Tags: Human Nature

Theologically Engaged Anthropology
Theologically-engaged anthropology aims to answer big questions

Today’s current sociopolitical changes, much like other periods of time in our history, is a landscape worthy of collaboration between anthropologists and theologists, he said. "Traditionally, anthropologists have focused on the continuity of religious cultural change. Humans value order and predictability, and often behavior that is not in keeping with what is culturally expected is branded as deviant and punished,” said Lemons. “However, this…

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2018 New Student Orientation

First-year orientation sesssions began earlier this summer and continue today through the second week of August. First-year, transfer and inernational students are finding their way around campus, learning about UGA and becoming acquainted with the small city that is a major university! Welcome all! Remain calm. There is a great deal to learn, keep up with, organize and decide, but you can do it. Our staff and faculty are here to help and…

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DREAMS INTO REALITY

UGA giving features psychology major Savonte Wilson ’21, who is attending his dream school thanks to the Beth and Barry Storey Family Scholarship: “I always wanted to come to UGA—it was my dream school,” said Savonte. “I made the grades for it and everything: I had a 4.0 throughout high school. I was determined to come here.” Savonte, a Moultrie, Georgia, native, was accepted to the University of Georgia on St. Patrick’s Day 2017, but it…

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UGA 40 Under 40 Class of 2018

The University of Georgia Alumni Association has unveiled the 40 Under 40 Class of 2018: This program began in 2011 and celebrates the personal, professional and philanthropic achievements of UGA graduates who are under the age of 40. The honorees will be recognized during the eighth annual 40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon on Sept. 13 at the Georgia Aquarium. Congratulations to this year's class. For 2018, 17 Honorees…

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Georgia Climate Research Roadmap identifies Top 40 Climate Questions

From higher storm surge and more frequent flooding along the coast, to erratic weather patterns that affect the many industries connected to agriculture and forestry, the state of Georgia and its citizens face a growing array of challenges related to climate change. Now, a multi-disciplinary team of experts from across the state has developed the Georgia Climate Research Roadmap, a list of 40 key questions that can help Georgia’s policymakers…

Moving Evolution Education Forward
Moving Evolution Education Forward

Recent research co-authored by department of genetics Ph.D. candidate Michelle Ziadie focuses on resources available for undergraduate evolution instructors. From the abstract of the paper: Evolution is a unifying theory in biology and is challenging for undergraduates to learn. An instructor’s ability to help students learn is influenced by pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), which is topic-specific knowledge of teaching and learning…

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Microbes and a changing environment

A striking new study published in the journal Cell shows details how ancient microbes that thrive in some of the world’s most extreme environments and modern-day humans have more in common than meets the eye—namely, they both respire and conserve energy using a similar molecular mechanism, one that has adapted to changing environmental conditions over billions of years: "Nature is really good at finding molecules that work and then modifying…

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Great Commitments: Roberto Perdisci

UGA's recently established Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy uses anti-malware software developed by the institute’s network security expert, associate professor of computer science Roberto Perdisci, to detect malware downloads on its own networks - a model other institutions are begiining to follow: “Your antivirus software installed on your computer to protect against malware attacks will always be behind,” Perdisci says. Such software…

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Staff Awards & Staff Appreciation

Thanks to all the many colleagues who attended the 2018 Franklin College Staff Awards reception at the Miller Learning Center. As dispersed as the college is, it's always great to see so many of our co-workers in one place. After an opening welcome from Dean Dorsey, the following Staff Excellence in Service Awards were presented to: Kendra Freeman, presented by Lesley G. Feracho, Interim director, African American Studies Shannon Kennedy,…

photo of grads in caps and gowns
Spring Commencement 2018

Today is The Day - all of the studying, books, classes, exams, friends, professors, meetings, study guides, notecards, letters home, study abroad experiences, internships, parttime jobs, scholarships, sporting events, weekends, pranks, performances, all-nighters, early coffees, late dinners, awards, honors, roommates, majors, DECISIONS, networking, buses, connections, papers, grades, interviews, accomplishments. It has all built up to this.…

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Scholarship recipients speak at Advance UGA Conference

As we near commencement, with so many Franklin students [more than 1,850] preparing to enter the next stage of their lives and careers, many are reflecting on the impact of their campus experiences and especially those afforded by scholarship opportunities.  A few of those were celebrated on Monday, April 30 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education at the Advance UGA Conference. Sponsored by the Office of Development and Alumni…

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Three faculty members awarded NEH support

Three Franklin College faculty members have been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The awards, announced April 9, are among $18.6 million in NEH grants for 199 humanities projects across the country: Professor of Spanish Elizabeth Wright and associate professor of French Rachel Gabara of the Romance languages department were awarded $6,000 each for summer stipends, highly competitive grants that provide full-…

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Noted and Quoted, April 2018

