WFU in the news: Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2023

FEATURED NEWS

The social classroom
By Beckie Supiano | The Chronicle of Higher Education
Asking students to work together in class is a hallmark of an active-learning classroom, but it’s not the only way to use groups to build community. Since he became a professor in 2018, philosophy professor Francisco Gallegos has put students into small discussion groups and asked them to meet outside of class, using a format adapted from a consulting company where he had worked before. He teaches courses that are usually capped at either 18 or 28 students. – 11/02/2023

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

In Peru, a 20-year study charted Amazon forests and revealed how warming has changed them
By Barbara Fraser | Science Magazine
The effort, known as the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group involves researchers has produced thousands of data points and scores of publications that have offered new insights into how warming and drying are reshuffling tropical ecosystems. Many of the students who helped hack out the original study plots went on to earn doctorates and academic posts and are now helping train a new generation of Peruvian scientists. The initiative became a “cradle of biologists,” said William Farfán-Ríos, a Peruvian ecologist at Wake Forest University who was one of those machete-wielding students. WFU ecologist Miles Silman and WFU graduate Kenneth Feeley are also included in this story. – 11/02/2023

Americans have a right to guns. How about to public peace?
By Patrik Jonsson | Christian Science Monitor
Sociology professor David Yamane, a gun owner and scholar, said: “This is an incredibly fraught and emotionally trying issue. You’re balancing between individual rights and the common good. What sorts of individual sacrifices do we make as fellow citizens in order to try to achieve some greater public safety?” – 11/01/2023

Ahead of COP28, pope spurs policymakers, faith leaders to push climate action
By Justin Catanoso | Mongabay
Journalism professor Justing Catanoso writes: “In his October 4 papal declaration, Pope Francis called unequivocally for climate action in the face of a disastrously warming world. The pope’s message comes at a decisive time, as world leaders prepare to meet for the COP28 summit, in a United Nations climate process that many critics say is broken and has largely stalled since the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.” Catanoso is a regular contributor to Mongabay. – 10/31/2023

Fight over Black land loss comes to one grandmother’s front door
By Patrik Jonsson | Christian Science Monitor
“We live in a country which has always seen land as the major source of wealth, and, as a result, there are a bunch of people both empowered and disempowered – we’re now living with 300 years of that having played out,” said law professor Scott Schang, director of the Heirs’ Property Project at Wake Forest University. “What’s changed is suddenly some people have rights again, and now you’re trying to untangle a legal system that tries very hard to make sure property ownership is clear and uninterrupted – and that’s clashing with people trying to save not only their wealth but also their sense of identity and culture.” – 11/03/2023

Being humble about what you know is just one part of what makes you a good thinker
By Eranda Jayawickreme | Discover Magazine
What does it mean to be a good thinker? Recent research suggests that acknowledging you can be wrong plays a vital role. But is being humble about what you know or don’t know enough? I now think my recommendation was incorrect. It turns out good thinking requires more than intellectual humility – and, yes, I see the irony that admitting this means I had to draw on my own intellectual humility. – 10/30/2023

Expanding the science of honesty: Key insights on honesty’s impact and cultivation
By Frederick Jameson | Bollyinside
The Honesty Project, a three-year exploration of the truth about honesty led by Wake Forest University, has concluded. The project aimed to improve our understanding of honesty and its importance in individuals, organizations, and societies. It found that honesty is widely regarded as an important virtue and ranked number one among 60 different characteristics. – 10/31/2023

REGIONAL & TRADE

Halloween at Wake Forest
By Kaye Paddyfote | Spectrum News Charlotte
As Halloween creeps up on us and most kids prepare to go trick-or-treating Tuesday, other events around the state have been helping kids celebrate the holiday. Project Pumpkin, a student-led fundraiser, has raised more than $5,000 Isabelle Zeidner has been involved with the initiative for three years The money raised goes towards the Wake Forest University Freedom SchoolWake Forest University held its annual Project Pumpkin event and raised more than $5,000. – 10/30/2023

LOCAL

Reynolda announces the Brown Family Greenhouse and Reynolda Welcome Center
By Scott Carpenter | Yes! Weekly
Through a generous donation from Malcolm and Patricia Brown, the restoration process will return this architectural gem to its original glory and simultaneously update the functionality and efficiency of the greenhouse with modern control systems. The impact of these improvements will allow greater efficiency in operating the greenhouse while using the spaces for elegant exhibitions of plant species and special seasonal displays and events. The restored greenhouse will reopen as the Brown Family Greenhouse in late spring 2024. – 10/30/2023

For Guilford, ‘changes are relatively minimal’ in new voting maps
By Richard Craver | Greensboro News & Record
The outlook appears promising for N.C. House and Senate incumbents serving Forsyth and Guilford counties following the passing of the latest Republican-drawn legislative redistricting maps. The adding of Black voters to Lowe’s Senate district in lieu of white voters “is the one complaint I have heard in debate” on the legislative redistricting maps, said politics professor John Dinan, a national expert on state legislatures. – 10/30/2023

Local man competes on The Price Is Right
By Judie Holcomb-Pack | WS Chronicle
For Harold Holmes, the number 13 was his lucky number during a recent visit to California where he was invited to “Come on down” to compete in The Price Is Right. Harold is the former dean and associate vice president of Wake Forest University and has continued to work there since his retirement. He is active in Leadership Winston-Salem and is a past Seven Over Seventy award recipient. – 11/02/2023

WAKE FOREST NEWS

Expanding the science of honesty
By Cheryl V. Walker | Wake Forest News
The Honesty Project, a three-year exploration of the truth about honesty led by Wake Forest University, concluded this month. The result: a better understanding of when and how to be honest and of what fosters honesty in individuals, organizations and societies. “Honesty is widely regarded as an important virtue,” said Christian B. Miller, project director and A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest. – 10/31/2023

Face to Face with Daymond John: ‘Be honest and have tough discussions ’
By Kim McGrath | Wake Forest News
As a Star of ABC’s “Shark Tank” and CEO of The Shark Group, as well as founder & CEO of FUBU, and Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, Daymond John knows how to bring together people with different ways of thinking, different talents and the skills to help build an idea from the ground up. “There’s a misunderstanding that entrepreneurs are strong, bold and harsh people who have it all figured out,” he said at at student-led event. – 11/02/2023