Faculty Focus-March 28, 2022
Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty presented at conferences, served as panelists, weighed in on current events as podcast guests, and published journal articles, essays, and books.
Cynthia Bansak
Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics Cynthia Bansak was selected as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Population Economics which examines research in areas of population economics. The journal addresses micro-level topics like household formation and fertility choices and macro-level topics like economic growth with exogenous or endogenous population evolution.
Bansak's work has been published in various academic journals and she has co-authored a textbook on the Economics of Immigration. Among the courses she regularly teaches at St. Lawrence are Econometrics, Labor Economics, The Fed Challenge, and Money and Banking. Bansak received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at San Diego and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University.
Damon Berry
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Damon Berry’s article, “Varieties of Religion and Secrecy in American White Power Movements” will be published in the forthcoming edition of “The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Secrecy.” The chapter explores the role of various kinds of secrecy and religious symbolism in American white power groups from the early twentieth century to the present.
Berry’s research focuses on the moments when religious and racialized discourse informs exclusion and violence. At St. Lawrence, Berry regularly teaches courses like Global Christianities, Religion & Race, Religion & Violence, Religion in Conspiracy Theory, and American Religious Lives. In 2020, he was awarded the J. Calvin Keene Award, which is given to a faculty member in recognition of high standards of personal scholarship, effective teaching, and moral concern. Berry holds a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.
Ryan Deuel
Adjunct Instructor for the First-Year Program Ryan Deuel published a research article in the journal “Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.” His article, "International Education as an Ethical Practice: Cultivating a Care of the Self," proposes a move toward ethical internationalization in order to view international students as actively participating in the negotiation and construction of their own identity as a process of reflexive self-formation.
Deuel’s research interests include international higher education discourse, policies, and practices. He currently teaches in the First-Year Program and has taught courses as an adjunct instructor at St. Lawrence University in the Education, English, and PCA departments. He holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University and an M.A. in history from Kent State University.
Howard Eissenstat
Associate Professor of History Howard Eissenstat discussed Turkey and its response to the Ukraine crisis on the POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast.
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.
Joseph Jockel
Professor of Canadian Studies Joseph Jockel ’74 discussed his book, “Canada in NATO: 1949-2019,” with co-author Joel Sokolsky, professor at Royal Military College of Canada, during a panel event at the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center.
Jockel is the author and co-author of several books and many articles on Canadian defense policy and Canada-U.S. relations. He has served on exchange at the Canada desk of the U.S. Department of State as acting secretary of the Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defense and as a fellow at several academic and research organizations. Jockel is the former president of the Association of Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) and former director of the Canada Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Peter Ladd
Associate Professor of Education Peter Ladd’s book titled “A Scar Is Not A Wound” was published by Olympia Publishers, London, and includes poems based on counseling, education, and real-life experiences.
Ladd worked for 35 years in St. Lawrence University’s satellite graduate program on the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation. He has published government white paper research manuals in the area of social reform for Native people and published six books in the area of conflict resolution and counseling. Ladd has contributed to institutional reform by founding the Augsbury Institute for Youth and Families, the St. Lawrence Valley Teachers' Learning Center, the St. Regis Mohawk Counseling Center, and co-founder with Kyle Blanchfield, J.D., of the Northern New York Centers for Conflict Resolution.
Sahar Milani
Associate Professor of Economics and Flora Irene Eggleston Faculty Chair Sahar Milani has co-authored an article with Rebecca Neumann of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, that will be published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. The article, “R&D, Patents, and Financing Constraints of the Top Global Innovative Firms,” finds that firms face financial constraints in technology development but a history of past patenting can help lessen the effect of an internal liquidity shock for relatively smaller firms.
Milani also used her expertise in personal finance education to share how to identify the balance transfer credit card in a piece published by WalletHub.com.
Milani is an innovation economist with research interests in environmental economics, macroeconomics, and the financing of innovation. In the summer of 2021, she taught a personal finance sophomore seminar at St. Lawrence called Money Management Matters: Financial Literacy in a Dynamic World. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics and an M.S. in Management Science (Financial Analysis) from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and a B.B.A. in Finance, Investment, and Banking from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Erica Morrell
Assistant Professor of Sociology Erica Morrell consulted with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Math on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia about the potential of opening Virginian lands to gold mining at the virtual fourth meeting of the Committee on Potential Impacts of Gold Mining in Virginia.
Morrell also co-presented a seminar with Dalvery Blackwell of the African American Breastfeeding Network about “Geographies of Racism and Sexism: Understanding Spatialized Intersectionality, Maternal / Child Health, and Milwaukee’s Lead Crisis,” at the UW Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
Morrell is a theoretical and applied sociologist who focuses on food and environmental justice, social change, and critical theory. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Sociology from the University of Michigan.
Ronnie Olesker
Associate Professor of Government Ronnie Olesker gave a talk about her book “Israel's Securitization Dilemma: BDS and the Battle for Israel's Legitimacy,” to the Albany/Capital District chapter of J Street and Congregation Berith Sholom. The talk focused on the effectiveness of Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions against Israel and Israel's response to the movement.
Olesker’s work focuses on international relations and security studies. Courses she regularly teaches at St. Lawrence include Introduction to International Relations, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and Middle East Politics. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and is a former assistant prosecutor at the Central District Attorney’s office in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Laura Rediehs
Associate Professor of Philosophy Laura Rediehs published an article examining science and religion in the journal Theology and Science titled, “The Quaker Experiential Integration of Science and Religion.”
Rediehs’ research interests include the history of philosophy of science, scientific realism, and comparing scientific and religious knowledge. Among the courses she teaches at St. Lawrence are Philosophy of Science and Religion, Modern Philosophy, Ethical Theory, Symbolic Logic, and courses in Peace Studies. Rediehs holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion from Earlham College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota.
Natalia Singer
Professor of English Natalia Singer published an essay exploring the power of journeys titled “These Dirty Shoes Will Take You” on SpeculativeNonFiction.com.
Singer’s nonfiction work has also appeared in Brevity, Speculative Nonfiction Issue 2, and an anthology of essays about the war on terror, “Globalizing Collateral Language,” edited by John Collins and Somdeep Sen. At St. Lawrence, she teaches creative writing, environmental literature, and led study abroad programs in France and India.
St. Lawrence’s Faculty Focus is a new regular roundup that features noteworthy faculty news.
