News & Events

Sociology assistant professorDaniel Herda,with coauthors John Hagan (Northwestern), Bill McCarthy (UC Davis), andAndrea Cann Chandrasekher (UC Davis) have published their article “Dual-Process Theory of Racial Isolation, Legal Cynicism, and Reported Crime” in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Dan Herda published an article in The Dubois Review, titled “Racist Torture and the Code of Silence.”

Melissa “Mish” Zimdars,assistant professor of communication, has received an international travel and research grant from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation. The grant supports travel to the U.K. and Ireland to conduct interviews with both media producers who create, and media audiences who watch, content exploring fat embodiment. This project will be the first in a series of international case studies comparing media industry practices and viewer perceptions of television in the context of the obesity epidemic.

Dr. Daniel Herda, chair and associate professor in the Department of Sociology, recently published a book titled “Chicago’s Reckoning,” which discusses the complicated history of race, politics and policing in Chicago to explain how crime works from the top-down through urban political machines and the elite figures who dominate them. The book was just awarded the American Society of Criminology Division of Communities and Places’s James Short Senior Scholar Award.

Cristi Catt, voice instructor at Merrimack College, recently wrapped up a session at Berklee College’s renowned recording studio, Shames Family Scoring Stage. She was awarded a grant to record “All Over the Map” with her ensemble Blue Thread.

Charlotte Berkes, associate professor of biology, and Jimmy Franco, department chair and associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, recently co-authored a journal publication titled Kinase Inhibitor Library Screening Identifies the Cancer Therapeutic Sorafenib and Structurally Similar Compounds as Strong Inhibitors of the Fungal Pathogen Histoplasma capsulatum, describing the discovery of novel antifungal molecules to combat Histoplasma capsulatum, a neglected fungal pathogen. Several former Merrimack College undergraduates contributed to this research.

Michael Mascolo, professor of psychology and academic directorof the Compass program, gave a talk, “A Primer on Personal Construct Psychology,” and presented a paper, “The Failure of Objectivity: The Intersubjective Origins of Psychological Knowledge,” at the 45th International Congress of Personal Construct Psychology July 6-9, 2017, at Concordia University in Montréal. He also published several papers in 2017. They include “A Person Is Not an Object: Rethinking the Psychological Analysis of Persons” and “Understanding Personhood: Can We Get There From Here?”and “How Objectivity Undermines the Study of Personhood: Toward an Intersubjective Epistemology for Psychological Science,” all in New Ideas in Psychology.

Andrew Tollison, assistant professor of communication, gave a talk July 20, 2017, to the Newburyport Parkinson’s Support Group on the emotional impact of difficult medical diagnoses. Tollison emphasized the role of communication in dealing with illness, and the importance of disclosure with friends and relatives. The talk was held at the Newburyport, Massachusetts, Senior Center.

Michael Stroud, associate professor of psychology, has been named an Apple Distinguished Educator for 2017. The honor recognizes K-12 and higher-education pioneers who are using a variety of Apple products to transform teaching and learning in powerful ways. Apple educators work with each other — and with Apple — to bring innovative ideas to classrooms, advise Apple on integrating technology into learning environments and share their expertise with other educators and policymakers.

Dr. Kevin McGravey, associate professor in the Department of political science and public policy, has published an article in the Ethics, Policy & Environment journal titled Between Neutrality and Action: State Speech and Climate Change.