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Solar Eclipses Have Been a Science Fiction Theme for Thousands of Years

August 18, 2017

LMC Professor Lisa Yaszek’s insights about solar eclipses in science, fiction, and culture were the focus of the article of “Solar Eclipses Have Been a Science Fiction Theme for Thousands of Years: How Storytellers throughout History Have Used the Phenomenon to Portray Terror, Emotional Stakes, and More” in Vox Media.

Excerpt:

As millions of Americans prepare to witness the first total solar eclipse in the U.S .in 38 years, I turned to Lisa Yaszek, a professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech University and former president of the Science Fiction Research Association, to discuss the history, meanings, and accuracy of eclipses in fiction. Here’s what I learned.

The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Fictional representations of solar eclipses are often used to underline a specific plot point.

Abbey White

What are the key scientific aspects of a solar eclipse that must be present for an accurate depiction?

Liza Yaszek

In the case of a solar eclipse on Earth, authors and directors want to make sure they get all the heavenly objects in question lined up, and that it’s clear the moon is between the sun and the Earth. They also want to make sure they’ve got a duration that makes sense. Solar eclipses usually last just a few minutes, while lunar eclipses can go on for hours.

Read full article

Published in: Vox Media
The Best Anti-Racism Teacher? Hip-Hop.

August 18, 2017

Joycelyn Wilson is an associate professor in the Ivan Allen College's School of Literature, Media, and Communication. Her insights about the role that Hip-Hop culture studies can play in the deconstruction of white-supremacist viewpoints were the focus of her article in The Bitter Southerner titled The Best Anti-Racism Teacher? Hip-Hop.

Excerpt:

Hip-hop culture, and the way I emphasize its humanistic value propositions, is a tool for building social justice, enhancing cultural respect, and dismantling racism. Its ideal of authenticity to self, society, and others is in direct contrast to an imaginary fear of replacement. White boys like these who march against other people, but who party to rap in their frat houses, are trapped by the grips of hate, fear, and violence toward others. The trap music they turn up to isn't for entertainment purposes only.

It can also serve to wipe the boo-boo from these guys’ brains, as Andre 3000 said on Outkast’s “Myintrotoletuknow.” Besides, I know no person of color who wants to be white or replace white people. The people I know who migrated to America embrace everything that comes with being their ethnic selves and are committed to eradicating societal burdens like racism and class inequality. A hip-hop lifestyle teaches this, among other lessons.

Essentially, what I'm outlining here is an anti-racist, anti-supremacist curriculum built on the sensibilities of hip-hop. Such a curriculum could rid the bogus stuff from the minds of these white men who think so highly of themselves.

Read full article.

Published in: The Bitter Southerner
Where Will Trump And Kim's Nuclear Brinkmanship Lead?

August 14, 2017

James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld, Jr., USN (Ret.), distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, was quoted in “Where Will Trump And Kim's Nuclear Brinkmanship Lead?” for CBS News:

Excerpt:

Before he retired, Admiral James Winnefeld was the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the number two man in uniform, during the Obama Administration. He knows that one submarine like the USS Kentucky can by itself carry enough nuclear weapons to annihilate North Korea.

When asked to compare America's nuclear forces to Korean nuclear forces, Adm. Winnefeld replied, “Well, there's just no comparison whatsoever.”

Martin asked, “Were Kim Jong Un, for whatever reason, to launch a nuclear weapon against the United States, would he, in essence, be committing suicide?”

“Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, there is just no question that we would undertake a proportional response,” Adm. Winnefeld replied. “But in the case of a nuclear weapon, that proportional response would be overwhelming and would probably mean the end of the Kim regime -- and he knows it.”

Read the article here.

Published in: CBS News
Sam Nunn Talks North Korea and Russia

August 14, 2017

Sam Nunn, distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, was interviewed in “Sam Nunn Talks North Korea and Russia” by Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Excerpt:

Well I think, first of all, when you're dealing with North Korea, I think statements we make ought to be very carefully framed. I prefer the approach that Mattis, Secretary of Defense, took this morning with a very carefully worded statement that was very appropriate and gave the kind of warning without causing great alarm around the world and possible reactions that we don't want in North Korea and other places. In fairness to President Trump, he is trying to deter conflict by North Korea and this behavior by conflict. But saying that we were going to respond to North Korean threats, which basically occur probably every month, North Korea, always wants to get attention. And they always have extreme rhetoric and they're always making threats. Mattis basically framed his statement to talk about North Korean actions and that is the way it ought to be framed.

