Presentation of Sabbatical/Leave Recipients 2016
Jonathan Sanford, Ph.D., Dean, Constantin College
Sabbatical Awards Announcements
King-Haggar Awards Ceremony, UD, Jonathan J. Sanford, Dean of CCLA
It is my distinct privilege and great pleasure to share with you the names of the sabbatical recipients:
Mark Goodwin, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Theology
Spring 2017
Dr. Goodwin has, as you know, taken on a great deal of administrative work in the past five years between chairing his own department, serving as the Interim Dean of the Neuhoff Institute for Ministry & Evangelization between 2012-2014, and organizing the outstanding Nostra Aetate events of this academic year. We are all indebted to him for his many services.
He is eager to step away from those duties and to dedicate focused time to scholarship again. The first order of business is the completion of an article on St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans which he plans to submit to the Journal of Biblical Literature. After that, he plans to devote extensive research time to the following three projects: an article on another letter of Paul’s, 2 Corinthians and its use of sacrificial imagery drawn from Jewish background; a book on Pauline theology viewed from a Catholic perspective; and, developing 1-2 formal presentations for a Pauline seminar group that meets once a year as part of the Catholic Biblical Association. In each of these projects Dr. Goodwin will be seeking to understand Paul’s thought in his own ancient context, but then also drawing out the implications of this understanding for a contemporary interpretation of St. Paul.
Congratulations, Mark, and best wishes as you fight the good fight of biblical interpretation.
Thomas Jodziewicz, Ph.D., Professor of History
Spring 2017
Dr. Jodziewicz has been working through the correspondence between Fr. John Carroll, the first American Bishop, and Fr. Charles Plowden, a fellow Jesuit and Englishman for the last several years. In about 100 letters, Bishop Carroll reflects on the challenges of organizing a but-recently tolerated Church in the US, and his English colleague, Fr. Plowden, also in about 100 letters, kept Bishop Carroll abreast of disputes within the English Catholic community and of prospects for relief from the penal laws. This correspondence was carried on through the time of the French revolution and the war of 1812, and so a time marked by the separation of church and state, religious toleration and liberty and a commitment to republicanism. In part because they did not always agree, the Carroll-Plowden correspondence provides a unique portrait of the Catholic perspective during a pivotal time in history.
Dr. Jodziewicz’s manuscript provides introductions to those letters in the correspondence that are most historically significant, and extended footnotes to them. He plans to use his sabbatical to complete the writing and editing of his manuscript.
Congratulations, Tom, and we wish you godspeed on the completion of this project.
Kyle Lemieux, M.F.A., Associate Professor and Chair of Drama, Director of University Theatre
Spring 2017
Professor Lemieux has two main aims for his sabbatical. The first is to hone his skills in the areas of Arts Management and Arts Leadership. He is the founder, producer and artistic director of the Dallas Actor’s Lab, a company which has achieved both critical success and financial stability in a few short years, and to build on that success Professor Lemieux intends to study intimately both a local theatre company of national prominence by taking up residence as a guest artist and administrator, and to serve several mini-residences at theatre companies in New York and Chicago.
Professor Lemieux’s second goal is to revive his artistic work as an actor. Between teaching, directing, and serving as chair of Drama, Professor Lemieux’s own work as an actor has taken a back seat. Renewing his primary art form will, he anticipates, not only refresh his own creative work, but make him a better teacher, director, and administrator.
Congratulations, Kyle; and, break a leg.
Tiffany Miller, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Politics and Director of the Grad. Program
2016-17 Academic Year
Dr. Miller will be spending her sabbatical working to complete a book on 20th Century Political Thought and Public Policy, a work that was first inspired when she began teaching courses on the theme in 2003. The standard interpretation that the reforms which resulted in the so-called “welfare state” were consistent with the founders’ vision of democracy and so a mere reaction to changing circumstances, Dr. Miller will be arguing, profoundly oversimplifies what was in fact a complex re-evaluation of the very nature of political life. Central to her thesis, then, is the claim that the progressive transformation of American government was a transformation and reconstitution of the fundamental principles of government, especially as it envisions the relationship between the individual and his or her government, a reconstitution which looked to Hegel as its head. Dr. Miller contends, moreover, that there are both destructive and constructive elements to these new developments, and she intends to consider both in order to explore thoroughly the progressive transformation of American government.
Dr. Miller has already done much of the necessary research on the extensive writings of those responsible for shaping 20th Century Political Thought, and she intends to spend about 2/3 of her leave time writing up that research, and another 1/3 wading through additional research.
Congratulations, Tiffany, and all the best on this monumental project.
John Osoinach, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Chair of Mathematics
Fall 2016
Dr. Osoinach, drawing on more than 25 years of teaching experience at liberal arts colleges, intends to make substantial progress in writing a new textbook for Calculus. Not much has changed in the world of textbook approaches to Calculus over the last quarter century, which given the stability of this approach to mathematics may not seem surprising, but it should be surprising given the advances in approaches with respect to how best to teach Calculus.
What Dr. Osoinach intends is a textbook tailored especially for the needs and interests of University of Dallas students and which incorporates the innovative teaching methods of UD’s mathematics department. Dr. Osoinach’s basic approach will be to present Calculus as the natural development of major themes from traditional mathematical topics. This will provide the natural context for making sense of Calculus as a development in mathematics, as opposed to a sui generis discipline that one must merely master; thus, our students will be enabled to appreciate the integrity of Calculus with other mathematical theories and indeed with the rest of their liberal education.
Congratulations, John, and best wishes on this noble task.
Philipp Rosemann, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Philosophy
Fall 2016
Dr. Rosemann intends to work on a book for which he has already obtained a contract, with Eerdmans, and which will appear in a series associated with the Radical Orthodoxy movement. That contract, secured some years ago, had to be extended due to the service that Dr. Rosemann has provided the university as Chair of his department as well as the gift he has provided the profession through his editorial work for the Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations series. As grateful as we are for those services, we are happy that Dr. Rosemann will be able to devote himself to his book entitled, Transgression.
The main thesis of this provocatively entitled book is that a transgressive moment is inherent to the Christian tradition. This work will allow Dr. Rosemann to engage in systematic philosophical and theological reflection and to bring his knowledge of contemporary thought to bear on the Christian tradition. Though, as he himself notes, his thesis is not completely original, Dr. Rosemann does anticipate surprising his audience with his postmodern interpretations of Thomas Aquinas.
Congratulations, Philipp; and, we look forward to being surprised.
Bernadette Waterman Ward, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, President of Eta Chapter, Phi Beta Kappa
2016-17 Academic Year
Dr. Waterman Ward has served well her profession, the university, and the local community in a great many ways in recent years. She has been serving as secretary for the Newman Society of America through a tumultuous period of its history, and has safely seen it establish its footing once more. She has twice served as President of Phi Beta Kappa at UD, she directs two writing groups, one for adults and the other for local high school aged children, and she weekly teaches English to Spanish speakers through St. Luke’s parish. Through it all, Dr. Waterman Ward has managed to complete a number of smaller projects, but she longs to bring to fruition a major work that she has had in mind for some years.
Dr. Waterman Ward’s book project, Eliot’s Angels: Mimesis and Ethics in the Novels of George Eliot, will be drawing not only her extensive background in Eliot studies, but her intimate and rich knowledge of Rene Girard. Since 2008 several of Dr. Waterman Ward’s graduate students have been able to utilize her paradigm for Eliot studies as a successful springboard for their own studies, and she is eager to make her work available to scholars in the wider academic community.
Congratulations, Bernadette, and may the intercession of Rene Girard help guide your project to its best completion.