Faculty Grant News
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. Alex Yen, Associate Professor of Accounting, received corporate support for Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), the Accounting Honor Society, from Deloitte, PwC and alumni donors. Corporate and alumni support enables students to travel to national and regional BAP conferences and allows them to take advantage of the many scholastic and professional development opportunities that BAP has to offer without the additional financial burden of travel expenses.
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.
Dr. Bronwyn Heather Bleakley, Professor of Biology and SURE Faculty Coordinator, has been named as senior personnel and project advisor on a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant award from the Division of Biological Infrastructure coordinated by Agnes Scott College. With the goal of building research capacity at women’s colleges, the Women's College Biology Network for Faculty and Students (WoCoBio) aims to recruit faculty participants from nine historically all-women’s colleges and establish three working groups centered around different fields of biology (environmental biology, integrative organismal systems, and molecular and cellular biology).
Prof. Candice Smith Corby, Assistant Professor of Studio Arts, acquired artwork by Boston-based artist by Marie Anthony through a generous grant from an anonymous foundation. Grant funds supported the acquisition, professional framing, and installation of these colorful paintings, including works from the Chalice Series, which can now be seen in various places on campus for all to enjoy.
Dr. Solange Lopes, Assistant Professor of Accounting, and Dr. Dan Rogers, Associate Professor and Chair of Chemistry, were nominated by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and selected as the Stonehill College representatives to the Collegium-sponsored colloquy during the summer of 2024. Collegium is best known for its annual week-long June colloquy, where faculty of all (and no) religious backgrounds and disciplines learn about the legacy and priorities of Catholic higher education, ponder their own vocations as teachers and scholars, and discern how their commitments and talents can enhance the mission of their institution. The 2024 colloquy was held at College of the Holy Cross. Dr. Karen L. Anderson, Faculty Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), Professor of Education, and past colloquy participant and former Collegium board member, served as a mentor at this summer’s gathering.
Dr. Anna Lännström, Professor of Philosophy, has received an Integrating Virtue Together award from the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame. Together with faculty from across the country representing a variety of institutions and disciplines, Dr. Lännström worked on integrating practical virtue development into courses to be taught in the 2024 - 2025 academic year. 
Dr. Karen L. Anderson, Faculty Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and Professor of Education, received a grant from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) at the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. As one of only seven proposals funded nationwide, Karen’s project, Educating the Heart and Mind: Establishing a Data-Driven Approach to Character Development in the Holy Cross Tradition, is aligned with the purpose of the overarching grant to Wake Forest from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to strengthen the understanding, integration, and education of character in undergraduate institutions. 
Dr. Leyda Almodóvar Velázquez, Associate Professor of Mathematics, co-directed a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) at Brown University during the summer of 2023.  Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Graph Theoretical Model of DNA Self-Assembly featured a variety of research projects on the combinatorial and graph theoretical properties of DNA self-assembly.