Sponsored Research
“Auburn Sights and Stories: An Augmented Reality Application Project,” a project by Professor Jay D. Bolter and Assistant Professor Nassim JafariNaimi, both in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication has received $30,000 from the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.
“Southface Advocacy Capacity Program Concept,” a project by Marilyn A. Brown, professor in the School of Public Policy, has received supplemental funding for $25,000 from the Southface Energy Institute, bringing the total funding for this project to $57,000.
Christine Ries, professor in the School of Economics, has received a grant from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice to describe the “flipped classroom” model
as it is developing in her classroom and several others at Georgia
Tech. The study will identify the new educational technologies and
support applications that are emerging from a range of small,
innovative, start-up ventures.
“Call My Name: The Aids Quilt,”A Presentation of Africa Atlanta 2014 has been awarded $3,000 by the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs. Jacqueline J. Royster, dean, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts is principal investigator.
Recent Books
“Peddling Paradise: The Politics of Tourism in Latin America” (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2013) by Kirk S. Bowman,
professor in The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, offers
comparative analysis and explanations for both failed policies and
impressive successes in the use of tourism to foster development in
Latin America.
Margaret E. Kosal, associate professor in The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, has published the chapter “Anticipating the Biological Proliferation Threat of Nanotechnology: Challenges for International Arms Control Regime” in the new book New Technologies and the Law of Armed Conflict (Springer, 2014).
Best on Blackberry's Foreign Prestige
“Across all economic levels, everyone in Nigeria perceives them as
prestige items and not just instrumental appliances,” said Michael L. Best, professor in the School of International Affairs,
on BlackBerry's dominant market position in Africa. “The mystique
and prestige of the brand in Nigeria far outweigh any market realities.” Source: CNBC, February 27, 2014
Kashtan on Interracial Casting
“Fans often seem to believe that if a character is changed from white
to black, they will no longer be able to identify with that superhero,”
said Aaron Kashtan, a Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication,
on the casting of Michael B. Jordan for the new Fantastic Four movie.
“Superhero comics were developed in the cultural context of '60s America
where it was just normal for all the characters to be white. This
default assumption of whiteness is no longer acceptable.” Source: The Atlantic, February 20, 2014
Bogost on Smartphone Writing
“Careful, long-form writing and editing on mobile is difficult at best, impossible at worst,” said Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication,
on smartphones as inferior writing tools. “Think about Angry
Birds: part of the reason it’s so popular is because it can be played by
pulling a slingshot.” Source: The New York Times, February 9, 2014
Matisoff on Ecolabels
“Firms build greener buildings to take advantage of the marketing benefits conferred by the certification thresholds,” said Daniel Matisoff, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy,
on the race to achieve green-building labels. Matisoff and his
colleagues have developed an economic model to plot LEED scores. Source: Chemical and Engineering News, January 24, 2014
Krisinger on the Education System
“If our nation's leaders want to reverse the education system's
downward spiral and retain talented teachers, we must first address the
working conditions and expectations of those who lead the schools,” said
Josh Krisinger, an alumnus of The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, in a letter to the editor in response to USA Today's article "Respect at school in decline, survey shows." Source: USA Today, January 23, 2014
February 28, 2014
The Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, 500 10th Street NW, Atlanta, GA
09:00 am
April 10, 2014
Ferst Room, GT Library, Atlanta, GA
04:30 pm
April 11, 2014
Atlanta, GA
11:00 am
April 12, 2014
Student Center Theatre
08:30 am
April 13, 2014
Student Center, 350 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332-0458, Atlanta, GA
07:00 pm
April 14, 2014
Student Center Piedmont Room
11:30 am
April 14, 2014
Old C.E. Building Room 104
04:00 pm
April 16, 2014
GTRI Conference Center
08:00 am
April 16, 2014
Klaus Advanced Computing Building 1447
04:00 pm
April 18, 2014 - April 19, 2014
Atlanta, GA
04:00 pm
April 18, 2014
Atlanta, GA
02:00 pm
April 18, 2014
Clough Lower AtriumAtlanta, GA
04:00 pm
April 22, 2014
Ivan Allen College 136
03:00 pm
April 24, 2014
Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, Seminar Room,
04:00 pm
May 16, 2014 - May 17, 2014
Georgia Tech Global Learning Center, 84 5TH ST NW, Atlanta, GA 30308
04:00 pm
May 17, 2014 - September 21, 2014
The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, 441 Freedom Pkwy, Atlanta, GA 30307
09:00 am
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IAC Founder's Day Celebrates 125 Years of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech
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Faculty, students, staff, and
friends of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts gathered together
March 13 for our Founder's Day celebration. This year, we mounted a
special program in celebration of the 125th anniversary of liberal arts
at Georgia Tech—yes, we've been here since Georgia Tech first opened
its doors in 1888!
