LAS News Archive

2026-03-20 -  By simulating the life cycle of a minimal bacterial cell — from DNA replication to protein translation to metabolism and cell division — scientists have opened a new frontier of computer vision into the essential processes of life.The researchers, led by...

2026-03-20 -  Social media users are more likely to watch TV programs that are endorsed by members of their political party, a recent study suggests. However, individuals’ racial identity and their perceptions of racial and political ingroup norms and the demographics of a program’s intended audience also...

2026-03-20 -  New research from a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economists estimates the social mobility effects of four-year public historically Black colleges and universities on Black children who live in the same county as an HBCU.Using data on children born around 1980, the...

2026-03-20 -  Following a successful launch, the LAS Academy for Educational Excellence looks forward to continuing its New Faculty Teaching Program to...

2026-03-19 -  Deep-sea waters are warming due to heat waves and climate change, and it could spell trouble for the oceans’ delicate chemical and biological balance. A new study, however, demonstrates that the microbe Nitrosopumilus maritimus may already be adapting well to warmer, nutrient-poor...

2026-03-19 -  When Annie Zeng walked into her first research conference last May, she didn’t arrive with a lab group or a familiar cohort of classmates. She arrived alone, and she immediately felt like it.“I honestly felt very nervous,” said Annie, a senior pursuing a double degree in...

2026-03-09 -  Citizens and writers remain hopeful in the face of environmental harms in “Reading Better States: Utopian Method and Environmental Harm in the Global South,” the new book by English professor...

2026-03-09 -  Researchers have found a way to use solar energy to power a key chemical reaction that drives many manufacturing industries. This new method can significantly reduce the energy required to run these operations, eliminate harsh oxidizing byproducts, and minimize carbon emissions.Olefin...

2026-02-26 -  Insect-human hybrids provide the scares at the 2026 Insect Fear Film Festival at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.The festival, which is hosted by the Entomology Graduate...

2026-02-26 -  The Trump administration recently ordered the National Park Service to remove interpretive signs that discuss slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, following an executive order issued last year stating that public monuments should not “inappropriately disparage...

2026-02-25 -  Meet Jasmin Patrón-Vargas (BA, '11, Latina/Latino studies and gender and women's studies) an assistant professor of teaching, learning, and culture at Texas A&M University. She earned her MEd in education...

2026-02-23 - The College of LAS will recognize seven individuals during the 2026 alumni awards celebration in April. This year's honorees are researchers, philanthropists, and political thinkers who have made incredible impacts in their fields and communities.

2026-02-23 -  City development is increasingly associated with creating “smart cities” that use technology for managing city services, home construction and attracting resources. But those strategies come with negative consequences to a city’s poor residents, said...

2026-02-23 -  A multi-disciplinary team of faculty researchers from the University of Illinois has been awarded a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to study the challenges to democracy and academic freedom confronting US universities now. This is the first time in the 30-year...

2026-02-20 -  The Raphael Kiam Economics Learning Center was recently renovated to be more inviting and accommodating to students.Located in the lower level of David...

2026-02-20 -  As one might expect on a bitterly cold Thursday evening, the bar fills up early. Conversations overlap, beer is served, glasses clink. Then things get interesting. Someone sets up a projector. As the crowd jockeys for a good view, in walks Charles Gammie, an Illinois...

2026-02-19 -  The way Latino Americans’ identity is represented on demographic forms can undermine their fundamental sense of belonging in the U.S., says new research by psychology professor who studies how people navigate exclusion and discrimination.Across...

2026-02-18 -  The College of LAS has selected 19 professors, graduate students, lecturers, and advisors as the recipients of this year’s teaching and advising awards.“It is a privilege to celebrate these remarkable educators and advisors who fulfill our educational mission within the College of LAS,” said...

2026-02-13 -  A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty member has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.Christopher Burcham, a professor of the practice in the department of chemical...

2026-02-06 -  When history professor Leslie J. Reagan entered her graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison she and the other students in her cohort were told it was unlikely they would ever get an academic job. The field of women's history was...

2026-02-06 -  In 1945, 855 women of color (mainly African Americans) in the newly formed 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were deployed to Birmingham, England, during World War II. Commanded by then-Major Charity Adams, the 6888th’s mission was to clear a massive backlog of mail that had...

2026-02-06 -  Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have reported a breakthrough in nickel catalysis that harnesses a rare oxidation state of nickel that has proved challenging to control yet is highly valued for its potential to facilitate important chemical reactions.The researchers...

2026-02-03 -  Poet Ángel García examines his disrupted family lineage in his new collection of poetry, seeking answers about where he came from and trying to fill the many gaps in his family’s story.“Indifferent Cities...

2026-01-30 -  While scientists have long known that living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is associated with biological symptoms of accelerated aging, emotional distress accounts for a significant portion of these effects, researchers found in a recent study.“Consistent with a chains-of-risk framework —...

2026-01-30 -  Asef Bayat is a sociology professor and the Catherine and Bruce Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with expertise in global social movements and revolutions in the Middle East. A...