Augustana sabbatical and pre-tenure paid leave

Sabbatical reports, 2025-26

Jason Koontz

Abstract: Biological collections are invaluable resources for scientific research, education, and conservation. During my sabbatical, I learned the specific techniques required for Bryophyte (mosses, liverworts, hornworts) specimen curation and digitization at the San Diego Natural History Museum's Botany Department. Bryophytes play essential roles in nature, and despite their ecological importance, these small plants are often underrepresented in herbaria. The SDNMH Botany Department focuses on biodiversity and taxonomic research of the flora in Southern California, Baja California, and adjacent areas with a growing collection of 300,000+ specimens. Working with the Collections Manager, I developed protocols for curating the 1000+ Bryophyte specimens. I cleaned up their data in the Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria on-line portal.  Lastly, I made and uploaded images for each specimen to the portal. My work ensured that the SDNHM Bryophyte collection is well-documented, properly preserved, and accessible for future research. I will use these techniques and processes with Augustana students to curate the bryophyte collection in the Augustana Herbarium.

Purpose: The purpose of the sabbatical was to curate and digitize the Bryophyte specimens housed at the San Diego Natural History Museum. This project allowed me to expand my botanical expertise by learning how to handle a new group of plants, the Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, hornworts).

Summary: We started with around 1,000 bryophyte specimens, many still in their original collection packets. By the time I was done, we had 1,216 specimens that are fully curated in archival materials, their data entered into the Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria with images of each specimen.

Sharing the results: Copies of the protocols I wrote were shared with the Botany Department Collections Manager at the San Diego Natural History Museum. My work was also highlighted in internal email newsletters (CEO updates) at the Museum while I was there. My work is freely available on the Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria: https://bryophyteportal.org.

I will be hosting a collections open house during the Celebration of Learning in May 2026 to show how bryophytes are curated using specimens from our collection.

Did sabbatical meet expectations? We weren't sure I'd get to every specimen and if I'd get every one digitized...and I did!  So we are really thrilled with what I was able to accomplish. An unexpected outcome is I was able to go in the field a few times with local bryologists and learned how to collect bryophytes as well as some very rudimentary identification skills.

Lucy Burgchardt

Abstract: I spent my sabbatical developing a manuscript about the history of European and European American preservation advocacy on behalf of Ancestral Puebloan landscapes in the American southwest. In my manuscript, I argue that these preservation advocates often used "epic rhetoric" to position themselves as heroes who were devoted to "saving" Indigenous heritage sites. The use of epic rhetoric in the late nineteenth century was pervasive, and facilitated the appropriation of Indigenous heritage as part of settler mythology. Although much has changed in the past century and a half, epic rhetoric remains a staple in contemporary preservation advocacy spaces, continuing to center advocates and their “fight” while, at times, marginalizing the views of Indigenous social actors.

Purpose: The original purpose of my sabbatical leave was to develop my doctoral dissertation into a book-length manuscript.

Summary: I spent my sabbatical revisiting my dissertation, reorganizing major sections of it, reviewing updated research in my area of study, and drafting a few new chapters for the updated manuscript. The book manuscript is not yet fully realized; that work will continue into the summer.

Sharing: I plan to segment out an article-length section of my sabbatical work for submission to the Central States Communication Association annual meeting, after which I will submit that work for publication.     

I plan to submit a proposal to the Symposium Day in fall 2026, and I may confer with WGSS to see if a portion of my work could be appropriate for a Tea Talk (one of the preservation advocates whom I study in my project was proto-feminist who ran a women’s club called the Colorado Cliff Dwellings Association).     

Did sabbatical meet expectations? I passed a very productive and pleasant few months engrossed in my research, and came back from sabbatical feeling energized about teaching and trying new high impact practices. An unexpected aspect of my sabbatical leave was the extent of my participation in Academic Leadership Academy activities. The ALA cohort took on the task of refurbishing the Faculty Handbook's formatting, and this was a fairly time-intensive activity. Additionally, ALA participants have been shadowing leaders on campus this year, and that, too, was an unanticipated use of time.

Impact? Spending time on this project has served as a reminder of my love for research, and it has helped me "work a muscle" that hasn't gotten a lot of dedicated attention, lately. In the short term, the freedom to engage in research in this way has helped me reconnect with my scholarly identity again, and this has led to more excitement and innovation in the realm of teaching. In the longer term, I anticipate that my sabbatical will result in at least two publications and at least two public presentations.

Andrew Sward

Abstract: This work studies the enumeration of subgroups of the finite abelian stair-step p–group:  Z_p x Z_p^2 x ... x Z_p^n

While classical approaches to this problem typically rely on partition theory and
Hall polynomials. In contrast, this work develops a recursive group–theoretic method that avoids explicit partition combinatorics and leads to a simple recurrence formula for subgroup counts.

Purpose: The purpose of the sabbatical was to essentially prove the main result, as well as a few other results that were conjectures but had not been formally proven. Another main goal of the sabbatical was to explore the literature on this topic deeply, which was done, and helped me to fit our work in this paper into the broader work that has been done on the subject.

Summary: My colleague and I were able to formally prove the main result that had been conjectured for nearly a year. We were also able to prove a correspondence theorem that effectively doubles the effectiveness of the original formula that we proved. We have written a paper and intend to submit this paper to the journal of Algebraic Combinatorics, as well as present this work at the ISMAA (this March, 2026) and the National Math Conference Mathfest (July/August 2026).    

Sharing: I will be giving a talk on this research on Augustana's Campus at our department's weekly seminar, Friday, April 24, at 1 p.m. in Olin 209. My colleague will be presenting this work at ISMAA this March. I am also planning to give a talk on this research at Mathfest in Boston, Mass., this summer (end of July / early August) if it is accepted (the abstract has been submitted).

Did sabbatical meet expectations? I was very pleased to have time to focus on this research project. I spent countless hours absorbed in the equations, research papers, experimentation of ideas, and eventually the revisions of the arguments and organization of the paper itself.

Challenges? I still had administrative responsibilities to my department during my leave (such as helping to plan the master schedule), but I was mostly hands-off, and Forrest did an excellent job of handling department matters in my absence.  

Impact? My main goal is to have this work published in the Springer Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics. I think it would be a tremendous boost to my own personal morale, that I was able to articulate, investigate and solve a problem worthy enough to be published in such a prestigious journal. I will have to see what the reviewers for that journal say. If they do not think the work is worthy enough, I will seek publication in a less prestigious journal.

I think, if this were to get into Springer, this would give Augustana's Math Department some incredible recognition as well.

Rachel Brackett    

Abstract: The current African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak among domesticated pigs and wild boars in Italy began in January 2022. Although humans cannot contract the virus that causes ASF, the human role in managing, moving, and consuming pigs for economic purposes remains central to an epidemiological understanding of the disease. How can anthropological insights inform our understanding of ASF transmission, management, and impact in rural ecologies and economies? I argue that the cultural and symbolic roles of autochthonous breed Cinta Senese pigs and feral cinghiale boars living in Tuscany offer a critical perspective for analyzing the multispecies interactions key to managing ASF. Cinta Senese hogs, celebrated as members of a centuries-old heritage breed, exist in semi-wild forest enclosures that overlap with the territory of local cinghiale. I incorporate longitudinal, multi-species ethnography collected between 2008-2025 at one Tuscan agritourism estate producing Cinta Senese pigs to illustrate the impact of heightened ASF risk and associated epidemiological surveillance among/between humans and their porcine neighbors. Examples from this site offer an ethnographic entry point for connecting veterinary global health initiatives with social, ecological, and economic drivers related to ASF.     

