Society

Society: Understanding Human Nature and Behavior

Family With Teenage Children Eating Breakfast In Kitchen

Boosting Teen Spirit

More than 13 percent of U.S. teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 experience a major depressive episode, which can follow them into adulthood. How can families protect their teens’ mental health as they grow? More fun and family time are just a few ways, according to researchers from the UNC Carolina Population Center.

The Magic of Classics

Classicists help connect our lives to those of the ancient world, but in Suzanne Lye's course on magic and religion, her students do more than just connect — they create. And they learn to relate to the everyday problems and spellbinding solutions of ancient peoples.

The Art of French Drawing

UNC senior Savannah Faircloth traveled to Paris in the summer of 2019 to learn about French culinary culture and the relationship Parisians have with food. Then, she drew their portraits.
graphic with three segments: the first is of a woman slouched over her paper-covered desk, the second is hands around a coffee cup, and the third is a woman sitting cross-legged with her hands in the ohm positiongraphic by Corina Cudebec

Self-Care Success at Work

American work culture can be demanding and intense — so much so that people often put their jobs before their physical and emotional needs. But taking care of ourselves makes us better workers and improves how companies function, according to organizational behavior professor Mike Christian.
Ben Freyphoto by Megan May

Benjamin Frey

Benjamin Frey is an assistant professor in the Department of American Studies and adjunct professor in the Department of Linguistics within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. He studies the Cherokee language, now endangered, in order to recover the social networks, spaces, domains, and means of transference that once allowed it to thrive.
Li Kephoto by Alyssa LaFaro

Li Ke

Li Ke is a postdoctoral researcher in the Culture, Curriculum, and Teacher Education program within the UNC School of Education. He promotes scientific literacy among K-12 students by helping them utilize models and reasoning to approach social issues in science such as climate change.
Yi Zhou

Mastering Mandarin for Business

With nearly 1 billion speakers, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. That’s almost 15 percent of the global population — and why UNC Asian studies professor Yi Zhou has spent the past decade teaching advanced Mandarin courses to undergraduate and MBA students.
Michael Terryphoto by Megan May

Michael Terry

Michael Terry is an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics and adjunct associate professor in the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. He researches the structure of dialects and the implications of dialectal differences for linguistic theory and educational practice.

Taking Research to New Heights

From surveying glacial melt to managing wildfires, there are endless ways drones can be used in research. Over winter break, UNC faculty and students completed a drone workshop ­— the first of its kind at the university — developing aeronautic expertise to apply to their research.
Katie Harmonphoto by Alyssa LaFaro

Katie Harmon

Katie Harmon is a postdoctoral research associate at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center. She uses data to analyze pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities to encourage safe and best practices among commuters of all kinds.