Chess camp for kids set for June 4-8
Youngsters who are interested in chess are invited to expand their knowledge of the game during a summer day camp at Georgia Southern University.
The annual chess camp for children in grades K-12 will run from Monday, June 4, through Friday, June 8, in the Nessmith-Lane Continuing Education Building.
There will be separate sessions for beginners and advanced players. Both sessions will be taught by U.S. Chess Federation master Rex Demers, who has more than 24 years of coaching experience.
The session for beginners will run from 9 a.m. until noon each day. This session is open to children who will be in grades 2-12 in Fall 2007. Participants will learn standard and specialty chess rules, basic stalemate and checkmate patterns, and how to record moves so that a game can be re-enacted.
The session for advanced players will run from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. each day. This session is open to children who will be in grades K-12 in Fall 2007. Participants will learn mid-game strategy, king and pawn endgames, advanced mating patterns, sacs, and how to choose an opening repertoire that suits their own style of play.
The registration fee is $140 per person, but it will increase to $155 per person after Friday, May 18. The fee does not include lunch or snacks.
The camp is sponsored by the Continuing Education Center at Georgia Southern. To register, visit http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted/campchess.html or call (912) 681-5551.
For more information, call (912) 871-1763.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Student research is focus of April 20 Phi Kappa Phi Symposium
Thirty Georgia Southern students will present their yearlong research projects at the University’s annual Phi Kappa Phi Research Symposium on Friday, April 20. The event, which includes both presentations and a poster session, begins at 8:30 a.m. in Room 3301 of the College of Information Technology Building and concludes at 2:30 p.m. Both the University community and the public are invited to attend.
The symposium committee has approved 19 research projects with topics that vary from ‘In Defense of the Peripheries: The Genesis, Resolution, and Impact of the Darby Case” to ‘A Qualitative Analysis of Dating Practices and the Shift over Time” to ‘A Molecular Modeling Study of the Aluminum Chloride-Promoted Reduction of Benzylidene Acetals.” The students’ research presentations will begin at 9:45 a.m. and continue until 1:15 p.m.
The symposium committee has also approved 11 research projects for poster sessions. From 1:00 to 2:30 p.m., students will display posters and be available to discuss their research in Room 3301. A list of presentations and posters is below.
Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and largest collegiate honor society dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in all disciplines. Since its founding in 1897, more than 1 million members have been initiated. Phi Kappa Phi has chapters on nearly 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines.
Presentations at the April 20 Phi Kappa Phi Symposium at Georgia Southern University:
Primitive Na+/ H+ Exchangers in Fish
Author: Amanda M. Fischer – Faculty Mentor: Dr. J.B. Claiborne
Distribution of Grunt and Snapper Populations in a Mangrove Atoll at Multiple Scales of Habitat
Author: Perry Hampton Harbin -Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bret S. Danilowicz
A Molecular Modeling Study of the Aluminum Chloride-Promoted Reduction of Benzylidene Acetals
Author: Javoris Hollingsworth (McNair Scholar) -Faculty Mentor: Dr. K.T. Welch
Simulation and Analysis of a Clinical Trial
Authors: Changlu Liu – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Karl E. Peace, Shrikrishna Shroff, Jiehui Zhu
Case Study: Starbucks ‘Corporate Social Responsibility
Author: Monica Galvan Burgueno – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Pamela Bourland-Davis
Genocide and Semantics: Projection as a Reflection
Author: Rebekah R. Lovell – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chris B. Geyerman
A Qualitative Analysis of Dating Practices and the Shift over Time
Author: Christy Curry -Faculty Mentor: Dr. Beverly Graham
Primetime Desperate Housewives Compared to Daytime Soap Opera
Author: Rachel Sampson – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Beverly Graham
Theoretical Dynamics of Competing Values: European Integration and Turkish Accession
Authors: Danielle L. Smith – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Charles Crouch, Maureen E. Wilson
In Defense of the Peripheries: The Genesis, Resolution, and Impact of the Darby Case
Author: Stephen M. Smith – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan O’Neill
Art of the World War II Era and Holocaust
Author: Maggie P. – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Julie McGuire
The Great Debate: An Analysis of Judicial Campaigns and Judiciary Independence
