The Institute for African American Studies and Lamar Dodd School of Art present a lecture by Cameron Van Patterson, Diasporic Imagination: Race, Difference, and Memory in Contemporary Art. The lecture will be on April 5 at 5 p.m. in room S150 of the school of art, with a reception immediately following. The lecture and reception are free and the public is invited to attend.
Vincent van Gogh produced five versions of sunflowers in vases or bouqets, each subtly distinct from the others. Often accused of the dual curse of genius and madness, UGA scientists have confirmed that, though van Gogh may have had other struggles, inaccurate vision was not among them.
In a study published March 29 in the journal PLoS Genetics, however, a team of University of Georgia scientists reveals the mutation behind the distinctive, thick bands of yellow "double flowers" that the post-Impressionist artist painted more than 100 years ago.
"In addition to being of interest from a historical perspective, this finding gives us insight into the molecular basis of an economically important trait," said senior author John Burke, professor of plant biology in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "You often see ornamental varieties similar to the ones van Gogh painted growing in people's gardens or used for cut flowers, and there is a major market for them."
Very nice Q & A with the director of UGA's Atmosphereic Sciences program, Marshall Shepherd, on the University of Georgia homepage.
A professor in the department of geography, Shepherd discusses several personal and professional topics, including his favorite courses and why?
I developed two new courses when I came to UGA. One course, Applied Climatology in the Urban Environment, is one of my favorite courses because I get to teach theory, application, and hands-on field work on how cities impact weather, climate and other environmental factors. I also created a Mesoscale and Radar Meteorology course, which is an important course for any atmospheric sciences curriculum. We even had a Mobile Doppler Radar from FSU at UGA recently in support of that class. I also really enjoyed teaching one of the new First-Year Odyssey Seminars. It was such joy teaching freshmen about "Observing the Earth From Space." I had several NASA colleagues Skype into the class live. The kids were so thrilled.
The rest at the link, as well as links to a many other similar profiles of faculty from all over campus.
Image: University of Georgia
The Ambassador from the island nation of Cape Verde to United States, Maria de Fatima Lima da Veiga, will be the guest of the UGA African Studies Institute on April 4 and 5 to deliver a series of lectures and meet with faculty and students. The African Studies institute would like to highlight two public lectures in particular to be given by the ambassador:
On April 4 at 5 p.m. in room 480 of the Tate Center, she’ll deliver a lecture titled “International Relations and African Diaspora: The Case of Cape Verde.”
On April 5 at 8 a.m., also in room 480 Tate, she will be the keynote speaker at the Global Education Forum and will deliver a lecture titled “Education, Sports & Development in Cape Verde.”
Franklin College researchers have used nanoparticles and alternating magnetic current to kill cancer cells in mice without harming healthy cells:
The findings, published recently in the journal Theranostics, mark the first time to the researchers' knowledge this cancer type has been treated using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle-induced hyperthermia, or above-normal body temperatures, in laboratory mice.
"We show that we can use a small concentration of nanoparticles to kill the cancer cells," said Qun Zhao, lead author and assistant professor of physics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Researchers found that the treatment easily destroyed the cells of cancerous tumors that were composed entirely of a type of tissue that covers the surface of a body, which is also known as epithelium.
The University of Georgia Collegium Musicum and Players, UGA's premier Early Music ensemble directed by associate professor in the Hodgson School of Music Mitos Andaya, will perform Handel's Messiah on Sunday, April 1 at 6 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Athens.
While a great occassion to bring together town-and-gown during the Easter season, the free concert will also be an opportunity for Franklin College alumni to return to campus. Joining the Collegium Musicum for the concert will be alums Derek and Laura (Transue) Chester and James Miller, as well as guest soloist Fabiana Gonzalez.
Former New School chancellor David Levy took to the pages of the Washington Post this weekend to make an interesting argument: public support for higher education has led to rising tuition costs and faculty are generally overpaid for 'inefficient' teaching schedules.
