Tag: Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

Halmos Faculty Examines Latin Music at Virtual Event Oct. 2

Jessica Muñiz-Collado, M.F.A., faculty in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, in the Halmos College of Art and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), will be the featured virtual presenter on Saturday, October 2, 2021, from 2 to 3 p.m. for the Broward County Library. Muñiz-Collado’ s presentation, “Same Yet Different,” will explore the similarities and differences in Latin Music.

Jessica Muñiz-Collado

Muñiz-Collado has performed and recorded with numerous musicians and artists including Grammy-nominated saxophonist Steve Elson, jazz vibraphonist Arthur Lipner, Cookie “Conga” Lopez, Anders Astrand, Jean Geoffroy, Ney Rosauro, and trumpet all-star John Walsh. She has also performed throughout North and South America, toured with the FROST Percussion Sextet in Japan, and was a guest lecturer and performer at the international music conference LeRock & L’Amour held at the Universite Paul-Valery in Montpellier, France.

At NSU, she has taught courses in composition, music production, and percussion. In addition, she directed the Mako Band, NSU Pep Band, and managed NSU Mako Records.

NSU Network Chat on Collaboration, October 22

Dean Holly Baumgartner

NSU Network Chats will present “Forming Interdisciplinary Collaborations at NSU,” featuring Holly Baumgartner, dean of the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences. The event, sponsored by Translational Research and Economic Development, will be held Friday, October 22, from noon to 12:45 p.m. via Zoom.

Center for the Humanities Honors Hispanic Heritage Month

The Center for the Humanities presents Barrios of America, a series celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and the immigrant stories that impact the landscape of South Florida’s diverse communities.

Here’s the lineup:

Foodways & the Immigrant Journey, with Chef Douglas Rodriguez

September 23, 7 p.m.

An evening with globally acclaimed chef and restaurateur Douglas Rodriguez. The Top Chef Master and “Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cuisine” will share food, stories, and insights about food experiences in social and cultural contexts.

Testimonio: Creative Writing Workshop

September 30 5 p.m.

NSU’s Dr. Yvette Fuentes and Professor Emeritus Kate Waites lead a creative writing workshop focusing on authentic memoirs based on immigrant and migrant stories, informed by the Latin American narrative tradition of witnessing.

The Post-Pandemic Futures of Latin Nations

October 7, 7 p.m.

An open forum, led by NSU faculty Drs. G. Nelson Bass and Ransford Edwards, along with Drs. Sallie Hughes and Calla Hummel, researchers with the University of Miami’s COVID Observatorio Project, in constructive dialogue on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latin American politics and economies.

All events are free and open to the public.  Sponsored by Florida Humanities and the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences.

Register here.

Mock-Injury Workshop Connects Theatre, Healthcare

During the Winter 2021 semester, B.A. in Theatre Technical Director and Adjunct Faculty Member Alexandra “Calypso” Hernandez taught an interdisciplinary workshop for students in THEA 2500: Healthcare Theatre, offered through the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, that brought together elements of medicine, theatre and humanity. The workshop offered students the opportunity to learn the art of moulage – the use of makeup to create mock injuries such as bruises, scars, and other skin abrasions for use in the training of healthcare professionals.

“The moulage workshop is not only fun and interactive but it integrates arts and sciences helping the college accomplish its mission,” said Bill Adams, professor and program director for the music and theatre programs.

Moulage provides a realistic instructional environment for students studying to become standardized patients (SP) in healthcare simulations. Students in the workshop learned how to provide essential feedback to the healthcare student rather than needing to imagine the pathology being examined in the simulation. This innovative approach using applied theatre is foundational in current healthcare training methodologies. Student standardized patients develop empathy for the patients they portray, and healthcare students benefit from the analytical focus on critical thinking skills observable in simulations.

For more information about THEA 2500: Healthcare Theatre and other courses offered through the B.A. in Theatre program, click here.

Halmos Faculty Present Juneteenth-inspired Panel Discussion

In June, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences writing, arts and politics faculty members joined together to present an interdisciplinary Juneteenth-inspired panel discussion for the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale titled “Looking Forward, Looking Back: Freedom, Afrofuturism and Reflections on Juneteenth.” The free virtual event took place on Saturday, June 19, and featured three Halmos College faculty members: Ransford Edwards, Ph.D., assistant professor of politics for the Department of Humanities and Politics; Kandy Lopez-Moreno, associate professor of art + design for the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts; and Rachel Panton, Ph.D., assistant professor of writing for the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts.

The event launched “Community Voices,” NSU Art Museum’s new initiative supported by the Community Foundation of Broward that focuses on exploring social and racial inequalities and challenging social structures, including representation in museums. “Looking Forward, Looking Back: Freedom, Afrofuturism and Reflections on Juneteenth” kicked off the series and examined the historical context of emancipation, as well as the ongoing tension between the rhetoric of recovery and an imagined and unenslaveable Black future in art, literature, and pop culture.

Learn more about the panel discussion and future “Community Voices” events for the NSU Art Museum by viewing WLRN’s news story here.

