Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty published in prestigious outlets and presented at renowned conferences.
Asian Studies Faculty
Three members of the Asian Studies program at St. Lawrence University recently presented at the 2026 ASIANetwork conference “Asia at the Center, Asia at the Margins” at North Central College, Naperville, Ill., last week.
Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Stephanie Wang presented “Pedagogy of (Un)freedom: Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the US as Asian Scholars." Associate Director of Asia and Pacific Programs Yanqiu Zheng presented "From Matcha to Masala Chai: Teaching Ethnobotany and History across Asia." And Associate Professor of Biology and J. Ansil Professor in Public Health Aswini Pai presented "Haritaki, Seeking the Fruit of the Medicine Buddha," and served as conference chair.
ASIANetwork is a consortium of over 150 North American colleges. It promotes education about Asia within the liberal arts.
Ivan Ramler
Jack and Sylvia Burry Associate Professor of Statistics Ivan Ramler was recently featured in The New York Times Learning Network’s "What’s Going On in This Graph?"
Ramler prepared the April 8th "Reveal & Reflect" for a New York Times Upshot article examining how much screen time students are getting at school and how teachers view the growing use of school-issued devices. Drawing on an informal survey of 350 pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, the feature highlights clear differences in device use across grade levels while also raising broader questions about post-pandemic schooling, classroom distraction and the role of technology in student learning.
Launched in 2017 as a collaboration between The New York Times Learning Network and the American Statistical Association, "What’s Going On in This Graph?" has become a widely used classroom resource for teaching data literacy. Aimed at high school students, each week from September to early May the feature presents a real data visualization from the Times and asks students to notice, wonder, and discuss what story the graph tells.
Mert Kartal
Associate Professor of Political Science Mert Kartal recently co-authored an article for Good Authority with his former St. Lawrence student Emma Birkitt ’24, currently a JD candidate at Cornell Law School, which examines a key question surrounding the European Union: will the EU’s new anti-corruption rules actually make a difference?
The article explains how the EU is trying to harmonize how member states define and prosecute corruption. In theory, common legal standards could make it easier to investigate, compare, and punish corruption across countries. But important challenges remain. Member states still have significant discretion in how they implement the rules, and enforcement ultimately depends on domestic political will. We argue that understanding these gaps is essential. While the directive represents a meaningful step toward stronger EU-wide standards, its effectiveness will depend less on the legal text itself and more on how seriously national governments choose to enforce it.
Howard Eissenstat
Laurentian Associate Professor and Chair of History Howard Eissenstat’s work on Israeli-Turkish tensions was recently cited in an article in the French newspaper, Le Monde, which writes:
"For their part, Israeli officials increasingly see Turkey, with Iranian capabilities weakened by the ongoing war, as 'the next great challenge' to their country's regional dominance. 'Neither country envisions an immediate conflict — even if the risk of miscalculation is real — but a rise in tensions is inevitable as Turkey and Israel consolidate their positions in the region,' summarizes Howard Eissenstat, Turkey specialist and professor at St. Lawrence University."
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St. Lawrence’s Faculty Focus is a regular roundup of noteworthy faculty news.