But one of the things that I would add is that we’ve got to be careful about South Korea. We can't give the impression to South Korea, our ally, and also this applies to Japan -- that we care only about threats against America. We are sworn to help protect the South Koreans. And we need to keep that in mind because we do not want to see a split between the United States and the South Koreans based on their fear of some of our own language.

Listen to full interview here

Published in: Georgia Public Broadcasting
Adm. James Winnefeld: N. Korea Sees Nuclear Weapons as “Survival Mechanism”

August 11, 2017

James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld, Jr., USN (Ret.), distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, was interviewed in “Adm. James Winnefeld: N. Korea Sees Nuclear Weapons as “Survival Mechanism”” for CBS News.

Excerpt:

Despite escalating rhetoric and North Korea's threat to strike Guam, retired Navy Adm. James Winnefeld Jr. told "CBS This Morning" Wednesday that he doesn't believe the isolated country wants to use nuclear weapons against the U.S.

Winnefeld, who served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Obama, said North Korea is using the nuclear threat as a "survival mechanism."

"I think we really just need to let them stew in their own juice, leave them alone. They will never use these weapons or give them up as long as we don't provoke them into using them," Winnefeld said.

For the full article, read here.

Published in: CBS News
Books and the ‘Boredom Boom’

August 11, 2017

Ian Bogost, professor in the Georgia Tech School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was mentioned in an article in New York Times “Books and the ‘Boredom Boom’”

Excerpt:

Mr. Bogost, a professor of interactive computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, waxes more ruminative. His thoughtful book “Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games” (266 pages, Basic Books, $26.99) makes the point that life’s limitations — as with the limitations of a game such as soccer or Tetris — are not impediments to our enjoyment, but rather, what make life or the game fun in the first place. It’s a similar point to the one that Mr. Miller made in his preface, but this time around, instead of welling up, I nodded my head a lot. Yes, yes: so true.

For the full article, read here.

Published in: New York Times
If the Warriors Want To Take a Stand, Go To the White House and Shake President Trump’s Hand

August 11, 2017

Johnny Smith, assistant professor in the School of History and Sociology, was quoted in “If The Warriors Want To Take a Stand, Go To the White House and Shake President Trump’s Hand” for Washington Post.

Excerpt:

“When people suggest there should be some separation between politics and sports, what they are really asking is for them to put their citizenship aside,” says John Smith, history professor at Georgia Tech and a co-author of “Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X.”

The suggestion here is not that the Warriors should set their citizenship or politics aside. Rather, that they make a declarative statement about the bright-line difference between dissent and contempt. Recently, Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, remarked that “the real problem in American politics today is not anger; it’s contempt. Contempt is the conviction of the worthlessness of another human being.”

For the full article, read here.

Published in: Washington Post
Meet Binky, The Social Media App Where Nothing Matters

August 11, 2017

Ian Bogost, professor in the Georgia Tech School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was mentioned in an article in NPR “Meet Binky, The Social Media App Where Nothing Matters’”

Excerpt:

Binky is a social networking app without socializing, and yet, Binky may be "even more" satisfying than real social media apps like Twitter or Instagram, writes Ian Bogost, a contributing editor at The Atlantic.

He says Binky may even cure the ills of smartphone compulsion: a way to use smartphones without doing anything at all. "Isn't that all anyone really wants?" Bogost asks.

Or maybe it's yet another reminder of how entrenched we are in this digital world and, try as we might, we can't escape.

For the full article, read here.

Published in: NPR
Former Commander: Here’s What Happens When the President Orders a Nuclear Strike

August 11, 2017

James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.), distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, wrote an article “Former Commander: Here’s what Happens When the President Orders a Nuclear Strike" for Fortune.

