News

Feb 25, 2011

Language Patterns Are Roller-Coaster Ride During Childhood Development

Why, and when, do we learn to speak the way that we do? NC State University linguist Dr. Walt Wolfram’s research on African-American children presents an unexpected finding: language use can go on a roller-coaster ride during childhood as kids adopt and abandon vernacular language patterns. “We found that there is a ‘roller-coaster effect,’ featuring…

Feb 22, 2011

B – E – E there: CHASS co-hosts spelling bee

Remember how your grade-school knees knocked as you stood in front of your whole class to try to spell “ridiculous” or “parfait”? Relive those nerve-racking moments this Saturday at the Wake County Spelling Bee, co-hosted by NC State’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Education. Students from 83 schools will gather…

Feb 21, 2011

CHASS Writing Program Nationally Ranked in U.S. News & World Report

NC State is sharing the rankings spotlight with schools like Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, and Duke for its campus writing and speaking program. U.S. News and World Reporthas once again ranked the CHASS program among the nation’s best colleges and universities with writing-across-the-curriculum programs. Special congratulations to those who lead the effort: Professors Chris Anson…

Feb 21, 2011

Hutcheson Wins NC Folklore Prize

Neal Hutcheson has been awarded the Brown Hudson Award from the North Carolina Folklore Society for 2011. The announcement notes: ‘Neal Hutcheson is a documantary film-maker who has done extensive work on traditional culture in North Carolina. He has worked on films with N.C. State Professor Walt Wolfram for the North Carolina Language and Life…

Feb 8, 2011

Two CHASS Alums Named History Makers in the Making

In celebration of Black History Month, TheGrio.com named this year’s History Makers in the Making. Among the 100 prominent African-Americans are CHASS alumni Decker Ngongang and Cullen Jones. Former NC State Senior Class President Decker Ngongang (2003, Political Science) works for Moblize.org where he develops activist-oriented programs. For example, Democracy 2.0 calls attention to how…

Feb 7, 2011

New Dialect Developing in Raleigh

English Professor Robin Dodsworth was featured in the News and Observer for her research about Southern dialects: Southern accent in danger?By Chelsea Kellner A new dialect is forming in Raleigh, and Scarlett O’Hara it ain’t. There’s a gradual shift toward a less distinctive regional accent, and our vowel sounds are leading the way. “Language is…

Feb 3, 2011

English Major Wins Innovation Institute Competition

NC State Park Scholar Vinnie Feucht (English ‘11) has won the highly competitive Innovation Institute Scholarship from ThinkImpact. The nonprofit helps students learn social entrepreneurship in rural Africa by developing sustainable products and services. Feucht interned last summer at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro. The research farm studies large- and small-scale sustainable…

Jan 26, 2011

NC State University Poetry Contest

Calling all poets! Pen and send your poem by March 1 for the annual North Carolina State University Poetry Contest. Open to all North Carolina residents (some exceptions apply), the contest is one of the largest free-entry poetry competitions in the South. Awards will be given for the best poems. The top winner earns $500.…

Jan 20, 2011

Modernizing the Medieval

Medieval studies scholars are embarking on an effort that, if successful, should make it easier for future scholars to study the past. Ironically, medieval studies experts were among the first to incorporate the use of modern technology into their research (Rev. Roberto Busa used punchcards in 1949 as part of his research on St. Thomas…

Dec 15, 2010

Setting the Raleigh Public Record straight

Carrie McGahaCHASS Communications InternThey say the newspaper is dying. More than a decade into the twenty-first century, people have begun to put down their newspapers and get their news off the Internet. Although people may not be sitting down with a cup of coffee and unrolling a printed newspaper these days, a CHASS alum has…