Since June 2011, faculty research activities in the social sciences have included many publications, grant awards, and invited presentations which have contributed to excellence at KSU. Recent social sciences research includes work by Amoaba Gooden, David Kaplan, Katherine Rawson, John Dunlosky, Mark Seeman, Joshua Stacher, and Tiffany Taylor.
Amoaba Gooden (Department of Pan-African Studies) presented comparative analyses of negotiated space, identity, migration and working with African Caribbean subjects at The Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora conference in Pittsburgh in fall 2011. This data provides the basis for an article, "Methodology and the African Caribbean Subject," forthcoming in Southern Journal of Canadian Studies.
In 2011, David Kaplan (Department of Geography) served as Visiting Chair of Geopolitics at the Institute of French Geopolitics at the University of Paris 8 where his work included seven public presentations on topics such as recent trends in the growth of the Muslim population in the U.S. Kaplan also conducted research in one of Paris's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods, the Goutte d'Or, which is now being prepared for publication.
Department of Psychology faculty Katherine Rawson and John Dunlosky co-authored an article on optimizing schedules of retrieval practice which appeared as the lead in the prestigious Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (August 2011). Their research focus on improving student learning and informing educational practice has resulted in over $2 million in active funding from the U.S. Department of Education and James S. McDonnell Foundation as well as several recent publications and invited presentations.
Mark Seeman (Department of Anthropology) delivered the keynote address to the 57th Annual Midwest Archaeological Conference in October, 2011, Lacrosse, WI. Entitled "Hopewell Time and Materiality," Dr. Seeman's address focused on the rise of "Hopewell" complexity in the Midcontinent ca. 100-350 A.D. The chronological sequencing of mound building and other architecture, ritual organization, and crafting were highlighted.
In December 2011, Joshua Stacher (Department of Political Science) briefed former President Jimmy Carter about the political transition in Egypt. His upcoming book "Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria" compares institutions and co-optation to explain authoritarian durability in Egypt and Syria. Stacher was also selected to be a 2012-2013 fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Tiffany Taylor (Department of Sociology) recently published several articles on different aspects of her research on inequality in society. The articles address topics such as the impact of class, gender, and race on cultural contradictions in mothering ideology as well as welfare-to-work program managers' discussions of welfare participants' motivation.