Purpose:

1) Significantly revise and update a paper that I presented at the 2023 American Anthropological Association meetings entitled “Sustainable Transitions at a Tuscan Agritourism Estate.” This paper is based on my longitudinal ethnographic research in Italy and draws upon interviews and participant observation conducted during May-June 2023.

2) Return to my long-term field site in Tuscany, the Tenuta di Spannocchia, for the month of October. During this time, I plan to conduct follow-up interviews with residents and staff to gather additional data and/or clarification on topics I explored in my summer 2023 research. Notably, I will continue to explore the impact of several years of drought and extreme temperatures on Spannocchia’s farm management and agritourism initiatives. My ongoing research at Spannocchia provides a valuable case study to examine the ongoing effects of climate change in Tuscany, one of the most iconic and heavily touristed regions in the EU.

3) Begin exploratory research on a new project analyzing multispecies relationships in Tuscany through a post-humanism lens. I am particularly interested in the concept of “multispecies intersectionality” (Petit 2022) between Tuscan farmers, heritage breed Cinta Senese pigs, and local wild boar populations in response to an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF).

Summary: During the first five weeks of my PTPL I conducted a thorough topical literature review within and beyond the field of anthropology. I began using a digital citation manager (Zotero) to organize research articles and ideas, and I created a series of “mental maps” outlining my research agendas. I read extensively on the current ASF outbreak in Italy, and collected media and governmental information regarding the epidemiological response to the disease. 
From the original application, I completed the following during this period:

1) I updated the 2023 paper substantially. During the revision process, I decided to incorporate my previously collected data into a paper focusing on the cultural significance of the heritage breed Cinta Senese pigs and the encroaching swine fever affecting Italy. The original piece required additional data support, which I was able to collect in the second half of my PTPL. I decided the best way forward was to create two separate pieces, one focusing on the cultural significance of Cinta Senese pigs in the ASF context, and another focusing on the role of biosecurity within cultural heritage programs like the one at Spannocchia.

2) During Weeks 8-14 of my PTPL I travelled to Italy to continue my research on site. Based in Florence, I was able to collect data in local restaurants and markets about both Cinta Senese and chingiale (wild boar) heritage specialty products. I was also able to follow local discourse surrounding the ASF outbreak, which officially arrived in Tuscany several months prior to my arrival. Beyond Florence, I was able to make three multi-day trips and several day trips to the Tenuta di Spannocchia field site, where I interviewed current and former interns, staff, and a local consortium leader about the protocols and practices surrounding ASF. During these visits I conducted participant observation research, accompanying staff and interns on daily rounds of chores and observing multiple herds of Cinta Senese on the estate. In particular, I talked at length with farm staff about government-required biosecurity protocols and their impacts on the tourist experience at Spannocchia.

Sharing: I have a paper accepted for presentation at a conference on The Ecologies of Food in Italy in June 2026 (https://www.umbra.org/food-conference-home/). I am also in the final steps of completing a paper for publication that examines the shifting epidemiological framework of ASF in Italy, focusing on topics concerning biosecurity as it relates to the tourist experience. I plan to submit this article to an anthropological journal pertaining to food, agriculture, and rural life.     

I am looking forward to teaching a new course, Humans and the Environment, in Fall 2026. My PTPL work will be directly incorporated into this course content. I also hope to present my work at either a brown-bag style event on campus, at a meeting of the SOAN student club, or other pertinent format.    

Did sabbatical meet expectations? I felt that I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. It helped to create a weekly schedule of what I hoped to get done, and break down the research process into manageable "chunks" during this time period.     

Challenges? No major research or productivity challenges were encountered. I want to thank the committee for supporting my work, academically and financially.

Katie Madel

Abstract: Policy scholarship has long emphasized policy problems — their identification, framing, and politicization — while giving comparatively little attention to policy purpose, the articulated end state a policy seeks to achieve. This article addresses the gap by examining under what contexts presidents invoke policy purpose in State of the Union addresses and to what extent purpose-oriented rhetoric is associated with legislative success. Using an original coding scheme to identify policy purposes across presidential speeches, this study analyzes 1,122 policy requests and links their rhetorical framing to subsequent legislative outcomes.

The results show purpose-framed policy requests are more likely to succeed legislatively than problem-focused requests, even after accounting for factors traditionally associated with presidential success, including partisanship, unified versus divided government, and electoral timing. While the effectiveness of purpose varies across presidential regimes and institutional contexts, its association with success is most pronounced where coalition-building is required, such as under divided government and on shared-ownership issues like the economy. By shifting attention from partisan problems to shared purposes, this article highlights an underappreciated mechanism through which presidential rhetoric can facilitate legislative success and calls for greater integration of policy purpose into theories of the policy process.

Purpose: The original purpose was to write a publishable journal article from the data gathered/coded for my dissertation.

Summary: I completed a nearly finished draft of an article, which I have good reason to believe will be accepted at a medium-tier journal in my field.     

Sharing: I plan to submit it to the Journal of Policy Review (JPR), which has similar research, and a median submission to "first decision" of 4 days (submission to acceptance median of 203 days). It is a lower acceptance rate (12%), so I have also identified a second journal I believe it fits well into and has published similar works, Congress & The Presidency. The average submission to first post-review decision for Congress & The Presidency is 82 day. I have some additional revisions to make, but I plan to submit to JPR  by the end of Spring Break. That will hopefully give me time to change course and submit to Congress & the Presidency with its higher acceptance rate before the 2027 new year.      

I'd love  to give a talk on my results next Fall or Spring (26-27) to the campus, which I can coordinate with my department. If it works out to plan for Celebration of Learning or our Fall alternative learning day, I'd gladly present then.     

Did the sabbatical meet expectations?If I am honest, I had not realized that the sabbatical was only for a 2 course release, placing the burden on me to be responsible for a 1-3 in J-term/spring. This was due to my own lack of inquiry, but I still think Augustana needs to amend that immediately if you truly care about your pre-tenure faculty. You aren't giving a true research sabbatical if we are expected to then teach 2/3rds of our regular teaching load in a shorter time span, especially if we are considering removing J-term and the requirement for first years to take J-term. The problems that arise from this are compounded when the responsibility is placed on the assistant professor and department to figure out a new class offering when classes don't meet [administrative?] seat requirements.

On the positive,  when I began, I had intentions to use a different portion of my data, which produced statistically significant results I was not expecting. I had planned for a more qualitative paper based on my dissertation and was pleasantly surprised to find statistical backing for my results.

Challenges: I would have already submitted my paper, but I realized late in December that the coding I was relying on for my regressions was outdated and needed double-checked (as it was not one I used in my dissertation). As such, I delayed submission, so I can double-check my coding. My initial fixes have shrunk my coefficients but have not removed significance.

