UNCG announces the latest funding that will bring out the best in communities, as well as new internal and external funding opportunities open to researchers.
Funding Friday: New Opportunities
Posted on September 06, 2024
![UNCG's Amanda Flynt and teacher Jyo Ramesh interact with a student and her family at a preschool.](https://www.uncg.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/funding-friday-9-6-24-312426-F.jpg)
Posted on September 06, 2024
UNCG announces the latest funding that will bring out the best in communities, as well as new internal and external funding opportunities open to researchers.
Posted on September 05, 2024
With students starting on year-long papers and presentations, courses can seem unbearable. Still, the Communication Lab, formerly known as the Writing and Speaking Center, has served as an easily accessible resource to ease some of the academic stress that comes with being a student.
The Communication Lab provides one-on-one feedback on any writing, speaking, or visual project at any stage of the creative process. Consultants, also called peer educators, consist of undergraduate or graduate students who are trained with hands-on experience and can help identify how to finetune an upcoming speech or presentation, work on grammar or sentence structure, or transform a rough draft into a quality final draft and more regarding written and oral communication.
The Communication Lab is on the third floor of the Moore Humanities and Research Administration (MHRA) building in Room 3211 and offers services to UNCG students, faculty, staff, and even alumni.
Writing lab hours are:
Appointments are available now on Tracloud for individual or group sessions. You can prepare for a visit to the Communication Lab by bringing feedback you received on a project, access to your draft, and by knowing expectations for a particular assignment or what you want to work on ahead of time.
“The writing center has helped act as a filter between my thoughts and my writing, helping me figure out how to take the complex arguments in my head and shape those into an actual, clear, concise, and articulate argument.”
Ethan Divon, Writing Center Peer Consultant
“The speaking center employs a unique approach that revolves around putting the speaker at the center of the entire process. This approach involves asking open-ended questions that are designed to stimulate the speaker’s thought process and encourage them to generate new ideas and insights. “
Bosola Banjo, Speaking Center Peer Consultant
Jennifer Whitaker, director of the Communication Lab’s writing center, says, “Every writer deserves a good reader, and that’s why we exist.” Spartans can meet with consultants to review written communication of their choice, including writing outside of academic courses like a journal article or a scholarship essay.
“The Communication Lab is a conversational space to try out new ideas so that writers feel prepared to go back and revise or start over and write from scratch,” Whitaker explains.
Sessions between writers and their consultants can last up to 45 minutes. During a session, consultants will strategize with writers about their main concerns. Those may be citations, formatting, or editing-related. It is the writers, with the support of consultants, who set their own goals for their writing process.
“We strive to meet students at their current level of progress. We do not expect them to have anything prepared or completed before they come to us for assistance. Our goal is to provide support and guidance in speechmaking, no matter where the student is.”
Cohan Counsil, Speaking Center Peer Consultant
“Often, students attend the Speaking Center as a requirement for public speaking assignments from their professors. However, we offer additional consultations including speech practices and conversations.”
Jaela Agee, Speaking Center Peer Consultant
The Communication Lab supports students enrolled in Minerva’s Academic Curriculum (MAC) oral competency courses but is available to anyone with a public speaking, group leadership, or personal need. Speakers may drop by in person or schedule an online session for areas in public speaking delivery, interpersonal communication, and group or team communication.
Speaking lab hours are:
Within the first few minutes of a session, consultants check in with student speakers to determine where they are in their speech-making process. Together, they’ll go over introductions and conclusions, verbal fillers, and other strategies that help them manage any anxiety over speaking.
Erin Harrison, director of the Communication Lab’s speaking center, says, “Public speaking is not going to end after one speech. This is only the beginning of what’s to come.”
Students can pre-record their speech and request a video review session. The lab will never write a paper or speech for the student, but instead provide guidance on developing their own verbal and non-verbal expressions, encouraging an increase in students’ confidence that prepares them for the next big project.
Whether it be writer’s block, stress from public speaking, or other health-related problems, there are programs available for every Spartan at UNCG.
Story by Lauren Segers, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
Posted on September 06, 2024
This collaborative work compiles beautiful original works by the UNCG School of Music’s premiere faculty and students, with pieces by the Wind Ensemble, Casella Sinfonietta, and Symphony Orchestra.
Posted on September 04, 2024
More than $8 million was awarded to School’s faculty and initiatives in 2023 to advance their mission to students and the community.
Posted on September 03, 2024
The Greensboro community is primed to celebrate the North Carolina Folk Festival’s 10th Anniversary September 6-8. It’s a festive weekend where our downtown streets come alive with art and music from all over the world, and it’s no surprise that UNC Greensboro’s alumni, faculty, and students play a major role in each year’s festival.
