*Please Note: With the start of the 2011–12 academic year, the ND Report website will no longer be updated.

Faculty Activities A–B

Encarnación Juárez Almendros, associate professor and Fellow of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, presented “La otra cara de la belleza: fealdad y deterioro corporal femenino en los textos del Siglo de Oro” at the VIII Congreso de la Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro," July 7–11, 2008, in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where she chaired a session.

Samuel Amago, assistant professor and Fellow of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and Kellogg Institute for International Studies, presented “Narrative Complexity in Almodóvar’s Bad Education” at the Screen Studies Conference held at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, July 4–6, 2008; and organized the visits of J. Mendelson on Aug. 20, and P. Begin on Sept. 15, 2008. He presented “Reflexivity and the European Film Adaptation” as part of a panel devoted to European Cinema and Literary Adaptation organized by the Division on European Literary Relations and “Film beyond Film: American Splendor and the New Narrative Possibilities of DVD,” for a panel called Expanded Cinema Today, organized by the Division on Film, at the MLA Convention in San Francisco, Dec. 27–30, 2008; and with professors Julia Douthwaite and John Welle, presented work in progress on visual culture and literature in a ROLL Faculty Research Forum: “Working with Pictures: Case Studies in French, Italian, and Spanish Literature (18th–21st centuries)” on Feb. 26 at the CSLC, Notre Dame.

José Anadón, professor of Romance languages and literatures, presented “La consciencia colectiva en Hombres de maiz” at the “VII Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica” in Guatemala, July 2008.

Ani Aprahamian, professor of physics, presented “Physics of the Universe: From Dark Energy to the Origin of Life” to the Presidential Awardees for High School Teachers from all 50 states, NSF, Arlington, Va., on April 29, 2008; the colloquium titled “Origin of the Heavy Elements” for the physics department at Ohio University, Athens, on May 9, 2008; and the colloquium titled “Expanding Universe and Shrinking Budgets” for the physics department at Michigan State University, East Lansing, on Sept. 18, 2008. She presented “The Life of a Physicist” to New Buffalo, Mich. high school students and their teachers Aug. 11, 2008; “Rotations and Vibrations,” an invited talk, at the symposium in honor of Joe Hamilton’s 50 years of Teaching and Research, Vanderbilt University, Oct. 2–3, 2008; “Nuclear Structure Aspects in Nuclear Astrophysics: The Origin of the Heavy Elements,” an invited talk, at the “International Workshop on High Density Nuclear Physics & QCD,” Yerevan, Armenia, Oct. 6–10, 2008; and “Expanding Universe with Shrinking Budgets: What Does that Mean to Planning your Research?” at a colloquium for the physics department, University of Notre Dame, Dec. 3, 2008.

J. Douglas Archer, librarian, presented “Using the Web to Build Cultures of Peace” at the annual meeting of the Peace and Justice Studies Association, Portland State University, Ore., on Sept. 13, 2008; presided and spoke as a panelist at the “Defending Library Materials from External and Internal Challenges” program at the Indiana Library Federation annual conference in Indianapolis on Nov. 20, 2008; chaired four meetings of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Jan. 23–27, 2009, and presented its report to the ALA governing Council on Jan. 28; chaired the spring meeting of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee at ALA headquarters in Chicago, March 27–29, 2009; and presented “Intellectual Freedom Hot Topics” at the Indiana Library Federation District One Annual Meeting in Michigan City, Ind., on April 28, 2009.

James M. Ashley, associate professor of theology, presented “The Search for God in the Encounter with Modern Science” at Corpus Christie Parish, Toledo Ohio, on March 31, 2009.

Ann W. Astell, professor of theology, presented “The Senses of St. Francis,” at the “International Congress on Medieval Studies,” Kalamazoo, Mich., May 8-11, 2008; “The Earthquake of 1906, the Crash of 1929, and the Christian Anarchy of Dorothy Day,” at the meeting of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion, University of California-Riverside, June 18–21, 2008; “Memoriam Fecit: The Eucharist, Memory, Reform, and Regeneration in Hildegard of Bingen’s Scivias and Nicholas of Cusa’s Sermons” at the meeting of the American Cusanus Society, Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa, Oct. 10–12, 2008; and “Feasts of Saints: Occasions for Eloquent Teaching” at the Diocesan Clergy Days, Oct. 1, 2008.

David Aune presented a paper on “Genre Theory and the Genre-Function of Mark and Matthew” at the conference titled “Mark and Matthew: Texts and Contexts I: Understanding the First Gospels in their First Century World(s),” at the University of Aarhus (Denmark), July 25–26, 2008.

Brian Baker, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, presented the invited talk “Molecular Mimicry and T-Cell Cross-Reactivity” at the “Protein-Protein Interaction Conference” in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on July 1, 2008; and “T-Cell Receptor Cross-Reactivity via Cooperation Conformational Plasticity” at the “Keystone Conference: Structural Biology of Membrane Receptors” at Cambridge, U.K., and in Cardiff, U.K., and Dublin, Ireland.

