the spring. The
seminar will cover intraorganizational learning, such as
internal program evaluations
and personal work and interorganizational learning, including
mergers and collaborations.
“It’s a thrill to join the smart
and passionate team in the Arts
Management program and the
Department of Performing Arts,”
says Taylor. “The rigor and reach
of the department’s work, and
the growing partnerships across
campus and around the world,
make AU an ideal place to
explore what’s next in the
business of arts and culture.”
Sherburne Laughlin, program
director, is thrilled to have Taylor
as a new colleague. “With
Andrew, the current faculty, and
new adjuncts, AU is going to be
the place to study arts management,” she says. “It means a lot
for our students, but it’s also
beneficial for us as a cohort and
by
Abbey
Becker
for what we can contribute to the
field of arts management.”
Russell Willis Taylor, president
and CEO of National Arts Strategies, praises Andrew Taylor for
his visionary leadership. “Andrew
Taylor is one of the most extraordinary thought leaders in our field.
He will bring a great deal to the
talented community of teachers
and students in the Arts Management program at American
University,” she says. “The university is to be congratulated on
this outstanding appointment.”
These sentiments were echoed
by National Endowment for the
Arts chair Rocco Landesman,
who looks forward to Taylor’s
future at AU. “I am delighted
to welcome Andrew Taylor to
Washington, D.C., and [to] his
new position at American University,” he says. “Andrew is
a consistently innovative thinker
who is not afraid to question
conventional wisdom and ask
provocative questions. I have
enjoyed our ongoing dialogue
and look forward to having an
even closer working relationship as he starts this exciting chapter in his career.”
Peter Starr, dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences,
knows Taylor will be a great asset
to the College and the university.
“Andrew Taylor is a superstar in
the field of arts management,” he
says. “Adding him to an already
outstanding faculty lineup makes
AU the university to beat in a field
in which we have been pioneers
for the past four decades.” 
5
5
arts
humanities
education
by
Josh
Halpren
CHIP GERFEN loves language.
The new chair of the Department of World Languages and
Cultures (formerly Language and
Foreign Studies), who comes
to AU from Penn State University, brings his passion and
decades of experience with him.
Gerfen’s special interests
are phonetics and phonology—
basically, how sounds pattern
within and across languages.
His most recent research focuses
on issues of language processing
in monolinguals and bilinguals.
“One thing that has always characterized my work,” he says, “has
been an insistence on [addressing]
theoretical questions in linguistics
via experimentation, rather than
solely through abstract theorizing.”
To this end, Gerfen worked in the
field in Mexico to study an endangered Mixtec language. In the lab,
he conducted intensive research
on Spanish and Spanish-English
bilingual language processing.
Gerfen didn’t start out as a
linguist. As a student at the
University of Montana, while
completing undergraduate and
graduate work in English and an
MFA in creative writing, he
happened to take an introductory
course in syntactic theory—the
study of sentence structure—and
he got hooked. “Linguistics woke
something up in me,” he says.
“It allowed me to combine my love
of language with an approach to
studying and understanding
language that was rigorously
scientific. For me, this was the
best of all possible worlds.”
He went on to do a doctorate at the University of Arizona,
6
where he discovered phonology through his mentor, Diana
Archangeli. “I was inspired by
the work she was doing and by
the nature of the questions she
was asking in the area of phonological theory,” says Gerfen.
“So I naturally drifted towards
that area of specialization.”
Gerfen has taught a variety
of courses, both undergraduate and graduate, from general phonetics and phonological
theory to Spanish phonetics and
phonology and usage-based
approaches to linguistics.
“I bring to the department
what I hope all AU faculty bring:
commitment to and excellence in
the areas of teaching, research,
and service. I hope to inspire and
mentor my students to think critically and independently,” he says.
Gerfen views linguistics as
a way to help individuals understand the world around them and
to see the connections between
apparently divergent cultures.
“Language literally lies at the
center of the human experience,”
he says. “Linguistics provides
multiple lenses through which we
can better understand who we are
in our social and cognitive dimensions. We often take for granted
that we all have language, that
we all speak a language, but as
soon as we begin to study the
questions that arise when we
scrutinize language closely, we
begin to realize how extraordinary our capacity for language is,
how richly structured language
is, and how our language sets
us apart from the other species with whom we coexist.” 
study commissioned
by the Council of Chief
State School Officers
and the Wallace Foundation, many educational
leaders feel ill prepared
to implement educational reforms or curriculum and performance
standards. Undertaking
major reform strategies
requires the ability to
navigate complex policies
and laws and put reforms
in place to increase
educational opportunity
across communities.
American University
and Teach for America
(TFA) have partnered
to offer new graduate
degrees to fill this need.
The programs, offered at
discounted tuition rates,
are open to TFA corps
members in their second
year of teaching in D.C.
Public Schools, as well
as TFA alumni and staff.
The primary degree,
offered through the
School of Education,
Teaching, and Health
(SETH), is an MEd in curriculum and instruction:
educational policy and
leadership. TFA corps
members, alumni, and
staff will also have the
option to earn an MA in
public administration from
AU’s School of Public
Affairs or an MBA from
Kogod School of Business. These programs
will provide students with
in-depth knowledge of
educational policy and
prepare them for leadership positions in schools,
school systems, educational policy groups,
government agencies, and universities.
SETH dean Sarah
Irvine Belson says the
AU-TFA partnership
comes at a critical time.
“Modern education
reform is different today
because the perception
of education’s purpose
is different than it was 50
years ago,” says Irvine
Belson, whose forthcoming book addresses
this subject. “Schools
need to function in very
different ways. Rather
than viewing education simply as a means
to an end, schools and
school systems must
provide the supports to
take care of families and
communities in more
comprehensive ways.”
The spotlight on standardized tests as the
cornerstone of modern
education reform—with
the focus on underperforming schools, usually
those serving socially
and economically disadvantaged students—
has prompted teachers
and administrators to
rethink how to teach and
evaluate students and
teachers alike. Initiatives
such as No Child Left
Behind and Race to the
Top include standardized
testing provisions, the
former linking test scores
to federal funding for
schools and the latter to
teacher salaries. These
policies require administrators to use more
nuanced and innovative approaches toward
supporting teachers and
learning communities.
While standardized
tests offer a measurable
way of gauging students’
academic proficiencies,
Empowering Teachers
to Lead
Illustration by Branden Vondrak
ACCORDING TO A 2010
Irvine Belson says using
them as the sole basis to
judge schools’ or teachers’ effectiveness is a
mistake. “In reducing
school improvement to a
one-dimensional emphasis on academic knowledge and skills amenable
to testing and measurement, many administrators and policy makers
ignore the important
socializing, characterbuilding, moral, and
ennobling functions of
schools and teachers,
as well as the impact of
extracurricular influences on students’ academic performance.”
This is especially evident, she says, in the
achievement gap. Generally, students with a
stable socioeconomic
status perform better
academically than do
those with an unstable or
by
Maggie Barrett
disadvantaged status.
“This isn’t, of course,
because disadvantaged
students are incapable of
learning,” Irvine Belson
says. “It is because these
students may lack the
needed social support to
better encourage them
to learn. High-performing
schools that serve disadvantaged students, the
exceptions to the norm,
overcome this by working
consistently with social
and human service agencies to improve the lives
of students inside and
outside the classroom.”
The focus on standardized tests also
undermines the role and
influence of the teacher,
who knows the students
best and how to create the best learning
environment. It makes
sense that teachers
should be leading the
“We need leaders who understand
the consequences of reforms on
improving schools.”
—Sarah Irvine Belson
reform movement. Historically, however, they
have relied on unions to
represent their interests.
