Month: September 2014
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Patrick Forber, Tufts University – Evolution of Spite
Evolutionary theorists, by contrast, are studying what might be viewed as the brighter side of spite, and the role it may have played in the origin of admirable traits like a cooperative spirit and a sense of fair play – New York Times, March 31st 2014. Dr. Patrick Forber, associate professor of philosophy in the…
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William Alex Pridemore, GSU – Incarceration and Early Death
The health care of prisoners is a topic familiar to the The Academic Minute. Where the previous segment focused on the positives of expanding health care for the incarcerated, Dr. William Alex Pridemore, criminologist at Georgia State University, discusses the increased health risk that prisoners face. Dr. William Alex Pridemore is a Distinguished University Professor…
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Ching-Hua Chuan, University of North Florida – Composing with Computers
If you’ve seen the Academy Award winning film Amadeus, you’ll recall the laborious depictions of Mozart as he composed his musical masterpieces using pen and ink. Dr. Ching-Hua Chuan, assistant professor of computing at The University of North Florida, is adding an element of technology into the composition process. Dr. Ching-Hua Chuan is Assistant Professor…
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Hawley Montgomery-Downs, WVU – Sleep Disruption
The image of the sleep-deprived parent tending to a middle-of-the-night feeding is a common one when you think about caring for an infant child. However, as Dr. Hawley Montgomery-Downs, a psychologist at West Virginia University, will tell us, fragmented sleep patterns present serious risks. Dr. Hawley Montgomery-Downs earned her BA in Experimental Psychology from Humboldt…
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Kirsten Beyer featured on The Best of Our Knowledge
As always, host Bob Barrett selects an Academic Minute to air during The Best of Our Knowledge. Each week this program examines some of the issues unique to college campuses, looks at the latest research, and invites commentary from experts and administrators from all levels of education. For this weekās edition, Bob has selected Dr.…
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Radu Sporea, University of Surrey – Engineering Complexity
That smart-phone in your pocket is one amazing device. Dr. Radu Sporea, The Academic Minute‘s resident technology guru, discusses the astonishing intricacies of technology that we often take for granted. Dr. Radu Sporea isĀ Royal Academy of EngineeringĀ Academic Research Fellow in theĀ Advanced Technology InstituteĀ at the University of Surrey. His current research focuses on power-efficient, cost-effective large-area…
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Amit Bhattacharjee, Dartmouth College – Marketing Backfire
The goal of effective marketing is to target potential consumers. Dr. Amit Bhattacharjee, a professor of marketing at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, discusses the unintended consequences of a marketing plan that is too effective. Dr. Amit Bhattacharjee is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Marketing group at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth…
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Jennie Brand, UCLA – Single Mother Employment Outcomes
Being a single parent is tough. Being an unemployed single parent is even tougher. Dr. Jennie Brand, associate professor of sociology at UCLA, takes a look at the effects of job loss on single mothers. Dr. Jennie Brand is a professor of sociology at The University of California Los Angeles. She studies social inequality and…
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Joshua Weitz, Georgia Tech – Co-Evolution
āOur work shows that co-evolution can yield new and unique behavior at the population scale,ā explained Joshua Weitz in a recent article about his biological research. Joshua Weitz, associate professor in the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology uses mathematical models to study the changing abundances and traits of natural populations. Joshua…
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Frank Thompson, University of Missouri – Songbird Populations
A recent NPR piece discussed the threat of climate change on bird populations and what that signals in our changing environment. Frank Thompson, a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources, discusses the declining populations of songbirds. Frank Thompson is a scientist with the…