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Read the 2022 issue of Arts & Sciences magazine featuring stories on the UAB TRIP Lab, Alabama Poet Laureate Ashley M. Jones, plus updates from the 2021-2022 academic year.

Alison and Karen Chapman.The Chapman family has long believed that education transforms lives, and they are particularly committed to students who struggle with the costs of higher education. To help provide these students with a path to an undergraduate degree, Alison Chapman, Ph.D., and her mother, Karen Chapman, have established the Chapman Family Endowed Scholarship in the Department of English. The endowment will serve as a lasting tribute to the Chapman family, including Alison’s late father, Lee Barton Chapman, M.D.

A native of Birmingham, Alison Chapman joined UAB in 2000 where she currently serves as professor and chair of the Department of English. Alison graduated magna cum laude from Davidson College and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in English Renaissance literature, including Shakespeare and Milton. She is known for her vibrant and accessible teaching, and she especially enjoys working with students on their writing skills.

Alison’s father, Lee Barton Chapman, was a graduate of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine and went on to become a beloved Birmingham-area surgeon. He was delighted to have his daughter join the UAB faculty and to watch the university become an ever more robust center of undergraduate learning. A lifetime intellectual and reader, Lee thought of himself as a ‘closet English major’ and usually had a stack of classic works on his bedside. He spent many of his vacations volunteering in medical clinics in developing countries, and, in his retirement, he was a tireless literacy tutor. Though Lee passed away in 2008, the family says he would be honored to support UAB students as they achieve their goal of earning a bachelor’s degree.

Scholarship support ensures that students can set aside their financial concerns as they focus on their studies, empowering them to make a difference in their careers and communities. Generous gifts to the Chapman Family Endowed Scholarship will not only assist students who might not otherwise be able to attend UAB, but also pay tribute to the university that has been an important part of the Chapmans’ lives.

Give to the Chapman Family Endowed Scholarship.

Jacquelyn S. Shaia and Tehreem Khan. Photos by Studio Moderne.This spring, public relations students from UAB took home an astounding number of awards at the annual conference for the Public Relations Council of Alabama (PRCA)—the state’s largest organization for public relations practitioners. Students in the UAB Public Relations Council of Alabama/Public Relations Student Society of America (PRCA/PRSSA) won 46 individual awards and the UAB chapter was awarded the Bettie W. Hudgens Student Chapter of the Year Award. Senior Tehreem Khan was also named Student of the Year, an award that recognizes academic achievement in the field of public relations as well as leadership on campus and in the community.

The UAB PRCA/PRSSA is a student-led organization open to students across campus who are interested in public relations. The organization conducts workshops, hosts networking events and guest speakers, and offers service-based learning in the community. The student group is a valuable extension of the public relations academic program in the Department of Communication Studies, where students take what they’re learning in the classroom and put it into practice.

In 2016, Jacquelyn S. Shaia, J.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies and faculty advisor for the chapter, took a small but successful PRCA/PRSSA program and brought it to the national level. The student chapter received its first national recognition in 2020, earning the prestigious PRSSA Star Chapter of the Year award for the first time in the program’s history. Despite its small size—around 60 students and only one full-time faculty member—the UAB PR program has earned the reputation of being one of the finest in the country.

Arts & Sciences magazine sat down with Shaia and Khan to learn more about the program and their collaborative mentoring relationship. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A&S Magazine: Let's start with each of you telling me about yourself and how you ended up at UAB.

Tehreem Khan: My name is Tehreem Khan. I am a communication studies major with a concentration in mass communications with a focus in public relations. I moved to Birmingham in 2016 [and attended] two years of high school here, and I knew that I was going to stay with my family. So, I was looking around at my local [higher education] options. My sister was already enrolled at UAB, and she said, “You need to go to UAB because that’s the best place Birmingham has.” So, she gave me a tour, and when I toured this campus, I fell in love with it.

Jacquelyn Shaia: Mine’s a little longer... When I graduated from high school, I went to work the next day for a law firm in Montgomery. I always wanted to go to college, but I had no money to go to college. One of our clients was Dr. James Hicks, and he was the chair of the Division of Otolaryngology in the UAB School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery. I came to know Dr. Hicks when he was coming in and out of the office, and he said, “Well, if you want to go to college you should come to UAB.” So, I started working for Dr. Hicks at UAB while attending school. After I graduated from UAB, I got a scholarship to law school and went on to practice law for years in corporate at BellSouth where public relations was one of my clients. I later worked for the Business Council of Alabama as the head of strategic planning and fundraising. Then I was hired by Alabama Power [to serve as] the President and CEO of the Alabama Power Foundation as well as Senior Vice President of Public Relations, Economic Development, and Corporate Services. I also served as President and CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, recruiting industry to this state. It seemed like every job I had involved public relations in some capacity. Public relations is many things: it’s vitally strategic, it's relationship building, it's getting to know people, it's certainly getting to know your audience. It's tailoring your message to the audience so they can understand it. And, most importantly, it has to be ‘mutually beneficial’ for both parties—where both parties feel successful—in order to be effective.

I had always wanted to get a Ph.D. I thought it would be fun—and it really was. [In 2002,] I started the Ph.D. program at the University of Alabama [in Tuscaloosa]. I started teaching media law and taught the entire time I worked on my Ph.D. After I received my doctorate, I really had no intention of working full-time teaching, but then I got a call from UAB. I taught media law and crisis management classes in UAB’s outstanding Honors College and now work with remarkable faculty in the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.

A&S: Tehreem, how did you become interested in PR?

TK: As a child, I was involved in school debating competitions in both English and Urdu (Pakistan’s national language). Most of my family belongs to the education sector in Pakistan. My dad is a professor, and he always encouraged academic excellence, leadership, and public speaking. When I would go on the stage as a host or as a debater, his eyes would light up and that meant the world to me. [Also,] I would sit with him and watch news shows. It was very cool that when the [news] anchors were talking, [my family] would pause and listen; their opinion really mattered. And I thought that if they were changing the opinions of people who lived in my household, it meant they were changing the opinions of society at large. That was very inspiring to me, and I knew that I wanted a career in mass communication. The power of the pen and the power of voice really resonated with me ever since I was a child. When I got into UAB, I knew I wanted to do mass communication, [but] I didn't even know what PR was at that time. So, when I was taking an “Ethics and Leadership” [course] with Dr. Shaia, I gave a presentation, and then after the presentation, [Dr. Shaia] pulled me aside and said, “Tehreem, I want you in my program.” As a foreigner, especially, it meant a lot to me that someone in the U.S. is telling me, “Hey, I'll mentor you… I will lead you. I will support you. I will expose you to these opportunities.” So I consulted with my father, and he said, “You should definitely do this.” The next semester, I enrolled in all the PR classes.

