Tags: Human Nature

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Kudos, Nov-Dec 2020

An  extraordinary array of honors and accomplishments among our students, alumni and colleagues were announced over recent weeks. Congratulations to each and all – your excellence inspires us as it propels the campus community to ever-greater heights: The Curtis Institute of Music has appointed Vince Ford as senior vice president of digital strategy and innovation, executive director of the Performance Innovation Lab, and, in…

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Noted and Quoted, Nov/Dec 2020

COVID-19, election news and analysis, personality traits, weather and climate round out the recent trending topics for Franklin College faculty expertise in the media. A sample of the many stories: Study links cognitive disorders with severe COVID-19 risk – research led by Kaixiong Ye, assistant professor of genetics, reported by Devdiscourse, News Break, and Postdoctoral Fellow Jingqi Zhou, Drugs.com Hot or cold, weather…

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UGA staffer participates in Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial

University of Georgia staff member Doug Lloyd, a systems administrator in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Office of Information Technology, is participating in the two-year Phase 3 trial of the investigational COVID-19 vaccine known as mRNA-1273. An interim analysis of the trial data suggests that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in adults. For Lloyd, the experience provides an…

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2021 Bulldog 100

The UGA Alumni Association unveiled the 2021 Bulldog 100, a list of the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni, with 26 Franklin College alumni honorees representing 24 businesses: The 2021 Bulldog 100 celebrates organizations from over two dozen industries, including agriculture, construction, health care, nonprofits and software. Of the 100 businesses, 81 are located within the state of Georgia. In…

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UGA Student Emergency Fund, Black Alumni Scholarship

In honor of Giving Tuesday, a national day of support for nonprofit organizations, UGA is spotlighting three funds that address timely issues for those seeking to give back to the university this holiday season: UGA Student Emergency Fund The UGA Student Emergency Fund is available to provide limited, one-time financial assistance to enrolled students who are unable to meet immediate, essential expenses because of temporary hardship…

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Four UGA faculty members named AAAS Fellows

Four University of Georgia faculty members, three from the Franklin College, have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor bestowed by their peers for “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.” These four faculty members are among 489 new AAAS Fellows who will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue—representing…

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The Redcoat Band plays on

Brett Bawcum is no stranger to planning. As director of athletic bands, his preparation begins 10 months ahead of the next fall season. When COVID-19 hit, planning took on a whole new challenge: a heavy dose of unpredictability. “We were already looking at second and third shows when it started becoming clear last spring that this was not going to be a ‘normal’ year,” said Bawcum. Whether or not the band would even be able to attend games…

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Working to increase diversity among STEM faculty

Franklin College faculty members are leading efforts of UGA faculty, staff and administrators to increase faculty diversity and the use of inclusive teaching practices in STEM fields: Among their first steps is a survey of the university’s STEM faculty to gather input and assess current efforts to recruit and retain diverse faculty. “We want to accurately assess our past efforts in our quest to recruit and retain a diverse STEM…

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Artwork celebrates the student-veteran experience

Art majors and student veteran Eric Martin recently completed a commissioned painting titled “We Came by Land, Sea, Air and Space” for the University of Georgia Student Veterans Resource Center: Martin, who enlisted in response to the 9/11 attacks, was on active duty in the Army for almost six years and went on a 15-month tour of Iraq. He served as a mortarman in the infantry, operating with 81mm and 121mm mortars, with the…

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Marine study away programs harness science and wonder

Just down the coast from Savannah, Sapelo Island houses the University of Georgia Marine Institute, a world-renowned center for marine ecological research. Located within the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, UGAMI is a living laboratory that offers uncommon access to coastal habitats, making it the perfect location to offer UGA’s flagship field study programs in marine sciences, the Marine Biology Spring Semester…

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MFA Film program announces Distinguished Industry Mentor initiative; applications open until Dec. 1

As the application timeline opens for its second year, the University of Georgia’s Master of Fine Arts in Film, Television and Digital Media announces a new addition: the start of the Distinguished Industry Mentor program: The Distinguished Industry Mentors initiative will draw on top talent from more than 45 professional writers, producers and directors to work with the students by providing master classes, hosted conversations,…

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Graduate students adapt to new lab protocols

With new protocols in place to safeguard against COVID-19, most University of Georgia graduate students have safely returned to their work in labs and field settings. Continuing their important research has been a positive development, but the changes have required adjustments. Those adaptations have varied immensely, depending on the students’ areas of study: “We conduct lab meetings predominantly over Zoom,” she said. “We sign up to use…

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Noted and Quoted, October 2020