Author: Ashley L. Scruggs (McNair Scholar) – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rebecca Davis
Anxiety on the Strip: An Examination of Predictors of Precompetitive State Anxiety in Epee Fencers
Author: Elizabeth Athanas – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Johnathan N. Metzler
Perceived Job Satisfaction, Job� Stress and its Effect on Health: A Pilot Study of Women in the Workplace
Author: Jenna N. Pinkston (McNair Scholar) – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joanne Chopak-Foss
Understanding the Career-ending Injury: A Phenomenological Analysis
Author: Christina Rapp – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel R. Czech
An Examination of the Experience of Music in Sport among NCAA Division I Athletes: An Existential Phenomenological Investigation
Author: Lacey M. Sorenson – Faculty Mentors: Dr. Daniel R. Czech, Dr. Jim Klein, Dr. Tony Lachowetz
WebCt Changing GSU
Authors: Jo-El Rowell – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Barjis, Sidney Parker Newton, Michael Hamilton, Nick Brown, Jeff Martin
Comparison of Anticipation Times among College Students when Provided Optimistic, Pessimistic, and Neutral Feedback
Authors: Christina Rapp – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel R. Czech, Marlena Kincaid, Gina Sterchi, Dana Jones, Courtney Jennings, Justin Smith, Erik Wilder
The Experience of Preshot Routines among Professional Golfers: An Existential Phenomenological Investigation
Author: Allison K. Yancey – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel R. Czech, Dr. Barry Joyner, Dr. Drew Zwald
1:00-2:30 PM: Poster Sessions – IT 3301
Exploration of Raman Spectroscopy
Author: Thomas Anderson – Faculty Mentor: Dr. James M. LoBue
A Preliminary Examination of Caoches’ Perceptions and Experiences of Spirituality in Sport: A Mixed Methodological Study
Author: Erin S. Bullett – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel R. Czech
Health Behaviors and Cancer Screening Knowledge in Six Georgia Counties: A Pilot Investigation
Author: Kelley G. Chester – Faculty Mentors: Dr. Gerald Ledlow, Dr. Laura H. Gunn
Genome Sequence of NHE2A in the Long Horned Sculpin
Author: Catherine Hall – Faculty Mentor: Dr. J.B. Claiborne, Dr. Andrew Diamanduros
Modeling the Dynamics of Mixtures of Bose-Einstein Condensates
Authors: Laura Halmo – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Edwards, Charles Holcombe
The Octagon: A Qualitative Study of the UFC
Author: Matthew Harpold – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel R. Czech
Rh Glycoproteins
Authors: Jamie E. Phillips – Faculty Mentor: Dr. J.B. Claiborne
Response Time Differences within the Game of Soccer: An Applied
Intervention Investigation
Author: John Scott – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel R. Czech
Synthesis of PNPG
Author: Derick J. Sharpe – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael O. Hurst
Optimism-Pessimism and Achievement Motivation Levels in Youth
Tennis Players: A Cross Cultural Study
Author: Eleanor Shearman – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel R. Czech
Analyzing the Assessment of Optimism in Sport
Author: Samuel J. Whalen – Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan N. Metzler
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Mechanical engineering technology students building cars for international competitions
At first glance, it appears to be a typical scene in this car-crazy country:
A group of young people, gathered around a vehicle, tinkering with the engine, adjusting the suspension, customizing the body.
In this particular case, however, the people are not shade-tree mechanics prepping a hot rod for an evening at a rural dirt track, or a pick-up truck for an afternoon at a mud boggin’.
Instead, they are mechanical engineering technology students at Georgia Southern University, and they are building from scratch two vehicles that will be entered in a pair of international competitions sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
One group of 18 students is producing a single-seat, four-wheel, off-road recreation vehicle for the Baja competition that will be hosted by the University of Central Florida in Ocala, Fla., on April 12-15.
Some of the same people are also among a second group of 15 students that is building a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel car for the Formula competition that will be held at the Ford Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo, Mich., on May 16-20.
‘These projects allow our students to validate what they have learned in the classroom,” said Brian Vlcek, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Technology and the faculty mentor for the Baja and Formula teams. ‘They get to demonstrate the ability to work as a team, and the ability to complete a project. Those are the kinds of traits that employers are looking for.”