Not changed, however, are the accommodations designed to compensate for low pay in earlier times. Though faculty salaries now mirror those of most upper-middle-class Americans working 40 hours for 50 weeks, they continue to pay for teaching time of nine to 15 hours per week for 30 weeks, making possible a month-long winter break, a week off in the spring and a summer vacation from mid-May until September.
Such a schedule may be appropriate in research universities where standards for faculty employment are exceptionally high — and are based on the premise that critically important work, along with research-driven teaching, can best be performed outside the classroom. The faculties of research universities are at the center of America’s progress in intellectual, technological and scientific pursuits, and there should be no quarrel with their financial rewards or schedules. In fact, they often work hours well beyond those of average non-academic professionals.
Unfortunately, the salaries and the workloads applied to the highest echelons of faculty have been grafted onto colleges whose primary mission is teaching, not research. These include many state colleges, virtually all community colleges and hundreds of private institutions. For example, Maryland’s Montgomery College (an excellent two-year community college) reports its average full professor’s salary as $88,000, based on a workload of 15 hours of teaching for 30 weeks. Faculty members are also expected to keep office hours for three hours a week. The faculty handbook states: “Teaching and closely related activities are the primary responsibilities of instructional faculty.” While the handbook suggests other responsibilities such as curriculum development, service on committees and community outreach, notably absent from this list are research and scholarship.
This is quite a specific set of charges to make, and the responses came fast and indignant, if not furious, from prominent bloggers who are also faculty members.
As I understand it, my contract is fairly common for my field; 40% teaching, 40% research, 20% service. Do the math; this means that 60% of my job performance is evaluated on terms other than teaching. I’m at an R-1 university, but I’ve seen a lot of contracts at other schools that are similar, and at schools where the research load is less the teaching load is heavier. Indeed, at UK it’s not uncommon for non-tenure track Lecturer positions to include service and research requirements, above and beyond a much heavier teaching load.
A colleague pointed me to this Times article elucidating the role university art museums are playing on college campuses everywhere:
In the 21st century, university art museums have become more aggressive in extending their missions and collections to reach deeper into classrooms and curriculums not ordinarily associated with art. At Duke’s seven-year-old Nasher Museum, two members of its 30-person staff are devoted exclusively to finding uses for pieces from the collection to enhance course work in various academic departments. Medical students, for instance, spend a day studying visual art in an exercise intended to hone observation and description skills that Nasher staff member developed with professors.
A Duke professor of geology uses the museum’s collection of art carved from stone for lessons on the influence of time, oceans and weather.
In both instances, Nasher’s academic coordinators helped their colleagues in medicine and geology use art to interest students heavily influenced by the visual immediacy of the Internet, and to be aware that their careers were likely to include colleagues and alliances outside the United States.
“Students need to learn things and to be innovative and entrepreneurial in this new global world,” said Ms. Rorschach. “Art is about communicating effectively, about communicating visually, about understanding.”
Henry F. Schaefer III, Graham Purdue Professor of Chemistry in the department of chemistry, has received the 2012 SURA Distinguished Scientist Award, the Southeastern Universities Research Association announced today:
The annual honor goes to a research scientist whose extraordinary work fulfills the SURA mission of "fostering excellence in scientific research." The award and its $20,000 honorarium will be presented to Schaefer on March 29 in conjunction with the SURA Board of Trustees meeting being held at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
In more than 30 years of academic service, Schaefer has focused his field of study on using theoretical and computational methods to better understand the movement and function of electrons in molecules and the application of insights gained to areas of broad chemical interest, including atmospheric chemistry, combustion and organic chemistry.
An upcoming international conference at UGA will focus on indigenous advocacy for the preservation of sacred sites around the world:
Approximately 100 participants and speakers from nearly a dozen countries are expected to attend the conference on "Indigenous Revival and Sacred Sites Conservation." The conference, hosted by the department of geography in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is free and open to the public.
"This conference puts UGA at the forefront of an important new development in the field of environmental conservation," said Fausto Sarmiento, associate professor of geography and conference convener. "Indigenous peoples are taking a more active role in defining what happens within their territories; and this has social, environmental and economic ramifications that we will examine."
