Tags: Human Nature

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Thomas to become Dean of Arts and Sciences at UAB

In her 27-year UGA career, Thomas has distinguished herself as an outstanding classroom teacher, graduate student mentor, and researcher. Her work on the psychology of workplace diversity has gained national attention, and she is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race. Thomas has also held several…

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Math-letes in Action: Students across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina compete for UGA’s Annual High School Math Tournament’s Title

On Oct. 26, UGA’s campus buzzed with excitement as nearly 400 students and math coaches gathered for the university’s annual High School Math Tournament. First launched over two decades ago by Professor Emeritus Ted Shifrin and Professor Valery Alexeev, the event has become a high point for budding mathematicians from Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. With help from over 60 faculty, staff and student volunteers, the event ran smoothly,…

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MFA Film program ranked in Top 50

The UGA Master of Fine Arts in Film, Television and Digital Media was named to the list of Top 50 Film Schools across the country by The Wrap, a leading publication in the media and entertainment industry. This is the first time the UGA MFA Film program, launched in 2020 as a joint program between the Franklin College and the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, has been named to a national list and it debuted at No. 43: “It is…

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Fish oil supplements bring a variety of health benefits

A new UGA study suggests the far-reaching benefits omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may extend to lowering the risks of developing a variety of cancers: The study relied on data from a United Kingdom-based study of over 250,000 people who were followed for more than a decade. Of those participants, almost 30,000 developed some form of cancer during the study period. Some earlier research drew connections between levels of fatty acids and risk of…

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UGA researchers unveil the development of a novel quantum computing algorithm

A new quantum algorithm developed by University of Georgia statisticians addresses one of the most complex challenges in single-cell analysis, signaling significant impact in both the fields of computational biology and quantum computing. While traditional approaches struggle to handle the immense amount of data generated from measuring both RNA and protein expression in individual cells, the new quantum algorithm enables analysis of data…

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Students journey across America through UGA's Interdisciplinary Field Program

From Sapelo Island, Georgia to Yosemite National Park in California, UGA’s Interdisciplinary Field Program mixes geology, ecology, and anthropology into a 60-day road trip across America: They travel through 20 states and to 23 national parks and monuments—including the Grand Canyon, Muir Woods, Mount Saint Helens, and Yellowstone National Park—and log nearly 12,000 miles on the road, and then tack on another 100 miles or so hiking on foot.…

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Ancestry of Sanford Stadium hedges goes into the lab

In a terrific story combining genome analysis, a love for the hedges and UGA history— a Franklin College faculty member and his students found that the same family of hedges have stood tall for nearly 100 years: Plant biology professor and hedges researcher James Leebens-Mack decided to sequence the genome of the Sanford Stadium hedges. His goal was to combine service-learning with his own areas of research, comparative genome biology and the…

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Phase 1 of Science Hill renovations

A central artery of campus and home to multiple Franklin College units for decades is in the process of significant renovation – and celebration: The University of Georgia held a dedication ceremony on Oct. 30 to celebrate the completion of the first phase of renovations to modernize research and instruction facilities and infrastructure on UGA’s Science and Ag Hill. This area of campus, located just south of Sanford Stadium, includes buildings…

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Protecting India’s tigers and wolves through art, collaboration and conservation

Integrative conservation starts with a paintbrush and glides its way between India’s tiger reserves and its indigenous communities.  Amit Kaushik, a PhD student in the Integrative Conservation and anthropology, is working on tiger conservation in India. He presented his work earlier this month at an Arts Collaborative Conversation at the Lamar Dodd School of Art, "The Gond Art and the Tiger: A Dialogue on Conservation, Displacement, and…

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Kudos, October 2024

Faculty, students and alumni of the Franklin College shine all year long and October is no exception. A sample of the featured good work and achievements during the eighth month of the calendar of Romulus: UGA celebrates 40 years of AI  at Oct. 28 conference Alchemy, co-founded by Raj Shingadia (AB ’01, Philosophy, BS ’03, Psychology), designs and installs breathtaking water worlds through Southeast Aquariums & MRC and set design for…

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Noted and Quoted, October 2024

With high hurricane season – and related disinformation circulating in the public – Franklin College faculty members stepped up and into the media spotlight. Special thanks to Associate Dean Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography, and Pam Knox, Director of the UGA Weather Network and Agricultural Climatologist in the Atmospheric Sciences Program, for their tireless commitment…

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National Transfer Student Week

Transfer students currently make up nearly 18% of the UGA student body, arriving from 800 different colleges, 134 Georgia counties, 44 states, and 60 different countries around the world. Campus grows more diverse in every way thanks to so many different students following their academic dream to UGA. As a part of our commemorations for National Transfer Student Week (Oct. 21-25), Franklin College communications writer intern Mianna Lotshaw, who…

