Scholarship and Academic Life

A recently published work by history professor Gregory Mixon analyzes one state’s process of freedom, citizenship and the incorporation of African Americans within the political and economic structure of the United States after the Civil War.

Historian Mark Wilson studies the business and politics of the American industrial mobilization for World War II in the new book “Destructive Creation: American Business and the Winning of World War II.”

Wilson spent 10 years researching the archives of companies that made weapons for the war as well as military and government archives. His search led him to the records of Boeing Aircraft and Manufacturing, Ford Motor and DuPont U.S.

Questions like “Why am I here?” and “What is the meaning of life?” are essential inquiries in many people’s lives. The intimacy and importance of such topics often leads their discussion to be limited.

Social work professor Jim Dudley is trying to change that. It is precisely because of their intimacy and power to heal that spirituality and religion must become more closely connected with the helping process, he stated.

The lack of women in the information technology workforce directly affects the nation’s economic future — only 26 percent of IT professionals are women. This lack of gender diversity is a key factor to the growing shortage of tech talent; future U.S. graduates with bachelor’s degrees in computing can fill only 40 percent of the country’s projected tech jobs.

UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics (CCI) Women in Computing Initiative aims to tackle this national challenge.

Technology can be a force to improve various aspects of a community, and UNC Charlotte is issuing a public challenge for developers to create applications or games to advance a social good.

The UNC Charlotte Data Science Initiative, through its Partnership for Social Good, is sponsoring a virtual hackathon to address economic mobility in the Queen City. Participants will compete for $10,000 in prizes, and their challenge is to create a mobile platform-based application or game that addresses this problem:

The UNC Charlotte Gerontology Program celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year and took the opportunity to help state leaders roll out North Carolina’s first plan to comprehensively address dementia.

Andrew Hartley, Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare in the Department of Theatre, has written a new fantasy-adventure-mystery for young adult readers. “Steeplejack: A Novel” will be released by Tor Teen on June 14.

Set in 19th-century South Africa, the book has received glowing reviews, particularly for its young female protagonist. The monthly book review publication BookPage named it the “Top Teen Pick” for June 2016. Steeplejack is the first book in a series of three.

A multi-year effort by Department of Educational Leadership Professor Debra Morris has significantly improved instruction and faculty development at the Charlotte Islamic Academy, according to that organization’s leadership.

The academy contacted Morris in 2012 to seek help with classroom observation and professional development. In the years since, she has led efforts to set up a beginning teacher’s support program and assisted the school in establishing a relationship with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to facilitate teacher licensure.

Students in the School of Architecture’s AIAS “Freedom by Design” chapter recently completed the first of a two-phase project at the Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, run by Families First in Cabarrus County, a nonprofit organization that serves low-income families through bilingual (Spanish and English) programs for children and parents.

The finished phase of the project includes a privacy fence weave of colorful nylon strips woven through the existing chain link fence, a series of interactive wooden panels attached to the fence and a large gardening area.

Carl DuPont, assistant professor of voice, will compete in the 20th International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, which will take place in Leipzig, Germany, July 4-16. This competition is held in the categories of voice, organ and cello/Baroque cello and consists of four competitive rounds in each category. Participants were chosen in a juried pre-selection process this spring.