Medievalitas

Once again, a meaningful and moving ceremony for this year's award winning ROTC students from Navy and Air Force. Happy to represent Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

This spring, we moved the semesterly tradition of the Hall Scholar Breakfast to the Alumni House to celebrate Col. Steven and Pamela Hall's philanthropy, financial and mentoring support that smoothes the path of so many of our undergraduate students. The current President of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, Dene Sheheane (Mgt '91), greeted our guests.

A great Saturday morning at the Parents & Family Programs Spring Reunion , which brings together students, parents, and grandparents. The academic panel, which negotiated questions about student success, how to find one's place at a large research institutions, and the future of education and AI, was moderated by AVP/Dean of Students John Stein. I represented Ivan Allen College, and with me on the panel were: Dr. Matthieu Bloch, Associate Dean, COE, Dr. Cam Tyson, Assistant D

Our Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, in collaboration with the Georgia Tech Library, annually celebrates authors and editors of book-length publications. While engineers and computer scientists are better known for sharing their research via articles and conference proceedings, many of them do write and publish and edit books (including fiction and poetry). And of course faculty from the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts lead the parade on scholarly book

There are events that warm your heart and remind you of the full scope and meaning of belonging to an academic institution. Our "Voices of the Community" group, part of the Georgia Tech Strategic Planning area "Culture of Excellence," offered us such a moment in time. We are working on creating a collaborative body that amplifies the voices of faculty, postdocs, staff, and students to foster belonging, connection, and open communication across the Institute. Amazing colleague

Looking for some reliable information about how to navigate academic publishing? Well this article, by journalist Pearl Kaplan ( Tech Square Atlanta ) offers a great overview of the discussions and hints offered during our recent event, Navigating Scholarly Publishing, by the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Read it here: Bookmark This: Editors Share Insights for Success in Academic Publishing

Had a great time welcoming the participants of the 65th Meeting of the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies on behalf of Ivan Allen College. The event was expertly hosted by Georgia Tech School of Modern Languages colleagues Paul Foster and Amanda Weiss. The evening keynote speaker, Dr. Minxin Pei (Tom and Margot Pritzker ‘72 Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College), asked “How US-China Engagement Turned into a Ne

What do you get when you bring eight top editors of scholarly journals and presses together with Master and PhD students, Postdocs, and Faculty of all ranks? Well, we had such an event in Ivan Allen College recently, called Editor-in-Chief Summit: Navigating Academic Publishing : In a first section, I had a chance to serve as moderator as the editors-in-chief presented their best practices for success in scholarly publishing; in a second section, each editor met with groups

Today's motto, on MLK Day 2026, thanks to Atlanta's Carter Center, and befitting all those who labor tirelessly in the vineyard of "a finer world to live in." Work in and for the liberal arts is a vital part for this effort.

I love how our colleagues blend science and art/fiction to create student success: Cosmic Missteps , a new art-and-science series hosted by a cross-disciplinary group of Georgia Tech scholars, including science fiction Lisa Yaszek and funded by Georgia Tech’s new Space Research Program. The goal of Cosmic Missteps  is to normalize failure for students and to highlight the very real beauty of failure as a regular—and generative—part of scientific inquiry and technological de

About 20 years ago, I started thinking about writing for and communicating with broader audiences, to be a public humanist, specifically a public medievalist. Being part of the Inaugural Georgia Humanities Speaker Circuit with a topic on ‘Medieval Atlanta’ is a dream come true. The Circuit is a new statewide speakers bureau celebrating the diverse stories, histories, cultures, and civic traditions of Georgia. Created in honor of  America250 , the Circuit brings exceptional h

I have delivered keynotes and plenaries at many professional conferences, but yesterday's keynote at our ROTC Army Commissioning ceremony was special, and a first. Honored to be invited to speak, and tried to keep it concise and clear (against the deformation that comes from being a 'wordy' English professor). Thanks to LCL Brad Morgan, Master of Ceremony CPT Kiana Myers, and the entire Georgia Tech Stinger Battalion for their warm welcome and organizational skill. And the co

Have been working on bringing together the editors of some of the top journals in our six academic schools, plus editors at UGA Press and Sage Publishing. The goal is to engage our faculty and graduate students with experienced professionals in academic publishing. Really looking forward to this event in January. Participating Editors John Beavers , Editor, Language Sam Bell , Editor, International Studies Quarterly David Bradford , Editor, Health Economics Julia Flanders , E

Very moving ceremony called "change of command" and "retirement " today for the commanding officer of the Atlanta Region NROTC, J.A. "Tony" Rodriguez, who has been a great leader at Georgia Tech and Morehouse College over the last four years. He celebrates 31 years in the Navy, and was a trusted collaborator for the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts dean and leadership cohort. If you should like to see Captain Rodriguez in "academic action," take a look at his presentation d

Wonderful event under the golden dome of the Georgia Capitol to honor the recipients of the Governor's Arts & Humanities Awards, organized by the Georgia Council for the Arts and Georgia Humanities . Richly deserving individuals, associations, and groups, including the members of the Atlanta Drum Academy (see below), who performed at the event.

For anyone looking at the higher ed sector right now, it is as clear as is the summer sun that the liberal arts at technological institutions are not suffering from the application and enrollment losses characteristic of the humanities and (to some degree) behavioral and social sciences. Our degree programs at Georgia Tech, for example, show a significant ROI advantage (graduates earn more), learning advantage (they are highly satisfied), and future-proof (they find position

I had the chance of working on this interview/podcast in 2024 as the inaugural issue for University Business Magazine's new podcast series, ushering in convos that would soon include the likes of Lynn Pasquerella , president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Thomas Ehlrich , president of Indiana University, Ozlem Kilic , inaugural dean of the University of Tennessee’s College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies , and Antonio Flores , presi

The Fulbright Program's mission is to increase mutual understanding and support friendly and peaceful relations between the United States and other countries through educational and cultural exchange. Founded by President Harry S. Truman in 1946, it aims to foster a more peaceful world by bringing more knowledge, reason, and compassion into international affairs. This is achieved by providing opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to study, teach, lecture, a

Have you ever wondered about what attracts us scholars to take up an area in which we are absolute beginners, to start from scratch and take a risk although it would be more comfortable to remain 'disciplined' and apply the same scholarly paradigms throughout one's entire career? I recently published a piece with University Business Magazine. It's a QUICK READ at c. 600 words. Denominators: David Epstein, Range (2021); Hannah Arendt & natality; amateurs & dilettantes; Vanne

We would rather be ruined than changed We would rather die in our dread Than climb the cross of the moment And let our illusions die. W.H. Auden, who wrote an entire book-length poem about anxiety, expresses pretty well here what many colleagues in the humanities feel these days. I contributed a piece to Inside Higher Ed that explains this anxiety and discusses what the humanities can and cannot deliver when it comes to their role in higher education. Would we Rather the Hum