A few of the stories we've been following over the course of October, written by or featuring the work of Franklin College faculty members: Some COVID-19 rule-breakers could be narcissists, experts say — here’s how to approach them – psychology professor Keith Campbell quoted by The Spokesman-Review, Longview News Journal A post-presidential debate reality check on carbon dioxide and climate – Marshall Shepherd, Georgia…

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Geologists simulate soil conditions to help grow plants on Mars

Manned missions to Mars, much less permanent human settlement, will require scientific breakthroughs in many fields including interstellar agriculture. Growing food presents one of the primary challenges to sending human crews to the Red Planet. The last decade of Martian surface exploration has expanded the understanding of the chemistry of its atmosphere and surface.providing valuable knowledge that support research for growing food…

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Kudos, October 2020

Congratulations to our colleagues, students and alumni on important recent accomplishments over the month of October: Liftoff: UGA’s first-ever satellite heads to space –WGAU,WSB,Trenton Daily News,Albany Herald,ABH, AJC,  "Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory" by Claudio Saunt, Richard B. Russell Professor in American History, has been named as a finalist for the National Book…

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Franklin College Visiting Scholar Rashawn Ray

Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution, Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research (LASSR) at the University of Maryland, College Park, will deliver a talk at 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26 as part of the Franklin College Visiting Scholars Program. Ray’s research addresses the mechanisms that manufacture and maintain racial and social…

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Building better teams through psychology

Dorothy Carter spends her days developing strategies that can help astronauts prepare for missions to Mars, assist military leaders in maximizing their troops’ performance, and coach corporate leaders to optimize organizational plans. It’s not what she thought she would be doing in the early 2000s when she was a professional dancer for a ballet company in Ohio. But, her long-range future was limited, she realized then. “There was no real…

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Focus on the Faculty: Sally Walker

Sally E. Walker, the inaugural Shellebarger Professor in Geology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, gives students field research experiences through which they propose hypotheses, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings: What are your favorite courses and why? My favorite courses concern connections: how evolution of life on Earth affected geological and atmospheric processes and vice versa. The naturalist John Muir…

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October Undergraduate Ceremony

Welcome to the friends and families of our graduates on campus today as UGA recognizes Spring and Summer 2020 graduates in a special, rescheduled ceremony tonight in Sanford Stadium. The speaker for tonight's event is University of Georgia vice president for Student Affairs, Victor Wilson: During his nearly four decades of experience in higher education, he has been a strong advocate for students and student development, particularly the…

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Black Student Union chair works in minority recruitment

Nice feature story on sociology major Joshua Patton, a senior from Decatur who leads tours through UGA’s Visitors Center and served as a 2019 orientation leader sharing the best of UGA: “When people of color come to the university for tours, I want them to see other successful people of color. I want them to think ‘I can see myself doing that. I can see myself in that position. I can see myself getting involved in this organization,’”…

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UGA welcomes 2024 Ramsey Scholars, Foundation Fellows

UGA announced 20 new Foundation Fellows and seven new Ramsey Scholars today, the highest academic scholarships and grants the university awards. While the combined lists reflect a healthy geographic variety, with Georgia's finest high school scholars well-represented, both are also predominately Franklin College majors, which is precisely as it should be at a top-tier major research university. The great diversity of…

photo of woman in studio, with dancers in background
Focus on the Faculty: Lisa Fusillo

Professor of dance in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Lisa Fusillo loves seeing students thrive and excel, and witnessing their successes as artists and as individuals, is her greatest joy: My favorite courses are dance history, ballet technique, pointe and First-Year Odyssey seminars. These topics encompass everything that I love to teach! My teaching is greatly informed by my professional experience and training in classical ballet…

book cover with red text, border and seal
Saunt named finalist for National Book Award

***Update***  Saunt named a finalist on Oct. 6. Final announcement 11/18 Claudio Saunt’s book, Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory, has been named to the 2020 longlist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. “It’s a great honor to be one of the 10 authors selected for the National Book Award longlist. The category is nonfiction, not just history, and it is really…

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Dawgs in Space

UPDATE: Launch re-scheduled for 9:16 EST Oct. 2 – A Franklin College-student-led effort to get the University of Georgia’s first research satellite into space is ready for launch. The small satellite SPOC, short for Spectral Ocean Color, is due for takeoff at 9:38 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1. That's tonight: The satellite will be on board an Antares rocket set to launch from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia…

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Noted and Quoted, September 2020

Elections and hurricanes led the media coverage featuring Franklin faculty expertise during September. A sample of the many recent stories in print, on the air and screen: Mathematicians open a new front on an ancient number problem – mathematics professor Paul Pollack quoted by Quanta Magazine, Wired Flooding, blackouts in the wake of Laura – Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor …
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