BGSU Zoom News

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Grunden speaks on chemical weapons | Muir book named award finalist

Walter Grunden

Chemical weapons
Grunden invited to international conference

Of all the weapons of war, toxic chemicals are in some ways the most frightening and the least well known among the general public in the United States, said Dr. Walter Grunden, a history faculty member and expert on military history. From mustard gas to napalm to Agent Orange, many countries have used them at some point or are still using them, and there remains a disturbing number of them still sitting in storage today.

Grunden was invited to present a paper on Japan's use of chemical weapons against the Chinese in World War II at the recent international conference commemorating the 100th anniversary of the use of chemical warfare in Ypres, Belgium, during World War I. Held at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, it was co-sponsored by the Fritz Haber Institute, where the first modern chemical weapons were developed.

The presentations examined chemical warfare around the world since Ypres, including the recent attacks in Syria. Panelists included Nobel Prize nominees (including Dr. Matthew Meselson of Harvard, who was the force behind the cessation of Agent Orange use in Vietnam), and some of the leading scholars on chemical warfare throughout the world.

Sharona Muir

Muir novel named finalist for national award

The accolades continue for Dr. Sharona Muir's 2014 novel, "Invisible Beasts: Tales of the Animals That Go Unseen Among Us." It has been named a finalist for the 2015 Orion Book Award for fiction. Conferred by Orion Magazine since 2007, the annual award is "presented to books that deepen the reader's connection to the natural world through fresh ideas and excellence in writing," according to the publisher.

Muir, a faculty member in the Creative Writing Program, received wide acclaim in both the popular press and literary journals for "Invisible Beasts," published last July by Bellevue Literary Press of New York University. O, the Oprah magazine, recommended it in its August issue; it was named as "Top Indie Fiction" by Library Journal and chosen by Publisher's Weekly as a First Fiction selection and one of its July 14 Books of the Week, and was lauded in Kirkus Review.

Evans on unsafe Ohio dams - Columbus Dispatch

Success for iEvolve with STEM - Sandusky Register

Bowman on the death of top-ranking Mormon elder - Associated Press

Jex blogs for Psychology Today

Dr. Steve Jex, industrial/organizational psychology, is co-writing a regular blog column for Psychology Today called "Thriving Under Stress." Psychology Today is the preeminent magazine for psychology written for the popular press, with high readership of its website and blogs.

Jex's collaborator, Dr. Thomas Britt, is also co-author of their book, "Thriving Under Stress: Harnessing Demands in the Workplace."

The first two blog entries deal with the importance of detaching from work and thriving under stressful work.

VISIT THE BLOG

IN BRIEF

Teachers, professionals, parents and other caregivers of individuals with autism and Asperger's syndrome will hear the latest in research and activity at the 14th annual Autism Summit of Northwest Ohio at BGSU on June 12.

All employees who graduated in May or whose family members graduated are invited to submit photos of the happy occasion to be included on a special BGSU website.

"Lost Boy," a new look at the world of Peter Pan and Neverland, won the fifth annual Ronald M. Ruble New Play Festival, part of the Caryl Crane Youth Theatre at BGSU Firelands.

Get full details In Brief.