Category: scholarship

The UGA Librairies presents a lecture by Kenneth D. Crews, director of the Copyright Advisory Office at Columbia University in New York City, "Copyright and the Academy: The Battle turns to the Courts," on Monday May 20 at 10 am in 271 Auditorium of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. Crews will discuss recent U.S. court decisions that shape fair use for higher education:

For many years, universities and some copyright owners have sparred over interpretations of fair use and other critical provisions of the law. The disagreements have been played out in congressional hearings, negotiations over guidelines and efforts by leading organizations to influence policymaking at educational institutions. The debates have been robust, but ultimately more of a standoff than a true clash of powers. Much has changed in recent years. Cases involving copyright and education are heading to the courts. The litigation is costly and demanding, but it also is a chance to learn for the first time the view of the courts about the state of copyright law in higher education. The recent court ruling about fair use at Georgia State University is a leading of example. However, cases are also challenging videostreaming at UCLA, the preservation of digital books at the University of Michigan and even the ability of libraries to keep foreign books and other materials in their collections. This presentation will offer insights into these cases and pending developments in Congress. It will also examine reasons why the copyright issues that were once the domain of respectful agreement have escalated into litigation. 

Free and open to the public (and very informative).

Image: Columns at the Richard B. Russell Building, courtesy of UGA photographic services

Careers in academia are, in some ways, like those of any other profession: once you have secured a position, you set about to address professional obligations, establish personal goals and pursue opportunities for advancement. Most of all of these would occur within the framework of the position for which you were intially hired.

An important difference in the professoriat, and one emphasized by a program at UGA, is the opportunity to study outside of your chosen discipline. The 2013-2014 Study in a Second Discipline Fellows were just announced and they are all from the Franklin College:

"Some of the most notable research and scholarship occurs at the interface of fields, and the Study in the Second Discipline program is one of the many ways that the university encourages interdisciplinary research," said Provost Jere Morehead. "I commend the recipients of this fellowship for undertaking projects that will advance their fields and have the potential to foster long-term collaborations on campus."

The 2013-2014 Fellows are:

• Benjamin Ehlers, associate professor of history, who will study in the geography department to gain proficiency in data mapping and further his research into patterns of religious violence in the Spanish Mediterranean;
• Chad Howe, associate professor of Romance languages, who will study in the department of statistics with the goal of applying advanced quantitative techniques to the study of language variation;
• Amy Ross, associate professor of geography, who will study in the departments of philosophy and military science to advance her research on civilian casualties and lay the foundation for a new course on "The Geographies of Conflict." 
• Janice Simon, Meigs Professor of Art History, who will study Native American culture in the anthropology department to broaden the scope of her research on landscape images as well as her courses on American art;
• Robert Varley, professor of mathematics, who will study in the physics department to enhance collaborative research on particle physics and quantum field theory; and
• Andrew Zawacki, associate professor of English, who will study photography in the Lamar Dodd School of Art and incorporate the technical and theoretical knowledge he gains into an upcoming book of poetry.

Congratulations to these faculty members, and thanks to their colleagues in every department for supporting their return to the classoom in a different guise. We look forward to the fruits of their study in a second discipline and salute the dedication to innovative scholarship.

Sociology professor and department head William Finlay is currently featured in the Focus on Faculty on the UGA homepage:

A few highlights/insights on Finlay's perspective on teaching:

What interests you about your field?

I enjoy its diversity and the sheer range of human behaviors and institutions that one can examine and explain as a sociologist. It remains as fascinating a discipline to me now as it did when I took my first undergraduate sociology class nearly 40 years ago.

What are some highlights of your career at UGA?

Becoming a Meigs professor, receiving an award from one of the sections of the American Sociological Association for my first book, and starting a study-abroad program in South Africa.

How does your research or scholarship inspire your teaching, and vice versa?

For me, they've also gone hand in hand. My current research project is a direct outgrowth of a class I have been teaching – I often get ideas for research from teaching. And when I'm working on my research, I often think about how I would present the findings to students, which I find to be a good way of forcing myself to make the argument as clear and interesting as possible.

What do you hope students gain from their classroom experience with you?

A set of concepts and ideas for understanding the world around them, whether they are at home, at work or visiting unfamiliar places. I like to think of sociology as a kind of toolkit that we can use to explain human behavior and I hope that my students take some of these tools with them.

Be sure and read the whole thing.

Image: University of Georgia. Finlay, right, with students.

A monograph by professor of romance languages and associate dean in the Franklin College Noel Fallows has been selected for the prestigious La corónica International Book Award:

La corónica is a refereed journal published every spring and fall by the Modern Language Association's Division on Medieval Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. It publishes groundbreaking articles written in English or Spanish on topics in medieval Spanish cultural studies, literature, and historical linguistics. Devoted to Hispanomedievalism in its broadest sense, La corónica also welcomes scholarship that transcends the linguistic and/or cultural borders of Spanish and explores the interconnectedness of those languages and cultures that coexisted in medieval Iberia.

Fallows' book, Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia is "a handsomely produced and beautifully illustrated book" that "through a thoughtful deployment of texts and images, takes us into the complex social and cultural world of late medieval and early modern chivalry." (The Medieval Review)

Associate dean Fallows was also recently elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Fallows reports that it has been a career-long ambition to be invited to join the SAL, which is very estimed in Bristich scholarly circles though has few 'foreign' Fellows. Congratulations to Fallows on these terrific awards honoring his scholarship and writing.

Five UGA undergraduates werenamed 2012-13 NSEP Boren Scholars for study abroad - three of them from the Franklin College:

Five University of Georgia undergraduates-a record number-will be spending the next academic year participating in language study abroad programs thanks to the National Security Education Program David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarship.

The UGA Boren Scholars are juniors Tia Ayele of Stone Mountain, Malena Lopez-Sotelo of Rentz and John Esteban Rodriguez of Guyton, and seniors Christian Conroy of Roswell and David Gutiérrez of Albany.

Sophomore biology and psychology double major Mehreen Sultana has been awarded the very first Dean's Council Scholarship:

The $1,000 scholarship is funded by an endowment created by the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Council, an advisory group of alumni and donors committed to advancing the university's oldest, largest and most academically diverse college.