Faculty Grant News

Dr. Rebekah Louis, Assistant Professor/Coordinator of Graduate Clinical Experience and Director of Graduate Teacher Education, received a grant award in the amount of $190,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and will serve as principal investigator to continue Early Literacy Consortium programming during the 2025-2026 academic year. This initiative provides pre-K–12 educators and educator preparation faculty with opportunities to share effective practices, learn from each other, and better prepare educators in evidence-based early literacy, resulting in elevated early literacy instruction at the school, district, and higher education level. This year, the project partners are Braintree Public Schools, Milton Public Schools, Randolph Public Schools and Curry College. Dr. Lyndsey Benharris, Chair and Associate Professor of Education Studies, will serve as a literacy expert and will oversee the development and implementation of a literacy tutoring program in the partner districts.

Prof. Maureen Boyle, Associate Professor of Communication & Media Studies; Prof. Katie Elia-Shannon, Professor of Practice in Communication & Media Studies; Prof. Kevin Friend, Instructor of Communication & Media Studies; and Dr. Ron Leone, Chair and Professor of Communication & Media Studies, received a grant from the George I. Alden Trust to upgrade the production studio in the Duffy Academic Center. The grant funding, totaling $190,000, will be used to modernize audio and video systems, enhance studio lighting, install a control room window and create a dedicated computer lab and classroom space. These enhancements will expand the offerings of the Digital Media Production (DMP) program.

Dr. Karen L. Anderson, Faculty Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) and Professor of Education, received a Professional Development Award from NetVUE, the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education. Administered by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and supported by the Lilly Endowment Inc., NetVUE is a nationwide network formed to support and enrich vocational exploration and enrichment among undergraduate students. This $20,000 award will support the creation and implementation of a series of professional development opportunities across the academic year with the goal of developing a shared language and understanding of vocation in the Holy Cross tradition. 

The project is also supported by the NetVUE Big Read initiative. Complimentary copies of Called Beyond Our Selves: Vocation and the Common Good (Oxford, 2024) are being provided to Stonehill to augment various professional development activities (estimated value $800).

Prof. Amy Araujo, Instructor of Drawing in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, received a $5,000 award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council under its Grants for Creative Individuals program.  These unrestricted grants are competitively awarded to Massachusetts artists, culture bearers, and creative practitioners to equitably advance creative expression throughout the Commonwealth’s diverse communities. Prof. Araujo used the funding to support her project Metamorphosis, a series of 10 large-scale, self-portrait drawings. They are mixed media pieces ranging from 3.5 - 4.5 feet in width and 6 - 10 feet in length. 

Dr. Guiru “Ruby” Gu, Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering and Director of Photonics Program, and Dr. Cheryl Schnitzer, Professor of Chemistry and Director of Photonics & Optical Engineering Certificate Program, were designated as Manufacturing USA Modern Makers for 2025.  This award recognizes “individuals whose sense of purpose embodies the Manufacturing USA mission to secure the future of U.S. manufacturing through innovation, education, and collaboration.”  As founders of the Photonics initiatives on campus, Drs. Gu and Schnitzer have designed curriculum and programming, secured equipment and support for participants, mentored students, and fostered partnerships to establish and strengthen manufacturing career pipelines. The Manufacturing USA network is operated by the interagency Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, which is headquartered in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in the Department of Commerce. The office operates in partnership with the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Labor. 

Dr. Rebekah Louis, Assistant Professor/Coordinator of Graduate Clinical Experience and Director of Graduate Teacher Education, received a grant award in the amount of $49,620 from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to further support and expand Stonehill's participation in the Early Literacy Consortium.  Stonehill partnered with Curry College to assist in promoting DESE's Early Literacy in Educator Preparation initiative, by offering targeted professional training and strategies to instructors in the Milton and Randolph school systems in order to improve students' early literacy outcomes.  Dr. Louis served as the project's principal investigator, while Dr. Lyndsey Benharris, Chair and Associate Professor of Education Studies, provided additional literacy expertise.  Their Curry College partners were Dr. Amy Leshinsky, Director of Graduate Programs in Education and Assistant Professor of Education, and Dr. Giordana Basta, Chair and Associate Professor of Education. The group offered literacy-based programming and strategies to eight literacy leaders (four from each district) and targeted training to an additional eight program supervisors and supervising practitioners. The funding also provided high quality curricular materials and literacy texts to participants.   

