Scholarship and Academic Life

The UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture will receive a $10,000 National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Challenge America grant to support programming by the Projective Eye Gallery for the “KEEPING WATCH on WATER: City of Creeks” project. The NEA received 347 eligible Challenge America applications and will award 163 grants for a total of $1.63 million.

Associate professor Spencer Salas will spend most of December in Oman to continue professional development efforts with that country’s K-12 teachers.

The UNC Charlotte Urban Education Collaborative recently organized and convened a two-day International Conference on Urban Education (ICUE) in Montego Bay, Jamaica, for a group of about 500 educators. The theme of this year’s conference was “Building and Sustaining Global Partnerships for Learning and Development.”

Nearly 70 nontraditional students were recognized for their academic achievements during the annual scholarship luncheon held by the Office of Adult Students and Evening Services (OASES).

Twenty-seven of the honorees were awarded Osher Reentry Scholarships established through an endowment by the Bernard Osher Foundation, and 11 students were recognized with the Carol Ann Douglas Reentry Scholarship. Also, for the first time, the Foundation for the Carolinas provided support for the ANSWER and Gratitude Endowment scholarships.

A capacity crowd of more than 325 people recently attended a Personally Speaking Lecture in which James Tabor, professor of religious studies, spoke about the influence of the Apostle Paul.

“The foundations of Western civilization rest in a singular way on the heavenly visions of the Apostle Paul,” said Tabor. “In a way, we are the cultural heirs of Paul.”

UNC Charlotte senior Jameka Parker has been recognized for outstanding leadership and service by North Carolina Campus Compact, a statewide network of colleges and universities committed to community engagement. Parker is a recipient of the Community Impact Student Award, which honors one student leader at each member school.

Parker, from Fayetteville, is one of 18 students across the state to receive the 2014 award, joining more than 200 college students honored by the organization since the award was first presented in 2006.

Rob Bates, a senior in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program, has entered the competition for the official poster of the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championship being held in Greensboro.

Jurors will select the top three submissions by Dec. 15 with the first-place entry to be the official poster design. The public can vote for the People’s Choice Award winner online, which comes with a $750 award.

The statistics are startling: one in four women will be a victim of domestic violence at some point in her life in America.* On average, three women are killed by a current or former intimate partner every day.**

While the emotional devastation of domestic violence on victims and their families is incalculable, a new study by researchers at UNC Charlotte attempts to quantify the hard costs. The study reveals a staggering $307 million annual price tag for domestic violence in North Carolina.

Delane Vanada, assistant professor of art education and visual studies, will be among a delegation of art education researchers who will travel to Helsinki, Finland, in early November to conduct research about art education policy and practice in Finnish schools and communities.

The University Career Center for Work, Service and Internships is cosponsoring a “Peace Corps Alumni Panel and Information Session” at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the College of Health and Human Services, Room 376.

UNC Charlotte alumni will share their experiences about living and working in communities overseas as part of their Peace Corps service, and local recruiter Deborah Buckley will provide information about the advantages of being a Peace Corps volunteer.