Faculty Focus–July 11, 2022
Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty weighed in on current events as podcast guests, published journal articles with alumni, presented papers at international conferences, and shared their passion for poetry in published works.
Matt Carotenuto
As a guest on the VOA podcast, Professor and Chair of History Matt Carotenuto discussed issues related to the upcoming presidential elections in Kenya with Assistant Director of Student Life and Academic Instruction for the Kenya Semester Program Michael Wairungu.
Carotenuto’s teaching and research interests are rooted in African history and the experience of people of African descent around the world. He teaches survey courses on African history and African studies, upper-division classes on constructions of identity and conflict, and seminars on colonial and urban history.
Bob Cowser
Professor of English Bob Cowser, presented a paper at the 28th James Joyce Symposium in Dublin, Ireland in recognition of the centennial of the publication of the author’s classic novel, “Ulysses.”
Cowser is the author of three nonfiction books, including Green Fields: Crime, Punishment and a Boyhood Between, which won "Best Memoir 2010" from the Adirondack Center for Writers and was cited in the Best American Essays 2012. His research focuses on the essay, Modernism, and film adaptation. At St. Lawrence, Cowser has taught courses in nonfiction writing, film, and American literature since 1998 and has taught abroad in France, England, and Denmark.
Paul Doty
Special Collections and Archives Librarian Paul Doty published several poems titled “Something Like Calm Drifting” in the Eastern Iowa Review, “Love Licks the Morning Star” in Cathexis, “Watercolor Wash of the Adirondacks” in Blueline, and “Kirby Cook” in Nerve Cowboy.
Doty’s research interests include poetry, special collections librarianship, and the American author Jim Harrison. He has been a librarian at St. Lawrence for 20 years and taught a variety of courses in St. Lawrence’s First-Year Program. Doty has published poems or essays in the Mississippi Review, the Great Lakes Review, Poetry Pacific, the Reference Librarian, and the Cortland Review. Paul has a B.A. in English from Keene State College, an M.A. in English from the University of Maine, and an M.L.S. from SUNY Albany.
Howard Eissenstat
During an interview with the Greek Current Podcast, Associate Professor of History Howard Eissenstat discussed the decision to lift Turkey's veto over Sweden and Finland's NATO membership bids, shared what President Erdogan may gain, and discussed the role the U.S. has played.
Eissenstats's recent work has focused increasingly on contemporary Turkish domestic and foreign policy, especially on issues of rule-of-law, minority rights, and the reshaping of political culture under the Justice and Development Party (AKP). At St. Lawrence, he teaches courses on Middle Eastern history and politics and in the First-Year Seminar (FYS). In addition to traditional academic work, Eissenstat served for over a decade as a Turkey Country Specialist for Amnesty International-USA. He has lectured at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. military, and the Canadian Foreign Service Institute, as well as given testimony to the Canadian Senate and offered briefings to Congressional Committees.
David Murphy
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies David Murphy published a co-authored paper with Brenda Rubio Estrada ’21. The research paper, based on Rubio Estrada’s Senior Year Experience is titled, “Energy Return on Investment of Major Energy Carriers: Review and Harmonization.”
Murphy is an environmental scientist whose recent work analyzes the impact that the current renewable energy policies in New York State may have on greenhouse gas emissions and the energy return on investment of the electrical grid system. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Environmental Science from the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from The College of the Holy Cross.
Alexander K. Stewart
Associate Professor of Geology Alexander K. Stewart published a co-authored paper with Gretchen Wambach '21 based on her senior-thesis work .Funded by the SLU Fellowship Program, the research utilized ArcGIS to evaluate basemap fidelity with respect to linear data collection to help workers understand that basemap selection can impact data collection.
Stewart has worked with students on numerous geologic research projects such as dating rockfall events in Alaska, leaf-wax work in the Adirondacks, glacier-lake sediments in the High Andes, and the impact of geomorphology on the Battle of Sackets Harbor. Stewart is retired from the U.S. Army and is a veteran of the Cold War and three foreign wars.
