Poetry has certainly had its moment in 2021. After Amanda Gorman performed her poem “The Hill We Climb” during the Biden inauguration, Erin Murphy’s cellphone “lit up,” she says. An award-winning poet and professor of English at Penn State Altoona, Murphy was surprised by the volume of texts and calls … Continue reading
Imagine creating a research lab for your students. It thrives but eventually other priorities take over. A few years later, one of your former research lab students returns to your campus, graduate degree in hand, to teach. Knowing what a difference being part of the research lab had made to … Continue reading
When did Americans start using the term “the marriage market”? While we might assume it’s been around for millennia, Penn State Altoona’s Lindsay Keiter, assistant professor of history, has found it’s only two centuries old. Keiter will be sharing her case for the emergence of “the marriage market” in a … Continue reading
Sculptor Michael Lucas, now associate professor emeritus at Penn State Altoona, wants people to know something about retired professors: “Our entire lives are devoted to research and creativity . . . none of it stops with retirement.” As evidence of that, Lucas has had two constructions accepted into the Orthodox … Continue reading
In the age of online communication—when having the ability to communicate across the world is taken for granted—it might seem that amateur radio (known as “ham radio”) is no longer relevant. But when the Internet fails, amateur radio keeps operating. It can serve in times of emergency. And for many … Continue reading
“Poetry and music are very good friends.” —Nikki Giovanni Todd Davis, Indiana native, award-winning environmental writer, and professor of English and environmental studies at Penn State Altoona, describes himself as a “narrative poet.” Whether read silently or out loud, his poems connect his readers to the earth. “The way we … Continue reading
Ask the “personal assistant” that sits on a shelf in your living room for the location of the closest pizza place. The assistant responds with three choices. Enter your preference into your phone and, once you are in the car, a navigation app guides you there. While your devices gave … Continue reading
For the second year, Penn State Altoona hosted the Sea, Air and Land (SeAL) Challenge, created to introduce high school students to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through a day of competition and talks by college faculty and career military professionals about opportunities for both education and … Continue reading
A new grant from Pennsylvania’s Manufacturing PA initiative will help a research project at Penn State Altoona move forward. “Ultra-conductors for the Next Generation Efficient Electric Machines,” led by Associate Professor of Physics Kofi Adu and Professor of Physics Gary Weisel, working with Electric Motor and Supply Inc. (EMS) of … Continue reading
In the film Legally Blonde first-year law student and intern Elle Woods questions witnesses during a trial and wins a case. Annalise Keating, in the TV show How to Get Away with Murder, expects her five interns to do just that—help her get away with murder. In real life, though, … Continue reading
