Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences Carnegie Mellon University March 2021

Dietrich College News

Gang Liu Publishes Children’s Book Series

Influenced by over 50 ancient Chinese mythological tales, Gang Liu — a faculty member in the Department of Modern Languages — initially wanted to write a "leveled children's book" to teach his daughter Chinese. Read more about Liu's work

COVID-related Depression Linked to Reduced Physical Activity

New research from Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh and University of California, San Diego found that 61% of surveyed university students were at risk of clinical depression, a value twice the rate prior to the pandemic. This rise in depression came alongside dramatic shifts in lifestyle habits. Read more about the study

Finding the Hidden Gems of the Modern Photography World

James Wang decided to merge two passions – machine learning and photography – for his Quantitative Social Science Scholars project. Leveraging a concept developed by the Black List, Wang and his collaborators created the Silver List, a program aimed to raise the visibility of diverse, high-quality and otherwise-overlooked photographers. A Feb. 11 Vanity Fair article featured the Silver List’s debut. Read more about the Silver List

Peter Spirtes To Head Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Philosophy

Carnegie Mellon University has appointed Peter Spirtes head of the Department of Philosophy, effective July 1. Spirtes will succeed David Danks, who has served as department head since 2014. Read more about the new head of Philosophy

Big Data Accelerates Biodiversity Research Researchers used a machine-learning algorithm on more than 4,000 research articles, published between 2003 and 2019, to quantify the scientific impact of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility database on biodiversity research.

Upcoming Remote Alumni Events

Pints with Profs. The popular reunion event has gone virtual! Reunion classes from this year and last year (years ending in -0, -1, -5, and -6 as well as 2019 and 2020 graduates) are invited to join the sessions. Register for Wednesday, March 10 from 8-9pm ET and/or Thursday, March 18 from 5-6pm ET. The Virtual Carnival & Reunion Week. Keep your eyes on your inbox in the coming weeks for more information. Alumni Community. The new community can be found at community.cmu.edu. Online events. A number of online events are planned. Register here. The archive of past webinars is available at any time. Social media. Follow university channels to connect and view news. A directory of many channels can be found at community.cmu.edu/s/cmu-social. Share stories. The university wants to highlight stories of Tartans who are volunteering, working in a critical field or brightening the world during this time. Submit stories here: https://www.cmu.edu/engage/about-us/news/alumni/doing-good.html.

Dietrich College in the News Vanity Fair Introducing the Inaugural Silver List, Featuring 47 Exciting Contemporary Photographers Whose Work You Just Have to See The Smithsonian Magazine The Powerful, Complicated Legacy of Betty Friedan’s ‘The Feminine Mystique’ Bloomberg How the QAnon Conspiracy Seduces Normal People

Class Notes Find out what's new with Dietrich College students and alumni, including Frank Ritter (DC 1993), Julie Ransom (DC 1991) and Emily Kennedy (DC 2012), in Class Notes. Have something to share? Network with other alumni in the Dietrich College Alumni LinkedIn Group.

Personal Mentions Read about news and accomplishments from the college's faculty and staff in this issue's Personal Mentions.  Share your news.

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