Accolades

Anthropology Students Awarded Prestigious NSF Dissertation Grants

Toni Copeland

Meredith Jackson

Sarah Szurek

Three doctoral graduate students in UA’s department of anthropology have been awarded prestigious National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grants for the 2007-2008 academic year.

Toni Copeland of Tuscaloosa; Meredith Jackson of Tifton, Ga.; and Sarah Szurek of Watertown, N.Y. received a total of more than $38,000 in grants to support their dissertation research in the fields of cultural and medical anthropology.

The three awards were the second largest number received by any university. Four students at the University of Chicago received the NSF Award. Only 50 were awarded nationwide.

“The NSF grant is one of the most prestigious and competitive awards in the country with a very rigorous and detailed application process,” said Dr. Michael Murphy, professor and chairman of the department of anthropology in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Murphy said the awards also are significant because UA’s doctoral program in anthropology, which began in 2003, is much smaller and younger than other doctoral programs in anthropology that received the student grants.

Copeland received a grant of $14,320 to conduct research for her dissertation, “Poverty and HIV-Positive Women in Nairobi, Kenya: Cultural Models of Managing HIV/AIDS in the Absence of Biomedical Treatment.” Copeland will analyze whether an association exists between the length of time women have lived in Nairobi and their knowledge of the shared cultural model of managing their illness.

Szurek received a grant of $12,345 for her dissertation, “Cultural Models of Food and Social Networks among Mexican Immigrants in the Southeast United States.” Szurek is interviewing members of the Mexican immigrants living in Tuscaloosa in order to learn about how their dietary practices have changed since leaving Mexico. She also is planning to travel to Mexico to research dietary practices.

Jackson received a grant of $11,997 for her dissertation, “Cultural Models, Stress and Pregnancy Outcomes: Examining Intra-cultural Variation in Jalisco, Mexico.” Jackson has interviewed women from remote rural villages to westernized metropolitan shopping malls around Jalisco to determine if shared cultural models of a culturally-defined “good” pregnancy exist in this area.

Through her research, Jackson will determine if a woman’s ability to follow the accepted model of a good pregnancy is associated with physical and mental health. Jackson hopes that her research will improve prenatal care in Jalisco and other regions of Mexico.

Dr. Kathy Oths, professor of anthropology at UA, serves as the students’ doctoral adviser.

The National Science Foundation’s Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, Division of Social and Economic Sciences, and Division of Science Resources Statistics award the grants to doctoral students to improve the quality of dissertation research. They provide funds for data-gathering and field research. Awards are based on the scientific merit of the students’ research proposal, the theoretical importance of the research question and the data and methodology that will be used to address the question.

Olin Appointed to Pearson Strategic Advisory Board

Dr. Robert F. Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed to a newly established strategic advisory board for Pearson Education, the world’s leading educational and professional publisher.

Pearson Education, a division of Prentice-Hall Publishing Inc., provides scientifically research-based print and digital programs to help students learn at their own pace, in their own way.

Pearson formed the Strategic Advisory Board to guide the company in changing its corporate focus from traditional texts to technology/content learning. As an adviser, Olin will help recommend policies and strategies that will enhance Pearson’s commitment to educational institutions to improve student learning.

At the first Strategic Advisory Board conference to be held in Boston Nov.15-16, Olin will discuss developments with UA’s Math Technology Learning Center. The 420-computer laboratory uses educational software to address the obstacles students face by replacing traditional lectures with interactive computer programs and personal tutoring, allowing students to learn math at their own pace.

The board consists of approximately 20 senior executives from two-year and four-year academic institutions. Advisers have a two-year commitment and will meet twice a year with other board members as well as conduct virtual conference meetings.

Olin has been nationally recognized for his achievements in the application of educational technology. During his 25-year career as a professor of mathematics at Virginia Tech, Olin founded the Math Emporium, the first computer-based student laboratory in the United States.

Pearson offers educational programs for K-12, higher education, and professional education. Pearson Education began in 1998 when Pearson plc, a global media company, purchased Simon & Schuster educational operations that include Prentice Hall, Allyn & Bacon and Macmillan Publishing USA. Pearson’s other operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

Carter Institute Honors Burgio with Caregiver Research Award

Dr. Louis Burgio, left, is congratulated by former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn Carter.

Dr. Louis Burgio, University Distinguished Research Professor at UA, has received the 2007 Rosalynn Carter Caregiving Leadership Award, the highest award in the caregiving field presented by the Institute.

Burgio received the award at the Institute’s First National Summit, held recently at Georgia Southwestern State University. The summit was attended by former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn Carter.

Burgio received the award jointly with Irene Collins, executive director of the Alabama Department of Senior Services, for their work with the Alabama REACH Intervention Project. The award included a check for $20,000 to be used in the REACH project.

REACH, which stands for Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health, investigates interventions to alleviate caregiver stress and burden that are equally effective for African-American, Caucasian and Hispanic caregivers. For the past 12 years, UA has been one of six national REACH intervention sites.

A recognized expert in the areas of gerontology and geropsychology, Burgio has received continued funding from the National Institute of Health since 1990. He has conducted research in the care of aging and geriatric patients and in the factors that affect quality of life in elderly patients in community and nursing home settings. In August, he also received a grant award from the Rosalynn Carter Institute to implement components of a program to train family caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients.