2021-03-11
- How do we move forward from here?
The year 2020 was hard, but it also summoned thoughts on how to start anew. We’ve asked LAS professors for their thoughts on how—in light of the pandemic, racial tensions, isolation, environmental issues, political divisiveness, and other trials of 2020—we can still move toward a brighter future. Editor's note: Replies received in December 2020.
On...
2021-03-11 - When Brendan McGovern first started working as a consultant at the Writers Workshop in 2018, he looked forward to helping people with a craft that he loves. However, he’s learned that in helping others his own writing has become better, too. “Tutoring students at the Writers Workshop over the past few years has been the best form of...
2021-03-09 - Christopher Freeburg has been named the John A. and Grace W. Nicholson Professor in recognition of his outstanding literary achievements and dedication to the Department of English and the University of Illinois as a whole. Freeburg has published numerous articles in top academic journals and is the author of “Melville and the Idea of Blackness: Race...
2021-03-08 - The College of LAS has selected winners of this year’s teaching excellence awards. Thirteen professors, graduate student teaching assistants, and an advisor have been honored for their service. The LAS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching is being awarded to professors Teresa Barnes, history and ...
2021-03-03 - With the damage inflicted to the U.S. economy by the COVID-19 pandemic, recovery will require not only restoring jobs and income, according to a professor at Illinois, but revitalizing a key industry that affects millions of families: child care. Elizabeth Powers, professor of economics who is also a senior scholar at the...
2021-03-02 - In January, many listeners were struck by the power of Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb,” read by Gorman at the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., as it addressed some of the nation’s most painful divisions. University of Illinois English professor and poet Christopher Kempf appreciated it on a different level: It showed how...
2021-02-24 - Christopher Freeburg, a professor of English at UIUC, is a scholar of African American literature, Black culture, and the American novel. He has published several books, including “Counterlife: Slavery after Resistance and Social Death,” and was recently named a University Scholar...
2021-02-23 - “The Discovery of Cosmic Voids” is a newly released account of the history of one of the more important discoveries in astronomy in the last century. But the perspective of an astronomy professor from the University of Illinois isn’t just about exploring vast tracks of outer space; it’s also about the extended journey to have your findings accepted. “Some have said that great discoveries...
2021-02-19 - Entomology and African American studies professor Esther Ngumbi is the 2021 recipient of the Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science, an annual award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science presented to scientists and engineers in recognition of their contributions to...
2021-02-17 - During his sophomore year, Alejandro Martinez wanted a change in direction. The student changed his major from mathematics to statistics—a related field, but very different in important ways. He needed some guidance, and he got it. “The advising staff as well as the professors have helped me greatly throughout...
2021-02-11 - From the advent of photography to the age of social media, U.S. presidents have been among the most common subjects for the camera. So what better way to tell a story of the medium’s evolution than through those historical figures. That was the thinking of Cara Finnegan in writing “Photographic Presidents: Making...
2021-02-10 - Mitigation measures such as stay-at-home mandates, lockdowns or shelter-in-place orders have been the major public health policies deployed by state governments to curb the spread of COVID-19. But given the uncertain duration of such policies, questions have been raised about the potential negative mental health consequences of extended lockdowns with indefinite end dates. But according to new...
2021-02-10 - Culture, civic-mindedness, and privacy concerns influence how willing people are to share personal location information to help stem the transmission of COVID-19 in their communities, a new study finds. Such sharing includes giving public health authorities access to their geographic information via data gathered from phone calls, mobile apps, credit card purchases, wristband trackers, or other...
2021-02-08 - Dozens of professors in the College of LAS rank among the most-cited researchers in the world in a new, widely hailed analysis designed to provide a clearer view of scientific and scholarly impact. According to datasets published in PLOS Biology, 125 LAS professors rank among the top 100,000 most-cited...
2021-02-05 - Animals played a central role in the British Empire. Sources of food and labor, animals symbolized the power of the empire. They also hindered the efforts of the British to control colonized lands, and they destroyed ecosystems. A new book examines their relationships with imperial authorities and colonists through essays about 26 animals – one for each letter of the alphabet, from Ape and Boar...
2021-02-04 - During the Super Bowl pregame ceremony, poet Amanda Gorman will recite an original poem paying tribute to the three honorary captains for the game who were selected for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. Gorman captured the attention of the nation last month as the youngest-ever inaugural poet, but she will reach a far wider audience with her Super Bowl appearance. Ángel García, an award...
2021-02-03 - The Center for Advanced Study has appointed nine faculty members from the College of LAS as associates or fellows for the 2021-22 academic year. They were among 20 faculty members chosen across campus. Center for Advanced Study (CAS) associates and fellows are tenured and untenured...
2021-02-02 - The Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign has acquired a multi-million dollar “Doppler on Wheels” mobile radar and instrumentation facility that is expected to transform capabilities for research, offer hands-on field training for students, and expand outreach efforts to demonstrate scientific observation of the...
2021-01-26 - Satellite imagery of Earth has been available for years, but it keeps getting better and better. That’s why several academic units across the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and the University Library have teamed up to acquire high-resolution satellite data from a private aerospace company, as researchers seek to grow their understanding and teaching of what’s happening on our planet’s...
2021-01-26 - Seven staff and academic professionals are being recognized for outstanding contributions to the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in 2020-21. Rayme Dorsey Ackerman, Carol Banks, and Summer Curry have been selected to receive an LAS Staff Award. The recognition comes with a $2,000 award supported by donations from LAS alumni. Serenity Desmond, Alison Reddy, and Melanie Waters have been...
2021-01-15 - A dramatic decline in bees and other pollinating insects presents a threat to the global food supply, yet it’s getting little attention in mainstream news. That’s the conclusion of a study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, published this week in a special issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study was based on a search of nearly 25...
2021-01-13 - In 1533, the Bom Jesus – a Portuguese trading vessel carrying 40 tons of cargo including gold, silver, copper, and more than 100 elephant tusks – sank off the coast of Africa near present-day Namibia. The wreck was found in 2008, and scientists say they now have determined the source of much of the ivory recovered from the ship. Their study, reported in the journal Current Biology, used various...
2021-01-12 - Just a few weeks ago the main question hanging over Inauguration Day was whether the outgoing president would attend the ceremonies. Now the question seems quaint, with many people concerned that January 20 will be marked by violence similar to that which occurred on January 6. The potential violence aside, however, the act of President Donald Trump attending Inauguration Day—or not...
2021-01-11 - Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors – Eduardo Ledesma and Bobby Smith II – have been awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships. Ledesma is a professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Smith is a professor of African American studies. “Congratulations to professors Ledesma and...
2021-01-08 - For Bill and Linda Perry, Altgeld Hall is about mathematics—and so much more. The couple arrived at U of I in fall 1967; Bill had a graduate assistantship in mathematics and Linda had a teaching position at Urbana High School. The May 1967 mathematics graduates of 500-student Park College in Parkville, Missouri, arrived in awe of 30,000-student University of Illinois. Bill (PhD, ‘72,...