With the fall semester quickly approaching, we are working on plans for our incoming cohort of new UNCG students, and we couldn’t be more eager to welcome this group to the Spartan Family this fall. As you may know, New Student Transitions & First Year Experience puts on signature events right before the first day of class, including NAV1GATE, to get our new students ready for their first year at the G. This is always a special event full of energy and excitement, and we are in need of volunteers to help make these events a success again!
If you are interested in volunteering at NAV1GATE on Monday, August 19, please complete this volunteer form. All volunteers will receive a t-shirt and other necessary supplies per the assignment. More information about exact times, locations, and responsibilities will be provided as we get closer to the events, but this form will put you on our contact list to sign up for a volunteer shift. We will contact you via email when these details are finalized!
Thank you for your ongoing support of our new students and for your interest in helping out with these events. We couldn’t do any of this without you!
Recent UNCG Graduate Makes Debut with High Point Rockers
Posted on July 26, 2024
Baseball graduate Aiden Brewer signed with the High Point Rockers. He will be a part of the team’s roster on Saturday, where they’ll have home field advantage when taking on the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs at Truist Point.
Ally Davis worked with the women’s softball team while also coaching at West Rowan Middle School, supporting the catchers and assisting with player development. Coach Janelle Breneman describes elevating her to a full-time coach at UNCG as a “full circle moment.”
Spartan Summer Excursions: Date Night (or Day) Ideas
Posted on July 25, 2024
Finding the right partner might take some trial and error, but planning the perfect date isn’t difficult in a city like Greensboro. Whether you’re looking for a romantic, artsy, or active vibe, we’ve got your guide to planning a sweet date at any price point.
For Foodies
$: Cheesecakes by Alex For a first or second date, there’s no better “getting to know you” atmosphere than Cheesecakes by Alex. Grab a coffee and dessert at their Elm Street location and then compare tastes in books down the street at Scuppernong. Not crazy about cheesecake? Alex’s has a varied selection of cookies and confections in addition to the many cheesecake flavors they offer.
$$: Sticks and Stones Pizza might be a perennial collegiate favorite but Sticks and Stones isn’t your typical pizza joint. Venture west of campus down Walker Avenue and find woodfired gourmet pizza at “The Corner,” a popular intersection of bars and restaurants. Choose a classic Margherita pizza, sopressata (that’s salami for Stick’s patrons), or go for one of their signature pies with toppings like walnut pesto and chicken, local sausage and ricotta, or fried eggplant and mushrooms. This is one funky pizza joint.
Tal Blevins ’95 in the dining room at MACHETE. (Photo by David Lee Row.)
$$$: MACHETE Real foodies looking for a culinary experience will find exactly what they’re looking for at MACHETE, owned by UNCG alumnus Tal Blevins ‘95. MACHETE creations take classic ingredients, combine them with unexpected flavors, and turn out delicious art on a plate. The atmosphere is casual, but the experience is anything but. If you’re looking to impress a date or wow family or friends for a special occasion, Machete is the award-winning, high-end palate pleaser in Greensboro.
$$: Boxcar Arcade + Bar Retro gamers will love Boxcar on Lewis Street off South Elm. It’s part bar and part arcade with over 4,000 square feet of games like Guitar Hero, Ms. Pac-Man and Skee-Ball. At Boxcar, you and your date can load up on tokens for classic arcade games, grab a drink, and order pizza on the patio. Check the website for tournaments, live music, and other events. Admission is free, but you must be 21 to enter.
$$$: Bourbon Bowl Around the corner from Boxcar, Bourbon Bowl is a restaurant and bowling alley that’s a true crowd pleaser. Under 21? No problem, since all ages are welcome before 9:00 P.M. The lunch and dinner menus are reasonably priced with seating in or outside on their Elm Street patio. Or you can book one of their six full-sized bowling lanes and order dinner while you play. Lanes are priced at $30-45 (depending on the day and time) and include up to four bowlers, so this is a more economical option if you’re planning a double date.
