Newsmakers | College of Liberal Arts

Highlighting the professional and academic accomplishments of College of Liberal Arts students, faculty, and staff.

Newsmakers are a quick and easy way to acknowledge the professional and academic accomplishments of RIT students, faculty, and staff, such as publishing an article in a scholarly journal, presenting research at a conference, serving on a panel discussion, earning a scholarship, or winning an award. Newsmakers appear in News and Events as well as the "In the News" section on faculty/staff directory profile pages.

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August 2026

August 27, 2026

Christine Keiner, chair of the Department of Science, Technology, and Society, published “Organism X and the Oyster Commons: The Chesapeake MSX Disease Crisis as a Space of Inquiry for Advancing Laboratory-Based Aquaculture, 1959–1969” in Spaces of Inquiry: Making Science and Technology in the Modern World. The essay addresses scientific and political responses to the alarming spread of a non-native marine pathogen during a pivotal period for emerging fields of environmental science.
August 25, 2026

Muhammad Salar Khan, assistant professor of public policy, was invited to share his expert perspective at the Town of Henrietta’s public hearing on proposed data center regulations. Khan addressed key considerations for balancing digital infrastructure growth with community needs, including energy and water demands, infrastructure costs, transparency, cumulative impacts, and the need for adaptable regulations as technology evolves.
August 21, 2026

Michael Brown, associate professor of history, presented his paper “Being Sicilian in ‘Smugtown, USA’” at the American Association for Italian Studies annual conference at the University of Sassari on June 5 in Sardinia, Italy. The paper proposes Rochester as a distinct and important site in the Sicilian diaspora. Placing the work of Rochester-raised writer Jerre Mangione and filmmaker Frank LaLoggia into conversation, Brown links their nationally significant representations of Sicilian American life to specific moments in and features of Rochester history.
August 21, 2026

Michaël Amy, Distinguished Professor in the School of Art, published an interview with the contemporary Iranian-born, German artist of Armenian descent Nairy Baghramian in the September-October 2026 issue of Sculpture. Baghramian's abstract, process-driven sculptures can be interpreted as solutions to problems that we might have trouble identifying.
August 21, 2026

Silvia Benso, professor of philosophy and director of the women's, gender, and sexuality studies program, published “Academic Interventions: Feminist Justice, Transformative Education, and the STEM Fields” in Positionen und Perspektiven im zeitgenössischen Feminismus. The essay explores the need and benefits of integrating an education in STEM disciplines with feminist studies to shape a world where justice moves from legal frameworks to material realities.
August 21, 2026

Seeking to reinvigorate the Sister Cities bond between Agropoli, Italy, and Chili, N.Y., Michael Brown, associate professor of history, delivered a letter and gifts of friendship from Supervisor David Dunning and the town government of Chili, N.Y., to Mayor Roberto Antonio Mutalipassi and the city government of Agropoli, Italy, on June 30. The visit was covered by Rete 7 – Canale 99, an Italian news outlet. Brown presented a response letter from Mayor Mutalipassi and gifts from the City of Agropoli at the Chili Town Board Meeting on July 15, signifying the renewed bond. This initiative aligns with Brown’s work on connections—historical, present, and prospective—among Italian communities and those in the Rochester region.
August 18, 2026

The Library of Congress Geography and Map Division recently published a spatial search engine created by museum studies student Priscilla Anderson. The application, Austro-Hungarian Map Set Navigator, 1875-1957, will increase access to the Spezialkarte der osterreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie set, one of the division's largest and most popular collections.
August 18, 2026

Hinda Mandell, professor of journalism, published Crafting Choice: Handwork and Abortion Politics in the U.S., representing the first known inquiry into how people deploy publicly engaged handcraft campaigns as a means for abortion-political action.
August 13, 2026

Amit Batabyal, the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics and head of the Department of Sustainability, co-edited and published Transformative Economies.
August 3, 2026

Evelyn Brister, professor of philosophy, co-authored “Filling the Network Gap in Research Ethics: Analyzing Ethical Issues at Scale in Big Team Science” in The Hastings Center Report, which maps the unique challenges that face extended research teams.