A medical secret about Ludwig van Beethoven may have been unlocked. A new study by an international group of researchers published in the journal Current Biology provides interesting new details about the composer’s health and genealogy. Beethoven, the famous German composer, died in 1827. According to a New York Times article, friends and family took locks of Beethoven’s hair for remembrance.  Beethoven scholar William Meredith studied the DNA from some of these strands of hair, and Beethoven’s cause of death is speculated to be cirrhosis of the liver, but what would cause this?&nb...

In America, conversations about grief and loss are often avoided, and in art, tend to be sugarcoated, or even “corny.” Kent State Assistant Professor and independent filmmaker Dana White is changing that narrative through her work, and was recently recognized by the Ohio Arts Council. “We don’t address these really uncomfortably topics,” White said. “It’s OK to not be OK. It’s OK that life leaves us with a lot of bruises. It’s not about erasing them. It’s about trying to live with them, about trying to cope. … I don’t think American society is comfortable with that.” White, who teache...

Dr. Molly Merryman (Associate Professor at the School of Peace and Conflict Studies) recently appeared on the Flashes of DEI podcast to discuss the life and legacy of Dr. Dolores Noll.   Dr. Noll was professor in the Department of English at Kent State, and was an early and important leader in LGBTQ Studies. She was influenced by the May 4, 1970 shootings to come out and take on leadership roles, founding the first organization on campus to address LGBTQ rights, and teaching the first courses at Kent State on gay and lesbian issues.   Listen to the podcast here: https:...

GUEST TALK (VIA ZOOM), MONDAY APRIL 3:  11:00 am - 12:15 pm Dr Nick Ritchie, University of York, UK: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and Global Nuclear Politics  This talk will examine the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as the latest manifestation of the movement for nuclear disarmament and explain its emergence and contestation with the global politics of nuclear weapons. Dr Nick Ritchie is a Senior Lecturer in International Security at the Department of Politics, University of York, UK. His research and teaching focus on global nu...

Researchers in the Center for Public Policy and Health, led by Dr. Kim Laurene, published their work titled “Utilization of the mental health first aid ALGEE action plan: a longitudinal study” in in the Journal of Public Mental Health. The study aims to examine the five steps of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) ALGEE action plan to assess which steps were used most frequently and how personal characteristics were associated with utilization. After completing MHFA, individuals demonstrated an increase in using the ALGEE action plan at three- and six-months, but by nine-months there was a r...