Not only is UNCG a sponsor of the festival, but some of our most creative alumni will take the stages, while students sell their art at the marketplace, staff and faculty members lead jam sessions, and other Spartans work to organize and plan this can’t-miss event in Greensboro.
– Gavin Douglas, Ethnomusicology Professor, School of Music
This year’s festival headliners are big-name draws. GRAMMY-nominated The War & Treaty, a husband-and-wife duo who were featured on Zach Bryan’s hit “Hey Driver,” bring their soulful country hits to the stage on Friday night.
Then on Saturday, Los Lonely Boys will entertain festival crowds with their “Texican rock and roll” sound. You may know them from their number one single “Heaven” or their recent tour with The Who in 2022.
Finally on Sunday, headliner Mipso brings Americana strings and harmonies to Greensboro. With a strong following from across the state, this Chapel Hill band takes bluegrass roots and influences from the Avett Brothers to make their own unique music.
These famous names are only a fraction of the artistic talent that you’ll find at the North Carolina Folk Festival. From the festival kickoff on Friday until Mipso closes out the weekend on Sunday evening, you’ll find all genres of musical acts, dance performances and interactive jam sessions covering 7 different stages. For a complete list of festival acts, scroll through the artist listing which includes audio files so you can check out their styles.
Look out for the following bands featuring UNCG alumni and staff:
Check out the festival map and schedule so you don’t miss a single act.
– Laurelyn Dossett ’99
Not only are UNCG alumni involved in the bands set to play, but the festival’s artistic director, Ashley Virginia, is a 2019 alumna. Virginia and other folk festival organizers work to make sure the weekend is a full cultural experience with music, dance performances held in the Van Dyke Performance Space, art for sale in the marketplace, and festival food from a wide variety of local food trucks.
For a taste of what you can expect at the North Carolina Folk Festival, check out these sights and sounds from last year’s festival:
Whether you want to listen and dance to original music from up-and-coming bands, join in a jam session, shop for local art, or simply enjoy the food and festivity of downtown on its most exciting weekend of the year, you’ll find it all at the North Carolina Folk Festival.
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications.
Photos by Sean Norona, University Communications.
Video by David Lee Row, University Communications.
Posted on September 03, 2024
UNCG faculty and researchers share their expertise in the sciences, the humanities, and the arts in special classes and talks hosted right here on campus, exploring topics and fostering conversations with students and sometimes the public outside the classroom or the lab.
Here are a list of talks that will be held on UNCG in September:
Interpreting America Gallery Talk
Tuesday, September 3, Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Weatherspoon Art Museum Herbert S. Falk Sr. Gallery
Join Emily Voelker, UNCG assistant professor of art history, and Elaine Gustafson, curator of collections and head of facilities at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, for a gallery talk on the new exhibition Interpreting America: Photographs from the Collection.
Casella Sinfonietta
Wednesday, September 4, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Tew Recital Hall
The Casella Sinfonietta presents a faculty-student side-by-side concert of works by Kurt Weill, Charles Mingus, and George Gershwin. It features Annie Jeng, assistant professor of piano and piano pedagogy; and Conductor Jonathan Caldwell, assistant professor of conducting and director of bands.
“This Earthen Door” Artist Talk and Book Signing
Thursday, September 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Weatherspoon Art Museum Margaret and Bill Benjamin Auditorium
Associate Professor of Photography Leah Sobsey will give an artist talk and sign copies of her newest book “This Earthen Door,” a photographic reworking of Emily Dickinson’s herbarium with collaborator Amanda Marchand. Books will be available for sale, and light refreshments will be served. Held in conjunction with the UNCG School of Art.
Helping Honey Bees Help Themselves: Development of a Pheromone-Based Assay to Improve Honey Bee Health
Friday, September 6, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Sullivan Room 201
Dr. Kaira Wagoner, research scientist in the Department of Biology, will speak on her most recent findings on bee health as part of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Fall 2024 Professional Seminars Speaker Series.
Artist Faculty Recital
Monday, September 9, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Tew Recital Hall
Dr. Courtney Miller, professor of oboe, explores the theme of deep longing inherent in the human condition as well as the joy and peace that flow from love. This program will also feature works by Suzanne Polak, Manuel Pedro Ferreira, and Álvaro Cámara.
Art Historians Talk
Thursday, September 12, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Weatherspoon Art Museum Margaret and Bill Benjamin Auditorium
Learn about the compelling current research of four UNCG art historians: Drs. Heather Holian, “Walt Disney and a New American Art (1932-66);” Elizabeth Perrill, “Curating South African Weaving at the Museum of International Folk Art;” Emily Voelker, “Generations: Photography & Native American Sovereignty Across the Atlantic;” and PhD candidate Claire Ittner, “Paper Ambivalence: Eldzier Cortor in the Archive.”
