Faculty Accomplishments Archives - Reynolds College Blog

Dr. Abby Templer Rodrigues publishes research on STEM scholarship program

April 3, 2025 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Associate professor Dr. Abby Templer Rodrigues of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG) recently published her research on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) scholarship equity.

The article, “Participation of women in STEM: an intersectional approach,” appeared in the open-source Brazilian journal Revista Estudos: Feministas in March 2025. Templer Rodrigues originally presented this research in 2023 at the 21st Biennial Conference of the Brazilian Sociological Society in Belém, Brazil.

Templer Rodrigues has taught at Missouri State since Fall 2018. Her research interests include work and occupations, qualitative methods and social inequities. She is currently writing a book on the creative economy in rural Massachusetts.

Answering a request to evaluate a scholarship program

Previously, Templer Rodrigues has researched equity issues for faculty in higher education. When asked to evaluate a scholarship program that supports academically talented students with financial need, she saw an opportunity to explore equity in higher education for students as well.

Templer Rodrigues was asked to study a scholarship program designed to increase access to STEM degrees based on social class. Her objective was to evaluate whether the program had met its goals.

In addition, Templer Rodrigues examined the program’s impact on participants based on their multiple or intersectional demographic characteristics. She wanted to determine whether a scholarship program aiming to improve class-based equity in STEM could also impact gender- and race-based equity.

Dr. Yuhua Qiao publishes book on state tax systems

March 24, 2025 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Missouri State University’s Dr. Yuhua Qiao, professor in the Department of Political Science and Philosophy, recently published her second book, “State Tax Systems: Policy Making for Fiscal Stability.”

Qiao has been teaching at Missouri State since 1998. She specializes in state budgetary issues, including taxes, expenditure, intergovernmental fiscal relations and voter impact on state budgeting.

“I am always interested in state finance. States are responsible for so many public services, and their fiscal wellbeing is critical to the welfare of the people,” she explained.

She published her first book, “Interstate Fiscal Disparities in America: A Study of Trends and Causes,” in 1999. The book, based on her dissertation research, examines state expenditures in various service areas and why they differed among states. She has also published numerous journal articles on state finance.

Qiao’s latest book is “highly useful to policymakers,” said Dr. Christopher Lynch, head of the political science and philosophy department.

Examines impact of tax policies after the Great Recession

Although “State Tax Systems” is an extension of Qiao’s long-term research and teaching in public budgeting, the Great Recession of 2007-2009 inspired her to place her research in book form.

“The Great Recession of 2007-2009 was the worst fiscal time for states,” Qiao said. “Nearly all states suffered huge budget deficits, and the cuts on public services were widespread, significant and persistent.”

“The fiscal troubles not only reflected the impact of cyclical economic recession on state finance but also exposed the dire long-term fiscal imbalance between their revenue systems and expenditure policies,” she added.

Qiao said previous scholarship had explored various aspects of state fiscal sustainability, but the Great Recession made it clear that states governments had to act to address fiscal imbalances.

“What happened in the Great Recession and its aftermath provided pressure and political will for state governments to reform their tax policies to improve their fiscal stability,” Qiao explained.

RCASH faculty named inaugural Education Abroad Faculty Fellows

March 11, 2025 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Missouri State University has announced its inaugural cohort of the Education Abroad Faculty Fellows program.

This year’s cohort consists of eight faculty members from a diverse range of disciplines. Among the eight are three members of the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH) faculty.

Those individuals are Jeff Loughary from the Department of Languages, Cultures and Religions, Nikki Ferry from the Department of Theatre and Dance and Dr. William Harwood from the Department of Political Science and Philosophy.

Other selected Fellows are Dr. Benjamin Beranek from the College of Business, Clara Dickinson from the Darr College of Agriculture, Dr. Asif Ishtiaque from the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, and Kelly Dudley and Stephanie Urich from the McQueary College of Health and Human Services.

In addition, four RCASH faculty members served as content experts during the Fellows session in January. They were Joshua Albers from the Department of Art and Design, Dr. William Sandel from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Dr. Leslie Seawright and Dr. Alan Tinkler from the Department of English.

