Dialog, UA Faculty and Staff News

Anthropology Professor Receives Fulbright to India
Jon Chalmers Named Rural Services Director
CCS Grants Certificates of Completion to First Graduating Class of RN Refresher Course

Anthropology Professor Receives Fulbright to India

Dr. Charles W. Nuckolls

The Council for International Exchange of Scholars announced recently that Dr. Charles W. Nuckolls, professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a yearlong Fulbright Fellowship for teaching and research in India for the 2003-04 academic year.

As "Distinguished Professor" at Andhra University, in Waltair, Andhra Pradesh, Nuckolls will develop a new program in psychological anthropology, the first in South Asia. He will also conduct a research project on the effects of a tidal wave and cyclone that struck the eastern coast of India in 1977. Over 30,000 people died, and Nuckolls will study the effects of mass death and dislocation on the same community where he lived when the cyclone struck.

Nuckolls received his A.B. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and taught previously at Emory University, in Atlanta. In 1989, he won the Stirling Award in Psychological Anthropology, for a project on shamanism and divination in South India. He has published four books on topics ranging from Asian medical systems to American psychiatry. His new book is a study of Japanese nationalism through the medium of "cartoons." When he returns from India, he plans to write a book on the long-term effects of natural disaster on the low-caste fishing community he studies in India.

Jon Chalmers Named Rural Services Director

Jon Chalmers

Dr. Nancy Barrett, UA provost and vice president for academic affairs, recently named Jon Chalmers director of the University's Program for Rural Services and Research. Chalmers has served as interim director of PRSR since the retirement of former director Dr. Jack Shelton in January.

"We are pleased that Jon will continue to lead the PRSR program and build upon the excellent foundation laid by Dr. Shelton," Barrett said. "Jon's years of service with PRSR, both as a student and staff member, provide him with the skills necessary to lead the University's efforts in service to rural Alabamians."

PRSR works collaboratively with rural communities in Alabama to identify and address their local, regional, and statewide issues of concern related to community/economic development, education, health, and cultural documentation. PRSR programs include the Student Coalition for Community Health, the Alabama Online High School, and the nationally recognized PACERS Small Schools Cooperative.

Chalmers has been with PRSR since 1992 when, as a UA student, he served as a worker in one of the Program's community health fairs. Prior to being named interim director, he had served for the past two years as PRSR assistant director where he directed such projects as the Alabama Online High School (AOHS). Chalmers' previous responsibilities have included PACERS program manager and PACERS program coordinator.

"Beyond advocacy, Rural Services has crafted programs that address fundamental equity issues in rural communities. Our focus will be to continue to use our strengths of local organizing and information technology to address fundamental questions of economic development, education, and community health," said Chalmers.

Chalmers received his bachelor's degree from UA and his master's degree from Harvard University.

CCS Grants Certificates of Completion to First Graduating Class of RN Refresher Course

Eighteen graduates completed UA's RN Refresher Course this spring. The RN Refresher Course provides a concise review of professional nursing to facilitate return to active nursing practice or transition to positions of acute care.

The course is sponsored by UA's Capstone College of Nursing and College of Continuing Studies in cooperation with the DCH Health System, Montclair Baptist Medical Center, Princeton Baptist Medical Center, Shelby Baptist Medical Center, Shelton State Community College, and the University of West Alabama. All sessions in this program have been approved by the Alabama Board of Nursing and Alabama State Nurses Association.

The course is one way of addressing a critical nursing shortage in the area and region. "I have always loved patient care and have missed nursing over the past 10 years. The refresher course was a direct path to re-enter the nursing profession," said graduate Marla Newman. "I met other RN's who shared my goal of returning to patient care." The RN Refresher course is offered every fall and spring. Fall 2002 dates are October 14-November 1; spring 2003 dates are May 12-May 30. For further information about the program, contact Registration Services at 348-3000.

Graduates of UA's RN Refresher Course

Members of the first graduating class include: Front row (l-r) -- Cindy Baune, Huntsville; Anita Tu, Tuscaloosa; Diane Bryant, Moody; Regina Parker-Brand, Birmingham; Rise Lowery, Huntsville. Back Row (lr) -- Emily Hollingsworth, Greensboro; Suzanne Sager, Myrtlewood; Marcia Pigott-Chadick, Birmingham; Diane B. Mattison, Tuscaloosa; Marla Newman, Birmingham; Patricia Ulmer, Montgomery; Laura Collum Roberson, Oneonta; Diane C. Hinson, Birmingham; Amanda R. Deter, Birmingham; Katherine Battle, Dawsonville, Ga.; Nicky Walton, Greensboro; Elizabeth Lattanzi, Montgomery.