UGA Columns June 29, 2015

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UGA President Morehead talks with students as part of Washington, D.C., visit CAMPUS NEWS

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Georgia Museum of Art exhibition will focus on ­puppeteer Ralph Chesse

June 29, 2015

Vol. 42, No. 38

www.columns.uga.edu

davemarr@uga.edu

In addition to teaching seminars for students and giving faculty presentations about her research on telenovelas, Carolina Acosta-Alzuru gained many insights into the culture of Chile during her month there as a Fulbright scholar.

‘Journey of discovery’ Grady College public relations associate professor teaches in Chile as Fulbright scholar

s.moreno@uga.edu

Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, a faculty member in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, discovered a thing or two about herself after recently spending a month in Chile as a Fulbright scholar.

“Distance always elicits reflection,” said Acosta-Alzuru, an associate professor of public relations. “Leading seminars and presentations about my long-time engagement with telenovelas as a research topic and about my teaching further deepened that reflection process. It’s only when you leave your fishbowl that you’re able to understand it and how you swim in it.”

Acosta-Alzuru’s trip was funded by a Fulbright Specialist grant to teach and conduct faculty development activities. The mission of

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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker will visit UGA this fall

By Dave Marr

By Stephanie Moreno

UGA GUIDE

the Fulbright program is to foster international partnerships and mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations.

“This is important for me, a Venezuelan-American scholar, whose research and teaching are heavily influenced by multiculturalism and a self-awareness of my hybrid identity,” Acosta-Alzuru said.

Hosted by the Universidad de Chile, Acosta-Alzuru taught a graduate seminar on the links between telenovelas, culture and society. She also led a hands-on assignment in an undergraduate course about strategic planning and organizational communication.

In addition to teaching, AcostaAlzuru gave university-wide and faculty presentations about her research. She also led seminars at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and at the Universidad de los Andes.

“I relished the opportunity to

talk about my research with Chilean faculty members who are also interested in the study of TV fiction and the links between melodrama and culture,” she said.

Acosta-Alzuru said she gained many insights into the culture of Chile.

“It was my first visit to Chile, so it was a journey of discovery of the city of Santiago and a handful of other Chilean cities, particularly Valparaiso and Vina del Mar,” Acosta-Alzuru said. “Chile is a beautiful country, a nation of poets and writers. I loved visiting it and learned much from the reflections of Chileans about their political past and present.

“It was both enlightening and sad to realize that some of the human rights abuses that occurred during Chile’s military dictatorship already are happening in my native Venezuela, under an authoritarian socialist government,” she added.

The Jane and Harry Willson Center for Humanities and Arts will welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker to UGA as the holder of the inaugural Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding Oct. 14-15.

Walker will hold public speaking events on and off campus, as well as participate in more personal interactions with students and faculty during her visit.

The Delta Visiting Chair, established by the Willson Center through the support of the Delta Air Lines Foundation, hosts outstanding global scholars, creative thinkers, artists and intellectuals who teach and perform research at UGA. It is founded upon the legacy of the Delta Prize for Global Understanding, which from

1997-2011 was presented to individuals— including Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ted Turner, Desmond Tutu and Jimmy and RoAlice Walker salyn Carter— whose initiatives promoted world peace by advancing understanding and cooperation among cultures and nations.

A native of Eatonton and a member of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, Walker will speak Oct. 14 at the Chapel and Oct. 15 at the Morton Theatre in downtown Athens. Details on these and other events taking place during her visit will be announced in the coming months.

See WALKER on page 4

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

UGA, Emory to offer new dual degree in social work, divinity

By Laurie Anderson laurie@uga.edu

The UGA School of Social Work and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University have partnered to offer a dual master’s degree in social work and divinity. It is the first dual degree to be offered between the two universities.

The innovative, crossdisciplinary program will develop professionals uniquely equipped to deal with issues related to aging, addiction and other stressors, according to Maurice Daniels, dean and professor in the UGA School of Social Work.

“Students will learn to balance pastoral skills such as spiritual

counseling with social work practices such as family therapy and community assessment, strengthening their endeavors with individual clients as well as in the public policy arena,” he said.

The program, which requires coursework in grief and loss management, also will address a shortage of professionals in Georgia who can combine faith-based and clinical training to help survivors of various types of loss.

