College of Arts and Sciences

College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Research

2026

January

  • Merrill Cole’s poem, “Meditation with Medieval Plague Paintings,” was published by New York Quarterly.
  • Merrill Cole had two poems accepted for publication at Michigan Quarterly Review, "Fish Magic" and "About to Listen."
  • Amy Mossman had a poster presentation at the Modern Language Association (Jan 9, 2026) : "Serving Our Students, Serving the Region: Early Design and Lessons from an MLA Pathways Project."
  • Everett Hamner presented “Richard Powers’ Playground, AI, and the Evolution of Species,” roundtable on “Convergences around the Ineffable: Science, Religion, and the Evolution of Contemporary Fiction," Modern Language Association, Toronto (2026)
  • Everett Hamner was an organizer and moderator for “Noticing Econarrative Forms,” Modern Language AssocIation, Toronto (2026)
  • Tim Roberts - organized and chaired a panel as well as gave a paper at the 2026 convention of the American Historical Association, "New work and work-in-progress in the study of transimperial history." His contribution was based on his recently published book "After Barbary: Algeria's Roles in the French and American Empires" (Cornell University Press, 2025).
  • Rich Filipink - Chaired the panel called "Remade to be Remembered: Conservative Presidents in American Memory" at the 139th Annual Meeting American Historical Association convention in Chicago, IL.
  • Feridun Tasdan. Modelling of Count Data in Circular Statistics. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 503. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93279-3_34
  • Casey LaFrance's new book, "The System Sensorium: Discretion, Design, and Distributed Governance for Project Leaders," is now available at the Institute Project Management.
  • Casey LaFrance has been selected as a speaker for the Agile Forum hosted by the Project Management Institute (PMI), a global professional association serving project management and governance professionals worldwide.
  • Julia Albarracin will be an Illinois Humanities Road Scholar for the calendar year 2026.
  • Cruise, T. K., Swerdlik, M. E., & Simon, D. (2026, January). Supervision forum. Presentation at the annual convention of the Illinois School Psychologists Association, Peoria, IL.
  • Anderson, C., Moorman, I., Cruise, T. K., & McClure, K. A. (2026, January). Healthy Children-Healthy Communities: Evaluating CloseGap and counseling supports in a rural district. Poster presented at annual convention of the Illinois School Psychologists Association, Peoria, IL.

February

  • Liguo Song and Matthew McConnell published an article in Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies. The exact citation isn't available yet, but will be at this DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10826076.2026.2636540
  • Barb Lawhorn’s story "Seed Pearl" was a finalist in Iron Horse Literary Review's Photofinish Contest: IHLR 2025 PhotoFinish by Iron Horse Literary Review - Issue
  • Barb Lawhorn’s short story "The Poetry of Fact" was a semifinalist for the Breakwater Review 2025 Fiction Contest.
  • Barb Lawhorn’s creative nonfiction, "Blue" was published by Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature.Encounters: Blue | Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature
  • Everett Hamner - “Cool Climate Stories at Brazil's Fiery COP30,” Ecomedia Virtual Lecture Series, Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (February 20, 2026, presentation via Zoom)
  • Roberta Di Carmine attended the 2026 SouthWest Popular/American Culture (PACA) Association Conference, February 25-28, 1 where she moderated the panel "Adaptation: Literature, Film, and Culture: Adapting Vampires, Zombies and Cannibals" and presented the paper "the Cultural and Social Impacts of Cinematic Adaptations: The Case of "Bones and all".  
  • Merrill Cole had two poems accepted in Michigan Quarterly Review, "Fish Magic" and "About to Listen."
  • Alisha White - "Neurodivergent teaching: Images of a brilliant mess." Poster session at the annual conference of Learning Disability Association (LDA), St Louis MO.
  • Peter Cole presented “Big Trouble in the Windy City: Problematic Monuments in Chicago’s Public Art Landscape,” DuPage County Social Studies Conference, Aurora, IL, Feb 27, 2026.
  • Peter Cole presented “Chicago Race Riot 1919: History and Impacts,” Uptown Branch, Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL, Feb. 21, 2026.
  • Peter Cole presented “To Remember or Forget: How Societies Choose to Remember Historical Atrocities…or Not,” Macomb Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, February 8, 2026.
  • Dr. Ute Chamberlin was selected via a competitive process to participate in The National WWII Museum's Faculty Seminar in WWII History to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 21–27, 2026. This seminar is intended to develop the knowledge and understanding of World War II for active college or university faculty who wish to teach, advocate for, or design history courses and content regarding this significant conflict.
  • Tim Roberts was awarded the 2026 Truman Award by the McDonough County Democratic Coalition for "leadership activism and dedication to democracy."
  • Casey LaFrance-"Effective governance isn’t about tighter control; it’s about better perception." This article by Dr. Casey LaFrance explores how project leaders can strengthen discretion, design better decision systems, and govern responsibly in complex, distributed environments.
  • Swerdlik, M. E., Simon, D. J., & Cruise, T. K. (2026, February). Supervision: Supporting professional skills, client outcomes, and systems change. Workshop at the Annual Conference of the National Association of School Psychologists, Chicago, IL.
  • Leigh Ann Fisler presented at the National Association of School Psychologists Annual Convention in Chicago, IL on February 26th with a Special Session on Training External Reviewers for the NASP Excellence in School Psychological Services Program

2026