Faculty Focus-September 16, 2025
Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty published articles in high-impact journals, were quoted in prestigious publications, and presented at world-renowned academic conferences.
Alanna Gillis
Assistant Professor of Sociology Alanna Gillis recently presented at two conferences. At the American Sociological Association's annual meeting in Chicago, held August 8-12, she gave a presentation titled "Beyond Problems Toward Solutions: Lesson Plans, Unit Themes, and Assessment Ideas for Varied Sociology Courses."
Additionally, she was a panelist for an invited session called "Teaching and Learning in Sociology: We Can Do It!"
She also presented at the American Sociological Association’s Teaching and Learning Preconference: “Charting a Path Amid Uncertainty: Teaching Sociology in Times of Austerity, Backlash, Technological Change, and Political Polarization” with a talk entitled, "Teaching Intersectionality Inclusively."
Gillis’ research focuses on inequality in higher education and inclusive pedagogy. She's especially interested in analyzing race, class, and gender inequality among college students. Her innovative teaching practices have won several national awards and are promoted by universities across the country, including at Yale University.
Ivan Ramler
Jack and Sylvia Burry Associate Professor of Statistics Ivan Ramler recently joined a three-member faculty team serving as writers and editors for The New York Times Learning Network’s “What’s Going On in This Graph?” feature.
His first contribution, a “Reveal & Reflect” for an article about the change in butterfly abundances over the last 20 years, was published September 5 as the first piece of the new school year. Ramler is the only member of the editorial team based at St. Lawrence.
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, the feature presents a real data visualization from the Times and asks students to notice, wonder, and discuss what story the graph tells.
To date, the project has generated more than 50,000 student responses on its public forum and continues to attract participation from educators and students across disciplines and around the world.
Ramler’s current interests and projects involve applications to the environment and ecology, as well as in esports analytics, such as statistical analyses of competitive video games.
Neil Forkey
Associate Professor and Chair of Canadian Studies and Archie F. MacAllaster and Barbara Torrey MacAllaster Professor of North Country Studies Neil Forkey participated in a panel discussion in Lake Placid on September 8. Forkey provided historical context to the current trade dispute between Canada and the United States and joined other North Country specialists in analyzing the state of cross-border relations between the two countries. The public event was simulcast on WAMC and North Country Public Radio.
A specialist in environmental history, Forkey is the author of Canadians and the Natural Environment to the Twenty-First Century and Shaping the Upper Canadian Frontier: Environment, Society, and Culture in the Trent Valley. Forkey’s articles have appeared in such scholarly journals as the Canadian Historical Review, the Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes, the American Review of Canadian Studies, Forest and Conservation History, Ontario History, and New York History.
Howard Eissenstat
Laurentian Associate Professor and Chair of History Howard Eissenstat’s comments on Turkey's lurch from 'electoral authoritarianism' towards outright dictatorship were highlighted in an op-ed in the Turkish newspaper, Karar, and were later cited broadly in Turkey's opposition press.
Those comments were also cited in an op-ed by journalist Bulent Mumay in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in both its German and Turkish editions.
Eissenstat also recently spoke to Greek newspaper Kathimerini on Erdogan's outreach to the Kurds and his crackdown on the opposition, CHP.
He was quoted recently as well in the Financial Times on the Turkish government's crackdown on the main opposition party. “What the government seems to want to do is not destroy the CHP but to take it over; not to eradicate it, but to neuter it,” Eissenstat said in the Financial Times article. Turkey could then become like the joke about the Shah’s Iran, he said, “where there is a ‘Yes’ party and a ‘Yes, Sir’ party.”
Eissenstat was also recently cited on Turkey's crackdown on the main opposition CHP in Berlin newspaper Die Tageszeitung.
Jenny Hansen
William L. Fox Professor of Public Health and Professor of Philosophy Jenny Hansen was recently featured on The Partially Examined Life podcast, discussing French philosopher and linguist Luce Irigaray.
In the episode, Hansen discusses the introduction she wrote to the book “French Feminism Reader” (2000), as well as parts of Irigaray’s “The Sex Which Is Not One” (1977) and to a lesser degree “An Ethics of Sexual Difference” (1984), “Sexes and Genealogies: Each Sex Must Have Its Own Rights” (1993), and “Body Against Body: In Relation to the Mother” (1993).
Hansen's work explores the fascinating intersections of philosophy, ethics, technology, and contemporary social issues. Her core research focuses on the Philosophy of Psychiatry, where she critically examines the complex epistemological and normative assumptions underlying depression diagnoses.
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St. Lawrence’s Faculty Focus is a regular roundup of noteworthy faculty news.
