Panhia Lee

Student-developed software streamlines archaeological analysis

An interdisciplinary research team of Brown undergraduates led by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Parker VanValkenburgh developed a bilingual, tablet-based app for field and laboratory use.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] —Over three seasons excavating reducciones, or colonial planned towns, in Peru, Parker VanValkenburgh and his international research team collected tens of thousands of small ceramic sherds. Those tiny pieces of pottery, dating back hundreds of years, could shed light on the lives and habits of the indigenous populations forcibly resettled into towns by Spanish colonialists — what they ate, how they organized their living spaces and how they were connected to the rest of the world.

In such an endeavor, critical mass is both a key and an obstacle.

“A single sherd on its own is often mute, but with 80,000 sherds you notice patterns and establish lines of evidence that enable you to tell really interesting stories,” said VanValkenburgh, an assistant professor of anthropology at Brown University.

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Faculty awarded $173,800 Davis Grant, will engage community partners as co-educators to bolster civic learning

NEWPORT, R.I. (Sept. 27, 2016) – Salve Regina faculty this fall are launching work on a three-year, grant-funded plan to intentionally infuse community engagement and civic learning into the university’s curriculum, a process enriched by community partners as co-educators.

The $173,800 grant from the Davis Educational Foundation supports the formation of Faculty Learning Communities that, over the next three years, will expand efforts to increase faculty investment in community engaged scholarship, deepen student learning across the curriculum, and strengthen academic outcomes by developing interdisciplinary learning with meaningful input from community partners.

The project is co-managed at Salve Regina by Dr. Laura O’Toole, Senior Faculty Fellow for Community Engagement and Professor of Sociology, and Dr. Scott Zeman, Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs.

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Running with New Ideas at Reebok

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Grad student and longtime “sneaker head” Atulya Chaganty at Reebok’s headquarters in Canton, MA.

Atulya Chaganty MID 17 has loved everything about athletic shoes for as long as she can remember. “Eight-year-old me wanted to yell, ‘I want to be a sneaker designer when I grow up!’” but at the time she didn’t think her family would take that idea seriously. But in doing a summer internship with leading fitness apparel brand Reebok in Canton, MA, the Industrial Design grad student and longtime “sneaker head” got to fulfill a childhood wish – and explore a future in the field.

“Being able to come full circle and intern in an industry I daydreamed about when I was a little kid was really cool,” said Chaganty, who specialized in material investigation while working with Reebok’s Running Footwear Development team. Over the course of the 10-week internship, she participated in materials selection, field performance testing and other vital aspects of the research-and-development process for the company’s Spring/Summer 2017 line. She also enjoyed the fringe benefit of being the “lucky sample size” for testing prototypes.

What sets the sneakers Chaganty worked on apart from their predecessors or competitors? “I really can’t tell you!” she insists, but says that the end result proves Reebok’s willingness to “take bold risks with design” while also keeping an eye on green manufacturing practices. “We’ve gone from a world that didn’t think much about sustainability to one that wants to be hyper-sustainable,” says the designer, who was pleased to see a serious dedication to sustainability taking root throughout the organization.

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Open for innovation: Bryant celebrates new Academic Innovation Center

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The atmosphere on campus was electric as the Bryant University community joined President Ronald K. Machtley to celebrate the grand opening of Bryant’s Academic Innovation Center. The project broke ground just 16 months ago and opened for the first day of classes on September 6 — on time and under budget.

The new building is the culmination of an innovative development and design process five years in the making. It is a light-filled architectural masterpiece that was conceived and created by a team from multiple academic and professional disciplines who came together to reimagine and redefine higher education.

“We want to not only teach innovatively in this building, but also to imbue our students with the essential traits to become innovative leaders for the future,” said President Ronald K. Machtley.

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