Culturally Appropriate Marketing for Asian Communities

Soyeon Shim, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences. The role that culture and tradition play in the global marketplace is critical. It is not a small matter when we talk about this marketplace, particularly the Japanese market, where consumer purchasing power is one of the highest in the world. We have to understand products and consumption in the context of culture and tradition.

Student Designers Reaching Out to Communities

Corky Poster, Drachman Institute. The Drachman Institute has a significant community outreach program: students, faculty and staff of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture work directly with groups throughout Arizona to develop exciting design and planning ideas for affordable housing and community development. The talk will focus on the UA’s current design-build partnership with Habitat for Humanity, design in Shonto on the Navajo Reservation, and work with a variety of small cities and towns, neighborhoods, and community organizations.

Black Cat Got Your Tongue? The Evolution of Catwoman from DC Comics to Halle Berry

Deborah Whaley, Africana Studies. Deborah Whaley’s presentation will explore the character Catwoman in the comic books Batman, Catwoman, in her many media re-incarnations on television, and in film. Dr. Whaley examines the ways readers and producers of Catwoman created gender, sexual, racial, and economic narratives that appealed differently to male and female readers in a given historical moment.

Sequencing the Rice Genome: World Hunger Implications

Rod Wing, Plant Sciences. Rice is the most important food crop in the world and feeds half the population – a population that is expected to double within the next 25 years – leaving the enormous challenge to double the rice yields on less land, with less water and on poorer soils. How can genomics help to find solutions to such an important and critical issue? Dr. Wing describes how we sequenced the rice genome, the findings and how we are using this information to identify novel traits from the wild relatives of rice to improve cultivated rice.

Hispanics and Cancer: Making Sense of Disparities

Francisco Garcia, Arizona Health Sciences Center. Dr. Garcia discusses important differences in the incidence, mortality and outcomes associated with malignant disease among Hispanics.

Paddling in White Water

Peter Likins, UA President. What a great time to be a professor… Or a university president! In this knowledge-based global economy, education is more important and more valuable than ever before in human history. In a global economy driven by human discovery and innovation, research and invention have never been more important. So why do we feel abandoned? Why are we so undervalued by government? Why is government so undervalued by the people? What will happen if current trends persist?

Music and Emotional Healing

Alexander Tentser, Music. Musical activity exists in every culture regardless of its technological progress. Some musical pieces help people find better emotional equilibrium, and certain rhythmic patterns, different tonalities and other musical elements can affect mood and well-being.

Does TV Contribute to Childhood Obesity?

Dale Kunkel, Communication. Childhood obesity rates in the U.S. have tripled over the past 15-20 years. The Surgeon General has warned that if current patterns persist, obesity will surpass smoking as the nation's number one health threat within a decade. To what extent is TV advertising contributing to this growing problem?

Supporting LGBT Youth During the Coming Out Process

Stephen Russell, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences. What do we know about the coming out process? Important contexts exist for the development of LGBT youth: family, religion, and school. Dr. Russell shares his research on these contexts, and on the adjustments that take place for the individual and his/her relationships at home and school.

Facing the Facebook Phenomenon: The Impact of Cyber Communities

William Broussard, Dean of Students Office. Panelists: UAPD Public Information Officer, Sergeant Gene Mejia; Becky Bell, Director, Cats Life Skills; Fernando Ascencio, ASUA; and Kevin Barker, ASUA. Topic: by technological standards, email is rapidly becoming an outdated method of communicating among students, replaced not only by text messages and blogs, but by the relatively new phenomenon of virtual communities such as MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook. How do students use these communities?

Encourage, Enrich, Empower: The Three E's for Classroom Diversity

Kathleen Gabriel, University Teaching Center. The Three E’s (encourage, enrich, empower) for an inclusive classroom: this workshop explores various techniques for creating a positive classroom environment which embraces diversity and promotes inclusion and respect for all.

Why Is Mexico Poorer Than the United States?

Oscar Martinez goes beyond long-held stereotypes and ideologically-driven interpretations to uncover the fundamental forces that have shaped Mexico's economy and society. Numerous comparisons and contrasts with the U.S. make clear the unique circumstances in which our neighboring country has evolved while illuminating our understanding of contemporary conditions.