But now may be an
ideal time for teachers to
take a more active role
in helping shape education reform. According
to a May 2012 article
in Education Week,
a new generation of
education advocacy
groups is switching up
how education reform
policy is debated and
enacted. Some of these
organizations are led
by former educators,
such as StudentsFirst,
founded by former
D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, who
is also a TFA alumna.
AU’s location in Washington and its nationally ranked schools of
education, public affairs,
and business make it
the ideal home for the
partnership. TFA’s commitment to closing the
achievement gap dovetails with AU’s mission to
address the most pressing issues of our time,
and its alumni affairs
office reports that American University is among
the top 10 schools from
which TFA alumni hold
graduate degrees.
Irvine Belson says
too much is at stake by
not encouraging and
preparing more teachers with experience in
urban schools to lead in
education—especially
when it comes to reform.
“We need leaders who
understand the consequences of reforms on
improving schools.” 
7
arts
arts
for the
IF YOU’VE EVER FANTASIZED about conducting an orchestra or drawing
a rapier and shouting “En garde!” on stage, the College of Arts and
Sciences’ Fall for the Arts 2012 fund-raiser was the place for you.
Participants enjoyed sessions and workshops on acting, dance, music,
and visual art, as well as a gallery tour. A cocktail reception was topped
off by a live art auction featuring works by such artists as Robert Gates
and Sam Gilliam. All proceeds went to sponsoring arts at AU.
“Unlike similar fund-raising events, ours was casual, highly interactive,
and fun—in a way that we feel celebrates what’s truly distinctive about
this great university,” said College of Arts and Sciences dean Peter Starr.
The day was packed with arts activities. Among them, theatre professor
Caleen Jennings conducted a quick course on Shakespearean acting,
music professor Daniel Abraham helped fantasy conductors lead an
orchestra, artist Sharon Wolpoff guided students in collage making,
and art professor Don Kimes displayed his paintings and discussed
how interruption can serve as a catalyst for the creative process.
One thing everyone had in common: a good time for a great cause. 
8
9
faculty
sciencesbooks
social
faculty
sciences
books
New books by faculty
by
Josh Halpren
Rethinking Anti-Americanism: The History of an Exceptional
Concept in American Foreign Relations (Cambridge, 2012)
by Max Paul Friedman, associate professor and director of graduate studies, history
we call American
exceptionalism.”
He refers to the influence of these ideas preceding the invasion of
Iraq in 2003. “The French
president, Jacques Chirac, warned the United
States not to go to war in
Iraq based on his country’s experience fighting
in Algeria. He thought it
would end badly,” says
Friedman. “Americans
responded with anger,
accusing him and the
French generally of antiAmericanism. I thought
his arguments had merit,
and I wondered why we
were quick to assume that
they must be motivated
by malice or jealously.”
Friedman’s research
for the book spanned
nine countries and five
languages. From that
broad perspective, he
stresses the importance of understanding
that the use of the term
“anti-Americanism” itself
says a great deal about
American culture. “It is
important for Americans
to realize that we use
a term that is unusual,”
says Friedman. “We will
have more successful
foreign policy if we stop
reading the world as if
it were a football game,
where everyone has to
cheer for our team.” 
Modernism on Stage: The Ballets Russes and the
Parisian Avant-garde, 1917–1929 (Ashgate, 2012)
by Juliet Bellow, assistant professor, art
JULIET BELLOW sees a
Combating Mountaintop Removal: New Directions
in the Fight against Big Coal (Illinois, 2011)
by Bryan McNeil, assistant professor, anthropology
BRYAN MCNEIL returned
to his roots in southern
West Virginia to research
material for his book,
Combating Mountaintop
Removal. The practice
is commonly used by
mining companies to
blast rock formations on
10
mountains to expose coal
for harvesting. Though
profitable, the process
is devastating to surrounding communities.
Although his grandfather had worked as a
miner for more than 30
years, McNeil says he
only began to fully understand the ramifications
of mountaintop removal
while researching the
subject for his senior college thesis. “I knew about
the economic difficulties
of the coalfields, and I
knew that conventional
asserts, but it’s difficult
to spread their message.
“Part of what I do in the
book is try to portray the
activists as individuals
and as thoughtful citizens
and explain some of the
context that led them to
take a position against
the coal industry—a very
difficult thing in southern West Virginia,” says
McNeil. “I hope that the
book makes people think
about the democratic
process and question
many of the assumptions that drive controversies like this one.” 
‘environmentalism’ would
not be popular there,”
says McNeil. “When I
first encountered activists, though, I learned
that they were all local,
and they were practicing a very different kind
of environmentalism
that was rooted in
the local experience
and landscape.”
West Virginia’s hardwood forest, the most
biodiverse in all of North
America, “is simply
destroyed.” And, he says,
it’s not just the ecological
connection between art
forms that others might
not notice. The art history professor began
researching the connections between visual and
performing arts, specifically ballet, while she was
still a graduate student.
“Nearly every wellknown artist living in
Paris between the two
world wars designed
for the Ballets Russes,”
Bellow says, referring
to the Russian ballet
company established
by Serge Diaghilev and
often referred to as the
greatest of the twentieth
century. Bellow’s new
book, Modernism on
Stage, explores the ventures of such artists as
Picasso, Matisse, Delaunay, and de Chirico, who
chose to design costumes, sets, and other
materials for the ballet.
“My book aims to
determine why so many
visual artists—working
in a variety of distinct
styles, from cubism to
simultanism, fauvism to
surrealism—ventured
outside the safe haven of
painting and sculpture to
work as decorators and
designers,” says Bellow.
“It treats these productions as serious artistic
endeavors, rather than as
a form of ‘painter’s theatre’ in which the stage
functioned as a makeshift gallery or salon. The
troupe’s stage served as
a dynamic forum where
visual artists engaged
directly with other media
and intensively investigated their own craft.”
Bellow’s research has
also informed her work
as a consulting scholar
for the National Gallery
of Art’s 2013 exhibition
on the Ballets Russes.
Bellow sees the exhibit
as an outstanding opportunity to show people the
relationships between
art forms and to recognize the increasing
prominence of various
forms of performance
art in museum contexts.
“The artists who
worked with the Ballets Russes were eager
to experiment with a
range of different modes,
media, and materials,
including, in this case,
the performing body,”
says Bellow. “I think that
art history itself tends
to exclude anything
that doesn’t conform
Photo by Vanessa Robertson
Rethinking Anti-Americanism, Max Paul Friedman
reexamines the concept
and significance of antiAmericanism, particularly in the context of a
post-war-on-terrorism
world. “This book looks
at how a belief that antiAmericanism motivates
foreign behavior has
distorted the making
of U.S. foreign policy,”
says Friedman. “This
belief goes back almost
200 years and is tied
to many Americans’
assumption that the
United States is morally superior to all other
countries, an assumption
Courtesy of Max Paul Friedman
IN HIS NEW BOOK,
book will help people
understand the realities of coal mining and
its impact on the state.
As West Virginia has
changed, he says, other
industries have come in,
disproving the justification that these communities would die without
the mines. “For several
years now, tourism has
employed more West
Virginians than mining,”
he says, “and the mining
counties are among the
poorest in the state.”
What the local activists are saying is true, he
Photo by Emily Schmidt
Fruits of Our Labors
impact: mountaintop
removal disrupts the local
residents’ way of life.
“People who have lived
in the region for generations and interacted with
the landscape and forest
resources lose access to
those lands—and often
lose their own land and
homes to make way for
mining. Very little financial benefit ever reaches
the coal mining counties and towns, [and]
residents suffer innumerable social, physical, and
health consequences.”
McNeil hopes his
to our understanding
of what art history is,
what the discipline is
equipped to investigate.