The SAE has more than 90,000 members in almost 100 countries. The organization includes engineers, business executives, educators and students who share information and exchange ideas for advancing the engineering of mobility systems.
Through its Baja and Formula competitions, the SAE challenges college students with real-world engineering projects in which teams build and eventually race their own vehicles. Each vehicle must be conceived, designed and fabricated by students without any direct involvement from faculty, professional engineers or experts from the world of Baja and Formula racing.
At Georgia Southern, one of the projects typically serves as a capstone project for seniors who are enrolled in the mechanical engineering technology program, which is housed in the Allen E. Paulson College of Science and Technology (COST). The other project is a club activity of Eagle MotorSports, an organization that is open to all of the University’s students.
‘The Baja and Formula projects require our students to draw upon previously learned skills from across the curriculum,” Vlcek said. ‘In addition to teamwork and design integration, the projects encourage technical communication abilities through written reports and live presentations.
‘Ultimately, the work contributes to each student’s sense of self-confidence in their abilities as they contribute to a project with real-world authenticity and rigor.”
There is a very specific set of rules and regulations for each competition. For example, the maximum budget for each Baja vehicle is $5,000, but teams are allowed to exceed that figure and take a proportionate point deduction in the competition. Georgia Southern’s team spent $1,800 for last year’s event.
‘Quite a few SAE officials came by to see our car,” Vlcek said, ‘and they could not believe a working vehicle was completed on such a tight budget.”
On the other hand, the Formula rules allow each team to spend a maximum of $25,000 per car, although they, too, can exceed that amount and take a point deduction.
According to Vlcek, the Formula teams at some institutions are rumored to pour as much as $60,000 into the project, a figure that includes spare parts, tools and travel. Georgia Southern’s team spends around $4,500 each year in the Formula competition.
Most of the money for the Baja and Formula projects at Georgia Southern usually comes from fund-raising projects and donations. Eagle MotorSports generated some funds in March by co-hosting a classic car show that featured more than 50 vehicles on display in the parking lot of the local Kmart.
This year’s projects received an additional boost from the COST College Office of Undergraduate Research (COUR), which provided $3,800 in applied research grants.
‘We’ve been fortunate to receive the support from COUR,” Vlcek said. ‘It really cut down on the number of car washes the teams had to organize, and allowed the students to really focus on their vehicle design.”
Financial issues aside, the Baja rules also dictate that, among other things, each vehicle be able to accommodate a driver who is 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, and that each vehicle be able to float and propel itself across a water obstacle. In addition, every Baja vehicle must be powered by a 10-horsepower lawn mower engine donated by Briggs and Stratton.
Meanwhile, teams in the Formula competition are not required to utilize the same kind of motor, but they must use a motorcycle engine that does not exceed 600 cubic centimeters in size. There are also significant restrictions on air intake, which further limits speed and power.
According to Vlcek, the Baja and Formula projects at Georgia Southern are set up to run like a small business.
‘For each project, there are groups of students that are responsible for coming up with the design of specific components, such as the frame, the braking and steering systems, the suspension system, and so on,” Vlcek said. ‘Team members are coordinated by a team leader, who in turn reports to a student project manager.”
The process begins with the design phase. The students examine previous Georgia Southern vehicles, and they use the Internet to study successful and not so successful vehicles produced at other institutions.
‘The various team members have to communicate with each other to ensure that the different systems will work together,” said Dustin Gaddis, a senior from Buford, Ga., and the president of Eagle MotorSports, which is producing the Formula car. ‘For example, the suspension cannot take up room needed by the drive train.”
The analysis and modeling phase is next. Hoping to maximize strength while minimizing weight, students use hand calculations and computer programs to test their prototypes.
‘Computer simulations are run to see how each system will react under certain driving conditions,” Gaddis said.
In addition, prototype frames are often built out of PVC pipe and duct tape to test for driver fit and comfort, and scale models are generated to ensure integration between the various components.
Next comes the redesign phase, where flaws in the original design are corrected.
‘If we discover the original design doesn’t meet certain goals if the frame isn’t stiff enough, for example, or if the suspension geometry changes too much as the wheels move up and down we change things until we get the desired results from the analysis software,” Gaddis said.
