News & Events

Director of Campus Music Activities Hugh Hinton is the winner of the 2021 Choir Master Prize in choral conducting. This award is given each year to the person who earns the top score in the National Choir Master certification examination.

“Digital Blockade or Corporate Boycott?: A New Tactic of War” is an article published by Dr. Alison Russell associate professor and chair of the department of political science and public policy. It examines the information warfare component of Russia’s war in Ukraine to develop a better understanding of blockade operations in cyberspace and digital corporate boycotts.

Sociology Associate Professor Daniel Herda presented his research titled “Examining the Contexts of Intergroup Contact” at the annual meeting of the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) virtual conference.

Lauri Kurdziel, assistant professor of psychology, 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.

Kirstie Dobbs, assistant professor of practice in political science and public policy, was invited to the Youth Without Representation Workshop hosted by the University of Ottawa to present her research on youth involvement in political parties worldwide. In addition, Dobbs also attended the American Political Science Association Conference in Montreal to present her research on a youth civic engagement summer program called Youth Voice – a collaboration between Merrimack professors, the Merrimack Valley YMCA in Lawrence, and numerous local stakeholders.

Ellen Longsworth, art history professor at Merrimack, has been elected president of the Society for Renaissance Art History.

Presidential Rhetoric and Indian Policy is a book recently published by Dr. Anne Flaherty, associate professor of political science public policy and interim associate dean of the School of Liberal Arts.

Assistant professor of communication and media Melissa “Mish” Zimdars, author of “Watching Our Weights: The Contradictions of Televising Fatness in the ‘Obesity Epidemic,’” was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article March 24, 2020 discussing the portrayal of fat women on television.

Dr. Michael Stroud, professor and department chair of psychology, and Dr. Kirstie Dobbs, associate professor of practice for the department of political science and public policy, have created assignments that expose their students to new educational techniques: Podcasts and TED Talks.
Stroud’s podcast, Curious Minds, is available via Apple Podcasts. Please click the link below to view the TED Talks. Kirstie Dobbs’ podcast, Voices of Gen Z: The Future of Democracy can be found via Spotify Podcasts.

Jim Kaklamanos, associate professor of civil engineering and Zampell Family Faculty Fellow, was recently recognized with the Distinguished Service Award from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Tufts University, where he earned his Ph.D., M.S. and B.S.C.E. The Distinguished Service Award is presented to an alumnus or member of the Tufts CEE community who exemplifies service to their profession and the department.