Faculty Focus-October 28, 2025
Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty published acclaimed books, were quoted in prestigious publications, and wrote articles in high-impact journals.
Dan Look
Charles A. Dana Professor of Mathematics Dan Look recently published a new book, Math Cats: Scratching the Surface of Mathematical Concepts, which uses cat puns to help explain what Look likes to call bar math or coffee shop math— mathematical ideas that are easy to discuss over a beer or coffee and don’t require any sort of advanced mathematical background to understand.
Look was interviewed by North Country Public Radio about the book, and it has also been featured in write-ups in the Watertown Daily Times as well as North Country Now.
Math Cats has been positively reviewed by the Library Journal, which recommended the book for “anyone who hates math and/or loves cats.” It also appears in the Publishers Weekly Holiday Gift Guide for 2025.
Math Cats is currently available on Amazon and other major online retailers.
Jessica Sierk
Associate Professor of Education Jessica Sierk recently co-authored an invited commentary published in Anthropology & Education Quarterly, the flagship journal of the Council on Anthropology and Education within the American Anthropological Association.
The piece, titled “‘What for?’ Pursuing Deeper Purposes Within Our Work: A Response to Hamann’s 2022 CAE Presidential Address,” was co-authored with Aprille Phillips of the University of Nebraska at Kearney and Jen Stacy of the University of New Mexico.
Their commentary responds to Edmund “Ted” Hamann’s 2022 CAE Presidential Address and explores how educational anthropologists can pursue deeper purposes in their work through commitments to science, engagement, and democracy.
Howard Eissenstat
Laurentian Associate Professor and Chair of History Howard Eissenstat recently spoke to local 7News about the Gaza ceasefire.
His comments on Turkey's role in the Gaza ceasefire were also included in an article for Les Echos where Eissenstat argues that, as a means of garnering favor with Trump, Turkey was willing to forcefully sell the ceasefire deal to Hamas.
Eissenstat was also recently quoted in Berlin newspaper, Der Tagesspiegel, on growing chatter in Turkish political circles about possible successors to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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St. Lawrence’s Faculty Focus is a regular roundup of noteworthy faculty news.