A&S: Dr. Shaia, what was your vision for the PRCA/PRSSA student chapter in relation to the public relations academic program?

JS: The public relations student chapter was successful on its own when I took it on. It received Chapter of the Year from the Public Relations Council of Alabama (PRCA) for many years. But all the emphasis was on that Chapter of the Year [award], not on the individual development, and I wanted both. I also wanted to start extending nationally. We had absolutely no national involvement at all when I came in. So, the first year, off the bat, we had students who served on committees on the national Public Relations Student Society of America. Within a couple of years, we applied for Star Chapter (a national award), and we got it—and that had never been done before at UAB. We've been able to get that award every successive year since then.

When I first came here, leadership and ethics was not a required part of the public relations [curriculum], and I truly believed it needed to be. So, we changed the catalog. We made “Ethics and Leadership” a required course in the public relations [academic program] because you cannot be a true professional without honesty and integrity and a firm understanding of how to apply those values in the workplace. Throughout the program, and particularly with the chapter work, I try to give [students] a heavy dose of what to expect in the professional world and a solid understanding of all the soft skills that they're going to need. I try to bring a perspective of experience on how it really works in the real world. The whole idea is to make our students as competitive as they can be when they graduate with all the skills they need to be successful.

A&S: Tehreem, how has being in the student chapter set you up for success throughout your undergraduate career?

TK: I think it has been critical… I think being part of the student chapter teaches skills that books cannot teach. Books can’t teach you [how to work with] people, and [being part of the chapter] helps you learn how to deal with different personalities. Some people want to be micromanaged, and some people want to work independently. Figuring out how everyone wants to work and [developing] your leadership strategy according to that [is important]. I also think becoming a part of the student organization is important because, as a student, you need reassurance that what you’re doing is worth it and to have [those] opportunities for recognition. [Also], I didn’t have the resources that [allowed me] to pay for my education in the United States on my own. But, as part of the student chapter, I was exposed to a lot of scholarship opportunities, which helped me pay for what I'm doing.

Simply put—[and] this might sound like a cliche statement—but I literally walked into this program as a student, and I am proud to say that I'm leaving as a professional.

A&S: Tell me about the community engagement aspect of the program.

JS: Oh, I love this. I love the community and our state and am extremely grateful to the strong practicing professionals we have in this field in the Southeast. I was adamant that [students] start working with practitioners and expand their networks. Professionals in the Southeast volunteer their time to critique our students’ work. More importantly, students get another set of eyes on their work. We also select small groups of students and then pair them with nonprofits based on each group's interest to create and deliver real public relations campaigns. There’s no shortage, as I tell the students, of noble causes in the state. There are opportunities everywhere, and we just have to look for them. These small nonprofits don't have any public relations support and are just so grateful for our help. The last class in the program is our capstone class, and we conclude with a competition. I bring in four PR practitioners from across the state who serve as judges and hear presentations on the campaigns from each of the student groups. After deliberation, they decide which campaign was the best and offer very valuable feedback on ways each of the campaigns can be improved. This is tremendously helpful to the students, and they graduate having strategically developed—and delivered—a very extensive campaign for a struggling nonprofit which badly needs help.

TK: I think working with nonprofit organizations gives purpose. The other thing is the nonprofit organizations that we work with at UAB are pretty small. In a bigger organization, you [might] have a photographer, videographer, social media person, media relations person. But when working with a small nonprofit organization—and we are working for them pro bono—we are the photographer, we are the videographer, we are the social media person, and we are their media relations person. We are their PR person… so it not only helps them but builds our professional skills. It is an opportunity to do things out of our comfort zone.

A&S: How does the mentor/mentee relationship between students and faculty lend itself to the program’s success?

TK: [To some], it may be considered a weakness that it's a small program but, to me, it's a strength. We have a small group of [students] and one faculty member, which helps us build connections amongst ourselves and with Dr. Shaia.

I’ve had a lot of people tell me, “You’re doing a great job!” You [also] need a person who is really honest with you, and with a mentor like [Dr. Shaia], you're going to know… So having those people who are not just appreciative of your good work, but also can tell you, “Here's what you're doing wrong,” so that you don't make those mistakes in a high-stakes situation… This is what mentorship is.

JS: The thing I keep in mind on mentoring is students need to always trust you and know that when you give them positive [feedback], it's positive. And when you give them things that need to be improved upon, they can trust you. Suggestions for improvement must be delivered in a way in which the student understands it is for their own benefit.

I'm a big believer in giving big jobs to people who maybe have never done them before. I expect them to succeed, and they do. They [succeed] because they realize that if they just pull from within, they can do this… And I'm going to be there to help them if they need help. They're able to build their confidence up.

There's nothing more gratifying than to see a young person come in with talent, even though the talent is not fully developed. I have always believed you hire for attitude and train for skills, and I still believe that. Hire for attitude, train for skills every time. A mentor or leader cannot micromanage an individual and expect them to succeed and learn. People perform best when they have a strong understanding of the organizational framework—and can use their own talent and creativity to solve the problem. And so, I work with each student to be sure that we go where that student is—not where we think that student ought to be in relation to everybody else… And [I also ask myself] what do I need to do or change in order to develop that student to get them to where they need to be?

TK: Dr. Shaia always says that everyone handles success well, but how you handle failure speaks to who you are as a person. And her statement helps me reflect and humbles me. She shares a lot of life advice in her classes, which I love about her—that’s part of her mentorship to every student.

Learn more about the public relations program at UAB.

Photos by Steve Wood.A driver fails to notice a stop sign and collides with another vehicle. While this type of scenario is all too common, it is possible that such a crash could be prevented in advance by consulting with a driving instructor or traffic engineer or…a psychologist?

Yes, the UAB Department of Psychology is behind the wheel of an innovative research program designed to study driver behavior—especially among high school students—and use the gathered data to improve safety.

The UAB Translational Research for Injury Prevention Laboratory, or TRIP Lab, was founded in 2009 by Despina Stavrinos, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Psychology. With the help of UAB student assistants, as well as an immersive SUV driving simulator acquired in 2016, the lab delves deep into the actions of distracted drivers. The goal is to find behavioral patterns that can be altered in order to make potential accidents less likely to occur.