Worst case scenario, if those errors remove the statistical significance, I return to my dissertation-used coding, and I will have small significance, but ones that are still significant and meaningful. That may take more revisions to the original article, but will allow me to lean more on the original dissertation writing (the article is tangential to my dissertation, connecting at parts, but largely original in comparison). I'll lean towards more qualitative (albeit with plenty of descriptive statistics) writing, which are still published regularly for both journals I have identified.

Impact: My research is unique, new, and important. Getting a publication out there establishing myself as a preliminary researcher on the topic will establish me, hopefully, as "the policy purpose" scholar. With a published peer-reviewed article, I will hopefully have a better foundation to convince academic publishers to accept my dissertation as a book.

I believe policy purpose has immense power from the individual to community level, especially in allowing us to create better evaluation metrics for ourselves and our policies.

My immediate plans include re-crafting my FYI big question about "purpose" and encouraging students to evaluate the purpose of their education so they can better identify the benefits of a liberal arts education.

As I don't plan to drop this topic, I further plan to continue bringing students into my research as much as possible. I've said this since my interview for Augustana — my long-term dream is to establish a "purpose" project similar to the Comparative Agendas Project (comparativeagendas.net) at UT Austin, with its international scope, publicly accessible data, and training of undergraduate researchers. I believe that could be an amazing selling point for students, the Political Science department, and Augustana College for prospective students.

Thank you for taking the time to review! Your time and energy is valued, and I hope this report proved an easy read. I'm always happy to chat about my research to anyone who will listen.                    
Nadia Schwartz

Abstract: This sabbatical project investigated how visual perceptions of accounting and accountants have changed during a period of rapid technological transformation. Building on pre-tenure research published in the Journal of Visual Literacy, the study analyzed 64 student group drawings collected between 2019 and 2025 and introduced a novel comparison with AI-generated imagery of accounting professionals. Despite curricular emphasis on data analytics and artificial intelligence, findings reveal a striking persistence of traditional stereotypes: 90% of human figures depicted were male, and calculators remained the dominant tool shown. A key finding — the "technology invisibility paradox" — demonstrates that neither students nor AI prominently feature modern tools, revealing a fundamental disconnect between accounting practice and perception. These findings carry significant implications for accounting education, enrollment pipelines, and professional branding.

The project also included continuing education in emerging technologies, particularly data analytics, to strengthen classroom instruction and ongoing service to the American Accounting Association's teaching and learning community.

Purpose: The sabbatical had two primary goals.

First, to expand on pre-tenure research examining visual metaphor in accounting education — specifically updating the dataset and deepening the focus on student perceptions of the accounting profession, an issue of growing national concern given the severe shortage of CPAs and declining enrollment in accounting programs.

Second, to pursue continuing professional development in emerging technologies — particularly data analytics and AI — in order to remain a current and effective educator and to sustain active engagement with the American Accounting Association's data analytics initiatives.

Summary: During the sabbatical, the longitudinal study was completed, analyzing six years of student drawing data (2019–2025) and incorporating a novel methodological contribution: a systematic comparison of student-generated visual metaphors with AI-generated images of accounting and accountants. The resulting article, "From Bean Counters to Bots: How Students and AI Visual Metaphors Reveal the Evolving Identity of Accounting," was submitted for peer review to the Journal of Accounting Education.

The paper was also presented at the Thirty-Fourth Asian-Pacific Conference on International Accounting Issues (October 2025, co-sponsored by the University of Auckland), where the invitation to join the conference's future planning committee was extended and accepted. Additionally, continuing education in data analytics and emerging technologies was pursued to advance both classroom instruction and AAA committee service.

Sharing: Results have been and will continue to be shared through multiple channels. The article has been submitted to the Journal of Accounting Education for peer review; alternative publication venues include the Journal of Accountancy (where the editor expressed prior interest), the CPA Journal, and The Insight Magazine. The research was presented at the Thirty-Fourth Asian-Pacific Conference on International Accounting Issues in October 2025, reaching an international audience of accounting academics.

Membership on that conference's future planning committee will provide continued visibility for this work. The findings are also directly relevant to national conversations about the CPA pipeline shortage, connecting to ongoing initiatives by the American Accounting Association, AICPA, and NASBA.

A presentation of the research is planned for Augustana's Celebration of Learning in May 2026, which provides an appropriate and accessible forum for sharing findings with faculty, students, and staff across disciplines.

Did sabbatical meet expectations? The sabbatical went well, partly because I prepared in advance — I had been collecting data for years and started writing early. There is no way to submit an article and present at a conference within four months otherwise. What I did not expect was how much I needed the break itself. After 20 years at Augustana, this was my first sabbatical, and I did not realize how burned out I was until I actually stepped away from the daily emotional labor of teaching and advising. That was probably the most valuable part.

Being invited to join the Asian-Pacific Conference planning committee was a nice unexpected bonus as well.

Challenges? The main frustration is structural rather than personal. Because sabbatical is currently calculated on 8 credits rather than 12, you end up overloading the semester after you return just to make up a full year's load. Going from a lighter load straight into an overload defeats the purpose. I am glad the college is looking at moving to 12 credits — that would actually let people come back at a normal pace.

Impact: In the short term, I came back refreshed and much more current on technology, especially AI and data analytics. That shows up directly in the classroom. For students, the research findings have real relevance — the stereotypes they hold about accounting affect their career choices and our enrollment numbers. Longer term, I hope the published work contributes to the national conversation about the CPA shortage.

I am deeply grateful to the committee for granting the sabbatical and to my colleagues who carried the Department while I was away.

Michelle Hinzman-Ferris

Abstract: This project examined the effectiveness of after-school reading interventions for elementary students experiencing reading difficulties. National assessment data indicates that many U.S. students struggle to reach reading proficiency, particularly those from historically underserved groups, highlighting the need for effective supplemental literacy support.

This study expanded an after-school reading program serving kindergarten through sixth-grade students at a local elementary school. Approximately 30 students were randomly assigned to receive either phonics-based or syntax-based reading instruction delivered twice weekly for four months. Pre- and post-intervention assessments — including school-administered literacy measures and additional researcher-administered assessments — were used to evaluate changes in students’ reading performance.

The project also trained undergraduate elementary education majors to administer assessments, deliver research-based instruction, and conduct fidelity checks. Findings contribute to research on effective after-school literacy interventions while providing valuable research experience for future teachers and supporting literacy development among local elementary students.

Purpose: The purpose of the sabbatical was to conduct a research study examining the effectiveness of after-school reading interventions for elementary students with reading difficulties. The project investigated whether phonics-based or syntax-based instruction produced greater improvements in students’ reading outcomes while expanding an existing after-school literacy program and contributing to research on effective reading interventions.

Summary: During my sabbatical, I conducted a research study examining the effectiveness of after-school reading interventions for elementary students with reading difficulties. I expanded an existing after-school literacy program serving kindergarten through six-grade students and oversaw the implementation of phonics-based and syntax-based reading interventions. I supervised and trained undergraduate elementary education majors to administer reading assessments, deliver research-based instruction, and monitor treatment fidelity. Pre- and post-intervention reading assessment data were collected to evaluate students’ reading growth. This work supported the literacy development of local elementary students while contributing to ongoing research on effective reading interventions and providing meaningful research experiences for future teachers.

