In order to make varied perspectives more accessible, Jane Sumner, professor of political science, created the Gender Balance Assessment Tool in 2016. The website generates an estimate of a syllabus' racial and gender makeup using a probability algorithm, making it easier and faster for professors to diversify their course content. Lorena Muñoz, an assistant professor in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, is also quoted.
Did you notice what looked like a “tiny house” on campus last year? It was actually a “mobile artist residency,” part of Tia-Simone Gardner’s research on the relationship between large cities and small housing spaces. The project aims to make small, mobile housing become a feasible option for people who need affordable or temporary housing.
In a world filled with digital media, GNSD’s director of graduate studies Matthias Rothe highlights the theatre as a tool for critiquing society. He indulges his lifelong appreciation for the stage by researching the cultural importance of theater and shedding new light on a prominent German playwright, Bertolt Brecht.
Bowwow Powwow, a new children's book by professor Brenda Child from the Department of American Studies, is the story of Windy Girl attending a powwow with her uncle and her dog, Itchy Boy. The book is written in English and Ojibwe.
It is not inconceivable that future high school students won’t have to take the SAT or the ACT, says Professor Deniz Ones. They’ll download some apps on their mobile devices, link their wearable sensors, and let colleges collect data for a couple of months. Ones is a member of the mPerf research team, conducting a multimillion dollar project about using data from wearable sensors to predict and measure workplace performance. It could have far-reaching impacts for all workplace and educational assessments.
Caring for ourselves and others is a central part of human existence, so why isn’t it valued? In a society where economic gain is treated as the first priority, the need for care is going is mostly unaddressed. Professor Joan Tronto seeks to change this trend through her idea of a caring democracy.
Adway De, a graduate student in the Department of Economics, is switching up the way he teaches undergraduate economics students. He is bringing his involvement with UMN Energy Club into the classroom and seeing that the benefits certainly outweigh the costs.
Music can heal, tell stories, make us dance, laugh, and cry. Can it also make Minnesotans adjust the way they salt their sidewalks during the winter months? Professor Mark Pedelty is using music to connect communities--local and, in the near future, international--to environmental issues.
Assistant Professor Lan Liu’s interest in statistics happened by chance, but she hasn’t looked back since. Involved in infectious disease research, statistical consulting, and causality research with the FDA, Liu has seen firsthand the real-world challenges statistics can overcome.
The Gullah/Geechee Nation has a unique, centuries-old American culture that is under threat. Geography undergraduates Erin Jones and Karah VueBenson traveled to visit Gullah/Geechee people face-to-face to learn from them about their struggles and how collaborative scholarship can contribute to their efforts to protect their land.
For some, comedy film is more than just something to watch with friends on a Friday night. Soo Hyun Lee and Hui Liu are PhD candidates in the Asian Literatures, Cultures, and Media program studying East Asian comedy cinema. They both cite their gratitude for the world-class ALL department. "I strongly desired to be a part of the department's inclusive and friendly environment," Liu says. "I feel very lucky to be a part of it."
“Every detail of a costume tells the audience something specific about the person wearing the costume,” says 2018 MFA costume design graduate Brandi Mans. She reflects on her thesis for Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, in which she navigates the visual language of clothing to tell historical narratives of medical practice and female sexuality.
What is mathematics? Are the lines, planes, and intervals of mathematics composed of points, or are there other ways of thinking about these objects? According to Professor Geoffrey Hellman, questions like these have always posed problems for the discipline of mathematics. In two new books, co-authored with Stewart Shapiro of The Ohio State University, Hellman takes on these and other questions, seeking to clarify what is at stake in the various answers one might offer to them.
Recent graduate JT Weaver calls framing his dance major in a liberal arts context “game-changing.” His well-rounded education equipped him to explore ideas through movement and to create dance pieces that are thoughtfully crafted ideas of creative research. “The biggest takeaway from my time at the University is my level of awareness in all facets of my life,” Weaver says. “My years at the U instilled an approach to life that is highly thoughtful and perspective-driven.”
How do you find meaning in movement? Movement and change are an essential part life. Assistant Professor Somayeh Dodge works to understand why and how organisms move and migrate.
Perceptions of the homeless are often incorrect. These misconceptions leave room for ineffective policy. Eric Goldfischer, a PhD candidate in geography, is working to change the way we see homelessness. Through his work, he hopes to realign public opinion to match the reality of homelessness in our society.
The College of Liberal Arts gathered as a community to honor the creative, scholarly, and instructional work of our outstanding and internationally renowned faculty at Faculty Excellence held on Tuesday, April 17 in the Best Buy Theater at Northrop Memorial Auditorium. This annual event is held to celebrate faculty retiring from the College of Liberal Arts.
“Traditional medicine is not just something from the past,” says cultural anthropology student Wei Ye. “It’s constantly evolving and changing.” Ye has been exploring how traditional Chinese medicine changes when it’s placed in Kenyan culture.
How is homophobia measured in Haiti? Cultural anthropology assistant professor Erin Durban-Albrecht has spent a decade studying LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean nation and found that there is still progress to be made.
