Author: Sharon Wood

Spencer Crew, Robinson Professor of American History, served as seminar leader for a session discussing what it means be a public historian at the Seminar for Historical Administration in Indianapolis for the American Association for State and Local History. He also presented his essay, “Lincoln and the Issue of the Contraband” at Carleton University. He was the keynote speaker of the ninth annual Fairfax County History Conference, giving a lecture titled “The Underground Railroad in Fairfax County.” Finally, he co-wrote the article “Museums and Race,” which appears in the November/December issue of Museum magazine.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, released “The Origin and Evolution of Earth: From the Big Bang to the Future of Human Existence” with Great Courses, a series that produces college-level audio and video courses through The Teaching Company.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, gave a presentation at the State Department concerning the upcoming Nigerian elections. He presented “Countering Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria: Development Options” at a USAID conference. Also, he hosted two university presidents from Nigeria and facilitated in the signing of linkage agreements between George Mason and their respective universities.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, lectured on the morality of capitalism at Randolph Macon College.

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, chaired the Research Advisory Committee and moderated a panel on “Police Culture and Policing Research — Finding Common Ground,” organized by Mason criminology professor Cynthia Lum, at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police conference. Robinson also was among a small group of criminal justice scholars who provided advice to Thomas Abt, the new cabinet-level head of public safety for Governor Cuomo.

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, presented “Scientific Literacy: Why, What, and How?” at the sixth International Conference on Science in Society in Warsaw, Poland.

Shaul Bakhash, Robinson Professor of History, spoke on the current negotiations between Iran, the United States and its European partners over Iran’s nuclear program to an audience at the Washington Golf and Country Club in Arlington, Va. He also was quoted on the policies of Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, in a recent Reuter’s story.

Paul D’Andrea, Robinson Professor of Theater and English, received Harvardwood’s (Harvard in Hollywood’s) Best New Play prize for his play, “Win Win.” Harvardwood comprises Harvard alumni in Hollywood and the performing arts entertainment industry, including professional theater and television.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented the 2013 Arthur Storke Lecture on the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere at Columbia University’s Department of Geological Sciences. He also presented a seminar on mineral evolution at Villanova University.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, participated in a Fund for Peace roundtable discussion on Conflicts in Nigeria in Washington, D.C.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, moderated a discussion at George Washington University Law School about the role of international financial institutions in the lead-up to the recent financial crisis.

Shaul Bakhash, Robinson Professor of History, published “Iran at the UN: from Khomenei to Rouhani,” in the September19 issue of Foreign Policy (re-circulated on the Al-Monitor magazine web site).

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, presented at the Brown University Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice Symposium: “The Slave: Freedom on My Mind/Knowledge/Memory and the Arts of the Enslaved.” The title of his paper was “Demanding Freedom: Preserving the History of African American ‘Contrabands’ during the Civil War.” Crew spoke on the historical background of the March on Washington and then moderated the panel at the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center’s panel discussion titled “Voices from the Frontlines.” He presented “The Issue of Provenance and Mining the Museum” at the American Association of Museums Conference Session. The event was titled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Race: Mining the Museum After 20 Years.” He spoke on a program about the movie “The Butler” at the Newseum with the author of the book, the son of the real “butler,” a Freedom rider from that period, the producer of the film, one of the directors and two additional guests. The program was co-sponsored by the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Hugh Heclo, Robinson Professor of Public Affairs, had his book “On Thinking Institutionally” adopted as a core text by the Council of Independent Colleges in its educational program for college presidents.

Harold Morowitz, Robinson Professor of Biology and Natural Philosophy, wrote the forward to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s annual research magazine, Teknos, titled “Smashing Paradigms.” He wrote an article in Astrobiology magazine on NASA’s first theoretical biology meeting, which took place the weekend of President Kennedy’s assassination.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, presented “Countering Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria: Development Options,” at a USAID conference in Washington, D.C., on “Development in Nigeria.”

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, had his book “The Story of Earth” selected for the Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Prize short list (the winner to be announced in October), and the Kirkus Review top 25 nonfiction books of 2012. He gave a keynote lecture on “The Diamond Makers” at the Industrial Diamond Association convention in Baltimore. He lectured on “Carbon at the Extremes” at a Nobel Symposium in Stockholm and presented lectures on mineral evolution and origins of life as a visiting professor at the University of Milan, Italy. He presented the plenary lecture “Earth’s Carbon through Deep Time” at the Goldschmidt (Geochemical Society) Conference in Florence, Italy. He was also featured in six lectures on a Scientific American cruise to the Norwegian fjords.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, gave a presentation to the U.S. State Department on traditional leadership in northern Nigeria.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, participated in a three-day roundtable with business leaders, academics, and business school deans at the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program in Aspen, Colo. The discussions focused on ways to change norms of behavior among corporate executives, directors and Wall Street money managers to incorporate the needs and interests of a wider arrangement of company stakeholders beyond simply shareholders. He participated in a roundtable discussion of “Reevaluating the Values of Free Market Competition” as part of the Legatum Institute’s ongoing Morality and Capitalism series.

Shaul Bakhash, Robinson Professor of History, presented and chaired a meeting on “Measuring Change in Iran” at the National Defense University. He presented and chaired a meeting on “Rouhani: Challenges at Home, Challenges Abroad” at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He was interviewed and quoted on numerous occasions by the Thomson-Reuters new agency, was interviewed on KBIA-FM public radio (affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism), and was interviewed on Context, the Woodrow Wilson Center current affairs TV program.

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, was interviewed by the New York Times for the essay “People Don’t Just Follow the Money.”

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, had his most recent book, “The Story of Earth,” selected as a finalist in the Royal Society of London’s Winton Science Book Prize. The winner of this year’s prize will be announced in November.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, served on two panels at the McGill University conference on “Religion and Foreign Policy.” He participated in the Council on Foreign Relations Fund for Peace study of violence in northern Nigeria and in the Council on Foreign Relations Advisory Council on “U.S. policy in the Sahel.” He lectured at the U.S. Institute of Peace on “Midterm Challenges in Nigeria: Elections, Parties, and Regional Conflict” and at the Institute for Defense Analysis on “Boko Haram.” He presented a full-length report on “Countering Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria: Development Options Beyond States of Emergency” for USAID.

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, was the commencement speaker in May at the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice. At Penn State’s International Conference on Policing in the 21st Century, she was a plenary speaker on “Connecting Science to Practice.” She presented the keynote address at the Delaware Center for Justice Annual Meeting, speaking on “Positioning Prisoner Reentry Programs for Success.”