Once the redesign is complete, the actual fabrication process begins in the shop of the Science and Technology Building.
‘About half of each vehicle is built from scratch, and half from off-the-shelf components,” Vlcek said. ‘We don’t build our own shock absorbers when we can buy them better and cheaper.”
Significant parts of each vehicle are fabricated by the students, though.
‘We are building the frame, suspension arms, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, pedals and all the brackets used to hold everything together, just to name a few things,” Gaddis said of the Formula car.
Georgia Southern’s Formula car is 96 inches long and 60 inches wide. Weighing approximately 500 pounds, it features a 600 cc Suzuki GSX-R engine that produces 100 horsepower and will allow the vehicle to go from zero to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds.
The University’s Baja vehicle is 92 inches long and 50 inches wide. It weighs around 420 pounds and will have a top speed of close to 30 mph.
‘The process usually goes right down to the wire, so we are fortunate to have a day or two to test the vehicles before we have to leave for the competitions,” Vlcek said. ‘We drive them around campus and try to run over a lot of curbs to test the suspension. Also, the Baja car takes a swim in the pond in front of the College of Education Building.”
All entries in both the Baja and the Formula competitions are judged on a variety of criteria, including design and cost. Every vehicle has to be accompanied by a written report that details the design process and the production costs.
‘The vehicles must pass a grueling safety test, and I typically consider it a major accomplishment just to get through that phase,” Vlcek said. ‘It’s not uncommon for a team to have 10 or 15 problems with its vehicle. You usually have 24 hours to get the problems corrected.”
If and when they get past the safety inspection, the cars are subjected to further scrutiny. The Baja vehicles are tested for acceleration and traction, and they must negotiate a challenge course filled with obstacles such as rocks, sand and logs. The Formula cars are tested for acceleration and fuel economy, and they are driven on an autocross track that evaluates their maneuverability.
Seventy-five teams from across the United States, Canada and Mexico have signed up for the Baja competition. The Formula competition is expected to attract 130 teams from a dozen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Regardless of how Georgia Southern’s vehicles fare in Florida and Michigan, the projects have already proven to be an invaluable experience for the students.
‘Even though it is a lot of work, there are lots of rewards,” Gaddis said. ‘You get the chance to apply concepts learned in the classroom to a real-world situation, and you also learn a lot of things you don’t learn in a classroom.
‘Finally, when it comes time to graduate, being a part of a project like this is a great thing to talk about with potential employers.”
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Paulson Student Research Award winners will present findings at April 11 symposium
The 2006-2007 winners of the Paulson Student Research Awards at Georgia Southern University will present their findings at an on-campus symposium on Wednesday, April 11.
The 15 students were awarded a total of $25,000 in research funding from the College Office of Undergraduate Research (COUR), which is part of the Allen E. Paulson College of Science and Technology (COST).
Free and open to the public, the symposium will begin at 4 p.m. in the Professional Development Center of the College of Information Technology Building.
‘The faculty of COST has always put a great of emphasis on research, and the Paulson awards are a great way to encourage our students to get involved,” COUR Director Bruce Schulte said. ‘These funds will help deserving undergraduate students obtain hands-on knowledge of the research process, such as reading the literature, acquiring data, and writing and presenting their findings.”
The winners of the Paulson Student Research Awards are announced each spring. To be eligible for an award, a student must be enrolled as an undergraduate major in one of the units of COST, which includes the departments of biology; chemistry; construction management and civil engineering technology; geology and geography; mathematical sciences; mechanical and electrical engineering technology; and physics.
In addition, the student must be mentored by a member of the COST faculty. The student had to submit an application hat included a description of the proposed research project, an explanation of how the experience would benefit both the student and the mentor’s research program, and a proposed budget of up to $2,500.
All applicants were interviewed by the COUR committee, which is composed of one member from each department of COST. The committee also conferred with Schulte before determining the winners and the amounts of the awards.
‘The students went through a very rigorous application process,” Schulte said. ‘The ones who emerged should be very proud of their accomplishments.”
The awards are divided into two categories: one for the math and science departments, and one for the technology departments.