Ms. Fatima Seuffert, Instrument and Laboratory Support Manager, Department of Chemistry; Dr. Marilena Hall, Professor of Chemistry; and Dr. Daniel Rogers, Chair and Associate Professor of Chemistry, received a gift of $216,400 from Eugene Cassis Jr. '78 & Mary Cassis to support the Cassis Science Equipment Fund.  Supporting the entire Chemistry Department, this fund allows for the continuous upgrade of equipment within the department.  These gifts are additionally impactful as much of the equipment is also used by other departments and programs in the Shields Science Center.  This most recent commitment will support the purchase and maintenance of a Waters XEVO TQ-S Micro Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer and an Acquity UPLC H-Class System (liquid chromatography). 

Dr. Hassan Bajwa, Chair and Professor of Engineering, has received confirmation of an equipment donation from Cardinal Health.  The gift of two robotic arms is valued at $76,726. The cutting-edge technology will be used to support a myriad of student projects that will be advised by Dr. Sam Goree, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, and Dr. Shahrokh Sani, Associate Professor of Engineering.  

Dr. Uma Hiremath, Assistant Director for Public Services for the MacPháidín Library, received a Conference Scholarship from the Massachusetts Library System (MLS), a state-supported collaborative that fosters cooperation, communication, innovation, and sharing among member libraries of all types. The award will support Dr. Hiremath’s attendance at the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) 2025 Conference in Minneapolis, MN in April. The theme of this year’s national gathering is Democratizing Knowledge + Access + Opportunities.

Dr. Alexandra Uhl, Instructor of Anthropology, is continuing her partnership with the Battle of Rhode Island Association (BoRIA) as the lead archaeologist for a survey project at Butts Hill Fort in Portsmouth, RI.  The organization was recently awarded $71,749 from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation to acquire historic archaeological research equipment and to provide student research support. Additionally, BoRIA received a $5000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for archaeological consultation. Last summer, Dr. Uhl offered ANT 350 Topics in Anthropology/HIS 306 Topics in Cultural History: Archaeological Field School at Revolutionary War Fort, also supported with a van Beuren Charitable Foundation grant of $25,000 to BoRIA.

Dr. Karen L. Anderson, Faculty Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and Professor of Education, along with four members from different Holy Cross institutions, has been awarded a Collegium Catalyst Grant. Under the leadership of Dr. Chris Haug, Provincial Assistant & Director of Apostolic Mission & Charism for the Congregation of Holy Cross, their project Collegium Sainte-Croix Charism Reunion Retreat will establish an annual event for Collegium alums from Holy Cross Institutions to continue dialogue, reflection and collaboration, the first of which is scheduled to take place at the Holy Cross Retreat Center here in Easton in June 2025.

Prof. Adam Lampton’s, Associate Professor and Chair of Visual & Performing Arts, recent publication Nothing Serious Can Happen Here: Photographs from Macau [Kehrer Verlag, 2024] has been named a finalist for the 2024 Lucie Photo Book Prize first book category. The work, initially supported by a Fulbright fellowship, highlights the growth of the casino industry and Chinese-Portuguese heritage in Macau. 

Dr. Cheryl Schnitzer, Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Photonics & Optical Engineering Certificate Program, assisted the candidacy of six students in Stonehill’s 2024-2025 Photonics & Optical Engineering Certificate program to the Advanced Technology Technician Training (AT3) Program. All six students secured acceptance into this National Science Foundation (NSF) funded initiative that will provide monetary assistance to ensure internship completion.  

Dr. Kevin Carriere, Assistant Professor of Psychology, received a SAGE Early Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). These awards recognize the outstanding achievements by early career scholars in social and personality psychology, including contributions to teaching, research, or service to the field. As one of only nine awardees in this category, Dr. Carriere will use the $2,000 to do a follow-up study on a collaborative research project.

Dr. Kristi Burkholder, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, received a Scholarship Award in the amount of $4,750 to attend the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Leadership Institute, a leadership development program for higher education professionals.   

