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Academic Affairs Faculty Summer Research & Study Carol Bargeron, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of History Department of Humanities

Research Statement: “Contemporary Islamism— Hasan al-Turabi and the Case of Sudan.”

Published in 2009, my literary biog- raphy of the Shaykh al-Turabi exam- ined the body of his writings exten- sively. For the first time this research project concentrates upon identifying and elaborating his ideological per- spectives in three critical areas. The research in progress analyzes his views on the state in modernist Islamic thinking, critiques his ideas on the place and role of women in a mod- ern Islamic society, and develops his understanding of the intrinsic com- patibility of democracy and Islam. Two of the three most significant thinkers within the contemporary Islamist effort are Africans: one, Su- danese and the other, Tunisian. This project underlines the importance of modern African Muslim thinking to the vital enterprise of re-thinking the fundamentals of Islam in order to modernize and re-vitalize an inher- ently important historical tradition of thought and civilization.

Kimberly Kendricks Assistant Professor of Mathematics Research Interests: Groebner Basis Theory and its Applications

Research Statement: At the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications, Dr. Kimberly Kendricks collaborated with Dr. Volkan Isler from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota to ap- ply prior research in Groebner Basis Theory to an evasion gamer system where Dr. Kendricks studied game theoretic models for human behav- ior. By tracking human trajectories using VICON data, Dr. Kendricks developed a mathematical model to predict human behavior. Dr. Kend- ricks also worked collaboratively with colleagues on prior research in gait analysis at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. From these research experiences Dr. Kendricks submitted four articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of mathematics and biomechanics, and has already accepted an invitation to present this research at a national conference.

Mike Gormley Associate Professor / Acting Director Journalism and Mass Communications

Research Statement: Associate Professor of Journalism Mike Gormley participated in a month-long seminar sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities in Chicago over the sum- mer. The seminar, “From Metacom to Tecumseh,” concerned Indian history east of the Mississippi from the 1600s through the war of 1812.

Gormley used the time to begin a video project on outdoor historic dramas. In August, he participated in a weeklong multimedia workshop sponsored by the Dow Jones News Fund and the WKU School of Jour- nalism & Broadcasting.

Dr. Suzanne Seleem Associate Professor, Chair, Department of Natural Sciences

Research Statement: Waste disposal is one of the most common forms of environmental pollution today. Factories in the United States, as well as, around the world, dump industrial chemicals waste, including mercury, in places that we live and rely on for food. Mercury is potentially very dangerous to human beings. Mercury builds up in living systems over time and could have fatal effects. Dumping into the irrigation system would allow trace amounts into rain and into the soil where our produce is grown. This summer, Dr. Caruso from the Uni- versity of Cincinnati, Dr. Seleem, and two CSU Chemistry majors, Kristopher Wright and Cierra Bell worked with various mushrooms to gain forensic information regarding our environment and toxins. These fungi have the ability to absorb trace elements of potentially helpful as well as deadly toxic metals from the soil. The powdered mushroom samples will be digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrumen- tation at CSU & UC. The results should allow us to see how other met- als, example selenium if added, may reduce the harmful effects of mercury.

CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY 11

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