Sharing: It is expected that the results of this study will be shared with the wider scholarly community as well as community stakeholders on local and national levels in the form of presentations at conferences and publications in peer-reviewed research journals.

I plan to present this work to the faculty at Augusta's annual Celebration of Learning Day.    

Did sabbatical meet expectations? My sabbatical largely met my expectations. During this time, I was able to implement and expand the after-school reading intervention study, oversee the delivery of phonics-based and syntax-based instruction, and collect pre- and post-intervention reading assessment data from participating elementary students. I also trained and supervised undergraduate elementary education majors who assisted with assessments, instruction, and fidelity monitoring. These experiences supported both the research goals of the project and the preparation of future teachers. One positive and somewhat unexpected outcome was the continued growth of the after-school program and the strong engagement of both the participating elementary students and the undergraduate education majors.     

Challenges: I did not encounter any significant challenges during the sabbatical. The project proceeded as planned, and the study was implemented according to the proposed timeline and design.

Impact: In the short and long term, I expect this project to support my continued growth in conducting applied literacy research and mentoring undergraduate students in research and clinical experiences. I plan to continue providing reading interventions to local children with reading difficulties, and the after-school reading program has already been continued into the spring semester. This work will continue to benefit local elementary students while providing meaningful clinical and research experiences for Augustana elementary education majors.                                                        

Sabbatical reports, 2024-25

Shelley Cooper (fall): I researched and wrote an original solo theatre show with original music composed by me on the life of Austrian actress Lotte Lenya. After my show was written, I travelled to Bangkok, Thailand to World Premiere the show, produced by Mahidol University, at the Goethe Institute of Thailand. My original intent was to write the script and use Kurt Weill music. Through the process, I ended up writing an original score of 11 songs. I will be recording an album in April to be distributed on all music streaming platforms and will be performing the show as an official selection of the Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Hudson Theatre in June. Description of Rag Doll on a Bomb Site: It’s opening night of the Threepenny Opera in Berlin, 1928 when Kurt Weill steps into Lotte Lenya’s dressing room and drops a bombshell that her name is not in the program. Absolutely furious, Kurt demands they cancel the opening night performance. Lenya laughs in his face. She has been through far worse than this in her traumatic past. As she passionately recalls her disturbing childhood, will it be enough to convince Kurt that she should pursue her dream and reclaim her story? Infusing an original, contemporary score with dazzling multimedia, this solo show takes a gritty look at a woman who fled her abusive home, survived adversity and blazed a trail as a landmark performer.

Pre-tenure reports, 2024-25

Allie Barringer (fall): Research has shown that early adolescence is a time in which both students and teachers report declining levels of student engagement. Scholars have argued that declining levels of engagement and connection to school can be explained by a mismatch between the developmental needs of the adolescent and the policies and practices prioritized by schools, possibly constraining the student-teacher relationship. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the educational and relational impact of arts-based programming for marginalized youth through a community-school collaboration. An arts program designed and implemented by a local art museum at a public high school was chosen as the site for this case study. The data collected for this project included the work created by the participating students (visual art and poetry), their descriptions of their work captured through their written analyses, detailed field notes, and individual interviews with students and teachers. Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyze, and report patterns in the data. Themes emphasized the process of enriching education with community knowledge, allowing for an enhanced student and teacher experience at school and in the community. These findings have significant implications for those working with youth in multiple settings.

Paul Baumgardner (fall): I used my PTPL to work on two projects. One project focueds on the ways in which state constitutions structure governmental relationships with Native American tribes. The second project focused on Republican presidents' evolving relationship to the Federalist Society. My two projects led to the production of two research articles, which I have submitted to two different journals. I also shared my results at a law school symposium during the fall. Later this spring, I will share additional results at a political science conference and a law conference.

Brooke Randazzo (fall): Abstract algebra is an upper-level course required of both mathematics and mathematics education majors at most colleges/universities. This course introduces students to formal mathematical structures (e.g., groups, rings) and the relationship between them (e.g., isomorphisms, homomorphisms). The purpose of this study was to analyze how students talk about and solve problems related to key concepts in this course (i.e., homomorphisms and quotient groups). We conducted two interviews with six students at two different institutions asking them to describe, generate, and prove statements involving these concepts. We then used thematic analysis to examine how partial meanings for homomorphisms and quotient groups were used to complete these problems. We found that students wrote homomorphisms both as element-to-element and algebraic maps. Additionally, they used reasoning involving substructures, partitioning, and same properties to generate homomorphisms. Regarding quotient groups, students moved fluidly between viewing cosets as sets and as elements. They also used meanings related to the coset algorithm, partitioning, and group structure to generate quotient groups and prove statements about them. Implications include supporting students in thinking about homomorphisms in terms of substructures rather than just as functions and considering the consequences of a quotient group being a group.

Sabbatical reports, 2023-24

Umme al-Wazedi, English (spring): I began work on my first monograph, Your Jihad, Not Mine: Speculative Fiction and Critical Jihad Studies. I analyze and explore the debate in the West about the true nature of Jihad and the term’s relationship to violence and critique the distinct strain of exoticism coloring Western readings of the Muslim Other. What if a popular fiction written in the near past portrays an apocalyptic/dystopic picture of the present while portraying Islam and the idea of Jihad in a negative light? The way some Euro-American authors and popular culture manufacture the definition of Jihad and Jihadist and the authority they ascertain creates a complex portrayal of Muslims in apocalyptic/dystopic fiction. This complex picture creates a complicated discriminatory pattern—Muslims are treated like a suspect race and not a religious minority. Shahar Aziz, in her recently published book The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom, argues that such an approach to creating a suspect race is based on “the racialization of Islam as violent, illiberal, uncivilized, and Anti-American” and Anti-European, which in turn “dooms all Muslims to a lower societal caste regardless of their individual beliefs, lifestyles, and accomplishments.” Many Euro-American authors have used the word Jihadist to mean ghostly warriors who believe death grants these Jihadists eternal bliss and that they do not negotiate with anything. The word Jihad in the Quran has a decisive meaning, but the media and some pulp fiction focus on the surface meaning and is predominantly out of context. In the Muslim community, Jihad is used in the context to mean “personal struggle.” Why do I emphasize this point now? Muslims and non-Muslims have both been terrorized by the constant suicide bombings and terrorist attacks all over the world, so it is time to analyze the real meaning of Jihad. Also, the extent of Islamophobia has racialized the Muslim population. In their very recent book, Cyra Akila Choudhury and Khaled A. Beydoun defined Islamophobia as “a cognizable form of animus toward Muslims and perceived Muslims.” Islamophobia as a fear or hatred of Muslims is racism per se, which has its roots in the cultural representation of the “Other” as being “deviant” or “un-American,” states Amir Saeed. I argue that Islamophobia has become cultural racism—a racism that has become a hegemonic form, as suggested by Ramon Grosfogul (2003), to suppress and oppress a group of people.

