Newsmakers | College of Liberal Arts

Highlighting the professional and academic accomplishments of College of Liberal Arts students, faculty, and staff.

Newsmakers are a quick and easy way to acknowledge the professional and academic accomplishments of RIT students, faculty, and staff, such as publishing an article in a scholarly journal, presenting research at a conference, serving on a panel discussion, earning a scholarship, or winning an award. Newsmakers appear in News and Events as well as the "In the News" section on faculty/staff directory profile pages.

Submit a Newsmaker

December 2021

December 14, 2021

Jeff Wagner, professor of economics, virtually presented an invited paper, “Economics of IP in Sustainable Waste Management with Application to Managing Satellite Debris in Low-Earth Orbit,” at the NextSpace 2021 European Symposium held near Bordeaux, France, on Dec. 7. This work is co-authored with Zachary Grzelka ’18 (economics), who is now a student at Syracuse Law School.
December 9, 2021

Silvia Benso and Brian Schroeder, professors in the Department of Philosophy, have received a grant from the Central New York Humanities Corridor through an award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant will fund the organization of a seminar—to be hosted virtually at RIT in spring 2022—on the legacy of Italian Renaissance thinker Giovanni Pico della Mirandola in terms of contemporary humanism, post-humanism, and trans-humanism.
December 6, 2021

Sungmin Shin, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Performing Arts, will serve on the jury for the International Fringe Virtual Competition 2021 (Guitar Category). Based out of Hong Kong, this competition brings together the best guitarists from across the globe in various age groups.
December 6, 2021

Katrina Overby, assistant professor in the School of Communication, published her first book chapter, “Black and Quarantined: Celebrating Black Identity During COVID-19 via Instagram,” in the book Sustaining Black Music and Culture during COVID-19: #Verzuz and Club Quarantine with co-authors Gheni Platenburg and Niya Pickett Miller.
December 3, 2021

Jonathan Schroeder, the William A. Kern Professor in the School of Communication, authored a book chapter “The Selfie in Consumer Culture,” in the book Visual Culture Approaches to the Selfie, edited by Derek Conrad Murray and published by Routledge. The chapter provides insight into the flows between high and low forms of visual culture and how visual trends articulate certain assumptions about consumer culture and social media.

November 2021

November 18, 2021

Silvia Benso, professor, and Brian Schroeder, professor and department chair, Department of Philosophy, hosted the fourth international conference of the Society for Italian Philosophy (SIP) Nov. 5-7. The conference was held virtually and saw international participation of panelists from 12 countries, including Australia, Mexico, Lithuania, Portugal, and Scotland. SIP provides a forum for discussing themes, authors, and movements having to do with Italian philosophy as it is practiced in Italy and abroad. Benso and Schroeder are members of the Steering Committee of SIP, for which Benso is also the co-director.
November 16, 2021

Margaret Bailey, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Laura Shackelford, professor in the Department of English, have published a book, Women in Mechanical Engineering: Energy and Environment (Springer Engineering). The book brings together contributions from women engineers who are at the forefront of changes in the work environment and confront them daily in their research, teaching, and professional practices.
November 1, 2021

Lev Paciorkowski ’21 (business administration: finance), who double-majored in economics, won second place at the New York State Economics Association annual undergraduate research competition on Oct. 16 for his paper “Economics of Mercury Pollution Control,” advised by Jeff Wagner, professor of economics.

October 2021

October 22, 2021

Evelyn Brister, professor of philosophy and president of the Public Philosophy Network, co-organized the Network’s sixth annual conference, “Engagement, Policy, and Practice,” which is taking place Oct. 21-23. The conference will connect more than 120 philosophers and practitioners who will engage issues of public concern by working collaboratively with civic and professional communities. Three plenary sessions are free and open to the public. The sessions explore the themes of climate and the environment, science and technology for the public good, and bioethics and public philosophy.
October 11, 2021

Yunn-Shan Ma, assistant professor of the Department of Performing Arts, with the RIT Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded an Honorable Mention in Orchestra Performance at the American Prize 2021. Ma was named a finalist in the Conducting Competition and a semifinalist for the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award for Conductors' Orchestral Programming.