2021-07-01
- The chance of detecting the virus that causes COVID-19 increases with more frequent testing, no matter the type of test, a new study found. Both polymerase chain reaction and antigen tests, paired with rapid results reporting, can achieve 98 percent sensitivity if deployed at least every three days.
“This study shows that frequent testing can be really effective at catching COVID-19 infections...
2021-06-25 - Initiatives within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences are being supported by the second round of funding through the Presidential Initiative: Expanding the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities, announced by University of Illinois President Tim Killeen. The new round of funding will provide $1.54 million to support 10 projects, including three within LAS. The LAS projects include an...
2021-06-18 - Who thought insurance and financial planning could become so complicated? Okay—that doesn't surprise anybody—but in a country where people, on average, outlive their savings by eight to 10 years, Runhuan Feng’s goal is to advance innovation and technology so that financial stability and security is the norm in an area of life that seems to grow more daunting every year. Name:...
2021-06-14 - Two students from the College of LAS and two recent graduates were offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research, and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year. Another three Illinois students were named Fulbright alternates. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program builds international relationships to help solve global...
2021-06-14 - Reconciliation is an odd thing. It seems ideal to replace anger and conflict with warmth and respect, but, historically, people aren’t always ready to embrace the word. While many Americans have become weary of the nation’s political divisiveness, particularly in the wake of the November 2020 elections, experts in the College of LAS caution that there remain issues of race in the United States...
2021-06-10 - Advocates from across the country are partnering with universities, including the University of Illinois, to include the study of Jainism, a South Asian religion that emphasizes nonviolence, non-possessiveness, and respect for other viewpoints. The Department of Religion at the University of Illinois is receiving $1 million from a group of donors to...
2021-06-09 - The story behind the construction of Altgeld Hall reflects some of U of I’s most rooted principles. Currently home to the Department of Mathematics, and with previous lives as the university library, administration building, and College of Law, the campus icon is marking the 125th anniversary of its groundbreaking on June 10, 1896. The need for Altgeld...
2021-06-08 - One thing that makes a college campus so interesting is the new perspectives and attitudes brought by international students. A new Global Leaders Program in the College of LAS is helping to bring those ideas to light by uniting international students with domestic students at the University of Illinois for community...
2021-06-07 - In a technology-driven society, computational skills are utilized in every professional field. Within the ATLAS Internship Program, College of LAS students develop a deeper understanding of technology through exposure to essential skills that can help them thrive in the workplace. During the 2020-2021 academic year, more than 160...
2021-06-04 - Workers at the Rantoul Foods pork-processing plant were among the first outbreak clusters when COVID-19 emerged in central Illinois in spring 2020. When researchers from the University of Illinois found no traces of the virus in air and surface samples at the plant, however, it raised questions about how the disease was being spread. The university began working with clinicians and community...
2021-05-28 - Scientists report that it is possible to detect and predict heat damage in crops by measuring the fluorescent light signature of plant leaves experiencing heat stress. If collected via satellite, this fluorescent signal could support widespread monitoring of growth and crop yield under the heat stress of climate change, the researchers say. Their study measures sun-induced chlorophyll...
2021-05-28 - A plant researcher at the University of Illinois has been named the 2021 Distinguished Senior Research Scientist of the Year by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for her scientific achievements. Lisa Ainsworth, a research molecular biologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service and affiliate professor of plant biology and...
2021-05-28 - Providing a choice that will be selected if a consumer does not override it – known as the default option – is an easy way to “nudge” people toward a decision and influences behavior in powerful ways to increase support for organ donation, retirement plan choices, car insurance and service-sector gratuity. But a new paper co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts on...
2021-05-26 - Alumna Lauren Turk (BA, ‘06, French commercial studies, communication; MA, ‘12, political science,...
2021-05-24 - Editor’s note: Israel and Hamas began airstrikes against each other on May 10, in the worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2014. The fighting started after weeks of interethnic violence in Jerusalem, and the anticipated decision of the Israeli Supreme Court over a property dispute that would lead to the evictions of six Palestinian families in East Jerusalem. A...
2021-05-17 - A new book examines the struggle by rural Black communities in Brazil for land rights, and it makes a case for land reparations based not only on a history of slavery and systemic racism, but also on land appropriation by contemporary Brazilian governments and private interests. Brazil has a history of racialized and concentrated land ownership, wrote Merle Bowen, a professor of...
2021-05-13 - Editor's note: Kimberly Wilson is a writer in the College of LAS Office of Marketing and Communications. She is graduating this May with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She shared this reflection of her time at the University of Illinois. I was grabbing something to eat at the Ikenberry Commons dining hall when I...
2021-05-12 - When alumnus Jim Hinterlong (BS, ’92, psychology) arrived on campus, he was told there were more than 700 student organizations at the University of Illinois. He was in awe. After all, he had just packed his bags in his hometown where the population sign read 500. However, the opportunity to connect with people from different...
2021-05-12 - Several professors in the College of LAS have recently received named scholar positions for their contributions in education and research at the University of Illinois. The named positions include the the Helen Corley Petit Scholars, the I.C. Gunsalus Scholar, the J. Andrew and Susan S. Langan Professorial Scholar, LAS Dean’s Distinguished Professorial Scholars, the Leslie Watt Scholar, and the...
2021-05-12 - Four early career professors have been recognized as Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professors (LEAP) Scholars for their outstanding contributions and potential in research and teaching. The awardees are Carolyn Fornoff in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese; John Paul Meyers in the Department of African...
2021-05-12 - Some 108 graduating seniors from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been named to the 2021 Bronze Tablet list, honoring academic achievement. Each year, the Bronze Tablet is inscribed with the names of new graduates and placed in the Main Library. To achieve this honor, undergraduate students must rank at the top 3 percent of each college’s graduating class and must have a...
2021-05-11 - Academic advisor Dawn McNulty knows how exploring interests and potential career paths can be challenging for students even during normal times. During the pandemic, the challenge can loom even larger. That’s why she considers the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ Life + Career Design in a Pandemic program to be so important. This year, the...
2021-05-11 - In the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois, we believe the power of innovation can change the world. In the LAS community, the leaders of tomorrow learn to analyze and solve problems, to work in diverse groups, and to view the world with a broad perspective. LAS students pursue knowledge in an incredible breadth of areas and use their education to propel society forward. For...
2021-05-10 - Among the many things lost during the pandemic has been a sense of togetherness. A project led by a pair of University of Illinois professors, however, asked people to write journal entries in an organized effort to bring communities closer together during dark times and find solutions to some of the state’s most pressing social concerns. Through words on paper, the...
2021-05-07 - As a trained linguist, Jenny Davis knows the power of history. In her 2018 book, “Talking Indian: Identity and Language Revitalization in the Chickasaw Renaissance,” Davis explored how native language revitalization efforts were connected to U.S. relocation policies and economic realities in the Chickasaw Nation—of which she’s a member— around the Arbuckle Mountains of south-central Oklahoma....