Colleen Krieser, Associate Professor of Biology, was funded by a TEACRS grant for eight weeks during the summer to work in a research lab at Tufts. She worked in the lab of Dr. Peter Juo to develop new lab techniques and a new lab module that will be piloted in the genetics course offered this fall.

A group from Pine Manor will be presenting a panel session titled “Assessing Core Competencies in the General Education Curriculum at Pine Manor College” at the 2016 NEEAN Fall Forum on November 4th at The College of the Holy Cross. Authors of the presentation include: Diane Mello-Goldner, Ph.D., Dean of the College, Associate Professor of Psychology; Eileen McLaughlin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Communication; Michele Ramirez, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Foundational Learning, Professor of Psychology; William Stargard, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Faculty Development and Teaching Excellence Professor of Art History; Staci Weber, ABD, Dean of Student Affairs; & Melissa Yoffe, MSW, Associate Dean for Academic Services.

Karen Hussar, Assistant Professor of Psychology, presented her research titled, “Can a Picture Book Teach a Thousand Words? Examining Picture Books as a Means to Teach Humane Education to Preschool Children,” in June, 2016 at the Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, IL.

Ieshia Karasik, Career Development Director, attended the 2016 NCDA Global Career Development Conference, June 30-July 2 in Chicago, Illinois. The conference theme was, Fostering Well-Being Through Meaningful Work.

Meg Kearney, Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Director, Director delivered the keynote address at the Kentucky Association of School Librarians’ Conference at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, KY, on Saturday, September 4. Meg’s picture book Trouper is winner of last year’s Kentucky Bluegrass Award.

Laura Williams McCaffrey,Solstice MFA Faculty member, is the new Fiction Editor at YARN.

Diane Mello-Goldner, Dean of the College and Associate Professor of Psychology, was elected President of the New England Psychological Association. She will serve as President-Elect beginning October 2016 and will begin as President of NEPA in October 2017.

Cindy Miller, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Sociology gave a talk at the International Vampire Film and Arts Festival in Transylvania over the summer. In September, Cindy also gave a talk in Big Sky, Montana, at the Western Literature Association conference. Her latest edited collection, The Laughing Dead, was released over the summer. Cindy’s essay "Disney's Japan" appeared in Doug Brode's new book Debating Disney, and a second essay "'In God's Good Time': 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Cold War Culture" appeared in Doug Brode's new book It's the Disney Version!

Sharon Montella, Adjunct Professor of Dance, competed in the World Martial Arts Karate/Kung Fu Tournament on June 11 and won First Place in an Advanced Weapons Forms Division. Sharon holds black belts in kung fu and tai chi in both White Dragon Fist Kung Fu and Black Dragon Five Elements Forms. She currently teaches Kung Fu and Tai Chi at Amigos Cambridgeport Community Afterschool Program and has taught Self Defense and the Moving Art of Kung Fu at Pine Manor College and Milton Academy Afterschool Program.

Josh Neufeld, MFA Faculty member, attended the Brooklyn Book Festival in Brooklyn, NY, on Sunday, September 18. Josh co-lead a workshop on Flash Fiction inspired by comics and moderated a panel on comics inspired by conflict zones.

Dzvinia Orlowsky,Solstice MFA Faculty member, participated in a reading with poets Kelle Groom and Dan Tobin and others for Plume Literary Magazine at the Cambridge Public Library on Thursday September 22.

Melinda Ponder, Professor of English, Prepared the manuscript of her book, KATHARINE LEE BATES: FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA, for publication. Her book will be published by the Windy City Publishers in the spring of 2017. In May, 2016 she gave a talk on “Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Main Currents of the 19th Century Literary World” at the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow House, and in June, 2016 presented on “The Wellesley College Roots of Katharine Lee Bates: Poet of ‘America the Beautiful’ and Social Activist” at Wellesley College.

Stephanie Mahan Stigliano, Adjunct Professor of Visual Arts, worked with printmakers from the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Art and The Boston Printmakers to produce a portfolio of prints in Krakow, Poland during June. In July, she exhibited at Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA in Inspired Views. This fall her work will be a part of Pictures at an Exhibition Reframed, in Malden, MA and 2016, A State of Mind at Lamont Gallery in Exeter, NH.