Rashna D. Balsara, research associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, presented “Effect of a UPAR-Deficiency on Cell Morphology and Angiogenic Function in Nitro and In Vivo” at “Conference XII International Workshop on Molecular & Cellular Biology of Plasminogen Activation,” Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., on April 2, 2009.

David M. Bartels, professional specialist in the Radiation Laboratory and concurrent professor of chemistry and biochemistry, presented “Properties and Reactions of OH Radicals, H Atoms, and Solvated Electrons in Pressurized Water,” a physical chemistry seminar, at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., on Sept. 17, 2008; “Calibration of High Temperature Reaction Rates: (e-)aq Extinction Coefficient and OH Radical Thermodynamics” at a CPIMS contractors meeting, Oct. 19–22, 2008, in Airlie, Va.; and “Properties and Reactions of H Atoms, OH Radicals, and Hydrated Electrons in Hot, Pressurized Water” at the University of Maryland Radiation and Nuclear Engineering Dept. on Dec. 12, 2008. Bartels presented a seminar titled “EPR Spin-Trapping Studies of Room Temperature Ionic Liquids” for the Materials Science and Engineering Division, Savannah River National Laboratory, S.C., on Jan. 7, 2009.

Gerard Baumbach, professor of theology, presented the topic “Affirming Our Catholic Identity” as the featured speaker for the Catechetical Leaders of the Diocese of Bridgeport Gathering on Sept. 17, 2008; and the keynote address on the topic “Affirming Our Catechetical Mission” for the Catechetical Institute Day of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend on Nov. 8, 2008.

Gary Belovsky, professor of biological sciences, presented “2008 Update on Brine Shrimp Research” at a TAG meeting in Salt Lake City, held Dec. 2–4, 2008.

Ikaros Bigi, professor and Grace-Rupley Chair in Physics, presented at Physics Colloquium, University of Notre Dame, Jan. 28, 2009 and Division Seminar, Argonne National Lab, U.S.A., April 27. Presented summary speaker at the Workshop “Hints in Flavor Decays,” KEK, Tsukuba City, Japan, March 20-21. Presented “No Pain, No Gain -- On the Challenges and Promises of Charm Studies,” Invited Talk given at Charm09, Leimen, Germany, May 20 (to appear in the Proceedings).

Howard Blackstead, professor of physics, presented “X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy and Nanomaterials,” an invited talk, at the conference workshop “Nanomaterials and Their Applications” in Denver on Aug. 5, 2008; and “XAFS Studies of Nanosystems: How X-Ray, Electron Microscopy, and Optical Techniques Each Contribute to Structural Characterization,” an invited talk, at the “Denver X-Ray Conference” on Aug. 6, 2008.

Sunny Boyd, professor of biological sciences, presented a seminar titled “Neuromodulation: From Synapse to Social Behavior” at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa., Sept. 18–20, 2008.

Patricio Boyer, professor of Romance languages and literatures, delivered the paper “From Borders to Transamerican Genealogies: Colonial Spanish America and the Fantasy of Origins,” which was part of a panel on Colonial Genealogies, Intertextual Resonances organized by the Division on Colonial Latin American Literatures, at the MLA Convention in San Francisco, Dec. 27–30, 2008; presented papers at the American Comparative Literature Association (“Animal Violence, the Human and the Inhumane,” March 26–29, 2009, and at the Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities (“Figurations of Law and Loss: A Response,” April 3–4, 2009; and organized a lecture at the Kellogg institute for International Studies on March 19, 2009, called “The Polemics of Possession in Spanish American Narrative.”

Paul Bradshaw, professor of theology, presented “Early Christian Worship” at Oxford University, England, on Oct. 23, 2008; and the keynote address “The Fourth Century: A Golden Age for Liturgy?” at the biennial meeting of the Patristische Arbeitsgemeinschaft held at the Evangelische Akademie im Rheinland, Bonn, Germany, Jan. 2–5, 2009.

Seth Brown, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, presented the invited talk “Advances in Metal-Ligand Communication: Electronic Asymmetry, Electronic Dissymmetry and Reactivity” at the “Gordon Research Conference on Organometallic Chemistry” in Newport, R.I., which ran July 5–14, 2008; the invited talk “A Tale of Two Concepts: Electronic Asymmetry and Electronic Disymmetry in Metal-mediated Reactions” at Washington & Lee, Lexington, Va.; and the invited talk “Adventures in Metal-Ligand Electronic Communication” at Virginia Polytechnic, Blacksburg, Va.

Bruce Bunker, professor of physics, presented the invited talks “X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy and Nanomaterials” and “XAFS Studies of Nanosystems: How X-Ray, Electron Microscopy, and Optical Techniques Each Contribute to Structural Characterization” at the “Denver X-Ray Conference” in Denver, Aug. 5 and 6, 2008, respectively; and presented the invited plenary talk “Introduction and History of X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy” at the “Workshop on Advanced Topics in EXAFS Analysis and Applications,” at the 2008 LCLS/SSRL Annual Users’ Meeting, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Oct. 15–18, 2008.