News and Events Archives
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Senior Celebration Ceremony Features Super Student Speakers
The SBS Senior Celebration Ceremony on May 11 in the Mullins Center featured a student speaker from each major. All met with cheers, and Dean Feldman hailed them all as "super." Congratulations to Sanjay Singh (economics), Ashley Cox (anthropology), Liam Lynch (STPEC), Heather Wood (sociology), Krystal Ford (landscape architecture), Melissa Panter (environmental design), Laurie Roberts (political science), Ashley Berger (legal studies), Amy Chaunt (journalism), and Rachel Levine (communication). Read their presentations....
Badgett Honored with University Conti Fellowship
M.V. Lee Badgett (economics), director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration and a leading global authority on the economics of same-sex marriage, has been awarded a Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowship, a prestigious honor from the University that recognizes outstanding scholarly work. Read more...
Senior Celebration Ceremony on May 11
The SBS Senior Celebration Ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 11 at 1:00 p.m. in the Mullins Center. All SBS graduates in attendance will be recognized individually and receive a UMass Amherst medallion. Tickets are not required; seniors may invite as many guests as they like. More information....
International Conference, The Past for Sale? Coming Up at UMass Amherst
The UMass Amherst Center for Heritage & Society, part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, will be holding its third annual International Conference on May 15-17, 2013. "The Past for Sale? New Perspectives on the Economic Entanglements of Cultural Heritage" has garnered 120 abstracts from participants representing 30 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Panama, Syria, and Zimbabwe. Read and view links to news stories... Interview with Thomas Herndon...
Grad Student Critique of Reinhart & Rogoff Report Goes Viral, Featured on Colbert
A working paper by PhD candidate Thomas Herndon and Professors Michael Ash and Robert Pollin (all economics) has garnered international attention in economic circles and far beyond, going viral on social media and featured on the Colbert Report. Heralded as a “bombshell report,” it revealed serious errors in a major study by eminent Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff that was used as the framework for austerity policies across the U.S. and internationally. Read more...
ISSR Consultants Strengthen Methods Support on Campus
The Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), based in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS), is changing the way social science faculty and graduate students pursue research on campus. Officially launched in fall 2012, ISSR has spent the year expanding methods and training opportunities for social science faculty. A major component of this expansion has been the institutionalization of methodology consulting within the Institute. Read more...
Students Rising, A Local Campaign to Change the World, Led by SBS Students
When Rachel Levine ’13 (communication and theater) attended the Boston SBS Student-Alumni Networking Event in January, she never knew that in three short months, she would be leading a 30-day campaign for the UMass Amherst campus. But after meeting alumnus Benjamin Happ ’98 (psychology), who is a member of the SBS Dean’s Advisory Board, and learning of the non-profit organization Room to Read, Levine was inspired to construct an awareness initiative at UMass. Read more...
Congressman Neal honored with UMass Distinguished Alumni Award
The UMass Amherst Alumni Association honored Congressman Richard Neal on Beacon Hill in Boston Wednesday. Congressman Neal, who teaches in the Journalism program, was honored as a distinguished Alum, despite the fact that he never actually attended UMass. He's being honored because of his advocacy and commitment to the school. Read more...
Learn to Build a Basic Website Via MOOC
Journalism is excited to offer UMass Amherst’s first Massive Open Online Class (MOOC) this summer. Starting on May 20, a free course called Building a Basic Website will be taught by Journalism's Brian McDermott. Don't delay to find out more information and to reserve your spot. Read more...
Badgett Discusses Same Sex Marriage, Economic Impacts
On March 26, 2013 M.V. Lee Badgett (economics), director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, discussed the U.S. Supreme Court hearing on same-sex marriage with Mark Crumpton on Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line." With a focus on the economic impact of same-sex marriage, she noted that Federal tax implications and benefits such as social security for couples can add up to millions of dollars their lifetimes. Dollars spent on weddings and celebrations would create significant state and local revenues. Watch the video...
Rossi Lecture to Feature NOW President Terry O’Neill on Challenges Facing Feminists
Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), will discuss the past, present and future challenges facing feminists at the 2013 Rossi Lecture on Tuesday, March 5, at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.The event is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow. Read more....
Canada-based Vision Critical Buys Shulman Software
After more than a decade in development, DiscoverText, a cloud-based text analytic software developed by Assistant Professor Stuart Shulman (political science), in part through his Qualitative Data Analysis Program (QDAP) Lab, has been purchased by Vision Critical, a Vancouver-based provider of consumer insight technologies and services. Shulman will be VP for text analytics. Read more...
Civic Initiative Director Hannahan Meets with Young Leaders in Pakistan
After bringing over 63 Pakistani students to the UMass Amherst campus for the past three summers as participants of the Pakistani Young Leaders program, political science professor Mike Hannahan traveled to Islamabad in January, where he oversaw a reunion of that program’s alumni. Then he embarked on a speaking tour of the country—a trip which coincided with President Obama’s second term inauguration and provided ample opportunity to discuss the U.S. government’s policies and practices. Read more...
Panel to Highlight UMass Research and Engagement Projects in Springfield
The first Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) “Research in Process Panel” of the Spring 2013 semester, “Social Science Research in Springfield,” will take place on Thursday, February 7, 11:30 am – 1 pm, in the Amherst Room, UMass Amherst Campus Center. Lunch will be served. The event is free and open to the public, but please RSVP to Karen Mason by February 3. Read more...
Dean Feldman on Lance Armstrong's Case
Dean Robert S. Feldman, expert on lying, comments at length in the Boston Globe's front-page article on Lance Armstrong. “Like the rest of us who lie, and most of us do in our daily lives, [Armstrong’s apparent deception] is easy to push aside cognitively. For most people, it won’t eat away at them on a daily basis. We humans are good at compartmentalizing.” Read more...
Ford Foundation Grants $500K to “Hear Our Stories” Project
On New Year’s Eve 2012 Aline Gubrium (public health) and Elizabeth (Betsy) Krause (anthropology) had a fantastic reason to celebrate. That’s when they learned their “Hear Our Stories” grant proposal to the Ford Foundation’s Sexuality Research Initiative was funded with $500,000 over two years, starting immediately. Read more....
Econ Grad Student MacDonald Wins Prestigious Awards
Congratulations to graduate student Daniel MacDonald (economics) who is the recipient of a $5,000 William R. Waters Research Grant for his project, "Social Economics: Social Justice and Institutions in Historical Perspective," the second major award he has received in the last few months. Read more...
Team Green Latrine Strikes Again
Graduate students Katie Fox and Sally Miller (landscape architecture and regional planning) are part of Team Green Latrine that is competing in the UMass Innovation Challenge Competition. Already the team has won $1,000 in the MinutePitch competition and an additional $1,000 for their performance in the ElevatorPitch competition. The team is advised by Dr. Caitlyn Butler (civil & environmental engineering), who created the Microbial Fuel Cell Latrine. They all traveled to Ghana last May to install the first latrine. Read more...
