Tag Archives: UA Little Rock

Final 2018-2019 Evening with History focuses on End of Reconstruction

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Join the UA Little Rock History Department for the last lecture in this year’s Evenings with History series!

In his last public lecture before retirement, Dr. Carl Moneyhon will present “The End of Reconstruction and the Long-Term Cost of Conservative Redemption.” His talk will examine the tactics of Conservative and Democratic opponents of biracial governments during Reconstruction and the long-term social and economic impacts on the South and nation.

The program starts at 7pm at Historic Arkansas Museum.

Fringe Festival of New Student Work presented this week by UA Little Rock Theatre Arts and Dance

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Image may contain: 1 person, textFringe Festival of New Student Work, Presented by the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance. The festival (Fringe V), includes 12 new plays, monologues, and choreographic work from 11 playwrights and one senior capstone.

The festival is divided into two events: PG to OMG night and Women’s Voices night. The events will run in rotating repertory (PG/OMG April 2 – 4) and Women’s Voices (April 3 & 5). Much of the work was created in a Special Topics course: Page to Stage taught in the fall.

This semester student playwrights and directors have revised the written work and brought the pieces to life onstage. Other works on the festival include a Senior Capstone, by Jessi Ley and work generated from Dr. Lawrence Smith’s Intro to Theatre & Dance course. The plays offer a range of content and theatrical styles. Students have been free to explore subject matter that inspires and challenges their ideas of theatre-making.

Fringe V is directed by students and alumni, and for the first time, the Fringe has a design component. Theatre major, Thomas Jackson’s scenic design serves as his senior capstone. In addition, Conor Van Lierop serves as lighting designer and Blake Morris serves as Sound Designer. Mykenzie Gordon, Jessi Ley, Thomas Jackson, and Conor Van Lierop’s work is supported by Signature Experience grants. Stacy Pendergraft, Associate Professor, is the Artistic Director for the event.

WHEN: April 2 & 4 (PG to OMG Theatre), April 3 & 5 (Women’s Voices); All performances are at 7:30pm

WHERE: Haislip Theatre in the Center for the Performing Arts on the UA Little Rock campus + Google Map >

BOX OFFICE & TICKETS: As a grassroots, a student-driven theatre event, the performances are FREE. Tickets are distributed on a first come first seated basis. The theatre doors will open at 7pm.

CONTENT ADVISORY: All viewers should be advised that both nights of theatre contain Adult Themes, Strong Language, Sexual Content & Graphic Violent Situations. The event is suitable for ages 18 and up.

Women Making History: Dr. Raye Montague

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In February 2017, Raye J. Montague, RPE was recognized on “Good Morning America” for her work as a pioneering scientist. She was not only the first woman to design a U.S. Naval ship using a computer, or the first African American to do so, she was the first PERSON to do so.

She began a career in Washington, DC with the United States Navy in 1956 and retired in 1990 after serving in numerous leadership roles during her tenure of thirty-three and one-half years. Her work designing the FFG-7 Class in the early 1970s revolutionized naval ship design.  She also served as the first female Program Manager of Ships in the US Navy and was the first female professional engineer to receive the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Achievement Award.

Throughout her career she received many honors, and was often the first woman of any race to achieve statuses in the engineering profession.

In 2006, she returned to Arkansas.  She is involved with numerous civic activities including mentoring students in the sciences at UA Little Rock and also eStem Public Charter School.  She was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2013.

Dr. Montague died in October 2018. She will posthumously receive the Fribourgh Award from UA Little Rock later in 2019.  In her honor, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. declared today (March 28, 2019) as Dr. Raye Jean Montague Day.

The Climate Reality Project is focus of UA Little Rock Downtown talk

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“The Climate Reality Project: Need for Change and Reasons for Hope” is the topic of Dr. Jessica Scott’s discussion tonight (3/27) at the UA Little Rock Downtown campus.  The program is free and begins at 6pm.

Must we change? Can we change? Will we change? These three questions will be the focus of Dr. Scott’s presentation on climate change and the work of The Climate Reality Project.

Although climate change is often misunderstood by the public, more than 97 percent of climate scientists agree that it is real and caused by the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas. Understanding climate change can be overwhelming because our atmosphere, oceans, soil, and weather are driven by a complex network of interconnected factors.

Dr. Scott’s talk, targeted at non-scientists, will not only summarize the evidence for climate change, but will also give an overview of what we know about its impacts and the policy and industry changes that experts predict will be necessary to mitigate these effects.