Renée Watson, Solstice MFA Faculty member, has launched a nonprofit to honor the legacy of Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes. I, Too, Art Collective will lease and renovate the brownstone where Langston Hughes lived and created. The non-profit will also provide poetry and writing workshops for youth and community members.

Solstice MFA Faculty members Jedediah Berry, Iain Haley Pollock, and Laura Williams McCaffrey are the 2016-2017 guest editors for Hunger Mountain 21: Masked/Unmasked.

On June 13th 2016, Sandra McElroy attended conference entitled,"Opening Pathways: Strengthening Opportunities for Early Educators Who Are English Language Learners".  The conference was sponsered by the CAYL Institute, the Masschusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Council, and Wheelock College.

MFA Associate Director Tanya Whiton gave a reading with poet Kevin McLellan on Monday, May 2 at LFK in Portland, ME.

On May 24th 2016, Sandra McElroy attended a conference and annual dialogue at Wheelock College, "Children as the Focus: Promotion Quality in Early Education and Care"

MFA Program Director Meg Kearney presented at the Dutchess County School Librarians Association annual gathering, Friday, May 20

MFA Faculty member Dzvinia Orlowsky and poet co-translator Jeff Friedman are featured in an interview about their NEA award-winning translation project in the current issue of Solstice Literary Magazine. Dzvinia’s translation from Ukrainian of Natalka Bilotserkivets’ poem “We Will Not Die in Paris” is featured in a bilingual interview conducted by Andrew Singer for Trafika Europe Radio.

Stephanie Stigliano, adjunct VA professor, exhibited in The 4th National Monotype/Monoprint Juried Exhibition at the Attleboro Museum in Attleboro, MA. This summer she will travel to Krakow, Poland and work with the printmakers of Jan Matejko Academy of Art to create a portfolio of prints.

At the Spring conference of the Massachusetts Association of College Teacher Educators on April 18th, Professor of Education Sandra McElroy was the facilitator of a session entitled, “Strategies for Meeting Diverse Needs: Incorporating Inclusive Practices Throughout Teacher Preparation Programs.” Nathan Jones, From Boston University and Chris Panarese from UMass Dartmouth also participated.Dr. McElroy also has been selected to be on the Advisory Board for Bright Horizon's of Massachusetts.

Assistant Professor of Computer Studies, Barbara Schwartz, attended a workshop on Moodle and its features.

Professor of English, Melinda M. Ponder, presented at The Boston Browning Society on the topic of The Wellesley College Browning Collection and Katharine Lee Bates on April 13.

Faculty members Dzvinia Orlowsky and Kathleen Aguero presented Verse and Diverse Walk Into a Bar: A Conversation With Solstice’s Editors on Diversity, Saturday, April 30 2016, at the Hawthorne Library in the Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, MA as part of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

Faculty member, Kathleen Aguero’s poem “Self-Portrait as the Two of Swords,” was published in Stone Canoe: A Journal of Arts, Literature and Social Commentary, Number 10

Program Director Meg Kearney’s poem “Ibis” was published in the spring 2016 issue of The New Ohio Review, issue 19.

MFA Faculty member Laura Williams McCaffrey’s short story “Crow’s Face,” was recently published by YA Review.

Adjunct Professor of Art History, L’Merchie Frazier, was one of three winners of Boston’s new artist-in-residence program (Boston AIR). L’Mechie, will receive a stipend as part of a six-month residency to develop projects while embedded with various city departments. She will work with the Office of Women’s Advancement and Office of Recovery Services to develop a multidisciplinary fiber-art project that explores substance abuse among area women. L’Merchie was recently highlighted in a Boston Globe article about the program (https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2016/02/18/artists-partner-with-boston-police-other-city-departments/QMqDkAdAMTGiVbkZgjk9aK/story.html).

MFA Faculty member Laura Williams McCaffrey’s third young-adult novel, Marked, was recently published by Clarion Books.

MFA Faculty member Josh Neufeld is the co-editor (alongside his wife, fiction writer Sari Wilson) of Flashed: Sudden Stories in Comics and Prose, recently published by Pressgang.

