Category Archives: Research News

FLL Major to Receive Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

Spanish Major James David Turner is one of three NC State students to receive the prestigious 2014 Goldwater Scholarship.  According to the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation’s press release,

The Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,166 mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. One hundred seventy-two of the Scholars are men, 111 are women, and virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their degree objective. Twenty-two Scholars are mathematics majors, 191 are science and related majors, 63 are majoring in engineering, and 7 are computer science majors. Many of the Scholars have dual majors in a variety of mathematics, science, engineering, and computer disciplines.

James is completing his Junior year and is a Major in both Mechanical Engineering and Spanish.  He is also a Park Scholar and a member of the University Honors Program. In 2011, James was also named US Presidential Scholar.  James has worked in the laboratory of MAE faculty Dr. Yong Zhu.  In addition to Dr. Zhu, James’s references included Drs. Timothy Shafer (EPA) and Jeffrey Eischen (NC State Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering).

Congratulations to James!

Sources: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News & Goldwater Scholarship Foundation

By FLL Webmaster

Virtual Symposium Marks Milestone for NC State’s Latin American Studies Journal

Symposium

A Contracorriente’s Editor Dr. Greg Dawes (center) converses with FLL Head Dr. Ruth Gross and distinguished guest and keynote speaker Dr. John Beverley (University of Pittsburgh). Photo courtesy of S. F. Sotillo.

When NC State’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures founded a journal on Latin American studies in 2003, it was one of the first online, open access scholarly publications of its kind. A Contracorriente recently marked its tenth anniversary in a similarly technologically advanced style.

Faculty associated with the journal hosted a virtual symposium on Latin American studies using advanced videoconferencing technology to gather scholars from locations across the United States and Latin America. They covered topics related to Latin American and Spanish literature, cultural studies, history, politics and indigenous people, among others.

Two distinguished keynote speakers were also on hand: the University of Oregon’s social historian Carlos Aguirre and the University of Pittsburgh’s cultural critic John Beverley.

Aguirre talked about the circumstances surrounding the violent war between the Peruvian government and the Maoist guerrilla organization Shining Path during the mid-1980s. Beverley addressed the relationship between the humanities and the concept of equality from Rousseau to the present day. Both keynote lectures were broadcast live through NC State’s Youtube channel.

A Contracorriente editor and NC State Professor Greg Dawes and Ruth Gross, professor and head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures addressed the virtually assembled group to share the journal’s history and the role the publication plays in the department and around the globe. Here’s to the next ten years!

Original story by Samuel Sotillo (FLL Lecturer/Webmaster). Lauren Kirkpatrick (CHASS Director of Communication) contributed to this story.