Faculty Fellows Program

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SAI announces two award winners for the 2012-2013 Faculty Fellows Program: Dr. Erica Gibson from the University of South Carolina and Dr. Mary Ann McGarry from Plymouth State University (New Hampshire). The Faculty Fellows Program recognizes faculty from SAI’s U.S. affiliate colleges and universities who are engaged in scholarship activities that promote global awareness, and deepen the understanding of the arts and sciences. The Fellowship provides international travel and a one month stay in a private apartment in Florence or Rome. Both Dr. Gibson and Dr. McGarry will be based in Rome during their fellowships.

Erica Gibson, Ph.D.

Dr. Erica Gibson is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Gibson’s degrees are:

• Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Alabama;
• M.A., Anthropology, Louisiana State University;
• B.A., Anthropology, University of Houston.

Dr. Gibson teaches Field Methods in Ethnology which covers qualitative and quantitative methods used in the social sciences, Women’s Health with a global focus, and medical anthropology courses including Cultures, Pregnancy, and Birth.   As a Bio-cultural Medical Anthropologist, Dr. Gibson’s research focus is women’s reproductive health from an anthropological and feminist perspective.  She has conducted research among women during the perinatal period in the United States and Mexico for the past four years.  Dr. Gibson is looking forward to expanding her research on the perinatal period to Italy and will give two lectures on related topics to SAI students during her research time abroad.

Mary Ann McGarry, Ed.D.

Dr. Mary Ann McGarry is Associate Professor of Science Education and Environmental Science and Policy at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Dr. McGarry’ s degrees are:

• Ed.D., Science Education, University of Maine;
• M.S., Earth Science, Northern Arizona University;
• B.A., Environmental Education, Dartmouth College.

One of her teaching responsibilities is environmental geology, with a key learning outcome being to specifically raise student awareness about how to reduce loss of life and property damage from natural disasters like volcanoes. Italy has two active volcanoes of significance and Vesuvius in particular is threatening as it is so near Naples- a large population center. Dr. McGarry is interested in researching how Italian service agencies develop resources and educational campaigns to prepare people for dealing with potentially very hazardous volcanic eruptions.  She is looking forward to giving two lectures to SAI students and involving  students in Italy in her research.

Plymouth State University’s Dr. Mary Ann McGarry to Study Volcanoes in Italy

Dr. Jeffrey Lieber, Ph.D.

SAI is pleased to announce that Dr. Jeffrey Lieber is SAI’s first Faculty Fellow selected from 47 applicants from 28 U.S. colleges and universities. SAI established the Faculty Fellows Program for SAI affiliate schools to recognize faculty from U.S. colleges and universities who are engaged in scholarship activities that promote global awareness and deepen the understanding of the arts and humanities.  The Fellowship provides international travel and a one month stay in a private apartment in Florence or Rome. Dr. Lieber will be conducting his Fellowship in Rome during the month of July.

Jeffrey Lieber is Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Culture Studies at The New School in New York. He studied art history at Vassar College and received his Ph.D. in the History of Art from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In Rome, he will give a series of guest lectures from his book project The Boundless World: Art and Enlightenment in Italy, a comparative study of eighteenth-century art and architecture in Venice, Rome, Naples, and Turin, and conduct research on the same topic in local archives and museums. He has taught in the History of Art and Visual Culture Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has received fellowships for his work from the Delmas Foundation, the A.W. Mellon Foundation, the French Ministry of Culture, and the Italian Cultural Institute.

According to Dr. Lieber, “I am delighted to have this opportunity to return to Italy and continue my research and at the same time, be able to interact with SAI students to help them understand what they are experiencing as both student scholars and global travelers.”