News Release

Publishing Celebration honors 10 faculty members

March 25, 2009

Books ranging from hunting in Pennsylvania, to business improvement districts, to a pictorial history of Steelton were among those honored March 19 when Penn State Harrisburg recognized 10 faculty members at its annual Publishing Celebration.

Hosted by the college’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies, the annual event honors faculty, staff, and students whose works have been published in the past year.

In her welcome at the celebration, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Marian Walters said, “This is a marvelous chance for us to highlight the great achievements of our highly creative faculty. The rich range of topics and depth of scholarship we recognize today is a reflection of our research and teaching excellence.”

Honored at the 2009 celebration, the titles of their works, and the publisher were:

Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy Jeremy Plant, Western Maryland Railway in Color, Volume Two and Penn Central Railroad in Color, Volume One (Morning Sun Books)

Professor Emeritus of American Studies and History Irwin Richman, The Landis Family: A Pennsylvania German Family Album (Arcadia Publishing) and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Postcards Featuring the Collection of the Landis Valley Museum (Schiffer Publishing).

Professor of American Studies and Social Science Michael Barton and Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Folklore Simon Bronner, Steelton (Arcadia Publishing)

Simon Bronner, Inside Hunting and Animal Rights Controversies: Killing Tradition (University Press of Kentucky).

Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations JoVictoria Nicholson-Goodman, Autobiography of a Democratic Nation at Risk: The Currere of Culture and Citizenship in the Post 9/11 American Wilderness (Peter Lang Publishing).

Professor of Humanities and Philosophy Glen A. Mazis, Humans, Animals, Machines: Blurring Boundaries (SUNY Press)

Professor of Criminal Justice Shaun L. Gabbidon, Race and Crime, Second Edition (Sage Publications)

Associate Professor of Health Education Raffy R. Luquis, Cultural Competence in Health Education and Health Promotion (Jossey-Bass)

Professor of Environmental Engineering Yuefeng Xie, Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water: Occurrence, Formation, Health Effects, and Control (Oxford University Press).

Associate Professor of Public Affairs Goktug Morcol, Complexity and Policy Analysis: Tools and Methods for Designing Robust Policies in a Complex World (ISEC Publishing) and Business Improvement Districts: Research, Theories, and Controversies (CRC Press).

Plant explains his volumes are “basically coffee table works that capture America through railroads.” He also noted that two more volumes for the Penn Central series are completed and he’s working on a fourth.

Although retired, Richman continues to publish. “I’ve been working with the Landis Valley Museum for more than 40 years,” he said. The Landis family book profiles the family which founded the museum and the postcard book featuring glimpses of Lancaster County from the late 1800s to early 1900s show the “changes and evolution of the region as a tourist destination.”

Barton viewed his collaboration with Bronner as “a great opportunity to learn more about Steelton and encourage its residents to collect more of their history.” Photos in the volume were drawn from the extensive Yetter collection of Steelton history, donated to Penn State Harrisburg by John Yetter.

Bronner’s look at hunting is a “series of case studies pitting animal rights advocates versus hunters,” he says. In the works for a number of years, Bronner says his Fulbright-supported study in The Netherlands brought things into perspective as he observed hunting and animal rights in Europe.

Goodman’s first book is an effort to answer the question, who do we say we are as a nation? “As we operate in an era of uncertainty, I look at the meaning of nation and the meaning of citizen,” she states. Drawing from texts and speeches, Goodman utilizes social mapping to explore America and its sense of itself.

Mazis explains his philosophical effort came about when he realized there had been little previous comparative research on the environmental impact and interactions of humans, animals, and machines. “It (the book) is a particular way of bringing humans, animals, and machines together whey had not been done before,” he states.

Gabbidon’s book examines the history of the intersection of racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. and the criminal justice system, while Xie’s effort is a continuation of his environmental engineering focus and research into drinking water hazards and way to overcome them.

Luquis publication has a two-fold purpose – as a textbook and as a reference guide for working professionals. Drawing upon colleagues for chapters, Luquis says, “It looks at race, ethnicity, and culture in health education and health promotion and includes strategies, communications assistance, and sexual orientation issues.”

Morcol’s two topics “represent my two parallel universes in which I live,” he muses. Business districts are “invisible” in the U.S., he notes, yet there are 1,000 of them. The book deals with current research and issues surrounding the districts which are “almost a city in a small scale; a micro-government.” One of the few volumes to address complexity in policy analysis, his second effort is “a springboard to build my next book.”