Lendol Calder, History (fall): I am writing a book under the working title "Teaching American History in the Age of Trump: One Semester in a College US History Classroom." And I began the work of conceptualizing a book that might appeal to two different audiences: 1) instructors who want to know how my "uncoverage" methods work on a day to day basis, and 2) people who are following the "Ed Scare" as legislators in many states and in the US Congress pass laws regulating how US history is taught in K-16. What does a college American history course look like? Are professors indoctrinating students with their left-wing agendas? Are white students being made to feel "uncomfortable" during difficult discussions of race and gender inequalities? I would hope my book will throw light on these and other matters currently making news headlines on a daily basis. I gave a presentation at the American Historical Association annual meeting in San Francisco in January, 2024 on the topic of my proposed book: "Teaching History in Polarized Times." Over 120 people attended the session, making it one of the more popular sessions at a conference attended by 2,000 historians.

Paul Croll, Sociology (spring): While on sabbatical in Spring 2024, Dr. Paul Croll worked as a Principal Investigator on the American Mosaic Project (AMP) Wave 3 Survey. The AMP project has broadly asked, “How do Americans understand ethnic, religious, and racial diversity?” and “How do Americans respond to calls for greater recognition of diverse groups and lifestyles?” Research from this decades-long project has examined topics ranging from attitudes about diversity and belonging, understandings of racial inequality, beliefs about the role of religion in public life, to colorblind racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, the American diversity discourse, and white racial attitudes. This spring, Dr. Croll had primary responsibility for the survey vendor, survey fielding, and data collection for the project. He obtained bids and pricing for survey vendors and led the vendor selection process. Dr. Croll also was the primary contact with the survey vendor through all phases of the project. Dr. Croll took a lead role in survey development and managed the survey revisions process, working with current faculty in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota as well as other faculty at other institutions with connections to the American Mosaic Project. Later in 2024, Dr. Croll will oversee the survey pretesting, survey fielding, and data collection for the Wave 3 Survey. The AMP Wave 3 Survey will be fielded to a nationally representative sample of 3,200 Americans later this fall.

Rob Elfine, Music (fall): I used the sabbatical time to complete two projects related to future performances: 1) I learned the Goldberg Variations of Johann Sebastian Bach, and 2) completed a series of original compositions for piano solo. I plan to perform the Goldberg Variations in January of 2025. The original compositions will be included on each solo recital that I present for the foreseeable future.

David Ellis, History (spring): For my one-semester sabbatical, I worked on three projects. First, I analyzed data collected as part of a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project, examining the effect of using Reacting to the Past pedagogy (i.e., role-playing scenarios) in both FYI and History courses. I was interested in particular in how this pedagogy helped students acquire or polish skills of both disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses. The results showed that the pedagogy helped students make learning gains in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning in both kinds of courses. A second project was to read my way into a new field of the Scholarship of Discovery. My past work has focused on the role of Protestants in the tumultuous political and religious reforms around the 1848 revolution. My new project shifts to examine how Rhineland Catholics dealt with a periodically hostile Prussian government in the so-called “Mixed Marriage Controversy” of the 1830s, focusing on Joseph Görres’ work Athanasius, which defends the autonomy of the Catholic Church in matters or marriage and education against incursions by the Protestant-dominated Prussian state. I will present my findings at a conference of the Consortium of the Revolutionary Era in February. In a third project, I developed a 300-level course in British history, filling a gap in our curriculum. I will submit the course proposal through the usual channels of faculty governance this academic year.

Nathan Frank, Physics (fall): My sabbatical furthered my experimental nuclear physics research program associated with Michigan State University (MSU) at the Facility for Relativistic Ion Beams (FRIB) formerly the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) during the fall and J-term (August 1, 2023 – February 1, 2024). I worked on projects related to future experiments, detector development, and finishing existing projects. I traveled to MSU to work with local collaborators to prepare the experimental setup for our first experiments scheduled for Spring 2025. Tests performed on neutron detectors assembled by Augustana students at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) are preparation work for the Next Generation Neutron detector project recently funded by the National Science Foundation. In addition, I traveled to Los Alamos National Laboratory to work on a dissertation experiment related to neutron detection. The work during this sabbatical provides the start of new projects for students to do big physics at small places alongside completing prior experimental work. Results were presented at a talk titled “Resolution Optimization by Trace Fitting a Charged Particle Detector Telescope” at the April 2024 American Physical Society in Sacramento, CA.

Rupa Gordon, Psychology (fall): Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive way to directly record brain activity that is relatively accessible to undergraduate students compared to other neuroscientific methods. However, it is challenging to learn proper data collection and analysis techniques. I completed two EEG projects in order to master the use of this equipment and increase accessibility for Augustana students. First, my students and I analyzed neural synchrony of individual EEG data during asynchronous storytelling: speakers told a story while video and EEG recordings were taken, and listeners later watched videos or heard audio of the speaker while their EEG was recorded. Then, we collected dual-systems data from two individuals simultaneously to measure face-to-face neural synchrony during storytelling. As one of the main benefits for my sabbatical was to the educational and research programs of the College and the Psychology & Neuroscience programs, I developed a Neurophysiology Handbook with detailed instructions and videos to improve accessibility of this technology for future Senior Inquiry and supervised research projects. Finally, I published a SOTL manuscript in the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education showing that my J-term course led to improvement in knowledge of common brain injury misconceptions, and also reduced the students’ willingness to risk future concussion. (Gordon, R. G. (2023). Reducing brain injury misconceptions and willingness to risk concussion with a three-week introductory-level neuroscience course. Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 22(1), A51).

Wendy Hilton-Morrow, Communication Studies (full academic year): My sabbatical project was working on a second edition of my co-authored textbook, which will be renamed Queer Identities and the Media. The first edition of the book, titled Sexual Identities and the Media (Routledge, 2015) continues to be the only textbook devoted to LGBTQ representations in the media. Our revised edition will more fully consider the relationship between gender, sexuality and identity, update media examples with attention to social media, dedicate more attention to transgender visibility and drag, and reconfigure some chapters to make concepts more accessible to today’s students.

Jon Hurty, Music (spring): I am completing an e-book called Fundamentals of Choral Conducting. This is the first book of its kind that will include both text and video examples that discuss and demonstrate the basics of conducting a choir. There are two target audiences for this book. First, individuals who would like to have a reference book, which includes a technical manual of the various conducting patterns and rehearsal techniques for choral conducting. Second, instructors in conducting courses who will be able to have a complete, concise reference for teaching a basic course in choral conducting. The content of the book includes: conducting patterns; how to communicate articulation, phrasing, dynamics, cues, fermatas, tempo changes; independence between left and right hands; analysis and score marking; rehearsal techniques and organization.

Tim Muir, Biology (spring): During my sabbatical, I worked with two students to investigate the effects of energy availability on the freeze tolerance of overwintering hatchling turtles. Ectothermic animals, including hatchling painted turtles, must contend with numerous stressors when overwintering, the most pressing being low temperature and negative energy balance. Despite heavy focus on each of those stressors independently, there has been little investigation into how the depletion of an animal’s energy reserves may affect its ability to survive low temperature. In this study, we used a novel technique to manipulate the initial energy reserves of hatchling painted turtles and monitored, using behavioral and biochemical assays, their recovery from multiple ecologically relevant freeze exposures. Although tissue analyses are not yet complete, preliminary findings suggest that turtles with lower energy stores in winter are less tolerant of internal freezing, but that the decreased freeze tolerance is not due to increased oxidative damage or increased global cell damage. This study is unique in that it investigates the dual stresses of negative energy balance and internal freezing faced by overwintering turtles. Moreover, it is only the second study to investigate the effects of multiple freeze exposures on a freeze-tolerant vertebrate animal. We expect that this project will garner high interest from comparative physiologists, and we look forward to sharing it through presentations and publication.

