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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

CAS faculty named AAAS fellows

Eight WSU faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, including six in the College of Arts and Sciences:

  • Sue Clark, regents professor of chemistry
  • Daryll DeWald, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
  • Herbert Hill Jr., regents professor of chemistry
  • Ursula Mazur, professor of chemistry and materials science
  • Kenneth Nash, professor of chemistry
  • Michael Skinner, professor of biological sciences

Also named a fellow this year is psychology alumnus John Roll, professor of nursing and associate dean for faculty affairs in the WSU College of Nursing.

You may read more details at the WSU News Center.

WSU professor in Ireland thrust into election coverage

Matthew Sutton
Matthew Sutton

By Darin Watkins, WSU News

The U.S. presidential race has captured the attention of people around the world, especially in Europe. As millions of Americans head to the polls, foreign media have ramped up their coverage.

Washington State University’s Matthew Sutton has found himself at the center of this interest in American politics. An associate professor of history, Sutton is on a Fulbright scholarship in Ireland lecturing on American cultural, political, and religious history at the University College Dublin.

What has attracted the media to Sutton is his background in writing about American politics.

In an interview on “RTE Morning Ireland,” Sutton was asked why the two presidential candidates seem to be avoiding the big issues rather than facing up to them in their campaigns.  Continue story →

CAS in the media: November 2, 2012

Elections and politics

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Professor collaborates on ‘roadmap’ to interstellar space travel

Book coverBy Robert Strenge, WSU News

To Washington State University astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch and seven of his space-minded colleagues in an initiative called Star Voyager, it has never been enough for humans to simply dream about traveling to the stars. To them, interstellar travel is not so much a dream as it is an ultimate ambition.

With the release this month of their book, How to Develop the Solar System and Beyond: A Roadmap to Interstellar Space, the eight collaborators—scientists, engineers, economists, and assorted other professionals—lay out mankind’s plausible pathways to the stars. They present multiple scenarios for mankind’s space-faring future over the next hundred years, providing a comprehensive overview of the human, technological, and financial challenges of interstellar travel.

Among the first manned starship proposals, the Star Voyager Roadmap describes potential scenarios for our space faring future. From the development of earth-orbital operational platforms to systems of asteroid capture and deflection, the book describes the strategies and resource developments that will support and contribute to the overall goal of achieving interstellar travel. As with previous advances in space-focused technologies, new interstellar travel technologies will have benefits that advance science and technologies across the globe. Continue story →

Zombie craze mirrors modern-day anxieties, says WSU expert

By Linda Weiford, WSU News

A Washington State University expert on monsters says today’s zombie craze is a reflection of our own anxieties about death and the grind of day-to-day life.

“In literature and in film, stories about zombies are less about the zombies and more about ourselves,” said Michael Delahoyde, clinical associate professor of English, who has taught undergraduate classes about monsters and culture for more than two decades.

Cultural phenomenon

The American public’s interest in zombies has been on the rise since George Romero’s 1968 cult-classic “Night of the Living Dead,” but only in the past decade has it skyrocketed. Consider the movies released since 2002 – “28 Days Later,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “I am Legend,” among dozens.  Continue story →