Here are a few highlights from the program:
125th Anniversary Video
125 Years of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech Timeline
Remarks by Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson: Dr.
Peterson highlighted the college’s “far-reaching impact” citing
examples of its global influence; its role as flag bearer for the Allen
legacy of ethical, socially conscience, and socially responsible
actions; and the college’s strategic role in the invitation to Georgia
Tech to join the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU)
in 2010. “Congratulations on 125 years
of liberal arts at Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech would not be where
it is today without the legacy and ongoing pursuit of excellence of the
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.”
“One Georgia Tech: the Liberal Arts and 21st Century Innovation and Learning”
This
panel brought together Georgia Tech and IAC faculty and alums whose
education and careers are intriguing models for transboundary learning,
leadership, and innovation and represented the public and private
sector, social sciences, humanities, engineering, architecture, and
computing.
Comment by Douglas R. Hooker, executive director of Atlanta Regional Commission: “I
wish that every Georgia Tech student could study the intersection of
technology and policy because, eventually, they will require that
knowledge in everything they do.”
Comment by Nancy J. Nersessian
Regents’ Professor and professor of cognitive sciences: “We need
to teach this at the beginning with integrative freshman seminars.
Whether science or art, the creative process is similar … innovation
requires the ability to formulate a problem from different
perspectives.”
“Innovation at the Crossroads” Faculty Research Panel
Organized by Associate Dean for Research Janet Murray,
this panel presented defining scholarship transversing technology and
ethics, history, security, culture, and economics.
In opening remarks, Dean Jacqueline J. Royster
said, “Considering [IAC's] strengths, I must wonder whether one day the
world might look back on this age of ubiquitous technologies and marvel
at the notion that there was ever a time when any innovation was
attempted without bringing to bear what we know and can do in the
humanities and social sciences. What we can be proud of right now is
that Georgia Tech is an international leader in research and education,
and, ever-increasingly, so is the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
with our quite interesting innovations at the crossroads.”
A preview of the new television documentary about
Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. received a standing ovation. Introduced by producer
David Duke, the film will air on Georgia Public Television later this
year (date and time TBA).
Presentation of the Allen Legacy Awards which recognize outstanding scholarship and civic involvement.
- Caroline Gwynn,
science, technology, and society major. President of both Mobilizing
Opportunities for Volunteer Experiences and Rethink (student-run
disabilities advocacy), IAC Student Advisory Board.
- Johann Weber, doctoral candidate in Public Policy. Founder and chair of Georgia Tech's Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee (BIIC), Vice President of Campus Organizations, Graduate Student Senate.
- Douglas E. Flamming,
professor, School of History, Technology, and Society. An outstanding
teacher, scholar, and campus citizen who has devoted his professional
life to helping people comprehend the world in which Ivan Allen created
his legacy, the twentieth-century South.
- Judge Michelle Homier, alumna in history, technology, and society, 1999.
View Video of the Morning Research Panel: "Innovation at the Crossroads"
View Video of Celebratory Program including the panel "One Georgia Tech: The Liberal Arts and 21st Century Innovation and Learning"
View Founder's Day Web Exhibit of research by IAC graduate students at
Request a copy of the special commemorative program for the 2014
Ivan Allen College Founder’s Day celebrating the 125th anniversary of
liberal arts at Georgia Tech, by emailing rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu
The 2014 Founder’s Day program
was recorded by the Georgia Tech library. A link to the recording
will be announced when it becomes available.
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Founder's Day Photos
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The program highlighted liberal arts at Georgia Tech from 1888 to 2014
Faculty presentations showcased IAC research at the
intersection of technology and ethics, history, security, culture, and
economics.
Georgia Tech President G. P. "Bud" Peterson was among the speakers.
Provost Rafael L. Bras moderated a compelling dialogue,
"One Georgia Tech: The Liberal Arts and 21st Century Innovation and
Learning."
(L to R) Associate Deans John Tone and Janet Murray, Col.
Stephen C. Hall, Legacy Award Recipients Douglas Flamming, Johann
Weber, Michelle Homier, Caroline Gwynn, and Dean Jacqueline Royster.
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Africa Atlanta 2014 is formally introduced at City Hall
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At Atlanta City Hall February 24, Mayor Kasim Reed joined Dean
Jacqueline J. Royster, Geneviève Verbeek, consul general of Belgium in
Atlanta, and representatives of the initiative's local, national,
and international partner organizations to officially introduce Africa Atlanta 2014, encouraging city residents and visitors to “Feel the Soul of Africa in the Heart of Atlanta.”
The press conference highlighted
the initiative as a catalyst for developing the cross-cultural ties that
open the city as a gateway to Africa.
