Uni-UIUC Independent Study

Uni-UIUC Independent Study with UIUC Faculty and Staff

A pilot program for 1999/2000 academic year, in which students at the Uni Hi have an opportunity to do independent study with selected University of Illinois staff and faculty members.

Initial contact people for this pilot program have been Dr. Inga Karliner karliner@uiuc.edu and Professor Jon Thaler < jjt@uiuc.edu>. They compiled a list of UIUC faculty members and the general areas in which they would consider doing Independent Study with a Uni student.

University High School will select students for the program and help them identify faculty members matching their interests. Students will need to get an ok from the Uni teacher in the area of interest.

The details of the arrangements will be worked out. They will include an interview between the Uni student and the faculty member to make sure that both are satisfied with the planned IS.

Areas of study with University of Illinois faculty members.

  • Professor May Berenbaum, Entomology
    Insect behavior, insect ecology, chemical ecology, and plant/insect interactions
    (e.g., effects of furanochromones on feeding behavior and digestive physiology of noctuid caterpillars)
    Prof. Berenbaum's Lab

  • Professor James A. Imlay, Microbiology
    We study how oxygen damages proteins and DNA inside cells, and how cells continually defend themselves against this kind of damage. This is important in understanding how chemotherapeutic drugs work, how white blood cells kill bacteria, and why certain organisms cannot tolerate exposure to air. For most of our experiments we use bacteria (E. coli). Our analyses are both biochemical (e.g., enzyme assays) and genetic (e.g., looking at the effects of mutations upon oxygen sensitivity).
    Prof. Imlay's Home Page

  • Professor Veron Burton, History and Sociology
    RiverWeb, race relations, Civil Rights Movement, Civil War, American South
    Prof. Burton's Home Page

  • Professor Mark Leff, History
    Topic in conjunction with one of his lecture/discussion classes
    History of the United States since 1932 , or
    Crises of Political Tolerance in 20th Century America
    Prof. Leff's Home Page

  • Professor Jon Thaler, Physics
    Special Relativity, Quantum Mechanics
    Prof. Thaler's Home Page

  • Professor Michael Weissman, Physics
    History and philosophy of physics. Material similar to Physics 319
    Prof. Weissman's Home Page

  • Dr Melanie J. Loots, Senior Associate Director for Institutional Relations, NCSA
    I would enjoy doing a reading list on Cyber-fiction or virtual spaces. I am most interested in how computers merge with people and their personalities, so really anything involving cyborgs or computer enhanced humans would be fun. Or I would be willing to do a reading list on forgotten women authors, like the ones published by Virago press. A few years ago, I had an idea for a project following up on a series of women's biographies that were published in the 20s, just as women got the vote.
    Dr Melanie J. Loots Home Page

  • Tim Shedd, PhD candidate; Professor Ty Newell, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
    We study fluid flows that are very important in applications that impact us everyday: Refrigeration and air conditioning, automobile engines, power plants, and chemical processing, for example. Examples of specific projects include studying the flow of vapor and liquid together in tubes with bends, use of video to study the structure of liquid flowing films, and the measurement of liquid properties through image processing techniques.
     Cyndra Lattimore and Audrey Miller (Uni '99) did research in this lab while they were at Uni
    email questions to Tim Shedd