Excerpt:

If the North Koreans have also managed to solve the other significant challenges associated with a viable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) — which is not at all certain — then they will have achieved an embryonic operational capability.

We knew this was coming. Yet now that the rhetoric is running high, many are concerned that we are on the brink of nuclear war. Even though the possibility of such a war is remote, it has evoked understandable curiosity among the public regarding how the U.S. chain of command would function for ordering a nuclear strike and whether or not sufficient checks and balances exist to prevent a costly mistake.

Read the article here.

Published in: Fortune
Former Commander: Here’s What Happens When the President Orders a Nuclear Strike

August 11, 2017

James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld, Jr., USN (Ret.), distinguished professor and CISTP senior fellow in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology, wrote the August 11 article “Former Commander: Here’s What Happens When the President Orders a Nuclear Strike” which appeared in Fortune.

Excerpt:

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen quickly this week on the heels of another long-range missile test, combined with public revelations that the Kim Jong-un regime may have miniaturized a nuclear weapon that can be mated to such a missile. If the North Koreans have also managed to solve the other significant challenges associated with a viable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)—which is not at all certain—then they will have achieved an embryonic operational capability… Admiral James “Sandy” Winnefeld was the ninth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he retired from the U.S. military in 2015. He previously served as the 21st Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). He currently serves as distinguished professor of international affairs at Georgia Tech and as a senior non-resident

For the full article on “Former Commander: Here’s What Happens When the President Orders a Nuclear Strike,” visit Fortune’s website.

Published in: CBS News
Where Do Al-Aqsa Protests Leave the Islamic Movement in Israel?

August 10, 2017

Lawrence Rubin, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, was quoted in “Where Do Al-Aqsa Protests Leave the Islamic Movement in Israel?” for Al-Monitor.

Excerpt:

Lawrence Rubin, associate professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, has written about the Islamic Movement and its founder, Sheikh Abdulla Nimr Darwish, who tried to take the organization in a pragmatic direction.

The movement was initially established in 1971, and although it had no official connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, many of its ideologies and philosophies often reflected those of the Brotherhood, which was founded in the Egyptian town of Ismailia in 1928.

Rubin wrote, “The movement split in the mid-1990s when a hardline faction did not accept the majority’s decision to run for national elections in the Israeli parliament. Led by Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, this faction, later called the Northern Branch by others, claimed it would not legitimize the state by participating in an Israeli national institution.”

For the full article, read here

Published in: Al-Monitor
What Next For North Korea, Guam and Trump? Experts Weigh In

August 10, 2017

Margaret Kosal, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, was quoted in “What Next for North Korea, Guam, and Trump? Experts Weigh In” for the Associated Press.

Excerpt:

Margaret E. Kosal, director of the Sam Nunn Security Program and Military Fellows Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta:

Could North Korea truly attack Guam? “It’s likely no. No one outside of a small number of people in the DPRK can know for sure. Nonetheless, that capability is beyond anything that they have demonstrated thus far. Guam is a noncredible threat; Seoul and Japan is a credible threat.

She called Trump’s comments on Twitter “irresponsible. It does nothing to help the U.S. or our allies. It increases instability. Our diplomats need to be empowered to do their jobs.”

For the full article, read here.

Published in: Associated Press
Here's How to Demolish the Controversial Google Diversity Memo With Just 3 Words

August 9, 2017

Ian Bogost, professor in digital media in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was quoted in “Here's How to Demolish the Controversial Google Diversity Memo with Just 3 Words” for Inc.com.

Excerpt:

Ian Bogost, writing on The Atlanti’'s website over the weekend, was the first person I’ve seen make this point. If women are under-represented in tech, African-Americans and Latinos really are. According to the Census Bureau, African-Americans make up more than 13 percent of the U.S. population, but according to Google, only 2 percent of its U.S. employees are African-American. Hispanics are more than 16 percent of the U.S. population, but only 4 percent of Google employees.

For the full article, read here.

Published in: Inc.com
Bioinformation Wants to Be Free and Responsible

August 8, 2017

Margaret Kosal, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, was quoted in “Bioinformation Wants to Be Free and Responsible” for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.

