Notable & Quotable

Notable & Quotable

• Assistant Professor of Psychology Lauri Kurdziel was recently quoted in the Boston Globe on the topic of naps and bedtime sleep for preschoolers. Kurdziel conducted research with two others entitled “Sleep-dependent enhancement of emotional memory in early childhood” which was published in Scientific Reports.

• Three Merrimack professors were recently quoted in WalletHub on a variety of topics. Associate Professor of Marketing Joseph R. Stasio recently commented on how to choose the best credit cards on the market.  Assistant Professor of Human Development Laura Hsu recently answered questions about states with the best and worst school systems. Assistant Professor of Finance Fan Chen was featured in the “Ask the Experts” section about low interest credit cards. 

• William Wians, Professor of Philosophy, delivered the opening keynote address at the 2018 Fonte Aretusa conference in Siracusa, Sicily, on June 6. His topic was ‘Violence and the Origins of Beauty’. Prof. Wians discussed three figures closely associated with the Greek city of Syracusa on Sicily: Aeschylus, whose play Prometheus Bound was produced in the city’s outdoor theater around 405 BC; the poem of Empedocles, who was born in nearby Acragas; and the philosopher Plato, who spent 13 years in Siracusa in a failed attempt to produce a philosopher king out of the local ruler Dionysius the Second.

• The School of Education and Social Policy’s Associate Professor of Practice Patricia Howson was part of a panel this summer hosted by the United Way of Mass. Bay. Howson stressed the importance of preschool programs and the salaries of their teachers. Read her remarks in The Eagle-Tribune.  

• Dan Vlahos, assistant professor of visual and performing arts, was recognized as Designer of the Week by Print Magazine on April 10, 2018. Vlahos shares some of his work in the local community, his favorite and most challenging projects, and his plans for the future. “Three things that inspire me are graphic design history, my students and contemporary design outside of graphic design (especially architecture),” he said. 

• Juliana Cohen, assistant professor of health sciences, was featured in a cnn.com article “How school lunches measure up in countries around the world” published April 9, 2018. “When kids eat healthier foods, this can have a really important impact on their cognitive functioning, which can then translate potentially to better academic performance,” she said. Cohen’s 2015 study, published in the Journal of the Academy of the Nutrition and Dietetics, was also featured. Her study found shorter lunch periods to be linked with less healthy eating among children. 

• Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of communication, wrote a fake news “how-to” for the Young African Leadership Initiative as part of the U.S. State Department’s ongoing campaign to counter misinformation in Africa. YALI supports young African leaders as they spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance and enhance peace and security across Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Russ Olwell, associate dean of the School of Education and Social Policy, published a column in the March 24, 2018, edition of the Eagle-Tribune about the benefits of early-college and dual-enrollment programs, which help students earn college credits while in high school and serve to make higher education more attractive and affordable to students. “The experience of taking a college class on a college campus with a professor gives students the experience of success in college, an experience that can give them and their families hope,” Olwell wrote.

• Isabelle Cherney, dean of the School of Education and Social Policy, was quoted in a March 20, 2018, article in Fatherly, an online magazine for dads, about the relationship between gender and toy selection. Cherney said studies show it is fathers, not mothers, who tend to pigeonhole their sons into choosing stereotypical male toys. “Studies, over and over, show the mothers are really open. They don’t mind if their boys are playing dress-up,” she said. “One of the reasons it’s so hard for boys to play with more feminine toys is that the fathers are very reluctant to let their boys play with feminine toys. Some still believe that playing with feminine toys might turn a boy homosexual. There is a stigma. It’s very subtle. But kids pick that up.”

• He Li, professor of political science, published an article, “Chinese Discourse on Constitutionalism and Its Impact on Reforms,” in the September 2017 issue of the Journal of Chinese Political Science, and a book chapter, “China’s Rise in Latin America: Myths and Realities,” in “China, the United States and the Future of Latin America” (New York University Press, 2017).