But I was interested
in following these artists outside their usual
comfort zones, because
these projects tell us
a lot about these artists’ careers, about the
Ballets Russes, about
modernism, and ultimately, about art history
and how the discipline
understands itself.” 
11
11
alumni
In Sickness
Health
and in
“Some students come with no
prerequisites for medical school, and
some students have taken them all.
. . . We’ll help you get the additional
classes that you need in order to be a
competitive applicant.”
­—Lynne Arneson
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
launched its Postbaccalaureate
Premedical Program with four
students. This fall, program
coordinator Lynne Arneson
welcomed a record 56 students
(an almost 20-percent increase
from last year). “Knowledge
about the program has grown,”
she says. “In addition to
traditional recruitment, many
students hear about the
program by word of mouth.”
Arneson also attributed the
increase to the growing healthcare industry and number of
retiring baby boomers. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the health care and
social assistance industries
will grow by 33 percent—or
5.7 million new jobs—between
2010 and 2020. “We definitely
need more geriatric physicians,
podiatrists, and primary care
physicians if we’re going to
take care of these folks as
they get older,” Arneson says.
AU’s postbac premed
program is for students with a
bachelor’s degree who want to
enter a health field, such as
medicine, dentistry, or veteri12
nary medicine, but have to
fulfill admission requirements.
It’s also for those who want
to make themselves more
attractive candidates for
admission. An advantage
is that the program can be
completed in one year.
Program staff are available
to guide students through the
application process. “We hold
seminars and workshops on
how to interview, how to write
a personal statement, and how
to fill out the application,” Arneson says. “I collect letters of
recommendation [and] we prepare a committee letter for the
students—a lot of advising on
what classes to take. . . . I point
them in the right direction.”
As for prerequisites, Arneson says that AU’s program
offers more flexibility than others. “Some students come with
no prerequisites for medical
school, and some students
have taken them all. . . . We’ll
help you get the additional
classes that you need in order
to be a competitive applicant.”
Unlike many other postbaccalaureate programs around the
by
Angela
Modany
country, AU’s does not limit the
number of students it accepts.
And they come from all walks
of life and represent a range
of age and experience. Many,
says Arneson, have decided to
change careers; some are in
the military and based nearby,
including a few Navy SEALs
who have gone back into service as doctors. And then there
was the fashion designer, just
a few years out of college,
who became a physician.
Charlotte Bourdillon, a current postbac student from
Indianapolis, studied community health and international
relations at Tufts University.
She came to AU to complete
her requirements for medical
school and loves the program’s
flexibility, community, and small
classes. “Every professor knew
my name within a few weeks,”
she said. “[The program]
offers me what I’m going to
need to go to medical school,
and it fits my learning style.”
Lauren Rarick did an undergraduate degree in gender
studies. But while working as
a volunteer emergency medical technician, she decided she
wanted to go medical school.
She hopes to take the Medical College Admission Test
(MCAT) in the spring and then
apply to medical schools.
As for Arneson, she anticipates a busy year, which is her
dream. “I’m looking forward
to helping students apply and
get into medical school,” she
says. “And I’m looking forward to more applications.” 
Hiroshima
Mon Amour
KOKO TANIMOTO KONDO
is a petite Japanese
woman. Her black
and gray hair is neatly
braided back from her
face, and her hands are
as animated as her eyes
when she talks. When
she speaks, her voice is
full of emotion, befitting
her mission to spread
a message of peace.
Kondo, a 1969 AU
alumna, is a hibakusha,
a survivor of the first
atomic bomb dropped in
Hiroshima on August 6,
1945. Although she was
only eight months old
at the time, the event
shaped her childhood,
which was inhabited
by the disfigured (she
remembers seeing girls
whose fingers were melted together) and marked
by silence (she recalls
being unable to ask
her parents about the
bombing, because the
memory was too painful).
Speaking before an
audience at AU in September, Kondo recalled,
“Little Koko said, ‘When
I grow up, I’m going to
do something. I’m going
to get revenge, because
I’m a good person. If
they never dropped
the bomb, these girls
wouldn’t have suffered.
I have to find the person of the Enola Gay.’”
Kondo got her wish in
1955 when her father,
Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto, appeared on the
television show This Is
Your Life with Captain
Robert Lewis, copilot
of the Enola Gay. Lewis
explained how he flew
back to see the bomb’s
damage and wrote in
his log, “My God, what
have we done?” Kondo
realized then that Lewis
was not the “bad guy.”
“Meeting him changed
my whole view,” Kondo said. “I touched
his hand and he held
mine tightly. It was a
big, warm hand.”
Although Kondo forgave Lewis, the pain of
Hiroshima remained.
She recalled how, as
a teenager, she had to
make an annual visit
to the Atomic Bomb
Casualty Commission,
a U.S.-run institution
in Hiroshima, where
scientists were studying the effects of radiation on the human body.
She would be asked to
strip off her clothes so
doctors could examine
Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum. Photo by Christian R. Greco, CAS ’00
alumni profiles
sciences
by
Angela Modany
her. After enduring the
embarrassment of those
visits, Kondo decided
not to tell anyone that
she was from Hiroshima,
and she refused to honor
her father’s request that
she work for peace.
Kondo later enrolled
at American University.
She recalls the first time
she told anyone at AU
that she was from
Hiroshima. It was in a
history class, where
students were arguing
about the Vietnam War.
Kondo raised her hand
and announced, “I am
from Japan—Hiroshima.
I am a survivor of the
bomb.” The whole class
went silent.
Slowly, she became
more and more involved
with peace movements
and continuing the work
“They get to see with their
own eyes and hear with their
ears the survivors’ messages.
Reading a book is important,
but feeling it . . . is even
more important.”
­—Koko Tanimoto Kondo
her father had started.
Now, she accompanies
the AU Nuclear Studies
Institute’s annual trip to
Hiroshima, Nagasaki,
and Kyoto.
“She brings the survivor’s perspective and
a personal perspective to the trip,” says
Peter Kuznick, institute
director and professor.
“She brings the emotion of what it means
to be a survivor.”
Kuznick met Kondo
in 1996, a year after the
institute was founded
and had begun sending
students to Japan. Kondo
approached Kuznick, he
says, and told him that
she was excited that AU
was sending students
to Japan to study Hiroshima. She has been on
every trip since. “She
has nonstop energy, in a
good way,” Kuznick says.
“She’s the big sister to
everyone on the trip.”
Alison Kootstra, a
graduate student in
public history, agrees.
“She’s such a bright light
and adds a feeling of
hope.” Kootstra says she
went on the trip to see
how Japanese museums
dealt with topics related
to the atomic bomb, but
she ended up learning
much more about history
and the growing peace
culture in the country.
“The trip can be overwhelming academically,
but Koko keeps you
looking forward to peace
instead of looking back at
the past,” Koostra said.
Zach Kopin, BA
history ’15, went on the
trip this past summer and
says that one of Kondo’s
main messages is that
war hurts everyone.
“She’s more pro-peace
than anti-war,” he says.
“It’s a different way of
looking at the problem.”
Kuznick says Kondo’s
message has a sense
of urgency. “A lot of the
survivors have passed
away,” he says. “We
want students to come
sooner rather than later
to get that experience.”
Kondo’s goal for these
trips is that students
connect with survivors.
“They get to see with
their own eyes and hear
with their ears the survivors’ messages. Reading a book is important,
but feeling it,” she says,
touching her heart, “is
even more important.” 
13
interdisciplinary
new faculty
“I find in economics a nice middle
ground between quantitative and
qualitative research.”
­—Jonathan Wallen
WHEN IT COMES TO
research, there is often a
line between quantitative
and qualitative data.