“This degree requires training in grief counseling and will help to address the debilitating impact of grief, which is both a faith issue and a health issue,” said Harold Briggs, associate dean of the School of Social Work.

See DEGREE on page 4

OBITUARIES

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR INSTRUCTION University mourns passing of Betty Whitten, former UGA will host Reacting to Past Game Development Conference associate VP, and CAES professor Scott Russell

By Aaron Hale

A memorial service for Whitten will be held July 2 at 3 p.m. at Athens First United Methodist Church.

aahale@uga.edu

The UGA community is mourning the deaths of a retired administrator and a current faculty member.

Betty Jones Whitten, a former professor in the Terry College of Business and a former associate vice president for academic affairs at UGA, died June 17 in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the age of 77.

Scott Marshall Russell, a faculty

Betty Whitten

Betty Whitten

Scott Russell

member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, died May 31. He was 50.

Whitten was known as a dynamic teacher focused on the needs of students. As a UGA administrator, she worked to recruit minorities and women to campus.

She was one of the first two recipients of the Josiah Meigs Award for Excellence in Teaching—an award

See OBITUARIES on page 4

By Tracy N. Coley tcoley@uga.edu

UGA will host a national conference for college faculty, administrators and graduate students that focuses on designing games as an educational tool for undergraduate students.

The Reacting to the Past Game Development Conference, hosted by UGA’s Reacting to the Past Program and the Center for Teaching and Learning, will take place July 15-18 in the Miller

Learning Center.

Conference participants will play several Reacting-style games that are in development, discuss game design principles and processes and work to expand and explore ideas for new games.

Newbie Day, a one-day preconference workshop for newcomers that serves as an introduction to Reacting to the Past pedagogy, will feature “The Trial of Anne Hutchinson: Liberty, Law and Intolerance in Puritan New England.”

See CONFERENCE on page 4

2 June 29, 2015 columns.uga.edu

Digest NCAA recognizes 3 varsity sports teams in annual Academic Progress Rate report

Three UGA varsity sports teams have been publicly recognized by the NCAA for outstanding achievement in the annual NCAA Academic Progress Rate report.

The recognition honors teams that scored in the top 10 percent of all teams across the country in each sport. Both the gymnastics and women’s swimming and diving teams scored a perfect 1000, and men’s basketball earned a score of 990.

“We are committed to the academic mission of the Athletic Association as well as our athletic mission,” said Greg McGarity, UGA’s J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics. “It’s always a point of pride when any of our teams are cited for academic achievement and congratulations are in order for these three teams.”

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance.

UGA, Savannah State presidents co-chair task force on alcohol, substance abuse UGA President Jere W. Morehead and Savannah State University President Cheryl Dozier are co-chairing a new 20-member University System of Georgia task force.

The Alcohol and Substance Abuse Task Force will review and develop recommendations related to alcohol and substance abuse at the system’s 30 public colleges and universities.

The task force will conduct a comprehensive review of policies and procedures relating to alcohol and substance abuse at university system institutions; review the impact of alcohol licensing; and address other matters it deems appropriate.

Upon completion of its review, the task force will present a report with recommendations to Chancellor Hank Huckaby.

OFFICE OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Bridging Broad Street: University’s first community relations director to retire

By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

After working decades in the banking industry, C. Patrick Allen began a new career at UGA in 2003 at age 57.

His new job—as the university’s first director of community relations—was to ensure that as UGA expanded, it continued to be good citizen in the surrounding community.

One of Allen’s priorities was to increase cooperation and trust between “the town” (of Athens) and “the gown” (UGA). Since then, officials from the university and the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government have partnered on a number of projects to improve the local community, and UGA faculty and staff have continued to play a key role there as well.

Allen retires from his second career June 30 after 12 years spent helping the university balance its needs with those of the surrounding community by fostering connections.

“If you’re going to be successful in almost anything, you’re going to need to build relationships,” Allen said.

Allen came to Athens as a banker in 1985. He was active in the community, serving as chair of the commission that consolidated the Athens and Clarke County governments and as interim president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce.

Not long after he retired from banking, Allen learned that the university was seeking a community diplomat.

