Authors of Union – June ’21

 

Strategic Advocacy for the French Language in the U.S.

By alumna Kathy Stein-Smith (Ph.D. ’11)

Alumna Kathy Stein-Smith, recently released her sixth book, Strategic Advocacy for the French Language in the U.S., published by the American Association of Teachers of French. This follows the publication earlier this year of “Multilingualism as a Global Competency: Skills for a 21st Century World,” published by Lambert Academic Publishing.

Dr. Stein-Smith is an enthusiastic foreign language educator and advocate, and laments the foreign language deficit she perceives in the US and warns of the negative impact on our economic and national security, and on our ability to effectively navigate the globalized world and our own multilingual and multicultural communities.

In 2018, her dedication to the French language was rewarded with the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques (Order of Academic Palms), “a national order of France for distinguished academics and figures in the world of culture and education, in recognition of her dedication to the French language.” It was founded by Emperor Napoléon as a reward for devotion and accomplishment in the realm of teaching, scholarship, and research. According to the American Society of the French Academic Palms – ASFAP website, both foreigners and French living abroad who contribute actively to the expansion of French education and culture in the world may also be recognized.

Dr. Stein-Smith serves as chair of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) on Advocacy. She also is a member of the MLA (Modern Language Association) Delegate Assembly, of the American Translators Association (ATA) Education and Pedagogy Committee, the CSCTFL (Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Advisory Council, the NECTFL (Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Advisory Council, and is a SCOLT (Southern Conference on Language Teaching) Sponsor. She also serves as French Language Facilitator at MLOW (Many Languages One World).

Dr. Stein-Smith is a sought-after presenter, and in addition to her six books, has published numerous articles about the foreign language deficit. She has given a Ted X talk “The U.S. Foreign Language Deficit – “What It Is; Why It Matters; and What We Can Do About It,” and maintains a blog, “Language Matters.” She has also been interviewed on the radio in both the United States and Canada, most recently on NPR on “The Takeaway.”

 

The Absent Father Effect on Daughters

By alumna Susan E. Schwartz (Ph.D. ’91)

Alumna Susan E. Schwartz wrote The Absent Father Effect on Daughters (Routledge, 2020), where she investigates the impact of absent – physically or emotionally – and inadequate fathers on the lives and psyches of their daughters through the perspective of Jungian analytical psychology.

Dr. Schwartz tells the stories of daughters who describe the insecurity of self, the splintering and disintegration of the personality, and the silencing of voice. (Source: Amazon review)

Dr. Schwartz is a Jungian analyst educated in Zurich, Switzerland, and is a licensed clinical psychologist. She earned her Union Ph.D. with a concentration in clinical psychology in 1991. Jungian analysis is a form of depth psychotherapy pioneered by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in the early 20th century. According to Dr. Schwartz, “the approach of Jungian Analytical Psychology addresses a broad range of emotional and relational situations and conflicts in the service of psychological growth.”

She is a sought-after presenter who has lectured worldwide on Jungian analytical psychology. She has written extensively on daughters and fathers, the puella archetype, and Sylvia Plath, and has co-authored two additional books. In 2018, she was nominated by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis for their Gradiva Award for Best Article for “The Dead Father Effect on the Psyche of a Daughter—Sylvia Plath.”

She is a member of the International Association of Analytical Psychology, New Mexico Society of Jungian Analysts, and the American Psychological Association. She maintains a private practice in Phoenix, Arizona.

Learn more about Dr. Schwartz and her work.

The Power of One

By alumna Sally Palmer Thomason (Ph.D. ’02)

In her new book, The Power of One: Sister Anne Brooks and the Tutwiler Clinic (University Press of Mississippi, 2020), Sally Palmer Thomason chronicles the life of Sister Anne Brooks, a Catholic nun, and doctor of osteopathy, who worked in Tutwiler, Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta, one of the nation’s most impoverished towns and regions. Sister Brooks sees 8,500 patients a year from around the Mississippi Delta. Mississippi has the highest rate of infant mortality and obesity in the nation. One out of three people in this county lives in poverty, and seven out of 10 who walk through her door have no way to pay. (Source: CBS News)

Dr. Thomason was drawn to tell the story of Sister Brooks because of her compassion and devotion to others, her faith in God, and her indomitable spirit.

Dr. Thomason earned her Ph.D. from Union in 2002 after retiring from Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee, as dean of continuing and corporate education. She has authored four other books and currently teaches continuing education courses on understanding aging and the body from a holistic perspective.

Learn more about Dr. Thomason.

Check back next month for more Authors of Union and their publications.

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