Georgia Southern University to Host International Collegiate Computer Programming Competition
Georgia Southern University will host more than 30 teams of computer science students Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12 and 13, for the Southeast Regional section of the 32nd Annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. The competition will take place throughout Saturday in the College of Information Technology Building on the Statesboro campus.
Three teams from Georgia Southern University will be among the student contestants, and more than a dozen other Georgia Southern computer science students will be on hand to assist with registration. Department of Computer Science chair James K. Harris will oversee the day’s events. During the competition, teams will be asked to respond to 11 grueling questions that test their computer programming skills.
The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is sponsored by IBM. During the preliminary rounds more than 6,000 teams from 82 countries will compete. Ninety teams from around the globe will earn coveted spots at the contest’s World Finals, to be held in April 2008 in Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Averitt Lecture Series opens Oct. 16
This year’s Jack N. and Addie D. Averitt Lecture Series will begin Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. with ‘Ghosts and Demons: Sources of Terror in American Literature and Culture.” The lecture will take place in the Assembly Hall of the Nessmith-Lane Building at Georgia Southern University. The series continues with two more presentations on Oct. 17, and all three lectures are free and open to the public. The first talk will be preceded by a reception at 6 p.m.
This year’s guest lecturer is Alfred Bendixen, founder and executive director of the American Literature Association and professor of English at Texas A&M University. Much of his scholarship focuses on the recovery of unjustly neglected literary texts, especially by women writers, and the exploration of neglected genres, including the ghost story, detective fiction, science fiction, and travel writing. Bendixen’s books include Haunted Women (1985), an edition of the composite novel, “The Whole Family” (1986), “The Amber Gods” and other stories by Harriet Prescott Spofford (1989), and “Edith Wharton: New Critical Essays” (1992).
The second lecture in the series is Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m. when Bendixen will present ‘Washington Irving’s Tales of the Supernatural and the Invention of American Culture.” In his lecture, he will discuss the way in which Irving’s tales shaped the development of American Gothic. Guests may come for coffee at 9:30 a.m.
In the final lecture of the Averitt Series, Bendixen will review ‘Sources of Terror in Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw” at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17. All three lectures will take place in the Assembly Hall of the Nessmith-Lane Building.
In addition to being the associate editor of the Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature (1999), Bendixen has many writing projects underway. He is one of the five contributing editors to the forthcoming “Wadsworth Anthology of American Literature,” which will appear this fall. He is also the co-editor of the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to American Travel Writing (scheduled for publication in March 2008). He is currently completing the editing of the “Blackwell Companion to the American Novel,” co-editing the “Blackwell Companion to the American Short Story” (with Professor James Nagel) and writing the volume on American literary realism for the new “Blackwell Literary History of the United States.”
This is the 17th year of the Jack N. and Addie D. Averitt Lecture Series, which was established in 1990 as a gift to the Department of History, the Department of Literature and Philosophy and the Department of Writing and Linguistics at Georgia Southern University. The lectures are made possible through the vision and generosity of Jack Averitt, former dean of the Georgia Southern University’s College of Graduate Studies, and his late wife, Addie. The purpose of the lectureship is to enhance on-campus academic and cultural life for students, faculty, and the community. Published versions of the lectures are available from the University of Georgia Press.
For more information about this year’s Averitt Lecture Series, contact the Department of Literature and Philosophy at 912-681-5471.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Georgia Southern University biology professor named Fulbright Scholar
Georgia Southern University Department of Biology associate professor Michelle Zjhra has been named a Fulbright Scholar by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Winners of the award are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Through the grant, Zjhra will lead workshops on curriculum and faculty development, emphasizing plant sustainability issues at the Vietnam National University in Saigon during the 2007-2008 academic year.
In addition, she will build scientific collaborations with Vietnamese faculty and students, train and mentor new botanical experts, and provide technical expertise in herbarium curation and restoration of historical collections.
Zjhra is one of approximately 800 faculty and professionals from the U.S. who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Scholar Program during the current academic year. Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late senator J. William Fulbright from Arkansas, the program seeks to build mutual understanding between the people of America and the rest of the world.
‘Investing in education is a win-win situation,” Zjhra said. ‘My Vietnamese colleagues will gain additional tools to train others and have a greater capacity to describe, document, investigate and determine how to coexist with their incredible natural resources.
‘At the same time, I will gain experience and new insights through my interactions with faculty, students, park personnel and others. I hope to sustain these relationships through the development of collaborative research.”
A member of Georgia Southern University’s faculty since 2003, Dr. Zjhra teaches courses on general biology, plant diversity and flora of Georgia, and she serves as director of the University herbarium. Her research interests include the ecological, evolutionary and developmental aspects of plant diversity.
Zjhra will leave for Vietnam in January and return to Statesboro in June.