Jonathan Wallen, BS
mathematics and
economics ’15, has
made it his business to
cross that line every day,
as a sort of intellectual
exercise. In the process,
he has come a long way
toward understanding
economic forecasting
from both angles.
“I find in economics a
nice middle ground
between quantitative and
qualitative research,”
says Wallen. “On one
end you have econometrics, which is heavily
14
quantitative and allows
me to apply statistics to
the study of economic
data. However, on the
other, you have economic
history, which stresses
the complicated development of various economic
theories as a response
to context.”
Over the past year,
Wallen has worked with
economics professor
Xuguang Sheng to
examine international
business cycles by
looking at their expansive
quantitative measures
and their qualitative
implications. “Despite
focusing our data
collection on two key
indicators of business
cycles, inflation and GDP
forecasts for the G7
countries [United States,
Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France,
Italy, and Japan],” says
Wallen, “the data set
provides over 152,000
observations from 1990
to 2011.”
From these observations, Wallen was able
to ascertain a variety of
forecast horizons and
individual forecasts, two
key characteristics in
understanding periods
of economic uncertainty.
Wallen and Sheng have
transformed numerous
forecasting reports
“I’m very pleased that AU
has given me the opportunity
to help build a center for
research and training in the
field that has been the lifelong
focus of my professional
career.”
Areas of research: biochemical pharmacology
of G protein-coupled receptors
Assistant professor, Dept. of Sociology
»» PhD, MA sociology, Ohio State University
»» BA interdisciplinary studies, Virginia Tech
Areas of research: HIV/AIDS, sub-Saharan
Africa, mixed methods, and diffusion of information
“I have a project I’ve been working on for a couple
of years on the structure of HIV/AIDS research.
We’d really like to think more explicitly about
how what we’ve gained from that project can tell
us more generally about how interdisciplinary,
problem-based scientific efforts (e.g.,
sustainability, neuroscience, public health) are
organized and what that organization contributes
to the success [or] failure of those projects.”
“The balance between
research and teaching that AU
strives for is something I think
can benefit both my research
and my teaching, in part
through engaging students
at a variety of stages in the
research process.”
—Jimi Adams
STEFANO COSTANZI
“These receptors provide a means for cells
to interact with their environment and can
be exploited for pharmaceutical purposes to
correct or prevent a wealth of pathological
conditions, including psychiatric, neurological,
and cardiovascular diseases, pain, allergies,
cancer, and many other illnesses. . . . I have
always been interested in life sciences and,
in particular, in the area at the interface
between chemistry and biology.”
—Terry Davidson
“I look forward to working
with students in the classroom,
as well as in the laboratory, to
help them hone their interests
in science. I also look forward
to new collaborations with my
colleagues.”
YANIV DINUR
Courtesy of Yaniv Dinur
JIMI ADAMS
—Stefano Costanzi
TERRY DAVIDSON
Courtesy of Terry Davidson
Photo by Emily Schmidt
by
Josh Halpren
New Faculty
Photo by Vanessa Robertson
Futures
news from noise?
Wallen’s strategy is
to have a firm grasp of
the process so that he
can help economic
agents make more
informed decisions.
Wallen is also interested in law as a complement to his economic
research. Inspired by
a freshman course on
Western legal tradition
taught by Douglas
Klusmeyer, a professor
in the Department of
Justice, Law and Society,
Wallen signed on as
Klusmeyer’s assistant
(through the General
Education Faculty
Assistance Program)
for the same class the
following semester.
He also enrolled in the
professor’s seminar on
legal history.
Under Klusmeyer’s
mentorship, Wallen has
researched the regulation
of futures markets and
the relationship between
law and economics.
“Jonathan is an
exceptionally bright,
self-disciplined, and
articulate student with
an unquenchable
appetite for learning,”
says Klusmeyer. “He
has a remarkable ability
to adapt his approach to
address new challenges,
combined with a tenacity
committed to achieving
at the highest level.
Wallen sees a future
for himself in studying
the future of the economy. “I hope to use
economic theory and
mathematical principles
to make accurate
forecasts of the future
economy,” he says. 
Photo by Vanessa Robertson
A Future
in
created by Consensus
Economics, an economic
survey organization,
into a working data set
for analysis.
“This process posed
significant challenges,”
says Wallen. “Throughout
the past two decades,
multiple forecasters
underwent name changes, mergers, and acquisitions. The countries
included in the forecasts
have also undergone
significant changes,
such as the reunification of Germany. Despite
these challenges, we
believe the data set has
the potential to provide
insight to the cross-country impacts of business
cycle fluctuations.”
According to Wallen,
forecasting the economic future is essential to making decisions
in the present. “Agents
within markets, especially large international
corporations, need to
understand future market conditions to make
current decisions,” he
says. “Many economic
agents depend on the
professional forecasts
of institutions. However,
there are challenges to
interpreting forecasting
data from various forecasters over extended periods of time.”
Forecasting literature,
says Wallen, answers
many of the questions
raised through the economic forecasting process: How precise are
forecasters? Do they
systematically over- or
under-predict GDP
growth? How efficiently
do forecasters process
Director, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience
Professor, Dept. of Psychology
»» PhD learning and memory, Purdue University
»» MA experimental psychology, California State
University–Fullerton
»» BA psychology, Michigan State University
Areas of research: neural and associative
bases of learning and memory and the
integration of learning, memory, and
physiological processes in the control of food
intake and body weight (see pp. 4–5)
“Research has found that obese people and
formerly obese people have weaker hippocampal
activity when consuming food than do people who
have never been obese. Just because you lose the
weight doesn’t mean you regain the brain function.
This could help explain why it is so difficult for
formerly obese people to keep the weight off.”
Assistant professor, Dept. of Performing Arts
»» DMA orchestral conducting, University of
Michigan
»» Artist diploma, BM orchestral conducting,
Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance
Areas of specialty: conducting and music
education
“One of the things I am most passionate about
is bringing AU students of all majors to the
concerts of the American University Symphony
Orchestra. Listening to a symphonic concert
can be a life-changing experience. It is especially
exciting when both the musicians on stage and
the people in the audience are students.”
“I was looking for a place
with open-minded, talented,
and dedicated faculty and
students and for a good
program which I could
contribute to, develop, and
put my mark on—and I have
found all of these at AU.”
—Yaniv Dinur
Assistant professor, Dept. of Chemistry
»» PhD medicinal chemistry, University of
Camerino, Italy
»» MS, BS chemistry and biochemistry, University
of Camerino
15
new faculty
new faculty
—Boris Gershman
“I am thrilled to become
a member of such a
distinguished department.
The quality of its scholarship
combined with the dedication
of AU’s students will continue
to inspire me as a teacher
and researcher.”
—Anton Fedyashin
Courtesy of Boris Gershman
BORIS GERSHMAN
Assistant professor, Dept. of Economics
»» PhD economics, Brown University
»» MA economics, New Economic School
»» BS economics, Moscow State University
Areas of research: economic growth and
development, macroeconomics, social economics,
and inequality
16
Photo by Charles Spencer
CHIP GERFEN
Professor, Dept. of World Languages and
Cultures
»» PhD linguistics, University of Arizona
»» MA English and linguistics, University of
Montana
»» MFA creative writing, University of Montana
»» BA English, Dartmouth College
“My research interests have been inspired by
my educational and cultural backgrounds. [They
were] also shaped by the thought of influential
francophone thinkers, such as Jacques Derrida,
Édouard Glissant, and Abdelkebir Khatibi. . . .
I am hoping to engage in fruitful exchanges
with my students and colleagues and use my
experience and expertise to contribute to AU’s
academic achievements and community projects.”