There were two major needs to address. The first was confronting concerns from some Athens residents that the growth of the student body and the university as a whole might hurt neighborhoods. UGA also needed

Leanna Brown

Pat Allen, center, chats with Athens-Clarke County Mayor Nancy Denson and UGA student Tim Heigl near the Arch overlooking downtown Athens. Allen’s role as community relations director bridged the interests of those north and south of Broad Street—the symbolic border of campus and downtown Athens.

to develop closer ties with the AthensClarke County government.

“The university needed someone to wake up every morning and ask, ‘How will what we are going to do today at the University of Georgia impact folks in the community?’ ” Allen said.

Allen believes there has been a change of perception about UGA by members of the Athens community during his tenure.

“Now people know that the university cares,” he said.

This perception begins with the work of UGA employees in the community. UGA faculty and staff have always participated in the surrounding community, Allen said, but that participation has flourished in recent years.

UGA employees provide leadership

on local nonprofit boards, and faculty have teamed with local government for community improvements, such as the work by Jack Crowley, a professor of environment and design, on the Downtown Athens Master Plan.

In addition, the university and the local government have partnered on several mutually beneficial initiatives, such as when the university leased land where an Athens-Clarke County fire station was built. Fire Station 7 now sits next to the new UGA Veterinary Medical Center.

While Allen has helped build the relationships, he doesn’t take credit for coming up with all of the answers.

“My job has not been to provide solutions,” he said, “but to connect people to the solutions.”

President Morehead visits Washington, D.C.

UGA graduate Sally Yates confirmed as US deputy attorney general

Sally Quillian Yates, UGA alumna and former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, was confirmed May 18 as U.S. deputy attorney general.

Nominated by President Barack Obama late last year, Yates had been serving in an acting capacity in the No. 2 post at the U.S. Department of Justice. She succeeded Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole.

Yates is a 1982 graduate of the university’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and a 1986 magna cum laude graduate of the UGA School of Law. Before becoming U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in 2010, Yates was first assistant U.S. attorney and chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the office, prosecuting white-collar cases. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she practiced law at the Atlanta office of King & Spalding, where she specialized in commercial litigation.

UGA President Jere W. Morehead sat down with 30 UGA students interning in Washington, D.C., for a lunch and roundtable discussion on June 17 in Delta Hall.

While in the nation’s capital, Morehead also introduced Rep. Tom Price during a breakfast meeting of the Science Coalition, a D.C.-based advocacy organization. The president also participated in the annual UGA in Washington reception held in the East Hall of historic Union Station.

TERRY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS RETIREES

Two new associate deans named in business college

May

By Camie Williams

Eight UGA employees retired May 1. Retirees, their job classification, department and length of employment are: Michael A. Alden, design engineer, Facilities Management Division-Construction Department, 20 years, 3 months; Audrey B. Cox, administrative associate I, agricultural and applied economics, 9 years, 10 months; Paul Efland, digital imaging specialist, Division of Public Affairs, 20 years, 8 months; Carol A. McDonell, public service assistant, Small Business Development Center, 13 years, 11 months; Diane M. Oetting, county secretary, UGA Cooperative Extension-Northwest District, 14 years, 7 months; Melissa J. Power, business manager III, computer science, 30 years, 10 months; Janet Sylvia, digital media professional specialist, technology services, 24 years, 3 months; and Iola L. Whitehead, academic advisor III, health promotion and behavior, 13 years, 8 months.

Source: Human Resources

Two faculty members have taken on new leadership roles at the Terry College of Business.

Beginning next month, oversight of the college’s undergraduate and graduate programs will be divided between two newly named associate deans: Henry Munneke, who holds a C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Distinguished Chair of Business Administration, and Marisa Pagnattaro, the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Legal Studies.

Munneke will oversee undergraduate programs as associate dean. His new role includes oversight of the Institute

camiew@uga.edu

Henry Munneke

Marisa Pagnattaro

for Leadership Advancement, the online BBA program and the entrepreneurship and music business certificate programs as well as strategic planning efforts.

Pagnattaro, who has served as director of the certificate in legal studies program since 2012, will spearhead the

research and graduate programs in the Terry College. She will have oversight over the full-time MBA and executive and professional MBA programs, Ph.D. programs, study abroad and the international business co-major, as well as advisory oversight of Terry’s master’s programs and strategic planning efforts.

