CASL Faculty Kudos

Fall 2023 - Winter 2024

Professor of Sociology and Behavioral Sciences department chair, Dr. Francine Banner was featured as a guest on KPFA’s Against the Grain podcast. Banner answered questions surrounding complicity and the systems that we live under. “Today there’s something like a political space that’s opening up between victims and perpetrators,” Banner observed. “I think complicity can be said to occupy that space. It’s how we discuss that area in between not quite guilty and not exactly innocent.’’ Listen or download the podcast.

Criminal Justice Studies Lecturer Aaron Kinzel started a program called Trauma Camp which was featured in “Trauma Camp: A Retreat for Returning Citizens,” a short documentary by Detroit Public Television’s “One Detroit.” This program provides returning citizens a chance to get away from the distractions and stress of everyday life, learn tools for adjusting to life outside of prison, and begin to heal from trauma experienced inside and outside the system. View the feature. 

Associate Professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology, Dr. Krim Lacey was recently honored with a Mid-Career Scholar and Career Achievement Award from the Program for Research on Black Americans. The program was established in 1976 at U-M’s Institute for Social Research and has been a leader in creating new and innovative research methods in African American communities. 

Professor of Sociology, Dr. Pamela Aronson was among two UM-Dearborn faculty members selected as Public Engagement Fellows by the office of the Vice President for Research at University of Michigan. The fellowship offers an opportunity for faculty members to consider how they can prioritize outward engagement in their scholarly activity and translate it into meaningful public impacts.

Professor of Biochemistry, Dr. Besa Xhabija was invited to present her research on Argininosuccinate Synthase 1 and its role in melanoma in a session hosted by the Cutaneous Oncology Research Interest Group at the Rogel Cancer Center. Her talk provided a deep dive into the enzyme's function within biochemical pathways and how it influences melanoma's behavior and progression. She also presented 3 published papers along with her research students at the Central Regional Meeting (CERM) of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Professor of Psychology, Dr. Francine Dolins' research using virtual reality to investigate spatial and social cognition in nonhuman apes is featured at The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. The museum created a Research Station Exhibit that is presently in the main hall, and is now also available as an online Research Station.  Dr. Francine Dolins has also recently been granted a $66,000 award from the Templeton World Charity Foundation for her project "Use of Proper Names in Nonhuman Animals."

Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Dr. Maya Barak recently published "'They say it’s a crime for us to be here': Latinx reflections on the myth of the 'criminal immigrant' in the Trump era" in Latino Studies. In the piece, Dr. Barak and her coauthors explore the ways in which first- and second-generation Latinx individuals think about their own and others' law-breaking behavior. 

Professor and Director of the Center for Arab American Studies (CAAS), Dr. Wessam Elmeligi was interviewed by Arab American News, which appeared on the cover in the print edition and online. Elmeligi talks about CAAS, our Arabic major at UM-Dearborn, the potential for a literary and art scene in Dearborn, and how we are challenging the negative stereotypes about Dearborn.

Professor of Geology and director of the Environmental Interpretative Center (EIC), Dr Jacob Napieralski was published in The Conversation. Napieralski's piece, "How ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk, in Detroit and elsewhere", identifies a hidden contributor to flooding in older, low-income neighborhoods that have seen a lack of investment. 

Lecturer II in Composition, Dr. Kristian Stewart has been awarded a grant from the University of Michigan Library Anti-Racist Digital Research Initiative entitled "Digital StoryXchange: Connecting Classrooms, Cultures, and Continents in a Displaced World." Stewart will be working with two colleagues in South Africa from Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town. Stewart also received a second Fulbright Award to Indonesia to establish a Writing Center at a university on the island of Aceh, titled "The Establishment of the Center for Academic Writing." 

Spring/Summer 2023

Sociology Professor Pam Aronson was featured in the recent Axios article “Gen Z is snatching up houses in regional cities.” “Homeownership, renting, housing arrangements — these things are obviously tied to finances, they're tied to career opportunities, they're tied to inflation,” Aronson said in the article. “All of those things are impacting what Gen Z is able to do.”

Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Maya Barak appeared on a recent episode of WDET’s “Detroit Today” about immigration court and the ways families are fractured through the immigration process. Listen to the episode.

Professor of Biology and Biochemistry Marilee Benore was recently named the new editor-in-chief of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education journal. Her three-year term will begin Jan. 1, 2024.

Mathematics Associate Professor Michael Dabkowski oversees a summer school program called Math Matches in Westland, where learning is combined with fun activities. The students are learning new applications of mathematics, and they say the playfulness really makes a difference. This program was highlighted on June 20 on WDIV in Detroit.

Communications Professor Tim Kiska won a Michigan Regional Emmy Award in the Best Historical Documentary category for “Going 4 It: The inside story of the rise of WDIV.” The film explores WDIV’s place in the Detroit TV landscape and how the station evolved.

Congratulations to Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Gengxin Li and Associate Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Jian Hu for receiving a two-year, $200,000 Ford Alliance Research Award for their project "Machine learning misclassification error detection to enhance safety of Level 3 autonomous driving."

Jacob Napieralski, professor of geology, has been appointed Director of the Environmental Interpretive Center. His experience and research in the areas of accessible nature, environmental change, urban rivers, Geographic Information Science, quaternary geology, and the impact of urbanization on environmental health will provide the EIC with expert and visionary leadership. Together with the EIC staff - Dorothy McLeer, Program Coordinator and Interpretive Naturalist; Rick Simek, Program Supervisor and Manager of the Environmental Study Area; and Dale Browne, Program Assistant; Dr. Napieralski will continue the EIC’s impactful work and develop a strategic vision for the center.

Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology Nehal Patel was a guest on the On Balance podcast, discussing his recent article “Why Lawyers Fear Love: Mohandas Gandhi’s Significance to the Mindfulness in Law Movement.” “Mindfulness in Law refers to the efforts to bring some of the insights that come from mindfulness and some of the benefits that come from meditation into the law, the legal system and our lives as legal professionals,” he said on the show. Listen or read the transcript.

Assistant Professor Adam Sekuler's short film “Really Good Friends” won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short Film at the 17th annual Dallas International Film Festival. The jury included this statement with the selection of his film, "This film in particular stood out as an endearingly intimate and provocative peek into the sexual awakening of a late bloomer.”

After purchasing a miniature replica of the main gate of the Birkenau camp — a visual symbol of the Holocaust — at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive Director Jamie Wraight second-guessed his purchase. He wondered if the replica was in poor taste. So Wraight, who also builds miniatures himself, decided to investigate the role of models and dioramas of Holocaust death camps. Wraight’s paper “To Show in a Frozen Moment: Camp Models and Dioramas as Forms of Holocaust Representation and Memory” discusses pedagogical tools, forms of art, testimonial expression and memorialization of miniature replicas. His research also addresses questions concerning the intention of their designers and creators, as well as the ethical considerations of recreating the spaces.

CASL Administration

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