LSA Magazine Fall 2018

Browse the complete lineup of stories below.

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Fall 2018 LSA Magazine Features

Digital Dollars

The worth of a digital currency like Bitcoin seems uncertain if you look only at its volatile exchange rate. But some say its importance goes well beyond your wallet — that the true value of new digital currencies has more to do with what we make of them.

Game Guts

Video games are big business, and they're influencing pop culture more than ever. LSA explores the ways that alums and faculty have contributed to the mechanics of the medium.


More Stories from the Magazine

Make Up Your Mind
From the Cognitive Evolution Group Lab in East Hall to the trees of Cayo Santiago, LSA’s Alexandra Rosati is trying to learn how evolution shaped the way humans think.

Detroit Works
The LSA Opportunity Hub's new Applebaum Internship Program connects talented LSA students with cultural and nonprofit institutions in Detroit, developing the future leaders that are vital to the city’s history and growth.

The Picture of Health 
Today we get nearly as much health information from public service announcements, movies, and TV as we do from our doctors. It changes the way we discuss illness and suffering, and might offer insights that address health disparities.

The Gumshoe and the Great Dying
In South Africa’s Karoo, geology alumnus John Geissman is trying to crack a very cold case — the unsolved mystery of an ancient mass extinction.

The New Old-Timey
An LSA professor looks to radio’s past to create a contemporary radio drama.

Engineering Aha
Eureka moments are usually part ingenuity and part serendipity. LSA’s Jason Owen-Smith is trying to determine if you can design a physical space that makes such breakthroughs happen more often.

Experimental Design
If where we work affects how we work, then why not design a space to yield great work? The new BSB is a good spot for an experiment about what kinds of space support innovations, breakthroughs, and a positive impact on the world.

The Lost Letters
One LSA professor uncovered a lost trove of correspondence between two artists from the early twentieth century, bringing their love lives and professional careers into sharper focus.

All Ears
A bipartisan listening and discussion group founded and run by students from across campus is working to depolarize the political climate in Ann Arbor  and beyond.

A Tough Act to Swallow
A physics student developed a way to see inside your stomach, despite the experts saying his idea was impossible.

Action and Agency
LSA offers support for students, faculty, and staff working on projects that improve  American democracy.

Make a Fool of Yourself
For 13 years, students in Mark Tucker’s “Art in Public Spaces” course have made enormous papier-mâché puppets that require imagination and many DIY skills — but the real challenge is learning how to work together. 

Q&A with Interim Dean Elizabeth Cole
Professor Elizabeth Cole is the interim dean of LSA. An alumna herself, she is a professor in the Departments of Women’s Studies, Psychology, and Afroamerican and African Studies.