Elon University professors Laura Roselle and Joel Karty have been selected as Senior Faculty Research Fellows for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.
The Presidential Task Force on Scholarship recommended in 2008 that the university create a competitive program to support excellence in ongoing scholarly work for senior faculty, faculty with a minimum of seven years in rank at Elon. The award comprises a two-course reassignment for two consecutive years, plus $2,000 per year in research funding, in support of a significant project or projects that advance an already well-established and promising research agenda.
Roselle, Professor of Political Science and Distinguished Scholar Award recipient in the spring of 2009, is interested in researching how political actors use communication processes to construct interests and identity, and legitimize policies and behaviors. With the support of the fellowship, she will complete two major projects related to her research agenda centered around strategic narratives. Working with two colleagues from Royal Holloway University of London, Roselle will complete an edited volume that will present the framework of and case study analyses on strategic narratives, addressing both international relations theory and political communication in a new media environment. Her second project is a single-authored work focusing on how strategic narratives function in and maintain alliances.
Karty, Associate Professor of Chemistry, is interested in resonance effects and inductive effects, two factors that govern a molecule’s stability. In particular, he is interested in studying the magnitude of each effect on system stability, especially when the two effects contribute simultaneously. Using a computational methodology he developed in earlier research, Karty aims to determine the magnitude of each effect’s contribution in specific, fundamental chemical systems. Karty’s research is designed to actively involve undergraduate students in primary chemical research. One of the chemical systems Karty has identified for study has been implicated in cancer formation and a second related closely to metabolism processes, opening up significant research possibilities for both Karty and the students working with him.
Roselle and Karty will join current Senior Faculty Research Fellows Anne Bolin, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, and Mary Jo Festle, Professor of History and Geography, who were inaugural fellowship recipients, and Yoram Lubling, Professor of Philosophy, and Clyde Ellis, Professor of History and Geography, who are in their first year of their fellowships.
A call for applications for Senior Faculty Research Fellowships is announced early each fall. All faculty with a minimum of seven years in rank at Elon, established records of scholarship, and robust project proposals with the potential to significantly advance their research agendas are encouraged to apply.