College of Arts and Sciences faculty members Roger Moseley and Lori Khatchadourian received the Robert and Helen Appel Fellowship for Humanists and Social Scientists, and Margo Crawford received the Robert A. and Donna B. Paul Academic Advising Award at a May 27 trustee-faculty dinner that recognized universitywide teaching and advising and newly tenured faculty.
“These exemplary faculty have made outstanding contributions to the college and we are proud to honor them,” said Gretchen Ritter ’83, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences. “We thank the Appels and the Pauls for their generous support of teaching and advising, so important to our college and our students.”
Khatchadourian, assistant professor of Near Eastern studies and a Milstein sesquicentennial fellow, researches the relationship between imperialism and the world of material things. Her recent book, “Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires,” develops an archaeological framework for understanding the endurance of imperial formations that centers on how things – from objects to built and natural landscapes – contribute to the making of political life under empire. The recipient of a Merrill Presidential Scholars Teaching Award, Khatchadourian takes pedagogy as seriously as she takes her own research; her class evaluations are uniformly stellar. Her innovative teaching style incorporates active learning techniques that empower students to participate actively in the learning process, creating a dynamic learning environment celebrated by her students.
Assistant professor of music Roger Moseley’s research explores how the concept of play has informed keyboard music as sonic practice and cultural technique. His interests include the music of Brahms, music-themed digital games, 18th- and 19th-century instrumental music, and improvisation. He is also active as a collaborative pianist on modern and historical instruments. His book, “Keys to Play: Music as a Ludic Medium From Apollo to Nintendo,” considers the playing of keyboards, both musical and at the computer, as a primary mode of musical behavior. His impact on teaching and the department’s curriculum has been impressive: He led a revision of the department’s music theory offerings, reconceiving them as largely practice-based. Moseley also led the department’s proposal that led to its receiving an Active Learning Initiative Grant to develop innovative software and hardware for teaching keyboard practice for the theory classes.
Associate professor of English Margo Crawford’s research interests include 20th- and 21st-century African-American literature and the full interdisciplinary range of global black studies. Her ongoing work is situated in black radical imaginations, with a particular interest in radical black feminism, black diaspora theory and black queer theory. She is the author of “Dilution Anxiety and the Black Phallus,” and the forthcoming “Black Post-Blackness: The Black Arts Movement and 21st-Century Black Aesthetics.” As the faculty director of Cornell’s Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research program, Crawford serves as mentor and role model to the fellows, who offer testimonials of enormous gratitude and unwavering praise. Her advisees all stress her dedication to the success of her students, describing how extremely generous she is with her time and energy.
The Paul academic advising fellowship was established in 1992 to honor undergraduate advisers who make a difference in the lives of their students. Recipients receive a semester's leave with full salary and fringe benefits.
The Appel fellowships have recognized faculty excellence since 1995 and give recipients a semester's sabbatical leave at full salary to write, develop new courses, conduct research or otherwise enrich their teaching and scholarship.
Other College of Arts and Sciences honorees include Alexander Ophir, assistant professor of psychology; Tom Ruttledge, senior lecturer in chemistry and chemical biology; and Nicholas Mason, ecology and evolutionary biology teaching assistant, recipients of the Stephen and Margery Russell Distinguished Teaching Award; and graduate students Nicholas Fletcher, ecology and evolutionary biology; Peregrine Gerard-Little, anthropology; Kelsey Houston-Edwards, English; and Jonathan Reinhardt, English, recipients of the Deanne Gebell Gitner ’66 and Family Annual Prize for Teaching Assistants.
This story also appeared in the Cornell Chronicle.