—Naïma Hachad
NATHANIEL HERR
“We often take for granted that we all have
language, that we all speak a language, but as
soon as we begin to study the questions that
arise when we scrutinize language closely, we
begin to realize how extraordinary our capacity
for language is, how richly structured language
is, and how our language sets us apart from
the other species with whom we coexist.”
—Chip Gerfen
—Nathaniel Herr
Assistant professor, Dept. of Psychology
»» PhD, MA clinical psychology, University of
California–Los Angeles
»» BA psychology and sociology, University of
Pennsylvania
Associate professor, Dept. of Biology
»» PhD, BS biology, University of Illinois
Areas of research: DNA and molecular biology
“I took genetics in the late 1970s, when DNA
sequencing was a new technology. I remember
the professor showing the complete DNA
sequence of the human beta-globin gene. I’ve
been fascinated by DNA and molecular biology
ever since. For the past 13 years, I’ve been
teaching graduate and professional students
who’d already decided on a career in research
or clinical practice. At AU, I’ll be teaching at
the undergraduate level. . . . I hope to learn,
teach, create, discover, inspire, and enjoy.”
—Jeffrey Kaplan
KAREN KNEE
Assistant professor, Dept. of Environmental
Science
»» PhD geological and environmental sciences,
Stanford University
»» BS environmental science, Brown University
Areas of research: effects of human activities and
land use on water quality
JEFFREY KAPLAN
“I was attracted by the
tremendous opportunities
AU offers in terms of
community engagement,
as well as teaching and
research developments”
Areas of research: phonetics and
phonology, language processing in
monolinguals and bilinguals (see p. 6)
“I hope to inspire and mentor
my students to think critically
and independently.”
“AU is the perfect place
for me to pursue each of
my professional interests:
teaching, research, and
clinical training. . . . I hope
to inspire and educate future
generations of researchers
and clinicians, who may
themselves contribute to the
betterment of society.”
PEDRAM PARTOVI
Photo by Jeff Watts
Courtesy of Naïma Hachad
Areas of research: francophone and North African
narratives and how representations of identity in
Maghreb and the Caribbean have reconfigured
racial, ethnic, national, and gender conceptions
“The psychology department at AU emphasizes a
well-rounded approach to training undergraduate
and graduate students so that they can thrive in
any of the career paths available to psychology
students. This is a philosophy I share. . . . As
a researcher, I hope to contribute to a better
understanding of how to promote healthy
relationships, which can, in turn, lead to reductions
in aggression, suicidality, self harm, and other
severe symptoms of BPD. My long-term goal is to
improve current treatments through interpersonal
interventions rooted in behavioral principles and
targeted to patients, therapists, and loved ones.”
“I like having the
opportunity to inspire
young students to enter the
field of science. I also like
the proximity of AU to other
world-class universities and
research institutions.”
“The balance of research and teaching at AU
and the university’s enthusiasm for international
work really appeals to me. . . . I hope that [my]
students gain a better understanding of how
the natural environment works and that they feel
empowered as environmental stewards and
decision makers in their lives and careers. In
terms of research, I hope to continue working with
researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center and the University of Maryland
on understanding how nutrients are added and
taken up within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.”
“Being an environmental
scientist allows me to use my
analytic and writing skills
to better understand and
protect the natural world.”
Assistant professor, Dept. of History
»» PhD history, University of Chicago
»» MA Islamic and Near Eastern studies,
Washington University
»» BA history, State University of
New York–Binghamton
Areas of research: modern social and political
change in the Middle East and South Asia and the
role of mass communication, audiovisual media as
vehicles of popular civil religion, bonds and
affinities of regional film cultures
“Although I was born in Iran, I had spent much of
my life outside the country. . . . Learning the
histories of the places where we moved helped
me to adjust to our life there. . . . I’m hoping to
encourage students to broaden their
understanding of the modern Middle East and
wider Muslim world by looking beyond the
encounter with the West and to the ways in which
modern life has been shaped by older, indigenous
ideas and practices.”
“What particularly
impressed me about AU
was how seriously students,
faculty, and administrators
take the humanities and
social sciences.”
—Pedram Partovi
GAUTHAM RAO
Photo by Jeff Watts
He is executive director of the Initiative for
Russian Culture. His book Liberals under
Autocracy: Modernization and Civil Society
in Russia, 1866–1904 was released this
summer and he is at work on Shades of
Gray: The Cold War and the Spy Novel.
Assistant professor, Dept. of World Languages
and Cultures
»» PhD French, Emory University
»» DEA (diplôme d’études approfondies)
anglophone literature and civilization, Université
de Provence, France
Areas of research: borderline personality
disorder (BPD)
Courtesy of Karen Knee
Areas of research: Russian and European history,
with an emphasis on imperial Russian history
“My new colleagues at the
Department of Economics
are some of the most openminded researchers, often
working on interdisciplinary
projects, as well as outside
the mainstream. I am happy
to now be part of this highly
stimulating and creative
intellectual environment.”
NAÏMA HACHAD
Courtesy of Jeffrey Kaplan
Assistant professor, Dept. of History
»» PhD history, Georgetown University
»» MA Russian, East European, and Central Asian
studies, Harvard University
»» BA philosophy and history of math and science,
St. John’s College
“The interplay between culture, institutions, and
economic development is one of the most exciting
and mysterious areas in all social sciences. . . .
The everyday experience of living in a society
constantly provides thought-provoking material
and feeds the desire to explain things. Economics
offers the richest toolkit to rigorously think about
a great variety of interesting questions.”
Courtesy of Nathaniel Herr
Photo by Vanessa Robertson
ANTON FEDYASHIN
—Karen Knee
Assistant professor, Dept. of History
»» PhD, MA, BA history, University of Chicago
Areas of research: legal and constitutional history
of the Revolutionary era and early republic
17
new faculty
donors
“I’ve always been fascinated
by how a single event can
mean so many different things
to so many different people.
I’ve also grown aware of the
profound importance that the
past plays in contemporary
politics and society.”
LILY WONG
Courtesy of Lily Wong
“[AU’s] proximity to
centers of government and
industry should make it
much easier to connect with
the people who will most
benefit from these new
theoretical developments.”
—Michael Robinson
ANDREW TAYLOR
Photo by Emily Schmidt
“I was looking to join a faculty where the liberal
arts, and history in particular, played an important
role in educating citizens, as well as scholars.
Even a superficial look at American reveals
how seriously the university takes the study of
the past. . . . I want to use both classical and
digital humanism to underscore AU’s deep
commitment to training a new generation of
leaders. . . . I hope to contribute to the faculty’s
tradition of producing innovative scholarship
with clear relevance for contemporary society.”
—Gautham Rao
Courtesy of Michael Robinson
MICHAEL ROBINSON
Assistant professor, Dept. of Mathematics and
Statistics
»» PhD applied mathematics, Cornell University
»» MS mathematics, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute
»» BS electrical engineering, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute
Areas of research: theoretical and practical
tools for advanced signal processing
techniques, topological methods for signal
processing and systems analysis
“American University already has a strong focus
in traditional and statistical signal processing, but
it is also small enough to permit me the flexibility
to take risks to explore the connections between
algebraic topology and signal processing. . . .
I see myself in the role of trying to bridge the
gap between theory and practice by studying
mathematics, communicating with those who
use it, and teaching about its effectiveness for
addressing pressing needs in our world.”
