Providence, RI -- Providence College’s Committee on Aid to Faculty Research (CAFR) recently awarded a total of $76,386 in grants to 14 faculty members—representing nine academic disciplines—for use during the 2004-2005 academic year. 

Since the competitive awards program was established more than 25 years ago, the College has awarded in excess of $850,000 to PC faculty members. The program is intended to support faculty in scholarly activities in order to enhance the academic quality of the College.

The chair of this year’s CAFR is Dr. Charles F. Duffy, professor of English. Other CAFR members are Rev. Albino Barrera, O.P., associate professor of humanities (in theology); Dr. Peter S. Goodrich, associate professor of management; Dr. Robert B. Hackey, professor of health policy and management; and Dr. Stephen J. Mecca, professor of physics.

Grant recipients, project titles, and grant amounts are as follows:

• Dr. Richard M. Battistoni, professor of political science, “Schools as ‘Practice Grounds’ for Democracy: Student Voice and Civic Engagement in Secondary Education,” $4,800.
• Rev. Edward L. Cleary, O.P., professor of political science and director of the Latin American Studies Program, “God and the Statehouse: Religion and Politics at the State Level,” $2,978.
• Mary G. Farrell, professor of theatre arts, “The Cosmopolitan vs. the Provincial: Escapism in Chekhov’s The Seagull as It Applies to the Creation of ‘Chekhovian Atmosphere’ in Production,” $8,303.
• Dr. Salvatore Fratantaro, associate professor of philosophy, “Moore and Method in Analytic Philosophy,” $8,118.
• Dr. Laurie L. Grupp, assistant professor of education, “English Language Learning and Disability: Toward an Understanding of Identification and Outcomes,” $4,393.
• Dr. Daniel R. Horne, assistant professor of marketing, “Avoiding Avoidance: Consumer Strategies for Dealing with Personal Information Requests,” $3,800.
• Dr. Mark S. Hyde, professor of political science, “American State Lobbyists,” $6,531.
• Dr. James F. Keating, assistant professor of theology, “Contemporary Approaches to the Intersection of Faith and Reason: Thomism, Neo-Liberalism, and Critical-Rationalism,” $3,250.
• Dr. Robert I. Krasner, professor of biology, “The New Microbe Hunters,” $6,705.
• Dr. Kenneth R. Overly, associate professor of chemistry, “Evaluation of AutoDock for the Automated Docking of Small Molecules to DNA,” $5,600.
• Dr. Jay D. Pike, assistant professor of chemistry, “Synthesis of a Potential Chemotherapeutic Agent,” $5,619.
• Dr. Paul D. Quinlan, professor of history, “Interview Moldovan Politicians,” $3,307.
• Dr. Craig J. Rice, assistant professor of education, “Determining Teachers’ Level of Care,” $3,482.
• Dr. Yinsheng Wan, assistant professor of biology, “Antiapoptotic Protein Survivin is Molecular Target of DEC1 Transcription Factor Uniquely in Cancer Cells,” $9,500.