2021-03-11
- The fall semester was unlike any other for students at the University of Illinois. Many students returned to campus for a mix of online and in-person courses, some took classes entirely online from home, and others, such as international students, were unable to go home even for breaks. Here, in...
LAS News Archive
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
2020-12-23 - Many members of the LAS community find inspiration and pleasure in reading a good book. As our faculty and staff head into winter break, we asked a few of them to share the books that they’re excited to dig into over the next month. For part one of this series, go...