Mari Nagase, World Languages, Literatures & Cultures (Japanese) (spring): “Second Printing Underway! Bakin’s Women-Centric Water Margin for Picture Book Production” Courtesan Water Margin by Kyokutei Bakin (1767-1848), the most famous writer from Late Edo Japan, achieved unprecedented commercial success. This paper explores the four adaptational approaches that contributed to this success: popularization, localization, feminization, and moralization. The adaptational work was published in a “popular” gōkan book, which contained pictures on every page with texts in native kana wrapping the pictures. They were easy to read, cheap, and sold in large quantities, and they effectively broadened the audience base (popularization). Bakin changed the historical and geographical setting of China to that of Japan, replacing the Chinese characters with Japanese (localization). Notably, Bakin flipped the main characters' genders (feminization). Despite these radical changes, Bakin faithfully transmitted the plot, character traits, and character relationships. His heroines inherited the toughness and wildness of the original heroes. While the author exhibited little concern for his heroines’ feminine propriety, he demonstrated great concern for his writing principle, “encouraging virtues and punishing evils,” and rectified the heroines’ moral characteristics (moralization). The result was a thrilling story of righteous, tough women skilled in martial arts. This women-centric, action-based story, appealing to emerging female readership, attained an extraordinary sales record.

Doug Parvin, Philosophy (spring): Traditional theories of rationality suggest that rational agents make decisions by calculating the best possible outcome based on precise beliefs and desires, essentially maximizing their expected benefit or 'utility.' However, this view assumes a) that people have precise beliefs and desires, and b) that people can perform highly complex mathematical calculations in everyday decision-making, both of which seem unrealistic. More modern approaches flip this idea on its head. Instead of assuming that people are explicitly calculating from precise beliefs and desires, they propose that rationality can be inferred from people's behaviors. According to these theories, if we observe someone's actions (or, more precisely, their preferences over risky bets), we can reverse-engineer their beliefs and desires, interpreting their behavior as though they are maximizing utility. I argue that this modern approach has a major flaw: it assumes the very rationality it tries to explain. By starting from the assumption that people act rationally and then fitting their behavior into a utility-maximizing framework, these theories fail to genuinely explain what rationality is. In my sabbatical work, I explore several ways to resolve this issue and move us toward a clearer, more robust understanding of rationality.

Eric Stewart, Religion (full academic year): During my sabbatical, I began work on a book tentatively titled, Having the Form of Piety, that will examine what bodily actions earned people reputations for piety or for impiety in the first two centuries CE. Working from ritual theory, intersectional approaches, ethnic theory, and gender theory, the book details embodied piety in the ancient world, with special attention to Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. The opening chapter of the book relates masculinity, gender theory, and ritual theory. A second chapter considers a meeting between the Judean High Priest Jaddua and Alexander the Great, described by the 1st-century CE Jewish historian Josephus, which violates ordinary expectations for ritual greetings between more powerful and less powerful people in service of Josephus’ project of enabling peaceful relations between Jews and their Roman conquerors. A third chapter deals with the guniaikaria (the diminutive form of women in Greek) described in 2 Timothy 3:6-7. The author of 2 Timothy describes these women’s households as overrun by men who practice all types of vice and whom the author links to Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses during the events described in Exodus. There will be two further chapters examining the roles of enslaved people in bodily expressions of piety.

David Thornblad, Business Administration (spring): I used my sabbatical to study how societal factors in Sweden (free healthcare, free higher education, paid maternity leave) influences entrepreneurship rates. I took a two-week trip to Sweden in February of 2024 to visit a practitioner focused entrepreneurship conference known as TechArena. I also visited KTH, a prestigious engineering focused university in Stockholm. KTH has an entrepreneurship center known as KTH Innovation which helps students and professors launch businesses. Further, I spoke to bankers and lawyers while in Sweden about starting firms. I reviewed the entrepreneurship literature and conducted an empirical study that used the World Bank’s entrepreneurship database to see if societal factors in Sweden also encouraged entrepreneurship across 117 countries. My research suggests that free universal healthcare encourages innovation in a society. It also suggests that free higher education and a highly educated populace drives entrepreneurship. An increased number of paid maternity leave days encourages entrepreneurship; but there is a negative relationship if an employer is expected to pay for the maternity leave as opposed to the government. Lastly, a culture that has a high level of trust between people encourages entrepreneurship. My plan is to submit my research to a scholarly journal.

Amanda Wilmsmeyer, Chemistry (spring): My research focus is in surface chemistry. Atoms at the surface have fewer bonding neighbors than those in the bulk material, creating a different chemical environment for these atoms. The unique chemical and electronic structure of the surface atoms often leads to high chemical activity and influences the fields of health care, environmental protection, catalysis, among many others. However, despite the importance of chemistry occurring at the interface, surprisingly little is known about many different classes of molecule-surface interactions. The focus of this project is to explore the fundamental surface chemistry of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as they adsorb to silica. Series of aldehydes, ketones, and heterocyclic aromatics have been chosen to investigate how small changes in molecular structure affect their adsorption properties. To study the reactions occurring at the surface, infrared (IR) spectroscopy is utilized. The bonds of different functional groups (C=C versus O-H for example) vibrate at different frequencies; therefore, molecules can be differentiated as they adsorb to a surface. Furthermore, the types of interactions between the surface and the adsorbed molecule can be explored. This type of information is critical in determining the adsorption mechanism.

Pre-tenure reports, 2023-24

Mike Augspurger, Engineering (fall): My project investigates the usefulness of ceiling fans for residential climate control in cooler weather. Ceiling fan manufacturers and installers routinely recommend using a ceiling fan in the winter by reversing the rotational direction of the fan. The argument is that a slow reversed flow (SRF) disturbs thermal stratification by moving warm air near the ceiling down into the lived space of the room without introducing a significant wind chill effect. Theoretically, SRF can lower the thermostat setting needed to produce a comfortable lived environment in a room and therefore increase the energy efficiency of the heating system. However, little research has been done to provide guidance about what room conditions would benefit from SRF. My research uses computational simulations to provide this guidance. First, a simulation process for thermal stratification and ceiling fan flows would be developed and then validated against experimental results. Once this work was complete, a set of simulations would be used to determine the effects of SRF in rooms defined by parameters such as ceiling height, room volume, insulation, and flow speed. Finally, an economic optimization model would provide an estimate of when and how SRF should be used, based on environmental parameters.