“Combined, Drs. Munneke and Pagnattaro bring with them 49 years of experience in higher education,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of the Terry College. “They have both distinguished themselves in scholarly and pedagogical work and have proven track records of accomplishing great things while at UGA. I am proud to work alongside them and excited about the expertise they will bring to their new roles.”

UGAGUIDE

columns.uga.edu June 29, 2015

For a complete listing of events, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/­).

The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

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Georgia Museum of Art exhibition on artist, puppeteer Ralph Chesse will open July 11

By Jennifer Chicas jchicas@uga.edu

An exhibition by Ralph Chesse, including “Pinocchio” (above) and “Flight into Egypt” (upper right), will open July 11 at the Georgia Museum of Art.

ADVISORIES WHITEHALL ROAD Through July 31. A contractor for Athens-Clarke County is realigning Whitehall Road south of its intersection with South Milledge Avenue to improve sight lines and safety. This is adjacent to UGA’s Whitehall Forest and Livestock Instructional Arena.

The road is closed to all traffic from Milledge Avenue to the Oconee County line. Motorists are being detoured through downtown Watkinsville via Loop 10, U.S. 441 and Ga. 15.

BAXTER AND FINLEY STREETS Through Aug. 4. Portions of Baxter and Finley streets will be closed to through traffic at times during the extension of chilled water lines from the District Energy Plant on Newton Street to serve Russell and Brumby halls.

The project will cross Finley Street, resulting in its closure between Baxter Street and Cloverhurst Avenue through July 24.

SCIENCE LEARNING CENTER Through July 31, 2016. Construction is underway on the $44.7 million, 122,500-square-foot Science Learning Center. The site is at the southwest corner of D.W. Brooks Mall, bounded by Carlton Street, Pharmacy South and the McPhaul Center parking lot. The facility will encompass 33 instructional labs, two 280-seat lecture halls and two 72-seat classrooms.

COLLEGE STATION ROAD Through Oct. 31, 2016. The Georgia Department of Transportation is replacing the College Station Road bridges over the North Oconee River, building new structures to include two lanes in each direction with bike lanes and sidewalks.

A new bridge will be constructed north of the original bridges, and then through a series of traffic shifts, the

existing bridges will be replaced. Two lanes will remain open in each direction during peak hours throughout the project. Lane closures are possible 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and during overnight hours.

EXHIBITIONS Going Back to Athens: A Celebration of the Career of Jack Davis. Through July 24. Hargrett Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-7123, hasty@uga.edu.

Terra Verte. Through July 31. Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, Georgia Museum of Art. Lines of Inquiry: Renaissance and ­Baroque Drawings from the Ceseri Collection. Through Aug. 2. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, ­hazbrown@uga.edu.

Both Sides: Destruction and Pain in the Civil War. Through Aug. 7. Hargrett Gallery, special collections libraries.

706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

Cooking the Books. Through Aug. 31.

Hargrett Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-0674, acme@uga.edu.

Art Hazelwood and Ronnie Goodman.

Through Sept. 13. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

El Taller de Grafica Popular: Vida y Arte.

Through Sept. 13. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

The Pennington Radio Collection.

Through December. Brown Media ­Archives and Peabody Awards ­Collection, special collections libraries.

706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Public Affairs.

Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available on the Web at calendar.uga.edu/.

The Georgia Museum of Art at UGA will present a solo exhibition of the work of the late Ralph Chesse July 11 through Oct. 4. Organized

by Laura Valeri, the museum’s associate curator of European art, the exhibition will feature paintings, sculptures, puppets and works on paper that span the artist’s long and diverse career.

Born in New Orleans in 1900 to a family of African-American and French Creole ancestry, Chesse attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1918 to 1919 as his only formal training. Listed as black on his birth certificate, he moved to San Francisco with his family in 1928, where they passed for white.

His son Bruce Chesse said that, despite his father’s frequent focus

on African-Americans as subjects, it did not occur to later generations of the family to research their heritage until the late 20th century. Because the Chesses emigrated to Louisiana from France in the 18th century, the family considered itself French regardless of at least one instance of cross-racial intermarriage that occurred before the Civil War. Lighter-skinned family members would have had good reason to avoid

TUESDAY, JUNE 30 WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE, MIDTERM FOR THRU TERM SHORT SESSION I CLASSES END SUMMER TUESDAY TOUR Led by a docent. 2 p.m. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

FIFTH TUESDAY SWING NIGHT The UGA Swing Club will host a swing night. It will begin with a lesson, followed by a casual evening of social swing dancing. 8 p.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6014, connicot@uga.edu.