"I am convinced that Atlanta is
well-positioned to become a significant partner,” said Atlanta Mayor
Kasim Reed in his remarks. He noted that six of the fastest-growing
economies in the next 15 years will be in Africa, and that Atlanta would
like to be a friendly partner in that growth.
“With its connections across the
Atlanta region and an impressive network of national and international
partners, Africa Atlanta 2014 is bringing a new dimension to the city’s
profile and engagement as an international city,” said Reed, who is
honorary chair of the Africa Atlanta 2014 International Advisory Board.
“Africa Atlanta 2014 is expanding our cultural and artistic offering for
thousands of residents and visitors.”
In her remarks
to press and partners, Ivan Allen College Dean Jacqueline J. Royster,
who created and organized the initiative, said, "With a goal of
collaboration and cooperation, instead of isolation and competition,
Africa Atlanta 2014 seeks to generate a new model. Quite deliberately,
this initiative draws connections across the arts, humanities, sciences,
and technology; across education, business, and innovation; across
local and global concerns—past, present, future. In just under 18
months, we have organized an array of spectacular events under a
thematic umbrella, with arts and culture as a springboard by which to
engage untapped potential."
Also speaking at the press conference was Geneviève Verbeek, consul
general of Belgium in Atlanta and co-organizer of the initiative.
“Africa has been and continues to be an incontrovertible influence
in daily life, in the Americas, Europe, and around the globe.
Africa Atlanta 2014 is an opportunity to enhance our understanding of
the past and shape a vibrant future together.”
Following
on the heels of the press conference came the formal opening event for
Africa Atlanta 2014, a special reception for the exhibition "Mapping
Place: Africa Beyond Paper" at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum on
campus. Photos from the opening are in the slideshow below.
Check out ongoing and upcoming Africa Atlanta 2014 events at www.africaatlanta.org.
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Africa Atlanta 2014 Opens with "Mapping Place: Africa Beyond Paper" at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum
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Knoespel Receives Honorary Doctorate from Swedish University
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As Georgia Tech expands its footprint around the world, long-term
international relations and collegial exchange impact the way in which
our research and scholarship are received. Kenneth J. Knoespel,
McEver Professor of Engineering and the Liberal Arts at Georgia
Tech, has a long and deep personal and scholarly commitment to
several international partner institutions.
Recently, the University of Umeå, Sweden,
conferred upon Knoespel a prestigious honorary doctorate recognizing
his ongoing productive engagement with Swedish institutions of higher
learning. Umeå officials praised him for developing “a deeper dimension
for work in the digital humanities,” for integrating “work in the
humanities and digital media through his scholarly and administrative
work,” and for providing “a strategic resource for the ongoing
development of HUM-Lab,” the university’s center for the
interdisciplinary encounter of the humanities, culture, and information
technology.
Knoespel’s connection with Sweden and Northern Europe in general was initiated when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Later, he taught for three years as a lecturer in the English Department at the University of Uppsala,
offering courses on Shakespeare and English poetry. During his stay, he
also began to translate Swedish poetry into English and, together with
Amy Arnett Knoespel, translated the first wave of sociologically
important detective fiction (Mai Sjövall and Per Wahlöö’s Murder at the
Savoy) and was able to mingle with many Swedish authors.
His Swedish sojourn also introduced
him to the field of intellectual history, which would become one of his
areas of specialization. It also inspired him to work on a range of
European languages before moving to the University of Chicago,
where he completed his M.S. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. While
at Chicago, he taught Swedish in the Department of German and Germanic
Languages and worked as a dramaturg in Chicago, co-writing and
co-producing (with Robert Wolff) "A Hail of Bullets," a play based on
Bertolt Brecht’s one-act play secretly produced in Stockholm when he was
there in exile.
His connections with Sweden have
involved work with the University of Uppsala, University of Gothenburg,
The Royal Institute of Technology, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola,
Södertörns Högskola, and the University of Umeå. Together with School of
Literature, Media and Communication (LMC) professor Jay Bolter, he
established Georgia Tech’s exchange program with Blekinge Tekniska
Högskola.
Knoespel’s work in Sweden has led in the past 15 years to extensive
work with Russian colleagues. He taught at the Russian Academy of
Sciences in St. Petersburg and worked closely with the European
University in St. Petersburg. This ongoing work contributed to the visit
several weeks ago from colleagues from the Higher School for Economics,
St. Petersburg.
Knoespel (pictured right with wife, Amy)
was awarded the honorary doctorate during a public ceremony, followed
by a banquet with the President of Umeå University and the Chancellor of
the University System of Sweden in October 2013. During the banquet,
Knoespel was invited to address the audience of 450 guests, and did so
in Swedish.
