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Jim Charles, School of Education, published a review of Chad A. Barbour’s FROM DANIEL BOONE TO CAPTAIN AMERICA: PLAYING INDIAN IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE (The University of Mississippi Press, 2016) in THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE. 41:1, March 2018, 91-92.
Jim Charles, School of Education, published a review of Patricia Applebaum’s “St. Francis of America: How A Thirteenth Century Friar Became America’s Most Popular Saint,” University of North Carolina Press, 2015, in the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE, 40:2, June 2017, 194-195.
Camille McCutcheon
Camille McCutcheon, Library, has received a Special Journal Award for her outstanding work as book review editor for The Journal of American Culture, 2013-2017.
McCutcheon is the coordinator of Collection Management in the USC Upstate Library.
Jack Turner
Two University of South Carolina Upstate staff members were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream program during its annual Confluence Volunteer Conference, March 24-25, 2017.
Dr. Jack Turner, director of the Watershed Ecology Center, and Beth Button, adult education outreach coordinator for the center, received the Beyond Borders Award. The award is presented each year to individuals who participate in the Adopt-A-Stream program in an adjacent state.
Beth Button
As part of their contributions to the program, Turner and Button, along with other volunteers have been monitoring at least 20 sites on streams throughout Spartanburg County.
“It’s been rewarding to see the difference that we have already made in our community,” Turner said. “We’ve been able to identify a problem and then to notify the appropriate people to have things cleaned up. Our work is important for the long-term life of our community.”
Turner founded the University’s Watershed Ecology Center in 1999. Turner’s vision for the center includes scientific research on the watershed ecology of the region, community outreach and educational programming for local schools. The center is privately funded and is supported by local businesses, water utilities, and grants.
Jack Cheng
An economics paper co-authored by a University of South Carolina Upstate faculty member has won attention in England, and could influence thinking about the effect of mortgage spreads on the economy.
Jack Cheng, an assistant professor of economics at the George Dean Johnson, Jr. College of Business and Economics, said “mortgage spread” refers to the difference between the mortgage interest rate and the interest rate for government treasury bonds.
The spread reflects “the risk premium and other factors that are related to the mortgage market,” Cheng explained.
Cheng and the Bank of England’s Ching-Wai “Jeremy” Chiu co-authored the Bank of England Staff Working Paper No. 634: Nonlinearities of Mortgage Spreads Over the Business Cycle, which was then featured in an article on the Central Banking website.
In their research, the authors demonstrated that unexpected changes in the mortgage spread have a greater effect on the economy during times of recession than during expansion.
“The paper has vital policy implications,” Cheng said. “It’s saying that by influencing mortgage spreads … the Mortgage Backed Security Purchase Program (implemented by the Federal Reserve in 2009) would likely have a greater impact on the economy when the economy is in a recession.”
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s website, the program “was intended to provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to foster improved conditions in financial markets more generally.”
With publication by Central Banking, Cheng said the research is being recognized for its importance.
“It means that the research is important, and I hope that the results from this study will provide important insights to policy makers and help them implement appropriate policies when dealing with future crises,” Cheng said.
Jim Charles, education, presented a paper titled “Out of the Cupboard and into the Classroom: Children and the American Indian Literary Experience” at the SW Popular/American Culture Association Conference on February 16, 2017 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Congratulations to 14 members of the USC Upstate faculty who have received RISE awards.
The RISE, or Research Initiative for Summer Engagement, program provides financial support to pay for summer salary, research supplies, travel related to research and undergraduate student support.
2017 USC Upstate RISE Recipients:
| Recipient Name | Project Title |
| Jack Cheng | Nonlinearities of Mortgage Spreads over the Business Cycles |
| Michael Dinger | IT Role Embeddedness: Testing A Theory of IT Professional Behavior |
| Ann Hoover | The Role of Power in the Backlash Effect |
| Rebecca Mueller | Learning by Doing: The Impact of Question Development and Implementation on Teachers’ Understanding of Compelling Questions |
| Allison Pingley | Czeching out of Communism |
| Nolan Stolz | Recording Two Original Orchestral Compositions: “From The Hudson” and “Prairie View” |
| Matthew Placek | Online News and Citizen Support for Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe |
| Nicole Richardson | Through a Glass Darkly: Ye Shaoyuan’s Search for His Deceased Daughter in a Late Ming Séance |
| Kimberly Shorter | Effects of MTHFR Function on Epigenetics-Related Genes’ Expression in Folic Acid-Treated SH-SY5Y Cells |
| Ning Yu | Developing an Open Source Deep Learning Tool Based on a Novel Auto-Encoder Algorithm |
| Emily Kofoed | Silence at the North Pole: Russia’s Rhetorical Strategy for Arctic Sovereignty: An Analysis of International Political Discourse in an Information Age |
| Tina Herzberg | Case Studies of Established Print Readers Learning and Using Braille and Technology in School and Home |
| Calvin Odhiambo | Black-White Racial Disparity in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among People with HIV-AIDS in America: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis |
| Felicia Jenkins | Physical Activity and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in African American Women |
To see a list of all 35 faculty members recognized in the USC system.
