UGA News Roundup

The UGA College of Public Health will hold an open house on Sept. 23 at 2:30 p.m. in the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences. Everyone, on campus and in the community, is invited to attend.

This informational event will highlight the units in public health: biostatistics, disaster management, environmental health, epidemiology, global health, health policy and management, health promotion and behavior, and toxicology. Faculty will discuss degree requirements, current research projects and career opportunities.

“The College has grown tremendously during the past five years,” said Dean Phillip L. Williams. “The open house is an opportunity for us to share these developments, including new programs and degree options with prospective students.”

American historian, Duke University Professor Emeritus, and National Book Award nominee Peter Wood will give the 2011 Gregory Lecture in the UGA Chapel on Monday, Oct. 10, at 3:30 p.m. Wood’s free, illustrated talk, Near Andersonville, 1864: Stoneman’s Failed Raid and Homer’s Lost Picture, is open to the public.

Wood joined the Duke history department in 1975 and retired in 2008. He has held many prestigious fellowships, and he gave the Nathan I. Huggins Lectures in Afro-American Studies at Harvard, published by Harvard University Press in 2010 as Near Andersonville: Winslow Homer’s Civil War.

Wood will also spend Oct. 10 –14 at UGA as a visiting scholar in the history department of the Franklin College, hosting a graduate seminar. The Gregory Lecture is supported by the Amanda and Greg Gregory Civil War Era Studies Support Fund.

University Theatre will present a new adaptation of Calderón De La Barca’s romantic, adventurous masterpiece of the Spanish golden age, Life Is A Dream. Adapted by director Marla Carlson and Ph.D. theatre candidate George Pate, Life is a Dream runs in the Cellar Theatre of the Fine Arts Building Oct.11-16 at 8 p.m., with an additional 2:30 p.m. matinee on Oct. 16.

Written in the 1630s, Life is a Dream has long been celebrated by theatre historians and poets as one of the greatest works of drama, on par with William Shakespeare’s finest plays. This new adaptation explores the conflict between fate and destiny with an imprisoned prince, rebel armies, violence and forgiveness. Carlson and Pate’s adaptation nestles Life Is a Dream within a contemporary version of another golden age play, Cervantes’ Puppet Show. University Theatre’s Studio Series presents four productions each season in an intimate and stripped-down format. Life Is A Dream is the first offering of the series this season. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $7 for students, and can be purchased online, by phone at 706/542-4400, in-person at the Performing Arts Center box office or at the door before the show. For more information.

Dr. Toni Miles has been named the director of the University of Georgia’s Institute of Gerontology in the College of Public Health, effective Aug.1. Miles replaces Leonard Poon, who was director for 26 years.

Miles' expertise includes experience in geriatric medicine, public health and health care policy, with a focus on improving primary care delivery to older adults. In 2009, Miles served on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee during the development of the Affordable Care Act. She continues to assist state agencies and professional organizations as they implement various components of 2010’s health reform legislation.

Miles comes to UGA after serving as a tenured professor at the University of Louisville with joint appointments in the School of Medicine and the Kent School of Social Work. She is a nationally recognized scholar with more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers published, and fellow status in the Gerontological Society of America.

The 2012 MLK Freedom Breakfast will be held on Jan. 13 at 7:30 a.m. in the Grand Hall of the UGA Tate Student Center. The event is sponsored by UGA, the ACC local government and the CC School District to commemorate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each year, recipients of the President’s Fulfilling the Dream award are recognized. These awards highlight local citizens who have made significant efforts to build bridges of unity and understanding as they strive to make King’s dream of equality and justice a reality.

You can get a form and nominate someone by contacting UGA’s Office of Diversity or by visiting the website. You should describe the nominee’s contributions and provide one additional letter of recommendation. All documents must be submitted no later than Nov. 18. They should go to the UGA Office of Institutional Diversity, c/o the Awards Selection Committee, 119 Holmes Hunter Academic Building, Athens, GA 30602.