Category: News

Articles about news in the College, from student and faculty accomplishments to research advances, new academic programs, and the impact of giving.


Students Win Goldwater, Hollings, Truman Scholarships

From the May 2014 Desktop News | Five College of Arts and Sciences students recently won prestigious national awards, helping UA to rank once again among the top universities with students selected. Of the eight UA students winning awards, two students from the College were named Goldwater Scholars, two were named Hollings Scholars, and one was named a Truman Scholar. Brian Goodell, a chemical engineering and physics major from Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Lynda Truong, a chemistry major from Grand Prairie, […]

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UA Researchers Earn National Cuban Award

From the May 2014 Desktop News | Dr. Vernon James Knight’s archaeological research in Cuba has earned him the National Prize from the Cuba Academy of Sciences, a major national award in that country. Knight, a professor in the Department of Anthropology and curator of southeastern archaeology at UA, received the award for research he conducted at the archaeological site of El Chorro de Maíta in eastern Cuba. The international collaborative research project lasted from 2006 to 2012 and involved […]

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E. O. Wilson Donates Awards to UA

From the May 2014 Desktop News | Two Pulitzer Prizes and a host of other international awards bestowed on Dr. Edward O. Wilson, the world’s most decorated scientist and a College of Arts and Sciences alumnus, were recently given to the College as an inspiration for generations of scientists to come. Wilson also gave $100,000 to the College to establish the Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Fellows Endowment, a scholarship that will support students to conduct field and museum research in […]

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NSF Grant Funds Study of Salt Trade

From the May 2014 Desktop News | What impact did the salt trade have on northwestern Louisiana during the 18th century? Paul Eubanks, a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology, is on a mission to find out. Eubanks recently received an $18,000 Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation to explore the topic. His project, “Caddo Salt Production in Northwestern Louisiana,” focuses on the role of Caddo Indian salt makers in the development of Louisiana’s history in the […]

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Race and Resegregation

Exhibit examines issues via local students’ photos An exhibit at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center features photos by local high school students. Their subject: the resegregation of U.S. public schools. Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and ProPublica, “Grandchildren of Brown: Student Photos on Race in Tuscaloosa, 60 Years Later,” will run May 2-18, with an opening reception May 2 at 6:30 p.m. The exhibit is part of a larger ProPublica project about school resegregation that coincides […]

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Anniston PCB Pollution Focus of New Book

From the April 2014 Desktop News | With Anniston as the backdrop, Dr. Ellen Spears, assistant professor in New College and the Department of American Studies, explores environmental justice in her new book, Baptized in PCBs, which was released April 7. Though focused on the 1990s legal battle between Anniston residents and the agrochemical company Monsanto, which dumped cancer-causing chemicals into the city’s working-class west side, Spears also addresses broader topics, such as significant themes in the social history of […]

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Traveling by Innate GPS-like Signals

From the April 2014 Desktop News | One of the most captivating mysteries in biology is the long-distance migrations of animals, particularly young animals that travel more than thousands of kilometers to specific, uncharted locations without older, more experienced migrants to guide them along the way. A College of Arts and Sciences alumnus is changing the way scientists understand one such phenomenon – the migration of Pacific salmon. Dr. Nathan Putman, a 2006 graduate of the Department of Biological Sciences […]

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Building New Homes for Tornado Survivors

From the April 2014 Desktop News | More than a dozen students traveled to Moore, Okla., during spring break to participate in tornado recovery. The students worked with Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity to build homes for survivors of an EF5 tornado that struck the areas surrounding Moore in May 2013. It was the deadliest on record in the United States since the Joplin, Mo., tornado in 2011. The Alternative Spring Break trip was organized by UA’s Community Service Center. […]

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UA in Prestigious Shakespeare Festivals

From the April 2014 Desktop News | Nicholas Burroughs is an actor with a plan. Burroughs, a senior majoring in musical theatre, has been invited to perform at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival after he graduates in May. “I feel extremely honored to be working with such a famous theatre,” said Burroughs, a native of Birmingham. Burroughs was cast in the festival’s 2014 season running from May through August as a pre-show performer, which involves 30 minutes of singing […]

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UA Cyber Initiatives Aid Law Enforcement

From the April 2014 Desktop News | Two College of Arts and Sciences professors have been invited to provide law enforcement officials worldwide with a “behind the curtain” look at how academics can help investigate cyber-related crimes. Dr. Diana Dolliver and Dr. Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, both faculty members in the Department of Criminal Justice, will present to an audience of about 500-600 law enforcement professionals at an international training event in Atlanta in May. Their goal is to make conference attendees […]

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