Franklin faculty members, students and alumni have been featured in a broad variety of media this month. A sampling: IRS computer glitch caused by "master file" issue – associate professor of history Stephen Mihm quoted on NPR  Voting laws for felons can be hard to follow – assistant professor of sociology Sarah K.S. Shannon quoted in the New York Times The 2018 hurricane season looms but Hurricane Maria still…

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Kudos, April 2018

Awards season celebrates many of our best and the accolades continue for Franklin College faculty and students. Among the many honors, inductions and elections: Janet Westpheling, professor of genetics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is president-electof the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. SIMB is a nonprofit, international association dedicated to the advancement of microbiological sciences,…

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2018 Josiah Meigs Teaching Professor Patricia Richards

Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies Patricia Richards is known as a demanding instructor who dares her students to accept challenges that make them want to think on a level beyond a single course or grade: Fostering intellectual excitement in the classroom that inspires students, she helps build some of UGA’s most forward-thinking interdisciplinary programs. In addition to her joint appointment in the sociology department and the…

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2018 Josiah Meigs Teaching Professor Michael Marshall

The Franklin College is home to two of the three 2018 Josiah Meigs Teaching Professors, profiled in the Honors & Awards issue of Columns. One of three is photography professor Michael Marshall: Michael Marshall believes that artists should have a role in facilitating change and shaping the world around them. He has put that philosophy into practice and guides others to do the same. “Change can be difficult, and I am consistently…

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Mellon grant will strengthen humanities programs

A $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will enable the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts to expand its Global Georgia Initiative, a public humanities program in place since 2013: In its first six years, the Global Georgia Initiative has engaged the humanities and arts in exploring global issues of public concern in a diversity of local contexts, serving audiences at UGA and throughout the Athens community…

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Thank a Donor

  UGA students are gathering Thursday at Tate Plaza from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Thank A Donor Day to show their appreciation for support of alumni and friends. At this celebration, students will have creative opportunities to thank those donors who have enriched their experiences at UGA. There will be prizes, photos with Hairy Dawg, music and more. It's another beautiful spring day on campus. Our students make it all the better by…

Photo one woman treating another in a lab
Undergraduates present research at CURO Symposium

Presentations on the best of UGA undergraduate research are underway at the annual CURO Symposium, held this year on April 9-10 at the Classic Center in downtown Athens: Hosted by CURO, the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, this year’s symposium is the largest to date, with more than 575 participants. These undergraduates are pursuing 103 different majors from 14 UGA schools and colleges. Collectively, they are…

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Moran receives SEC Faculty Achievement Award

Distinguished Research Professor Mary Ann Moran has earned a number of honors over the course of her career. The latest is being named UGA’s recipient of the 2018 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award: The SEC award, which is administered by provosts at the 14 universities in the conference, recognizes professors with outstanding records in teaching and scholarship who serve as role models for students and other faculty members…

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Kudos, March 2018

Awards season is always a time of celebration for the Franklin College, and we congratulate our colleagues (and students) on recent recognition, grants and professorships: Half of the six recipients of UGA’s highest recognition for excellence in instruction are from Franklin faculty members – Christine Alright from the department of Classics received the Russell Award for Excellence in Teaching – Athens CEO, UGA Today. Professor of…

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Noted and Quoted, March 2018

Great diversity of subjects, opinions, expertise and sources in this month's round-up faculty, students and alumni appearing in the media: Can narcissists actually change their ways? We asked the experts – professor of psychology  Keith Campbell quoted in Huffington Post Researchers receive $10M to create computational and informatics tools for glycoscience – project co-led by Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology …

photo of students holding Brazilian and American flags
UGA-Minas Gerais partnership receives NAFSA 2018 Spotlight Award

Building on interdisciplinary collaborations across campus made possible through the Portuguese Flagship Program, UGA is one of eight universities nationwide to be recognized for its exemplary international programs and partnerships by NAFSA, a nonprofit association dedicated to international education: The university’s network of partnerships within the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais received NAFSA’s 2018 Senator Paul Simon…

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Focus on the faculty: Hilda Kurtz

Professor of geography Hilda Kurtz has a strong belief in educational equity and diversity, as well as a great ability to tap into students’ curiosity in the classroom: My responsibilities include research, teaching and service. My research concerns alternative food politics, and more recently, organic certification. I currently teach courses in human geography at the introductory, upper-division and graduate levels. In addition to…

A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking, R.I.P.

On behalf of cosmologists everywhere, as well as all who share a love for knowledge and intellectual elegance, we salute the life of the great physicist and theorist Stephen Hawking: With mathematician Roger Penrose, Hawking used Einstein’s theory of relativity to trace the origins of time and space to a single point of zero size and infinite density. Their work gave mathematical expression to the Big Bang theory, proposed by Belgian priest…
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