“The Weaver and the Witch Queen”

Review: Seeing women on the verge of greatness: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – July 30

Early in Genevieve Gornichec’s new novel “The Weaver and the Witch Queen,” Gunnhild considers a massive question in her own life and the world she’s been brought up in: “I wonder what it’s like to be a woman respected on her own, for her own skills, and not who she’s related to.”… Matthew Minicucci is a poet and essayist. He is an assistant professor at The University of Alabama.

Yonder Dance Company

Alabama dance company travels to Scotland for festival performance: WVUA – July 31

Yonder Dance Company within The University of Alabama’s Department of Dance is traveling to Scotland to perform in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Yonder performers choreographed their routine themselves in the fall of 2022 and perfected the routine through performances around the country this past spring. In total, the dance lasts an entire 35 minutes and is titled, “Unstuck With You.”

Birmingham Zoo

Birmingham Zoo plans to relocate unmarked graves to make way for new cougar exhibit: Al.com – Aug. 2

… If the zoo moves forward with plans in the proposal, an archeologist from The University of Alabama will excavate the site and collect any remains and items interred there.

Professional Development

‘How do I do that?’ The new hires of 2023 are unprepared for work: Wall Street Journal – Aug. 2

Remote learning during the pandemic left students short of basic skills. Now companies are trying to teach them on the job …. In Covid-19’s aftermath, many college professors restructured curricula for students who lack basic study skills. “Reading, writing and critical-thinking skills are not the same as they were in the past,” said Mike Altman, a religion professor at The University of Alabama who said he has narrowed his curriculum to give his students more time to master basics.

College Towns

Why Tuscaloosa is a great college town: Southern Living – Aug. 2

I tell people that they can’t hope to truly understand the South until they spend a game weekend in Tuscaloosa. By Rick Bragg… Bragg… teaches writing at The University of Alabama… 

Discredited Research

DeSantis appointee to Disney board taught seminar using discredited research claiming White people were slaves in America: CNN – Aug. 4

…“The vast majority, the overwhelming majority – to the tune of millions of people who were brought from West and West Central Africa to the Americas – they were enslaved. Not people who were perpetrating slavery themselves,” Jenny Shaw, a professor of history at The University of Alabama, told CNN. “There’s a small number who did because they rose up in society and did what society was doing, which was enslaving people.” And that some people of African descent enslaved people because they were family members bringing them into their households with the intent of freeing them.

Forever Chemicals

Alabama researcher studying effects of ‘forever chemicals’ on adolescent cognitive development: Al.com – Aug. 4

A professor at The University of Alabama is studying the effect of exposure to PFAS—nicknamed “forever chemicals”—on cognitive function in adolescents, and she’s starting her research in McIntosh, Alabama.