News and Events Archives

Use the "Search this site" function above to locate a specific story by name or keyword.

2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

SBS Senior Celebration
The Mullins Center was packed and spirits were high as the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences congratulated the Class of 2012 on May 12 at its annual Senior Celebration. Blue skies, balmy breeze, 75 degrees—who could ask for better weather for the graduates' last day on campus. View Photo Album... View slideshow, featuring members of the senior class, shown to audience prior to the processional. Facebook users, tag yourselves (and friends) and comment on images posted there.

Fountain Named to New Commonwealth's Council for Innovation
Professor Jane Fountain (political science and public policy), a member of the World Economic Forum Global Advisory Council on the Future of Government, has been named by Governor Patrick to the newly established Commonwealth’s Council for Innovation. Read more...

SBS Outstanding Teaching Awards Recognize Faculty
This year’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award goes to Lynn Phillips, chief undergraduate advisor and lecturer in Communication, and Associate Professor of Journalism Nicholas McBride ’76 (political science). Read more...

Law Dinner Provides Students/Alumni Networking Opportunities
The Careers in Law dinner, sponsored by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Commonwealth Honors College, and the Office of Pre-Law Advising, engaged about 30 students and a number of alumni attorneys, including the Massachusetts Northwestern District Attorney, David Sullivan '81. Following ameal, students engaged in a speed-dating style format, with one attorney per table, and groups rotating every 8 minutes. Read more and view photo gallery...

SBS Faculty Help First-Year Students
Many SBS faculty, lecturers and TAs were recognized with the Residential First-Year Experience (RFYE) Student Choice Award. All recipients were nominated by first-year students because they had a profound influence on them during their first semester. Read more...

Longtime UMass Journalism Prof Dies
Howard M. Ziff, 81, professor emeritusof journalism, has died. Ziff helped establish the journalism program and taught here until his retirement in 1997. Read more...

Ride with UMass Pride!
The Alumni Association has unveiled a new UMass Amherst special license plate aimed at promoting the image of the state's flagship campus and raising money for scholarships and alumni programs. The plate, which features the Athletic Department's Minuteman logo, carries a UM number designation and is also emblazoned with the slogan "You were. You are. UMASS." Read more...

The Arab Spring: Year Two—A Panel Discussion
As the Arab uprisings enter their second year, this pane will reflect on broader issues concerned with regional and global change. It also will examine the current state of events in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, and elsewhere in the region. Be sure to mark your calendars for April 12, 2.30-4.30 pm, Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union on campus. Read more...

University of Kentucky Provost Appointed Chancellor of UMass Amherst
Dr. Kumble R. Subbaswamy, a physicist who is Provost at the University of Kentucky, was appointed on March 26 by the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees to lead the system’s flagship campus in Amherst, capping a six-month nationwide search for a new Chancellor for the University’s oldest and largest campus. Read more...

New Academic Classroom Building in the Works
Construction began over spring break on the New Academic Classroom Building, which will house Communication, Journalism, Film Studies and Linguistics. Providing state-of-the-art classroom and academic space, this state-of-the-art, energy efficient LEED facility is sited near the Campus Center and Student Union, north of the Campus Pond. In addition to classrooms and faculty offices, it will house studios and specialized rooms for TV broadcasting and production, editing rooms, film screening rooms, computer classrooms, speech perception and auditory phonetics labs. Read more...

Overhaul of Global Environmental Governance Needed, Says Haas, et al
Thirty-two leading governance experts, including Prof. Peter M. Haas (political science) say that reducing the risk of potential global environmental disaster requires a "constitutional moment" comparable in scale and importance to the reform of international governance that followed World War II. Their article appeared in the March 16 issue of the journal Science. Read more...

Lying OnLine
On WGBY's "Connecting Point" in mid-March Dean Robert Feldman, professor of psychology, discussed his paper “Liar, Liar, Hard Drive on Fire: How Media Context Affects Lying Behavior.” He found that people are more likely to lie in instant messages and emails than in face-to-face interaction. View the program.

