News Archive - 2026

Delancey Griffin in front of old building
Cherokee doctoral student reinterprets New Echota through indigenous perspectives

For generations, New Echota has been remembered as the place where the Cherokee Nation's story in Georgia came to a tragic end, reflecting a historical narrative shaped largely through Eurocentric perspectives. University of Georgia doctoral student Delancey Paden Griffin believes it's time to tell a fuller story. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a second-year doctoral student in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of…

women depicted in colorful painting
Research reveals how medieval writers reshaped stories of ancient women

Just as today's filmmakers reboot classic movies, medieval writers turned to the ancient world for stories they could reshape for their own audiences. The characters remained familiar, but their motivations and moral significance shifted as ideas about religion, gender, and power evolved.  For Mounawar Abbouchi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at the University of Georgia's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, those…

Sergio Bernardes and Vietnamese delegation at cemetery
UGA, Vietnam deepen partnership to recover missing war dead

When a government delegation from Vietnam visited the University of Georgia Aug. 12, members weren’t coming to see a single laboratory or one breakthrough technology.  Instead, they visited a university where historians, archaeologists, geographers, geologists, chemists, engineers, biologists, geneticists, and computer scientists are working together to solve one of the most difficult legacies of war: locating and identifying service…

man and woman listening to cans through wire
Communication scholars explain why some explanations click

A good explanation can make a complicated idea suddenly seem manageable. But that clarity doesn’t come from accuracy alone, according to UGA communication scholars.  “An explanation is not a passive, neutral container for facts but rather a generative, persuasive structure,” said Maryam Ahmadi, assistant professor of communication studies in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.  Explaining something requires choosing which…

Keivan Stassun portrait
Renowned astrophysicist Keivan Stassun joins Franklin as head of physics and astronomy

 Astrophysicist Keivan Stassun, a nationally recognized leader in the study of stars and exoplanets, is joining the University of Georgia’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences as the inaugural holder of the Ashvin B. Chhabra Distinguished Professorship and new head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in January, bringing with him a decorated career of scientific discovery and expanding access and innovation in the sciences.  …

Cole Phillips checking patient's ear
How studying history made Cole Phillips a better physician 

This story is part of Humanities in Practice, a Franklin College of Arts and Sciences series exploring the bridge between the sciences and humanities.  For this physician, knowing the answer is the easy part.  A patient at Mercy Health Center had a blood pressure reading of 200/120, high enough to put him at risk of a heart attack or stroke. Dr. Cole Phillips knew he needed medication. The patient, who had never taken blood…

Maya Alandete and two students harvesting vegetables
Where stories take root: Franklin alumna Maya Alandete brings an English major’s perspective to community agriculture

This story is part of Humanities in Practice, a Franklin College of Arts and Sciences series exploring the value of the humanities in work and everyday life.  “We went to Monk’s House and I ate one of Virginia Woolf’s apples!” Maya Alandete (BA English ’23) wrote during a study-away semester in England. “It was a tart, pink-fleshed apple—the most flavorful I’ve ever tasted.”  The visit to Woolf’s home reminded Alandete, then an…

Tony Puente headshot
A shared path in psychology leads the Puentes home

At the Wilmington, North Carolina, neuropsychology practice Antonio Enrique “Tony” Puente recently opened with his son, one distinction had to be settled early.  After decades of students, colleagues, and staff members calling the elder Puente “Dr. Puente,” no one was likely to start using his first name. But his son, Antonio Nicolas “Nick” Puente, is also a psychologist.  The solution was simple: Tony remains Dr. Puente. His son…

Aaron Meskin looking at records
The matter of aesthetics: Why our tastes deserve serious attention

This story is part of Humanities in Practice, a Franklin College of Arts and Sciences series exploring the value of the humanities in work and everyday life. When people argue about whether a movie is brilliant or overrated, they do more than express a preference. They offer reasons, apply standards, and sometimes persuade someone to see the work differently. In other words, they are practicing philosophy. Aaron Meskin, professor and…

Belen Cassera portrait
UGA scientists create new treatment to fight against drug-resistant malaria

A new antimalarial pill developed in part by University of Georgia researchers offers the potential for treatments to outsmart drug-resistant forms of the disease.  The drug was created through collaboration between researchers at University of Illinois Chicago and the lab of Belen Cassera, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology who focuses her research on the development of anti-parasitic drugs for diseases…