Richard Utz, LMC chair and a
product of the European university system, views the great honor awarded
by Umeå University “a testimony to Ken Knoespel’s impressive record of
excellence and sincere interest in international and collaborative
scholarship.”
Kenneth J. Knoespel is McEver
Professor of Engineering and the Liberal Arts and Director of the Allen
Institute for Advanced Studies in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
and the IAC School of History, Technology, and Society, and an
adjunct appointment in the College of Architecture. He is
a former chair of the IAC School of Literature, Media, and Communication chair and has served as interim dean of the Ivan Allen College.
Read more about Ken Knoespel Recent article by Dr. Knoespel in Baltic Worlds: "The Stuff of Myths and the Baltic Sea"
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Energy Secretary Moniz to Keynote Nunn Forum on Natural Gas Networks
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The biennial Sam Nunn Bank of America Policy Forum, to be held this
year on April 16, brings together noted academic, government, and
private-sector experts on technology, public policy, and international
affairs to address issues of global importance. The 2014 topic is: “U.S.
Competitiveness Amid a Changing Natural Gas Landscape: A View from the
Southeast.” U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dr. Ernest Moniz, will be the
keynote speaker.
This forum will explore the implications of an
emerging “golden era of gas.” It will address the impact of shifting
global supply and demand, and related transformation of gas networks.
Particular attention will be devoted to exploring the intersection of
the digital and energy revolutions, and implications for U.S. leadership
in promoting energy security and spurring economic competitiveness at
the global, national, and state levels. Drawing on the insight of
outstanding panelists, the forum program will highlight technological
innovations and novel public-private-academic partnerships underway in
Georgia and across the Southeast region aimed at redressing critical
infrastructure, policy, and consumer challenges.
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NAS Study Assesses Two Decades of Effort to Strengthen American Manufacturing
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A new study by the National Academies (NAS), 21st
Century Manufacturing: The Role of the Manufacturing Extension
Partnership Program, has been published by a committee of business
executives and academic experts, chaired by School of Public Policy Professor Philip Shapira.
The study seeks to generate a better understanding of the operation, achievements, and challenges of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).
A program of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of
Standards and Technology, the MEP has sought for more than two decades
to strengthen American manufacturing—and the resultant jobs—in a rapidly changing competitive environment.
The national network of affiliated
manufacturing extension centers works directly with manufacturing firms
to provide expertise, services, and assistance toward improving growth,
supply chain positioning, leveraging emerging technologies, improving
manufacturing process, work force training, and the application and
implementation of information in client companies.
The study concluded with key findings that addressed the need for a
strong domestic manufacturing base in maintaining global competitiveness
in advanced technologies and assessed the efficacy of the MEP, the
leading U.S. government program designed to provide support services to
manufacturers.
The
committee also authored recommendations aimed to improve the structure
of and methods utilized by the MEP, including a stronger focus on the
overall improvement of MEP centers, improved collection and analysis of
performance data, and using resources to leverage maximum beneficial
outcomes for the manufacturing sector rather than reaching the
maximum number of manufacturers.
Philip Shapira
is a professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech and a
professor of management, innovation, and policy with the Manchester
Institute of Innovation Research. His interests encompass science and
technology policy, economic and regional development, innovation
management and policy, industrial competitiveness, technology
trajectories and assessment, innovation measurement, and policy
evaluation.
View or download the full report. The committee also produced a symposium report.
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New Patent Mapping System Helps Find Innovation Pathways
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What’s likely to be the “next big thing?" What might be the most
fertile areas for innovation? Where should countries and companies
invest their limited research funds? What technology areas are a
company’s competitors pursuing?
To help answer those questions, researchers, policy-makers and
R&D directors study patent maps, which provide a visual
representation of where universities, companies and other organizations
are protecting intellectual property produced by their research. But
finding real trends in these maps can be difficult because categories
with large numbers of patents—pharmaceuticals, for instance—are usually
treated the same as areas with few patents.
Now, a new patent mapping system that considers how patents cite one
another may help researchers better understand the relationships between
technologies and how they may come together to spur disruptive new
areas of innovation. The system, which also categorizes patents in a new
way, was produced by a team of researchers from three universities and
an Atlanta-based producer of data-mining software.
“What we are trying to do is forecast innovation pathways,” said Alan Porter, professor emeritus in the School of Public Policy and the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and
the project’s principal investigator. “We take data on research and
development, such as publications and patents, and we try to elicit some
intelligence to help us gain a sense for where things are headed.”
Patent maps for major corporations can show where those firms plan to
diversify, or conversely, where their technological weaknesses are.
Looking at a nation’s patent map might also suggest areas where R&D
should be expanded to support new areas of innovation, or to fill gaps
that may hinder economic growth, he said.
