Online Scams

Online romance scams: Research reveals scammers’ tactics – and how to defend against them: The Conversation – Aug. 4

… In a series of research projects, my colleagues from Georgia State University, University of Alabama, University of South Florida and I focused on understanding how scammers operate, the cues that may prompt changes in their tactics and what measures people can take to defend themselves against falling victim to this scam. 

Bankhead Family

UA Professor highlights the once mighty “Bankhead Dynasty” in Mobile this week: WKRG – Aug. 6

“They are the most important forgotten political family. Right. And that’s you know, we know them by their attachment, their name attachment to places,” said University of Alabama History Professor Kari Frederickson.
CBS 42
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CBS Columbus, Georgia
CBS Mobile (broadcast)

Montgomery Brawl

Alabama brawl turns spotlight on Montgomery’s racial history: CNN – Aug. 8

… Joshua D. Rothman, a historian and chair of the Department of History at The University of Alabama, told CNN the state played a “substantial role in the domestic slave trade” until the Civil War… “Slavery’s impact could be seen in everything,” Rothman said in an email to CNN. He added that enslaved labor fueled the local economy and influenced everything from the political order to religious life. “If you scratch hard enough at the surface of any of those matters (and many others) today, you’ll likely find the legacy of slavery lying somewhere underneath.”
The Atlanta Voice

Icon of the Seas

Why this viral photo of the world’s largest cruise ship is polarizing opinion: CNN – Aug. 10

… “I found the rendering oddly unusual as well,” Tom Davis, a professor of psychology at The University of Alabama, tells CNN. “After looking a bit more closely, I think I find the unsettling nature an interesting combination of the artistic perspective chosen and post-pandemic personal space/social distance training that’s been drilled into all of us.” Davis says the fact that this is a rendering, not an actual photograph, plays a crucial role. “It almost gives the impression of a short, over-tall, stacked vessel that is on choppy seas, but in reality this may be a trick of perspective, as the actual vessel is apparently three to four times longer than the idea I get by looking downward at the rendering. The images I’ve seen that are more in profile add a more reasonable, I think, sense of the height in context to the overall length.”

Celebrity Misconduct

Celebrities who cheat are more likely to commit sexual crimes, study finds: PsyPost – Aug. 12

… “After the emergence of the #MeToo movement, I realized that sexual abuse seemed to be occurring at frightening levels among celebrities,” co-author Austin Bowling, a law student at The University of Alabama, told PsyPost. “This made me wonder why they, out of all people, would engage in this type of behavior when it seemed the entire world was at their fingertips? When I learned of Dr. Lankford’s sexual frustration theory in one of my classes, I was further intrigued, especially in regard to celebrities who were so-called ‘sex addicts.’” … “We found strong evidence, using multiple approaches, that celebrities who cheat on their romantic partner are also much more likely to commit sexual harassment or sexual assault, or to solicit a sex worker,” said co-author Adam Lankford, a professor of criminology at The University of Alabama.