Dr. Kevin Carriere, Assistant Professor of Psychology, received a grant of $2,670 from the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence. This Division supports researchers who are applying the knowledge and methods of psychology in the advancement of peace and prevention of violence and destructive conflict.    

Dr. John McCoy, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, along with his collaborators, Drs. Vivian Cristofaro and Maryrose Sullivan, co-Principal Investigators, VABHS and Harvard Medical School, were awarded continuation funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Boston Healthcare System (VABHS) in the amount of $599,980.  The goal of the project, ASPIRE: Advancing Scientific Potential through Inclusive Research Experience, continues to be the enhancement of the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, health services and rehabilitative research workforce at the VA.  The initiative fulfills its objectives by providing undergraduate students from underrepresented groups with a mentored research experience at VABHS early in students’ college programs.    

Dr. Kathleen Currul-Dykeman, Director of the Martin Institute for Law & Society and Chair of the Department of Criminology, received $25,000 from the Trustees of the Home for Aged Men in the City of Brockton (Howard Home) to support the Martin Institute Senior Enrichment Program. The Martin Institute’s Senior Enrichment Program continues to provide a robust slate of programs to seniors throughout the academic year.  

Dr. Elizabeth Stringer Keefe, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies and Professor, Graduate Teacher Education, Dr. Allison LeClair, Assistant Director of Accreditation and Assessment, and Dr. Rebekah Louis, Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Teacher Education, entered into a contract with DESE in the amount of $520,000 to establish one of five regional licensing assistance centers to support the over 4,000 educators in the state employed under an emergency license. The Regional Licensure Assistance Center at Stonehill College primarily serves the regions of Worcester and Middlesex counties. Stonehill is providing customized assistance including test preparation resources and vouchers to take the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) and other services crucial to the retention of teachers whose licenses are expiring.   

Dr. Shari Lowin, Professor of Religious Studies and Theology, has been awarded a Fellowship Grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture (MFJC).  The purpose of the MFJC Fellowship program is to assist well-qualified individuals in carrying out an independent scholarly, literary or art project, in a field of Jewish specialization, which makes a significant contribution to the understanding, preservation or transmission of Jewish culture.  

Dr. Elizabeth Stringer Keefe, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies and Associate Professor, Graduate Teacher Education, and Dr. Rebekah Louis, Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Teacher Education, collaborated with Randolph Public Schools to secure a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The award of $71,337 through DESE’s Teacher Diversification Pilot Program supports tuition for the district’s educators in Stonehill’s Inclusive Education master’s degree and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity graduate certificate programs. Additionally, they received an additional $234,638 from DESE to continue to support tuition for the IE master's degree and DEI certificate programs into a second year. 

Dr. Marilena Hall, Professor of Chemistry, along with five faculty members from different Catholic colleges/universities, was awarded a Collegium Catalyst Grant. The six faculty members, who met at the 2023 Collegium Colloquy, convened at King’s College to participate in a live panel discussion and share their experiences of the Colloquy, the impact of their engagement on their home institutions, and ideas for how the Catholic intellectual tradition can support transformational missions at faith-based colleges and universities.  

Dr. Elif Sisli Ciamarra, Professor of Business Administration and Finance Department Chair, served as a Global Fellow at the University of Brighton in England during the Spring 2024 semester.  As a highly competitive, worldwide program, the Global Fellowship Scheme enables academics from non-UK countries to undertake research within the unique research and knowledge exchange community at the university. Dr. Ciamarra is collaborated with Dr. Ceylan Onay Sahin, Senior Lecturer, School of Business and Law, on a project that explores the relationship between fintech lending and financial inclusion.  

Dr. Rebekah Louis, Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Teacher Education, received a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to participate in an Early Literacy Professional Learning Community, committed to advancing evidence-based, culturally and linguistically sustaining early literacy practices across the state.    

Prof. Amra Brooks, Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing Program Director, was selected to join the March Cohort: Caregiver Residency at The Weddingcake House sponsored by The Dirt Palace, a feminist arts organization that specializes in artist residencies and exhibitions in Providence, RI.  Prof. Brooks was also named a 2024 Artist-in-Residence at Hewnoaks. Situated on Kezar Lake in Lovell, Maine, Hewnoaks provides artists across all disciplines and career stages unencumbered time to think, work, and experiment.