18
Assistant professor, Dept. of Performing Arts
»» MBA arts administration, University of
Wisconsin–Madison
»» BA English, University of Colorado–Boulder
Areas of research: business model development
for cultural initiatives and the impact of
communications technology on the arts (see p. 5)
“I’ll admit that it was a deeply difficult decision
to leave the University of Wisconsin–Madison
and the MBA degree program in arts
administration I’d been affiliated with for 17
years, for the past decade as its director. But
American University offered a brilliant cluster
of faculty colleagues in the arts management
program, a wonderfully connected campus that
seems to thrive at the intersection of theory
and practice, and close proximity to one of
the world’s greatest cultural cities. It was a
combination that was impossible to ignore.”
“I’ve been privileged to
work in two worlds of arts
and cultural management.
. . . That combination makes
me deeply curious about the
intersection of theory and
practice and the need for
each to inform the other at
every level.”
—Andrew Taylor
Assistant professor, Dept. of Literature
»» PhD, MA comparative literature, University of
California–Santa Barbara
»» BA English, National Central University
Areas of research: transpacific literature
and media, gender and sexuality,
nationhood and globalization.
“I spent most of my youth traveling back and
forth across the Pacific. . . . Worlds within
books provided me a safe yet continuous space
I could revisit with just the flip of a page, and
writing allowed me the freedom to ponder the
many languages and cultures I was navigating
from an early age. . . . My parents’ efforts as
teachers and labor-rights activists have informed
my passion to strive for the rights and dignity of
those who are historically disenfranchised.”
“American University is
precisely the kind of socially
engaged, politically active,
and globally conscious
community I was searching
for. I was especially drawn to
the pioneering research done
by AU faculty, the university’s
emphasis on quality teaching,
as well as the vitality of the
student body.”
—Lily Wong
CAS 2011–12 Honor Roll
Thank you to every donor to the College of Arts and Sciences. Your commitment and generosity
sustain our mission of providing a challenging liberal arts education within a vibrant and diverse
community. We are deeply moved by the number of alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends who
have invested in the College.
This list includes gifts made to the College of Arts and Sciences by individuals, estates, foundations,
corporations, and other organizations during the fiscal year ending April 30, 2012. Every effort has
been made to ensure the accuracy of this list. Please report inadvertent errors or omissions to Dave
Wiemer at 202-885-2986 or wiemer@american.edu.
$25,000
and above
Anonymous
Jack ChildÙ AU PhD ’78,
P ’87, P ’91 and Leslie E.
Morginson-Eitzen P ’87,
P ’91
Estate of Jack Child AU
PhD ’78, P ’87, P ’91
Barbara Griffith
Susan E. Lehrman
Estate of Ruth M. Melas ’35
Estate of Harvey C. Moore
AU and Sarah M. Moore
Carol M. Ravenal AU Ì
and Earl C. Ravenal
Susan Rothfeld and
Donald Rothfeld
Estate of Estelle Seldowitz
Sharon A. Wolpoff ’74,
MFA ’81
$10,000–$24,999
Lillian K. Abensohn Ì
Gary M. Abramson ’68,
P ’97 and Pennie M.
Abramson P ’97
Daniel Amory
Carol Berman and Gary
C. Berman
Joanna M. Driggs ’60 and
John A. Driggs
Debra Friedmann and
Peter Friedmann
Blair Jones MS ’78, MA ’95
Lynn R. Katzen ’71 and
Jay E. Katzen
C. Nicholas Keating ’63,
MA ’64 and Carleen
Butler Keating ’64
Micheline Klagsbrun and
Ken Grossinger
Samuel M. Lehrman
Peter T. Starr AU and
Alice C. Hill
$5,000–$9,999
Anonymous
Edward C. Bou JD ’58,
P ’91
Roger H. Brown AU and
Nancy B. Brown
Marc N. Duber ’81 and
Nancy E. Duber ’82
Lois H. England P ’76
and Richard England Sr.
P ’76
Valerie FrenchÙ AU
Lynne M. Hensley ’74
Marie P. Kissick and
Ralph L. Kissick
Simki G. Kuznick ’01,
MFA ’10, P ’13 and
Peter J. Kuznick AU
P ’13
Celeste D. Marin P ’15 and
Robert S. Marin P ’15
John S. Patton PhD ’63 Ì
and Mary Miller Patton
AU Ì
Heather M. Podesta and
Anthony T. Podesta
Howard Rosenbloom
Estate of Elaine S. Salzman
MA ’90
Byron and Elva Siliezar
P ’12
$2,500–$4,999
Carolyn S. Alper ’68
Christine B. Anderson ’71,
MSTM ’77
Marilyn Armel ’63
Darryl Atwell
Estate of Dorothy Gondos
Beers
Rebecca Cooke
Kimberly A. Cradock ’96
Jane W. D’Arista
Arnold Danielson ’62 and
Vivian C. Danielson
Lynne Brenner Ganek AU
and Jeffrey E. Ganek
Robert P. Kogod ’62, H’00
and Arlene R. Kogod
Marian Rocker
Peter L. Scher ’83, JD ’87
and Kimberly H. Tilley AU
MA ’08
$1,000–$2,499
Anonymous (2)
Karin A. Akerson ’96 and
Daniel F. Akerson
Nana K. An AU MEd ’84,
MPA ’06 and Joe T.
An ’90
Doris Q. Babcock ’95 and
John C. Babcock
Joy H. Baxt and Leonard
J. Baxt
Stuart L. Bindeman ’70 and
Martha K. Bindeman
David Blumenthal MBA ’69
and Barbara Blumenthal
Ivy E. Broder AU P ’06 and
John Morrall III P ’06
Dean Carter ’47 and
Rosina Carter
Gerald Chasen
Robert N. Cohen
Sharon Doner-Feldman and
Israel Feldman
J. Gary Dontzig ’67
Gary R. Durfee
Peter A. Durfee
Brandon J. Estrin
Susan Feinberg and Paul
M. Feinberg
Elisabeth French
Alan L. Genicoff ’74
Sharri B. Ginsburg JD ’93
and Jeffrey A. Freedman
JD ’93
Lynn C. Greenfield ’79,
P ’05, P ’07 and Stephen
E. Greenfield P ’05,
P ’07
Ruby J. Halperin and
Herbert Halperin
Margot Heckman Ì
Kenneth R. Heyman ’72 and
Miriam M. Heyman
Susan Hoecker-Drysdale AU
and John P. Drysdale AU
Joel D. Hoppenstein
’81 and Monica L.
Hoppenstein
Caleen Jennings AU and
Carl Jennings AU
Mitchell J. Kaplan
Ron Kaplan P ’15
Kathleen M. Kennedy-Corey
AU ’73, MBA ’80 and
Chadwick E. Wyatt
Cornelius M. Kerwin AU
’71, P ’05 and Ann L.
Kerwin ’71, P ’05
Barbara Kerxton
Bernard Kossar
Wen C. Lee MA ’92
Margie Litman and Robert
E. Litman
Marcia S. Mankoff ’91 and
Doug Mankoff
Peter Manson
Alison Martyn and James
T. Banks
Gail Mendelson and Jeffrey
Mendelson
Marcia D. Moritz ’55
Kay J. Mussell AU P ’88
and Boris Weintraub
P ’88
Melanie F. Nussdorf and
Lawrence C. Nussdorf
Linda Parrish and Denwood
B. Parrish
Toni H. Paul ’71 and Ronald
A. Paul
Juanita M. Ross MS ’83
Samuel Sandler
Thyagaraja Sarada MS ’70,
PhD ’72
Diana Schilit and Howard
M. Schilit
Margaret K. Shaw Smith ’85
and Stanley F. Smith
Elizabeth A. Sinclair P ’15
and Matthew F. Sinclair
P ’15
Ulysses J. Sofia AU and
Heidi Sofia
Rhoda Steiner and
Charles Steiner
Nuzhat Sultan-Khan and
Anil Revri
Linda K. Swartz
Patricia T. van der Vorm
MEd ’81, PhD ’95 and
Jacob van der Vorm
$500–$999
Radoslav D. Antonov ’92
Robert L. Beisner AU
Allan Berman
Bryna Berman P ’12 and
Fred Berman P ’12
19
donors
Mary Ellen Condon ’66
Frauke De Looper MA ’85
Alice M. Denney
Joyce H. Deroy AU
MS ’94, P ’09 and
Warren R. King JD ’67,
P ’09
Robert T. Devlin MA ’71,
PhD ’86 and Adrianne
R. Devlin ’72
Ann S. Ferren
Maria S. Floro AU
and Thomas L.