“I’ve always been interested in cognition and brain processees surrounding decision making and attention,” said Stavrinos. “When you think about those basic psychological processees, they develop over childhood into early adulthood. So, how do those things apply to a real-world context like driving? I’m a very applied researcher, and much of the work we do at UAB is addressing real-world problems.”

At first glance, automotive safety might seem to be an area of research more suited to engineering than psychology. But as TRIP Lab assistant director Benjamin McManus, Ph.D., notes, “It’s still humans who are driving the car.”

“Almost all crashes are due to some sort of human error that was preventable, and the number one contributor to that human error is some sort of inattention,” said McManus. “Psychologists are trained on cognition and attention development. So, this lab looks at motor vehicle collisions through the lens of psychology, focusing on attention development and human limitations as it relates to cognition.”

The origin of TRIP Lab dates back to Stavrinos’ work in the mid-2000s with Department of Psychology University Professor David Schwebel, Ph.D., focusing on injury prevention among children as pedestrians crossing the street. Stavrinos also conducted postdoctoral work at UAB’s Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) with Russ Fine, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Medicine in the Heersink School of Medicine, where she founded the TRIP Lab.

Professor Despina Stavrinos“My early work was looking at attention development—how we make decisions in real time—and applying it to things like how little kids cross the street,” said Stavrinos. “I translated that into driving. Because those same kids grow up, and now they’re behind the wheel…still with an immature brain that is continuing to develop. I was intrigued to learn how immature brain processes put these kids at risk, and what can we do to increase that learning to save lives.”

Simulated Driving in a Real SUV

The ability of TRIP Lab to gather such data has accelerated tremendously over the years. When the lab began, the driving simulator was a simpler desktop computer with integrated steering wheel, brake, and accelerator—cutting edge at the time. As a result, the lab was limited in the type and amount of data it could gather, and many of the research opportunities were small, single-year projects.

That changed dramatically in 2016 when Honda Manufacturing of Alabama gave the lab a new Pilot SUV that had been built at its production facility in Lincoln, and the Alabama Department of Transportation provided funding for the creation of a fully immersive driving simulator with video screens on all sides of the vehicle. Future projects led to the addition of integrated eye tracking equipment. It is the only such simulator in the state of Alabama, and remains the only known SUV simulator in operation anywhere.

Sitting in an actual vehicle with visuals all around provides an element of realism that substantially increases the lab’s data-gathering capabilities. This is especially important since the primary focus of the lab’s studies involves teenagers born in the 21st century who have grown up on technology that is both realistic and immersive.

“With this simulator, when our participants get in it, they treat it seriously,” said Stavrinos. “So, we’re able to get a really good estimate of their real-world driving behavior.”

This enhanced ability enabled TRIP Lab to quickly secure a multi-million dollar, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the changes that take place in teenage drivers in the months immediately after obtaining their license.

“The most dangerous thing you’ll do in your lifetime is independent driving during those first months after getting your license,” said Stavrinos. “People teach teens how to drive in an empty parking lot, or have them drive a familiar route during the day in ideal conditions. Then they get their license and it’s like, ‘Here are the keys. Go.’”

Benjamin McManus meets with the TRIP Lab team.“We want to know what teens learn during those first months of independent driving, and how they acquire improved skills. That way, we can find some training targets to accelerate that learning, so we can then reduce the amount of time when they’re at their highest risk.”

Working with schools in the Greater Birmingham area, TRIP Lab brought in nearly 200 teenagers over the past five years to participate in the study. Once they become familiar with how to operate the simulator, the students take a few uneventful drives so researchers can establish a baseline of their ability.

After that, things start to get a little chaotic. Cars may suddenly brake in front of them. A cell phone rings. A text comes in. Pedestrians nearly step into the roadway.

“We can make the scenery look like a specific area, then program all these different customized scenarios for a variety of conditions,” said McManus. “We can get really detailed, including how many drops of rain per minute and how big are the droplets.”

All along, data constantly are being gathered about how the driver reacts to these distractions, and where their eye focus is in the moments immediately before an incident occurs.

“We record all their behaviors,” said Stavrinos. “When a hazard appears, how long does it take to respond? How do they maneuver around it? Do they brake? Do they swerve? What were their steering behaviors like? Their speed? Lane position? It’s a very powerful system where we get fine-grain information about their behavior.”

“Then with the eye-tracking, we’re also able to see their visual reaction. Did they even see the hazard? Were they scanning for it? People sometimes have this tunneling effect during their first months of driving, so they just stare at the car in front of them. How many times did they glance around to notice what else is out there?”

Stavrinos says the goal of the study is to shed some light on exactly how and when those improvements take place, providing specific suggestions on ways to better train students while they still have their learner's permit before becoming independent drivers.

A Safe Place to Learn

Braxton Wade, State Farm Sales Leader, and Arlene Lester, State Farm Corporate Responsibility Analyst, present a generous donation to the TRIP Lab.In addition to providing valuable research data, the simulator also enables teenagers to experience dangerous driving situations while operating in a secure environment, rather than out on the open road. In an attempt to reach as many high schoolers as possible, the TRIP Lab regularly takes a portable simulator to the Birmingham City Schools and works with students in driver’s ed classes.

“It has helped the students feel more confident about driving,” said Sherri Huff, program specialist in physical education, health, and driver’s ed for Birmingham City Schools. “I hear comments all the time from students that they are apprehensive about getting their license. But if they can get some experience through the simulator, they feel less threatened about driving a motor vehicle.”

“It’s fantastic that they have this opportunity to work with UAB to learn better driving skills and be more equipped with safety measures. I’m very grateful that we have this partnership. It’s made a world of difference for students who don’t feel as confident about driving. It’s helped them tremendously.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic prevented in-person interaction with the schools, the TRIP Lab team created a virtual version of the program for young drivers available through Zoom sessions and YouTube videos. The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) supported that program through a generous grant.

Now, State Farm has joined RPCGB in helping to expand the distracted driving outreach program with a new grant that will enable the TRIP Lab to take the portable simulator to high schools throughout the state.

“Helping people recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams is a part of our daily mission,” said Arlene Lester, corporate responsibility analyst at State Farm. “However, preventing the unexpected through education is also at the forefront of our mind. The UAB TRIP Lab aids in creating safer and more educated communities.”

