Department News

Faculty News - Spring 2005

Dr. LeForge Has Busy Year Professionally

Dr. Judy LeForge, Assistant Professor of History, had a very active 2004-2005 academic year professionally. In September, she went to the University of Memphis to present a paper called “The First Civil Rights Movement: The National Colored Conventions, 1830-1879” at the Tennessee Conference of Historians. She also attended the Ohio Valley History Conference at Tennessee Tech University in October and the Southern Historical Association Conference in Memphis in November. Her article named “Historical Overview of Lotteries in Tennessee” appeared in the fall 2004 issue of Journal of the Union Faculty Forum. In addition, she began work on an article entitled “Tennessee 1796 Constitution: Preparation for Statehood” after receiving an invitation to contribute an essay to the Third Edition of the book Tennessee: State of the Nation.

Dr. LeForge’s professional commitments and travels continued in the spring. In late February, she attended the Fifth Annual Civil Rights Conference at the University of Tennessee at Martin. On April 2, she was among a group of faculty and students who attended the Kentucky Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at Murray State University. On April 6, she took her Tennessee History and Government class on a field trip to the State Capitol in Nashville, where students met with two state representatives, had their picture made with the governor, and observed a session of the House of Representatives. She was back in Nashville a week later for a Tennessee Education Summit at the Nashville Public Library. Finally, Dr. LeForge traveled to the University of West Alabama in late April to present a paper on “Alabama’s Colored Conventions and the Exodus Movement” at the First Symposium on the History and Culture of the Black Belt. The Livingston Press will publish the article as a part of the Proceedings of the First West Alabama Black Belt Symposium.

Dr. Evans Presents Paper, Elected TPSA Vice President

Dr. Sean Evans, Assistant Professor of Political Science, traveled to two political science conferences in first half of 2005. In January, he attended the Southern Political Science Association Conference in New Orleans and presented a paper entitled “The Moderation Hypothesis in State and Local Southern Elections.” In April, he went to the Tennessee Political Science Association Conference at Fall Creek Falls State Park, where he completed his term as secretary of the association’s executive committee. At the conference, he was elected the TPSA vice president for 2005-2006.

Cooney Presents Paper, Receives promotion (March 21, 2005)

Professor Kevin Cooney presented a paper at the International Studies Association’s Annual convention in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 2, 2005. The paper was entitled: “Alternative Visions of Japanese Security: The Role of Absolute and Relative Gains in the making of Japanese Security Policy.” He also chaired a panel on Future Studies on March 4. In addition to this, on April 8th he published a short piece for the Japanese Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM) on the life, legacy, and impact of Pope John Paul II on world affairs. Lastly, Dr. Cooney has received a promotion from the rank of assistant professor to that of associate professor of Political Science.