2003 TSEP Recipients

Dr. Rainer Buschmann, Assistant Professor of History, received a course release for Spring 2002 to support completion of a book-length manuscript, The Ethnographic Frontier in German New Guinea, 1870-1914. His research establishes that historians need to consider the impact of global influences on the formation of anthropology and documents that indigenous people and colonial officials played an active role in the shaping of academic anthropology.

Dr. Jon Davidann, Associate Professor of History, received a course release for Fall 2002 to support ongoing preparation of a book-length manuscript, The Seeds of War: the Failure of US-Japanese Relations in the Interwar Period. He examines the failure of US-Japanese relations during this period from the viewpoint of private citizens, focusing attention on US and Japanese non-state actors such as missionaries, businessmen, journalists, and other well-educated elites. According to Dr. Davidann, "A failure of cross-cultural relations contributed to strained diplomatic relations and eventually to war between the US and Japan."

Dr. Antonina Espiritu, Assistant Professor Economics, received a course release for Spring 2002 and additional funding to support the costs of research for a project, "The Digital Divide and Its Implications on the Global Economy." Her study will investigate whether the internet can act as a powerful equalizer of whether it will exacerbate the existing income disparity in the global economy. According to Dr. Espiritu, "The main conjecture is that increases in the number of people in industrialized countries having access to the worldwide network translate to faster output growth than those countries with a lower number of internet users."

Dr. Phyllis Frus, Assistant Professor of English, received a course release for Spring 2002 to support preparation of a college textbook, Based on a True Story: Exploring U.S. History Through Film. The text is designed for courses in American history and related fields. According to Dr. Frus, "The study will move chronologically through more than two centuries of history, placing selected history-based films in context and treating those that evoke history in various ways -- those that depict the characteristic cultures and processes of a period or movement as well as those that interpret significant events and notable figures." Documentaries, docudramas, and historical feature films will be included in the project.

Dr. Linda Lierheimer, Assistant Professor of History and Humanities, received a course release for Spring 2002 to support the completion of a book on the memoirs of a seventeenth century nun and religious reformer, Antoinette Micolon. The Memoirs of Antoinette Micolon will be published by Marquette University Press in 2003 as part of a series of "Tests on Early Modern Women and Religion." The memoirs will make available to scholars and students, according to the author, "an invaluable source for the history of the Catholic Reformation in France and the role of women in this history."

Dr. Ernesto Lucas, Associate Professor of Economics, received a course release for Spring 2002 and funding to support a research project, "The Relationship between Economic Growth and Poverty." According to Dr. Lucas, "My motivation for visiting this topic is that some countries follow certain development strategies that emphasize increase in average per capita income. Recent studies have shown that the relationship between increased income and reduction of poverty is not clear and direct."

Dr. Russell Hart, Assistant Professor of History, received a course release for Spring 2002 and additional funding to support a trip to do research in the German World War II papers section of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Dr. Hart's project is the preparation of a definitive multivolume English-language reference work on the military of National Socialist Germany. The funding will support his completion of the first volume of the series and the beginning of the second volume. According to Dr. Hart, "The series is geared toward both scholars and the general reader and will provide extensive and detailed biographical, historical, and bibliographic reference material found in no other single published work (either in English or German)."

Dr. Guenter Meissner, Associate Professor of Finance, received a course release for Spring 2002 to support writing of a third book project, Credit Derivatives: Application, Pricing, and Risk Management. According to Dr. Meissner, "the target audience will be practitioners (upper management, credit traders, risk managers, middle office staff) as well as students and professors." Since the market for credit derivatives is changing, he plans to complete his book by December 2002.

Dr. Michael Seiler, Associate Professor of Finance, received a course release for Spring 2002 to support research for a conference paper on "The Psychological Motivation Behind Anomalous Holiday and Special Closing Return Patterns." According to Dr. Seiler, "The study examines trading volume, day-of-the-week and Month-of-the-year in explaining the historical return behavior surrounding holiday and special closings of the stock market in the pre-CRSP era from 188 to 1962."

Dr. Saundra Schwartz, Assistant Professor of History and Humanities, received a course release for Spring 2002 to support a project on "Class and Gender in the Greek Novels: Two Articles." The goal of the project is to prepare two scholarly articles for publication. The first is on marriage in Roman Alexandria and the second is on false enslavement in the Greek novels. Both articles are related to Dr. Schwartz ongoing work on law and society in ancient Greek novels.

Dr. Niti Villinger, Assistant Professor of Management, received two course releases for Spring 2002 and additional funding to support research on managers in internationally managed organizations in Southeast Asia. According to Dr. Villinger, "Most research on management in multinational corporations has focused on the Western manager or expatriate. Research has hardly paid attention to the local views or perceptions of management. These local views of management are shaped by the cultural values of the managers in these countries. This study will look at the perceptions and views of local managers in Thailand."