Community

Magda Hinojosa, professor and director of the School of Politics and Global Studies, has been appointed dean of social sciences for The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.

“There was a robust national search for this important deanship, and Professor Hinojosa stood out because of her vision for the social sciences,” said Ayanna Thompson, co-chair of the social sciences search, Regents Professor of English, and director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. “She will lead with clarity and compassion.”

The two-party system is in serious need of overhaul if the United States has any chance of solving issues important to new generations of voters, most of whom are not party members, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang told Arizona State University students Nov. 17.

Yang, 47, is a business executive who joined — and departed early from — the crowded 2020 field of Democratic presidential candidates.

Each year, the Arizona State University School of Music, Dance and Theatre holds concerto and composition competitions with the aim of providing its top performers and composers the rare and coveted opportunity to perform or have their work performed by a large ensemble. The winners are presented in a concert season beginning Dec. 1, with concert programs built around the winning selections.

Arizona State University and the Mastercard Foundation are collaborating with the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia to help the country build its technology to create an online higher education initiative.

The partnership, powered by a $16.8 million grant from the Mastercard Foundation, will enable 50 Ethiopian higher learning institutions to leverage the expertise of EdPlus at ASU to expand online learning delivery and potentially reach 800,000 young people across the country.

As a child in the late 1960s, Michael Crow grasped the deep divide between the TV images of men bouncing on the moon and the struggles of the working-class families in his community.

“And my brain, even as a middle school and early high school student at that time, clicked and it basically said, ‘There’s something wrong,’” he said.

The realization at a young age that everyone needed to benefit from the new and dazzling technology was a driver for Crow.

In a time of question and doubt for many Americans about the future of democracy in the U.S., a group of units at Arizona State University have partnered to create the Defending Democracy project.

In spring 2020, as the pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders shuttered schools and indoor public spaces, many people found themselves holed up in their homes while still yearning to remain social creatures. 

From that desire for human connection, an unlikely communication outlet and form of creative expression emerged: chalk messages on neighborhood streets, sidewalks and driveways. Across the Valley, residents took to their asphalts and pavements to etch colorful words sharing messages of support, anguish, loss and triumph.

What will we be eating in the year 2075? Which of our favorite foods will be off the table? And what can be done to replace concerns about scarcity with the security of emerging resources and solutions?  

Arizona State University will be working with higher education institutions in Mexico, along with industry partners, to boost the production of semiconductors in North America, which has been identified as a crucial national security issue.

On Tuesday, ASU President Michael Crow signed a memorandum of understanding with Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., to seal the partnership.

Earlier this year, President Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which will distribute $52 billion to accelerate U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.

Despite news headlines screaming about viruses, inflation, climate and conflict, people across the world are actually better off than at any other time in history. Understanding how humanity continues to thrive, even in the face of adversity, is the focus of the Global Scientific Conference on Human Flourishing on Nov. 29 and 30.