Chris Abani at The DEN, Oct. 5: Nigerian born writer, now a professor at UC Riverside, talks about art and literature in defense of human rights

Watch the presidential debates at UAA: Post-debate guided reflections and voter information will follow the debates. Start time, 5 pm in the UAA Student Union, North Cafeteria.

Here are details for viewing the presidential debates at UAA:

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 5-6:30 p.m.
Topic: Domestic Policy
Participants: President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
Location: University of Denver in Denver, Colo.
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates

Thursday, Oct. 11, 5-6:30 p.m.

Harvest Moon: Alaska has some viewing advantages when it comes to the Harvest Moon. Image from Wikimedia Commons, used with permission.

Last Saturday was the Autumnal Equinox here in the northern hemisphere, which makes this coming Saturday's (Sept. 29) full moon the "Harvest Moon."

What does that mean, and how is this event special for Alaskans? First, it helps to think like an Outsider.

David Shipler: Offers a free public talk Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7 pm in the UAA Fine Arts Building, Room 150. Free and open to the public. The title of his talk is "Understanding Poverty by Connecting the Dots."UAA is host to author David Shipler this week. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow on campus all week talking to classes, research center staff, students and the public -- mostly about understanding poverty. He wrote "The Working Poor: Invisible in America" in 2004.

UAA Life Hacks 2012: This back-to-campus blog features serialized fiction written by UAA student Joe Selmont, about the misadventures of student Lamont Harpe, who just recently fell in love. Find it at uaalifehacks2012.blogspot.com.Almost 16,000 students go to school at UAA's campus in Anchorage. That number jumps to 20,000 if you roll in the community campuses in Kenai, Kodiak, Mat-Su and Valdez.

Friday, Sept. 7, 10-11 a.m.
Rasmuson Hall, Room 101

Consul General of the Republic of KoreaYoung W. Song, Consul General of the Republic of Korea will speak on campus Sept. 7UAA will host a free public talk by Young W. Song, the Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle, on Friday, Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. in Rasmuson Hall, Room 101. He will be hosted at UAA by political science professor Forrest Nabors.

UAA Campus Kickoff: Gets a thumb's up. Monday, Aug. 27, launched fall semester classes at UAA.
Monday was incredibly busy at UAA as students and faculty streamed back to campus to begin their fall semester.

Campus Kickoff: Begins at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25 on the Cuddy Quad and launches the new fall semester.UAA is about to e-x-p-l-o-d-e with activity. Coffee shops and campus eateries reopen Monday, Aug. 27. Parking enforcement (M-TH 7:30 am-7:30 pm; always FREE on Fridays) resumes on Monday. Classes start Monday.

But even before all that, a weekend of activity welcomes Freshman and returning students, staff and faculty.

UAA Professor Jeff Welker was installed Aug. 8 as the Fulbright U.S. Arctic Chair. His introduction took place in the Nobel Ceremonial Hall in Oslo, Norway.Nobel Ceremonial Hall, Oslo Norway: UAA's Dr. Jeff Welker is introduced as the newest Fulbright U.S. Arctic Chair.During the course of his sabbatical from August 2012-April 2013, Welker will undertake a host of winter ecology studies on sources and ages of respired CO2 using 14C techniques under ambient and long-term deeper snow (snow-fence experiment).

An essay by Professor Nancy Lord will be published in the fall 2012 issue of Ploughshares, one of the most prestigious literary journals in the country.'Ploughshares': Current issue will be available Aug. 15.Ploughshares is based at Emerson College in Boston, Mass. Founded in 1971, each issue is guest-edited by a prominent author.

The fall semester at UAA begins Aug. 27, and many of the special summer programs that go on when the campus is less busy in summer are wrapping up. Here's a look at three:

UAA's School of Engineering camps are so popular, advertising now is strictly word-of-mouth

The last camp, four weeks of robotics, ended Aug. 3. Here's just five seconds of glory when one robot 'captured the flag' and dunked a ping pong ball in the target.

Simulation: : 'Curiosity,' the NASA rover, will land on Mars at 9:31 pm AKDT Sunday, Aug. 5. Come watch at UAA in ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building (CPISB), first floor lecture hall, Room 120.

UAA astronomers Dr. Andy Puckett has put out the word. The public is invited free to come watch the rover "Curiosity" land on Mars. The first floor lecture hall in CPISB, Room 120, will be available to observe the NASA news feed from 7:30-10:30 pm on Sunday, Aug. 5.

From Andy:

UAA geochemist LeeAnn Munk in Chile: Lithium is a critical element for rechargeable batteries. It can be extracted from lithium brines by pumping the liquid into ponds and evaporating the salt water. Her work will determine if this is a sustainable process.When a USGS colleague wandered into geology professor LeeAnn Munk's UAA office one day and asked, "What do you know about lithium?" she had to honestly answer, "Not much."

Latest data: The index has four categories: health, education, family and community, and economic well-being.The data released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in its 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book ranked Alaska 30th in terms of overall child well-being.

In the labUAA psychology professor Gwen Lupfer-Johnson, Ph.D., "Dr. Gwen," as her students call her, began studying social learning and transmission of food preferences among Siberian dwarf hamsters 13 years ago.

After working with them for years, she was very surprised to discover they like the taste of grain alcohol. In fact, they like it so much they sometimes choose it over water.

Running the Denali Highway: A support vehicle and runner on the road in early July.Anthropologists frequently go to annual conferences to share research papers and listen to the work of others. But sometimes those sessions are long, hard on the backside, and leave room for some creativity for how to incorporate movement into a sedentary experience.

UAA's Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies explains UAA's new endeavors to commercialize research at the 49th State Angel Fund Forum on May 17, 2012.

UAA Seed Fund from Mayor Sullivan on Vimeo.

How often do you hear the expression, "There's an app for that!"

Two UAA researchers have developed just such a tool to help people with drinking problems manage their behavior.

'Buddy' app: Created by UAA researchers, the new smartphone app for managing drinking behavior is at the cusp of the mHealth or mobile health movement.

Don't miss local artist Michael Conti's take on Solstice, opening June 21 with a reception @ 5-7 pm at the UAA Student Art Gallery.
Michael Conti's 'Solstice': Opening reception 5-7 pm Thursday June 21 at the UAA Student Union Gallery.

Read about what to expect at the show (hint: a camera obscura).

Connections between Anchorage and Mexico? For many Alaskans that brings to mind the Alaska Airlines terminal at the Seattle-Tacoma airport in March, suitcases full of swimwear, flip-flops and guidebooks.
Acuitzio Plaza

But beyond a sunny vacation destination for vitamin D-starved northerners, Mexico is one part of a complex "home" identity for a sampling of Anchorage residents.