Faculty Focus - Nov. 2, 2020
St. Lawrence University faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Most often their research is published in peer-reviewed journals and articles and through lectures, as well as through conference papers and presentations. Take a look at what faculty members recently shared.
Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics Cynthia Bansak
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics Cynthia Bansak presented as part of “The Relationship Between Welfare State, Immigrant Integration, and Crime,” a virtual workshop for The National Centres of Competence in Research, a research instrument of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
The aim of the workshop was to bring together international scholars to explore and discuss the nexus between crime, the welfare state, and immigrants’ integration, as well as to foster international and national scientific debates on these important topics.
Bansak, who is also co-chair of St. Lawrence’s Department of Economics, researches labor economics, international immigration, remittances, educational attainment, and the business cycle.
Associate Professor of Education Jeff Frank
Jeff Frank, associate professor and chair of St. Lawrence’s Department of Education, recently penned a reflection on COVID-19 and a liberal education for his publisher, Lever Press. In his piece “In 2020 Students Feel Powerless and Faculty Feel Overwhelmed. Can Liberal Education Help?” Frank writes, “Moments of crisis give us an opportunity to reflect on the purposes of education, and moments of crisis provide openings to change policies and practices. I want to suggest that we might consider what we can do, this academic year, to help our students experience the power of their education.” Frank focuses his research on the philosophy of education, liberal education, as well as teaching and teacher education.
Assistant Professor of Government Mert Kartal recently published a short article that was featured in the London School of Economics’ European Politics and Policy blog (EUROPP). “Why the EU should work with opposition parties to avoid democratic backsliding” offers a discussion of Kartal’s recent findings on the impact of the European Union (EU) on good governance in its member states. He argues that the European Union (EU) has the ability to offer electoral incentives to opposition parties to adopt pro-EU policy preferences, which in return pressures national governments to implement reforms demanded by the EU. He notes that such political leverage of the EU serves as a better predictor of governance performance than any other alternative explanation in the literature. Kartal’s broader research is focused on the impact of international organizations on good governance at the national level.
Director of the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery Cathy Tedford had one of her curated collections, the Street Art Graphics collection, featured by and made available for free by JSTOR, a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. JSTOR writes, “Tedford has been building the archive since 2004. She explains the appeal of stickers in an Artstor blog post from 2017: ‘Representing a diverse array of voices and perspectives, stickers offer a spirited ‘ground up’ alternative to an often ‘top down’ media-saturated environment.’”
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