THURSDAY, JULY 2 SHORT SESSION II CLASSES BEGIN DROP/ADD FOR SHORT SESSION II For undergraduate level courses (1000-5999) and graduate level courses (6000-9999). Through July 7.

FRIDAY, JULY 3 INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLIDAY OBSERVED No classes; offices closed.

SATURDAY, JULY 4 INDEPENDENCE DAY

MONDAY, JULY 6

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1 SHORT SESSION I FINAL EXAMS TOUR AT TWO Highlights from the permanent ­collection. Led by docents. 2 p.m.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

FULL MOON HIKE The trails at the State Botanical Garden offer much to discover at night, especially during summer.

Participants can see the lightning bug display in June and July, search for glow worms and phosphorescent fungus and hear the frogs, cicadas and katydids.

Each walk will focus on a different topic. Participants should be prepared to hike up to 2 miles on wooded trails and in the garden. Those with young children or infants are advised to bring a backpack carrier. Pre-registration is required. $5; $15 per family. 8 p.m.

Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu.

SHORT SESSION I GRADES DUE Due by 5 p.m.

TUESDAY, JULY 7 SUMMER TUESDAY TOUR 2 p.m. Special ­collections libraries.

706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 8 BIOLOGICAL TEM WORKSHOP Through July 10. A three-day intensive workshop on biological sample preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy and training on the TEM. Lunch is provided. 154 Barrow Hall. j pshield@uga.edu.

ARTFUL CONVERSATION Participants will join Carissa DiCindio, curator of education, for an in-depth conversation about selected prints in the exhibition El Taller de Grafica Popular: Vida y Arte. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date. Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

identifying themselves as AfricanAmerican in a time of segregation and widespread prejudice.

Ralph Chesse never held a 9-to-5 job, but continued to work on his art and puppetry. Eventually, he created a successful children’s television program, The Wonderful World of Brother Buzz, which ran for 17 years on San Francisco’s KPIX. The success of the show allowed him to travel to Europe, a journey that inspired him visually and motivated him to return to painting.

A s s o c i a t e d e v e n t s d u ring the exhibition include the museum’s quarterly reception, 90 Carlton: Summer, on July 17 at 5:30 p.m. ($5, free for members of the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art); a Family Day focusing on puppetry on July 18 from 10 a.m. to noon; and tours on Aug. 5 and Aug. 26 at 2 p.m.

THURSDAY, JULY 9 VIVA MEXICO FILM SERIES ­SCREENING An Artful Revolution: The Life and Art of the Taller de Grafica Popular. This documentary explores the life and art of the artists of the Mexican printmaking collective started in the 1930s. Coproduced by Octavio Blanco and Rivka Einy. Following the film, join Carissa DiCindio, curator of education, and Melissa Harshman, printmaking chair at the Lamar Dodd School of Art, for a gallery discussion in the exhibition. 7 p.m.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

FRIDAY, JULY 10 FRIENDS FIRST FRIDAY “Not Your Grandmother’s Roses,” Bobbi Reed. This monthly event includes a full breakfast and an opportunity to meet new people while learning about the garden, gardening or garden history.

RSVP to 706-542-6138 by July 8. $12.

9 a.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6138.

SATURDAY, JULY 11 EXHIBITION OPENING Through Oct. 4. Ralph Chesse was a painter, sculptor and puppeteer who spent time in New Orleans, Europe and San Francisco. His travels and his work as a theater actor and puppeteer deeply influenced his work. This exhibition includes paintings, puppets and works on paper that span his career.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, ­hazbrown@uga.edu. (See story above).

COMING UP SHORT SESSION II MIDTERM, WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE July 16.

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES July 1 (for July 13 issue) July 15 (for July 27 issue) July 29 (for Aug. 10 issue)

4 June 29, 2015 columns.uga.edu

WALKER from page 1

Andrew Davis Tucker

Students in the Georgia Fishes Field Study course watch tiger striped hermit crabs on the beach at night on Sapelo Island. From left: Senior wildlife major Kathryn Buffington, senior wildlife major Jordan Sliger, summer school transfer student Amber Glassman, 2015 UGA alumna and wildlife graduate Leila Marion and senior fisheries major Sonia Vail.

