Tags: Human Nature

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences wishes you a safe, happy and healthy New Year.

This is the 222nd post of 2018 on the Franklin Chronicles, and what an incredible year it has been for UGA's oldest, largest and most academically diverse college. We look back: 17(!) Amazing students [and counting] Eight Focus on the Faculty features And from January though today, a plethora of rich activity that defines the modern academy - groundbreaking scholarship, outreach, research, performance, milestones, new initiatives, books,…

Senior biology major - with a neuroscience emphasis - Katie Irwin found her passion for advancing science through her own work studying neurodegenerative diseases and helping encourage others — especially young girls — to pursue successful careers in STEM fields: During my freshman year, I was able to join Jim Lauderdale’s developmental neuroscience lab in the department of cellular biology. In the lab, I direct my own…

Earlier this semester, during the football bye week, UGA undergraduates took to the Miller Learning Center Reading Room to write. On Saturday, October 20, the Parents Leadership Council sponsored the second annual Undergrad Writing Retreat, a full day of students coming together to start papers, finish papers, revise, edit, and write. The event, coordinated by the Franklin College Writing Intensive Program and the Writing Certificate…

With the undergraduates this morning and graduate students in the afternoon, Stegman coliseum is the setting today for nearly 2,800 new degrees presented to graduates during fall commencement ceremonies: Eleven students will be recognized as First Honor Graduates during the undergraduate exercises for maintaining a 4.0 cumulative GPA in all work attempted at UGA as well as all college-level transfer work prior to or following…

English major, Red & Black staff writer, Franklin College SGA senator, Foundation Fellow, world traveler... what can't Griffin Hamstead do with an A.B. degree? I was thrilled to be chosen for board and used my place as a representative in the Senate to pass legislation providing greater transparency for club dues on the Involvement Network. This program was also invaluable for my professional development and I made many terrific and lasting…

A TED talk by Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences J. Marshall Shepherd is featured today on TED.com, 3 kinds of bias that shape your worldview: What shapes our perceptions (and misperceptions) about science? In an eye-opening talk, meteorologist J. Marshall Shepherd explains how confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger effect and cognitive dissonance impact what we…

One of our most valued colleagues, Human Resources senior manager Nakia Wade gets the spotlight in Columns: In a college as large and diverse as Franklin, managing human resources matters can include everything from employee relations to hiring to compensation. But the most important part is being accessible to others and creating a space where issues are heard and discussed, and according to Wade, that means there is no typical day. “We’re…

New research by an international team based at UGA raises questions about the timing and nature of early interactions between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans in North America: The European side of first contact with indigenous people and settlement in northeast North America is well known from European sources. Until now it's been assumed that the finds of dated European artifacts provide a timeline for the indigenous peoples and…

Major new initiatives on STEM education and research lead our kudos for the month of November: Funded by a $3 million National Science Foundation grant, more than 100 UGA faculty members in science, technology, engineering and math will collaborate on a comprehensive research project that seeks to transform STEM education on campus and at research universities nationwide   The University of Georgia launched a new degree…

It has been a very busy semester (so far), and we'll close out the news before Thanksgiving break with a new interdisciplinary degree program for undergraduates: A new degree program from the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences will train undergraduates at the interface of statistics and computer science to meet the rapidly growing demand for data scientists. Data science is a fast-growing area and the…

From media and marketing companies to fine homebuilding, restauranteurs to law firms to systems engineers, Franklin College alumni honors are spread across the 2019 Bulldog 100 list of fastest-growing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni: The 2019 Bulldog 100 includes businesses of all sizes and from industries such as real estate, dining, technology and retail. Companies are based as far north as New York and as far west as…

The year-old dual degree program that pairs bachelor's and master's degree programs helps students incorporate an expansive vision for career success: For Ammishaddai Grand-Jean, the Double Dawgs program provides an opportunity to deepen his understanding of economic policy so that after graduation he can make a positive impact on communities. Ellen Everitt sees the linked bachelor’s/master’s degree…

