By Steve Babcock
Over the past year, Professors Jack Levin, Belle Adler and Kim Lewis have not only taught at Northeastern University, but they’ve also accomplished work outside of the classroom in order to further studies in each of their respective fields.
Professor Jack Levin, the Director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at NU, has updated Elementary Statistics in Social Research, a book that he first co-authored about 30 years ago.
“Little did I suspect then that it would still be in print, in its ninth edition, and used widely around the country” said Levin.
The book is used in the field of statistics for social research.
“Over the years, competitors have incorporated many of the pedagogical techniques from our text. What do they say about imitation being the most sincere form of flattery? We are flattered,” said Levin.
The Violence of Hate: Confronting Racism and Anti-Semitism Professor Levin’s second publication, takes a look at the cycle of violence today’s society, and also how individuals can contribute to or break this cycle.
“The book was already in production prior to 9/11, but many of the principles found in the volume are applicable to our behavior in the aftermath of the attack on America, especially in reactions of Muslim and Arab Americans,”said Levin.
His third publication also delves into a societal problem generated from the 9/11 attacks of a year ago. Hate Crimes Revisited: America’s War Against Those who are Different is an update in which Levin and co-author Jack McDevitt added sections that explore interpersonal relations and the uprising of hate crimes that have come as a result of 9/11.
“Throughout my career,” says Levin, “I have consistently conducted research and have taught in the area of prejudice and hate. I continue to believe that bigotry is one of the most important unsolved issues of our age.”
As head of the Lewis Lab, Professor Kim Lewis has also published extensively in the biology field. The main focus of the lab deals with reaseaching the nature of bacteria and antibiotics. Bacterial Resistance to AntiMicrobals and Microbal Drug Efflux, were each published over the past year. Professor Lewis has also published multiple papers that have appeared in esteemed science journals such as Science News and Chemical Engineer News.
Professor Belle Adler of the School of Journalism traveled to Africa in the past year to shoot a documentary of a group pilots in training from the Kenya Wildlife Service. In the documentary the pilots are learning how to fly in order to catch elephant poachers.
“He was telling me about the project and I recognized the visual and editorial value of the story. We then pitched it to Animal Planet and after several months got a contract,” said Adler.
Not only does the documentary have journalistic value, but there is an underlying social awareness in the work.
“The elephants they are protecting are really any elephants in the game parks, as they are all vulnerable to poachers,” said Adler. “The rangers are also interested in protected rhino, which are killed for their horns, and bushmeat.”
“Africa presented a wave of problems during the month of February, when the shooting was being done. Everything from having our camera gear confiscated at the airport and kept overnight, to access problems, to cultural differences, to jetlag, to lighting problems because of intense sunlight, to mosquitoes,” said Adler. “The documentary first aired on Tuesday night on Animal Planet, but can be seen again on Sunday.”
Adler, Levin and Lewis are just three examples of professors who work to change the way people look at the world.
