WFU in the news: Dec. 11-17, 2023

FEATURED NEWS

Kids get the most out of school if they strengthen this key relationship
By Aditi Shrikant | CNBC
When Michele Myers’ daughter was in the 5th grade, she told her mom that she didn’t like her teacher very much. “My daughter said everything she did was met with complaints and resistance,” Myers said. Some parents’ knee-jerk reaction might be to become combative with the teacher. But Myers, an assistant professor of elementary literacy education at Wake Forest, took a different approach. She asked her daughter’s teacher what the two of them could do, as a team, to support her child. – 12/13/2023

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Wake Forest Debate ‘dream team’ builds path to college scholarships
By Lauren Giella | Newsweek
At the beginning of the calendar year, the New York City Urban Debate League partnered with Wake Forest to create a team of NYCUDL debaters who can compete on the national circuit. One of the members of the championship team, in fact, is a former NYCUDL debater. “They have one of the most competitive policy debate teams in the country and a lot of their debaters are students of color, so they look like our debaters,” NYCUDL Program Manager Arielle Gallegos said. “They come from similar backgrounds as our debaters, so NYCUDL debaters could really see themselves in college spaces.” – 12/18/2023

Gen Z will change capitalism as we know it
By Jacob Zinkula | Business Insider
When young people are asked how they feel about private home ownership and entrepreneurship — both capitalist ideas — there is little pushback, said Christina Elson, executive director of Wake Forest’s Center for the Study of Capitalism. But when the focus turns to how the current economic system is working for Americans, Gen Z’s dissatisfaction begins to show. “In the mind of most Americans and particularly younger Americans, healthcare is a broken system. Younger people tend to think the system would benefit from more government intervention.” – 12/14/2023

COP28 ‘breakthrough’ elevates litigation as vital route to climate action
By Justin Catanoso | Mongabay
“In the past three decades, the United Nations has sponsored 28 annual climate summits. But that process has failed to provide a legally binding path to significant carbon emission reductions or to the phaseout of fossil fuels responsible for the climate crisis. The just concluded COP28 summit, held in Dubai and largely controlled by fossil fuel interests, has pledged ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels’ but that deal is also voluntary,” writes journalism professor Justin Catanoso. – 12/13/2023

Product and process with Mark Vail
By Will Zimmerman | Key Reporter
In this piece, Worrell Chair of Politics and International Affairs Mark Vail shares about teaching and learning. “Students will sometimes ask me, ‘What do you want us to learn in your class?’” Vail said. “I don’t know yet!” “The Latin root of ‘education’ means to draw out. My job is to expose you to different kinds of ideas and perspectives. To introduce you to the process of intellectual self-discovery in a way that you might not come to on your own. To teach you to look at the world in a new way.” – 12/01/2023

US transition moves to cleaner energy carry risks of layoffs
The Kuwait Times
While there has been some increase in workers transitioning from disfavored sectors into green jobs, fewer than one percent of workers who leave a “dirty job” have landed in a “green job,” according to a July 2023 paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Economics professor and paper coauthor Mark Curtis welcomes targeting coal-affected regions, but said his study underscored the challenges, especially for older workers and those without a college degree. One reason for optimism “is that 30% of workers leaving a fossil fuel industry go to manufacturing.” – 12/17/2023

Smithsonian took brains from dozens of DC’s most marginalized residents
By Nicole Dungca, Claire Healy | The Washington Post
Law professor Tanya Marsh, who only course in a U.S. law school on funeral and cemetery law, comments in this piece. Her scholarship focuses on laws regarding the status, treatment, and disposition of human remains. Marsh frequently writes and speaks about issues related to the law of human remains. – 12/14/2023

Chile’s constitutional upheaval
By Roifield Brown | Mid-Atlantic
Politics and international studies professor Peter Siavelis is a guest on this podcast that explores Chile’s political landscape from the 2019 protests to Gabriel Boric’s presidency. – 12/12/2023

Gun ownership as a hedge against the chaos
By David Masci | Discourse Magazine
Sociology professor David Yamane’s research is featured in this piece on the move from sportsman-dominated gun culture to one driven by a desire for self-protection – a shift that began with the rise of crime and social unrest in the ’60s and ’70s. With COVID, race riots and a rising violent crime rate, 2020 turned out to be a watershed, with nearly 23 million guns sold in the U.S. – 12/11/2023

Top 10 insights from the ‘Science of a Meaningful Life’ in 2023
Greater Good: The Science of The Meaningful Life
Beyond the classroom, a team at Wake Forest University developed an online course—one that emphasized setting goals, self-reflection, and practice in daily life—that helped people become more intellectually humble. – 12/14/2023

Moving South, Black Americans are weathering climate change
By Adam Mahoney | Inside Climate News
Stephanie Roberson wasn’t expecting this phone call from her husband, Corey. “I can’t do this anymore,” she remembers him saying. Do what? Her mind went racing. He was stuck on a mountain over 400 miles away from his family in Cincinnati, his big rig trapped in nearly 3 feet of snow that had blanketed parts of Virginia during that January 2016 storm. This article was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Environmental and Epistemic Justice Initiative at Wake Forest. – 12/15/2023

REGIONAL & TRADE

Reading as a remedy: One of the best ways to build resilience in students
By Matt Zalaznick | District Administration Magazine
One of the most important subjects schools teach—literacy—is linked to one of today’s most sought-after soft skills. In this Q&A, Michele Myers and Linda C. Mayes, authors of “The Educator’s Guide to Building Child & Family Resilience” – share several strategies. “An important part of mental health is having a positive self-identity and knowing who you are,” said Myers, assistant professor in elementary literacy education. “Books allow you to see that.” – 12/12/2023

LOCAL

People of Prominence: Professor Alessandra Von Burg
Forsyth Women Magazine
A Q&A with Alessandra Von Burg, associate professor in the Department of Communication. She is the co-founder of the Every Campus a Refuge (ECAR) chapter at Wake Forest University, residential programs for refugees and asylum seekers. Her research focuses on rhetorical theory, citizenship, mobility, noncitizens and nonplaces. – 12/18/2023

NC attorney general sues for-profit HCA over Mission contract
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
Law professor Mark Hall said SB16 “aims to give the attorney general more authority to block changes in hospital ownership or control that are contrary to the public’s interest, and more authority to monitor ownership changes for any negative effects on health care costs, quality or accessibility. The bill addresses the concern that, currently and historically, legal authority has been lacking for oversight of these matters.” – 12/14/2023

Wake Forest’s Couriyah Stegall recognized for commitment to community engagement
Winston-Salem Journal
Wake Forest sophomore Couriyah Stegall has been presented with the Community Impact Student Award by NC Campus Engagement for her commitment and contribution to civic and community engagement. Stegall was selected by Wake Forest University administration after careful consideration of the students who made a lasting impact on the Wake Forest campus. – 12/16/2023

Wake Forest University student-athletes help wrap gifts for families in need
By Rebecca Smith | WXII-TV (Winston Salem, NC)
More than 100 Wake Forest student-athletes helped families in need – wrapping gifts to be delivered to local children. The community service is part of the Santa’s Helper program, which has been going on for almost 40 years. This year, just under 1,000 kids will be receiving gifts. – 12/12/2023

WAKE FOREST NEWS

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to perform at Secrest Series
By Kim McGrath | Wake Forest News
On Tuesday, Jan. 30, the Secrest Artists Series will host the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in Wait Chapel. The program will include works by Claude Debussy, Sergei Prokofiev and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. – 12/18/2023