Innovation often occurs at the intersection of major technology
sectors, noted Jan Youtie, director of policy research services in
Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.
Studying the relationships between different areas can help suggest
where the innovation is occurring and what technologies are fueling it.
Patent maps can also show how certain disciplines evolve.
“You
can see where the portfolio is, and how it is changing,” explained
Youtie, who is also an adjunct associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy.
“In the case of nanotechnology, for example, you can see that most of
the patents are in materials and physics, though over time the number of
patents in the bio-nano area is growing.”
The patent mapping research, which was supported by the National
Science Foundation, will be described in a paper to be published in an
upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
(JASIST). In addition to Youtie and Porter, the research was conducted
by former Georgia Tech graduate student Luciano Kay, now a postdoctoral
scholar at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of
California Santa Barbara.
“The goal for this research was to create a new type of global patent
map that was not tied into existing patent classification systems,” Kay
said. “We also wanted an approach that would classify patents into
categories or clusters in a graphical representation of interrelated
technologies even though they may be located in different sections and
levels of the standard patent classification.”
The International Patent Classification (IPC) system is based on a
hierarchy of eight top-level classes such as “human necessity” and
“electricity.” Patent applications are further classified into 600 or so
sub-classes beneath the top-level classes.
Critics note that the IPC brings together technologies such as drugs
and hats under the “human necessity” class—technologies that are not
really closely related. The system also puts technologies that are
closely related—pharmaceuticals and organic chemistry, for instance—into
different classes.
The new Patent Overlay Mapping system does away with this hierarchy,
and instead considers the similarity between technologies by noting
connections between patents—which ones are cited by other patents.
“We completely disaggregated the patent classification system and
looked at all the categories with at least a thousand patents,” Youtie
explained. “We think our map gets closer to measuring the ideas of
technological similarity and distance.”
Maps produced by the system provide visual information relating the
distances between technologies. The maps can also highlight the density
of patenting activity, showing where investments are being made. And
they can show gaps where future R&D investments may be needed to
provide connections between related technologies.
The researchers produced a series of patent maps by applying their
new system to 760,000 patent records filed in the European Patent Office
between 2000 and 2006. The data came from the PatSat database, and was
analyzed using a variety of tools, including the VantagePoint software
developed by Intelligent Information Services Corp. of Norcross, along
with Georgia Tech.
One surprise in the work was the interdisciplinary nature of many of
the 35 patent factors the researchers identified. For instance, the
classification “vehicles” included six of the eight sections defined by
the IPC system. Only five of the 35 factors were confined to a
single section, Youtie said.
Because the researchers adopted a new classification system, other
researchers wanting to follow their approach will hate to use a
thesaurus that translates existing IPC classes to the new system. That
conversion system is available online.
In addition to those already mentioned, the research team also
included Ismael Rafols of Universitat Politecnica de Valencia in Spain
and Nils Newman of Intelligent Information Services Corp.
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) through the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State
University (Award No. 0531194) and NSF Award No. 1064146. The research
was also undertaken in collaboration with the Center for Nanotechnology
in Society, University of California Santa Barbara (NSF Awards No.
0938099 and No. 0531184). The findings and observations contained in
this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the NSF.
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ADVANCE Equity, Diversity, Excellence, and Inclusion Initiative is Underway
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The EDEI launch reception was held November 6 at the invitation of Archie Ervin, Vice President for Institute Diversity, and Provost Rafael Bras. Appearing in the photo (from left to right) are Archie Ervin, Vice President for Institute Diversity; Beril Toktay, ADVANCE Professor, Scheller College of Business; Mary Frank Fox, ADVANCE Professor, Ivan Allen College; Wing Suet Li, ADVANCE Professor, College of Sciences; Rafael Bras, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dana Randall, ADVANCE Professor, College of Computing; Kimberly Kurtis, ADVANCE Professor, College of Engineering
The ADVANCE Equity, Diversity, Excellence, and Inclusion (EDEI) initiative is underway at Georgia Tech bringing a focus on four key areas:
1. Mentoring to support junior faculty and promote senior faculty to positions of distinction. 2. Transparency in processes of reappointment, tenure, and promotion. 3. Bias Awareness and a climate of equity for al. 4. Accountability and data collection to track faculty retention, advancement, and satisfaction.
EDEI is spearheaded by the Georgia Tech ADVANCE professors and
supported by the offices of the provost and institute diversity. The
ADVANCE Team tracks data concerning hiring and advancement, particularly
of female and underrepresented minority faculty; analyzes faculty
work-life needs and initiatives; and sponsors faculty development
programs such as career coaching and grants workshops to promote faculty
research and advancement.