AKM R. Bashar, Mathematics and Computer Science (fall): Asthma is the most prominent chronic disease in children and one of the most challenging ailments to diagnose in infants and preschoolers. In this study, we have developed classification and prediction models for early detection of Asthma in Children of the USA population based on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) collected and maintained by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. This prediction model can be utilized through the APP built through a web page domain-ed in an Academic website or from a personal web page that can be established through web development. In this study, we have built several machine-learned and statistically learned models based on the data collected from CDC. We have studied several algorithms to develop an algorithm with the highest accuracy. The result shows that "Visiting Doctors", "Duration of Symptoms in the last 30 Days", and several other variables of this nature play a significant role in the building process of the model. In our study, we found the "XgBoost" algorithm provides the highest accuracy when it comes to predicting Asthma based on the behavioral data that were collected by the CDC. Since our model algorithm predicted the outcome based on the available data only. So, in the case of the issue of improving the model prediction accuracy, it is inferred that if we had access to the bigger data resources and data collection process then the accuracy of the model algorithm will be improved significantly.

Rajan Bishwakarma, Economics (fall): During the pre-tenure paid leave, I was engaged in three scholarly pursuits. The first project demonstrates that exposure to high temperatures during pregnancy can impede child growth, possibly through various market and non-market mechanisms. The second project shows that mothers allocate their time equally between boys and girls, suggesting that son-preference may not be an inherent bias but rather a product of cultural and social constraints. The third project delves into the historical and philosophical roots of the study of human capital particularly focusing on the economic approach to understanding child wellbeing before the age of five.

Katie Brown, Communication Sciences & Disorders (spring): During my pre-tenure leave, I analyzed cognitive and speech data collected from a recent study examining speech and cognitive changes in military veterans with combat-related blast exposure. Analysis involved using computer software to mark, measure, and analyze pauses in recorded speech samples of study participants, and then training two undergraduate students in the methods so they could assist with reliability data. Results from this study revealed a significant association between poorer cognitive performance and more severe blast-exposure symptom severity. In addition, results indicated that more severe blast symptoms were significantly associated with slower speaking rate and poorer cognitive performance. In addition, I was able to complete the final manuscript related to my dissertation and submit for publication, submit two conference proposals, take time to study and prepare for the Advanced Practice in Neurorehabilitation Certification Exam, complete a textbook review and multiple manuscript reviews, and continue growing the Parkinson’s disease support group. Finally, I was able to spend time developing a framework for a community initiative focusing on improving outreach and support for people in the Quad Cities with Parkinson’s disease. This initiative was designed to improve quality of life for individuals with Parkinson’s disease by identifying barriers to access to care, areas of needed support, and perceived social support.

Ray Harrison, Chemistry (spring): During my PTPL, I dedicated my efforts towards 1) modifying the preparatory activities for our general chemistry laboratory courses 2) aiding departments in curricular/program assessments. Project 1: Following the theory of meaningful learning, there are three domains in which learning occurs: cognitive (critical thinking and knowledge), affective (interest and motivation), and psychomotor (hands-on skills). While the chemistry laboratory presents a prime opportunity to engage students in the psychomotor domain, the preparatory or “pre-lab” activities are avenues to engage students in the cognitive and affective domains. As supported by the literature, the use of flowcharts, simulations, questioning confidence, offering supporting information, questions with real-world applications, and student-generated products are aspects of pre-labs that can appeal to the affective domain; the use of relevant calculations, procedural information, safety questions, and conceptual questions are aspects of pre-labs that can appeal to the cognitive domain. Project 2: Based on conversations held with department chairs, this project involved the development/revision of program outcomes, as well as the planning of methods of data collection and approaches for analysis.

Stacie Hatfield, Communication Sciences & Disorders (spring): The research project I devoted the majority of my PTPL time to is a qualitative study examining the first-person perspectives of current and former students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) who have disabilities. While classroom-based accommodations are relatively well-known, there is less information on how to best support students with disabilities in their clinical practicum work. This project included conducting one on one interviews with these students to explore if and how they felt supported or not supported during their clinical educational experiences. Data analysis is ongoing but the goal is to give CSD programs insights into what they are doing well and what they can do better to support students with disabilities in their programs, specifically in the clinical practicum settings.

Jeff Mettler, Kinesiology (spring): It is generally agreed that excessive strain in the plantar fascia can produce small tears in the tissue, which contributes to the development of plantar fasciitis. During my PTPL, some students and I conducted a study to investigate the ability of two treatment methods for plantar fasciitis (over the counter arch supports and low-Dye taping) to reduce plantar fascia strain. Furthermore, I utilized the musculoskeletal model of the foot that was developed during my dissertation to investigate the effects of the same two treatment methods on strains of the spring, deltoid, and plantar ligaments, which are all ligaments that contribute to arch support along with the plantar fascia. The study was conducted on healthy individuals with flat feet, and we collected data during both walking and running.

Cathy Webb, Communication Sciences & Disorders (fall): During my PTPL I was able to work on several research projects that had been on hold. These projects included: 1) continuing a research study being conducted with a Master's student around the use of augmentative and alternative communication for religious participation, 2) writing up dissertation study, which focused on disability-related curriculum in Masters of Divinity programs in the United States, and 3) new work on disability, particularly chronic pain, as a feminist issue. I was also able to start refining several other projects and collaborate with peers to submit a chapter proposal for a book.

Sabbatical reports, 2022-23

Laura Greene, English: During my sabbatical, I designed a new course for the new Integrative Health and the Humanities Minor on Narrative Medicine. The premise of this course is that study of literature and the practice of writing can better equip students for the cognitive and emotional rigors of a career in medicine. I’ve organized the course into three sections, each focused on a significant concern in healthcare which narrative medicine can help address. The first concern is the increasingly reliance on diagnostic algorithms in medicine, and the consequent neglect of the interpretive skills and flexible thinking doctors need when faced with incomplete, inconclusive, or contradictory data. The second concern is the suffering of the sick, whose experience with the medical professions can deprive them of their sense of identity, agency, and self-determination, as well as their status as someone who is credible, whole, worthy, blameless. The third concern is the suffering of healthcare workers, who are experiencing burnout, PTSD, moral injury, and suicide at alarming rates. This course will explore the ways narrative medicine attempts to prevent or cope with these problems, making the practice of medicine both more effective and more humane for all concerned.

Meg Gillette, English: Middle-aged. Midwestern. A society woman. Marjorie Allen Seiffert (1885-1970) looks less like a "typical" modernist than the foils (the women who "come and go / talking of Michelangelo" or "the old lady of Dubuque" for whom The New Yorker would not be written) that so many modernists defined themselves against. Nonetheless, Seiffert, a middle-aged socialite from Moline, Illinois, participated in Spectra, modernism’s most infamous literary hoax, and published hundreds of poems in modernist magazines, most prominently Harriet Monroe’s Poetry: A Magazine in Verse and The New Yorker. These poems—which often dealt with modern love, marriage, and maternity, as well as ageism, resistance, and the growth of age identity—add to the ever-expanding archive of material for scholars interested in gender and modernism as well as those interested in critical age studies. Seiffert’s life and writing also make visible an underappreciated socio-literary context for modern women’s writing: women’s clubs. Learning from Richard H. Brodhead that "American literary history should be rethought as the history of the relation between literary writing and the changing meanings and places made for such work in American social history" (8), my sabbatical research shows how Seiffert drew upon the cultural work and literacy practices of women’s clubs to refashion midlife womanhood and participate in modernism.

