Libby Balter Blume, professor of Psychology, presented the paper, "Dialectics of Ethnic Identity" with Iren Assar and Leena Hadied, doctoral students in Clinical Psychology, at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Identity Formation, March 24 in Washington, D.C. Balter Blume was also an invited speaker at the Second Biennial Developmental Science Teaching Institute of the Society for Research on Child Development, March 28 in Boston. Blume's talk, "Teaching Middle Childhood," was based on her latest textbook, Middle Childhood Development: A Contextual Approach, to be published next summer by Merrill Education.

Nancy Calley, assistant professor of Counseling & Addiction Studies, was the keynote speaker for the International Association of Addictions and Offenders Counseling annual meeting during the American Counseling Association conference in March. She presented "Empathy-Promoting Strategies for Juvenile Sex Offenders."

Claire Crabtree, professor of English and Women's Studies, had two poems, "Primordial," and "At the Peasant Museum, Bucharest," published in the March 2007 online edition of Innisfree Poetry Journal.

Roy E. Finkenbine, professor of History, has contributed entries on "Christiana Riot (1851)," "Fugitive Slave Acts, State," "Personal Liberty Laws," "Seamen's Acts," and "Shadrach Fugitive Slave Case" to Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia, edited by Junius P. Rodriguez (ABC-Clio, 2007). Finkenbine also gave the presentation, "'Making It Real' in a Virtual Age: Using Electronic Primary Source Databases in the History Classroom," at the biannual meeting of the Metro-Detroit Historians' Collegium, April 13 at Henry Ford Community College.

John Freeman, professor of English, has published "Utopia, Incorporated: Reassessing Intellectual Property Rights to 'The Island,'" as the lead article in the University of Massachusetts' English Literary.

Nancy Gibney, assistant professor of education, co-chaired the spring student teacher conference "Meeting Challenges—Creating Opportunities" on March 23. The Michigan Association of Teacher Educators sponsored the conference with support from UDM and the Michigan Education Association. Faculty and teacher education students from several Michigan universities came together to discuss topics, including how to become more successful teachers.

Heather Hill-Vásquez, assistant professor of English, presented an invited lecture at the University of Washington in Seattle, March 5. Hill-Vásquez gave the presentation, "The Diabolical Femininity of Performance: Audience Response and Protestant Polemic." Hill-Vásquez is also an invited contributor to the forthcoming Brill Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers). Her article focuses on pilgrimage in the medieval drama.

Sue Homant, librarian, and Josephine Gambini, professor of Education, were guest speakers at the Southeastern Michigan League of Libraries spring event, April 20. Their presentation was entitled, "The Library-Faculty Connection: Making Collaborative Teaching Work." SearchQuest, UDM's online interactive tutorial, was a secondary topic of discussion.

Lorri MacDonald, instructor of Education, represented UDM's Department of Education at a kick-off meeting for the National Science Foundation Academy for Young Scholars (NSFAYS), in San Francisco, Jan. 11-12. As a new initiative to interest students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers, NSFAYS shares goals with the Detroit Area Pre-College and Engineering Program (DAPCEP), with which UDM's College of Engineering and Science has been involved for over 25 years, serving 1,600 students each fall and spring. MacDonald will work with veterans of the DAPCEP program.

Stephen Manning, associate professor of Political Science, served as discussant on the panel, "Democratic Possibilities After Communism," at the 65th annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 12-15 in Chicago.

Judy A. McCown, associate professor of Psychology, presented a workshop on the cognitive-behavioral treatment of anxiety disorders at the Fall Conference of the Michigan Psychological Association in Livonia.

Isaiah McKinnon, associate professor of Education, was appointed by the Detroit City Council to the City Planning Commission. The nine-member board advises the Council on matters including the master plans for social, economic, and physical development and conservation in the City of Detroit. The Detroit City Clerk swore McKinnon in to a three-year term on April 5.

Nick Rombes, professor of English, had his book Ramones singled out by the Chicago Tribune as one of the 10 "exemplary" books in Continuum's "33 1/3" series, March 18.

Sheri Pickover, instructor of Counseling and Addiction Studies, presented the paper "Tying Attachment Status to Social Skills: How the Parental Relationship Influences Social Skills in Young Children" at the American Counseling Association conference in March.