Grain & Chaff

Honor roll

Psychology professor Susan K. Whitbourne has been selected to receive the 2001-2002 Psi Chi/ Florence L. Denmark National Faculty Advisor Award. The award is presented annually to a faculty chapter advisor who best achieves Psi Chi's purpose "to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology." The award includes travel expenses to attend the Psi Chi/APA national convention and an engraved plaque. The award will be presented in August at the convention in Chicago.

Scholarly reward

Jonathan Schaffer (right), assistant professor of Philosophy, is being awarded one of two Young Epistemologist Prizes at an April conference in New Jersey. Schaffer will read his prize-winning essay, "Skepticism, Contexualism, and Discrimination" April 20 at the Rutgers Epistemology Conference. In addition to $1,000, Schaffer's travel and lodging expenses are being covered by the conference. The other recipient is Peter Vranas of Iowa State University. Both essays will be published in "Philosophy and Phenomenological Research," an important journal in the field. The awards are given to philosophers who have received their Ph.D. within the last 10 years.

Globetrotting

Microbiology professor Bill Manning participated in the Second International Conference on Plants and Environmental Pollution (ICPEP-2) held Feb. 4-9 at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) in Lucknow, India. As an invited guest of honor, he addressed the 300 delegates from India and 40 other countries at the inaugural session. He also gave an invited lead lecture on the importance of integrating responses of bioindicator plants to air pollutants with air pollution monitoring data, to give biological significance to the monitoring data. While there, he cut the ceremonial ribbon and inaugurated the NBRI's collection of books and journals related to environmental sciences. Manning also developed a new collaboration with Madhoolika Agrawal of Banaras Hindu University to explore the use of the anti-oxidant ethylenediurea (EDU) to assess the extent of ozone injury on plants in India.

Author, author

Sunaina Marr Maira (right), assistant professor of English and co-director of the certificate program in Asian and Asian American studies, has a new book out later this month. "Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New York City" explores the world of second-generation Indian Americans and how they created a new popular culture based on dance parties and music mixes that is now part of global culture.

According to Maira, the desis -- a colloquial term for someone "native" to South Asia - draw on their ethnic traditions and New York's resources to create a vibrant subculture that navigates the contradictions of gender roles and sexuality. Published by Temple University Press as part of its Asian American History and Culture series, the book is available in both library ($64.50) and paperback editions ($19.95).