Posts Tagged School of Arts and Sciences

Linguists estimate that by the end of this century, half of the 7,000 languages currently in use around the world will have vanished. Rochester scholars join the race—and to train a new generation of scholars—to document the world’s linguistic diversity before it’s too late.

How can we calculate the likelihood of technological civilizations having existed on other planets? That’s a question Adam Frank, professor of astronomy, considers in an essay, “Yes, There Have Been Aliens,” published in the New York Times.

Numerous studies have found that playing action video games such as “Call of Duty” helps cognitive functioning. Brain and cognitive sciences professor Daphne Bavelier explains how shooting zombies can enhance brain skills. / Scientific American

Twenty years ago, the idea of students doing homework online and receiving immediate feedback was a game-changer. Today, more than 700 colleges and high schools and using the WeBWorK system developed by Rochester math professors Arnold Pizer and Michael Gage.

Physicist Segev BenZvi and scientists at an ambitious observatory are using simple but groundbreaking tools understand the workings of cosmic and gamma rays in the Earth’s atmosphere while also contributing to the search for dark matter.

Before Sunday’s awards ceremony, learn more about the opportunities Rochester students have had to work with Tony Award winners on stage and behind the scenes, and the Eastman School of Music alumni who have taken home theater’s top honor.

Astronomy professor Adam Frank traces the “line from [Ellis] Chesbrough’s audacious plan to make Chicago a clean, functioning city 150 years ago and the invisible infrastructures hiding behind your cell phone” today. / NPR.org

Four Rochester researchers are among the latest recipients of the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty members.

This spring, the University of the Pacific in Lima, Peru, conferred an honorary professorship on Donatella Stocchi-Perucchio, associate professor of Italian in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, in recognition of her scholarly contributions to the field of Dante studies.

History professor Pablo Sierra is working to document the forgotten history of the Africans who passed through the slave market in his hometown and contributed to the diverse culture of modern Mexico.