Based on the three-movement 1952 John Cage composition "Four minutes, thirty-three seconds," the Spotlight on the Arts festival hosted the fifth-annual competition highlighting scholarly research by UGA students on Nov. 7. Poster and presentation winners were: Bridget Dooley PhD Creative Writing, English. Advisor: LeAnne Howe Her PhD dissertation, Night of the Same Day, documents her research into the extraordinary life and…

The collaboration between Athletic Association Professor in Arts and Sciences Samantha Joye and artist Rebeca Rutstein, the university’s third Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding, took center stage at the recent A2RU conference. In conversation with Willson Center director and Franklin Professor Nicholas Allen, they shared how they are working together to shine light on literal darkness during a lecture titled…

Mary Shelley practically invented the horror genre two hundred years ago with "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus," when she was eighteen years old, relaying her personal tragedy into a horror story for the ages: She didn’t put her name on her book—she published “Frankenstein” anonymously, in 1818, not least out of a concern that she might lose custody of her children—and she didn’t give her monster a name, either. “This anonymous…

New grants and awards, number one in debate and the unveiling of a portrait of Mary Frances Early headline our kudos for the month of October. Congratulations to faculty, students and alumni on their recent accolades and accomplishments: The U.S. Department of Education awarded $1.7 million in support of the University of Georgia Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute(LACSI) to expand research, teaching and public service…

Franklin College faculty expertise is regularly featured in media around the world.  A sample from the past month: Report: Georgia justice, prison reforms slowly showing results – assistant professor of sociology Sarah Shannon quoted at CorrectionsOne   Professor looks at science and religion – Davis Enterprise features an October talk by Henry F. Schaefer, Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry and…

Terrific opportunities today at every corner of campus (and downtown) to enjoy and engage, learn and discover. The Creative Writing Program presents a reading by Ira Sukrungruang, author of the memoirs Southside Buddhist and Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy, the essay collection Buddha’s Dog and Other Meditations. Tonight at 7 p.m., at Cine, free and open to the public. At 7:30 p.m. in MLC 101, the Institute for Women's…

Millions of years ago, before humans became fully bipedal, ancestral hominins used stones to break bones and nuts, probably while standing upright. A new study from the Primate Cognition and Behavior Lab in the department of psychology published today by the Royal Society journal Proceedings B documents how contemporary bearded capuchin monkeys likewise use stones to break nuts: [B]ecause the fossil record is…

In early September, the Franklin College web services team launched a redesigned primary website for the college, including the Chronicles blog: The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences launched a redesigned website, updating access to information about UGA’s largest college for faculty, students, staff and the public. The redesign of the principal Franklin site was predicated on presenting a cohesive brand experience that flows from…

For associate professor of history Jamie Kreiner, who teaches the history of Christianity and society from Constantine to Luther, the medieval period is full of surprises: [I]t’s weird in ways you wouldn’t expect and very similar to our experiences in ways you wouldn’t expect. And the students who sign up have a great mix of interests. They come to the Middle Ages via “Game of Thrones,” actual gaming, Christianity, Islam, Monty…

Welcome back to all returning alumni and visitors as we celebrate and honor the University of Georgia, its rich history and all the traditions students and alumni hold sacred: The first Homecoming celebration began on Friday evening with a mass meeting of alumni and students, which consisted of spirited speeches from faculty, coaches, members of the team, and visiting alumni.  The rally was followed by an evening of…

Senior Biological science major and African studies minor Omowunmi Oni is confident that she was destined to attend UGA because of the lifelong friendships she has built, great connections and amazing opportunities: These past four years at the University of Georgia has been an amazing experience. Throughout my time here, I have grown tremendously in my personal, academic and professional goals. One of my greatest highlights…

A new podcast series created by 17 senior psychology majors in the Psych 5100 class under the supervision of associate professor Michelle vanDellen and her Motivation and Behavior Laboratory, GoalDiggerz investigates the psychology of goals and self-regulation. Follow us on this journey as we blast expectations, sift through ideas, and uncover nuggets of knowledge. In their first episode, Astronauts to…