MFA Program Director Meg Kearney has two poems, “Woodpecker” and “Owl,” in the most recent issue of Poetry East.

MFA Faculty member Sandra Scofield’s short-short story, “Life Cooking,” has been recently published in “The Examined Life: A Literary Journal of the Carver College of Medicine” issue 4.2. Her short-short story “The Sinkhole” has been accepted by Narrative Magazine for future publication as a Story of the Week.

Associate Professor of Business and Management, Stephen Becker’s review of the manuscript, "A psychological approach to understanding student learning difficulty for improving student success" was published in the journal Psychological Reports.

MFA Faculty member Laura Williams McCaffrey’s third young-adult novel, Marked, will be published by Clarion Books on February 16.

Faculty member Josh Neufeld is the co-editor (alongside his wife, fiction writer Sari Wilson) of Flashed: Sudden Stories in Comics and Prose, due out in February 2016 from Pressgang. Josh also wrote the forward to Creating Comics as Journalism, Memoir & Nonfiction, by Randy Duncan, Michael Ray Taylor, and David Stoddard. He also adapted journalist Alia Malek’s story of Syrian refugees traveling from Turkey to Sweden into comics form for the story “The Road to Germany: $2400,” for Foreign Policy magazine. His nonfiction comics story, “A Scanner Constantly,” written by Adam Bessie, will be published by Pacific Standard in February.

English Faculty Emerita and MFA Faculty member Kathleen Aguero has two essays, “In a Different Light,” and “The Things I Swallow,” published in the spring 2016 issue of The Tower.

MFA Faculty member Iain Haley Pollock’s poem “Brewerytown,” was recently featured on the Academy of American Poets “Poem-A-Day” digital poetry series.

Professor of Political Science, Bill Vogele, has been invited to participate in V-Dem, an international project to develop nuanced indicators of the Varieties of Democracy. Bill is participating as a country expert on El Salvador, based on his work on democratic transitions in that country as well as his work on various peace and conflict projects.  For more information about the project, go to http://kellogg.nd.edu/projects/vdem/

Adjunct Professor of Visual Arts, Stephanie Mahan Stigliano, recently exhibited two prints in The North American Print Boston Printmakers Biennial at Lesley University, Cambridge, MA.   A diverse coalition of DC-area universities and arts and literary organizations will present Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here DC 2016, a book arts and cultural festival January through March 2016, throughout the Washington, DC, area. Stigliano’s book and print will be on display at McLean Project for the Arts, Northern Virginia Community College, McLean, VA. Major exhibitions, programs, and events will commemorate the 2007 bombing of Baghdad’s historic bookselling street, celebrate the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, and stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq.  Stephanie also contributed the article “Printmaking as a Teaching Tool,” as the first in a series inviting teachers to share their classroom experiences, to be published in the Boston Printmakers Quarterly e-Newsletter, Spring, 2016.

English Faculty Emerita and MFA Faculty member Kathleen Aguero’s poem, “My Hour in Miss Dickinson’s Room” has been published in A Mighty Room: A Collection of Poems Written in Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom. Her essay, “Shopping,” has been published in the winter 2015 issue of Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices. Her two essays, “In a Different Light,” and “The Things I Swallow,” will be published in the spring 2016 issue of The Tower. http://towerjournal.com/spring_2016/essays/index.php

MFA Faculty member Renée Watson recently sold a middle grade novel, Betty, to Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. She is co-writing the book with Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.

MFA Faculty member Anne-Marie Oomen’s new play, Firearms Tutorial, has been selected for a one-week script development program and staged reading in the Blank Theater Company's Living Room Series.

Adjunct Professor of Sociology, Cindy Miller, recently attended a one-day conference in Los Angeles, sponsored by the International Association for Media and History, and also served as a mentor/facilitator for their Master Class for graduate students.  Her works, "Disney's Japan" and “In God’s Good Time:” 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Cold War Culture" are both appearing in a two-volume set on Disney, edited by Douglas, in March.  Cindy’s latest book, The Laughing Dead: The Horror-Comedy Film from Bride of Frankenstein to Zombieland is due out in late March/early April.