Category: Desktop News

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


American Studies Professor Wins Award for Best Book on Popular Music

From the August 2016 Desktop News | Dr. Eric Weisbard, an associate professor in the Department of American Studies, has been awarded the 2015 Woody Guthrie Award for the most outstanding book on popular music for his book Top 40 Democracy: The Rival Mainstreams of American Music. The prize is given annually to the best English language monograph on popular music, said Dr. Elizabeth Lindau, chair of the 2015 Woody Guthrie Award committee for the U.S. branch of the International Association for […]

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UA Psychology Professor Receives NIH Research Award

Dr. Ian McDonough

From the July 2016 Desktop News | Dr. Ian McDonough, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, has been named a winner of the Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Honors, a paper competition of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. McDonough, an associate of the Alabama Research Institute on Aging, investigates the mechanisms underlying age-related decline and develops interventions based on these newly discovered mechanisms to help maintain cognition and prevent the development of dementia. The winners will present […]

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Professor Wins Best Film at American Black Film Festival

Photo of Seth Panitch

From the July 2016 Desktop News |University of Alabama theatre professor Seth Panitch’s first feature-length film, Service to Man, was awarded the grand jury prize for best film at the 20th American Black Film Festival last month. “We feel terrific about it,” Panitch said. “We were the only university-sponsored and supported film in the entire competition. So to have them honor us with best picture was a real shock and incredibly gratifying, especially considering the caliber of films that were running […]

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Scholarships Matter: Destined for Dentistry

Scholarship recipient John Davis Diaz

From the July 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 Lauris D. Graves and Jacqueline D. Graves Endowed Scholarship. Scholarships like these are made possible by generous support from our alumni and friends. John Davis Diaz was practically raised in a dentist’s office: his dad owns his […]

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Twins Named Parker and Adam to Honor UA Program Where Parents Met

UA Alums name their twin boys Parker and Adam after the Parker-Adams Living-Learning Community where they met.

From the July 2016 Desktop News | Late one evening in the common room of the old Parker-Adams freshman dorm, Tracy Fowler sat struggling with her biology homework. It wasn’t her best subject, but, lucky for her, microbiology major Matt Hanserd was nearby and willing to help. “Biology was by far the worst class I ever took in college,” Tracy said. “I just didn’t get it.” “And I thought she was cute,” Matt added. Five years later, the study partners got married, and, […]

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UA Researchers Expand Opportunities with Upgraded Atom Probe Technology

From the July 2016 Desktop News | A new, powerful microscope recently installed at The University of Alabama will expand exploration into nanotechnology and geological sciences, helping research and spurring economic development. Earlier this year, UA acquired the newest generation Local Electron Atom Probe, or LEAP. This microscope shows researchers the location and distribution of atoms in materials. Unlike the previous LEAP at UA, the new instrument, the CAMECA LEAP 5000, provides tremendous versatility that reveals a more detailed atomic map of […]

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UA Researcher Studies Cuba’s Coastal Forests in Anticipation of Tourism Increase

From the July 2016 Desktop News | With the 1960 trade embargo on Cuba expected to be weakened if not lifted—President Barack Obama called for the embargo’s end at his final State of the Union address—the large Caribbean island is preparing for an influx of American tourists. There’s little doubt that a surge of U.S. tourists would benefit the island economically, but there is some concern about the potential impact that an inpouring of people would have on the island’s ecosystems. In […]

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Ellen Spears Wins Buford Peace Award

From the June 2016 Desktop News | Dr. Ellen Griffith Spears, an associate professor in New College and the Department of American Studies, is the 2016 winner of the Buford Peace Award. Tony D. Walker, a UA School of Social Work alumnus, established the award in 2002 to honor Lahoma Adams Buford, and each year it is given to a faculty member who has been highly involved in mediating human disputes, helping overcome prejudice, promoting justice, and establishing peace. “The Buford […]

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UA Researchers Receive NSF Grant to Study Everglades’ Greenhouse Gases

From the June 2016 Desktop News | Drs. Gregory Starr and Christina Staudhammer, professors in the Department of Biological Sciences, along with collaborators from Florida International University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service recently received $834,000 from the National Science Foundation to continue their study of greenhouse gases in the Everglades. They will specifically look at how changes in fresh- and sea-water levels are affecting the balance of carbon-dioxide and methane emissions in the Everglades. “Historically, the Everglades were a […]

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English Professor Wins 2016 Mark Twain Award for Midwestern Literature

From the June 2016 Desktop News | Michael Martone, a professor of English and creative writing, was selected as the winner of the 2016 Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Contributions to Midwestern Literature. Martone, author of more than 25 books and anthologies, joins such past Mark Twain Award recipients as Gwendolyn Brooks, Ted Kooser, and Philip Levine. “I feel really good about the award,” he said. “It came out of the blue. I had no idea people were thinking about […]

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