News Bureau

Technology is a big part of life. In India, for example, street vendors and rickshawallahs use cellphones, the internet and Aadhar cards – 12-digit identification numbers given to every citizen of India based on their biometric and demographic data. However, charismatic gurus and superstition still thrive in India. In the new book "Reluctant Technophiles: India’s Complicated Relationship with Technology,” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign electrical and computer engineering professor Rakesh Kumar provides an account of India’s often contradictory relationship with technology. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with Kumar about these contradictions, and how India’s situation is both unique and universal.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign senior Boming Yang, of Beijing, was named a Schwarzman Scholar, one of 151 recipients selected from an international pool of 3,000 applicants. The program annually fully funds a class consisting of 40% U.S. students, 20% from China and Taiwan, and 40% from the rest of the world. Students and young alumni from any major may apply for this master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

A new book, "Dangerous Ideas on Campus: Sex, Conspiracy and Academic Freedom in the Age of JFK," explores how the prevailing moral values of the 1960s affected protections for scholars at the U. of I.

Outstanding individual and group outreach efforts were recognized with the 2021 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement. The awards spotlight individuals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who have consistently applied their knowledge and expertise to issues for the public good.

Last weekend, international negotiators approved the United Nations Glasgow Climate Pact at the 26th Conference of the Parties. Ashish Sharma, the Illinois research climatologist at the Illinois State Water Survey, spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about the takeaways from the COP26 and how the goals set at the global-level conference can be translated to the local level by U.S. cities.  

Six faculty members at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2021 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list.

The project includes a community read, book discussions, an art exhibition and an opera based on the novel.

The 20th annual EU Day at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will feature an online talk by former Canadian political leader turned academic Michael Ignatieff about threats to intellectual freedom in Europe.

The U.S.-U.K. sale of nuclear submarines to Australia is a response to China’s military ambitions in the South China Sea, said Edward A. Kolodziej, an emeritus research professor of political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

November Dance is Nov. 11-13 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Recent weeks have witnessed a series of medium-to-large-sized asteroids cross paths with Earth’s orbit. The largest of the pack – asteroid 2004 UE – is on track to make its closest approach to the planet Nov. 13. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign astronomy professor and chair Leslie Looney spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about what researchers refer to as near Earth objects and how much of a threat they are to the planet.

Emily Knox, a professor in the School of Information Sciences and the author of “Book Banning in 21st-Century America,” said societal issues, such as changing racial demographics and disagreements over how to teach the history of race, prompt challenges to certain kinds of books.

The Global Carbon Project recently published its 2021 Global Carbon Budget report, providing data on atmospheric carbon concentrations, emissions and trends. University of Illinois Urban-Champaign atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain was part of an international team of scientists that contributed data to the report. Jain discussed the carbon budget and this year’s findings with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian.

“Origin Story” was written by Illinois theatre alumnus Nathan Alan Davis. The theatre department’s production will be the Midwest premiere of the play.

The availability of a COVID-19 vaccine for school-aged children offers protection for children as well as eases challenges faced by their families and their schools, says Rebecca Lee Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is among the top producers of a scholarship program that enables students to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs this week recognized Illinois for the 242 students who have received awards from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program over the past 20 years.

The $275,000 award invests in the creative potential of exemplary artists.

The performance at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will feature six dances and a short dance film.

The exhibition features the work of artists with disabilities or non-normative identities. It is part of a collaborative project “Cripping the Arts” that includes increasing accessibility in art institutions.

Dr. Leyi Wang and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have played a key role in diagnosing coronavirus infection in animal species in zoos across the country. This is important work for understanding the virus’s spread and its broad host range, Wang says.

The theatre department will feature a diverse group of playwrights in its 2021-22 season.

Biochemistry professor Nicholas Wu has received a 2021 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. His project aims to understand how antibodies interact with their targets.

Mary Henson, the wife of the legendary Fighting Illini basketball coach and ambassador Lou Henson, will serve as grand marshal of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2021 Homecoming Parade. The parade will take place Saturday, Oct. 9, at 11 a.m.

The grand opening of the Siebel Center for Design on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus will take place Oct. 8 with a formal dedication at 1 p.m., followed by an open house. Attendees will include Thomas Siebel, Chancellor Robert Jones and System President Tim Killeen.

Sociology professor Kevin Leicht to testify before congressional subcommittee about the effects of social media disinformation in fomenting distrust of scientists, particularly in regard to COVID-19 vaccines. 

