In This Week in Photos, we discover what the First Year Seminar faculty are up to this summer. Here, Professor of English Melanie Conroy-Goldman enjoys paddling her inflatable kayak in Vermont where she is visiting friends. She is also writing daily and researching American visual artists of the 1970s, while looking forward to traveling to Greece with her 13-year-old daughter.

Professor of Religious Studies Etin Anwar shares artwork she has painted for the upcoming exhibit at Davis Gallery at Houghton House as part of the Asian Studies Regional Conference. “I designed a piece that revolves around healing humanity through arts.” These photos show her work translated into batik form by a maker in Solo and an embroider from Tasikmalaya.

When he’s not teaching at the Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute, or painting his house, Professor of Environmental Studies Darrin Magee is serving on the Advisory Board for the Stimson Center’s Mekong Dam Monitor project, and consulting on a book for young readers about obtaining energy from water. He is also a student for the first time in many years, taking a class in C++ programming as part of his quest to better understand the engineering aspects of his research into electrical systems.

Associate Professor of Geoscience Tara Curtin collects a sediment core from the Finger Lakes. As part of her research, she is reconstructing the history of harmful algal blooms over the past century by determining the species of algae preserved in successive layers of mud. To prepare for her FSEM, she’s rereading Rising by Elizabeth Rush and working with her writing colleague Tvene Baronian ’23.

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Kristen Brubaker explores the 16,259 acres of the Finger Lakes National Forest alongside her two research students, where they study salamanders and land use history. With fellow “Sustainable Living and Learning” faculty, she’s also planning field trips for the fall semester.

Associate Professor of English Rob Carson is working on a book project about collaborative thinking and collective action in the early modern period. In his spare time, he's been building an electric guitar, “tinkering with various other musical gizmos,” and listening to new music from the UK for his “Britpop” course. He and his family spent a week at a cottage in Vermont and hope to be able to visit family in Canada later this month.

Associate Professor of Physics Leslie Hebb observes a solar eclipse in June. Hebb is advising three research students in astronomy while readying for her FSEM by reading about bias in data science and preparing to study abroad in Greece in 2022.

In addition to teaching “Earth System Science” and “Statistics” and running two half marathons, Professor of Geoscience Nan Crystal Arens is working with three research students, preparing abstracts for the Geological Society of America meeting, and coordinating a gardening program for the Boys & Girls Club of Geneva.

Hiking and biking, Associate Professor of American Studies Beth Belanger enjoys time with family in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. As part of her scholarship, Belanger is writing an article about history education in the Geneva City School District and prepping for her FSEM “Outsider Women” by watching Hulu’s “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”

Addressing Geneva City Council, Associate Professor of Theatre Heather May advocates for a Police Review Board. May also wrote two book chapters while continuing their work with Community Education for Transformation on instruction related to democratic engagement and white supremacy. An avid runner, May records 80 miles each week. (Photo by Finger Lakes Times’ Spencer Tulis.)

Associate Professor of French, Francophone and Italian Studies Courtney Wells fishes on the Potomac River while attending a family reunion. Wells attended two conferences and took a “Teaching Black Italy” course. To prepare for his FSEM “Through the Lens,” Wells is watching many movies in French—"some of them with my kids, others not!”

While finishing her book on the philosophy of the internet, Associate Professor of Philosophy Karen Frost-Arnold is taking small trips to visit family, hiking and exploring several art museums. For her FSEM “Trust and Betrayal,” Frost-Arnold is finding interesting texts about trust on the internet.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Robinson Murphy enjoys a vacation with family. Here, he poses for a photo with his sister and nephew in Brewster, Cape Cod. Murphy has also been working on a novel and several essays including “Christianity and Climate Change” which was published in the Religion and the Arts journal.

From the Blue Ridge Mountains, Professor of English Anna Creadick sends a photo of the “Grandview Overlook” that is walking distance from her mother’s farm. Creadick is revising publications on Willa Cather and Dolly Parton, listening to podcasts for her "Seeing Whiteness" FSEM, and reading contemporary novels by Appalachian writer Robert Gipe and Vietnamese-American writer Monique Truong for her other class, "Southern Fictions."

