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Illinois art history scholar awarded 2024 ACLS Fellowship
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign art history professor Hermann von Hesse has been awarded a 2024 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. Von Hesse is one of 60 scholars selected through a rigorous, multi-stage peer review process from 1,100 applicants, according to an ACLS news release. The fellowships were awarded to early-career, untenured […]
What can researchers learn about ecosystems and the environment during the total solar eclipse?
Scientists across the U.S. and Mexico are engaging in a one-day data-gathering operation to record how the 2024 total solar eclipse affects various aspects of life on Earth. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, crop sciences and plant biology professor Carl Bernacchi and his colleagues will focus on atmospheric and ecosystem-scale responses to the eclipse. […]
Can genetic genealogy restore family narratives disrupted by the transatlantic slave trade?
Some political figures seek to remove references to slavery from the study of American history, adding to the vast knowledge gaps that stem from the transatlantic slave trade. To better understand these histories, scholars and individuals are turning to genetic genealogy to discover and retrace descendant-family lineages. In a recent paper published in the journal […]
How is the Russia-Ukraine war affecting non-allied countries’ interest in joining NATO?
Cynthia Buckley, a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, assesses threats to geopolitical stability along Russia’s periphery through the Central Eurasian State Capacity Initiative. Buckley spoke with research editor Sharita Forrest about the ongoing war in Ukraine. Sweden recently joined NATO, ending decades of neutrality. How significant is Sweden’s membership and will […]
Expert advises eclipse watchers to get the best vantage point – are you ready?
Leslie Looney is an astronomy professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and director of the Laboratory for Astronomical Imaging. He spoke with News Bureau physical sciences and media editor Lois Yoksoulian about the significance of solar eclipses and what to expect on April 8. There are many different types of solar eclipses: What kind […]
How should voters feel about polls heading into the presidential election?
Brian Gaines is a professor of political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Honorable W. Russell Arrington Professor in State Politics at the U of I System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. Gaines, who studies elections and public opinion, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the […]
Learning by listening to the people who live it
SÃC TRăNG PROVINCE, Vietnam – Our bus rumbles along the rural roads of this province in Southeast Vietnam. It is hot. Today, we are visiting a cooperative prawn and rice farm. Nhan Dang, the director of the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute at Can Tho University and our guide on this excursion, describes the benefits […]
August, December 2023 graduates and Dean’s List honorees announced
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced Dean’s List honorees and graduates for the fall semester 2023, and the graduates for August 2023. The Dean’s List in December was composed of 9,015 students. Dean’s List eligibility is limited to the top 20% of a student’s college class or curriculum. To be eligible for the Dean’s […]
How will generative artificial intelligence affect political advertising in 2024?
It’s estimated that $12 billion will be spent on political ads this election cycle – 30% more than in 2020. The sheer volume of ads is remarkable, and there is vast potential to use this political information to contribute to democracy: to reach more potential voters and provide accurate information. There’s also more potential than […]
Starving mosquitoes for science
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – On a scorching summer day, I’m at work in the heart of the arthropod containment laboratory of the Medical Entomology Program. I place my hands in the rubber gloves that reach into a sealed workspace called the glove box, swiftly maneuvering to grab fully engorged mosquitoes. These insects have just fed on […]
What does the death of Russian dissident Aleksei Navalny mean for the future of opposition movements in Russia?
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny died Feb. 16 while serving time in a remote Arctic prison. Navalny was the main political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin and an anticorruption activist who survived being poisoned in 2020, which many believe was a state-ordered assassination attempt. He was serving multiple prison sentences on what were widely […]
What’s the importance of state scientists?
From cicada emergence to how to preserve and honor ancient civilizations, state scientists are a critical part of research efforts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – as well as helping to inform state policy, working with industry and educating the public on issues of scientific importance. Praveen Kumar, the executive director of the Prairie […]