Category Society & Culture
Going after winter — with an axe
Participants learned how to use ice climbing equipment during a Wisconsin Union Winter Carnival event presented by the Hoofers Mountaineering Club on Feb. 5.
UW–Madison Arboretum designated a National Historic Landmark
The designation is based on the Arboretum’s pioneering work in restoration ecology, its place in the history of conservation, and its commitment to Aldo Leopold’s land ethic.
New Badger Precollege programs offer enrichment, community-building, college readiness for youth
Badger Precollege is ramping up for an all-online summer 2021, revising options and ready to offer an array of programs for a wider diversity of students — from advanced learning and STEM classes to music clinics and college readiness programs.
A big-time installation
Worker used a gantry earlier this month to guide a 15-foot wide painting into place at the Chazen Museum of Art. The 1971 acrylic painting called "Danse Élanse" by artist Jean Dubuffet can now be seen on a wall of the main lobby.
Collaborative effort will look at ways to enhance campus response to mental health crises
The primary goal is to further ensure the well-being and safety of students, de-escalate potentially high-stress situations, and promote a shared commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
‘Caste’ author Isabel Wilkerson to headline MLK Symposium
“Isabel Wilkerson is a distinguished author with writings that synthesize history and personal narratives to help our generation consider the implications of a system of oppression and racism,” says Cheryl Gittens, interim deputy vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer.
UW researchers develop tool to equitably distribute limited vaccines
The School of Medicine and Public Health and UW Health have developed a tool that incorporates age and socioeconomic status to prioritize vaccine distribution among people who otherwise share similar risks due to their jobs.
Sociologist battles inequities in artificial intelligence
Alumna Alex Hanna is a research scientist on Google’s Ethical AI Team, which focuses on responsible artificial intelligence systems. “There’s a very strong chance that those data are exacerbating existing race, gender, and class inequalities,” she says.
Embracing the cold, dark winter
Instead of complaining about the long, cold midwinter nights, a group of enthusiastic hikers have been embracing them, joining a series of socially distanced nature hikes sponsored by Outdoor UW.
UW-Madison geographer recognized for work to diversify geoscience
Erika Marín-Spiotta has worked to enact meaningful policies against sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination, and to take meaningful steps to make the geosciences more diverse.
Celebrate with winter 2020 graduates during virtual commencement ceremony
The prerecorded ceremony will be released at 11 a.m. central time on Dec. 13 and will remain available on the web so people anywhere can watch it at a time most convenient to them.
Research provides tools for achieving the ‘how’ of well-being in daily life
A new framework introduced by UW–Madison's Center for Healthy Minds provides evidence that people can weather life’s ups and downs with resilience, and that the brain and body can change and adapt.
New game helps refugee camp kids become academic ‘stars’
Once a refugee himself, senior Joel Baraka has invented "5 STA-Z" — a board game for students across sub-Saharan Africa that turns learning into fun.
Winter is coming, Badgers
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it a year like no other on the UW–Madison campus, but the seasons continue to change as always. The first snowfall of the year on Tuesday gave campus a wintery look.
Researchers videotape hundreds of classrooms in 8 countries to study teaching
Essential to the study’s success are observation systems designed by Courtney Bell, a UW–Madison learning sciences professor who directs the School of Education’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
UW alumnus Brandon Taylor one of six finalists for prestigious Booker Prize
Taylor came to UW–Madison pursuing a Ph.D. in biochemistry but his education, both in and out of the college classroom, inspired him to write “Real Life.”
Special education teacher residency program supporting rural schools, UW–Madison students
An innovative program housed within UW–Madison’s School of Education is designed to prepare future special education teachers to work in high-need and small, rural districts in Wisconsin, where they're in demand.
Native November: In new First-Year Interest Group, students connect with the land through Indigenous lens
Instructor Dan Cornelius is "trying to help students connect to place, so that no matter where they are, they’ll think more deeply about the land and its history.”
Thesis-writing program shares joy of scientific research
The Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy Thesis Award Program’s mission is to both promote science literacy among the public and recruit future generations to careers in scientific research with an approachable look at the latest findings.
Menard family gift supports UW’s Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy
The gift enables the CSLD to promote the "critical understanding of ... constitutionalism and the rule of law, individual rights, and the meaning of freedom and free markets in a flourishing liberal democracy."