News

James Taylor (Biology) uses his car windshield to collect data

27 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Tuesday, October 27 – Thursday, November 5, 2009

“It turns out that your car is a sampling device for understanding the biodiversity of all the places you’ve been,” says James Taylor, a computational biologist at Emory. Genome Research recently published a paper by Taylor and collaborators that applied advanced DNA sequencing techniques that are traditionally used on microbial samples to look at insect biodiversity. “We were curious whether these techniques would work for more complex organisms,” Taylor says.

To collect genetic material for the study they used the bumper and windshield of a moving vehicle. Two samples were collected: on a drive from Pennsylvania to Connecticut, and on a trip from Maine to New Brunswick, Canada.

For more information, see the eScienceCommons article at the link below.

More info: esciencecommons.blogspot.com…

Religion Dispatches gets Ford Foundation support

27 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Tuesday, October 27 – Thursday, November 5, 2009

Religion Dispatches, an online religion magazine based at Emory University, has received a grant of $870,000 from the Ford Foundation for its operations over the next three years.

The award is one of the largest single grants to the humanities in the history of Emory College, says Robert Paul, dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences.

Launched in February 2008, Religion Dispatches already has passed the 2 million page views mark and is on track to reach a million readers a year, says Gary Laderman of Emory, who with Linell Cady of Arizona State University is Religion Dispatches executive editor and co-director. They attribute that success to growing demand for online analysis and commentary on religion and public life.

The magazine features a diverse group of writers in terms of race, ethnicity, sexuality, religious identity and professional expertise "who offer perspectives that have been marginalized in recent decades," says Laderman.

Religion Dispatches' highest-traffic story to date is an article on gay marriage titled "A Marriage Manifesto -- of Sorts," which has received nearly 200,000 views. In addition to offering analyses and commentaries on the biggest stories of 2008, the economy and the presidential election, the magazine also has covered extensively religion and social justice issues, including race, immigration, health, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) rights.

"We are driven by what's happening in the world now, but not only that," says Laderman, professor of American religious history and culture. "Part of the nature of this beast is to be fast on your feet and be constantly ready to change."

In coming months, Religion Dispatches will roll out a new design and architecture with an eye toward expanding multimedia content on the site. Plans also include marketing its content to religion scholars as a resource for classroom use, and continuing outreach to other web and social networking sites. Religion Dispatches stories already have appeared on sites such as the Huffington Post and Washington Post's "On Faith" blog.

More info: www.religiondispatches.org

Worth a 1,000 words -- Emory's photo of the day

27 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Tuesday, October 27 – Thursday, November 5, 2009

Check out the Emory Alumni Association's photo of the day, including this snapshot of the Dooley Statue's makeover in celebration of a recent event -- Emory Drag Extravaganza: Transforming Today's Leaders.

More info: eaavesdropping.blogspot.com…

David Lynn (Chemistry) shares thoughts on arts and evolution with choreographer David Neumann and Rosemary Magee in a Creativity Conversation

30 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Ongoing through Sunday, November 8, 2009

In this Emory Creativity Conversation (Oct. 15, 2009), David Lynn, professor of biomolecular chemistry, talks with dance choreographer David Neumann and Rosemary Magee, Vice President and Secretary of Emory University. Neumann and Lynn describe their collaboration on "Big Eater" and "The Accumulation of Change," which combines Seattle troupe's Lelavision kinetic musical sculpture with Lynn's research on molecular evolution.

YouTube version
www.youtube.com…

iTunesU video
deimos3.apple.com…

iTunesU audio

deimos3.apple.com…

Kristin Wendland (Music) provides "Inspiracion", tango-style

30 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Ongoing through Sunday, November 8, 2009

In this YouTube video (see link below), Emory's Tango Ensemble performs "Inspiracion," by Peregrino Paulos, at the Schwartz Center on March 27, 2009.

Kristin Wendland, senior lecturer and director of the Emory Tango Ensemble, credits the Music Department faculty for placing popular music and world music on an equal footing with the standard European canon. As the only faculty member in the department who teaches Latin American music, her classes and ensembles reach out to a growing number of Latina and Latino students.

She’s also joined a team of authors developing a new online music appreciation project for today's students. “Music iAppreciation” (due out in 2010 by Pearson Prentice Hall) will give students the tools to analyze and enjoy classical, world music, jazz and popular music.

More info: www.youtube.com…