Dr. Jessica Scott is assistant director of the Donaghey Scholars honors program and anthropology instructor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Dynamics and M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, and her B.A. in Anthropology and History from UALR.

Women Making History – Nancy Rousseau

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Though not a graduate of Little Rock Central High School, Nancy Rousseau is a Central High Tiger through and through.

She has been principal of Little Rock Central High School since the summer of 2002. Born in New York, she graduated high school in Tenafly, New Jersey.  After attending Ohio University, she graduated from Adelphi University with a degree in English education.  Her first job was teaching in Port Washington, NY, where she won the “New Teacher of the Year” award.  After teaching in Midwest City, Oklahoma, she arrived in Little Rock in 1976.

From 1976 until 1986, she taught English at Pulaski Academy.  After receiving her master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, she was hired by the Little Rock School District as an Assistant Principal at Central High School.  From 1991 until 1998, she served in that capacity. During that time, she worked on the planning for the 40th anniversary of the integration of Central High by the Little Rock Nine.

In 1998, she became principal of Pulaski Heights Junior High School.  She led the school’s transition from a junior high to a middle school.  When the position of Central High School principal became open in 2002, she applied for the job.

Since returning to Central as its principal, Mrs. Rousseau has been a very visible champion of the school, its students, faculty and alumni.  She served as co-chair for the Central High Integration 50th Anniversary Commission.  During her tenure, the school’s physical plant has been upgrade and much of the historic façade and interior has been restored.  A Central High Alumni Association and a Tiger Foundation have been formed.  Through their effort, the arts, academics and athletics have been enhanced.

Mrs. Rousseau also participated in the planning for the 60th anniversary of the school’s integration.  She is one of a very few who worked on the 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries.

Women Making History – Terri Hollingsworth

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On January 1, 2019, Terri Hollingsworth was sworn in as Circuit/County Clerk for Pulaski County.  She is the first African American female to hold the position (and, indeed the first African American of either gender to do so).

Ms. Hollingsworth has worked in management positions in both the public and private sectors and nonprofit organizations. She has served on all levels of government and began her career working for the City of Little Rock as a city planner and later as the economic development administrator. Ms. Hollingsworth has also worked for Arkansas Secretary of State Sharon Priest and was tapped to be the Director of the State Board of Election Commissioners. She managed the board’s daily operations and $3.2 million budget, monitored and effectively communicated the state’s position on election legislation, conducted statewide poll worker training, and was the liaison and primary contact to legislators.

Ms. Hollingsworth served as the Chief Administrative Officer at the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) and oversaw the daily operations of the federal agency, supervision of staff and operational management of board members, elected officials and stakeholders. Terri remains an active member of the Delta Leadership Network which supports the DRA’s work in eight states and the efforts of the Delta Leadership Institute. Before her election, Ms. Hollingsworth served as a senior advisor for business strategy at Peter Damon Group, a national strategic public affairs, business development and event management services firm.

Ms. Hollingsworth is a member of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Links, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and is on the board of Audubon Arkansas. A graduate of Howard University in Washington D.C., she earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Deviant Mobs of the Internet – UA Downtown Lecture Series tonight at 6pm

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Image result for nitin agarwal ualrCOSMOS director Dr. Nitin Agarwal will be speaking about “Deviant Mobs of the Internet: Bots, Trolls, and Misinformation” on Wednesday, March 13, from 6:00pm – 7:00pm at the UA Little Rock Downtown location. This lecture is free and open to the public. Prior knowledge of the topic is not required.

About the lecture:
Social media platforms are widely used for sharing information. Although social media use is generally benign, such platforms can also be used for a variety of malicious activities, including the dissemination of propaganda, hoaxes, and fake news to influence the public. The availability of inexpensive and ubiquitous mass communication tools has made such malicious acts much more convenient and effective.

This talk will touch upon our various research efforts that demonstrate how disinformation campaigns work, examine the critical link between blogs and other social media platforms (viz., YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, VKontakte, etc.), and the different media orchestration strategies. Using socio-computational models that leverage social network analysis and cyber forensics, prominent information actors and leading coordinators of disinformation campaigns are identified.

Further, the talk will highlight tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the deviant groups to propagate disinformation. The talk will further illustrate application of the research methodology to prominent cases of massive disinformation campaigns in the Baltic region and NATO’s military exercises, conducted primarily through blogs but strategically linking to a variety of other social media platforms.

About Dr. Nitin Agarwal:
Nitin Agarwal is the Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Information Science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Director of the Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (COSMOS). He researches cyber information campaigns, social computing, deviant behavior modeling, group dynamics, social-cyber forensics, data mining, and privacy.