“I am impressed at the level of detail displayed in their research, and how they bring the research alive through their interaction with the students. The program emboldens students to listen, and then moves them to action as they learn about ways to engage on the road. They have made a remarkable difference in how teens accept their responsibility while driving, or even as a passenger. It is our honor to provide resources to promote their work across Alabama.”

Research Opportunities for UAB Students

But it is not only high school students who are benefitting from the TRIP Lab. Stavrinos says more than 150 UAB students have worked in the lab as research assistants over the years.

“From the beginning we’ve prioritized having students in the lab, and we allow them to really get involved,” said Stavrinos. “Students come in and engage in research depending upon where we are in our project. They develop protocols, work on data collection and data analysis. They can jump in at any stage of research. We want them to be integrated into the lab as fully as possible and have an opportunity to learn firsthand how research happens.”

“Oftentimes this is the first place they’ve ever participated in research. I had the opportunity to do that as an undergrad, and that’s what made me realize I wanted to do this as a career. So, I want to give undergrads that same opportunity to get into a lab and actually help design and run studies, analyze findings, and translate that to the community in terms of safety.”

While the majority of the research assistants have come from the Department of Psychology, Stavrinos says the lab has welcomed students from a wide variety of disciplines, including engineering, nursing, medicine, public health, and education. “Transportation is a complex issue, so there are a lot of different perspectives on it,” said Stavrinos.

Rachael George, a junior majoring in public health, began working in the TRIP Lab last year. She admits she was a bit hesitant at first since the lab operates under the umbrella of psychology.

Ramsay High School students participating in TRIP Lab's distracted driving outreach program."When I first heard about the TRIP Lab, I thought it was kind of strange that they were studying cars in a psychology lab,” said George. “But I talked with some people who recommended it, and then heard a lecture from (Stavrinos) that made me interested in applying.”

“It’s the right fit for me because it not only has the dedication to research, it also has the strong dedication to the translation aspect of going back into the community. I also really liked seeing some of the computer science stuff that happens. It’s just been a really great chance to get involved in research on campus, and to do more than just one thing at a research lab.”

One way George has assisted with TRIP Lab’s outreach is by working to bulk up the lab’s various social media platforms. Over the past year, she says the lab’s follower count has doubled on both Instagram and Facebook—also, the lab recently established a new presence on TikTok.

“I wanted to try to turn our social media into a way to reach students and other people who may be able to participate in the studies we’re running,” said George. “A lot of people are getting a chance to see the research process for the first time, and they didn’t realize how accessible it can be if they want to participate in a research lab or a study.”

The Road Ahead

Moving forward, Stavrinos expects the TRIP Lab to do more research work in areas beyond teenage driving. She said that has already happened, as the lab has been approached by several other schools and departments throughout UAB.

“Because we can customize our simulator scenarios, it has opened up so many research opportunities,” said Stavrinos. “The scientific community at UAB is asking about it. It’s branched into work involving medical patients. Clinicians want to know, ‘Can my patient drive safely with a certain condition, or after a certain medical procedure?’ So, we’ve branched out beyond just teen driver work, because we’re realizing that there are so many applications.”

For example, the TRIP Lab has started a new project in collaboration with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio State University involving patients who are recovering from brain injuries, including concussions.

“There are currently no guidelines on when somebody can return to driving after a concussion,” said Stavrinos. “Doctors base it on how you feel, but they’d rather have some objective data. Here, the simulator plays a really important role. The sim offers a very controlled, safe way to test what their capabilities look like.”

Other research possibilities include changes in vision for night-time driving, the ability to drive following a hip procedure or leg/angle fracture, and returning to driving after a stroke. The SUV simulator even was utilized by a graduate student conducting a project involving parents properly using booster seats for infants. “The scenarios can be customized around the fundamental research question,” said Stavrinos.

Those questions and scenarios likely will continue to change right along with technology. McManus points out that when the lab first started, the primary cause of driver distraction was texting on a cell phone. Now, new technologies have created new distractions—such as people using smart watches while driving.

“The technology keeps changing, so the research has to keep moving with it,” said McManus. “That’s one of the things this lab has been able to do, is see the challenges in the future and move with them, both with our technology but also through research, education, and community engagement through outreach.”

“That’s one of the strengths of the lab. We are able to adapt and keep moving.” As a result, drivers are able to keep moving as well. And to do so more safely.

Professor Emeritus George Liber. Photo by Steve Wood.On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, igniting the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. As the United States, the European Union, and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) impose paralyzing sanctions on Russia and seek to supply Ukraine with the necessary weapons to stop Russia—without provoking a Russian response against Ukraine’s NATO neighbors—this war is generating a series of crises in the international energy and food supply chains. These crises are sparking sharp increases in worldwide inflation and generating food insecurity for tens of millions across the world.

Given the global impact of the war in Ukraine, UAB immediately sought out an expert who could offer insights about the crisis to the general public. Thankfully, George Liber, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus from the Department of History, offered to share his knowledge, so people across Alabama (and the country) could better understand the invasion.

“Almost everyone outside of Ukraine expected the government under President Volodymyr Zelensky to collapse within days of the invasion, but the citizens of Ukraine rallied behind their charismatic leader and slowed the Russian advance,” said Liber. “Unarmed civilians are the primary victims of this war.”

Liber’s connection to Ukraine is deep and personal. He grew up in Gary, Indiana, in the 1960s, and his parents were Ukrainian refugees. He visited Ukraine for the first time in 1970 when he was a senior in high school, providing him an opportunity to explore the country his parents once called home. He, along with a group of fellow students, traveled Europe and the U.S.S.R., visiting numerous cities along the way including Kyiv, Lviv, Moscow, and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). The experience had a profound impact on him.

“As my first overseas trip, this exploration showed me the differences between my life in the United States and of those who lived in other countries, especially communist countries,” said Liber.

Soon after returning from the trip, Liber graduated from high school and enrolled at Indiana University. While at IU, he majored in history and refined his scholarly interests within the discipline.

“At first, I imagined that I would become a historian of the United States. Later, I chose to study the history of Eastern Europe, concentrating on Poland,” said Liber.

He earned his bachelor’s degree, then went on to pursue an M.A. in History from Harvard University, hoping to study with Orest Subtelny, the first faculty member with a Ph.D. in Ukrainian Studies. According to Liber, Subtelny taught the history of Ukraine from a transnational and inter-imperial perspective, especially when he centered Ukraine within the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. Subtelny made his specialty a part of global history and ensured his teaching was both accessible and interesting to a broader audience. This approach influenced Liber’s own teaching throughout his academic career.