UNCG Esports ArenaBoxcar Bar + Arcade (Photo by Jenn Smith.)Bourbon Bowl
For Art and Music Lovers
$: Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park (MUSEP) If you’re looking for a laid-back date, you can’t go wrong with a Sunday evening concert in the park. For years, the city of Greensboro has been sponsoring the free MUSEP concerts at local parks each summer. Attendees need only a chair or blanket to enjoy an evening with someone special. Pack a picnic or purchase dinner from food trucks on site. On Sunday, July 28, nearby Lindley Park will host a salsa concert; soul and beach music bands will be on stage at Hester Park on August 11; and the series wraps with reggae music at Keeley Park in McLeansville on August 25.
$$: Orchestra by Candlelight A new concert series held in the Greensboro Cultural Center’s Van Dyke Performance Space has been wowing locals this summer. Candlelight Concerts feature popular music performed by orchestra players surrounded by candles. It offers a date night that will stir the senses in the most artful and romantic ways. Catch tributes to Vivaldi, Adele and Beyonce coming in August and September. Tickets start at $29.
$$$: Tanger Center Shows The premier theater in town for concerts and shows is downtown Greensboro’s Tanger Center. Check out its events list for musicals and plays like Mama Mia, tribute shows featuring the music of Elton John, Queen or Wynton Marsalis, and concerts from Idina Menzel or Travis Tritt. Ticket prices vary, but don’t be surprised to find a great deal at the last minute by checking in at the box office. And keep in mind that the Downtown Hopper Trolley runs up and down Elm Street connecting the theater with preshow dinner or post show dessert options. No matter what you see, a Tanger show will be a date to remember.
For Outdoor Enthusiasts
$: Piney Lake A trip to the beach may be too much of a commitment, but an afternoon at Piney Lake could be the perfect date for those who love to soak in the rays of summer. Piney Lake is open and free for UNCG students and their guests on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Land activities like bocce, volleyball, and cornhole overlook the lake where paddleboards, water trampolines, and paddle boats set the stage for a fun summer day. Bring a picnic and stay all afternoon!
$$: Hanging Rock A little extra gas money will get you an active date in the foothills of North Carolina. Invite your partner on a hike up to a beautiful rocky perch followed by a dip in the lake at Hanging Rock State Park. Just an hour northwest of campus lies beautiful hiking trails, canoe and paddleboard rentals, and a lake for swimming and fishing. Hanging Rock State Park offers free activities except for swimming and boat rentals, so your dollar stretches if you decide to plan a date to Hanging Rock.
$$$: Wet ‘n Wild Finally, if your summer fun falls more towards thrill seeking than communing with nature, you should grab a date and cool off at Wet ‘n Wild Emerald Point. Until Labor Day Weekend, there’s still time to spend the day water sliding and wave pooling and lazy river-ing with your favorite person. Admission isn’t cheap, but it’s not a bad way to stay cool during the dog days of summer and the park is only a15-minute drive from campus.
From budget-friendly to splurge-worthy, Greensboro has a date plan for everybody’s vibe. Try one this weekend!
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications. Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications, unless otherwise stated. Videography by Grant Gilliard, University Communications.
Head Coach Cody Ellis praises the wealth of knowledge and worth ethic that will be added to the team with the hiring of Kris Taveras as an assistant coach and Tristan McAlister as director of operations.
$1.5M UNCG-led Collaborative Focuses on Green Energy Innovations
Posted on July 23, 2024
In the search for new types of environmentally friendly energy systems, the initiative “Nature Inspired Collaborative Energy Research” draws inspiration from the complex molecules found in fungi and other natural organisms.
Weatherspoon Art Museum Gives UNCG Faculty a Second Classroom
Posted on July 24, 2024
An art class led by Raechel Cook, associate curator of academic programming at the Weatherspoon Art Museum.
Throughout her teaching career, Dr. Neelofer Qadir has always looked for ways to bring artwork into class discussion.
“Students are familiar with commenting on visuality,” she says. “It gives them another entryway into the topics that may feel very dense in text.”
For Qadir, one of the draws of joining UNC Greensboro’s English department was the access to the Weatherspoon Art Museum. From introductory classes to upper-level coursework and graduate student projects, she helps her students take advantage of this resource a few blocks away from her classrooms.
“It really pervades across my pedagogy to bring students to Weatherspoon,” says Qadir, “They can work with me and with museum staff like Emily Stamey, or they can visit on their own.”
Qadir and other faculty have shown that the Weatherspoon is a springboard for deeper analysis for all academic programs and not just art.
