News and information about the Rhodes classroom experience.

Dr. Will Eckenhoff, assistant professor of chemistry, and his team of undergraduate researchers have published work in the journal Inorganic Chemistry. The research has potential applications in the production and performance of dye-sensitized solar cells, which can contribute to renewable energy.

In the teaching and learning track of the Educational Studies program, Rhodes senior Madison Treas has deepened her understanding of the effects of privilege and poverty in school systems. Through an urban studies course that ties to her educational studies major, Treas was able to interview teachers from schools in the Memphis area in order to gain insight into inequalities in the classroom based on school location and environment, students’ socio-economic backgrounds, and educational opportunities being offered.

Chemistry alumna Rebeca Roldan ’19 is first author on an article based on her undergraduate research published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. “I am so honored to have been a part of getting this paper published, and I am especially proud of Dr. Larryn Peterson and the excellent science that is coming out of her lab,” says Roldan. “The experiences I gained and the mentorship I received in that lab, the chemistry department, and Rhodes as a whole gave me the confidence I needed as a young chemist, preparing me well for graduate school and beyond.”

Dr. Charles McKinney and Dr. Charles Hughes of Rhodes College are contributors to Understanding and Teaching the Civil Rights Movement published by University of Wisconsin Press. Chapters provide strategies for teaching famous and forgotten civil rights people and places.

Warming oceans. Wildfires. Shifting weather patterns. This semester, Rhodes College is offering a new course dedicated to one of the most challenging global issues—climate change. The liberal arts environment of Rhodes is uniquely suited for important conversations about this subject, since it cuts across many disciplines. The spring 2020 course is a collaboration between Dr. David Rupke and Dr. Sarah Boyle.

Rhodes sophomore Scott Wicker and chemistry professor Dr. William Eckenhoff have been investigating artificial photosynthesis in the production of hydrogen gas, which is a promising alternative fuel that could one day replace gasoline as a transportation fuel.

Rhodes College’s German Program is featured in an article about successful language programs actively building new communities and connections. It appears in the Fall 2019 issue of Profession, which is published by the Modern Language Association (MLA), one of the world’s largest scholarly associations.

Does cramming for a test have any benefits? What’s the best method for retaining information? How do memory skills change over a person’s life span? These are the types of questions Dr. Geoff Maddox, associate professor of psychology, explores with students in his Memory and Cognition Lab at Rhodes.

Prof. Victor Coonin’s students arrive at his courses with a certain amount of knowledge of Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of David, but they might not be as familiar with an earlier “David,” one wrought in bronze by the sculptor Donatello, who is credited with helping to usher in the Renaissance style. Prof. Coonin has published a book that is being described as the first thorough biography of the Florentine sculptor in 25 years.

Her new novel, The Gone Dead, has been featured by The New York Times as one of the “12 New Books to Watch For in June.”