In addition to her duties at Georgia Southern, Zjhra has served as a research associate for the Center for Tropical Ecology and Conservation at the Antioch New England Institute in New Hampshire since 2001. Prior to joining Georgia Southern University, she taught at Keene State College, conducted research at the University of Arizona, and worked at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Zjhra earned B.A. in biology from Reed College and a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Wisconsin.
Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University, offers more than 120 degree programs serving nearly 17,000 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. The University, one of Georgia’s largest, is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars and is recognized for its student-centered approach to education.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Continuing Education Center offers variety of online classes
Georgia Southern University has virtual-reality students.
Without setting foot on the Statesboro campus, people of all ages and interests can take non-credit classes for professional development or personal enrichment through the University’s Continuing Education Center.
The variety of Education To Go classes is staggering with around 300 online topics available. A nurse who wants to specialize in elder care can choose the ‘Certificate in Gerontology” course, a teacher may be interested in ‘Solving Classroom Discipline Problems,” and a fledgling author can select from among classes on poetry, mystery writing and getting published.
The most popular courses focus on creating Web pages, learning computer programming, speed Spanish, basic accounting, grant writing, and fiction writing.
‘Because there is no physical classroom, courses are never canceled due to low enrollment,” said Judy Hendrix, the program specialist in charge of the Education To Go courses.
All participants must have Internet access, a Web browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator), and an email address. Participants can log on to study or complete assignments at any time of the day or night.
A new section of each course begins on the second or third Wednesday of each month. During the next three months, courses will start on Oct. 17, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.
Each course runs for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course.
Students must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The fee for each course varies. For a complete listing of classes and registration information, visit http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted and click on the Online Instruction Center. For more information, call (912) 681-5993.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Georgia Southern Museum hosts world premiere of “From Protest to Peace”
Visitors to the Georgia Southern University Museum this fall will view, for the first time outside of its original venue, a stunning exhibition of international public art.
The display, titled ‘From Protest to Peace: Murals by the Bogside Artists of Northern Ireland,” includes eleven wall-paintings located on buildings along Rossville Street in the Northern Ireland city of Derry. The murals depict events from the recent troubled history of Northern Ireland.
‘It’s a real coup for us to have the world premiere of this exhibit,” said Howard Keeley, director of the University’s Center for Irish Studies and a co-curator of the exhibition. ‘The murals will be here until January 2008, and when they leave here, they will be traveling to a number of museums and universities around the U.S.”
The murals depicted in the exhibition were created by three men, Tom Kelly, his brother William Kelly, and their friend, Kevin Hasson, known collectively as The Bogside Artists. The artists are three distinct individuals: a humanist, a republican and a committed Christian. All three have personally experienced the unfolding of the Troubles’ during their lifetimes.
In painting the murals, the men continued an Ulster (Northern Ireland) tradition of using murals as a vehicle for social commentary, but they have taken the tradition further. The Bogside Artists use their murals in cross-community workshops involving both Protestant and Catholic youth to initiate discussions focused on the history and context embedded in the murals. The art is used to revisit the past, but also to encourage participants to reflect on their history beyond traditionally established boundaries. The result is a grass-roots effort designed to help move the process of peace and reconciliation forward.
In recognizing and acknowledging a troubled past, the images of the artists serve as healing instruments in the difficult reconciliation process, ‘ said Bob Frigo, assistant director of the University Honors Program and a co-curator of the exhibit. ‘What sets The Bogside Artists apart from other muralists in Northern Ireland is their use of the mural as a peace-building tool in local cross-community workshops.”
The murals have been digitally reproduced in large format, and they are exhibited with educational panels that explore the history depicted in each mural. The educational panels were written by students in the Celtic Identity and Conflict course, taught by Steven Engel, director of the University Honors Program and another co-curator of the exhibit.
Six additional banners build the context of the exhibition, covering topics such as ‘the Troubles”; the Bogside Artists’ reconciliation workshops; and the city of Derry’s colonial past.
The original images of the murals were photographed by Martin Melaugh, research fellow at the University of Ulster, Magee campus, in Derry. Recent Georgia Southern graduate Joshua Jamison created the logo image for the exhibition and graphic design for the education panels.
The Georgia Southern Museum is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information about the exhibition, contact the museum at 912-681-5444 or go to http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/museum/exhibits/.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Georgia Southern challenged to start LivinGreen
Georgia Southern graduate student Matt Parker wanted to do something to reduce his impact on the environment, especially since he lives so close to campus.
‘I had come to realize that for as close to campus as I live, I drove a bit too much,” Parker said.
Rather than just walking more and trying to drive his car less and leaving it at that, Parker sought to get the entire campus community involved. After collaborating with members of Campus Recreation and Intramurals and the University Wellness Program, the concept of LivinGreen emerged. The LivinGreen Challenge is a 10, 20 or 30-day challenge to walk, ride bicycles or carpool to show the ease in limiting motor-vehicle dependence in Statesboro.