Summer, Maymester courses offer unique learning experiences for UGA students

By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

Summer sessions offer students an opportunity to dive into unique subjects in their disciplines, while also helping streamline their time to graduation and reduce the overall cost of their UGA degree.

From hands-on courses where the classroom is in the field to those that immerse students in unconventional topics, here is a list of intriguing summer 2015 courses at UGA. • The Peabody Awards: Television ­History and Excellence It’s TV binge-watching with an academic slant. Taught by Shira Chess, an assistant professor of entertainment and media studies in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, this online summer course uses content from the Peabody Awards Archives. Students watch, think about and discuss television content from sitcoms to news, from science fiction shows to crime dramas. Through the lens of a historical examination, students ask what excellence means to this medium.

• Tropical Marine Invertebrates In this Maymester course, students woke up in the morning, grabbed a cup of coffee and went snorkeling to study anemones, corals and other organisms in the marine environment at the Key Largo Marine Research Laboratory, the home base for this class. Taught by William Fitt, a professor in the Odum School of Ecology, the course gave students the chance to study invertebrates in the Everglades, mangroves, sea grasses and coral reefs.

• Basic Dramatic Writing: Or How to Write a Screenplay in Three Weeks This class was for students who always wanted to write a TV pilot or short movie but never had the motivation or confidence to give it a try. Taught by John KundertGibbs, an associate professor of film and theatre studies in the Franklin College of

Arts and Sciences, the Maymester course gave students the tools to write a screenplay in a matter of weeks. With a focus on creating character, plot, dialogue, writing action sequences and formatting, the class offered plenty of practical experience reading scripts and a quick way get up to speed as a screenwriter.

• Family Therapy Boot Camp This graduate elective is an intensive introduction to a four-step model for assessing families and couples in clinical social work. In this “boot camp” held on UGA’s Gwinnett campus, Mary Zorn Bates, a clinical associate professor of social work, teaches family therapy skills through simulated practice sessions with class peers and observation of live streaming of simulated clinical sessions.

• Georgia Fishes Field Study This Maymester course was taught by James L. Shelton and Susan B. Wilde, assistant professors at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and Brett Albanese of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Students learned about fish collection and identification skills for Georgia’s freshwater and coastal fishes.

With field trips to take samples at beaches, estuaries, streams and reservoirs within the mountains, Piedmont and Coastal Plain, students got to practice field techniques.

(Watch a video about the lab at http://t. uga.edu/1Au.) • Masters of Small Worlds: Slavery in the Roman Household Taught by Kate Cooperwill, the 2015 Franklin International Scholar from Manchester University, this summer-session class explores the Roman Empire as a slave society with a special focus on how the central role of slave labor influenced the Roman household from 100 B.C. to 450 A.D. Students will learn how slavery affected the household both as a social space and as a productive unit within the Roman economy.

Bulletin Board Shuttle service direct billing

Based on a suggestion from members of the UGA community, a direct billing option with Groome Transportation for shuttle service to and from HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport has been established. Employees who book shuttle trips for university travel to and from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport now may request to have those trips directly billed to their department.

To establish an account for direct billing, departments should complete the direct billing application at http://t.uga.edu/1B2 and submit the

application to Groome Transportation, which will invoice the UGA department for the shuttle services provided.

The billing form and other travel resources are available at http://t.uga. edu/1B3. Contact Elena Williams at lenadroz@uga.edu with questions.

UGAAlert system test

Because of the recent transition to a new service provider, a full test of the UGAAlert emergency notification system will be conducted July 9 at 10:15 a.m. Prior to the test, it is very important that students, faculty and staff review their information at www.ugaalert.uga.edu

“The University of Georgia is a global public research university, and we are honored to welcome one of the major figures of modern literature to the campus to connect with our community of students, faculty and citizens of all ages,” said Nicholas Allen, Franklin Professor of English and director of the Willson Center. “Alice Walker transformed the cultural imagination of Georgia and made its stories part of a world conversation about belonging, memory and the power of the human imagination to persevere and flourish.”

Walker is the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her 1982 novel The Color Purple, which also earned a National Book Award. She has written six other novels, four collections of short stories, four children’s books and volumes of essays and poetry.