Home Front Battles: World War II Mobilization and Race in the Deep South
Wednesday, September 18, 3:00 p.m.
Jackson Library Hodges Reading Room
Dr. Charles Bolton, professor of history, will talk about his recently published book. It explores the role of race in World War II mobilization in the Deep South, where the needs of wartime industries and bases inflamed tensions around labor, land, and military service. To accompany Bolton’s presentation, an exhibit of materials from the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives will display posters, printed materials, and other documents related to World War II, race, and military service.
Words, Music, Memory: Songs Commemorating the Holocaust
Thursday, September 19, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Tew Recital Hall
This lecture recital, made possible by the Arts Council of Greensboro and UNCG’s Jewish Studies and School of Music, centers around the idea of commemoration and calls upon human creativity, commitment, emotional connection, and contemporary context. Focusing on music based on the words of young people who witnessed the Holocaust – many of whom did not survive – the performance uses the power of music to bridge generations in active commemoration. Dr. Courtney Miller, professor of oboe, is among the musicians featured; and Dr. Suzanne Polak, collaborative pianist.
Posted on August 30, 2024
Faculty at UNCG begin the new academic year with more than 40 new grants, going toward advances in substance use treatment, environmental remediation, and summer meal access.
Posted on August 30, 2024
The GRAMMY and Country Music Association Award-winner will perform on September 6. She’s the first in a talented musical lineup who will provide a special opportunity for students to learn from their experience through the University Concert and Lecture Series.
Posted on August 29, 2024
Mental health at UNCG means prioritizing the well-being of Spartans. The Counseling & Psychological Services offer various online and in-person services for currently enrolled students that support and encourage their personal growth and academic success, housed on the second floor of Gove Student Health Services.
At Counseling & Psychological Services, licensed mental health providers hold an initial screening with students to best direct and connect them with the services they seek. Students experiencing a crisis can call to schedule or drop in during business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Same-day services are also available during Rapid Access Hours, Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. all at no cost.
Counseling & Psychological Services is committed to creating an inclusive, safe environment for all students, and can be reached after hours with on-call 24-hour services at 336-334-5874. Students can reach UNCG police at 336-334-4444.
Jennifer M. Whitney, Ph.D., director of Mental Health and Well-Being at Student Health Services, says “I might be the expert in mental health, I might be the expert at therapy, but you are the expert in you. It is a journey we walk together and that we as mental health professionals are privileged to walk alongside [the students].”
Students should see a mental health professional for counseling services to collaboratively unpack experiences, reduce distress, and work toward goals to ensure safety and emotional well-being. You can expect to tap into mindfulness, meditation, ecotherapy, and other exercises that drive you to engage your senses, thoughts, and behaviors. Services are confidential between students and their direct service providers.
Engage in the “Let’s Talk” program! Students can meet with service providers across campus for brief, one-on-one consultations. They are available at the Smith Center on Tuesdays, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; and via the Spartan Recovery Program on Wednesdays, 2:30 – 4 p.m.
Need a support group? Counseling & Psychological Services holds group therapy and workshops to decrease isolation, find community, and build interactive skills. These shared spaces focus on a wide range of mental health concerns and challenges and are demonstrated to be highly effective for college students.
Having a tough time connecting with a counselor? If so, it’s no problem. Students can complete the “Request to Change Provider” form to hear from a staff member about practical solutions.
“Connecting with peers is crucial, and often the primary component of helping someone through their journey. When we come together in a group, it is so validating,” Whitney explains.
A Spartan may face many challenges in their day-to-day life – be it economic inequality, discrimination, racism, violence, or stereotyping – which can compound the stress of deadlines and grades. UNCG wants all students to thrive and take advantage of the resources at their fingertips. Click here, to contact some on-and-off-campus resources.
“Addressing mental health is just like that children’s book “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” you can’t go over it, you can’t go under it, you got to go through it,” Whitney says.
Story by Lauren Segers, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
Posted on September 03, 2024
The iBelong Committee, in conjunction with the Division of Student Affairs, is now accepting proposals for projects to enhance student belonging during the 2024-25 academic year. Ideas that foster community and connections across campus are crucial for student success and retention. UNCG student groups, faculty, and staff are invited to submit proposals for new or expanded projects.
Funding up to $500 is available. To submit proposals, please use this form.
Read about previous iBelong projects and the ways they have positively impacted students and the rest of the UNCG community.
Questions can be directed to ibelong@uncg.edu or visit this website.