Drew faculty have always been known for their extraordinary commitment to teaching. What may not be as widely known is that they are active scholars in their own right. Thanks to the Faculty Research Series, their research, writing and creative work are being shared through on-going presentations to campus audiences.
In 2006, then-Associate, Dean Wendy Kolmar launched the series “to provide an opportunity for faculty to share their intellectual work with each other, to create conversations across departmental and disciplinary lines.” That first series included Tammy Windfelder discussing her field work in primate behavior, Karen Pechilis on a Hindu female saint, and Peggy Kuntz on St. Peter’s Basilica.
The 2012-13 series introduces new faculty, and their work, to the Drew community:
Learning by Doing and Stock Market Participation: An Experimental Approach
Giandomenico Sarolli, Assistant Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Wall Street Semester.
Experimental economics is the application of controlled experiments to study economic questions. I conducted a series of experiments, using Drew students in Economics 29 class, to study decision behavior to explain why there is such a low level of participation in the stock market. One of the main findings is that there is a large information cost that person must pay to participate in these markets. Participates in various experiments began to learn about decision process and changed their behavior. These results may lead to policies the nudge citizens to increase their participation level in the financial markets.
After a career at JP Morgan, Giandomenico Sarolli earned a Ph.D. in economics from University of Virginia. He taught at Washington & Lee’s Williams School of Business, University of Virginia, and Sweet Briar College.
The Case of the Life Narrative: Literature, Politics, and the Global Marketplace.
Shakti Jaising, Assistant Professor of English
Over the last twenty to thirty years there’s been a surge in the availability and global popularity of life narratives–including memoirs, autobiographies, and related genres– that tell of human rights violations. Literary scholars have debated the significance of this growing appeal of the human rights life narrative and reflected on the formal means by which it gives voice to issues of social injustice. I use globally disseminated life narratives emerging out of post-apartheid South Africa to engage with some of these debates and to consider the political implications of this trend in literary production and circulation.
Shakti Jaising came to Drew in 2011. She holds a B.A. from University of Mumbai, M.A. from University of Florida; M.F.A. from Temple University; and Ph.D. from Rutgers University.
Improved Legal Status as the Major Source of Earnings Premiums Associated with Intermarriage: Evidence from the 1986 IRCA Amnesty
Miao Chi, Assistant Professor of Economics
Using the 1990 U.S. Census data and the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) amnesty, this article studies the immigrant wage gain associated with legalization from comparing international marriage premiums received by two groups of Mexican immigrants who arrived before and after the cutoff date of eligibility. Both groups face similar language and culture related obstacles and have to adapt themselves to the new environment, except that the pre-82 undocumented Mexican workers can obtain legal status through the amnesty while the control group obtains legal status through marriage to a U.S. citizen. Instrumental Variables estimates show a significantly larger intermarriage premium for Mexican immigrants who migrated after the cutoff point and no statistically significant intermarriage premium is found in the treatment group. The 35 percent premium gap indicates a large effect of intermarriage on immigrants’ labor market outcomes, operating primarily through an improvement of legal status.
Miao Chi joined the Drew faculty in 2011 after teaching at Rollins College. She holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Houdini Among the Spirits
Chris Ceraso, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts
In the early 1920’s, two of the most famous men of the age met and became great friends: Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In a half-dozen years leading to the mysterious, premature death of one of them, they had become bitter rivals in a supernatural quest.
Houdini Among the Spirits is a new musical for the stage based on true events in the life of the legendary magician, and his dramatic relationship with author and spiritualist, Arthur Conan Doyle. Chris Ceraso will speak about the process and progress of this on-going creative project, for which he is writing book and lyrics, with music by William Zeffiro. Select scenes and songs from the musical will be presented.
Chris Ceraso is a working actor and a playwright. He has appeared in premieres of work by such writers as John Guare, David Mamet, Joyce Carol Oates, and Lanford Wilson, on TV (several appearances “Law and Order) and in independent films.
Upcoming Presentations
Hannah Wells, Assistant Professor of English
March 21, 2013
Claire Sherman, Assistant Professor of Art
April 18, 2013
