Kudos

While on a research trip to the Don region of Russia, Sociology Professor Denis O’Hearn and PhD candidate Andrej Grubacic were feted by the people of Ust’-Medveditskaia, a Cossack stanitsa (village) and capital of the Don Cossacks. In a special ceremony, O’Hearn and Grubacic, who is also associate professor of anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, were initiated into the Don Cossack community by the local ataman Andrei Goncharov. After the ceremony, the ataman accompanied the pair to the local high school where they were entertained by the students with traditional Cossack songs and dances. During the trip, the two held a series of discussions and meetings with local Cossack historians and experts. Their research is about direct democracy and autonomy among historical Cossacks in the context of the changing capitalist world-system. O’Hearn and Grubacic also spoke at a series of meetings in Volgograd, Moscow, and Dmitrov. They spoke as the invited international representatives at a conference commemorating the 170th anniversary of the Russian scientist and traveler Petr Kropotkin at the Dmitrovskii Kremlin.

Robert-Heepyoung Oh, graduate student in vocal performance, competed and won the Grand Prize in the 2013 Metropolitan International Vocal Competition on Feb. 21. He will be a featured soloist at the Metropolitan International Music Foundation Gala Concert at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall during the 2013-14 season and will be invited to perform in future MIMF concerts and events in New York City.

Kyle Reeser from Binghamton University was one of two East Coast students to qualify for the finals of the most famous Chinese-language contest to be held in Beijing this summer. At a time when proficiency in Chinese among American students is rising, Reeser and Dale Shepherd from Princeton University won the Chinese Bridge East USA Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students on March 17. About 30 students from schools including Columbia, New York and Princeton universities, as well as the University of Pennsylvania, participated in the spoken language contest as part of the 12th annual Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition. The international contest is sponsored by the Beijing headquarters of the Confucius Institute, more commonly known as Hanban. It is the fourth collaboration between the Confucius Institute at Pace University and the New York Service Center for Chinese Study Fellows.

The research of four Binghamton University scholars: Justin Garcia, MA ’09, PhD ’11, and now a postdoctoral fellow at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction at Indiana University; Associate Professor of Anthropology Chris Reiber; Research Associate Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Sean Massey; and Ann Merriwether, lecturer in the departments of psychology and human development, was the featured cover story in February’s Monitor on Psychology, the trade magazine of the American Psychological Association. The Monitor is delivered to the 101,000 members of the APA and is available online at http://www.apa.org. Their article, “Sexual Hook-up Culture” is a condensed version of a recent article in Review of General Psychology, and is featured as part of the “CE Corner” which readers can complete for credits from the APA Office of Continuing Education in Psychology. The article can be found at
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/02/ce-corner.aspx.

The Binghamton University Libraries is among the 843 libraries and state humanities councils selected to receive the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf, a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities Bridging Cultures initiative to introduce the American public to the complex history and culture of Muslims in the United States and around the world. Recipients initially receive 25 books and three films, then additional materials, including bookmarks, bookplates, and posters. The Libraries will also receive information about a Muslim Journeys companion website with digital resources relating to the Bookshelf.

Anne Clark, associate professor of biological sciences, has been named a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, an international organization founded in 1964 to promote the study of animal behavior in the broadest sense, including studies using descriptive and experimental methods under natural and controlled conditions.