The College of Arts & Sciences International Travel Fund (ITF) provides funding for tenured and tenure-track faculty to conduct research abroad or present at an international conference. The fund makes matching awards of up to $1000. Since July 2024, the college’s Office of Research has supported international travel by several faculty members.
Cybelle McFadden (Languages, Literatures, and Cultures) traveled to the Netherlands in summer 2024 to present a paper, “Diversity in French Cinematic Space: Transatlantic Platforms and Culture,” at the Representation of Diversity in Mediated Popular Culture in the Twenty-First Century conference hosted by Erasmus University. The paper considers how platforms such as Netflix have made watching French and Francophone films more accessible, and it examines the ways in which specific French spaces may be understood or misunderstood when seen by spectators in different cultural contexts. Dr. McFadden says, “At this conference, I enjoyed hearing a range of perspectives on diversity and media in a larger global framework. My research benefited from this expanded range of cross-cultural analysis.”
Maya Chhetri (Mathematics & Statistics) traveled to Sicily, Italy in July 2024 to visit with her close collaborator Prof. Francesca Faraci, at the University of Catania. Dr. Chhetri reports the trip allowed her and Faraci “extended, focused time to brainstorm new and exciting project ideas,” leading to a new project now underway that builds on previously published joint articles. During her trip, Dr. Chhetri also presented an invited talk at a special session of the Joint Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and Unione Matematica Italiana, held at the University of Palermo, Sicily. As a result, she has been invited by the Differential Equations Group of North-East (DEG1) to give an hour-long webinar, as several members of this group were also speakers at the special session. Chhetri says the opportunities afforded by the trip will have “long-lasting impacts on my research and collaborations.”
Anatoly Miroshnichenko (Physics and Astronomy) traveled to Almaty, Kazakhstan, in October 2024 for an international conference on astrophysics entitled “Hot Stars: Life with Circumstellar Matter.” Dr. Miroshnichenko was the primary conference organizer and chair of the scientific committee. The event was attended by over 70 astronomers from 17 countries. In addition to leading the conference, Dr. Miroshnichenko presented important results obtained at the Three College Observatory (TCO), which he directs. The TCO results were processed by Dr. Miroshnichenko, other UNCG astronomers (Profs. Danford and Aarnio) and UNCG student Holly Buroughs, as well as 8 students from the host university (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) who worked under his supervision. Dr. Miroshnichenko is currently serving as the main editor of the conference proceedings, which he expects to be published in the international research journal “Galaxies.”
Veronica Grossi (Languages, Literatures, and Cultures) traveled to Mexico for the International Book Fair of Guadalajara in November 2024. During the event, Dr. Grossi attended readings, lectures, and presentations — including talks by Mia Couto, a Portuguese writer, and by Abdulrazak Gurnah, recipient of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. Dr. Grossi made a presentation during the book fair titled Carácter, Patrimonio artístico UANL. She also met with the editorial team of the literary journal Luvina, Revista literaria de la Universidad de Guadalajara to discuss future projects, and she attended an exhibit of La Hoja En Blanco (The Blank Page) by the artist José Ignacio Solórzano (JIS). A short poem by Grossi is part of the exhibit. Throughout the week-long event, she met with many other academics and writers to discuss potential projects.
Teresa Walch (History) traveled to Berlin, Germany to conduct archival research on Nazism and Nazi Exiles in South America. Dr. Walch reports: “I had an incredibly productive week in Berlin in December. I spent two days in the Archives of the Foreign Office, two days in the Federal Archives, and one full day at the State Library of Berlin (plus some late nights in these archives, as well). I collected tons of important primary source materials for an article I am writing on the history of Nazism in Chile. I was invited to write and submit this article to a volume on ‘Global Nazism,’ edited by expert senior colleagues in my field. This article will serve as the foundation for a larger (second) book project on Nazism and Nazi exiles in the ‘Southern Cone’ of South America.”
Ratnasingham Shivaji (Mathematics and Statistics) traveled to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in December 2024 to take part in the AIMS conference on Dynamical Systems, Differential Equations and Applications. “At the conference, I had the honor of presenting two invited special session talks,” Dr. Shivaji reported. “I also had the opportunity to meet renowned researchers from around the world, as well as reconnect with several of my former PhD students.” From Abu Dhabi, Dr. Shivaji traveled to the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka where he gave several lectures and connected with faculty and students.
The CAS International Travel Fund is supported in part by the College’s Advancement Council.