Tags: Society

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22-member faculty team to study the history of slavery at UGA

The University of Georgia has awarded a grant to a 22-member UGA academic team to study the history of slavery at UGA from the institution’s founding in 1785 until the end of the Civil War in 1865. The research team—which spans multiple schools, colleges and other units across the university—will conduct a multidisciplinary study of enslaved African Americans who labored on the UGA campus. In September, the team submitted a proposal, which was…

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Libraries, theatre collaboration brings incarceration history to the stage

Beginning this Friday, November 8, the first-of-its-kind endeavor, By Our Hands – a cross-institutional theatrical experience between Spelman College, the University of Georgia, librarians, archivists, students, professionals, incarcerated individuals, and community partners – takes the Fine Arts theatre stage. The Georgia Incarceration Performance Project incorporates scenes directly from Georgia history to negotiate our relationship…

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Kudos, October 2019

Fantastic news about faculty, staff and students inside and beyond the classroom over the last month: Distinguished Research Professor of Geography Andy Herod was recently re-appointed by Governor Kemp to the State's Complete Count Committee for the 2020 Census, by Executive Order in September. Herod had previously been appointed to the Committee by Governor Deal Barbara McCaskill, Professor of English and Associate Academic…

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Viral Maps: when content catches on

When you think about content going viral, maps don’t typically come to mind, but “The Eclipse: Smothered and Covered,” a map with the 2017 eclipse path of totality overlaid with the best Waffle House locations for viewing, did just that. The map was created by University of Georgia assistant professor of geography Jerry Shannon. After being retweeted by Waffle House, Shannon’s map quickly went viral. Almost 200,000 people viewed the tweet, and…

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UGA libraries partner with Google Books

The extraordinary treasure that is the University of Georgia libraries has a new digital access partnership with Google Books to digitize about 120,000 of the Libraries’ 4.5 million volumes: Through a new partnership with Google, about 120,000 of the Libraries’ 4.5 million volumes will be digitized, allowing further access to literary, historic, scientific and reference books and journals through UGA’s library catalog as well as one of…

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History Lunch & Learn: Money Apocalypse

In the spirit of Homecoming week, the history department welcomes back alumnus speak Sean Vanatta: Join the Russell Library for a lunch and learn held in conjunction with the exhibit Now and Then: 1979. Sean Vanatta, a "triple dawg" and visiting assistant professor of history in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, will present on the Volcker Shock and the end of financial stability.  The Volker…

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DJ Summits in the Global South

Lynnée Denise is a Los Angeles-based artist, writer and academic who practices “DJ Scholarship,” which her official biography describes as a method “to re-position the role of the DJ from a party purveyor to an archivist, cultural custodian and information specialist of music with critical value.” Denise will bring that unique brand of scholarship to the UGA and Athens communities with an evening of conversation and performance Oct. 17…

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New research traces the spread of Neolithic practices into Europe

The spread of agriculture from the Near East and Fertile Crescent through Turkey and into Europe around 10,000 years ago was a complex and multifaceted process, one that archaeologists are trying to understand using one of the latest scientific techniques: stable isotope analysis.  A new paper published in the journal PLOS One by Suzanne Pilaar Birch, assistant professor of geography and anthropology at the University of Georgia, and…

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Cherokee Removal, the Trail of Tears, and populism

UGA and the Franklin College welcome former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chad Smith to deliver a Signature Lecture Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 4 p.m. in room 286 Miller Learning Center. In his lecture, "Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears: The Unlearned Lessons of Populism Today," Chad Smith looks at the rise of a hard-edged populism with Andrew Jackson, leading to Cherokee Removal…

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Student champions disability awareness

Alongside her double-major coursework, Tyler Burrell raises awareness about “invisible illness”—that not all people who look normal are able-bodied and healthy. “That person needing the elevator for one floor, the person with a handicap pass who looks totally healthy, might not be,” she said. “You never know someone’s whole story.” Burrell, a University of Georgia senior international affairs and communication studies…

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Gable Distinguished Chair brings focus on Colonial American history to UGA

The University of Georgia welcomes renowned historian and anthropologist James F. Brooks as the inaugural holder of the Carl and Sally Gable Distinguished Chair in Southern Colonial American History. An innovative scholar and teacher, Brooks is author of the prize-winning book Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship and Community in the Southwestern Borderlands, which garnered seven major prizes including the Bancroft, Parkman and…

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Kudos, September 2019

Fulbright grants, SEC Leadership Development and excellence in research, visual art and career experiences for graduate students highlight Franklin College awards and achievements in September. Congratulations all: Get Installed: Installation at Valdosta State University by Jon Swindler, associate professor of art and associate director of Lamar Dodd School of Art, and Mike McFalls, professor of art at Columbus State University…

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Noted and Quoted, September 2019

