MONDAY, JUNE 13 – SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2016
BEST BETS
PROFESSOR’S FILM TO PREMIERE AT AMERICAN BLACK FILM FESTIVAL – UA theatre professor Seth Panitch recently completed a full, feature-length film that has been selected as one of 25 films to be showcased in the 20th American Black Film Festival, which begins this week in Miami. Festival judges have nominated Panitch’s film, “Service to Man,” for best screenplay, best direction and best film. For more details, contact Jamon Smith, media relations, jamon.smith@ua.edu, 205/348-4956.
MEDIA INVITED TO COASTAL MUSEUM EXPEDITION — More than a dozen high school students will explore a prehistoric occupation of the Gulf State Park area this week during the 38th annual Museum Expedition. The project’s goal is to reinvestigate some of the features that had previously been discovered — archaeological sites, shell middens, sand mounds and canal systems — and to learn more about the people who lived along Alabama’s Gulf Coast before European intervention. The expedition is led by UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History. Media are invited to visit the site and take photos or shoot video, as well as interview the students and museum staff, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 14, or Wednesday June 15. Reporters are asked to contact Allie Sorlie, museum education outreach coordinator, for directions to the site. She can be reached at 850/865-1694. For assistance, contact Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 808/640-5912 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.
SUMMER BRIDGE, SPECIAL EDUCATION MAJORS LEARN TOGETHER – Each weekday morning in June, students from the first UA Summer Bridge program engage in lessons and activities with special education majors at UA in the Intro to Special Education class, essentially providing the students a lecture and practicum experiences in one class. The Bridge students, who have an array of intellectual disabilities, experience a traditional class setting and collaboration. Two Bridge students are using covert audio coaching to help them interact in class and complete exams. “There’s been a lot of group work so far, rotating so everyone can see the diversity in disabilities and what we do to address them,” said Dr. John Myrick, clinical assistant professor. “I can see them learning how to handle situations right then and there. A lot of times, they think there’s a complicated mechanism to address issues, but it’s as seamless as any other student.” The class meets from 8 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. each weekday throughout the month. For more information, contact David Miller, UA media relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
WEST ALABAMA K-12 TEACHERS PREPPING FOR NEW SCIENCE STANDARDS – Implementation of the Alabama College and Career Readiness science standards will begin in August, and teachers from across 12 counties in West Alabama are increasing their content knowledge and learning new strategies for teaching at the UA-UWA Inservice Center, June 13 through July 1. Through the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative and Alabama Science in Motion, teachers will learn new engagement activities to help spark creativity and develop lessons and strategies to meet more three-dimensional, hands-on standards, which include more engineering concepts than previous standards. For more information, contact David Miller, UA media relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
CREATIVE WRITING CLASSES – UA hosts local high school students — incoming freshmen through graduating seniors — in the Summer 2016 Creative Writing Camp. The Creative Writing Camp meets from 1 to 4 p.m. each weekday through Friday, June 17, in 301 Morgan Hall on the UA campus. Tuition is free. The instructors are writers who are graduate students in UA’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program. For more details, contact Meghan Tear Plummer, uacreativewritingclub@gmail.com, 337/499-7648. For assistance, contact Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782.
UA EXPERT TIPS
UA MATTERS: USING MINDFULNESS TO LOWER STRESS – Many chronic conditions, like high blood pressure, insomnia or heartburn, can be traced to a single common problem: stress. Common advice for fighting stress can be to eliminate the stressors, which could mean going to bed early or just saying “no” more often. But that doesn’t address how our brains handle stress hour-to-hour or moment-to-moment, says Dr. Harriet Myers, clinical psychologist and UA assistant dean for medical education for the College of Community Health Sciences. Myers shares some tips on how we can do that in this week’s UA Matters. For assistance, contact: Kim Eaton, UA media relations, at 808/640-5912 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.
UA MATTERS: What is Mindfulness and How Can I Cultivate It? – Mindfulness has become a popular buzz word, but it can be difficult to understand until you have tried it yourself. Mindfulness and contemplative practices have been in existence for thousands of years. They have risen in popularity in Western culture since being adapted for secular use and an upsurge in research documenting the vast benefits of mind-body practices for health and well-being. In the second of three stories on chronic stress, Dr. Caroline Boxmeyer explains how mindfulness and contemplative practices can improve overall health and well-being. For assistance, contact: Kim Eaton, UA media relations, at 808/640-5912 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.