SJC Brooklyn professors embodied the College’s pillar of intellectual values this summer as they attended — and presented at — professional conferences across the globe.
Elizabeth Anslow Ph.D., associate chair of the psychology department, and Michael Burke, Ph.D., an associate professor in the philosophy department, traveled to Budapest, Hungary, to present a paper at the 38th Annual Conference of the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences. The SJC professors presented their paper titled, “Ghost story: Philosophy and Psychoanalysis on the Uncanny,” which examines the trope of the uncanny through the therapeutic impact of ghost story narratives and French-Jewish philosopher Jacques Derrida’s remarks on the status of the specter.
The paper employs a psychoanalytic interpretation of ghost tales in terms of Bettelheim’s and Klein’s notions of splitting to illustrate how the specter can be construed in a therapeutic way, to effect reconciliation of the repressed elements of human nature that resurface in the horror genre.
Dr. Anslow said the conference was a great opportunity to exchange of ideas and information with European colleagues from varying disciplines.
“I was struck by the supportive and collegial attitude of the audience throughout the conference in response to the papers presented from a number of different countries and different disciplines, such as psychology, philosophy and history,” Dr. Anslow added.
Spreading Kindness
From the human services department, Olusola Togun-Butler, Ph.D., LCSW, an assistant professor, spent her summer on a medical mission trip to Eldoret, Kenya, with Christ Love Ministries International, a nonprofit organization that brings ministered love and healing to people in need around the world.
Olusola Togun-Butler, Ph.D., LCSW, on her mission trip.
During the trip, Dr. Togun-Butler personally funded a scholarship for a young woman struggling financially to finish her lab technician degree.
“I believe education is so important,” said Dr. Togun-Butler, who in May published her first children’s book, “Where Do You Keep The Lions?: An African Girl’s First Day of School in America.”
“A lot of these families who are living in poverty understand that their child has to be educated, but they don’t have money,” she continued. “That’s when I step in. Now, they don’t have to worry about the tuition.”
Togun-Butler’s book is about an 8-year-old immigrant who was excited for her first day of school in America, until her new classmates began asking her hurtful questions about her home country. The illustrated pages expose children to cultural awareness and sensitivity by encouraging them to ask polite questions when they are curious about other cultures.
Making Waves in Child Psychology
Sarah E. Birch, Ph. D., a professor at the Dillon Child Study Center, also made her way to Europe this summer to deliver a presentation.
Dr. Birch teamed with two colleagues — Karena Rush and Bruce Mortensen — in Basel, Switzerland, for an annual conference through the International School Psychology Association to present a study they conducted called “The Reliability and Validity of Forced-Choice Preference Assessment for Infants and Toddlers.” The study explores the relationship between the reinforcers parents determine for young learners — between 11 and 17-months-old — and the children’s preferences.
The overseas conference was just one of Dr. Birch’s summer accomplishments: She also had a book chapter published in the third edition of “Psychotherapy Relationships That Work.” The book is written by John C. Norcross, Ph.D., ABPP, a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Scranton, an adjunct professor of psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical College and a board-certified clinical psychologist.
Dr. Birch penned her chapter of the book, “Meta-Analyses of the Relation of Goal Consensus and Collaboration to Psychotherapy Outcome,” with colleagues Georgina Tryon and Jay Verkuilen.
Embracing New Cultures
Damien L. Duchamp, Ed.D., associate chair of the hospitality and tourism management department, spent the summer globetrotting, hosting workshops intended to encourage private and public sectors to work together in improve the tourism ecosystem.
Damien L. Duchamp, Ed.D. during his summer travels.
He visited Ireland, Portugal, Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast among other locations.
Dr. Duchamp noted that he often discusses his travel experiences during his classes — including Ghana’s efforts to develop its tourism industry.
“It’s very hard for me not to talk about Ghana in any of my courses,” he said.
As for E. Jane Beckwith, M.F.A., her summer travels took her to Italy, where she completed a residency as a printmaker in Florence. She worked for a month on antique printing presses with very large wood type that was used to mass produce advertising posters in the 1800s.
After that, the associate professor and associate chair of the art department, traveled to Venice where she worked on small copper printing plates. Through her art experiments Beckwith hopes to find a way to use non-toxic methods to create aquatints — a technique that results in prints with delicate tones of many shades of a single color.
Dr. Joe Pascarella of @SJCNY discusses #crime & #justice in #NYC to a full and engaged audience #Centennial #lecture pic.twitter.com/MB9jVjA7S8
— St. Joseph's University New York Alumni (@StJoesNYalumni) February 26, 2016
I'm thrilled to be lecturing on arbitration and mediation this fall at the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. Stay tuned for more details… https://t.co/Dhiq0JOhv5
— ElizabethBonina (@ElizabethBonina) May 30, 2019
My new publication in the Journal of School Violence is available athttps://t.co/WFWECK7PEU
This study examines the application of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) in on-campus residential facilities.— Auzeen Shariati (@AuzeenShariati) May 29, 2019
At NYU this week with some other SJC faculty for a week of seminars. Mine is Teaching Social Justice through comics and graphic novels. #SJCNY pic.twitter.com/2yN6RtT4yI
— SJNYRelStudies (@SJNYRelStudies) June 11, 2019
Faculty?: Representing #sjcny Bio at #ASMMicrobe2019 in San Francisco pic.twitter.com/v1AN6rBsCf
— Michael Hanophy (@mjhanophy) June 22, 2019
I was surprised and honored to be given this award for service at the 2019 PLATO conference held at Rollins College. PLATO is dedicated to promoting precollege philosophy and has done a great job to that end. pic.twitter.com/ZHCz2K8k68
— Wendy C Turgeon-SJC (@wcturgeon) June 24, 2019
