Faculty Focus-January 14, 2025
Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty published books, chapters, journal articles, and were interviewed by local and international media.
Zhenjun Zhang
Professor of Chinese and Coordinator of Asian Studies Zhenjun Zhang recently became the first person to translate in full an English version of the first work of fiction to be officially banned in China, New Tales Told While Trimming the Wick, by Ming dynasty poet Qu You.
The work of fiction, which became the first internationally acclaimed collection of Chinese short stories, includes tales that see characters facing moral and ethical challenges that are just as compelling today as they were over 600 years ago. Despite being fiction filled with supernatural elements, New Tales offers fascinating insights into the life and society of China during the turbulent transition between the Yuan and Ming dynasties.
Translated in full for the first time, with a contextual introduction to the stories and their author, historical and literary annotations to aid the reader, and bibliographical support, this volume introduces a collection of tales that have had a profound influence on literature across all of Asia.
Alessandro Giardino
Associate Professor and Co-Chair of World Languages, Cultures, and Media Alessandro Giardino has garnered significant acclaim for his recently published novel, The Caravaggio Syndrome.
The novel earned a spot on Artnet’s prestigious list of “12 Art-Related Books to Curl Up With This Holiday Season.” This recognition underscores the novel’s profound impact on art enthusiasts and readers worldwide. Inspired by Caravaggio’s masterpiece, The Seven Works of Mercy, Giardino masterfully intertwines historical and contemporary narratives, offering a rich exploration of art and the human experience at large.
As previously noted by The Art Newspaper, Giardino's characters are "as unforgettable and viscerally real as any of Caravaggio’s figures." This accolade from Artnet, as a global leader in art journalism and a key reference for art lovers, collectors, and cultural enthusiasts alike, amplifies the novel's reach, inviting readers to delve into Giardino's compelling narrative.
Sahar Milani
Associate Professor of Economics Sahar Milani recently published a paper titled "Sanctions and Global Collaboration in Innovative Activities," co-authored with Linh Pham of Lake Forest College.
In the paper, Milani and Pham explore how economic sanctions impact joint research between scientists located in different countries. They found that travel sanctions reduce the intensity of international patent collaboration by 43%.
Adam Harr
Associate Professor of Anthropology Adam Harr recently published a chapter titled “Scalar Poetics in Ritual Language” in The Oxford Handbook of Ritual Language, edited by David Tavárez and published by Oxford University Press.
Based on two years of field research in multilingual communities in eastern Indonesia, this chapter examines a range of ritualized events, including the recitation of bureaucratic meeting agendas, spirit-channeling in a political campaign, and the improvisational performance of creation myths, to analyze how state and Indigenous political actors use poetic language to formulate competing images of power relations between national, provincial, and village-level governments.
Neil Forkey
Associate Professor and Chair of Canadian Studies Neil Forkey was interviewed by North Country Public Radio, and by the Watertown Daily Times regarding Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation and the current state of Canadian-American relations.
Forkey is also the Archie F. MacAllaster and Barbara Torrey MacAllaster Professor of North Country Studies, and serves as president of the Middle Atlantic and New England Council for Canadian Studies (MANECCS).
Howard Eissenstat
Laurentian Associate Professor and Chair of History Howard Eissenstat was recently interviewed in The World regarding Turkey’s influence in Syria and its ambitions to play a larger role on the world stage.
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St. Lawrence’s Faculty Focus is a regular roundup of noteworthy faculty news.