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GenAI Competition 2.0

Franklin College faculty announce the return of the Generative AI Competition for its second year. GenAI Competition 2.0 will be facilitated by Lindsey Harding, director of the UGA Writing Intensive Program, and Aaron Meskin, professor and head of the department of philosophy, and sponsored by the Office of Instruction. Students are encouraged to submit projects between now and March 14, 2025. Guidelines: Use generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT,…

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New study details open-source vision-language model for biomedical applications

The potential of applications using Artificial Intelligence is quickly venturing into the medical field, with implications for patients and practitioners. A new study published in Nature Medicine presents an open-source multimodal vision-language foundation model, BiomedGPT, for various biomedical applications. AI techniques have also demonstrated potential in solving a wide range of biomedical tasks, including radiology interpretation…

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Holland named Shellebarger professor in Geology

Steven Holland, paleobiologist and expert in stratigraphy, has been selected as the Shellebarger Professor in Geology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The professorship is supported by a gift from Sydney (BSHE ’79) and Jeff (BS ’78, MS ’80) Shellebarger, former president of Chevron’s North American exploration and production operations. Jeff Shellebarger currently serves on the executive committee of the UGA Geology Alumni Board.…

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Election 2024: four million disenfranchised due to felony convictions in the US

A new report published by the Sentencing Project documents the four million people who are disenfranchised due to felony convictions in the United States. Locked Out 2024 reports these Americans will be unable to vote in the upcoming 2024 election due to felony disenfranchisement laws: Laws in 48 U.S. states ban people with felony convictions from voting. In 2024, an estimated 4 million Americans, representing 1.7% of the voting-age population,…

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Writer and producer alumnus visits campus, theatre students

UGA alumnus Steve Yockey (A.B. Theatre, '01) visited the department of theatre and film studies Oct. 4, sitting for three Q+A sessions with students interested in pursuing careers both on stage and behind the camera. In addition to the Q+A sessions, Yockey attended Dr. John Bray’s Dramatic Writing class for a more focused discussion on his career as a playwright, who has seen much of his theatrical work produced throughout the US, Europe, and…

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2024 Franklin College Homecoming Tailgate

The Franklin College hosted alumni, staff, students and friends at the 2024 Homecoming Tailgate on Brooks Hall on Oct. 5. With catering by Flying Biscuit, corn hole, and conversation, everyone enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the run-up to the Auburn game. Photos by Audrey Bradstock/Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.  

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Renovated Hunter-Holmes Academic Building welcomes Franklin units

The University of Georgia celebrated the completion of renovations to the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building on UGA’s historic North Campus on Oct. 4. The building is named in honor of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the first African American students to attend UGA: The renovations included restored historic features, improved accessibility, enhanced functionality and a courtyard that pays tribute to the building’s namesakes. The $30…

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NSF grant to explore philosophical perspectives of human and machine translation

A new interdisciplinary project at the interface of philosophy, linguistics, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence seeks to explore the complicated relationship between human and machine translation. The project, led by professor of philosophy Yuri Balashov, is supported by an NSF Scholar's Award. "Translation from one language into another is a difficult and cognitively intense process requiring a broad set of linguistic and non-…

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Students get in on the act – Dawg Day of Service

With so many opportunities to get involved in the Athens community, and a student body attuned to helping others, the September Dawg Day of Service set a new standard for the number of participating students and service sites across Athens. It's never to early to learn that investing in your community is a hands-on experience: Organized by Serve UGA – student-led groups within UGA’s Department of Engagement, Leadership, and Service – students…

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UGA theatre students make the journey in 'Everybody'

UGA Theatre's season-opening production continues tonight and through the weekend with “Everybody,” written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by J.L. Reed. Performances will be held in the Cellar Theatre of the Fine Arts Building on Sept. 25-28 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18, $6 for students and can be reserved at ugatheatre.com/everybody or by phone at 706-542-4400 or in person at the Performing Arts Center or…

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New North Georgia weather radar fills coverage gap

A new weather radar system – a collaboration among three Georgia institutions of higher education - comes online at a critical time in hurricane season to protect people and property across the metro region and beyond: Installed recently at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), an X-band weather radar purchased two years ago by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia (UGA) is now providing data for a section of north Georgia…

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kudos, September 2024

We welcomed new faculty and staff colleagues into the Franklin College, celebrated new professorships, a Hall of Fame induction and so much more in this first month of the fall semester 2024. Congratulations to our colleagues for outstanding contributions and career achievements: Kelly Dyer, professor in the department of genetics, director of the Integrated Life Sciences Program and co-director of the NIH T32 Genetics Training Grant program, is…

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Noted and Quoted, September 2024

Fantastic start to the fall semester, with excellent research stories and expert comment alike finding purchase in media around the world. Great job by Franklin College scholars in a wide range of disciplines, prepared with authority, ready to share. A sample of stories from recent weeks: There might be more than one way to make a planet – The New York Times reports on new research from Cassandra Hall, assistant professor of computational…
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