Her first collection of poetry, Once, was published in 1968, followed by her first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, in 1970. Throughout her public life, she has been an international activist for civil and human rights and a forceful advocate for

women and girls.

Walker offered a personal message to the UGA and Athens communities: “This ­gathering at the historic University of Georgia offers a unique and splendid opportunity for the Southern community from which I come to gather for a time of introduction, contemplation and learning.

“It has been half a century since I lived in Georgia, yet my roots here remain, as does my interest in, and concern for, all the people of this region,” she added. “As a writer, my early work is drenched in the ambiance of the South; those who have read my poetry, or short stories...will find more than a trace of my absorbed attention to the lives of Southerners in this area.”

Each holder of the Delta Visiting Chair will engage the Georgia community through lectures, seminars, discussions and programs; they will present global problems in local context by addressing pressing contemporary questions about the economy, society and the environment—with a focus on how the arts and humanities can intervene in major contemporary issues.

DEGREE

OBITUARIES from page 1

from page 1 The number of people experiencing stress related to loss has escalated in recent years, according to Briggs. But clergy and licensed clinical social workers, the professionals most often sought for help, often lack professional training to assist with emotional and practical strategies for coping.

The program, he believes, will help mitigate unhealthy grieving practices and reduce soaring health-related costs.

“The combined degree program will provide citizens of Georgia access to a cadre of professional experts who understand both the health impairment issues caused by grief and the faith-based needs of clients,” Briggs said.

Ian McFarland, Stokes Professor of Theology and associate dean of Candler School of Theology, agrees.

“The cross-training at UGA and Emory will create a new, more effective brand of caregiver, one trained to help people draw on both community- and congregationallybased resources in working through grief and other sources of stress,” he said.

The dual degree program takes four years to complete, one year less than if students pursued each degree separately.

CONFERENCE from page 1

Reacting to the Past consists of elaborate games, set in the past, in which students are assigned roles informed by classic texts in the history of ideas.

Class sessions are run entirely by students; instructors advise and guide students and grade their oral and written work. Reacting to the Past seeks to draw students into the past, promote engagement with big ideas and improve intellectual and academic skills.

Pioneered in the late 1990s by Mark C. Carnes, a professor of history at Barnard College, the Reacting to the Past curriculum has been implemented by faculty at hundreds of colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad since 2001. Reacting to the Past has been used at UGA since 2003. to make sure their specific preferences for being notified are accurate.

In the event of an actual emergency, the test will be rescheduled.

The UGAAlert desktop system that scrolls emergency messages across the bottom of computer screens will not change. Download the free UGAAlert software at http://t.uga.edu/1BL. UGAAlert messages also can be received via Twitter by following @UGAAlert or @UGAOEP. Email questions to ugaalert@uga.edu or call the Office of Emergency Preparedness at 706-542-5845.

Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.

she would win twice.

Whitten earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Illinois.

She came to Athens in 1967, first working at UGA as a computer analyst before completing her doctorate in 1972 and joining the Terry College faculty that same year. She served as associate vice president for academic affairs from 1991-1994, as head of the University Council’s Executive Committee and was chair of the Presidential Search and Advisory Committee that brought Michael F. Adams to UGA in 1997.

Whitten, who retired from UGA in 1998, is survived by one daughter, Dr. Mary Kathryn Whitten Bohmer of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Scott Russell

Russell, a native of Alexandria, Virginia, was a professor of poultry processing and products microbiology in the poultry science department. A “triple Dawg,” he earned his bachelor’s in microbiology, master’s in poultry science and doctorate in poultry science from UGA in 1986, 1991 and 1994, respectively.

He joined the faculty in 1989.

Russell worked closely with the poultry industry throughout the U.S. and Canada, and with countries in Central and South America, Europe and China. He assisted poultry companies with elimination of pathogenic bacterial populations throughout their operations.

Russell is survived by his wife, Kristine Garrision Russell, sons, Jordan and Joshua, his parents and a host of relatives and friends.

A memorial service was held June 6.

ABOUT COLUMNS Columns is available to the campus community by ­subscription for an annual fee of $20 (second-class delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format.

Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu

Editor Juliett Dinkins Art Director Janet Beckley Photo Editor Robert Newcomb Senior Reporter Aaron Hale Reporter Matt Chambers Copy Editor David Bill The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.

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