In July, Professor of Dance Cynthia Williams and Visiting Associate Professor of Africana Studies James McCorkle celebrated their wedding anniversary. This summer, Williams also rehearsed with a choreographer who is creating a new solo for her, presented a paper on the dance movement language developed by Ohad Naharin at the Popular Culture Association conference, and enjoyed daily walks with her dog.

While hiking with his daughter, Visiting Associate Professor of Africana Studies James McCorkle takes a photo of the Atlantic from the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Providence, RI. He also gave a talk on Claude McKay’s novel, Romance in Marseille, at the American Literature Association conference, worked on several essays and continued to serve on the Geneva Police Budget Review Committee.

Associate Professor of Classics James Capreedy is hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada Mountains this summer. He says he’s “reading lots of Demosthenes!” to prepare for his FSEM “How I almost Got Away with it: Law and Order in Ancient Athens.”

While gardening, creating a bird sanctuary, visiting family and advocating for social justice, Assistant Professor of History Janette Gayle prepares for “The Underground Railroad” by reading firsthand accounts of fugitive slaves and their escape from slavery. “These stories increased my wonder at the courage of those who made the journey, admiration for those who facilitated the journeys to freedom, and respect for the unrelenting human spirit that risked all, and continues to risk all, to live in freedom.”

Dean for Teaching, Learning and Assessment and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Susan Pliner enjoys kayaking on Lake Chateauguay in the Adirondacks. In addition to a few small vacations, she’s been hiking with her dogs, cycling, swimming and generally taking advantage of a Finger Lakes summer. “It’s so great to be connected face-to-face with people again.”

In Froelich Hall, Professor of Education Jamie MaKinster teaches a class as part of the Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute. As director of ESSYI, MaKinster oversees the 50 high school participants, 10 college student staff members and 18 HWS faculty instructors. This summer, she is also hiking, mountain biking and sailing with her children.

Associate Professor of Philosophy Greg Frost-Arnold is writing about the changes that need to be made to logic, in order to accommodate claims about things that don’t exist, like Santa Claus, Atlantis, or the largest natural number. He’s also editing a book about Philosopher Rudolf Carnap, and for fun, plays the drums, gardens and watches Euro 2020.

Associate Professor of American Studies Kirin Makker enjoys the lake and mends her favorite Merino wool hoodie. “I've been sharpening my mending skills because it's something I want to teach students in my FSEM. I'm really excited to share my love of sewing, arts and activism, and living mindfully.” Makker is also finishing an article on her Womb Chair Speaks project for Art Journal and preparing new work for an upcoming exhibition.

Assistant Professor of Psychological Science Stephanie Anglin will teach a new FSEM in the fall, titled “Information and Misinformation: Thinking Critically about Science in a Digital Age.” She’s creating a syllabus that will teach students how to evaluate scientific claims in the media, make sense of conflicting evidence, and use scientific information more effectively in their daily lives. She’s also training her new puppy Watson, who will join her at office hours.

Professor of Sociology Renee Monson dedicated the first part of her summer to “dirt therapy,” as she tended her garden. She reunited with family in the Midwest, and began researching and writing on best teaching practices in college-level sociology courses. To her fall syllabus, she’s adding material about how the effects of the pandemic have varied by social class.

A candy-lover, Associate Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Ruth Shields shares a visit to an old-time Babe Ruth candy store and an afternoon at her sons’ soccer game. Shields took family trips to Ohio and Georgia in addition to spending time in the Canandaigua area at soccer fields. She is training for two marathons.

It's a summer by the lake for Professor of English Grant Holly. From his home on Seneca Lake, he’s been gardening, working on scripts, swimming in the lake, keeping up with the news—and obeying the commands from his Apple watch— “Stand, breathe, still time to complete your rings.” Just before the picture was taken, he saw a bald eagle swoop down and take a fish.

Professor of German Area Studies Eric Klaus is enjoying down time with his family and exploring the local area. He’s also revisiting and reviewing the material for his course, “Haunting Memories: Revealing the Uncanny” and adding new texts and film. “The uncanny will give us a chance to think about culture and ourselves in interesting and unexpected ways."