Hungerford AU
Nancy H. Gewirz ’75 and
Carl S. Gewirz MBA ’91
Jonah Gitlitz ’55 Ì and
Sallie Gitlitz Ì
Theresa S. Grady ’80 and
James P. Grady ’80
Charles Gurian ’72
Sandra L. Handleman ’69,
P ’02 and Aaron L.
Handleman P ’02
Helen M. Harkins ’67
Perry F. Iannaconi MA ’74
and Teresa E. Iannaconi
John H. Johns PhD ’79 and
Barbara A. Johns
Deborah R. Kennedy MA ’88
John S. Kruger PhD ’81
Hsing Chuan Kwok P ’13
and Jinn Pyng Kwok P ’13
Jacqueline Grapin Le Goc
P ’00, P ’04, P ’06 and
Michel Le Goc AU P ’00,
P ’04, P ’06
Jack Levine JD ’33 and
Martha Levine
Dorothy Linowes
Richard G. Linowes AU and
Elisa G. Linowes
Jo Ann Makous ’85 and
David N. Makous
Estate of Frances L.
Marcus ’47
Wendy M. Mauch AU
MA ’93, PhD ’99 and
Christof U. Mauch
Benny M. McKnight
MSST ’78
Annette G. Moshman and
Jack Moshman
Karen Pierce P ’08 and
Carey Weiss P ’08
Anita O. Reiner ’69, MA ’76
and Burton J. Reiner
Wendy B. Rieger ’80
Christian A. Sandstedt ’92
and Mona Shahgholi
Judith A. Schomer ’80 and
Morton W. Schomer
Michael H. Schwartz
Rhea S. Schwartz AU and
Paul Martin Wolff
Howard J. Sedran ’73
Romeo A. Segnan AU
20
Gail Slomovitz and
Albert Slomovitz
Jean P. Soman
H. Karl Springob ’50, MA ’52
and Helen P. Springob
Stan Sroka
Virginia Lyn Stallings AU
Margaret W. Studt ’73
Sandra R. Swab MPA ’90,
MS ’98 and Kenneth
E. Swab
Paul R. Tetreault
Terri M. Thomas P ’11 and
Fred W. Thomas P ’11
Sigrid M. Vonabele ’93
Dorothy E. Waugh PhD ’62
and Merle G. Waugh
Adelia H. Williams AU
MEd ’74, PhD ’93 and
Thomas S. Williams
$250–$499
Alayne A. Adams PhD ’71
and William T. Adams
Richard C. Barnett MA ’74
and Caroline W. Barnett
Ruth D. Bartfeld MEd ’82
and Charles I. Bartfeld AU
Gabriela Bebchick and
Leonard Bebchick
Andrew A. Bell ’69,
MEd ’70
Lee F. Berger AU ’99
Edmond Biba AU
MS ’96, PhD ’99 and
Jeeranance Boonpok
Brenda C. Birmelin ’64
Joan E. Birnbaum ’71,
MSTR ’76, MA ’77 and
Philip Birnbaum
Donald K. Bischoff ’69
Scott L. Bookstein ’87 and
Desiree Bookstein
Marla Boren AU MA ’99
and Paul W. Boren
Richard D. Breitman AU
and Carol R. Breitman
Mary S. Brown EdD ’75
Ann Burger ’59 and
Herbert Burger
Robert D. Burns ’71 and
Virginia M. Burns
Helen Chason and
Craig Chason
Kyra Cheremeteff
Christine B. Chin AU
PhD ’95
Herbert Cohen JD ’68, P ’89
and Brenda Cohen P ’89
Sara L. Day MA ’85 and
Stephen M. Day AU
Marta A. De la Torre MA ’83
Dallas P. Dean ’62
Kevin Di Lallo
Mark N. Dorf ’79
Mary Ellen E. Duke MA ’85
Carol M. Edwards AU ’73,
MS ’81 and Robert
H. Edwards
Martin P. Eisenhart ’75
Patricia G. England and
Lenore A. England
Stephen L. Finley PhD ’91
and Betty Finley
Maureen L. Fittig AU and
Alan W. Fittig
Michael Galaviz AU
Bowen Garrett
Krassimir H. Genov ’96
Lisa Giddings AU PhD ’00
James E. Girard AU P ’07,
P ’09 and Constance T.
Diamant PhD ’91, P ’07,
P ’09
Peter G. Glick ’86
Susan H. Godson MA ’72,
PhD ’79
Eleanor D. Gomolinski Lally
MA ’70 Ì and Thomas
J. Lally Ì
William L. Goris ’77 and
Karen A. Goris
Gail W. Gorlitzz and
Cris Smith
Nancy J. Gross ’72 and
James T. Walb MSTM ’74
Bruce Guthrie
Tina S. Fried Heller AU
MPA ’80
Christopher Hest
John R. Heuser PhD ’84
Janet E. Hutner ’73
Barbara A. Jabr MA ’56
Patrick E. Kehoe AU P ’96
Amy E. Krupsky and
Kenneth Krupsky
Liza Labadie and Andrew
C. Labadie
Martha Lazarakis P ’10 and
Sam Lazarakis P ’10
Harold H. Leich ’55
Melissa B. Levine ’95 and
Jason Levine
Carol B. Lynn P ’11 and
Kerry E. Lynn P ’11
Katherine L. MacDiarmid AU
Gerald S. Malitz ’72 and
Ruth L. Marcus
Patrick W. Marks MSTM ’73
and Margit Marks
Catherine Menninger
Mary H. Mytryshyn MS ’72
and John Mytryshyn
Amy A. Oliver AU and
John A. Loughney
Daniel J. Olson ’66 and
Janet Olson
Glenna D. Osnos and
David M. Osnos
Jerome S. Paige MA ’74,
PhD ’82 and Cynthia
A. Paige
Leslie L. Palmieri AU and
Peter E. Palmieri
Bruce Pascal
Robert T. Pasquerella
MA ’96
James T. PearceÙ MA ’71
Jarrett B. Perlow ’00,
JD ’04
Leta M. Petroff P ’13 and
George A. Petroff P ’13
Joan T. Phelan ’49
Oveta M. Popjoy MSTM ’74
and Drew S. Popjoy
Mindy A. Portnoy
Dewain H. Rahe MA ’69
and Joyce W. Rahe
Lawrence S. Reichlin ’72
Thomas W. Richardson
David A. Rosenberg ’70
and Deborah L.
Rosenberg
Mary H. Savage AU MS ’99
Carol D. Schultz P ’11 and
John B. Schultz P ’11
Andrew G. Ship ’81,
MEd ’83
Kevin G. Shollenberger
MEd ’89
Courtenay Slater MA ’65,
PhD ’68 and Whitney
S. Slater
Diane E. Smith
Richard P. Solloway
Estate of Frank M. Spindler
PhD ’66
Daniel Steinway
Martin N. Stone ’69 and
Maritza L. Stone
Kimberly Syman and
J. B. Lyon
Ann E. Taylor-Green PhD ’87
Delores E. Thurgood ’70
Peter F. Trapp ’70 and
Pamela F. Trapp
Carl R. Tuvin
Lyuba Varticovski
Michael E. Weber ’85,
MA ’89 and Leslie F.