From left, Professor RNDr. Pavol Sovák, rector of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, presents Dr. Vince Connors with the Commemorative Medal of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice on December 19, 2016.
Congratulations to Vincent A. Connors, Ph.D., professor of Biology at USC Upstate, who received the 2016 Commemorative Medal of the Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice December 14, 2016.
Professor RNDr. Pavol Sovák, Rector of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, presented Connors with the award for his contributions to science and education at the university during the completion of his sabbatical stay.
Connors traveled to the Slovak Republic during the fall to teach graduate seminars and classes in Symbiosis and Parasitism at Pavel Jozef Safarik University in Kosice. He also conducted research on fish parasitic diseases at the Slovak Academy of Science’s Institute of Parasitology, also in Kosice. His teaching and research focused on parasitic diseases of humans and wildlife, both of which are extensions of his long-term studies of a wide range of parasites, ranging from a deadly human pathogen to parasites that effect the performance and health of economically important fish along the East coast.
Connors was named the 2015-2016 recipient of the USC Upstate Annual Award for Faculty Excellence in Scholarly and/ or Creative Pursuits. His scholarly focus is on immunobiology, with special emphasis on host-parasite relationships. His research holds significant potential for advancing studies in human parasitology and also contributes to our knowledge of the natural environment of coastal South Carolina. Based on an invaluable body of data collected over decades of meticulous fieldwork, Connor’s interpretations and analytical insights have contributed greatly to complex, large-scale studies that monitor the vitality of our regional ecosystem.
Vince Connors
Congratulations to Vince Connors on his most recent publications, presentations and lectures. Connors also was recognized as a Fulbright Scholar and for Excellence in Scholarly/ Creative Pursuits.
Recent Publication:
Taliercio, M. A., T. L. Darden, V. A. Connors, W. A. Roumillat, I. de Buron. 2016. Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis: A New Host for a Parasite of Potential Public Health Concern. Comparative Parasitology. 83(1):29-35.
Recent Presentations of Research:
Kristina M. Hill-Spanik, Isaure de Buron, Vincent A. Connors, Mary Frances Babrowicz, and William A. Roumillat. 2015. Donax variabilis: a vector for a digenean of the Florida Pompano, Trachinus carolinus. Presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists, June 6-10, Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A.
Recent Invited Lectures and Research Seminars Presented (5 total):
Invertebrate immunity and precursors to the vertebrate immune system. Univerzity veterinárskeho lekárstva a farmácie v Košiciach, Slovakia (University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Slovakia). November 24, 2016.
The World is Flat: That’s why I study snails. Department of Biology, Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Safarika V Kosiciach, Kosice, Slovakia, November 9, 2016.
Parasite impacts on hosts: beyond pathophysioloy. Department of Biology, Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Safarika V Kosiciach, Kosice, Slovakia, November 3, 2016.
Factors involved in modulating the host’s immune response in the schistosome-snail interaction. Parazitologický ústav SAV, Košice, Slovensko (Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice, Slovak Republic). October 24, 2016
The evolution of the immune system – how certain invertebrates respond to pathogens. Department of Biology, Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Safarika V Kosiciach, Kosice, Slovakia, September 28, 2016.
Publishing Do’s and Don’ts. Parazitologický ústav SAV, Hlinkova 3, Košice 040 01 Slovensko (Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Science), Hlinkova 3, Košice 040 01 Slovak Republic). December 15, 2016.
Recent Awards and Fellowships Obtained (2 total):
Fulbright Scholar Award, 2016-2017. To do cooperative instruction between the Pavla Jozef Safarik University and the Slovak Academy of Science’s Institute of Parasitology in the Slovak Republic and to do research on fish parasitic diseases.
Recipient, 2015-2016 Award for Excellence in Scholarly/ Creative Pursuits. USC Upstate’s highest award for excellence in scholarly accomplishments.
Recipient: 2016 Commemorative Medal of the Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice. Awarded by the rector of the Pavol Jozef Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia, for contribution to the development of the University via the completion of a Fulbright Fellowship. Awarded December 14, 2016.
Adjunct faculty member Dr. Kirk Neely has been honored by the Kiwanis Club of Spartanburg as Citizen of the Year.
Neely was honored Dec. 1 at a ceremony held at the Piedmont Club. He has taught religion courses at USC Upstate since 2012.
Congratulations, Dr. Neely!
Read more about the award.