Wild Connection Interviews Halmos Environmental Faculty

Hoch researches barnacles in the lab.

This September, Halmos College environmental faculty member J. Matthew Hoch, Ph.D. was interviewed by Jennifer Verdolin’s “Wild Connection” Podcast. This podcast focuses on relationships and family dynamics of the animal kingdom and how that can apply to people.

Hoch spoke about his research on his current research: genital evolution and reproduction in fish and barnacles.

Verdolin is the author of two popular nonfiction science books, “Wild Connection: What Animal Courtship and Mating Tell Us About Human Relationships” and “Raised by Animals: The Surprising New Science of Animal Family Dynamics.” She draws on animal behavior to reveal how much we can learn from other species to improve our relationships, families, and lives. Her writing has appeared in Scientific American, Slate Magazine, The Washington Post, and National Geographic.

Halmos Faculty Interviewed on Afghanistan Evacuation

Dustin Berna, Ph.D.

Dustin Berna, Ph.D., associate professor of Conflict Resolution and Political Science in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), was interviewed on the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan by Stephen Loiaconi of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and appearing on ABC6. The is article is titled “As allies push Biden to extend Aug. 31 deadline, Taliban warns of consequences.”

Berna is a Middle East expert and his academic interests include Islamic fundamentalism, Middle Eastern politics, Islam, religious extremism, terrorism, suicide terrorism, anti-system extremism, political institutions, social movements, Islamic politics, and international conflict.

Access the article.

Halmos Faculty Co-Authors Article with Fischler Faculty

Santanu De, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Santanu De, M.Sc., Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), authored an article in The Quarterly Review of Distance Education with Vanaja Nethi, Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Education in the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.  The article is entitled, Impact of Science Mobile Applications on Interest and Learning among Undergraduate Science Students.

One of the challenges facing undergraduate science programs is keeping students interested in science and minimizing attrition from their discipline. Prior research shows that showcasing real-life applicability of science is one way to keep students interested. In this exploratory study using secondary data from two undergraduate science courses, we examined the impact of science mobile apps on students’ interest and learning. The results show empirically that students think science mobile apps do help increase their interest in science. Furthermore, the ubiquitous mobile phone allows 24/7 access to these science apps, enabling enhanced learning and mastery of scientific concepts.

De’s research interests include STEM education, pedagogy, reproductive physiology, developmental biology, cell biology, and protein biology. He is a member of  the Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS), an editorial board member of several journals including The American Journal of BioScience, and faculty adviser of  NSU’s Med-ED student medical organization.

For more information about the article

Halmos Faculty Provides Training on Verbal De-escalation

Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D.

Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D., director of the doctoral program, and associate professor in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), provided training to therapeutic staff at the Jewish Community Services of South Florida, Miami. McKay was invited to provide virtual training in July on verbal de-escalation. She focused on skills, strategies, and responses, particularly when dealing with clients and others in high conflict and crisis.

McKay is the faculty adviser to the Social Justice Roundtable and works with students in the community through Community Resolution Services, a practicum and volunteer site for DCRS. Conflict resolution Studies hosts Story Café, We Love our Families series, The Women’s Roundtable, and is involved in offering workshops, training for the county’s Crisis Intervention Teams, and other events for community groups and organizations.

McKay’s scholarly interests include conflict coaching, strategic community planning, and prevention and intervention in family, neighborhood, and organizational conflict and violence.  For more information about Conflict Resolution Studies events and how we can partner with your group, free to contact McKay at mckayj@nova.edu.

 

Halmos Researcher’s Efforts Focus on Visualizing Virus Variants

Associate Professor Louis R. Nemzer, Ph.D.

NSU Associate Professor Louis R. Nemzer, Ph.D., in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, developed a new method for visualizing amino acid substitutions in which changes in the physical and chemical properties are represented by vectors in a 3D space. While applicable to a wide range of biological applications, such as rational protein design, this work is particularly useful for understanding the behavior of COVID-19 variants and even predicting future threats.

Proteins are long chains of amino acids, and the most infamous today is certainly the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Random mutations cause changes to its amino acid sequence, which leads to variants that may spread more easily or more effectively evade the human immune system.

As part of his research on amino acid properties, Nemzer created a new way to visualize changes in novel variants, utilizing recently available data on SARS-CoV-2 immune escape, which measures how well they can hide from the host’s antibodies. In addition, results were used from site-saturation mutagenesis experiments, in which all possible amino acid substitutions at a particular site in the spike protein were tested for their impact on binding affinity with ACE2 receptors.

“We live in the era of big data in biology, and the key now is finding new ways to visualize this vast amount of information to make the best use of it,” Nemzer said.

In some diagrams, the colors of the vectors show the impact of the substitution, while dashed lines indicate changes that require at least two nucleotide mutations to happen. He showed that sometimes clusters of chemically similar amino acids can have similar effects, but in other situations, only a specific change – such as swapping a charged amino acid in place of a neutral one – significantly reduces the virulence. The work is available now as a bioRxiv preprint.

REFERENCES:

Nemzer, Louis R. “Visualizing Amino Acid Substitutions in a Physicochemical Vector Space.” bioRxiv (2021).

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