After completing his M.A. at Harvard, Liber continued his academic journey and earned a Ph.D. in History from Columbia University. And, beginning in the early 1980s, he found numerous opportunities to revisit (and briefly live in) both the U.S.S.R. and independent Ukraine—continuing the journey he began as a high school senior. Along with visiting, exploring, and studying the country, Liber also served in valuable roles for several of Ukraine’s elections.

“I became a Short-Term Election Observer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the presidential elections in Ukraine in 2010 and 2019, and for the parliamentary elections there in October 2012,” said Liber.

While Liber was deepening his connection to Ukraine, he was also building a career at UAB. He arrived on campus in 1987 and, throughout his tenure, published three monographs on the history of Ukraine in the 20th century. He often taught “Western Civilization (1500-present),” as well as, “The World Since 1945.” According to Liber, these courses provided him with opportunities to engage new students in lectures and coursework that would help them expand their perspectives of the world. It also challenged him to think about his research.

“Teaching introductory courses helps those engaged in complex research projects to prepare to answer the fundamental questions all audiences want to know: ‘Why is this important? How does it affect me? My family?’” Liber explained.

When teaching his intro courses, Liber often presented a nuanced view of history. Specifically, Liber wanted his students to understand the fragility of our modern world and the stakes the global community faces.

“My mission—as I understood it—was to explain why the modern world works the way it works and how, over the course of centuries, our current rules-based world order and economic prosperity developed,” said Liber. “We think that this rules-based order is a permanent feature of our lives, but as Russia’s war against Ukraine has clearly demonstrated, this order is fracturable and in danger of collapsing.”

In February 2022, Russia, the largest country in the world, attacked Ukraine, the largest country wholly within Europe.

Given his expertise on Russia and Ukraine—as well as his ability to share complex historical information with non-historians—Liber was recruited by UAB’s University Relations team to serve as an expert media source on the crisis in Ukraine in February 2022. The media team soon discovered an interesting fact when they reached out to Liber: he’d just retired from UAB. His retirement did not stop him from sharing his insights, though. Quite the opposite. Soon after agreeing to serve as an expert source, Liber participated in numerous interviews with broadcast stations, including CBS 42 and WBRC FOX6 in Birmingham, and joined a series of virtual and in-person panels.

“Although I had previously appeared in the local media during various crises in my 34 years at UAB, I had never received as many requests in so short a time,” said Liber. “I accepted every one. As I spoke to the media, I felt very self-conscious, as if I were participating in a reality TV show.”

It was a valuable experience, but it was also difficult and painful for Liber to talk about the war. As he shared his knowledge with Alabamians, he often saw footage and photos of the destruction of cities, streets, and monuments he’d come to know over the past 40 years. What his parents and their generation experienced eight decades ago exploded in full force across television screens on a daily basis in the spring of 2022. Their past became a visual reality in the present.

“History is a rational study of a very confusing and very emotional past, but when we live in the present—even if we are committed to a rational assessment of the world—events produce emotional impacts,” said Liber. “Historical tsunamis generate emotional consequences not only among the millions in their path, but also among those who report and analyze these current political and historical events from afar.”

Liber sees this work as important—even if he was asked to do it during the first couple months of his retirement. Specifically, he thinks there is great value in scholars sharing their research with the public so people can better understand events that might impact their lives. He believes UAB faculty set a strong example of bringing scholarly research to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Just as UAB’s medical spokesmen and spokeswomen provided excellent television presentations (even if in 30-second sound bites!) about the spread of COVID-19 and the measures necessary to prevent vulnerable populations from infection, all scholars—especially historians and social scientists—need to learn to communicate to broader audiences the significance of what they do,” said Liber.

It is a goal that ensures the public is well-informed and, in some cases, better prepared for world-changing moments and crises.

From left to right, Shahid Mukhtar, Kecia M. Thomas, Verna Keith, Rich Gere, Lauren Rast, and David Chan. Photo by Nik Layman.There is an ebb and flow to the world that stretches across the centuries. Breakdowns are followed by breakthroughs. Desolation sparks inspiration. Harsh reality is softened by imaginative artistry.  And so, the plague of the 14th century led to the revival of the Renaissance. The flu pandemic of 1918-19 was followed by the Jazz Age of the Roaring Twenties. And the horrors of World War II were replaced by an outpouring of aesthetic creativity and scientific advancement. 

The world stands at the edge of another historic transition, as we emerge slowly from the COVID-19 pandemic. As difficult as the past 18 months have been (and the immediate future still appears to be), this is not unprecedented territory. There have always been challenging events to endure. And yet, the world somehow has always recovered, usually with a big assist from the arts and sciences. 

“The humanities are going to be needed when the pandemic is over,” said David Chan, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy. “One of the things you’re finding nowadays is that people need to find meaning… because it all seems so random. That’s where literature, art, philosophy all come in. They help people cope with change and disasters.” 

“How do you tell a story about all this so it helps [people] find meaning? These are questions that are being addressed in every branch of the humanities, and that’s where [the College of Arts and Sciences] brings something,” said Chan. 

Or as Rich Gere, MFA, professor and chair of the Department of Art and Art History, says, “Historically, if you look at resilience within community, after every major disaster, [society] looks to the arts to bring it back. Right after the first responders, the second responders are artists.” 

It is a daunting task, but one that the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is ready to handle. In August 2021, Dean Kecia M. Thomas, brought together five members of the College to discuss the challenges of the previous year, and the opportunities that are on the horizon. 

Even this roundtable was affected by the ongoing pandemic, as the late-summer surge in COVID-19 cases led to the scheduled in-person gathering being changed to a Zoom meeting. Still, the participants expressed optimism about the future and acknowledged the way CAS has handled things so far.

From left to right: David Chan, Rich Gere, and Verna Keith

The past year

Thomas took over as dean on Aug. 1, 2020. Not only did it mark a dramatic change in her life after spending the previous 27 years at the University of Georgia, but the move occurred in the midst of the pandemic.

“This has been a really eventful year, and it’s not over,” Thomas said. “I’ve had to learn to give myself a little patience and grace as I’ve learned this new role in this new place in this new city.” 

Of course, life changed for everybody last year in some way, and the key was to adapt to the situation. For CAS faculty, that included suddenly being required to teach students through remote learning. 

“We had to learn the technology very quickly,” said Shahid Mukhtar, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biology. “CAS Information Technology helped us tremendously.” 

