Accounting Professor Paul Piwko, MBA, and Alexandra Orlandi ’19 incorporated their National Museum of Mental Health Project (NMMHP), a “museum without walls.” The Museum’s purpose is to form new perspectives and understanding of mental health issues. Initially launched in 2019 after completing a research fellowship at Assumption about mental health exhibitions, Prof. Piwko and Orlandi created the NMMHP to share information and research regarding exhibitions about mental health in the U.S. While their initial mission was to showcase the exhibits developed by others, mainly through op-eds about the benefits of mental health exhibitions, the NMMHP now has an expanded mission that also includes the development of its own virtual exhibitions.
James M. Lang, Ph.D., professor of English and director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence, published a book about combating distracted learning environments. Prof. Lang’s book, Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, concentrates on ways educators can modify their teaching methods and structure their classroom to be a more focused environment for their easily distracted, technology- obsessed students.
Assumption Professors Cinzia Pica-Smith, Ed.D., and Carl Robert Keyes, Ph.D., presented lectures as part of a series on social justice for the Shrewsbury and Tewksbury public libraries, presented in collaboration with Libraries Working Towards Social Justice. Prof. Pica-Smith, associate professor of human services and rehabilitation studies and director of the University’s women’s studies program, delivered a talk titled “The Importance of Interracial Friendships” and discussed her research on cross-race friendships among youth and, in particular, why they are so rare in both children and adults. Prof. Keyes, professor in and chair of the Department of History, presented “Advertising, Enslaved People, and the Role of the Press in Maintaining Slavery in the Era of the American Revolution,” in which he examined what modern audi- ences can learn about the experiences of enslaved people from advertisements published in newspapers from New England to Georgia during the era of the American Revolution.
Bonnie Catto, Ph.D., who has been a professor of classics at Assumption for more than 30 years, retired at the end of the 2020–21 academic year. During her time at the University, she taught courses in Latin, Greek, classics in translation, and Roman history.