“There’s demand at UNCG for object-based learning across curriculums,” says Dr. Emily Stamey, Elizabeth McIver Weatherspoon Curator of Academic Programming and Head of Exhibitions. “Taking the time to study art objects in person, thinking about an object from different perspectives, trying to place our analysis of the art into other contexts. That is a skill that transfers to every single discipline.”
Tapping a Rich Campus Resource
UNCG faculty can work with any of the 6,600 items in the Weatherspoon’s collection, not just the ones currently on display. Anne and Ben Cone Memorial Endowed Director Juliette Bianco says, “That’s the beauty of a teaching museum. We can pull any of those objects out of storage for a class if a professor requests them.”
Dr. Emily Stamey works closely with faculty to help students learn from the exhibitions at the Weatherspoon.
Qadir had students in “Introduction to International Global Studies“ choose an item from the Weatherspoon or Library’s Special Collections, then demonstrate how it can tell a global story. “They get the conceptual vocabulary from the class,” says Qadir. “Then they fill that in with additional research, triangulating between the primary source, the secondary sources, and so on.”
A visit to the Weatherspoon is a no-brainer for faculty in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “If you spend too much time in a classroom, looking at a projector can get stale,” says Rodgers Dameron. “Students need that real-world experience.”
As assistant professor of animation, Dameron took interest in the Disney exhibition. Using the storyboards and cels from 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and 1942’s “Bambi,” he showed students how the digital animation tools they use today are based on older techniques. He says, “I think it gave them an appreciation for how much work goes into the older style of animation.”
Dr. Heather Holian, professor of art and Margaret and Bill Benjamin Faculty Fellow, helped curate the Disney animation exhibit.
Dameron says the museum is invaluable to artists. “Thinking back to when I was in school, at a college in Brooklyn, one of the big advantages was literally every week, I would go up to the Met or to Soho’s art galleries.”
Other students have even helped with curation and programming. Assistant Professor of Art History Nicole Scalissi brought students to work with Stamey and curate a collection of early 20th century Mexican prints. Graduate students of dance came up with “Drawn to Dance,” inviting art students to sketch dance students in motion.
Art Cultivates Global Engagement
Dr. Etsuko Kinefuchi, professor of communication studies, followed up on an email from the Weatherspoon inviting faculty to check out its teaching resources. At the time, Wangechi Mutu’s “The End of Eating Everything” was on display. The exhibit explored materialistic lifestyles and consumption. Kinefuchi jumped at the chance to bring her environmental communication class to see it.
Elaine Gustafson, curator and head of collections and facilities, also found relevant artwork in the Weatherspoon’s collection to show Kinefuchi’s class.
Kinefuchi has since incorporated museum visits into other courses. When students return to the classroom, they can apply what they saw to communication concepts about framing, perspective, and emotion. Kinefuchi says, “Art helps us think about different ways we engage with the world, not just the verbal communication which tends to dominate our pedagogical world.”
She says the museum staff do an excellent job of guiding meaningful peer-to-peer discussions. “Emily allowed the students to voice how they perceived things. One student might say, ‘This stood out to me for this reason.’ And another student would say, ‘I didn’t think of that.’ The conversation in that space gives them the ability to see that, ‘Oh, there are other interpretations out there that I should be thinking about.’”
team-ups that Inspire
The Weatherspoon recently created a department dedicated to helping faculty design classes around the museum. They hired Raechel Cook as associate curator of academic programming to help facilitate meaningful art encounters for students.
Using the Weatherspoon’s collections, Raechel Cook creates a holistic educational experience for UNCG students.
Bianco says, “It’s about understanding faculty members’ pedagogical goals or content goals, and also understanding that skill goals – empathy, critical thinking, curiosity, creativity, and problem solving – can also be taught in front of original works of art. Our plan is only to increase the accessibility of the Weatherspoon’s collection in the years ahead.”
Kinefuchi, Qadir, and Dameron hope more faculty at UNCG will look at the Weatherspoon’s offerings. “It’s an incredible resource for students to have,” says Qadir. “It is truly their place.”
“When students are exposed to that quality of art, they gain confidence,” says Dameron. “It raises their own expectations.”
The museum is currently undergoing renovations, thanks to a grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation to improve the experience for students, faculty, and all visitors. It will reopen with its fall season on August 13.
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