Siebel Center for Design on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus opened for business in early August. The multidisciplinary hub of student-focused design thinking and learning was established by a $25 million lead gift from the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation.

The CAS initiative will bring together experts to discuss misinformation, disinformation, “fake news” and conspiracy theories.

A new 30-minute-long documentary tells four separate stories of individuals or programs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that were either affected by harsh Cold War politics and their destructive aftermath or, in one segment, shed light on a government film studio dedicated to Cold War propaganda. “Cold War: Illinois Stories” premieres Sept. 29 at 7 a.m. CDT on the Big Ten Network.

The changes in the past year in the use of Native American imagery in sports and elsewhere have been unprecedented, said Jay Rosenstein, a Center for Advanced Study professor of media and cinema studies.

The expansive new set of vaccination requirements issued by the Biden administration affecting the federal workforce will likely be upheld by the courts, but the mandate emanating from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is on shakier legal ground, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law and labor relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“Hal Fischer Photographs: Seriality, Sexuality, Semiotics” features his well-known photographic series focused on gay life in 1970s San Francisco, as well as his early work as an Illinois student.

“To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults” documents the life stories of transgender older adults through photographs and interviews.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign freshman enrollment of 8,303 for the 2021-22 academic year is a record. The new class brings total student enrollment to 56,299, the largest in university history.

Taking large or multiple doses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin can cause a toxic overdose, and humans should not take forms intended for animal use, says Illinois veterinary medicine expert Dr. Jim Lowe.

“A Question of Emphasis: Louise Fishman Drawing” is the first retrospective of Fishman’s works on paper, and features many works of art that have never been shown.

The state legislative district map that was signed into law earlier this summer by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was based on population estimates rather than official U.S. Census data, rendering it vulnerable to legal challenges, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor Brian Gaines.

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as “Ebertfest,” has been rescheduled to April out of concern for a spike in COVID-19 variants in the state. The Virginia Theatre in Champaign will automatically transfer all pass and seat reservations for the event to the new dates, and refunds are available to those who cannot attend the rescheduled event. 

Sixteen civil service employees – eight this year and eight in 2020 – at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were recognized for exceptional performance with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award.

ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival will feature influential guitarists playing a wide range of musical styles. The festival will take place on a smaller scale than in past years.

The 22nd Annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, co-founded and hosted by Chaz Ebert and also known as “Ebertfest,” announced some of its films and guests for the 2021 event and shared updated COVID-19 safety protocols for the festival.   

As the military withdraws from Afghanistan nearly two decades after 9/11, the U.S. public should carefully consider the costs and benefits of the effort, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political scientist and international relations expert Nicholas Grossman.

Vaccine passports strike the right balance between letting life go on for the vaccinated while still being realistic about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said Jacob S. Sherkow, a professor of law at Illinois and bioethics expert.

Venetria K. Patton will become the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign effective Aug. 2, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Patton is currently the head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University.

The Supreme Court affirmed that while public schools have an extra duty to protect unpopular opinions and minority speech rights, school officials still have the power to discipline students for bad behavior, says a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign media law scholar who studies free speech issues.

According to a new report co-written by Illinois Natural History Survey postdoctoral researcher Valeria Trivellone, climate change, poverty, urbanization, land-use change and the exploitation of wildlife all contribute to the emergence of new infectious diseases, which, in turn, threaten global food security. Trivellone spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about how global authorities can tackle these intertwined challenges.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has received the inaugural Research Response to Community Crisis Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities for its COVID-19 testing program.

Various economic and political forces are reducing job opportunities for new professionals and discouraging some entering these fields or staying in the U.S. after they earn their degrees, says sociology professor Kevin Leicht.

Celebrating the nation’s Independence Day with fireworks is an enduring tradition, but fireworks can be a source of distress and danger to wildlife. Dr. Sam Sander, a clinical professor of zoo and wildlife medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about how fireworks affect wildlife and the environment, and how to minimize the risks.

As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes and employers look to restart businesses at full capacity, workers have leverage that they’re using to temporarily stay out of the labor market in certain industries, says U. of I. labor expert Robert Bruno.

Nine University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students and recent graduates were offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research and teaching experiences. The Fulbright student program will fund approximately 2,200 U.S. citizens to travel abroad for the 2021-22 academic year.