Lindsay Guarino, associate professor and chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, has published her second text on jazz dance, entitled “Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century” from the University Press of Florida. The book is available Feb. 1.

“Rooted Jazz Dance” challenges dominant narratives on jazz dance by looking critically at the impacts of white supremacy on a Black American art form. Co-editors are Carlos R. A. Jones, associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and professor of musical theatre and dance at the State University of New York College at Buffalo, and Wendy Oliver, professor of dance and chair of the Department of Theater, Dance and Film at Providence College.

Guarino, who has previously co-edited “Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches,” authored three chapters in the new book: “Whiteness and the Fractured Jazz Dance Continuum,” “Where’s the Jazz? A Multi-Layered Approach for Viewing and Discussing Jazz Dance” and “Connective Threads: Jazz Aesthetics, Jazz Music, and the Future of Jazz Dance Studies.”

In the book, the authors argue that jazz dance’s inaccurate historical narrative often sets Euro-American aesthetics and values at its inception. Yet the writers argue that jazz dance’s roots were systemically erased and remain widely marginalized and untaught, and the devaluation of the Africanist origins and lineage in jazz dance has largely gone unchallenged.

That history of jazz dance is closely tied to the history of racism in the United States, according to the writers. Each contributor challenges a century of misappropriation by leaning into difficult conversations of reparations for jazz dance. The volume overcomes a major roadblock to racial justice in the dance field by amplifying the people and culture responsible for the jazz language.

The writers in “Rooted Jazz Dance” also offer strategies for teaching rooted jazz dance and provide examples for changing dance curricula. Featured are jazz dance scholars, practitioners, choreographers and educators from across the United States and Canada who share a goal of changing the course of practice in future generations.

“[The book] explores the long overdue recognition of jazz dance as historically a Black American form of dance, steeped in Africanist aesthetics that parallel the cultural history of Black people in the country,” wrote Halifu Osumare, author of “Dancing in Blackness: A Memoir,” in a review. “It is not only a timely correction to our dance culture, but is also necessary for proper assessment of who we are as a national culture.”

Jill Flanders Crosby, co-author of “Situated Narratives and Sacred Dance: Performing the Entangled Histories of Cuba and West Africa,” also gladly endorsed the book. “Jazz has long assumed multiple identities, many that obscure its Africanist roots,” she said. “With courage and conviction, contributors do justice to the form and all of its identities while taking a firm stance in where it is truly rooted.”

Dr. Susan Meschwitz, associate professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry, has recently been awarded a supplemental Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research (RI-INBRE) grant on Women’s Health for $268,789 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The title of the funded research project is “Targeting Quiescent E. coli for Prevention of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections.”

In the United States, there are approximately 11 million urinary tract infections (UTIs) reported each year and more than 50% of women will be diagnosed with at least one UTI. Twenty-seven percent of patients with a UTI experience a recurrence within 12 months, even after successful antibiotic treatment. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), a leading cause of initial and recurring UTIs, are thought to survive antibiotic treatment by entering a quiescent state in the bladder, which allows them to resume growth at a later time once antibiotic treatment is halted.

With this grant, Dr. Meschwitz will conduct research that will help discover molecules that prevent uropathogenic bacteria from entering an antibiotic-tolerant, quiescent state and identify candidate molecules that may lead to new treatment approaches for recurrent UTI infections with multidrug-resistant strains.

The overarching goal of the RI-INBRE program is to increase hands-on student training and improve institutional research capacity for biomedical excellence in Rhode Island. The research funded with this grant will be carried out with undergraduate students in the laboratory of Dr. Meschwitz, and it is also in collaboration with University of Rhode Island (URI) professors — Dr. Jodi Camberg, associate professor of cell and molecular biology, and Dr. David Rowley, professor in URI’s College of Pharmacy.

“I am very excited about this grant, because it will allow me to provide several students with hands-on training in the laboratory during both the academic year and during our 10-week summer research program,” Dr. Meschwitz said. “Through this enhanced learning opportunity, the students acquire the critical thinking and laboratory skills necessary for success in research and in the field. In addition … our students will have the opportunity to interact with graduate students and participate in monthly research group meetings at URI.”

Dr. Letizia Gambrell-Boone has joined the Salve Regina campus community this week to begin her duties as the University’s new vice president for student affairs. She comes to Salve Regina with more than 25 years of leadership experience and a passion for fostering student achievement, engagement and success.

Most recently, Dr. Gambrell-Boone served as the director of research initiatives and public hearings at the Equal Employment Practices Commission in New York. In this role, she led the development, assessment and evaluation of sexual harassment prevention programs, as well as managed projects related to the creation of equitable opportunities for underrepresented minorities and workforce planning.

Prior to that, Dr. Gambrell-Boone was vice president for student success and engagement at Virginia State University, where she helped create a vision for involvement that centered on several main components. One of those was honoring each student’s strengths, and another was ensuring that the university served as a brave and safe container for students to explore and grow their values and core competencies through civic engagement.

“I am excited to be joining a team at Salve Regina that values the beliefs of others and challenges its community to seek wisdom and promote universal justice,” Dr. Gambrell-Boone said. “This is the kind of environment in which my deeply ingrained core value of fostering a sense of belonging will thrive.”

A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Gambrell-Boone said she understands the critical role of the University in providing a supportive environment for students to begin their educational experience with an end goal in mind, such as a career path. That experience has helped to shape her leadership approach in higher education, providing invaluable insight into how to create an environment conducive to academic success for all students.

Dr. Gambrell-Boone is the former director of the assessment center, and executive assistant to the president and chair of the Department of Education at Hampton University in Virginia; has served as special assistant to the president at Ramapo College of New Jersey; and held the position of deputy to the university dean for recruitment and diversity at The City University of New York. She was also the program manager for President George W. Bush’s African Textbook Initiative.

“I am committed to transforming educational communities by establishing a culture of belonging, equity and inclusive excellence as core values that are inextricably connected to the institution’s mission,” Dr. Gambrell-Boone said. “I’m especially excited about the opportunity to act as an advocate, thought partner and consultant as we develop and execute a vision for the next era of Salve Regina.”

Dr. Gambrell-Boone has her doctor of education degree from The George Washington University. From Hampton University, she received both her master’s degree in counseling with a concentration in college student development and her bachelor’s degree in marketing.