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BOR Approves PhD Degree in International Affairs, Science, and Technology The Board of Regents (BOR) of the University System of Georgia has approved a new PhD degree program, Doctor of Philosophy in International Affairs, Science, and Technology, that will be housed within the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. The objective of the program is to provide graduate students with an interdisciplinary opportunity to pursue advanced studies on the technological dimensions of international problems. The program will fill an important niche in educating graduates for positions in the private sector, government and policy communities, and academia. William Long, School Chair stated, "Our new PhD program and our membership selection into the Association of Professional Schools of International Affiars positions The Nunn School as one of the country's leading international affairs graduate programs with a unique specialization in the field of science, technology, and international affairs." |
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College Heads GTAB Agenda At the October meeting of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board (GTAB), the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts was front and center. Sue Rosser, the Ivan Allen Dean's Chair of Liberal Arts and Technology, presented a video overview of the College and outlined its current strategic plan. In addition, two IAC school chairs and several faculty members made individual presentations about their research as well. |
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Atlanta Policy Conference Focuses on Science, Technology, and Innovation The Atlanta Conference on Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2007 will be held October 19-20 at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. The program is entitled, "Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation in the Changing Global Economy," and focuses on the shifting landscape and emerging problems and actors in global innovation. "As governments seek new strategies, they are turning to the science, technology, and innovation policy research community for models and research results to tell them what works, what doesn't, and under what circumstances," notes Susan Cozzens, Ivan Allen College Associate Dean for Research and the conference organizer. Topics will focus on emerging issues of science, technology, and innovation in global economy and society. |
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Modern Languages Professor Redevelops Online Chinese Courses With a Department of Education (DOE) grant for $329,000, Xiaoliang Li, Associate Professor, School of Modern Languages, seeks to change fundamentally the way Chinese language courses are taught online. Entitled“Teaching Chinese for the 21st Century,” the project will develop online courses that employ innovative pedagogical and technological tools to address learning impediments embedded in existing curricula. "We need to do away with formalisms and develop teaching materials that specifically target English-speaking students," says Li. "To reduce the mysteries of Chinese language study, the project will filter Chinese through the prism of the students' native tongue, elaborating how and why Chinese and English differ, so that students will no longer see Chinese as exotic." |
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Association Partners with Tech Researchers The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) has selected Georgia Tech as their research partner for the 2007 State of the Industry: Technology in Georgia Report. Susan Cozzens, Associate Dean and Professor, School of Public Policy, and Jan Youtie, Enterprise Innovation Institute, will be providing the raw data and some of the analysis that will be used to comprise the report.
“We are very pleased to be partnering with Georgia Tech on this year's State of the Industry Report,” said Melanie Brandt, Director of Community and Information Resources for TAG. “It's clear to us that they see the continued release of a comprehensive guide to the technology industry in Georgia as an important component to the advancement of technology in the State; and we are more than confident that they will be able to deliver quality research for this project.” “Technology is an important part of the story of economic development in Georgia, and we are glad to have a chance to help tell the story,” added Cozzens, who is also the Director of Georgia Tech's Technology Policy and Assessment Center. |
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Economics Professor Tracks Displaced Atlanta Residents As he reports in an article in the Creative Loafing, Sept. 19, Danny Boston, Professor, School of Economics, wanted to know what happens to displaced Atlanta residents. In 2001, he set out to track 1,235 families who previously had resided in three demolished housing projects in the Atlanta area, and compared the fates of those families with those of another 1,483 living in traditional housing projects. What he found was that the demolition of public housing actually improved the lives of residents who once lived there.
While some of the displaced families he tracked did wind up losing public-housing assistance, they lost it at the same rate as families who remained in housing projects. Those who moved away from the projects with the help of vouchers were more likely to find a job earning higher incomes and to live in at least a slightly better neighborhood. "There are psychological and physiological changes taking place as a result of being relocated," Boston says. "Most of the families who had vouchers didn't want to come back." |
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Homecoming 2007 Welcomes INTA Alums The International Affairs Graduate Organization is hosting a tailgating barbecue event on October 20 immediately after the game against the Army. Celebrate Homecoming 2007 with fellow International Affairs alumni and current graduate students at the School of International Affairs in the back parking area of the Habersham Building. This event and will include a pig roast, grilled chicken, baked beans, potato salad, rolls, and desserts. For more information, please visit the Alumni Association website. |
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Project Studies Social Change Associated with Nanotechnology  The School of Public Policy has received a "Nanotechnology Exploratory Research" grant for $85,000 from the National Science Foundation, to support synergistic collaborations to increase understanding, assessment, and management of long-term societal change associated with active nanostructures and nanosystems (ANN). Richard Barke, Professor, School of Public Policy (SPP), is the principal investigator, working with co-PI's, Lisa Yaszek, Associate Professor, School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, Alan Porter, Professor Emeritus, joint appointment with Industrial and Systems Engineering and SPP, and Jud Ready, carbon nanotube researcher at Georgia Tech Research Institute.
