News from the Chronicles - February 2026


Internship with Bilbo Books Publishing in Athens

Bilbo Books is seeking an intern who is interested in learning about the publishing process.  Duties will include editing, book shepherding, working with graphic designers, and regular meetings with the publisher and assigned author. The official hours will be a one-hour weekly meeting and one-hour meetings, every two weeks, with assigned authors, plus some editing on your own time.  Overall, that adds up to roughly 3-4 hours a week.…

Students walking at university.
Ten Franklin College students receive Fulbright offers

Ten Franklin College of Arts and Sciences students and alumni were awarded Fulbright offers for this academic year, helping place UGA among the top producing universities for Fulbright students in the United States.  The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study and teaching opportunities in more than 160 countries to recent college graduates and graduate students. It is the flagship international educational exchange program…

Three online majors represented.
UGA’s online degree programs rank among the top in the country

Once again, UGA’s online degree programs rank among the nation’s best. According to a recent U.S. News & World Report, UGA took the No. 18 spot overall, maintaining its national place in the top 20 for 10 consecutive years. Franklin College of Arts and Sciences offers four online graduate degrees, including the highly regarded M.A.Ed. in music education that has been enhancing the careers of musicians for over a decade. Three new master’s…

Graphic with "State of the University"
Franklin College complements UGA achievements in a successful 2025

“The University of Georgia is entering a defining chapter as a premier public research university—one shaped by our growing role in meeting the needs of communities across our state and advancing life-saving research,” UGA President Jere W. Morehead said recently in his State of the University Address.  In his address, he pointed to several markers of success, including UGA’s economic impact in Georgia of $9.2 million last year and more…

Illustration of comedian.
Adding a little humor may help students stay engaged

We all know how powerful a funny instructor can be, but now we have proof. A study by Franklin researchers published in the Journal of Microbiology & Biology indicates that when an instructor uses humor in class, students feel more relaxed and motivated to participate.   While every instructor’s sense of humor may be different, the effect of humor on the students is the same: it builds rapport and creates a pleasant dynamic within the…

Students in Creative Movement for Well-being dancing
Dancing toward well-being: department of dance’s new PE classes get students moving in fresh ways

Creative Movement for Wellbeing is one of the new courses shaking up the usual lineup of physical education options at the University of Georgia. Franklin’s Department of Dance collaborated with the Department of Kinesiology to launch six new Physical Education-Basic (PEDB) courses that invite students into a new space. Instead of treadmills or traditional PE drills, participants explore improvisation and expressive activities designed to…

futuristic abstract digital network
Franklin faculty among teams receiving seed grants from the Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Faculty from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences are contributing expertise in statistics, computer science, AI, and data science to seven of the eight projects selected for funding in the latest round of seed grants from UGA’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IAI). The projects support collaborative, multidisciplinary research focused on advancing ethical and responsible artificial intelligence and reflect UGA’s commitment to…

Cassandra Hall standing in a field with vivid sky behind her.
Franklin College’s Cassandra Hall receives a Cottrell Scholar Award

Cassandra Hall, a computational astrophysicist in Franklin College’s physics and astronomy department, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Cottrell Scholar Award for an outstanding proposal combining research and science education from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement.  She is one of 24 awardees, early-career scientists in chemistry, physics, and astronomy across the United States and Canada. Hall studies super earths,…

Downed trees and power lines left behind after a hurricane.
New study shows first responders face another danger: heat

A new study by Franklin College climate researcher Andrew Grundstein shows that hurricanes may leave behind another danger beside flooding and power outages: heat.  Grunstein's study, in Geohealth, found that emergency response workers in southeastern Texas were working in dangerous conditions most of the time following Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 due to the heat.  “Hurricane Beryl struck Texas in 2024 and left a million people…

Scientist conducting tests in the laboratory.
New CRISPR screening is the first of its kind specific to human muscle cells

UGA researchers have created a first-of-its-kind CRISPR screening platform for human muscle cells, identifying hundreds of genes critical to skeletal muscle formation and uncovering the potential cause of a rare genetic disorder. The findings come from two companion papers published in Nature Communications, one describing the large-scale screen and a second digging into a particular gene’s role in muscle development. “This is the…