A few of the top stories featuring the scholarship and expertise of Franklin College faculty members during September: Tiny Albino lizards are the first gene-edited, mutant reptiles, research by associate professor of genetics Doug Menke reported in Newsweek, Courthouse News Service, News Atlas, Science Codex, Earth.com, EcoWatch, Sci-News, The Scientist Magazine   Evacuating for a hurricane…

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Combining engineering and arts in theater set design

Hannah Fordham, a third-year student from Statesboro, came to the University of Georgia expecting to major in engineering. But the high school percussionist missed missed performing so she added a theater major, started taking acting classes and then discovered set design—where her passion for the arts could draw on her engineering skills: “Engineering helps me think about things from a practical standpoint,”…

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Georgia vs. Notre Dame - Franklin College stars of the game

Even as the Georgia Bulldogs gear up for one of the biggest games of the season against Notre Dame, our players find the time to balance athletics with their classes. In the world of college athletics, success has two meanings: athletes are expected to excel in their chosen sport, and required to achieve in the classroom. Student-athletes must learn time management skills to balance early-morning weight lifting sessions, late…

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Franklin College podcast series, Unscripted

The University of Georgia Bulldogs and the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish will meet in Athens on Saturday, September 21 for the second leg in the home-and-home series between two college football powers. Off the field, the two universities share a vision for scholarly collaboration also in its second year: the Berlin Seminar in Transnational European Studies. A joint initiative of the Franklin College and the Willson Center…

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AIR lecture features Muscogee Creek Sarah Deer, Sept. 19

Sarah Deer, 2014 MacArthur Fellow, Chief Justice for the Prairie Island Indian Community Court of Appeals, and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies professor at the University of Kansas, is the featured speaker for the fifth annual American Indian Returnings (AIR) lecture September 19, 4:30 p.m. in the M. Smith Griffith Auditorium at the Georgia Museum of Art. Th event is supported by the Eidson Foundation Fund, the…

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Studying the impact of climate change on Georgia archaeology sites

In the world of climate change studies, there are extensive global and regional models but fewer site-specific models. Lindsey Cochran, a postdoctoral research associate with the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology, is working with digital data from the Georgia coast to recreate models that simulate site-specific changes from now until 2100. “Archaeologists care a lot more about the context in which an artifact was found than the…

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A journey of helping people: from A.B. to the bar to bench for Georgia's newest Judge

Candice Branche (A.B. psychology, ’90, M.A. counseling, ’92) was sworn in August 2 as Assistant Probate Court Judge and full-time Magistrate Court Judge of Newton County, Georgia. The former Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney of Newton County embarked on this new phase of her legal career after a fulfilling and impactful earlier career as a therapist and mental health professional.  Branche arrived at UGA with an open and curious mind…

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2019-20 Franklin College Student Ambassadors

The Franklin College Student Ambassadors is a program under the oversight of the college’s office of development and alumni relations. Ambassadors assist with departmental, development, alumni and student activities. “The Franklin College Student Ambassadors lead by example, enhance the public and instructional image of the College, its students and programs, and build interest, pride and enthusiasm for future generations of Franklin students…

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12 UGA students, alumni receive Fulbright offers

12 UGA students and recent alumni have been selected to receive international travel-study grants offered through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the sixth straight year—and 10th time in the past 11 years—that UGA has received 10 or more offers. Of the 12, nine were able to take advantage of the opportunity. Four received academic and arts grants, and five will be teaching English. Eight are students or alumni with…

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Amazing student: Kaitlin Luedecke

Goldwater Scholar, chemistry major and Chicago native Kaitlin Luedecke is on track to become a chemistry professor and hopes to inspire a new generation of scientists both in the classroom and in the laboratory: University highlights, achievements, awards and scholarships: Spring break 2019 I traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Colonia, Uruguay, with some other UGA Foundation Fellows, and I had the time of my life! I attended some…

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Focus on the Faculty: Emily Sahakian

Associate professor of theatre and French Emily Sahakian integrates her work on campus with community partnerships that include a mentorship program at local high schools, an after-school theatre program at a middle school, and workshops at local nonprofit organizations: As part of the Experience UGA program, I worked with high school teacher Ashley Goodrich and Claire Coenen of the Office of Service-Learning to concoct an…

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Noted and Quoted, August 2019

Franklin faculty continue to lead by sharing their expertise on many international issues of the day. A recent sampling: Greenland’s in the middle of a record melting event - Distinguished Research Professor and Franklin College associate dean Thomas Mote quoted in a widely circulated article, Science Alert Academics, sports or both? A personal reflection from an atmospheric scientist - Georgia Athletic Association…

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Kudos, Summer 2019

Franklin College faculty and students continue to shine with distinguished accomplishments, honors, awards, prizes and fellowships. Congratulations and kudos to: Military historian and professor John H. Morrow is the 13th recipient of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing  Professor of geography John Knox will receive the Edward N. Lorenz Teaching…
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