“It actually made us better teachers in the classroom, because now we know how we can effectively communicate with our students even when we’re not present in the same place. And when we come back to campus, we can utilize some of those newly acquired skills.” 

Indeed, the entire interaction between faculty and students has changed since the start of the pandemic. And, in an odd way, being apart actually helped bring both parties closer together. 

“One of the things that I learned was how to talk to students on a different kind of level,” said Verna Keith, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Sociology. “Since I’m the chair, they’re expecting a certain kind of interaction. But when I had to call them at home and check on them during this pandemic because we hadn’t heard from them, it generated a totally different kind of conversation.” 

“I realized that the position of chair when you’re in an office creates one kind of dynamic, but when you’re talking with somebody on the phone it created a different dynamic. They saw me in a different light, so we had a different kind of conversation.” 

This, in turn, created a different kind of relationship. One in which the teachers also depended upon the students for their own grounding. 

“I realized I get a sense of purpose from helping my students,” said Lauren Rast, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physics. “Teaching them in ways that help their future and their careers. … It’s vital, not just for them but also for my own ability to maintain resilience.” 

From left to right: Shahid Mukhtar, Lauren Rast, and Kecia Thomas

Lessons learned

One aspect of the Zoom experience that Dean Thomas enjoyed was the opportunity to see students and professional colleagues in a more relaxed atmosphere. 

“So many people have apologized during Zoom meetings when a toddler or a cat walked through the background,” Thomas said. “But I love it, because we don’t often get the opportunity to remind each other of our humanity. That we are full, whole people beyond these very limited roles that we occupy. … That we have rich lives outside of work. That’s what I’m going to hold onto coming out of this pandemic.” 

There also were professional positives to emerge from the remote approach. And in time, Gere said many of the early skeptics came to understand and appreciate those benefits. 

“I had people who self-proclaimed that they are not technology people and can’t teach online,” Gere said. “About halfway through the semester last fall they said, ‘Thank you for forcing me to do this.’ … Some faculty thought it was going to be a train wreck of a semester, but they did really well.” 

“One of the things I’ve also noticed is that everybody is always on time to a Zoom meeting. Thirty years in academia, I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

In addition, the acceptance of remote learning has opened up a wider array of guest lecturers. Keith pointed out that it is much easier for somebody to devote 90 minutes of time to talking with a class through a Zoom meeting, as opposed to traveling to Birmingham and speaking in person. 

“Zoom opened up a lot of avenues, because now we can expose our students to people all over the United States and internationally,” Keith said. “People have been generous about accepting engagements on Zoom. We’ve been able to bring some fairly prominent folks to talk to our students, and that’s probably going to continue.” 

Despite the heavier reliance on technology, there remained opportunities to inject a human element into the teaching. Rast said she began opening every remote class by simply asking the students if they were doing OK. 

Students in facemasks paint an outdoor mural at the UAB Solar House.

“If you can humanize yourself, that helps you to connect,” said Rast. “It helps them to learn, but also to feel supported in the learning environment. I definitely plan to continue that.” 

Beyond the pandemic

While the response to COVID-19 dominated 2020, there were other important topics, including issues involving social justice and voting rights.  

“Certainly, health and the pandemic are the biggest things on everyone’s mind,” Thomas said. “But there are also the issues of race and social justice, and what people are calling ‘the national reckoning.’” 

“As we think about health, emerging technologies, and how we engage society—this issue of trying to establish an inclusive community and eradicate the injustices and inequities and disparities—how do the arts and sciences fit in with those [topics]? I think there is space for our disciplines to connect to all those areas.” 

Keith said one element of community engagement already underway in Birmingham is the Live HealthSmart Alabama project, which was the winner of the inaugural UAB Grand Challenge. The goal of the project is to dramatically improve the state of Alabama’s health rankings by the year 2030. 

Initially, the project consists of four demonstration communities, including one on the UAB campus. The UAB Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center will work with the communities to promote nutrition, physical activity, and preventive wellness. 

“This offers a lot of opportunities for different aspects of CAS to be involved,” Keith said. “Some of us are involved in the research side, but you can also be involved as a faculty member or a student. This is one of those things where we can build community engagement into our classes and also involve students in this worthwhile project.” 

As for the overall social issues, Chan said the pandemic put a spotlight on the ways injustices and inequalities affect communities, providing relevant cases that can be used in coursework. 

“One of my colleagues teaches a class in Family and Philosophy. She deals with issues about families and raising children,” Chan said. “We have students who are working mothers, and they can have problems taking classes. She found that the pandemic gave her examples she could use in class that students could relate to, because they were actually experiencing that in their lives.” 

Career development and more

While one of the primary purposes of higher education is to prepare students for a career, it also is a place where students learn about life itself.  

“I do believe, of course, that our students should be prepared to pursue a career when they graduate. But I also think that our mission is a little bit broader, and we need to serve the whole person,” Thomas said.  

The answer, once again, could involve community engagement. Mukhtar said he would like to see even more programs and workshops that showcase the engagement opportunities CAS has to offer, in order to help students determine the career path that might be best for them. 

“Some kids are first-generation college students. Who can guide them? Where is the information? What are their (career) paths?” Mukhtar said. “We need ... to educate students from the ground up.” 

One area of opportunity is in the field of data management. According to analysis by the Birmingham Business Alliance, data scientist jobs in the Birmingham region have increased by more than 45 percent over the past five years, and these positions on average pay 65 percent more (approximately $26,000 more annually) than jobs not requiring analysis skills. UAB is engaging in this growing field through the Magic City Data Collective, a partnership with the Birmingham Business Alliance and the Birmingham Education Foundation, with funding help through a grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The goal is to bring local students, researchers, and data experts together to work on projects, enabling students to improve their analytics and computational skills. 

“We recruited a really diverse student population, and in an interdisciplinary hands-on way these students were empowered to come up with results that were relevant to the city of Birmingham and will help make data-driven decisions for our community,” said Rast, who serves as the learning manager for the project. “When we have this information and locals are able to use data to make decisions and impact their community, that’s a positive thing we can do at the College of Arts and Sciences. It was my favorite thing that I’ve done all year.” 

Looking ahead

Dean Thomas wrapped up the hour-long discussion by asking each participant for a parting thought. Their messages indicated that despite all the difficulties of the past 18 months (and counting), their outlook remains optimistic, propelled in part by the determination of CAS and UAB as a whole to work together for a better future.  

