Tossing Negative Thoughts Really Works

Rich Petty, professor and chair, psychology, is co-author of a new study finding that when people wrote down their thoughts on a piece of paper and then threw the paper away, they mentally discarded the thoughts as well. Some types of psychological therapy use variations of this concept by trying to get patients to discard their negative thoughts. But Petty said this is the first study he is aware of that has validated that approach.

 

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Geographer Authors New Book 

Joel Wainwright, associate professor, geography, is the author of a new book, Geopiracy: Oaxaca, Militant Empiricism, and Geographical Thought (Palgrave Pivot), a critique of the 'Bowman expeditions'—a project through which geographers with funding from the US Army are mapping the 'human terrain' of foreign lands.

Arts and Sciences Faculty Named AAAS Fellows

Ten arts and sciences faculty members have been elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Heather Allen, professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemisty; Donald Dean, professor emeritus, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Biao Ding, professor, Department of Molecular Genetics; Prabir Dutta, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; H. Lisle Gibbs, professor, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology; Randy Hodson, SBS Distinguished Professor, Department of Sociology; Michael Ibba, professor, Department of Microbiology and director, Ohio State Biochemistry Program; Susan Olesik, professor and chair, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Richard Pogge, professor and vice-chair, Department of Astronomy; and, Zhenchao Qian, professor and chair, Department of Sociology.

 

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Physicists Named American Physical Society (APS) Fellows  

Physics Professors Jim Beatty, Ralf Bundschuh and Yuri Kovchegov have been elected to the 2012 class of APS Fellows: Beatty for contributions to cosmic ray astrophysics, including leadership roles in design, construction, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory; balloon-borne studies of cosmic ray antiprotons and positrons; and searches for high energy neutrinos using radio techniques; Bundschuh for contributions to quantitative understanding of biophysical properties of nucleic acids and use of physical approaches in biological sequence analysis; and Kovchegov for contributions to understanding the structure and dynamics of strong color fields in nucleons and nuclei at high energies. Each year, elected APS Fellows number no more than 1/2 of 1% of society membership.

Anthropology Chair Appointed

Clark Spencer Larsen, Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and chair, anthropology, has been reappointed chair of the Department of Anthropology for another four-year term, beginning June 1, 2013, pending approval of the Ohio State University Board of Trustees. 

 

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Check Out/Contribute to EEOB Grad Students Research Projects via SciFund thru Dec. 16

Social Networking: Why fish need Facebook too: Jenn; Social Drama: How fish (and we) deal with conflicts in groups: Isaac; Sexy Shrimp & a lot of tentacle love: Ben. It’s just natural that Jenn Hellmann, Isaac Ligocki and Ben Titus, evolution, ecology and organismal biology graduate students, who study social behavior in fish, would use the power of social media to raise awareness and funding for their research projects.

 

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Call for Nominations – Harlan Hatcher Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award

Department chairs are invited to nominate a faculty member for the Harlan Hatcher Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award. This award recognizes full professors who have exceptional records in teaching, research, and service. In keeping with the university’s ongoing commitment to diversity, nominations of women and minority faculty members are strongly encouraged. The recipient will be awarded a $3,000 one-time grant in support of academic work. For a full description of the nomination process and a list of past recipients, please see: Harlan Hatcher Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award. Chairs should send an electronic copy of the nominee’s packet no later than Friday, January 11, 2013, to: Ann Rottersman.

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Summer Enrichment Program Call for Proposals

The Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center is requesting proposals from faculty and advanced graduate students for its 2013 Summer Enrichment Program for rising 9th and 10th graders June 10-14, 2013. This is a one-week, day program at the AAASCEC. The purpose of the camp is to help students develop critical thinking skills and to provide students with both an appreciation for and understanding of African American culture and history. Proposals should be one single-spaced page and include title, theme, goals and objectives, course outline, and a description of a final project to be presented on the last day of class. Proposals and curriculum vitae should be emailed to Sarah Twitty or sent to her attention at AAASCEC, 905 Mt. Vernon Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43203 by January 15, 2013.

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North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad

The North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO), an educational competition in linguistics for high school students, takes place at Ohio State on January 31, 2013. Practice sessions begin in early January. High school students are encouraged to sign up by early December.

December 6

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December 7

Research Methodologies in Literacy Studies; 12 pm, George Wells Knight House

 

Evolution of Human Nutrition Webcast; 1-5:30 pm

 

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December 9

Science Sundays: Jennifer Ouellette, Ready for Their Closeup: Scientists Go Hollywood; 3-4 pm, Ohio Union, US Bank Conference Theatre

Through December 14

Inosculation; Urban Arts Space, 50 W. Town St.

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See more events at artsandsciences.osu.edu/events