Category: Academics

Halmos Faculty Member Publishes Chapter on Game ‘Monsters’

Melissa Bianchi, Ph.D.

Melissa Bianchi, Ph.D., associate professor in NSU’s Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, has written “A Field Guide to Monsters: Practices of Wildlife Watching in Video Games,” a chapter appearing in the recently published “Ecogames: Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis.”

The collection from Amsterdam University Press brings together established and emerging voices in the scholarly conversation about how video games increasingly participate in the production, circulation and interrogation of environmental assumptions.

In her chapter, Bianchi connects video game analyses to the beliefs and practices that determine how we reproduce animals in visual media. Touching on a variety of games, including “New Pokémon Snap,” “Monster Hunter Rise” and “NUTS,” the chapter demonstrates how gameplay can exemplify troubling aspects of the human-animal divide and support critical perspectives on human ecological agency and responsibility toward animals.

“I am honored to be a part of this valuable resource for scholars, designers and players who see the critical potential of games and are acutely aware of pressing environmental challenges,” Bianchi said.

Learn more about the M.A. in Composition, Rhetoric and Digital Media here.

Posted 02/04/24

Honors College Hosts Data Visualization Competition

Data visualization is important now more than ever. With large amounts of information at our fingertips at all times, data visualization is lucrative for making information more accessible to all. To help students hone this skill, the Farquhar Honors College hosted a Data Visualization Competition over the summer that prompted students to transform an existing class assignment into an interactive visual narrative for public viewing.

The top three winners received a cash prize. In first place, receiving $300, was Shweta Shah for her project “Empowering Women’s Breast Health with Racial Inclusivity.” In second place, receiving $200, was Corinne Renshaw for her project “Anthropogenic Influences on the Biscayne Aquifer.” In third place, receiving $100, was Ruthie Fogel for her project “Artemis: NASA’s Return to the Moon.”

All projects were created using ArcGIS StoryMaps, a free and easy-to-use digital storytelling web platform, which allowed students to break down complex ideas into easily understandable parts with compelling visual aids. Contestants were judged based on creativity, innovation, rhetorical effectiveness, and proficiency.

“[Through] this project, I learned the real-world implications and applications of assignments done in the classroom,” said first-place winner Shweta Shah, whose project focused on educating racial minority groups about an amendment to the Mammography Standards Quality Act that may lead to earlier breast cancer detection and lower mortality rates. “For many of my public health classes, we are required to create PowerPoints that only the professor sees. However, many of these assignments contain critical information that the public also needs to be informed about. … This project allowed me to create a multi-media resource [for] patients.”

The competition welcomed projects from all disciplines as data visualization is an important tool for any field. Projects focused on subjects ranging from environmental science to mental health.

“I am thankful [to] the Honors College for creating this opportunity for their students to apply and present their research in a new and innovative way while [emphasizing] that learning does not necessarily always occur in a classroom!” said third-place winner Ruthie Fogel, whose project focused on the importance of NASA’s mission to return to the moon. “The ways in which we present our ideas to the world are ever evolving and now has never been a more perfect opportunity. . . to learn something exciting!”

View project gallery.

Posted 01/17/24

Halmos Faculty Present at ACR Conference

McKay

Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) and Charles Zelden, Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Humanities and Politics (DHP), presented at the 2023 Association for Conflict Resolution Annual Conference held in Arlington, Virginia and virtually.

The theme of the conference was “Conflict Resolution: Collaboration the New Normal?” Their presentation was titled, Dialogues in Local Democracy: Creating Connected and Socially Just Communities.  Zelden and McKay are the co-directors of the Council for Dialogue and Democracy housed in HCAS. The Dialogues in Local Democracy project was funded by Florida Humanities and NSU.

Zelden

McKay’s areas of teaching and research interests include strategic community planning, conflict coaching, violence prevention and intervention, and organizational conflict.

Zelen’s areas of teaching and research interests include American legal history, civil rights, voting rights, election law, and constitutional history.

 

Posted 01/14/24

University School Teachers Attend Institute in New York City

Two Lower School teachers recently attended a weeklong institute at Teachers College Columbia University in New York City. They participated in professional development workshops focused on supporting small group work in reading and writing. Additionally, members of our administrative team presented at the FCIS convention, emphasizing the identification of core competencies to drive experiential learning.

Learn more about NSU University School’s college preparatory program for students in Preschool – Grade 12 at www.uschool.nova.edu.

Posted 01/14/24

2024-25 FAFSA Now Available for Students, Families

The new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available for students and their families to complete at studentaid.gov.  The long-awaited overhaul has been underway since Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 and has caused the 2024-25 FAFSA to become available in late December 2023 instead of the customary October 1 date. The ultimate goal of the makeover is to expand federal student aid eligibility, including Federal Pell Grants, and to streamline the user experience. The Department of Education estimates that more than 600,000 new students from low-income backgrounds will be eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants due to updates to student aid calculations.