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Groundbreaking Histories Reframe the “Space Race” and Unfold the Legacy of the Space Shuttle
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Two new space history books by Kranzberg Professor John Krige, of the School of History, Technology, and Society,
and collaborators at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and Georgia Tech present new and definitive dimensions of the
scope and legacy of the program.
NASA in the World: Fifty Years of International Collaboration in Space (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013) moves beyond media-driven perceptions of an American
initiative to compete with the Soviet Union to reveal complex mandates
to both sustain U.S. leadership in space and to pursue international
collaboration. This second aspect, which has been almost entirely
overlooked by historians, is manifest in over 4,000 international
projects since NASA’s inception in 1958.
Krige treats NASA as a vector of US foreign policy and describes the
strategies it evolved to collaborate internationally, yet not violate
goals to secure US global leadership in space science and
technology. The extent of permissible technology transfer is one
of the key determinants of the structure of NASA's international
partnerships. The book situates the agency's efforts to regulate
knowledge flows squarely within a foreign policy context, tracing
changing relations with space programs in India and Japan, the USSR and
Russia, and Western Europe.
The book itself is a collaborative project funded by NASA. Five
chapters were authored by graduate students in the School of History,
Technology, and Society, Angelina Long Callahan and Ashok Maharaj.
A second book, Space Shuttle Legacy: How We Did It and What We Learned is
part of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Library
of Flight Series (AIAA Press, 2013). Krige edited the collection with
Jim Craig, professor emeritus in Georgia Tech aerospace engineering, and
Roger Launius, an associate director of the National Air and
Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Space Shuttle Legacy surveys 30 years of activity from
both technological and social perspectives, aiming to draw the lessons
of history. The book deals with critical components including the
main engine, the thermal protection system, and the software. It embeds
the shuttle design in the history of NASA and its predecessor, the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), illuminating a
fascination with the space plane. It describes the evolution of
management structures put in place to run the program, analyzes the
Challenger and Columbia accidents, describes operations and life in
orbit, explores the balance
between science and space station missions, reflects on the meaning of
the shuttle as a social icon, and asks, “What next?”
Krige authored a chapter analyzing the failed attempt to include
Western Europe as a major technological partner in the shuttle, which he
attributes to White House fear that the U.S. would pass sensitive
technology to its allies.
Krige said that the book benefited from the enthusiastic and generous
support of Professor Vigor Yang, chair of Georgia Tech aerospace
engineering, who financed a workshop for the book’s 14 authors on campus in September, 2012.
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Sampler Begins New Position at USAID
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Donald “Larry” Sampler Jr., an almunus of the School of Public Policy,
was sworn in as Assistant to the Administrator in the Office of
Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs at USAID. In this role, Sampler will
oversee the two countries with the largest USAID budgets in a region
critical to U.S. national security.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shaw, who administered the oath, said at
the swearing in, "This is a unique and important moment for the region:
in Afghanistan, even as our troops come home, we continue to invest in
the nation’s long-term development, ensuring the gains we’ve made over
the last decade are lasting and meaningful. And in Pakistan, many
of our partnerships are beginning to hit their stride—delivering rewards
that will affect millions.”
In the past Sampler has served as both senior deputy assistant to the
administrator working on Afghanistan and management issues and vice
president and director of the communities in the transition division of
Creative Associates International.
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Salsa! Students Produce Latin American Radio Show
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If you tune in to Georgia Tech’s student-run radio station, WREK,
between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m. on any Sunday night, you may be privy
to the sounds of anything from punk to avant-garde. On one Sunday night
in particular, though, the radio waves were dominated by the sound of
salsa music, thanks to a group of students taking a class in the School of Modern Languages.
After spending a semester exploring Latin American societies and
cultures through their musical traditions, undergraduate students Amisha
Kadiwar, Priya Verma, and Sina Medhikarimi, produced a two-hour live
radio show entirely in Spanish and broadcast it in collaboration with
the WREK team. As a final project for the class, Span 4813: The
Latin American Music Radio Show, the students were invited to explore
their preferred music style, and Caribbean music—specifically
salsa—spoke to this trio of soon-to-be radio producers.
The team then began the process of brainstorming ideas for their
radio show, topics to cover, and songs that might be included. Their
chosen themes were community, the role of women, and recent developments
in salsa. Thus, the musical journey titled “Salsa as Representative of
Caribbean Diasporic Music” was born.
The radio show included a variety of music within the salsa style,
featuring both classically oriented artists and newcomers, as well as an
interview with salsa instructor Julian Mejia, a native of Columbia and
founder of SALSAtlanta. The full playlist of the salsa special can be
found on the WREK website.
