Sabbaticals Awarded for 2023-24

Jennifer A. Barry, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, sabbatical awarded to complete a draft of the full manuscript, Gender Violence in Late Antiquity: The Dangers of Christian Male Fantasies. The manuscript will be submitted to her editor at University of California Press, by the end of the sabbatical. (fall 2023)

Mindy J. Erchull, Professor of Psychology, sabbatical awarded to build a website and resources to support her textbook, Psychology of Women and Gender, she co-authored. She will also start a blog for teachers and develop an editorial calendar to maintain the blog over time. (spring 2024)

Stephen J. Farnsworth, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs,  sabbatical awarded to work on his book manuscript, Late Night in Washington: Political Humor and the American Presidency. He will use public opinion surveys and content from late-night monologues. (fall 2023)

Caitlyn C. Finlayson, Associate Professor of Geography, sabbatical awarded to work on a book-length manuscript, Connected: How Human Geography Can Help Us Understand Our Place in the World. (fall 2023)

Surupa Gupta, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs,  sabbatical awarded to work on her research project, Farmer’s movements, state politics and the reversal of neoliberal reforms in Indian agriculture. To collect data for her project, she will conduct interviews, review journals, scholarly books and government publications. Her project will benefit three courses that she currently teaches. (fall 2023 and spring 2024)

Steven E. Harris, Professor of European and Modern Russian History, sabbatical awarded to work on his project, Flying Aeroflot: A History of the Soviet Union in the Jet Age. The project is to finish writing his book manuscript on the Soviet Union airline Aeroflot. (fall 2023)

Maya Mathur, Professor of English,  sabbatical awarded to research and write two articles, Representations of Race in the Scholarship and Teaching of Shakespeare. She will present the research at conferences in spring 2024 and fall 2024. (fall 2023)

Colin T. Rafferty, Professor of English, sabbatical awarded to complete his third manuscript, Looking for Hungry: A Story of the Vietnam War. He will conduct interviews, complete research, and attain a literary agency. (fall 2023)

Zachary N. Whalen, Associate Professor of Digital Studies, sabbatical awarded to work on the draft of his monograph project, Generate Fictions: The Meaning of Computational Literary and Artistic Books. He has several chapters completed and plans to finish the remaining chapters, appendices and finalize a draft of the manuscript. (fall 2023)