In the meantime, the NSU Office of Financial Aid encourages students and parents to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA as soon as possible and to take advantage of the many informational resources provided by the NSU financial aid office as well as the Department of Education to be prepared for the new experience:

Halmos Faculty, Student and Alum Present at Conference in Virginia

Katherine Sosa, Ph.D.; Neil Katz, Ph.D.; Terry Savage, Ph.D.; and Annette Taylor Spence

Neil Katz, Ph.D., and Terry Savage, Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), and DCRS alum Katherine Sosa, Ph.D., and doctoral student Annette Taylor-Spence, presented at the 2023 Association for Conflict Resolution Annual Conference held in Arlington, Virginia and virtually. The theme of the conference was “Conflict Resolution: Collaboration the New Normal?” Their presentation was titled, “Experiential Workshop Design: A Portal to Self-Awareness and Effectiveness in Group Life.”

Katz’ areas of teaching and research interests include negotiation theory and practice, group dynamics, and organizational conflict.

Savage’s areas of teaching and research interests include restorative and transitional justice, human rights, and peacebuilding.

Posted 12/10/23

USchool Students Get Hands-On Suturing Experience at NSU

Students from our Upper School Medical Fellowship program recently took part in a lab at the NSU Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, where they gained hands-on experience in suturing techniques using pig’s feet.

This practical exercise was designed to enhance their skills in dexterity, precision, and understanding of different suturing methods.

Learn more about NSU University School’s college preparatory program for students in Preschool – Grade 12 at www.uschool.nova.edu.

Posted 12/10/23

FY2025 PRG and QOL Grant Cycles Now Open

The FY 2025 President’s Research Grant (PRG), formerly the Presidents Faculty Research Development Grant (PFRDG), and Quality of Life (QOL) grant cycles are now open! This year the application process will take place on Cayuse Sponsored Projects, NSU’s new grant management system. Applications are due via Cayuse no later than January 22, 2024, 5:00 p.m.. More information, as well as application instructions, can be found on the PRG and QOL websites, linked below. Through these programs, eligible faculty may apply for internal grants of up to $15,000 in support of a variety of research and scholarly activities. PRG and QOL are tremendous opportunities to obtain support for research and scholarship at NSU, and to build faculty research capacity that can be leveraged toward external funding pursuits.

For more information about how to apply and program guidelines, visit the PRG program website here and the QOL website here. For questions, please contact PRG@nova.edu or QOL@nova.edu.

Posted 12/10/23

USchool Students Meet Public Defender of Broward County

Gordon Weekes, the head Public Defender for Broward County, speaks to University School students.

Upper School students participating in the Legal Education Seminar had the privilege of engaging in a conversation with Gordon Weekes, who holds the position of head Public Defender for Broward County.

Weekes is a distinguished graduate of the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University and is responsible for overseeing a team of more than 100 public defenders in the second-largest public defense office in Florida. During his interaction with the students, he shared his lifelong commitment to advancing equitable justice for marginalized communities within our region.

Learn more about NSU University School’s college preparatory program for students in Preschool – Grade 12 at www.uschool.nova.edu.

Posted 11/27/23

Student Presents Research on Rapid Intensification of Hurricanes

Rapid intensification of hurricanes is a big challenge for forecasting – models cannot reliably predict rapid intensification even within 24 hours. The recent well-publicized cases include Hurricane Maria 2017 and Dora 2023 wreaked havoc in Puerto Rico and caused catastrophic fires in Maui. Nearly 75% of major hurricanes go through the phase of rapid intensification.

Kerry Emanuel (MIT) and Roger Lukas (UH) were among the first to emphasize the importance of studying the two-phase environment and microphysics at the air-sea interface under hurricanes. More recently NSU’s Physical Oceanography Laboratory (Halmos College of Arts and Sciences) in collaboration with the University of Miami, the University of Rhode Island, and the University of Hawaii linked the microphysics of the air-sea interface to the phenomenon of rapid intensification of hurricanes. This research has been published in several peer-reviewed journals. NSU’s Halmos College of Arts and Sciences Ph.D. student Breanna Vanderplow continues research in this new direction.

Breanna’s research focuses on the impact of surface-active materials (surfactants) on hurricane intensity and rapid intensification. She implemented a state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics model on an NSU supercomputer that allows simulation of microphysics down to scales of tens of micrometers. This model includes the effect of sea surface tension on sea spray and bubbles in up to Category 5 hurricanes.

Breanna presented her work at meetings in South Korea (organized by Korean Typhoon Center), at Heidelberg University, and at Princeton University. She received an award for the Outstanding Student Oral Presentation at the 35th American Meteorological Society Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology.

Breanna is planning to defend her dissertation work on this subject in early December 2023.

“I believe Breanna’s dissertation is on the level of the best U.S. and international oceanographic organizations. This work provides an important step toward better understanding of rapid intensification and development of a new generation of hurricane forecasting models. Breanna is a role model for the next generation of NSU students,” said Professor Alexander Soloviev, Ph.D., the physical oceanography laboratory lead and Breanna’s adviser.

Posted 11/26/23

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