Emerging from the process of producing a radio show focused on
linguistically and socially meaningful content was the awareness among
students of the important role of the human voice in speaking a second
language. Students were encouraged to think of the human voice as both a
physical and social creation. Learning a new language involves
not only discovering news ways of using and articulating the mouth and
facial muscles, but also the social dynamic of creating a voice and
offering a perspective of the world based on a listening practice of
exploring the musical dynamics of another culture.
“Part of our mission as professors of modern languages is to guide
students in this process of self-discovery constituted by the desire to
have a meaningful voice and intercultural mindset in a second language,”
said Juan Carlos Rodriguez,
who is teaching the class. “The radio show project allows students to
discover and develop their own voices in Spanish. Students discover that
their voices in Spanish are the result of a dialogue between personal
and collective experiences involving many cultural and social issues.”
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College Honors William Schaffer for 50 Years of Service
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In 1934, a department of economics was established at Georgia Tech.
Coincidentally, that same year, a future member of our economics faculty
was born, William A. Schaffer.
Professor Schaffer joined Georgia Tech in 1964. Today, he is emeritus
professor of Economics. According to Marilyn Somers, Director of
Georgia Tech’s Living History Program, Dr. Schaffer has joined a highly
exclusive club, as she knows of only two other faculty who have taught
here for at least 50 years.
Schaffer
has directed major inter-industry studies for the states of Hawaii and
Georgia and the province of Nova Scotia. With special interests in
regional economics, he has contributed to the literature on constructing
regional inter-industry models, on economic impact analysis and
input-output applications, and on the teaching and theory of regional
science. He has delivered papers in France, Germany, Denmark, and
Switzerland. He has authored or co-authored three books including impact
studies on the Atlanta Braves, Falcons, and Chiefs, the Montreal Expos
Festivals and Tourism. His most recent book,Economic Impact Models,which
was published electronically, has been translated into Farsi.
Professor Schaffer is president and fellow of the Southern Regional
Science Association and a fellow of the North American Regional Science
Council of the Atlanta Economics Club. He has twice served as Chair of
Economics and has been a board member of the GT Athletic Association for
more than 20 years, bringing his expertise to the finance committee. He
founded the Georgia Tech chapter of the international economics honor
society Omicron Delta Epsilon and served as Faculty Advisor and Chapter
Counselor for Tech’s chapter of Beta Theta Pi.
Dr. Schaffer has been a popular teacher who was recognized as the
Faculty of the Year by the GT Student Government Association. Throughout
his career at Georgia Tech, he has engendered community among
colleagues and students through activities such as annual fireside
parties and peach parties hosted with his wife in their home, and the
economics spring picnic. A tribute to his activities is the fact that
our economics group is today one of our most active groups on campus.
Dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Dr. Jacqueline J.
Royster, said, “On behalf of Georgia Tech and the Ivan Allen College of
Liberal Arts, we congratulate Dr. Schaffer on fifty years dedicated to
research, teaching and public service. We are honored that he joined our
ranks and continues to serve this institution so well, even as he
enters his sixth decade of loyalty and leadership. We offer our love and
our appreciation for jobs well done.”
According to Dr. David Laband, Chair of the School of Economics,
“Bill Schaffer is an amazing man - - someone who has touched thousands
of students’ lives during his half-century at Georgia Tech and touched
them in diverse and meaningful ways, both inside and outside the
classroom. Among our alumni, Bill is a widely and deeply-loved and
respected icon.”
The School of Economics has created a scholarship endowment in Bill’s
honor. Anyone interested in finding out more about this
opportunity is invited to contact Dr. Laband at 404-385-4145 or at david.laband@econ.gatech.edu.
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Conversation is Key to Colatrella's Classes
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It’s 9 a.m. on a Friday morning in Stein Residence Hall, and a group
of about 25 bleary-eyed students are having a discussion about a topic
you probably wouldn’t expect — whales.
Welcome to Carol Colatrella’s Major Authors: Melville class where the focus is on analyzing the classic Moby Dick.
“Like any good teacher, my goal in class is to get as many students
participating as possible,” said Colatrella, a professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication
and associate dean for graduate studies in the Ivan Allen College of
Liberal Arts. “This is one of the reasons why I like holding this class
in the lounge of the residence hall. It allows us to sit in a circle,
which allows for more informal discussion.”
On this day, the students and Colatrella are engaged in a discussion
about themes such as hunting whales and whether the reader is meant to
feel sympathy for the whales.
“I love it when I see that our conversations have meant something to
my students,” she said. “For example, a previous literature course I
taught focused on families, and after the course ended, one of the
students took the time to send me a photo of his family. I could see
that I’d made a difference in his life — and him taking the time to do
that made a difference in mine.”
Recently, The Whistle had a chance to learn more about Colatrella and her time at Georgia Tech.
