RESEARCH General Archives 2008

TOPICS: Archaeology | Arts | Children | Education | Government | Health | History | Home & Garden | Humanities | Law | Library | Literature | Poetry | Psychology | Sociology | Theater | World Affairs

ADVERTISING
Blacks in Advertising: For much of the 20th century, the African-American image in ads was rare, subservient or worse. The story of how that changed – thanks to pioneers, activists, government action and business self-interest – is the story of Jason Chambers’ new book, “Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry” (University of Pennsylvania Press). (2/11/08)

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHAEOLOGY
New Philadelphia: Planning is under way for another summer of work to unearth remains of New Philadelphia, a lost western Illinois town where blacks and whites lived together in peace and freedom a quarter century before the Civil War broke the grip of slavery. (5/1/08)

The Mayans: An intrepid archaeologist is well on her way to dislodging the prevailing assumptions of scholars about the people who built and used Maya temples. From the grueling work of analyzing the “attributes,” the nitty-gritty physical details of six temples in Yalbac, a Maya center in the jungle of central Belize – and a popular target for antiquities looters – primary investigator Lisa Lucero is building her own theories about the politics of temple construction that began nearly two millennia ago. (2/25/08)

ARTS
Dance: A pair of dance professors teamed up as co-editors of “The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practices in Dance Training” (University of Illinois Press), a recently published collection of essays and interviews with some of today’s most successful dance professionals. (4/9/08)

'Ebertfest': Oscar-winning director and University of Illinois alumnus Ang Lee will be among the featured guests for the 10th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, otherwise known as “Ebertfest,” coming April 23-27 to Champaign and the U. of I. campus. (3/28/08)

Thelonious Monk: Musicologist Gabriel Solis notes in a new book titled “Monk’s Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making” (University of California Press), the avant-garde Monk has to some extent become part of the mainstream, with a solid place in the American music canon. (1/3/08)

CHILDREN
Bullying: "The Stories of Us," the film-based bullying prevention program developed and shot at Franklin Middle School in Champaign, and at a school in Lincoln, Neb., will get its public debut at 7 p.m. on March 28 at the Virginia Theater in Champaign. (3/18/08)

EDUCATION
Charter Schools: The case for charter schools, by all appearances, has been made with politicians and the public. The research on which that case has been made, however – on issues from student achievement to equity and integration – is limited, often overstated, often based on suspect methodology, and largely outside the normal system of academic peer review, says Christopher Lubienski, an education professor at Illinois. (3/26/08)

Bullying Film: It started with an Australian filmmaker, Chris Faull, who had produced short films with Australian children, telling about their experience with bullying. Then came a connection with U.S. researchers on the topic, one of them Dorothy Espelage at the University of Illinois. (3/18/08)

GOVERNMENT
Constitutional Convention: Support is lagging for Illinois’ first constitutional convention in four decades, but could get a boost from growing unrest over political in-fighting that many citizens fear has paralyzed state government, according to a new University of Illinois poll. (4/15/08)

Social Security: Law professor Richard Kaplan, an expert on federal taxes and retirement benefits, says the gloomy reports on Social Security are rooted in myth. (3/27/08)

Campaigns: The 2008 election will carve a spot in history, whether a yet-to-be-settled Democratic primary yields the first woman presidential nominee or the first African-American. But a University of Illinois professor predicts the tradition-busting race will also leave another legacy, cementing the social networking power of the Internet into the pavement of future campaign trails.(3/26/08)

HEALTH
Medicaid: The nation’s flawed-but-free Medicaid program discourages most Americans from buying long-term health insurance that could provide better care and spare their life savings, a new study co-written by a University of Illinois professor says. (3/17/08)

Battlefield Helmets: University of Illinois researchers are pooling their knowledge of health sciences and engineering on a project that ultimately could benefit combat soldiers who’ve received serious – but often immediately undetectable – blast-related brain injuries. (3/6/08)

Exercise & MS: While others work to find a cure for multiple sclerosis – which Rob Motl said is unlikely to materialize any time soon – he and colleagues at the U. of I. are focusing their research on “understanding the role of exercise as rehabilitation for MS, with the goal of slowing, mitigating or ending the devastating effects of the disease." (2/28/08)

Leisure: As part of a larger study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which examines Latinos’ use of parks, sports complexes and trail systems for active recreation, Kim Shinew an Monika Stodolska, professors of recreation, sport and tourism, found that "cultural understanding on the part of trail managers and designers is essential to best serve a growing Latino population as well as successfully encourage physical activity." (2/4/08)

HISTORY

HOME & GARDEN
Field Guides: Diane Schmidt, the biology librarian at the U. of I. has built and launched the most complete database of field guides to date. The International Field Guides Web Site merges Schmidt’s own book, “A Guide to Field Guides: Identifying the Natural History of North America” (Libraries Unlimited, 1999), and its companion Web site, International Field Guides, plus 2,000 new titles. (1/29/08)

HUMANITIES

JOURNALISM

LAW
Heroes: America’s heroes aren’t just in combat fatigues, fire trucks or Hollywood scripts, according to a study by a University of Illinois professor. Law professor David Hyman spent more than four years combing through records to gather what he calls the first data-based study on when average Americans jump in to help others in need – and when they don’t. (3/10/08)

Death Penalty: A historic capital punishment case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court could extend a de facto moratorium that has already halted executions for more than five months, a University of Illinois death penalty expert says. (2/26/08)

Steroids: Congress should step in to regulate performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports because players and owners lack incentive to effectively police themselves, former NFL tight end Josh Whitman says. (1/28/08)

LIBRARY
Archon: Archivists at the University of Illinois Library believe they have built a better tool kit, their new online collections management program called Archon. (1/28/08)

LITERATURE

POETRY

PSYCHOLOGY
Heroes: America’s heroes aren’t just in combat fatigues, fire trucks or Hollywood scripts, according to a study by a University of Illinois professor. Law professor David Hyman spent more than four years combing through records to gather what he calls the first data-based study on when average Americans jump in to help others in need – and when they don’t. (3/10/08)


SOCIOLOGY

THEATER

WORLD AFFAIRS