February Professional Notes
03/01/2019
A round-up of awards, presentations, papers and the other professional achievements of SLU faculty, staff and students.
Faculty and Staff
Appointments
Daniel M. Haybron, Ph.D., professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the Theodore R. Vitali, C.P., Ph.D. Endowed Chair in Philosophy. Haybron was formally invested with the new title by University President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. during a ceremony in February in the Pere Marquette Gallery, DuBourg Hall. Dean Christopher Duncan, Ph.D., and C.P. Ragland, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy and department chair also spoke at the event.
Haybron received his doctorate in philosophy from Rutgers University. His research focuses on ethics and the philosophy of psychology with an emphasis on well-being, as well as related issues in political philosophy and environmental ethics. In 2015 he was awarded a $5.1 million grant for a three-year project, “Happiness and Well-Being: Integrating Research across the Disciplines,” by the John Templeton Foundation and Saint Louis University. He is the author of The Pursuit of Unhappiness: The Elusive Psychology of Well-Being and Happiness: A Very Short Introduction.
The Theodore R. Vitali, C.P., Ph.D. Endowed Chair in Philosophy was created by a generous gift from Vitali, a longtime faculty member and former chair in the philosophy department. The gift, which designates SLU as the beneficiary of Fr. Vitali’s retirement account, was made with the blessing of his order, the Passionist Congregation, and also established an endowed scholarship for a full-time undergraduate or graduate philosophy student.
“I believe in the Jesuit, Catholic vision of human dignity and thus the fostering of authentic Christian humanism,” Vitali said. “I believe the advancement of such a vision lies at the essence of SLU’s mission and the intrinsic role philosophy plays in the advancement of SLU’s mission. An endowed chair dedicated to the philosophical advancement of that mission enhances and propels that mission.”
A SLU alumnus, Vitali (Grad A&S ’74 and ’76) returned to SLU as the chair of the philosophy department in 1989, a role he held until he stepped down in 2017. Following a sabbatical during the 2017-18 academic year, he returned to the classroom as an associate professor.
“Fr. Vitali has given his life to SLU, and now with this great act of generosity, he has ensured that his presence and spirit will live on for as long as there is a Saint Louis University,” Duncan said. “While I am certainly filled with gratitude for his long service as well as the gift, the truth is I am deeply humbled and moved by what is in essence a true act of grace. I am blessed to call Ted my colleague, but even more thankful that he is my friend.”
Awards and Fellowships
Jeffrey Bishop, M.D., Ph.D., Tenet Endowed Chair of Health Care Ethics in the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics, was granted two visiting fellowship awards with the Faculty of Divinity and in Clare Hall at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom during his sabbatical for the spring 2019 semester.
Clare Hall was established in 1966 to encourage international scholars to come to Cambridge University for periods of study. It serves as a graduate and post-graduate research college. Bishop, who holds appointments in SLU’s Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics, the Department of Philosophy, and the Department of Theological Studies, will be doing research and writing on two projects related to technology: “Technology, Medicine, and the Body,” which explores the way that technology itself shapes how we imagine the body and what can and cannot be done morally speaking, and “Technology, Culture, and Morality,” which explores how it is that technology shapes the moral imaginary in culture.
Jason Eberl, Ph.D., director of the Gnaegi Center, notes that, “with new biotechnologies emerging and changing the shape of health care and how we understand the human person, Dr. Bishop’s scholarship has put SLU at the forefront of critically important conversations across bioethical, medical, philosophical, and theological disciplines that will inform the continued evolution of the medical profession and society more generally.”
Following his fellowship at Clare Hall, Bishop will become a Life Member of Clare Hall, which allows him to use the facilities at Clare Hall to interface with the university for residential, dining, and library privileges.
“Clare Hall provides me a place to live, and a community of scholars with whom I can have meals,” Bishop said. “The table conversations are really stimulating. I find myself talking to graduate students studying action theory in music, to Ph.D. students in the history of political economy, to the Islamic philosophy of Avicenna.”
Avis Meyer, Ph.D., emeritus professor, will be inducted into the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame during the St. Louis Media History Foundation’s Gala on Saturday, March 30.
Publications
SLU-Madrid professor Joan Pedro-Carañana, Ph.D., together with Daniel Broudy and Jeffery Klaehn, edited and published, The Propaganda Model Today: Filtering Perception and Awareness.
Laura Tedesco, Ph.D., SLU-Madrid political science professor and associate dean for humanities and social sciences, shared her expertise on contemporary politics, democracy and political leadership in Latin America in several recent publications.
In his recently published book, Converso Non-Conformism in Early Modern Spain: Bad Blood and Faith from Alonso de Cartagena to Diego Velázquez (London: Palgrave, 2018), SLU Madrid history professor Kevin Ingram, Ph.D., argues that Spain’s early modern social and religious reform movements were driven by conversos.
Workshops, Presentations and Lectures
SLU-Madrid communication professor Brian M. Goss, Ph.D., recently participated in the 11th annual “Comparativism, Identity and Communication” conference in Craiova, Romania. For the second year in a row, Goss, program director in the Department of Communication, was given a featured role at the event as the first plenary speaker.
Benjamin Looker, Ph.D., of the Department of American Studies, delivered an invited lecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Monday, Feb. 18. Hosted by the Department of History and the School of Labor and Employment Relations, the lecture was titled “Race, Liberalism, and Neighborhood Exceptionalism in the Great Society City: Integration as Civic Showpiece in 1960s St. Louis.”
Professor Carlos Segovia, Ph.D., of SLU-Madrid’s Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, visited the University of Seville’s Department of Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science to lecture to doctoral students on the intersection of contemporary philosophy and indigenous cosmologies against the background of today’s ecological-political crisis.
STUDENTS
Advocacy
In partnership with Metropolitan Congregations United, students attended a community organizing leadership training, while the School of Social Work and Center for Service and Community Engagement more than 40 students participated in a Jefferson City advocacy day. An additional advocacy day was planned for Wednesday, Feb. 27, with a final day set Wednesday, April 3. Students interested taking part in the April advocacy day or other programs should contact Jessica Trout, advocacy program coordinator.
During the Fall Semester, with the support of the Center for Service and Community Engagement, students launched a new initiative, Policy Pods. Policy Pods are groups of three to 10 students who meet weekly to focus on a justice topic and engage in legislative research. At the end of each semester, students meet with elected officials to share their stance on the issues and advocate for or against a specific piece of legislation.
More than 30 students have participated in Policy Pods to date, and the end of the semester will culminate with a dinner program and keynote address from local leader, Cori Bush. Along with legislative meetings, Policy Pod members worked with the Division of Marketing and Communications to create an advocacy training video.
Match Day
The Clinical Psychology Program has announced that its doctoral students achieved a 100 percent match rate for the third consecutive year. Each year, doctoral students in clinical psychology apply to internships around the country. This year’s students matched to a set of prestigious internships across the country, including the Veterans Affairs Medical Center-San Francisco, the OUHSC-OKCVA Consortium, the Hawaii Psychology Consortium, the Missouri Health Sciences Consortium, West Virginia University School of Medicine and Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Experiential Learning
A group of SLU students recently toured the Danforth Plant Science Center with Allison Miller, Ph.D., professor of biology, to learn about the center’s work and mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Danforth Center president Jim Carrington welcomed the students.
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