January 2013

Jan 31, 2013

Lincoln’s Legacy for Our Time

You've seen Lincoln, the movie. Now hear James McPherson, the Lincoln expert. The Civil War historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author will deliver a talk titled, “Lincoln’s Legacy for Our Time” as part of NC State’s History Weekend. (Saturday, Feb. 16, 10:00 - noon, in Room 232A of Withers Hall on the NC State campus.) 

Jan 29, 2013

The Secrets of Public Speaking

Public speaking is an everyday act of forming a thought, then quickly organizing and delivering that thought in a powerful, engaging way. So says Elizabeth Nelson, the new Communication 110 director in the Department of Communication. So why do we often dread speaking publicly at work, even when it's understood speaking well leads to promotion, defuses problems and reduces stress? Learn the secrets of public speaking. 

Jan 24, 2013

Happy birthday, CHASS!

Happy birthday, CHASS! 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. We're working on a pretty cool timeline that we'll be sharing with you later this spring. In the meantime, take a peek at a video created for the timeline by Jim Alchediak, an instructor in our Department of Communication, with the help of some of his advanced video production students. Stay tuned! 

Jan 22, 2013

Say ‘Gudday’ to Our Ambassador-in-Residence

Jim McLay, New Zealand’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations,is the first official ambassador-in-residence for the School of Public and International Affairs. Richard Mahoney, SPIA director, says we can learn a lot from McLay, and from New Zealand. “Americans often discount little countries—but actually countries like New Zealand show us what we should be doing—building international partnerships. 

Jan 16, 2013

Endowments 101

Most students don't know what an endowment is before they take David Zonderman's popular course on the history of nonprofits. The course, offered through the Institute for Nonprofits, addresses endowments from the perspective of the history of foundations and their connections to the philanthropic world. 

Jan 14, 2013

January 2013 Student of the Month

This month's CHASS student of the month, Victoria Shockley, is a sophomore with an English major and French minor. She writes and edits for various publications, and expects to have a novella published later this year. Victoria is on track to graduate one year early, and stays active on campus while commuting each day from Wake Forest. 

Jan 7, 2013

Sitting Pretty with Simply Sitting

CHASS alumna Ginny Hager (Communication '08) started babysitting when she was 13. She has continued to hear from parents who struggle to find trustworthy, dependable sitters. So this entrepreneur created Simply Sitting, a service that connects families to the best babysitters in their area. 

Jan 3, 2013

Offhand hobbit comment inspires prankster philanthropy

Some of the most creative fundraising starts with an offhand remark, perhaps even a sarcastic jab, followed by a classic light bulb moment. For example, one person - for the sake of argument, let's say he's a distinguished professor at NC State - might comment via social media about "The Hobbit" that nobody could pay him enough money to see the movie. Bemused friends joke that the challenge should be posted on eBay or Kickstarter. That's when friends quickly organized an online drive to persuade Professor John Kessel, winner of a Nebula Award for science fiction/fantasy writing and a member of the CHASS Department of English, to turn the joke into a serious fundraiser. 

Jan 2, 2013

Teaching Teens Nanotech Ethics

High school students gathered from across the state at Durham's School of Science and Math to learn about the ethical issues surrounding nanotechnologies from political scientist Mike Cobb and chemical engineer Jesse Jur, who encouraged the teens to expand their views about the future of technology.