Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch, professor of history, is the February Research Professor of the Month. This award is given monthly by the Faculty Research Award Committee to recognize scholarly, research or creative activity significant and relevant to the recipient's discipline at the national and international level. She will share some of her recent work at ASU Museum's Black History Month observance Feb. 7. A video about Jones-Branch is online.

Marc Williams, assistant professor of theatre, presented a performance of "Zorro: The Curse of Capistrano" for adjudication in rapier and dagger combat at the Dallas Stage Combat Workshop. The Society of American Fight Directors certified Williams as proficient in the discipline of rapier and dagger. He also has certified in broadsword and unarmed combat, and is recognized by the Society of American Fight Directors as an actor combatant.

A paper co-authored by Dr. Mohammad Abrar Alam, assistant professor of chemistry, has been published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. The authors reported several potential drugs to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter baumannii bacterial infections. Acinetobacter baumannii is also known as "Iraqibacter" due to its emergence in U.S. military treatment facilities in Iraq, and it is a major concern for war veterans. The paper is online.

An article by Dr. Rollin F. Tusalem, associate professor of political science and co-director of the MA program, was published in the peer-reviewed political science journal Polity. Titled "The Colonial Foundations of State Failure and Fragility," the article examines the effects of long-term colonial domination in the developing world. Tusalem looks at the impact of British, Spanish, French and Portuguese colonialism. The article is available online.

Dr. Mary Jackson Pitts, professor of multimedia journalism production, co-authored a paper with Tory Shirley, research director at WMC-TV, and presented it at the Southwest Symposium. They studied how college students are gathering information about news-related content. The collaborative effort between academia and industry sought a better understanding of people and their news gathering tools. Students helped with design and administration of the research survey.