Covering the President
Brian Canova '13 (journalism) got credentials through the White House and went to Nashua, New Hampshire, in early March to cover President Barack Obama's speech on energy and the economy at Nashua Community College. Read his story, accompanied by his video and photos, on MassLive.com.

IPO Sponsors IRC/Model UN Travel
Recently the International Programs Office (IPO) sponsored the International Relations Club (IRC) to attend the Model United Nations Assembly at McGill University in Montreal. Ranked the fourth most competitive conference, the third largest on the North American circuit, and the best in Canada, the McGill event has established itself as the standard for professionalism, provocative and substantive debate, and impeccable organization. Read more...

Globe Publishes Journalism Students' Work
Steve Fox's Investigative Journalism class, which has been covering the aftermath of last June's Western Massachusetts tornado, was all over the paper and online versions of the Boston Sunday Globe (2/19/12). Included were stories, videos or podcasts by Amy Chaunt '13 (journalism), Lindsey Davis '12 (journalism/legal studies), Anna Meiler '12 (journalism), Lyntoria Newton (Hampshire College), Rachel Roberts '12 (journalism) (front page article), Nick Russo '12 (journalism/BDIC), and Colin Spence '12 (journalism). In case you missed these terrific features, you can access them here.

Essay Collection Examines Women and Work
In 2008 the UMass Amherst Center for Research on Families (CRF) held a national conference entitled “Women and Work: Choices and Constraints.” Now, based on that informative event, a new book, Women Who Opt Out (New York University Press), has been published. This collection of original essays, including one by Joya Misra (sociology) and another by Maureen Perry-Jenkins (psychology), takes a multi-disciplinary approach in questioning the basic thesis of “the opt-out revolution.” Read more...

IS to Examine DuBois Legacy; Invites Faculty Proposals
The newly established Interdisciplinary Studies Institute (IS) in 2012–13 will take up the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois for its inaugural seminar entitled “Engagement: The Challenge of Public Scholarship.” No matter your field, period, cultural focus, or perspective, IS invites faculty from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to bring inspiration and engagement to this theme and submit a proposal setting out particular interests. All fellows will receive a $2000 research allowance. Deadline: Friday, February 24, 2012. Read more...

CPPA's Badgett in Spotlight for Gay Rights Work
M.V. Lee Badgett (economics), director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration and research director of the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at UCLA, has been in the media spotlight this month— first in the New York Times and then on National Public Radio—for the work she does championing the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Read more about Badgett...

Offering Support, Guidance, Sense of Community, Peer Advisors Gain Personal Enrichment
“In a large department like Communication (app. 800 majors), it’s especially important to ensure that students feel well-oriented and receive the support they need to feel both challenged and comfortable,” says Professor Lynn Phillips, chief undergraduate advisor and founder of the Department of Communication Peer Advising Program. “It’s also important to offer upper-level students opportunities to develop a professional repertoire for life beyond college.” Read more...

Study Abroad Scholarship Recipients Selected
Many students—now more than ever—need financial assistance to help turn dreams into reality. And because the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences encourages its students to study abroad for a semester or two—or at least a summer—we are determined to raise more funds to help support this experience. Thanks to the generosity of alumni, particularly Jeffrey Katz ’69 (economics) and Thomas Whitford ’77 (psychology), the College was able to assist 30 students with scholarships up to $1,000 for their spring semester travel abroad experience. Read more...

In Remembrance: Professor Emeritus Gordon Sutton
After a courageous battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Professor Emeritus Gordon F. Sutton (sociology) passed away peacefully Jan. 1, 2012, at home in Washington, D.C. A memorial service was held on Jan. 7 in Amherst, MA. The family requests that donations be made to the Gordon and Dolores Sutton Scholarship Fund at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in honor of their dedication and lifetime commitment to promote ethnic diversity and economic opportunity. Read obituary.