CHAN: “My message would be to build connections while you’re here, and stay connected after you leave. See what you can build here and then continue the relationships. This isn’t just some phase in a life—it is something that will be with you all your life.” 

RAST: “I’d love to engage with my fellow UAB faculty and staff and students across disciplines in ways that break silos. Because of the diversity of our UAB community and our background interests, there is a lot of opportunity for creativity and ideas that benefit our community.” 

MUKHTAR: “We are a UAB family. And one of the things we learned during this pandemic is that life is so fragile. Today we are together and the next day we are not. We’ve known this, but when you see it firsthand, then you really feel it and it touches you deeply inside. Today at the College of Arts and Sciences, we are closer to each other than we were two years ago. That affects all of us… So my message would be just to be together as a UAB family and be more productive as a member of the family.” 

KEITH: “I’d like to give a shout-out to the entire faculty in CAS… Our faculty are the people who are creative, who make discoveries, who produce knowledge. Rather than just being people who pass knowledge on, they are doing that work themselves. So students who come to UAB are lucky that they’re exposed to that. It’s something that will last them for a lifetime.”

GERE: “I’d like to speak on behalf of my colleagues in theatre and dance and music. Because the last 18 months have been a reminder that the arts help pull everybody together… These are great and strong programs, and they attract top-notch students from Alabama and beyond.”

We are proud to mark the College’s 10th anniversary with this special issue. Our campus operations are currently suspended for public health reasons, but we’re happy to share our Spring 2020 issue with you digitally. Print copies will be distributed as soon as UAB Print/Mail returns to their normal business functions.

As always, fall is a busy time here in the College of Arts and Sciences. With enrollments continuing to grow, it seems that students are everywhere—in the hallways, on the sidewalks, and crossing the Green and Mini Park. Across University Boulevard from our offices here in Heritage Hall, I've enjoyed seeing students taking advantage of the wonderful indoor and outdoor facilities at the Hill Student Center: enjoying concerts, working with clubs and organizations, and socializing at festivals and food events.

If you haven't been to campus lately, I can't stress enough how different the environment is from what you may remember from your student days. Our new Arts & Sciences academic building is an important addition to the increasingly sophisticated and attractive campus that UAB is creating. When our building opens next fall, it will be home to seven of our 19 academic departments, complete with offices, conference and meeting rooms, classrooms, and a 300-seat auditorium, all equipped with the latest technology and equipment to ensure the best possible research and instruction for our faculty and students.

But we know the building will also be another one of the popular gathering spaces for our growing student body. There will be bright, well-furnished indoor spaces where they can relax, study, or spend time with friends. The outside terrace, with its view of the Green, Dining Commons, residence halls, and Recreation Center, will become one of the best spots on campus to see and be seen. And with its location on the corner of 10th Avenue South and 14th Street South, it will provide an important anchor to this side of campus, and a gateway to the buildings nearby.

Help us build a legacy by supporting our new building project. Learn more about naming opportunities.

We look forward to seeing you on campus this fall.

Go Blazers!
R.E. Palazzo, Dean

We are proud to announce that eight College of Arts and Sciences alumni were honored as members of the 2018 class of the UAB Excellence in Business Top 25 on Friday, June 21, at the UAB National Alumni Society House.

These deserving graduates were among 25 UAB alumni recognized for their success at a company they founded, owned, or managed. The UAB National Alumni Society, with the help of Birmingham-based accounting firm Warren Averett, has ranked and verified the nominated companies based on the annual growth rate for the three most recent reporting periods.

Companies being considered for an Excellence in Business Award must meet the following criteria:

1. The company must be owned, managed or founded by a UAB graduate (or group of graduates) who meets one of the following:
   • Owned 50 percent or more of the company during the most recent eligible period.
   • Served on the most senior/division leadership team (chairman, CEO, president, partner, vice president, broker, etc.) during the eligible period.
2. The company has been in operation for a minimum of three years prior to December 31, 2017.
3. The company has verifiable revenues of at least $150,000 for its most recent 12-month reporting period.

Congratulations to our deserving graduates!

With the latest Justice League movie coming to theaters this Christmas, we ask: what does Aquaman represent? And could he really talk to sea creatures? Faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences weigh in.

by Julie Keith

Half-human, half-Atlantean, Aquaman has never been as famous or beloved as his fellow DC Justice Leaguers Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. His powers never seemed as impressive as theirs, and for a few decades, he was hard to take seriously, thanks to his presence on 1970s television shows, ”Superfriends,” and ”Man from Atlantis,” where Patrick Duffy's performance inspired little more than a new, funny way for kids to swim at the neighborhood pool. But a new, big budget movie will be in theaters this Christmas, capitalizing on the Marvel/DC superhero zeitgeist and aspiring to elevate Aquaman to the realm of the truly heroic.

While the Comic-Con crowd is carefully watching every trailer—and posting their criticisms and enthusiasms online—faculty members in the College are examining ideas and theories that connect to Aquaman's story in fascinating ways. Why do we remain so interested in these superhero stories? What is it that ensures their popularity 70 years after they first appeared in WWII-era comic books? What does science tell us about underwater communication and navigation? Can we ever learn to ”talk” to whales and dolphins?

An Ear for It

Dr. Winston Lancaster, assistant professor in the Department of Biology.While Aquaman can communicate with all manner of marine life, Dr. Winston Lancaster, assistant professor in the Department of Biology, says the reality is much more complex. ”First of all, things sound very differently underwater,” he says. ”Sound travels more than three times faster in water, and that speed makes it very hard to know where sounds are coming from.”

”Think about being at the lake, how you can hear boats underwater even if you can't see them on the surface,” he explains. ”But under the surface you can't tell where they are or if they're coming toward you or away from you. Directionality is very different underwater, and that's because the sound travels so much faster.”

Lancaster, whose degrees are in zoology, geology, and human anatomy, studies the structure and function of the ears of marine mammals. A teaching faculty member at UAB responsible for all sections of human anatomy (a course taken by more than 900 students each year, he points out), Lancaster pursues his research curiosities via the lab of a former colleague who studies calling and hearing in dolphins. ”It's hard enough to study small marine mammals that can be moved to a tank, much less large ones,” he says. ”It's virtually impossible, in fact. So, we're applying an engineering technique called finite element analysis to build a model of how we think these animals hear.”