The project will examine how scientists, policy makers, and the public understand and communicate about this new technology, which is expected to challenge existing economic, social, and political systems in ways that are qualitatively different and much more rapid than previous technological revolutions. |
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Director of Honors Program Celebrates First Anniversary Gregory Nobles, Director, Georgia Tech Honors Program and Professor, School of History, Technology, and Society, commemorates his inaugural year as the Director of the Honors Program. In a recent interview in The Whistle, he talks about the accomplishments of the first year. "I think we have had some very, very good students who came in and took ownership of the program and ownership of the dorm, Howell Hall. They developed a very good relationship with each other, the staff and the faculty to the extent that they achieved one of the goals of this program: to create a kind of community of students and faculty together," Noble states.
"I think another accomplishment of the program was the academic side. We offered a series of honors courses and special topics classes. Both types of classes turned out remarkably well. The feedback from the students was very good. I had one faculty colleague tell me this was the most fun he has had teaching in 30 years at Georgia Tech," Nobles continues. "We've seen successful student involvement in the Undergraduate Research Program, the International Plan and the Honors Program. These are all fairly new programs at Georgia Tech and they are all successful because they emphasize opportunity." |
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Experimental Gaming Creates New Level of Entertainment  Two recent articles in Research Horizons, Summer 2007, document how experimental gaming is forging a new level of entertainment. As computers become more powerful, video games are becoming more popular, notes Janet Murray, Professor, School of Literature, Communication, and Culture (LCC). "Technology allows us to create imaginary worlds that people can act in. We can set up games that are more challenging and have more variety because they are procedurally created by making up rules in the computer," she says. In the LCC Experimental TV Lab, Murray's students have recently created a prototype for a game based on a broadband version of the Cartoon Network's Ben 10 show, designed for broadband delivery through a game console like the Sony PS3.
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STAC Alumni Appear as Panelists at SLSA Conference Three Society, Technology, & Culture (STAC) alums, Chris Van Acker, Jason Ellis, and Andrew Pilsch, will serve as panelists at the Twenty-First Annual Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA) Conference, November 1-4, in Portland, Maine. Entitled Utopian Visual Culture: Recoding Science, Society, and Self in Electronic Media, the panel will examine how visual media function as utopian tools for recoding conventional understandings of science, society, and self for contemporary culture. |
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Faculty Profile - Christophe Ippolito  Christophe Ippolito, a newly appointed Assistant Professor, School of Modern Languages, has an extraordinary range of research interests, including nineteenth- and twentieth-century French literature and culture, narrative theory, Francophone culture, translation, intercultural issues and language testing techniques. In addition, he is also currently teaching a Drama Workshop involving the exploration of literary and theatrical aspects of French drama. Through class discussion and performance of selections from contemporary and classical plays, students in this course develop oral expression and acting skills in French as well as knowledge of French theater and culture.
Besides teaching, he is currently working on a publication for The Year's Work in Modern Languages Studies, a review of all essays published in 2006 on the period of French literature that extends from 1900 to 1945. Furthermore, he is writing a book that focuses on the ethics of leisure in turn-of-century French culture, and developing articles on George Sand, André Gide, and Léopold Sédar Senghor, all of which he hopes to publish next year. To roundout an ambitious first year, Ippolito also plans to teach three courses over a two-and-a-half month period at GT-Lorraine, and to indulge his love of hiking, writing, and Middle East travel.
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Another LCC faculty member, Michael Nitsche, Assistant Professor, points out that Hollywood films and related video games are often released at the same time. "This blurring of boundaries between media is putting video games more into the limelight," says Nitsche. To exploit this blurring, Nitsche is developing an experimental video game called 
Stereotypes suggest that video gaming is primarily for adolescents, but statistics from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) show the market is much broader. Celia Pearce, Assistant Professor, LCC, focuses her research on both female and older players. "There's a popular misconception that older gamers, especially women, are only playing casual games," she says. "It turns out that Baby Boomer gamers are hard core players, though they have very different practices and preferences than the groups for which the industry typically develops and markets games. Plus, they are spending a lot more money." In LCC, Pearce heads the 
The influence of the gaming industry has begun to transfer to other industries, ranging from health care to defense, where it is used for educational and training simulations. For example, Ian Bogost, Assistant Professor, LCC, creates games that teach company employees about portion sizes and how they affect profitability, and that help grade-school students learn about the science behind telecommunications technologies. He is also interested in how games can argue political positions and attempt to convince people of a particular belief, such as "Take Back Illinois", challenging players to explore four issues tied to the 2004 state elections. In addition, graduate students Brian Schrank (Digital Media) and Jeremy Rogers (Computer Science) are designing software that would react with a standard keyboard in new ways. "For example, if players bang the keyboard, they could get a different result as opposed to just typing," says Bogost, project leader.