Wheeler Winston Dixon, professor of film studies at Nebraska, was quoted in a March 21 Toronto Star story comparing the all-black musical adaptation "The Wiz" to the 2018 box-office smash "Black Panther."
Dixon said he doesn't buy that "The Wiz" was a victim of an unenlightened era and that "Black Panther" succeeded because of more socially aware moviegoers.
"There’s simply no comparison. 'The Wiz' was directed by Sidney Lumet, who turned in a hackwork job on a deeply compromised project that has no direct relationship to African-American culture," he said. "'Black Panther,' on the other hand, was a passion project directed by African-American director Ryan Coogler, and transcended its comic book origins to become a deeply empowering vision for black audiences, resonating well beyond the target audience."
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Elspeth Ready, a postdoctoral research associate in sociology, recently conducted an extensive survey of the food-sharing practices in a small Inuit village in northern Quebec, Canada. She found that sharing traditional food provides many benefits to Inuit. One of the most impactful benefits is in the political sphere, as sharing helps some households obtain positions of influence within the community. A story on her research appeared March 12 on Canada.com and several other Canadian news sites.
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Anthony Zera, biological sciences, was quoted in a March 14 National Geographic story on snapping shrimp. In a new study, Sally Bornbusch, an evolutionary anthropologist and doctoral student at Duke University, and colleagues claim to have discovered an evolutionary trade-off between the species' queens' ability to reproduce and defend themselves. Zera said he was not convinced the team had discovered a trade-off.
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Max Perry Mueller, classics and religious, was interviewed about Mitt Romney's Senate run March 14 on Phoenix radio station KJZZ.
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Channy Chhi Laux, who earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has written a memoir titled "Short Hair Detention: Memoir of a 13-Year-Old Girl Surviving the Cambodian Genocide." Laux was featured in a March 15 story in the Palo Alto Weekly.
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The university is part of an initiative that fosters active learning methods — such as those found in debate and collaborative problem-solving — in college math courses. The project is called Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning, or SEMINAL. An article on the project appeared March 26 in the Christian Science Monitor.
