Providence, RI -- Sixteen Providence College faculty members were recently awarded a total of $85,472 in grant money by the College to support their scholarly pursuits during the 2007-2008 academic year. The competitive grants were awarded by the College's Committee on Aid to Faculty Research (CAFR) to faculty in 11 disciplines.

The goal of CAFR is to enhance the academic quality of the College by supporting the scholarly activities of the PC faculty.  Since its inception in 1972, the CAFR has awarded more than $1.4 million to PC faculty members.

The chair of this year's CAFR is Dr. Pamela D. Sherer, associate professor of management at the College.  The other members of the committee are Dr. Joan R. Branham, associate professor of art history, Dr. Laurie L. Grupp, associate professor of education; Dr. Stephen W. Schultz, professor of mathematics, and Dr. Charles R. Toth, associate professor of biology.

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

• Dr. Ruth Ben-Artzi, assistant professor of political science, "Global, Regional, and Domestic Institutionalization of Aid: Comparing Three Tiers of Development Banking," $7,020.
• Rev. Edward L. Cleary, O.P., professor of political science, "How Latin America Saved the Soul of the Catholic Church," $2,966.
• Dr. Matthew Cuddeback, assistant professor of philosophy, "The Role of God's Illuminative Causality on the Human Intellect in Thomas Aquinas' Teaching of Natural Law," $5,050.
• Norman P. Desmarais, acquisitions librarian (professor), "The Forgotten War," $6,178.
• Dr. Patrick W. Ewanchuk, assistant professor of biology, "The Smell of Fear: Understanding Prey Responses to Predator Cues," $6,360.
• Rev. Kenneth Gumbert, O.P., associate professor of film studies in theatre arts, "Red Terror on the Amber Coast" and "The Private Life of Giordano Bruno: The Story of a Renaissance Rogue," $5,279.
• Dr. William P. Hogan, assistant professor of English, "A Manuscript Facsimile Edition of W.B. Yeats' Helmet Plays (1907-1910)," $4,380.
• Dr. Margaret M. Manchester, assistant professor of history, "The Verin Case: Marriage, Religion, and Liberty of Conscience in 17th Century Rhode Island," $4,174.
• Dr. Susan K. McCarthy, associate professor of political science, "Mao, Metta and Muhammad: Faith Based Organizations in Contemporary China," $6,955.
• Dr. Stephen J. Mecca, professor of physics, "Application of the MSB Model to Larval Fish Concentrations," $6,702.
• Dr. Theresa A. Moreau, assistant professor of physics, "Characterizing the Prewetting Line in Noble Gas - Alkali Metal Systems," $9,550.
• Dr. Ann W. Norton, professor of art history, "War and Peace in the Carpets of Afghanistan," $3,150.
• Dr. Michael J. O'Neill, assistant professor of philosophy, "Collingwood, the Will and Continental Philosophy, $5,146.
• Rev. David L. Stokes, assistant professor of theology, "The Theology of Dom Ascar Vonier: English Catholicism at the Turn of the 20th Century," $4,400.
• Dr. Thomas F. Strasser, assistant professor of art history, "The Cretan Mesolithic Survey," $2,916.
• Dr. Marcy Zipke, assistant professor of elementary/special education, "Metalinguistic Awareness Instruction and Pre-Readers: The Effect of Increased Oral Language Ability on Future Reading Comprehension," $5,245.

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