Wednesday, August 29, 2012
By text-mining the classics, UNL professor unearths new literary insights
Mark Twain once said that all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources. Oscar Wilde put it more bluntly when he said that talents imitate, but geniuses steal.
Matthew Jockers, an assistant professor of English at UNL, has assembled a way to quantify the spirit of those sayings, particularly when it comes to certain authors and the impressions they left on other writers. And in doing so, he's opened a new door for literary theorists to study classic literature. Read more about this research in Today@UNL.
Letters of interest sought for NSF EPSCoR collaborations
Nebraska EPSCoR anticipates issuance of a request for proposals by the National Science Foundation for its EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track 2 grant program in summer 2013. Funding available for a collaborative proposal is $6 million, to be split among the partners over three years. The project must be multi-institutional within Nebraska. At this time, it is anticipated that the Track 2 award will support research in any STEM field.
The Quartet includes Sarah Pizzichemi, violin, from Seattle, Wash.; James Moat, violin, from Toronto, Ontario; Justin Kurys, viola, from Timmins, Ontario; and William Braun, cello, from Tucson, Ariz. Read more about issuing a proposal in Today@UNL.
Corn Bowl and Missouri Bell on display in Wick Alumni Center
The Wick Alumni Center is displaying the Missouri-Nebraska Bell and the Corn Bowl Trophy with Iowa. The Missouri-Nebraska Bell was exchanged for more than 80 years and the Corn Bowl was started in 2011. Both trophies reside side by side in the Wick Alumni Center for public viewing.
The public is welcome to visit these two trophies in the Wick Alumni Center at 1520 R St. These two trophies embody the state of the university: The Bell full of proud tradition and history, the Corn Bowl new and yearning for its great story to be written. Read more about these trophies in Today@UNL.
UNL Libraries lists Digital Common's 2012 most downloaded UNL dissertations
The top 20 most downloaded UNL dissertations for 2012 come from six colleges: Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Arts and Sciences, Education and Human Sciences, Engineering, Journalism and Mass Communications, and the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.
This year's list is marked with a new leader at the top. Courtney D. Blume's dissertation, "RAP: A Reading Comprehension Strategy for Students with Learning Disabilities," accepted in April 2010 by the College of Education and Human Sciences, was downloaded 3,691 times. Eight graduates from Education and Human Sciences populated the list, the most of any of the other colleges, according to data from the Libraries. The former most downloaded dissertation for the last three years dropped to fourth, being downloaded only 2,886 times, which is still more downloads compared to 2011. Read more about this list in Today@UNL.
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Center to assess program's bridging of early childhood achievement gap
The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has earned a $3.2 million U.S. Department of Education grant to explore whether an intervention approach that bridges living rooms and classrooms can also span the persistent achievement gap facing disadvantaged children.
Three of the intervention's creators, CYFS Director Susan Sheridan, research associate professor Lisa Knoche and faculty affiliate Carolyn Pope Edwards are leading a newly funded four-year study of its ability to help these struggling children close gaps in cognition, language skills and social-emotional maturity as they enter preschool. Called "Getting Ready," the CYFS-designed intervention aims to strengthen parent-child relationships and foster family-school partnerships that improve the educational prospects of children at risk for developmental delays. Read more about the center in Today@UNL.
UNL Libraries Joins Center for Research Libraries
The UNL Libraries announced that it recently became a member of the Center for Research Libraries, a partnership of more than 260 university, college, and independent research libraries.
For 60-plus years the CRL has acquired and preserved newspapers, journals, documents, and other print and digital resources, and made them available to member institutions through interlibrary loan and electronic delivery. Read more about this membership in Today@UNL.
Lectures
NEBRASKA EAST UNION, 3PMFall 2012 Grassland Seminar Series, "Bush Encroachment in Namibia, Southern Africa,"
Walter Schacht, professor of agronomy and horticulture
UNL launches Nebraska App
UNL has launched the Nebraska App, a suite of mobile applications that makes essential university resources available on mobile devices. Students can check grades, access course content and browse the course catalog. They can access the public directory and get in touch instantly, keep tabs on Husker sports, find places on the campus map, stay informed with the latest campus news, watch videos, and even listen to podcasts of popular lectures in iTunesU.
"UNL is moving services to the where the students are in terms of devices and network access"," said Mark Askren, Chief Information Officer. "Students now have a much more powerful connection to UNL via their mobile device." Read more about Nebraska App in Today@UNL.
