Assistant Professor of Art John Watson has recent sculptures and drawings on display at Vanderbilt University Space 204. The exhibition opens Aug. 22 and runs through Sept. 27. Working primarily with reclaimed wood, Watson creates sculptures that are architectural in reference. The cast-offs of trade and industry or the discarded gems from remodeling projects are collected and repurposed into objects and installations.

Dr. Teresa Plummer, assistant professor of occupational therapy, recently presented at the annual conference of the Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDSRA) held in Nashville, Tenn. Plummer shared her expertise in a presentation on handling and positioning children with Batten disease and assistive technology products for children with the disease.

Batten disease affects children from birth and causes mental impairment, worsening seizures, and progressive loss of sight and motor skills over time.  Eventually, the child becomes blind, bedridden and unable to communicate, and the disease is always fatal.  Although Batten disease and related disorders are considered rare, they often strike more than one person in families that carry the defective gene.

BDSRA was formed in 1987 by a family who had three children with the disease.  The association provides technical assistance and support to families who battle the disease while promoting research and education.

Dr. Noel Boyle, associate professor of philosophy, published a chapter in Chronic Illness and Spirituality. His chapter is titled “In Spite Of: Reflecting on My Son’s Pain and Suffering.”

Boyle’s son, Ciaran, now 13, has a rare and destructive seizure disorder known as Dravet’s Syndrome. Boyle tells the story of Ciaran’s suffering, including numerous brain operations, days with hundreds of seizures each, seizures lasting for hours, the isolation of lacking language skills altogether and about 1,000 nights in the hospital.

Refusing easy answers that deny the reality and purposelessness of Ciaran’s suffering and isolation, Boyle builds on the work of existentialist theologian Paul Tillich to find a more genuine standpoint from which to reflect on Ciaran’s suffering. Tillich maintains that, instead of fleeing from anxieties regarding such things as death and meaninglessness, we need to embrace them and take them on.

Following Tillich’s lead, Boyle does not deny Ciaran’s suffering, but asks whether joy exists in spite of his suffering, whether meaning emerges in spite of the pointlessness of Ciaran’s pain. While holding that authentic affirmative answers to these questions do not and cannot, come easily, Boyle suggests that they do come. In the end, Boyle suggests that an honest confrontation with Ciaran’s suffering has helped him more clearly what Tillich calls “the God who appears when God disappears in the anxiety of doubt.”

Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn, professor of philosophy, has published “First Contact: The Earliest Western Views of Daoism in Matteo Ricci’s Journals,” in The Dynamics of Cultural Counterpoint in Asian Studies (SUNY Press, 2013).

He has also been asked to respond to the panel on his book Daoism: An Introduction at the 9^th International Conference on Daoist studies at Boston University on May 30 and June 1, 2014.

Dr. Pete Giordano, professor of psychological science, is one of six managing editors on The Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural Psychology, a three-volume book recently published by Wiley-Blackwell. It presents a collection of current state of knowledge relating to the fields of cross-cultural, cultural and indigenous psychology.  Kenneth Keith of the University of San Diego is the editor-in-chief of the book.  In addition to serving as one of the managing editors, Giordano also published three Encyclopedia entries on personality, personality assessment and the cultural psychologist Jaan Valsiner.

Research and Instruction Librarian Claire Walker, along with a small team visited, Cap Haitien, Haiti in May to continue work on the library at the College du Souverain. The library was developed in 2008 by Walker and has been maintained by school teachers and the principal. During this trip the team took inventory at the library, identified future needs and led a workshop for teachers on how to use books in the classroom.