Franklin hosts inaugural faculty research mixer

The Franklin College hosted the first-ever faculty research mixer on Nov. 14 at Normal Bar in Athens, bringing together faculty across the university who share research affinities to build multidisciplinary research and teaching teams.

The evening featured six brief research presentations and a social mixer of faculty interested in collaborating on areas related to "Health, Gender, & Equity."

"There was an energy  about collaboration that was exciting," said Marni Shindelman, associate professor in the Lamar Dodd School of Art and chair of the Franklin faculty advisory committee that coordinated the event. "We are all deeply passionate about our research and that of others. It was great to come together as researchers to learn about each other’s work and to remember what brought us to UGA.”

Featured faculty presenters included:

• Professor Alex Kojo Anderson, nutritional epidemiologist in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences
• Professor John Drake, director of the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases and faculty in the Odum School of Ecology
• Professor Srimanti Duttagupta, contaminant hydrogeologist in the geology department
• Professor Kelly Happe, Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies and the department of communication studies
• Professor Emily Koh, music composition, Hugh Hodgson School of Music
• Professor Jennifer Marks, managing director of the Advanced Communications Training Resource (ACTR), department of theatre and film studies
• Professor Chelsea Ratcliff, department of communication studies

“Franklin is seeking to catalyze multidisciplinary collaborations in innovative ways," said Marshall Shepherd, Franklin College Associate Dean for Research, Scholarship and Partnership. "We heard colleagues clearly when they noted a desire to collaborate across disciplines but struggled to make connections. Our research mixers are part of an emerging toolbox to break down silos and start new conversations.” 

Look for information on upcoming events on these topics:

• Communities, Narratives & AI
• Sustainability, Environment & Climate
• Histories, Migration & Security
• Big Data, Visualization & Gaming

Image: Marshall Shepherd speaks at the faculty research mixer.