External Posts
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Professor of Mathematics Scott Taylor has a new book out. Introduction to Mathematics: Number, Space, and Structure (American Mathematical Society, 2023) is a textbook for courses (such as Colby's Mathematical Reasoning) that teach students to read, write, and construct mathematical proofs and logical arguments. In the book, "concepts are illustrated using both geometric and number examples, while frequent analogies and applications help build intuition and context in the humanities, arts, and sciences," according to the publisher. It is "designed to foster the mental flexibility and rigorous thinking needed for advanced mathematics ... and the main prerequisite is the willingness to engage in a new challenge."
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has coauthored an article titled "(Un)just post-disaster mobilities in small island developing states: Revisiting the patterns and outcomes of three major environmental disasters in the Caribbean." Published in the journal International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, the article qualitatively contextualizes the structural factors that affected mobilities following the eruption of the Soufriére Hills volcano in Montserrat in 1995, the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti in 2010, and the passage of Hurricane Irma across Barbuda in 2017. It calls for (1) more appropriately designed insurance products, (2) debt forgiveness to help increase fiscal space for response and recovery, and (3) the use of legal channels to make governments liable for unjust mobilities. Sonia Griffen '23 is the lead author. Her work was funded by the F. Russell Cole Student Research Fellowship and the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment.
As Mainers grappled with the financial impacts of a potential government shutdown, Assistant Professor of Government Nick Jacobs weighed in with the Portland Press Herald, while America braced for impact.
A national writer from the Washington Post devoted his entire column to recent research by Assistant Professor of Government Nick Jacobs. The topic of the piece was secession and the various factors driving its support, including the divisions and differences between states.
A story by Government Technology featured the work that Colby’s Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship are doing to prepare students for using AI in a wide range of career fields. The article referenced the College’s focus on getting “more students interested in AI technologies and related career paths in order to build AI literacy as early as possible.”
In CNET, a leading global technology publication, Alison Bates, assistant professor of environmental studies at Colby, explained state policies around power purchase agreements and utilities regulation among energy systems in the U.S.
The Kennebec Journal promoted a talk by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Crawford Professor of Religious Studies at Colby, on the role of Indian art, literature, and film as a glue for global connections ahead of the 37th annual Camden Conference, “INDIA: Rising Ambitions, Challenges at Home.”
Assistant Professor of Government Nicholas Jacobs authored the recently published paper "Seeing Red and Blue: Assessing How Americans Understand Geographic Polarization, Secession, and the Value of Federalism." In the first scholarly assessment of American’s contemporary views toward secession, Jacobs explores the growing divide between “red” and “blue” states, highlighting the increasing partisan polarization at the national level. Despite heightened talk of secession, the study contends that these sentiments might be more of an expressive partisanship driven by the growing concern over inter-state differences and the legitimacy of federalism, rather than an actionable drive toward separatism or civil war.
NPR’s Marketplace Morning Report aired two feature segments on Colby and the resurgence of Waterville. While the stories included a range of interviews, the first segment featured President David A. Greene, who talked about investing in the city, not for profit, but "to help stimulate something better for the community."
The second piece focused on the role of the arts, and highlighted the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, noting that it is a “complex you might expect in a top 10 city,” and will help establish the area "as the arts capital of northern New England."
Professor of Art Véronique Plesch participated in the 13th Conference of the International Association of Word and Image Studies “Sedimentation: Towards and Archaeology of Word and Image” that took place August 28-September 1 at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She organized and chaired a session with Augustto Cipriani (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte) on “Graffiti as Sedimentation / Graffiti como sedimentação” and presented a paper on “Naming and Seeing Graffiti.” She also organized and chaired a session with Catriona MacLeod (University of Chicago) on “Cutting and Pasting: New Approaches to Collage / Couper et coller : nouvelles approches sur le collage.” Jointly with MacLeod, she presented a paper titled “Prehistories of Collage.” In 2018–19, Augustto Cipriani spent six months at Colby working on his Ph.D. dissertation, which he defended in November 2021 with Plesch as the outside member of the committee.