Excerpt:

The idea that technology diffusion relates to national security at strategic and operational levels is central to the work of Margaret Kosal, Ph.D., associate professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology. Much of her research focuses on reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

“Sometimes a seemingly innocuous project can take on more malevolent overtones,” Dr. Kosal explains. “For example, a biotech company in southeast Asia decided to engineer a more potent form of the botulinum toxin. From a commercial point of view this makes sense, as less of the product would be needed to have the same effect in cosmetic and medical treatments. Unfortunately, from a biosecurity standpoint, this means the potency of a potential biological weapon increased.”

Dr. Kosal argues that when biotech companies approach projects, they should do more than just keep the bottom line in mind. They should also think about the biosecurity repercussions of their work before deciding to move ahead.

For the full article, read here. *Suscription required.

Published in: Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
With Just 1 Plant Under Construction, Nuclear Renaissance Stalls

August 7, 2017

Marilyn Brown, professor in the School of Public Policy was quoted in “With Just 1 Plant Under Construction, Nuclear Renaissance Stalls” for WABE FM 90.1.

Excerpt:

A decade ago, utility executives and policymakers dreamed of a clean energy future powered by a new generation of cheap, safe nuclear reactors. Projects to expand existing nuclear plants in South Carolina and Georgia were supposed to be the start of the "nuclear renaissance." But following the decision last week by two utilities to scrap the expansion at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station in South Carolina, that vision is in tatters. There's now just one nuclear expansion project left in the country, its future is also uncertain … With encouragement from the federal government, utilities around the country began applying for permission to build new reactors. At Vogtle in Georgia and V.C. Summer in South Carolina, power companies got to work. “I thought it was going to be a very good thing for the Southern economy,” says Marilyn Brown, a public policy professor at Georgia Tech and board member of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates three older nuclear power plants in Alabama and Tennessee … According to Brown, “that meant if you went back to reappraise the nuclear investments, they probably would not have been approved, or might not have been approved.”

For the full article, read here.

Published in: WABE FM 90.1
A Googler's Would-Be Manifesto Reveals Tech's Rotten Core

August 7, 2017

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, wrote “A Googler’s Would-Be Manifesto Reveals Tech’s Rotten Core” for The Atlantic.

Excerpt:

An anonymous Google software engineer’s 10-page fulmination against workplace diversity was leaked from internal company communications systems, including an internal version of Google+, the company’s social network, and another service that Gizmodo, which published the full memo, called an “internal meme network.”

“I’m simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes,” the Googler writes, “and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.”

The memo has drawn rage and dismay since its appearance Saturday, when it was first reported by Motherboard. It seemed to dash hopes that much progress has been made in unraveling the systemic conditions that produce and perpetuate inequity in the technology industry.

For the full article, read here.

Published in: The Atlantic
Why Killing Terrorist Leaders Doesn't Necessarily Wipe Out Their Organizations

August 7, 2017

Jenna Jordan, assistant professor in the Ivan Allen College Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech was quoted in “Why killing terrorist leaders doesn't necessarily wipe out their organizations” for Baltimore Sun.

Excerpt:

Analysts don’t expect the policy of targeting militant leaders to change under the Trump administration.

But many analysts also say that while removing leaders may hurt militant groups, there are numerous examples of new leadership taking charge and continuing their missions. In some instances, analysts said, killing terrorist leaders fueled even more violence.

“The prevailing wisdom has been for a long time that taking out terrorist leaders helps to destabilize their groups,” said Jenna Jordan, assistant professor of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, who is writing a book on the subject. “But it's unlikely to diminish a large terrorist group's activities in the long run.”

For the full article, read here.

Published in: Baltimore Sun
The New Wave in Digital Humanities.

August 2, 2017

Lauren Klein, assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was featured as one of five “rising stars” of the digital humanities in an article in Inside Higher Ed, “The New Wave in Digital Humanities.”

Excerpt:

How can you do digital humanities at an engineering school? Klein models how to both practice digital humanities and cultivate a broad interest in the humanities. Working at a large public research institution, Klein founded the DH Lab to create meaningful research opportunities for students.

