College of Humanities
A recent Museum of Art exhibit “Fields of Labor and Recovery,” curated by comparative arts and letters professor James Swensen, displays the mining and farming lifestyles, pioneer heritage and poverty of Utah families during the Great Depression. The photos document and highlight the importance farming and mining had on the war effort.
“We look back to these moments of trauma to figure out how to navigate our own challenges, and to give ourselves hope. We want to know how they came out of it — how they came out of the Depression and the war and arrived at a better spot. This gives us an example that can help us know that things will work out,” Swensen said.
College of Life Sciences
BYU marine biology student Rebekah Stanton joined a research team to study the opposite of marine biology — the desert. They worked in the Great Basin Desert west of the Utah Lake and the Mojave Desert in southern Utah. Stanton’s research was centered around “fuel load,” or the potential plants have to burn. Her data will help scientists predict the longevity of plants as wildfires continue to affect the desert.
“You do an experiment in the ocean, the same principles apply for doing an experiment in the desert. I think part of me wants to do a totally different field of research. Maybe I’ll do rainforests next!” Stanton said.
College of Fine Arts and Communications
BYU oboe professor Geralyn Giovannetti recently received a $19,300 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, which will fund her group’s commissioning, touring and recording of music. Her group, called the “CAN-AM Trio,” consists of Sarah Hamilton from The State University of New York at Fredonia and Anna Mattix from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The name CAN-AM Trio comes from the members’ countries of origin — Canada and the United States.
“These grants are very competitive, and we are so pleased that our application resonated with the review board,” Giovannetti said.
