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Faculty Writing Groups

Writing groups are intended to keep faculty members invested and progressing in individual writing projects. At the start of each semester, the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Programs & Research will send out an open call for faculty to join a writing group. Faculty members are grouped together based on schedule availability, and meet 10 times a semester for either 60 or 90 minutes. While writing groups have a low investment, they have been great opportunities for high return in their scholarly work. Below are a few examples of products that have emerged from previous semester writing group participation. *Denotes Swarthmore Student.

Bradley Davidson (Biology) 

Davidson, B. (in press). Lhx3/4 acts as a cardiopharyngeal lineage determinant, dictating lineage-specific transcription in response to widespread fibroblast growth factor signaling. PLOS Biology.

Jonny Thakkar (Political Science)  

Thakkar, J. (2023). Basic equality: A Hegelian resolution. European Journal of Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12878

Joseph Towles (Engineering) 

Towles, J. (in press). The sensitivity of the endpoint forces of thumb extrinsic and intrinsic muscles to changes in joint angles, muscle moment arms and bone lengths in the flexed thumb. Paper presented at 2023 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Annual Conference. 

Towles, J. (in press). Measurement of the three-dimensional muscle endpoint forces in the extended thump and its application to determining muscle combinations that enable lateral pinch force production throughout the plane of flexion-extension. Paper presented at 2023 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Annual Conference. 

Denend, L., Spielman, S., Venook, R., Pamnani, R.D., Camarillo, D., Wall, J., Towles, J. Using an accelerated undergraduate needs finding course to build skills, inspire confidence, and promote interest in health technology innovation. Journal of Biomedical Engineering Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43683-023-00109-3

Yang, J., Towles, J., Sheppard, S., Atwood, S. Barbed-wire boundaries: The hidden curriculum, first-generation and low-income engineering students, and internship acquisition. Journal of Women and Minorities. https://doi.org/10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2023046383

Ghambi, S., Taylor, A. R., Phiri, J. C., Henriques, J. J., Towles, J. (in press). Toward bidirectional faculty development: A collaborative model for desigining and implementing faculty trainings on evidence-based strategies for supporting student learning in low- and middle-income countries. Presented at 2023 American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore, MD. 

Smith, C.*, Towles, J. (2023). An investigation of muscle thumb tip movement patterns: Application to restoring grasp following tetraplegia. Proceedings of the 2023 National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Eau Claire, WL. (podium presentation).

Lee, W. *, Lee-Zachesis, J.*, Nie, L., Towles, J. (2023). Biomechanics of classical vocal production including the role of the hands: A systematic review. Preceedings of the 2023 National Collegiate Research Conference. Cambridge, MA. (podium presentation).

Jonathan Washington (Linguistics) 

Washington, J. N. (in press). "Vowel harmony in Turkic languages". In The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony. Ed. by Nancy A. Ritter and Harry van der Hulst. Oxford University Press.

Washington, J. N. (in press). "What can we learn from Mongolic material in Kazakh and Kyrgyz?" In Festschrift for Ilse Laude-Cirtautas. De Gruyter.