“Students tend to come in with computational questions, and it’s my job to introduce them to humanistic ones,” she explains. While her undergraduates are eager to perform portfolio-worthy technical research, Klein also brings students to the annual Alliance of Digital Humanities Organization (ADHO) conference, where they present on humanities work.

Klein’s own scholarship deploys data visualization in conjunction with literary and critical techniques, calling attention to people and stories that might otherwise be overlooked. Janet Murray, associate dean for research and faculty affairs, observed, “Lauren’s work is among the most sophisticated technically and critically of those practicing digital humanities.”

In addition to visualizing the culinary labor of the enslaved men and women who cooked for Thomas Jefferson, Klein’s most recent work, The Shape of History, completed with her students, excavates forgotten historical visualization schemes.

“Lauren is a brilliant scholar, a skilled researcher, a careful editor, and generous collaborator,” explained Gold. “I wanted to edit Debates in the Digital Humanities with her because she is independent-minded, fair, empathetic, and wise; she has a great sense of where the field is and where it is heading.”

Klein and Gold are uniquely equipped to shape digital humanities through Debates, one of the field’s pre-eminent publications. “I see my role as helping to clarify and amplify the perspectives that our writers each bring to the book,” said Klein. “The field can only gain by placing people in conversation.”

Klein hopes these various practitioners will use digital humanities to facilitate collaboration. “I think we will see a continuation of the specialization and sophistication that has characterized the most exemplary recent work in the field,” she noted. “But I’d hate to see that come along with additional barriers. We’ll only need more ways of facilitating conversation, collaboration, and credit as the field continues to grow.”

For the full article, read here.

Published in: Inside Higher Ed
Cold War Espionage Paid Off—Until it Backfired, East German Spy Records Reveal

August 1, 2017

Kristie Macrakis, professor in the Georgia Tech School of History and Sociology, was quoted in an article in Science “Cold War espionage paid off — until it backfired, East German spy records reveal.”

Excerpt:

Historian Kristie Macrakis of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, who has spent more than a decade studying Stasi databases — including the one used in the current study — agrees. “I was really excited that someone crunched these numbers,” she says. “They basically quantified what I did [already] in a qualitative way.” Macrakis, who has argued that East German industrial espionage was ultimately a failure, says the next step is to look at how the stolen technology was integrated into individual East German firms, who often requested — and received — the stolen information.

For the full article, read here.

Published in: Science
Selected New Books on Higher Education

August 1, 2017

Karen Head’s book “Disrupt This! MOOCs and the Promises of Technology” was among the “Selected New Books on Higher Education” in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Head is an associate professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Published in: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Recent Press Coverage

Solar Eclipses Have Been a Science Fiction Theme for Thousands of Years

Fictional representations of solar eclipses are often used to underline a specific plot point.

Abbey White

Liza Yaszek

The Best Anti-Racism Teacher? Hip-Hop.

Where Will Trump And Kim's Nuclear Brinkmanship Lead?

Sam Nunn Talks North Korea and Russia

Adm. James Winnefeld: N. Korea Sees Nuclear Weapons as “Survival Mechanism”

Books and the ‘Boredom Boom’

If the Warriors Want To Take a Stand, Go To the White House and Shake President Trump’s Hand

Meet Binky, The Social Media App Where Nothing Matters

Former Commander: Here’s What Happens When the President Orders a Nuclear Strike

Former Commander: Here’s What Happens When the President Orders a Nuclear Strike

Where Do Al-Aqsa Protests Leave the Islamic Movement in Israel?

What Next For North Korea, Guam and Trump? Experts Weigh In

Here's How to Demolish the Controversial Google Diversity Memo With Just 3 Words

Bioinformation Wants to Be Free and Responsible

With Just 1 Plant Under Construction, Nuclear Renaissance Stalls

A Googler's Would-Be Manifesto Reveals Tech's Rotten Core

Why Killing Terrorist Leaders Doesn't Necessarily Wipe Out Their Organizations

The New Wave in Digital Humanities.

Cold War Espionage Paid Off—Until it Backfired, East German Spy Records Reveal

Selected New Books on Higher Education

Georgia Institute of Technology

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