What did you want to be as a child? A
math teacher, and then I thought I’d be a lawyer. Eventually, I
realized that I loved literature, which led me down this path.
What made you decide to work at Tech? I’d
lived up north for much of my life, so honestly, the warm weather in
the South was a key factor in my decision. Not to mention, I was eager
to come and work for this school, since it was gaining respect among my
colleagues in literature and science. It was a chance to work with a
group of people interested in the same research topics as I was.
Tell us a bit about your research. My books, Evolution, Sacrifice, and Narrative: Balzac, Zola, and Faulkner; Literature and Moral Reform: Melville and the Discipline of Reading; Toys and Tools in Pink: Cultural Narratives of Gender, Science, and Technology;
and articles I’ve written analyze popular and scientific narrative
representations of race, class, and gender.
What is an average day like for you? This
semester, I teach one course that meets three times each week. I’m also
always working on projects related to my associate dean duties and my
role as co-director of the Center for the Study of Women, Science, and
Technology (WST), which co-sponsors the WST Learning Community for
students.
Would you ever be willing to teach a massive open online courses (MOOC)? I
would. But I wonder how I’d be able to sustain the interactive
discussion portion of my class teaching it online to such a large group
of students.
What is your favorite spot on campus? I love the views from the roof garden on top of Clough Commons.
What is one piece of technology you couldn’t live without? My Blackberry. It’s like my brain.
Where is your favorite place to eat lunch? I love trying the different salads that Highland Bakery offers.
Tell us something unique about yourself. I
almost took a job in Denmark as a humanities professor — I would have
been one of 24 female humanities professors in the country. It would
have been an adventure, but staying here ended up being the right
decision.
Carol Colatrella is professor of literature and cultural studies in
the School of Literature, Media, and Communication; associate dean for
graduate studies; and co-director of the Georgia Tech Center for the
Study of Women, Science, and Technology, which since 2002 has been
sponsored by the Office of the Provost.
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HTS Students to Attend ACCIAC Conference
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April Martin and Elizabeth Warden, undergraduate students in the School of History, Technology, and Society,
have been invited to attend the Inter-institutional Academic
Collaborative of the Atlantic Coast Athletic Conference (ACCIAC)
Meeting of the Minds (MOM) that will be held in early April. The
conference gathers 5-10 outstanding undergraduate researchers, along
with their faculty advisors, from each ACC university to present their
original research.
April
Martin will present her paper "Too Big a Storm: The Complicated
Atmosphere around Women's Sexual Problems," which examines the framing
and medicalization of women's sexuality. Based on a content analysis of
articles from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today
in the past 15 years, Martin found that the media's presentation of
women's sexual problems is both complex and contradictory, possibly
resulting in a resistance to medicalization by the public and FDA.
In
a similar vein, Elizabeth Warden will present “The Power to Keep Them
Apart: The Reinforcement of Gender Stereotypes in Prescription
Direct-To-Consumer Advertising," which addresses the internalization of
gender norms through a content analysis of prescription product
advertisements in the highly gendered magazines Cosmopolitan and Popular Mechanics.
Characteristics found to differ in accordance with the intended
audience by gender were settings, color schemes, word choice, and
character activities.
Receiving an invitation to the MOM conference is an honor, and we are proud to have two students representing the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
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Undergraduate Profile: Nabila Nazarali
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I was not sure what to expect studying liberal arts at Georgia Tech.
Initially, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a liberal arts education
at what seems to be a predominantly engineering and
technology-focused university. Early on, I took the same core classes as
other students—the calculus, chemistry, biology, and of course
introductory economics classes. Soon after, I saw that the wealth of
knowledge and research experience that my economics professors hold, as
well as the rigor of my course load, made it clear that my degree
program was valuable. Only recently have I started to understand the
remarkable advantage of studying real world economic issues through an
analytic lens, all with the problem solving-focused thinking that Tech
not only encourages, but demands of its students.
Why mix a degree in economics with psychology?
I chose to pursue a dual degree in economics and psychology because I
believe these two majors cross at a point where my skill set and ideal
career path lie. Psychology has given me a deeper perspective on the
human element of the workplace, and it has allowed me to gain insight
into how people think, strategize, behave, and communicate.
Economics has taught me the theory and quantitative skills necessary to
be successful in a corporate environment.
A backyard full of opportunity.
My favorite part of Georgia Tech is that you really can have it all!
Pursue a challenging degree at a top university, work on research
projects that redefine your worldview, develop soft skills in any of
over 500 GT student organizations, and meet the kinds of people that
will remain in your life long after graduation day. And all smack dab in
the middle of a metropolis bursting with history, performing arts, and
the head offices of many Fortune 500 companies.
View the full profile here.
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