The LivinGreen challenge hopes to raise awareness about fossil fuel usage and show people how easy it is to make simple lifestyle adjustments to reduce their dependency on it.
Dustin Sanderson, director of Southern Adventures for Campus Recreation and Intramurals, said they’re hoping to get at least 100 participants for the inaugural year.
‘I would love to blow right past that goal,” he said. ‘I’d love to hit 100 and keep going. If we got 500 and they did the 10-day challenge, that’d be awesome. We’d still have 500 people who made an impact and would have that much more of an impact with the people around them.”
Participants can choose to go for any 10, 20 or 30 consecutive days in October.
Sanderson has already started making changes by riding his bicycle to work rather than taking his car. He said it takes him about the same amount of time to cycle to work as it does to drive.
The event is a collaboration between CRI and the University Wellness Program. Nigel Davies, university wellness program director, said that while it was started by those two groups, it is a campus-wide event and wants as many people as possible to participate.
‘It’s only going to be as good as the people participating,” Davies said.
Those participating in the challenge will be given t-shirts and sponsors are being lined up to donate prizes and incentives to those who take part, Parker said.
‘We want people to see that carpooling is not that bad or that riding their bike is fun and they can see the world from a new perspective when they do it,” Davies said. ‘This is a personal challenge. No one is going to be coming up behind you and checking on you.”
Southern Adventures is planning activities on weekends during October such as movie showings, kickball games and possibly a campout on Sweetheart Circle. In addition, prizes will be awarded during Wellness Week, which is October 29 – November 2.
Changes made to Georgia Southern in recent years have also helped reduce the number of times people drive on campus, especially the effort to make the university more of a walking campus. Also, the addition of the bus system around campus has led to an increase in the number of people walking or riding their bicycles to class, Davies said.
Registration for the free event begins on Wednesday, September 26 at Member Services inside the RAC and at the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. For more information, contact CRI at 681-5436.
More information about CRI is available at http://welcome.georgiasouthern.edu/wellness/LivinGreen/index.html.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Irish muralist Tom Kelly to speak Oct. 16
Bogside Artist Tom Kelly will visit Georgia Southern University Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. to present ‘Protest, Peace and Reconciliation: Murals by The Bogside Artists of Northern Ireland.” His talk takes place in the Performing Arts Center, corner of Plant and Chandler Roads, and it is free of charge and open to the public.
Kelly’s presentation is in conjunction with the current Georgia Southern Museum exhibition, ‘From Protest to Peace: Murals by The Bogside Artists of Northern Ireland.”
The display includes large-scale digital reproductions of 11 wall-paintings located on buildings along Rossville Street in the Northern Ireland city of Derry. The murals depict events from the recent troubled history of Northern Ireland, drawing visitors from around the world.
Tom Kelly grew up during ‘the Troubles,” a time of conflict between Northern Ireland’s Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists that began in the late 1960s and continued throughout the 20th century. Kelly, his brother William Kelly, and their friend Kevin Hasson, known collectively as The Bogside Artists, painted 11 stunning murals that record events from this troubled time. The “Troubles” began in Derry in 1968, when the Protestant authorities attempted to curtail or ban Catholic civil rights marches that emulated the pacifist example of Martin Luther King Jr.
‘In recognizing and acknowledging a troubled past, the images of the artists serve as healing instruments in the difficult reconciliation process, ‘ said Bob Frigo, assistant director of the University Honors Program and a co-curator of the exhibit. ‘What sets The Bogside Artists apart from other muralists in Northern Ireland is their use of the mural as a peace-building tool in local cross-community workshops. Their workshops are a model for advancing the peace and reconciliation process on a grass-roots level in Northern Ireland.”
The exhibit of The Bogside Artists’ murals can be viewed at the Georgia Southern University Museum Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The murals will on display through January 6, 2008.
More information about the ‘From Protest to Peace” is available at http://class.georgiasouthern.edu/irish/murals/
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Ceramics historian at Georgia Southern Oct. 17
Ceramics historian Margaret Carney will present ‘10,000 years of World Ceramics” at Georgia Southern University on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 5 p.m. in the Assembly Hall of the Nessmith-Lane Building. Her talk is free of charge and open to the public.
Carney is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and an elected member of the International Academy of Ceramics in Switzerland. A museum professional for more than three decades, she teachers ceramic world history annually at Ohio State University.
Carney holds a doctorate in Asian Art history and has received grants from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American Art, the Renwick Gallery, and the Tile Heritage Foundation. She is curator of the Blair Museum of Lithophanes in Toledo, Ohio, and is currently writing a book on lithophanes.
Carney’s visit is part of the fall semester’s visiting artists series in the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art at Georgia Southern University. For more information call (912) 681-5358.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