Margaret Kunde, Communication Studies: In this article, I rhetorically analyze the Final Report by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capital, released in January 2023, as a jumping off point to explore possible limitations of and opportunities for rhetorical responses to political crises in the wider U.S. public discourse. In contrast to the Report’s tragic centering of Trump as agent, I argue that a comic frame could help bring the scene, or the state of democracy, to a place of interrogation, and allow for a broader accounting of agents, agency, and acts as well as their relationships to one another. Rather than deny an ultimate reckoning of a tragic situation, this article examines the importance of comic processing in service of the greater democratic community. By providing a space to reinterpret and resituate the pentadic motives underlying an act of democratic crisis like the insurrection, a comic frame’s pentadic vision can potentially open up new and transformative ways of understanding our public selves, each other, and our political relationships while still allowing for the expression of warrantable outrage.

Brian Leech, History: I completed three chapters of a scholarly book project, tentatively titled Imaginary Mines: Monster Movies, Sad Songs, Tough-Guy TV and Other Places Where Mining Appears in American Popular Culture. Covering a wide variety of popular culture—from Westerns and horror movies to reality television, country songs, and video games—the book argues that, over the past century, the portrayal of mining in popular culture has become more connected to an imagined American past than to the reality of modern industrial mining. This book will expose the cultural roots of what many call "extractivism," a model of economic development that relies on natural resource extraction for the world market.

Chris Marmé, Economics: I am writing an intermediate macroeconomic textbook. Its working title is Notes on Macroeconomics. The book is vastly different from the majority of intermediate texts in that it is written from a "Post-Keynesian" perspective. What this means is that--like all Post-Keynesians--I argue that the macroeconomic theory found in Keynes’ General Theory was truly a break from both came before and the orthodoxy that was restored with the "neoclassical synthesis". Unlike the handful of other intermediate texts written from this perspective (such as Paul Davidson’s Post-Keynesian Macroeconomic Theory or, my mentor, the late Paul Wells’ Aggregate Economic Analysis: an Intermediate Exposition) I have tried throughout the manuscript to take a less combative stance toward orthodox economics. The book centers around “indefinite preferences”, the idea that market economies are about communicating information between buyers and sellers –when that information is there- and the fundamental uncertainty that Post-Keynesians (following Keynes’ lead) emphasize, is at root is caused by the fact that when you and I save we have no clear idea of when we will draw on these financial resources or for what we will be using them for.

Margaret Morse, Art History: I worked on two research projects during my sabbatical. The first, "Devotion as Accessory: the Rosary and Religious Identity in the Early Modern World", argues that the rosary was the preferred accessory by which lay Catholics cultivated their spiritual lives and proclaimed their religious affiliation and pious status. My project explores the multiple functions of the early modern rosary, from high-end adornment to humble devotional aid, and situates the beads in the larger context of devotional jewelry and the "look" of Catholicism that emerged in the wake of the Reformation. By investigating the rosary at the intersection of both fashion and devotion, I demonstrate how belief was “worn” in early modern Europe, and the role accessories played in constituting religion in everyday life. With my second project, I began to research early modern portraits that depicted individuals in the guise of saints, particularly female saints. Little research has been done on this phenomenon, as art historians tend to treat portraiture as a secular art form. In a period when many noble women were cloistered in convents because of their families’ inability to afford a marriage dowry, these portraits may have been painted in their honor, and served as a way to maintain family bonds and affirm familial piety.

Jamie Nordling, Psychology: For my sabbatical project, I created a social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention for first-year students from marginalized and/or disadvantaged backgrounds (i.e., students of color and/or Pell Grant recipients). First-year advisors were trained to administer the intervention via virtual presentations, and they met with their advisees one-on-one five times over Fall Term. During each meeting, student participants learned the science behind the five SEL topics (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making), completed exercises to strengthen their skills, and were given homework to further develop their SEL strategy use. My overall goal was to create programming during the first year that would lead to student success and better retention rates, which is in line with the second goal of the “Augustana Unbound” strategic plan. I worked with two student research assistants; some of their tasks included writing statistical syntax for all surveys, completing qualitative data analysis, and presenting our project at Celebration of Learning.

Sangeetha Rayapati, Music: This sabbatical project was focused on examining the teaching artist vs. licensed therapist debate in teaching special populations of students, specifically students in prison higher education programs. In an effort to create a “how-to” guide for teaching artists, a thorough understanding of ethical underpinnings and best practices in the arts in prison education was examined for future contribution to the body of research on prison higher education and to help others join in the work of reducing recidivism by formerly incarcerated individuals. Conference attendance and examination of existing resources reveals the breadth of diversity of approaches to inclusion of the arts in prison higher education, with more emphasis on written creative arts as opposed to performing arts and the depth of issues regarding funding of any programming of this fashion. 

Jessica Schultz, Psychology: This sabbatical supported significant progress in projects involving both professional expression and professional development. First, I co-authored a book applying principles of deliberate practice to training clinicians in Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and a review article of IPT (both are in press). Second, I furthered my work in translating the science of positive psychology to the public with invited presentations on the science of flourishing and psychology of hope to multiple professional and community organizations. Finally, I pursued specialized professional development activities including two weeks of Spanish language school to support my leadership of the Guatemala study away program and nearly 40 hours of continuing education programming in service of my teaching, research, and clinical work.

Austin Williamson, Psychology: It was proposed that individuals form internal working models, both of how support figures behave in general, and of how specific support figures behave individually. Participants were 217 first-year college students in the first semester of their involvement with an athletic team or Greek organization. They reported on the support they perceived to be available from three friends in those organizations at four time-points, over the course of 18 months. Regarding general working models, participants who had more supportive high school friends perceived more support available from their new college friends, even after controlling for their actual experiences with the college friends. Regarding friend-specific working models, friends who were perceived as more supportive at the beginning of the study were perceived as increasingly supportive over time, even after controlling for actual experiences with that friend. These primacy effects illustrate the influence of relationship history on perceptions of social support.

Carolyn Yaschur, Multimedia Journalism/Mass Communications: In October 2022, MJMC professor Dr. Carolyn Yaschur and Sarah Walton, an MJMC, Communication Studies, and Theater Performance triple major traveled to Nepal to teach photojournalism to and mentor girls at the Karuna Girls School in Lumbini. They collaborated with Girl Reports, an international nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls and combating gender inequality through journalism education. Dr. Yaschur is a board member and the curriculum board chair of the organization and worked with journalism professors across the U.S. to design the curriculum that she and Walton implemented. While there, Yaschur also visually documented the daily life of the Pathak family, with whom she and Sarah lived while in Lumbini.

Pre-tenure reports, 2022-23

Melinda Mahon, Business Administration: The purpose of the leave was to pursue a case study writing project to supplement other research I have contributed to in the fields of management and accounting. I planned to organize this research as a teaching case study that could be used as a capstone project in my Organizational Behavior course. This real-life case puts students in the position of the leadership team and asks them to strategize how they would approach the managerial implications of culture change. Students will practice describing the current state of an organization, diagnosing the pain points of the current state, and prescribing a course of action for addressing those pain points. This is a factual case based on a real organization, though names and some details have been changed for confidentiality. I completed a successful live classroom test of the case on October 3, 2023. Now that it has been classroom tested, I am preparing the teaching case for submission to the Journal of Business Cases and Applications.