College of Arts & Sciences

A close-up shot of a bee on a flower in the Beyer-Murin Gardens on the Kent Campus. Photo by Robert Christy

Over half of the described species in the world are insects. Although many people think of insects as pests, they play vital roles and have a big impact on our invaluable ecosystems, as pollinators, helping break down wastes, and as an essential food source for many other organisms.

Environmental Science and Design Research Institute
Wharton State Forest coastline

Saying "yes" to everything landed Kathryn Burns in the middle of New Jersey's coastal wetlands

 

Felix Kumah-Abiwu photographed by Melissa Olson

The Nkafu Policy Institute recently appointed Ghana native Felix Kumah-Abiwu, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Kent State University, one of its Non-Resident Fellows in Governance & Democracy.

Jake Mansfield (BA '21) Taking An Exam at New River Gorge

Remote learning means students can study and take their exams virtually -- make that literally -- anywhere. 

Study examines the relationship between hazing severity and group solidarity in an anonymous U.S. fraternity.

Kent State University’s newest anthropologist, Assistant Professor Aldo Cimino, Ph.D., has made it his life’s work to understand the causes and consequences of hazing, including the possible generation of solidarity. He and his co-author recently published an article on this question in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. 

Kent State Uses Geospatial Technology to Map Violence

Principal Investigator Cameron C. Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Geography (within the College of Arts and Sciences) at Kent State University, was recently awarded a three-year, $387,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office and its Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections Program (MAPP). The project is titled “Excess Heat and Excess Cold Factors: Establishing a unified duration-intensity metric for monitoring hazardous temperature conditions in North America”.

Angela Neal-Barnett, Ph.D., professor in Kent State University’s Department of Psychological Sciences, developed and launched the Spirit of Motherhood Program.

Infant mortality rates in Northeast Ohio are three to five times higher for Black babies than white babies, an alarming statistic that is an issue across the country but particularly prevalent in this part of the state. A new $100,000 grant from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation will support innovative work being undertaken at Kent State, an elite research university with the esteemed R1 designation, to address this important issue.

Image of professor Fouad and a student working in the lab

Farid Fouad, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Kent State East Liverpool, was awarded a three-year, $74,954 research grant as part of a subaward on a larger grant that his collaborators at Cleveland State University received. 

Euros

Congratulations to Political Science Professor Mark K. Cassell, Ph.D., who recently published an article and was interviewed by Mitteilungen, a publication focused on Germany’s banking system. The article discusses the central role of the publicly-held savings banks during economic and social crises including the refugee crisis in 2015 and the current Covid pandemic among other topics.