The Math and Science awards were presented to the following students:
- Rebekah Baskin for her chemistry project titled ‘Bile Salt/Phospholipid Aggregation Below Critical Micelle Concentrations.” Her mentor is Associate Professor Laura Frost.
- Steven Crocker for his biology project titled ‘Echinoderm Development From Gamete to Juvenile: A Study on Ideal Growing Conditions and Gender Divergence.” His mentor is Associate Professor Sophie George.
- James Davis for his chemistry project titled ‘Synthesis of Hexa-substituted Cyclopropanes.” His mentor is Instructor W. Rucks Winkeljohn.
- Perry Hampton Harbin for his biology project titled ‘Recruitment and Growth of Fishes Along a Mangrove Habitat Gradient.” His mentor is COST Dean Bret Danilowicz.
- Melissa B. Mobley for her biology project titled ‘Characterization of Novel Spiroplasma Species Using the Transmission Electron Microscope.” Her mentor is Associate Professor Laura Regassa.
- Katalin Patonai for her biology project titled ‘Morphometric Analysis of Periwinkles (Littoria irrorata) Driven by Predation Risk in the Salt Marshes of Coastal Georgia. George is her mentor.
- Kartik M. Reddy for his project titled ‘Prevalence of the Q-fever Agent in Ticks Collected from Southeast Georgia.” His mentor is Associate Professor Quentin Fang.
- Michael A. Sapp for his biology project titled ‘Differential Expression of the Antimicrobial Gene Attacin in Male and Female Houseflies.” His mentor is Assistant Professor Dana Nayduch.
The Technology awards were presented to following students:
- Ryan Bridges for his mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘The Implementation of Feedback Control Systems.” His mentor is Assistant Professor Aniruddha Mitra.
- Parker Bussey for his mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘The Design, Analysis, Production and Performance Testing of a Mini Baja Vehicle.” His mentor is Associate Professor Brian Vlcek.
- Dustin Gaddis for his mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘The Design, Analysis and Fabrication of a Formula SAE Race Car.” Vlcek is his mentor.
- Heidi Glisson for her mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘Experimental Determination of the Minimum Population or Sample Size to Characterize Fatigue Life.” Vlcek is her mentor.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Dittmer named professor of the year at 2007 Honors Day Convocation
Jason Dittmer was presented with the Wells/Warren Professor of the Year Award at the Georgia Southern University 2007 Honors Day Convocation held at the Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, April 4.
Dittmer is an assistant professor of geography in the Department of Geology and Geography. He joined the University’s faculty in 2003.
‘This award means a lot to me because I know how many outstanding professors there are here at Georgia Southern,” Dittmer said. ‘In particular, I appreciate that this comes from the students, and it’s nice to know that they feel the same way about me that I feel about them.”
Dittmer has experience in teaching world regional geography, human geography, geography of Europe, urban geography, cultural geography, introduction to research methods, and political geography.
Dittmer is also very active in the University’s Study Abroad program. He has taught in France and Russia, and he is scheduled to visit Italy this summer.
‘When preparing to teach, I try to remember that the social connections that I teach in my geography classes are just as important at the scale of the classroom,” Dittmer said. ‘Getting students to connect to the material means opening yourself up as an instructor to the students, their concerns and their ideas.
‘It’s very gratifying to know that they feel that connection, too.”
The winner of the Wells/Warren Professor of the Year Award is selected annually by the University’s students. Members of the Gamma Beta Phi honor society interview the department heads of the finalists and look at student evaluations of the professors.
The group then conducts a blind interview of the finalists before selecting the winner of the award, which is endowed by former Gamma Beta Phi advisors J. Norman and Rosalyn Wells. The award is named in honor of their parents, Nolan and Audrey Wells and Hartwell and Lucile Warren.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Dittmer graduated from Jacksonville University with a B.A. in political science and international studies. He later earned an M.A. in international affairs and a Ph.D. in geography from Florida State University.
Dittmer’s main area of research is political geography, especially the fields of popular geopolitics and regional identity construction. He has given invited lectures at the University of Georgia’s Department of Geography, the Florida State University World Affairs Program, and the Claude Pepper Institute for Aging.
Dittmer is a member of the Allen E. Paulson College of Science and Technology Excellence in Research Committee. He has served on the Geology and Geography Scholarship Committee, the departmental curriculum committee, and a faculty search committee.