Among marine mammals, the larger whales are sensitive to low frequencies, Lancaster says. They can hear over very long distances, because low-frequency sound waves travel farther than high-frequency ones. ”These frequencies are lower than 25 hertz, which is about the same as the lowest A on a piano keyboard,” he says. ”What's fascinating is those sound waves are so low that they're actually three times longer than the length of the entire body of a blue whale. The question is, if the ear is small and located just up at the whale's head, how can it hear that entire sound wave?”

Conversely, smaller marine mammals hear high-frequency sounds, which they also use to echolocate. ”They emit sounds and then listen to the bounce-back,” Lancaster says. ”That's really good for directionality, but those higher-frequency waves can only travel over short distances.” Big whales, on the other hand, cannot echolocate at all.

Regardless of the type of hearing these marine animals use, Lancaster says, ”They live in a world of sound. Visual orientation is severely limited, since below about 200 feet there is almost no light at all.”

”The whale ear is basically unchanged since these mammals returned to the sea 40 million years ago,” he continues, pointing out that different marine mammals have different ear structures. If you look at high-resolution scans of whales, the ear bones are very easy to see because they're so dense. But the soft tissues of muscle, fat, and cartilage are much harder to see on the scans. Dolphins' inner ears are suspended in these fatty, fleshy tissues and are not connected to the skull by other bones. That isolation cuts down on sound vibration in their heads, which improves their sense of directionality. Whereas large whales' inner ears are connected bone-to-bone, useful for an animal using low frequency sounds and no echolocation.

Which brings us back to Aquaman.

”How would he communicate?” Lancaster asks, genuinely puzzling over the question. ”He would need to be able to hear the lower frequencies so he could talk to the big whales. But he'd also need the ears of smaller whales so he could echolocate with them, which is a completely different anatomy. I'm not saying it's not possible, it's just curious to think about.”

I Need a Hero

Meanwhile, Dr. Matt King, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, teaches smaller classes of students who sign up for his ”Philosophy and Superheroes” course. It's a class he invented at UAB and will be teaching for the third time this fall.

”Philosophy is considered a 'discovery major,' meaning students' first exposure is in college,” King explains. ”And since there's no accurate representation of philosophy in popular culture, this seemed like a good way to teach it. Superheroes are ubiquitous, and the worlds they inhabit are easy to co-opt as a familiar context and use to teach an unfamiliar discipline. It's simply a framework for discussing philosophical ideas.”

Matt King, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy.Unlike Lancaster's course, a prerequisite for all pre-health majors, King's is a special topics class and is open to anyone. (”It requires no pre-requisites either way, neither superheroes nor philosophy,” he says.) The course has clearly established pedagogical goals: to get students excited about philosophy, and to teach the fundamentals of the discipline.

”I update the course each time, engaging with more recent movies,” he says. ”But it always starts with moral philosophy and expands from there. We're looking at the decisions these superheroes make and their rationale for it. And these thought experiments are fairly easy to do with comic book characters. They've been tweaked so many times, yet it doesn't confuse the myth or undermine the character in any fundamental way. Which in itself is an interesting question of fictional truths.”

For example, King's students examine the role of state authority, public accountability, and the obligations we have as individuals to serve our own interests versus others' via the 2016 film, "Captain America: Civil War."

In the Spider-Man myth, teenager Peter Parker initially hesitates to use his new superpowers to help others. That resistance ultimately contributes to the death of Parker's beloved Uncle Ben. Parker, consumed with guilt, adopts the mantra, ”with great power comes great responsibility,” and assumes the role of Spider-Man. ”Philosophy has a similar principle,” King says. ”'If you can help, you should help.' But you can see the complications that suggests. Take Superman: he doesn't have to eat or sleep, so he's always available to anyone who needs help, all over the world. So, can Superman have friends? Is this obligation to help fair to Spider-Man and Superman?”

Additionally, the Superman story allows students to consider the idea of how names and identity are connected—or aren't—a philosophy explored in depth by John Stuart Mill in the 19th century. Mill considered the two names the ancient Greeks had for the planet Venus: the god Phosphorus (the Morning Star), and the god Hesperus (the Evening Star). Can we use two names for the same thing?

”Think about it this way: Lois Lane would never want to have lunch with Clark Kent, but she would love to go to dinner with Superman,” King says. ”We can understand that. But aren't they just two names for the same person? What is it about one that is different from the other? How can we hold these different identities in our minds while still understanding they are one and the same person?”

While King mostly teaches ethics courses, "Philosophy and Superheroes" allows him to explore many philosophical ideas, such as our sense of self. ”We really think about ourselves as having two identities: the psychological and the physical,” he says. ”We know we can change physical things about a person without changing who they are, while psychological changes are more fundamental to a person's identity. What we call dementia today is often presented as body-switching in fiction. And these kinds of schisms between the mind and body in superheroes are interesting to explore.”

”In the Wolverine story, he has his memory wiped more than once over his long lifespan,” King says. ”That makes his psychology different. So I ask my students, 'Should Wolverine feel guilt about the bad things he did in the past but he doesn't remember doing?'”

When it comes to Aquaman, King refers to another classic philosophical text, ”What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” written in the 1970s by Thomas Nagel. ”The article examines the idea that we can't really know what it's like to be a bat, because we can't echolocate,” King says. ”There's been some recent pushback on that—some science has shown that humans can do a sort of proto-location. But the question remains as to whether we can really understand it or represent it and other powers and experiences in film or comic books. Daredevil is blind but can echolocate. How do you depict this from a viewer's standpoint? It's not like dogs and bees, which have eyes but see differently from humans. How does Ant-Man control ants? How does Aquaman talk to fish and whales? Can they really have the same thoughts?”

(Not Entirely) Suspending Disbelief

But "Aquaman" is just a movie, right? A bit of escapist fun that allows us to enter a fictional world that's radically different from our own—a story chock-full of bad guys, big climactic battles, and the charismatic, heroic figure (and his or her sidekick) that saves humanity at the end.

It is that. It's why we'll pay too much for the tickets and the concessions and participate in the cultural moment. But maybe in the car on the way home, or in the days after you see the movie, think about our research areas, and how our faculty are using these contemporary myths to teach in innovative ways. It's the interdisciplinary strength of the College of Arts and Sciences, where the empirical science of whale ears lives right alongside the mind/body divide symbolized by The Hulk.

How can we accept this tattooed, long-haired, Polynesian-version of the superhero as ”real” when there have been so many other versions before? Can Aquaman really communicate with marine life? And what does it say about us that we, for a few hours anyway, believe that he can?

Worth pondering at your local multiplex this December.

Vintage Nautical Illustrations copyright Anja Kaiser via Creative Market