Weber AU
Philip C. Webre PhD ’83
David S. Weisman ’80
Debra A. Young ’74, MS ’78
Ruth L. Zetlin ’79
Margot Zimmerman and
Paul Zimmerman
Corporations,
Foundations,
& Other
Organizations
Anonymous (1)
Abramson Family
Foundation Inc.
Baxt Family Foundation Inc.
Berman Family Foundation
Gary and Carol Berman
Family Foundation
Bou Family Foundation
Naomi and Nehemiah
Cohen Foundation
Community Foundation for
Montgomery County
CrossCurrents Foundation
Driggs Foundation
ExxonMobil Foundation
Freddie Mac Foundation
Samuel and Grace
Gorlitz Foundation
Harris Family Foundation
Cyrus Katzen Foundation
Robert P. and Arlene R.
Kogod Family Foundation
Bernard and Carol
Kossar Foundation
Lion Brand Yarn Company
Margie Litman LLC
McGraw-Hill Companies
Middle Atlantic Council of
Latin American Studies
Nixon Peabody LLP
Nikos G. and Anastasia
Photias Educational
Foundation
Heather Podesta Partners
Howard and Geraldine
Polinger Family
Foundation
Schwartz-Wolff Foundation
Curt C. and Else
Silberman Foundation
United Jewish Endowment
Fund of Washington
Wells Fargo
Wolpoff Family Foundation
Ù Deceased
ÌHelen Palmer
Kettler Society
recognizes
individuals who
have named the
university as
beneficiary of
their charitable
estate plans and
have made their
intentions known
to us
AU Current or former
faculty or staff
H Honorary degree
recipient
P AU parent
achievements
Appointments
& Honors
ALI ENAYAT (mathematics and statistics)
received a $35,000 Collaboration Grant for
Mathematicians from the Simons Foundation
for his five-year project, “Model Theory of
Foundational Systems.”
EVAN BERRY (philosophy and religion) was
named a Global Ethics Fellow with the Global
Ethics Network, an initiative of the Carnegie
Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
DANIEL KERR (history) was awarded $5,105
by the National Park Service for “Research for the
150th Anniversary Celebration of the Emancipation and the Emancipation Proclamation.”
DAN KALMAN (mathematics and statistics)
won the Mathematical Association of America’s
2012 Beckenbach Book Prize for Uncommon
Mathematical Excursions: Polynomia and
Related Realm.
ROBERT LERMAN (economics) received a
$96,607 award from Rutgers University for his
project “Science and Engineering Educational
and Employment Pathways.”
ALAN KRAUT (history) is president-elect of
the Organization of American Historians for 2012.
He will assume office in April 2013.
STEPHEN MACAVOY (environmental science)
was granted $25,902 from the University of the
District of Columbia for his project “District of
Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services.”
XIMENA VARELA (arts management) has
been appointed to the editorial board of the new
American Journal of Arts Management.
APRIL SHELFORD (history) has been awarded
a fellowship at the John Carter Brown Library to
work on her project “A Caribbean Enlightenment.”
The American Association of University Women
(AAUW) awarded a 2012–13 American Fellowship
to KATHARINA VESTER (history). The fellowship will allow her to finish her first monograph,
A Taste of Power: Food and the Making
of Americans.
ANASTASIA SNELLING (SETH) received
a $20,000 award from Aetna Foundation for
the project “Community Voices for Health:
Kids Take Action.”
Grants
& Research
DANIEL ABRAHAM (performing arts) received
a $7,000 award from the U.S. Department of
State for the American University Chamber Singers concert tour of Russia in May 2013.
SARAH IRVINE BELSON (SETH) is the
principal investigator in a partnership with City
Year to provide graduate education to a cohort
of program participants. City Year includes three
graduate programs in the School of Education,
Teaching, and Health.
The National Science Foundation awarded a
$1,884,606 grant to fund “From the Laboratory
to the Classroom: Building Capacity for Math and
Science Teaching in D.C. (Lab2Class).” Project
directors are SARAH IRVINE BELSON, KIHO
KIM, BIANCA ABRAMS, JOHN P. NOLAN,
and MICHAEL KEYNES.
DAVID CULVER (environmental science)
received a $12,224 award from the University of
the District of Columbia for the project “Biological
Inventory of Seepage Springs and Vernal Pools:
Small Isolated Wetlands in Parks of National
Capital East (NPS).”
NIH awarded TERRY DAVIDSON (psychology)
$637,991 to fund his three-year project, “Signals
to Feed: Biological and Associative Mechanisms.”
Another $143,583 NIH grant was transferred
from Purdue University. The title of his project
is “Energy Dysregulation: Behavioral and Biological Signals.”
Books
& Productions
The book Brave New World: Imperial and Democratic Nation-Building in Britain between the Wars,
coedited by LAURA BEERS (history), was
published by the Institute of Historical Research
in 2012.
DEBRA BERGOFFEN (philosophy and religion) published Contesting the Politics of Genocidal Rape: Affirming the Dignity of the Vulnerable
Body (Routledge, 2011).
DAVID CULVER (environmental science) and
W. B. White published the second edition of
Encyclopedia of Caves (Elsevier, 2012).
ANTON FEDYASHIN (history) published
Liberals under Autocracy: Modernization and
Civil Society in Russia, 1866–1904 (University
of Wisconsin, 2012).
The book Optical Coatings and Thermal Noise
in Precision Measurement, coedited by GREGG
HARRY (physics), was published by Cambridge
University in 2012.
ALINA ISRAELI (world languages and cultures) published What You Always Wanted to
Know about Russian Grammar *But Were Afraid
to Ask (Slavica, 2011).
DAVID KEPLINGER (literature) released an
album of songs based on lyrics written by his
great-great-grandfather during the 1800s.
JEFFREY REIMAN (philosophy) published As
Free and as Just as Possible: The Theory of Marxian Liberalism (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)
NANCY SNIDER (performing arts) performed
the modern world premiere of Monsigny’s Le Roi
et le Fermier with Opera Lafayette at the Opéra
Royale in Versailles, France. She also performed
The Voice of Anne Frank at the Katzen Arts
Center, with acclaimed Czech artist Miøenka
Èechová. The two originally collaborated on this
project when Cechová was a Fulbright scholar
teaching at AU.
Promotions &
Appointments
Distinguished Professor
RICHARD BREITMAN, history
ALLAN LICHTMAN, history
Endowed Chair
ERIC LOHR, Susan E. Lehrman
Chair in Russian History and Culture
Professor
MICHELE CARTER, psychology
MADHAVI MENON, literature
Associate Professor and Tenure
DOUGLAS FOX, chemistry
ANDREW HOLTIN, art
PHILIP JOHNSON, physics
ADREA LAWRENCE, SETH
ELIZABETH MALLOY, mathematics
and statistics
KATE RESNICK, art
BRENDA WERTH, world languages
and cultures
Hurst Senior Professorial
Lecturer (literature)
CYNTHIA BAIR VAN DAM
GLENN MOOMAU
LACEY WOOTTON
Senior Professorial
Lecturer (literature)
CHARLES COX
LEAH JOHNSON
KELLY JOYNER
ADAM TAMASHASKY
KATE WILSON
Professorial Lecturer (literature)
EDWARD COMSTOCK
JOHN ELDERKIN
LYDIA FETTIG
CARON MARTINEZ
JOCELYN MCCARTHY
HEATHER MCDONALD
KRISTINA OAKES
ALISON THOMAS
21
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U.S. Postage
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Washington, D.C.
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
American University
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