“I was excited to work with the inaugural Education Abroad faculty cohort, sharing ways to weave general education goals and course learning objectives into their education abroad itineraries,” Seawright said. “It was a great conversation.”

“Study abroad is an incredible opportunity for both our faculty and students,” Sandel said. “I was happy to share some of my experiences regarding flexibility when planning and conducting a study abroad program.”

MSU awarded $60,000 grant for faith-health education

March 7, 2025 by Damilola R. Oyedeji

Missouri State University has received a $60,000 grant from Interfaith America to enhance religious literacy in health professions education. The grant recognizes MSU’s leadership in religious literacy and cultural competence in health care.

Out of 44 applicants, MSU was one of only 15 institutions awarded this competitive grant. The university’s longstanding efforts in integrating religion and health care education played a key role in securing the funding.

Plans for the grant include creating a new graduate certificate, adding health services courses and developing online resources to improve religious literacy in health care.

The grant runs from December 2024 to November 2026.

Grant builds on earlier initiative

Missouri State began teaching courses in religion and health about 10 years ago, according to Dr. Philippa Koch, associate professor in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Religions (LCR).

Koch is an Interfaith America Faith and Health Fellow. She will lead the grant initiative, along with Dr. Steve Berkwitz and Dr. John Schmalzbauer from LCR and Sarah Bowman, Dr. McCall Christian and Dr. Amber Abernathy from the McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS).

A $30,000 Wabash Center grant that Berkwitz and Schmalzbauer received in 2015 helped launch MSU’s first courses in religion and health, Koch said. “These efforts laid the groundwork for our current initiative.”

Since then, MSU has continued to build its interdisciplinary program. This includes creating the Medical Humanities Undergraduate Certificate in 2019 and the Mental Health and Spirituality Undergraduate Certificate in 2022.

Now, the new grant positions the university to be a leader in the growing field of religion and health, according to Schmalzbauer.

“We’re deepening our work at the intersection of faith and health to prepare future health care practitioners to serve diverse communities with cultural sensitivity,” Koch noted.

History professor Dr. Jeremy Neely publishes new book, “A Union Tested”

March 5, 2025 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Associate professor Dr. Jeremy Neely of Missouri State University’s Department of History has published a new book centered around the U.S. Civil War.

In “A Union Tested,” Neely examines the lives of Henry and Cimbaline Fike through hundreds of letters they exchanged between 1862 and 1865 while Henry was a quartermaster in the Union army.

“Dr. Neely is a foremost expert on the border war between Kansas and Missouri,” said Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, head of the history department. “This study represents an extension of his work into how the Civil War affected families and individuals as they negotiated the divisions of war.”

Historical serendipity leads to the Fikes

Book cover — Click book cover image to learn more.

Neely was researching another book project on Missouri during the Reconstruction era when he encountered Henry Fike’s diary. He described the diary as “massive,” as it dates from the 1850s until 1919.

“He was such a prolific writer that I wondered if he had any other papers, and it turned out that, yes, he did,” Neely said. While serving as a Union soldier, Fike exchanged nearly 400 letters with his wife, Cimbaline.

“Their exchanges pulled me in almost instantly,” Neely said.

“The war demanded tremendous sacrifices of men and women alike,” he said. “Many volunteers, including Henry, signed up for three-year enlistments, and those lengthy deployments placed enormous strains upon families. Navigating those challenges was a constant and often fraught process.”

Expansive research “fleshes out” personalities

Neely started researching the Fikes in 2020 and ended up spending roughly four years on the project.

The process could have grown cumbersome, as the Fikes’ papers are split between two libraries. Henry’s diaries are held at the State Historical Society of Missouri, while his and Cimbaline’s letters are located at the University of Kansas. In addition, several diaries and letters from Henry’s comrades are at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.

Neely was able to continue and broaden his research through a summer fellowship. He used the opportunity to examine newspapers, military records and private manuscripts to “flesh out the Fikes’ world more clearly,” he said.

Cimbaline’s and Henry’s personalities immediately emerged from the letters.

“Cimabline was strong and fearless in speaking her mind, but she also struggled with loneliness and what we today would recognize as depression,” he explained. “Henry was confident, loyal and enthusiastic. Together, they were ardent supporters of the Union war effort and had no patience for neighbors who failed to match their devotion.”