In addition, Dittmer is a member of the Association of American Geographers and the National Council for Geographic Education.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
Kanzler takes top student awards at annual Honors Day Convocation
Jennifer M. Kanzler captured both of the top student awards at the Georgia Southern University 2007 Honors Day Convocation held at the Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, April 4.
A senior early childhood education major from Roswell, Ga., Kanzler received the Georgia Southern University Alumni Association Award and the University System Academic Recognition Award.
The Alumni Association Award is presented annually to the graduating senior or seniors who have applied for graduation, completed all course work in residence and attained the highest grade point average.
The University System Academic Recognition Award is presented annually to a Georgia resident at each system institution on the basis of outstanding academic achievement.
Kanzler also received the Excellent Scholarship Graduating Senior award, which is presented annually to seniors who are graduating with a grade point average of 3.9 or higher at Georgia Southern.
More than 200 Georgia Southern students were recognized during the Honors Day Convocation. Inductees into a number of honor societies were also recognized.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
New opportunities available for faculty through North American Studies consortium
Georgia Southern and five other universities in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. are developing a program in North American Studies that will lead to new international exchange opportunities for both faculty and students. University President Bruce Grube recently signed a memorandum of understanding that affirms Georgia Southern’s role in the consortium, which is funded by a $1.07 million FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) grant.
The six universities involved in the North American Studies consortium include Georgia Southern; Bowling Green State University (Ohio); the Universidad Veracruzana (Xalapa, Mexico); the Universidad de Sonora (Sonora, Mexico); Wilfrid Laurier University (Ontario, Canada); and Mount Allison University (New Brunswick, Canada).
‘The consortium recently began developing the academic content of the North American Studies Program,” explained Nancy Shumaker, director of the Center for International Studies. ‘We have established a secure Web site that allows the six institutions to collaborate on developing teaching modules, and it allows us to upload resources for use by faculty who become involved in developing this curriculum.”
The North American Studies program will focus on six broad themes: culture; environmental issues; indigenous peoples; NAFTA and economics; nationalism and contested identities; and migration and mobility. While all universities will contribute to each theme, Georgia Southern will take primary responsibility for issues of migration and mobility.
‘Because we already have minors in Latin American Studies and American Studies, some of the resources we need are already available,” said Shumaker. ‘We invite and encourage faculty with an interest in one or more of these six themes and an interest in faculty exchange in Canada or Mexico to become involved in developing this program. This grant is called the North American Mobility Grant because we want faculty and students to move among the six institutions involved. In this program, we are interested in faculty development as much as we are student development.”
To learn more about the consortium and the faculty opportunities available, contact Shumaker at the Center for International Studies, 912-681-0332.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
North American Studies consortium offers student exchange in Canada and Mexico
Georgia Southern University and five other universities are developing a program in North American Studies that will result in new opportunities for students who want to study in Canada or Mexico. Because the new program is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, funds are available to assist with the costs involved in a semester of study abroad. As with all study abroad, tuition for the North American Studies program is paid to Georgia Southern and academic credit is received from Georgia Southern.
The six universities involved in the North American Studies consortium include Georgia Southern; Bowling Green State University (Ohio); the Universidad Veracruzana (Xalapa, Mexico); the Universidad de Sonora (Sonora, Mexico); Wilfrid Laurier University (Ontario, Canada); and Mount Allison University (New Brunswick, Canada).
‘The consortium recently began developing the academic content of the North American Studies Program,” explained Nancy Shumaker, director of the Center for International Studies. ‘We are working together to develop a curriculum focused on six broad themes: culture; environmental issues; indigenous peoples; NAFTA and economics; nationalism and contested identities; and migration and mobility.” Shumaker pointed out that North American Studies are not extra classes; the courses taken will be courses that fit into each student’s degree program.
Named the North American Mobility Grant, this funding is designed to encourage students to move among the six institutions involved in the North American Studies program. The Center for International Studies is accepting applications now through September 2007 from students who want to study in Canada or Mexico.
For more information, contact Jeff Palis, Study Abroad Coordinator, at the Center for International Studies, 912-681-0332.
Last updated: 2/2/2018
