February 2015
SBS in the Community
SBS (and Noam Chomsky!) at the Tucson Festival of Books

It's almost time for the Tucson Festival of Books (TFOB), which is March 14-15 at the University of Arizona. This year, we have ramped up our participation at the festival, with a super-sized booth and a bevy of SBS speakers and facilitators!

 

At the festival, we are also sponsoring a session featuring world-renowned linguist, intellectual, and political activist Noam Chomsky on March 15 at 4 p.m. Click here for information on how to get free tickets. Stay tuned for additional details on the TFOB and the Chomsky visit!


SBS Features
Anthropology Celebrates Centennial!

The School of Anthropology celebrates its Centennial throughout 2015 with a range of special events, including distinguished lectures and social occasions for alumni and the general public. Next up are an exhibit in Special Collections and events on Feb. 27-28 around the theme "The Mediterranean: Bridging Old and New Worlds." To learn more, click here and here. 

Mary Robinson
Former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, to Speak at the UA
The Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice presents an evening with Mary Robinson. Former president of Ireland, Robinson will present the talk, "Everybody Matters: Climate Change and Human Rights," on Thursday, March 12, at 6 p.m. in Centennial Hall. Robinson, who served as the first woman president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002, will discuss the importance of including the most vulnerable populations of the world in solutions to climate change. More
Steve Lynn, Chris Segrin, and Nancy Lynn

New Professorship for Department of Communication

Steve Lynn believes the UA Department of Communication, where he received his master's degree 40 years ago, is worthy of more notice and funding. Here, Lynn is leading by example. He and his wife, Nancy, have created an endowed professorship in the department. Department head Chris Segrin has been named the first Steve and Nancy Lynn Endowed Professor. Segrin researches marriage and divorce, loneliness, depression, helicopter parenting, and the health and well-being of cancer patients and their partners. More 

Jeff Plevan
A Place to Belong

Jeff Plevan is repeatedly described as upbeat, joyful, conscientious, thoughtful, and full of drive. He could also be unrealistic, overly talkative, and would sometimes misread social cues. No matter. Jeff--in his entirety--was loved by many. 

 

Jeffrey Plevan, who graduated from the UA with a degree in Judaic Studies in 2000, was a true blue Wildcat. He died too soon, at the age of 36. To honor his life and his passions, Jeff's parents, Ken and Betsy, have funded a professorship and lecture series in their son's name. More

In A Crisis, the Bigger Your Social Network the Better

Researchers in the School of Anthropology examined social networks in the late pre-Hispanic Southwest and found that communities that were more connected with their neighbors had a better chance of being able to successfully manage a crisis than did communities with fewer outside connections. How did they determine this? When the same types of ceramics are found in similar proportions in different communities, it indicates that a relationship existed between those communities. More

Richard Ruiz
Richard Ruiz Remembered for His Passion and Humor

Richard Ruiz, head of the Department of Mexican American Studies in SBS and a professor in the College of Education, died unexpectedly last week. He was 65.  

 

"In 2012, Richard Ruiz selflessly came to the aid of the Department of Mexican American Studies," said John Paul Jones, dean of the UA College of SBS. "He quickly earned the respect of the faculty, staff, and students in the department. Richard was a calm, wise, and effective leader. Everyone in SBS will miss him greatly." More 

SBS News Briefs 
J.P. Jones, Liz Oglesby, and Diana Liverman

Three UA geographers have received national recognition from the Association of American Geographers (AAG). John Paul Jones (also dean of the College of SBS) received the 2015 AAG Lifetime Achievement Award. Liz Oglesby received the 2015 AAG Gilbert White Public Service Honors. And Diana Liverman received the AAG 2015 Presidential Achievement Award. More

 

Monica Casper, head of the Department of Gender and Women's Studies, and April D.J. Petillo, a doctoral candidate in the American Indian Studies program, helped organize the Black Life Matters Conference held at the UA in January. In this UA blog, they reflect on the outcomes of the conference.

Journalism students with NBC recruiters

Representatives from NBC News visited the University of Arizona last week as part of a recruiting visit with the School of Journalism. Journalism alum Savannah Guthrie also tweeted about the visit! More

    

The UA has one of the best philosophy graduate departments in the world, according to the 2014-15 rankings published in the Philosophical Gourmet Report. Overall, the department ranked 13th. It also ranked first in political philosophy and in the top 10 in several specialty areas. More

Members of the STEMM project

In a "Shark Tank"-style competition sponsored by the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry and the Institute of the Environment, several SBS faculty helped create one of the winning proposals, titled STEMM, or Sustainable Transportation Environmental Memory Module. More


*  Diane Austin, the director of the School of Anthropology, testified on Jan. 20 at the civil trial that will determine the environmental penalties BP must pay for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. From 2010 to 2012, Austin led a study of the oil spill's effects on the region. More 

Students in "Hebrew and Popular Culture"

During the fall of 2014, the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies introduced a new, advanced modern Hebrew course for undergraduate and graduate students titled "Hebrew and Popular Culture." More

 

The work of UA Communication Associate Professor Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, who studies the sexual objectification of girls and women in the media and its consequences, was widely cited in this article on the new wave of female pop empowerment.

Diana Liverman, a Regents' Professor in the School of Geography and Development and the co-director of the Institute of the Environment, wrote an op-ed about how it's time to stop focusing on population growth as the cause of our environmental problems. More 

Dept News
Upcoming Events
"Reporting in a More Dangerous World
Presented by the UA Center for Border & Global Journalism
Feb. 26, 6 p.m.
Location: ILC 120

A discussion with John and Diane Foley, the parents of James Foley, who was brutally murdered by ISIS; Terry Anderson, a former Associated Press correspondent who spent seven years as a hostage in Beirut; and David McCraw, a lawyer with The New York Times who deals with global threats to the press.  

More 

My Arizona Lecture: "The Landscape that Connects Us"
Presented by the School of Geography and Development
Feb. 27, 3:30 p.m.
Location: Berger Auditorium
Speaker: Laura L�pez-Hoffman, School of Natural Resources and the Environment
More
Town and Gown Lecture: "On the Edge of Scholastic Europe: Ramon Marti O.P. Confronts Judaism and Islam"
Presented by the Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies
March 11, 7 p.m.
Location: UA School of Music, Alice Y. Holsclaw Recital Hall
Speaker: Thomas E. Burman, University of Tennessee
More
Speaker Series Featuring "Genius Grant" Winners
Presented by the UA Graduate Center
March 12, 5:30 p.m
Location: Chavez Building, Room 111
Speaker: Gary Nabhan, Southwest Center

This speaker series explores the impact of the MacArthur Fellows' work. (SBS has three of the UA's six MacArthur Fellows!) 

More
"The Poetics & Politics of Water: Readings of American Indian Writers"
Presented by the UA Poetry Center
March 12, 7 p.m.
Location: Poetry Center
Featuring Ofelia Zepeda, Regents' Professor of Linguistics and head of the Department of American Indian Studies
More
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