Category: Desktop News

Articles featured in Desktop News, a monthly e-newsletter of the College of Arts and Sciences


Researchers Bring HIV Education to Parolees and Probationers

Dr. Bronwen Lichtenstein

From the September 2016 Desktop News | Due to overcrowding in Alabama prisons, the state recently began diverting felons with lesser charges into parole and probation programs. One unexpected outcome, however, was that these convicted offenders, who fall in a higher risk bracket for HIV, no longer had access to the HIV education classes routinely offered in prison. Wanting to close this educational gap and bring free HIV testing to those willing to participate, Dr. Bronwen Lichtenstein, UA professor of criminal justice, […]

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UA Appoints New Summersell Chair and Director of Hudson Strode Program

From the September 2016 Desktop News | The College of Arts and Sciences welcomes the new Charles Grayson Summersell Endowed Chair of Southern History and the new director of the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies. Charles Grayson Summersell Endowed Chair of Southern History Dr. Lesley Jill Gordon, former professor of history at the University of Akron, is the new Charles Grayson Summersell Endowed Chair of Southern History at The University of Alabama. The Summersell Chair endowment was established in 1997 by […]

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Recent Graduate Bikes across America for Culmination of Senior Project

Map tracking Gyurgyik's trip from Virginia to Oregon.

From the September 2016 Desktop News | After 76 days and 4,505 miles, recent New College graduate Julie Gyurgyik finally arrived in Astoria, Oregon—completing one of the longest coast-to-coast trails in the United States. Her trek across the TransAmerica trail was planned as a part of her holistic health and wellness senior project, with the intent to raise money for Tuscaloosa’s Good Samaritan Clinic, which gives free primary health and dental care to those who do not have health insurance. Together with […]

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Traveling to the Ocean Floor: Professor Studies Deep-Sea Mollusks

Aplacophora are worm-like mollusks characterized by their lack of shells and tiny units called calcareous spicules.

From the September 2016 Desktop News | While the unique environment of the deep ocean would likely prove nightmarish and panic-inducing for many people, it’s just another day of fieldwork for Department of Biological Sciences’ assistant professor Dr. Kevin Kocot. This July, Kocot submerged to oceanic depths for the ninth time, joining 21 other marine scientists from universities across the nation who were selected to participate in this year’s Chief Scientist Training Cruise put on by the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System. In […]

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Serbia Fellowship Experience Looking for New Delegates

Students in Serbia

From the September 2016 Desktop News | “Most people can’t point out Serbia on a map, much less tell you about the culture,” said Josh Fuller, the executive director of the Serbia Fellowship Experience and a senior majoring in criminal justice. But for two weeks each May, undergraduate students at The University of Alabama have the opportunity to close that cultural gap. Through the Serbia Fellowship Experience, an entirely student-led international program which began in 2013, students are able to expand their […]

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Scholarships Matter: For the Love of Music

Lindsey South

From the August 2016 Desktop News |Scholarships Matter is a series of stories highlighting students in the College of Arts and Sciences who have received and been impacted by scholarships. The student featured in this story is the recipient of one College-wide scholarship, The Camilla and Steve Johnson Endowed Support Fund for The Huxford Symphony Orchestra. Scholarships like these are made possible by generous support from our alumni and friends. Lindsey South was homeschooled her whole life. “I never had […]

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Broadway Breakthroughs: Alumnus Plays Lead Role in Hamilton

Michael Luwoye starred in Othello at UA in 2013.

From the August 2016 Desktop News | UA alum Michael Luwoye hasn’t just made it to Broadway; he’s playing the lead role in Hamilton—the new musical sensation that The New York Times says “is on track to become one of the biggest critical and commercial hits in Broadway history.” Hamilton—an unlikely pairing of hip hop and history—tells the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton and his transformation from an impoverished orphan in the Caribbean to the first U.S. Secretary of Treasury. […]

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Resisting Tuberculosis Testing

From the August 2016 Desktop News | When the rate of tuberculosis in Marion, Alabama, spiked in 2014 and 2015, killing four people and infecting more than 150 others, public health officials offered free testing and treatment to stop the outbreak—but few were willing to participate until monetary compensation was offered as an incentive. The resistance perplexed Dr. Bronwen Lichtenstein, a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, and when she learned that junior psychology major Towanda Pettway, a first-generation college student […]

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Student Receives Google Policy Fellowship

Jessica Mendoza

From the August 2016 Desktop News | With the help of a prestigious $7,500 Google Policy Fellowship, given to university students who have an interest and aptitude for internet and technology policy, UA doctoral student Jessica Mendoza spent her summer interning with the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, called iKeep Safe, in order to help youth, their parents, and educators better understand how to use digital media safely and responsibly. “Everything is impacted by the way we use technology,” Mendoza said. “And one […]

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Professor Emeritus Receives Legendary Geoscientist Medal

From the August 2016 Desktop News | Dr. Ernest A. Mancini, a professor emeritus of geological sciences, received the 2016 Marcus Milling Legendary Geoscientist Medal from the American Geosciences Institute. The medal recognizes a senior scientist who has a record of achievements and service in earth sciences and who has been acknowledged for accomplishments in fields of expertise by professional societies, universities, or other organizations. Mancini’s career in the geosciences includes having served as a distinguished research professor at UA as well […]

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