Accolades Magazine

May 12, 2016

Opening the Door to Study Abroad

A new College of Humanities and Social Sciences pilot program aims to encourage more students from underrepresented groups to study abroad for the first time. Kickstarted by a $25,000 NC State University Foundation grant, the Travel Scholars pilot program will help some underrepresented students pay for study abroad and inform others about what resources are available. 

Jul 7, 2015

Outstanding Young Alums

The NC State Alumni Association recognized two outstanding young alumni at its Evening of Stars gala. Award recipients Tony Caravano and Vansana Nolintha were Caldwell Fellows and both earned majors or minors in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. 

Jun 25, 2015

Rubik’s Cube: Easier Than English?

Zeli “Jeff” Qian is a cubist — as in Rubik’s Cube. The Zhejiang Province native can finish the cube-shaped puzzle in 18.27 seconds, a time that’s listed in the World Cube Association’s record books. Qian brought that same determination to NC State, where he’s studying mechanical engineering. He’s also honing his English speaking, writing and research skills through Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures courses for non-native speakers of English. 

May 26, 2015

Where Diplomats Are Concerned

Gentry Smith (Political Science ’83) speaks Arabic and has lived in Japan, Egypt and Burma — a long way from his hometown in Halifax County in eastern North Carolina, where both his parents were schoolteachers. Meet the director of the Office of Foreign Missions at the State Department. 

May 18, 2015

Do You Read Me?

Engineers have their own way of talking about their work. Computer scientists often speak a different kind of code. Statisticians employ yet another specialized language. Get them all together and it can feel like a veritable Tower of Babel. That's why NC State’s Laboratory for Analytic Sciences invited experts in communication, social science, management and design to join them. 

May 14, 2015

Where Technology and Intelligence Meet the Social Sciences

Advancements in science and technology generate social, ethical and political issues. Programs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences are teaching students how to navigate these changing waters as they strive to make the world a smarter — and safer — place. 

May 14, 2015

Poet’s First Book of Verse Wins Prize

NC State MFA alumna Noel Crook has achieved what felt like an unattainable dream: She is a poet, and a prize-winning one at that. Crook won the Crab Orchard Review First Book Award, a national prize providing up-and-coming poets with the opportunity to publish their first book. Crook, who earned her MFA in creative writing from NC State in 2008, gave her $2,500 prize money to NC State to support the MFA program, telling the university’s development office there wouldn’t be a book without John Balaban, the university’s emeritus poet-in-residence. 

May 5, 2015

Students on a (Social) Mission

Traditionally, the measure of a business’s success is its economic bottom line. But more companies and business leaders are looking for results beyond profit margins, and the next generation of students is taking note. "I have students in my office every week who are looking at challenges in the world and trying to find innovative ways to address them," says the program coordinator for NC State's Social Entrepreneurship Initiative. That’s why we’re here.” 

Apr 29, 2015

Student Melds Business Entrepreneurship With Service

Meredith Davis, a sophomore majoring in social work, is combining business entrepreneurship and service as she works with staff from NC State's Social Entrepreneurship Initiative to establish a chapter of Nourish International on campus. 

Apr 24, 2015

Seeking Optimal Outcomes for Children with Autism

The brains of autistic girls appear to be wired more normally than those of autistic boys — and that can be both a blessing and a curse, according to Kevin Pelphrey (Psychology ’96), the Harris Professor at Yale University and director of Yale’s Center for Developmental Neuroscience. Pelphrey is the principal investigator on a five-year, $15 million grant from the National Institutes of Health that is investigating why autism is more prevalent in boys than in girls. His grant is one of the largest awards the NIH has given for autism research.