His name is pronounced “Googy,” and in his native African tongue, it means “work.” It’s fitting, because prolific author Ngugi wa Thiong’o has worked hard his entire life, turning out books, plays and newspaper columns that have made his unusual name known the world over. Now in his 70s, Ngugi could be forgiven for slowing down the […]
Did your New Year’s resolution involve making a fresh start? Letting go and living better? Reviving body and mind? If those good intentions vanished with your first pressing deadline of 2011 or the daily bumper-car commute, Leigh Poirier Ball is here to help. As acting director of the UC Irvine Health Education Center, Poirier Ball assists […]
With his rosy cheeks and booming laugh, Michael Clegg is often told he resembles Santa Claus, and he logs almost as many miles. The UC Irvine ecology & evolutionary biology professor also is foreign secretary for the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which means he’s on the road as much as he’s at home in Irvine. […]
The ancient Greeks knew the battlefield could leave emotional scars, and they had a distinctive way of dealing with it: They put on a play. Dramas about Achilles and Ajax showed these mythological war heroes suffering from the “divine madness” caused by combat — known today as post-traumatic stress disorder. “Scholars say Greek theater helped […]
Indigenous cultural artifacts share space with family photos on the walls and shelves of Justin Richland’s UC Irvine office: kachina dolls, Hopi ceremonial rattles and a skate deck made by Lakota-owned Wounded Knee Skateboards. The items reflect ancient traditions as well as ways in which Native Americans are adapting their culture to the modern era. It’s […]
On her first day as a UC Irvine medical student, Sarah Rooney received an Apple iPad. Not just any ordinary iPad — this one came loaded with all of the books, notes, presentations and videos she needs for her first year of medical school. UCI’s School of Medicine was first in the nation to provide the tablet […]
Psychologist Salvatore R. Maddi remembers when one of his graduate students at the University of Chicago showed him an article in Family Circle that warned, “Stress can kill you, so you need to stay away from it.” That was a popular theory in the 1970s, but Maddi was skeptical. He’d already done studies indicating that stress could […]
There’s one thing Karen Zhou doesn’t do well: sit still. The UC Irvine undergraduate likes to be in constant motion. “I hate not having anything to do. It feels like I’m wasting my time,” she says. “If I didn’t have to sleep, I wouldn’t.” She’s especially happy when she’s in motion on the ice. Even […]
James Bullock thinks bigger than most. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio, he wasn’t particularly fascinated by stars. He believes he first noticed the night sky at his grandparents’ North Carolina farm, but he’s not sure. What interests the UC Irvine professor of physics & astronomy is the whole shebang — the entire universe. “A cosmologist […]
Commencement for UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business is usually a staid affair, with tastefully attired graduates in traditional gowns comporting themselves with dignity. Not this year. When Bethany Semeiks rose to collect her M.B.A., she zipped across the Bren Events Center stage on roller skates. Security guards tried to intercept the grad-on-wheels, but […]