"Books Behind Bars:" Russian literature and incarcerated youth

Admittedly it isn't often the IRB-SBS receives protocols from the Slavic Language and Literature department at UVa. It probably isn't that usual for incarcerated youth in juvenile detention centers to discuss Tolstoy. When you are working with someone named Andy Kaufman, perhaps it is best to expect the unusual. Andrew D. Kaufman, UVa professor Slavic Language and Literature professor and expert in all things Tolstoy, expanded his passion for sharing Russian literature beyond his UVa classroom to help improve the lives of incarcerated youth in juvenile detention facilities. Kaufman developed the course for "Books Behind Bars" and with the help of UVa undergraduates, they run discussion groups helping the incarcerated youth to learn about Russian literature. Featured on UVa alum Katie Couric's show, the program highlights the benefits of studying the humanities. Kaufman is set to release a new book entitled Give "War and Peace" a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times.

Giving an Endangered Language Back to Its People

Lise Dobrin, a faculty member in UVa's Anthropology Department and a member of the IRB-SBS Board was recently featured on UVA Today for her efforts to capture a dying language.

"April 4, 2012 — Most of the people who spoke Arapesh when University of Virginia linguist Lise Dobrin conducted field work in Papua New Guinea about 15 years ago have died of old age. Their children no longer speak the language, and their grandchildren have almost no knowledge of their ancestral tongue, she said." For the rest of the article, check out this link. 

University of Virginia's 'PureMadi' Brings Clean Water to Developing Countries

"Of the world's 7 billion people, less than 2 billion have a consistent supply of high-quality, regulated water, and about 3 to 4 million people die each year from waterborne diseases, including about 2 million children. We're looking to help reduce those numbers." James Smith, a U.Va. civil and environmental engineer, and Dr. Rebecca Dillingham, a U.Va. infectious diseases and international health physician and associate director of the University's Center for Global Health, co-lead the "PureMadi" project, an effort to develop a feasible method for delivering safe water to the developing word. For more information on the PureMadi project, check out this article on UVA Today.

Syphilis Experiments Shock, But So Do Third World Drug Trials

A few years ago, Wellesley medical researcher Susan Reverby unearthed documents indicating that Dr. John C. Cutler, the doctor who conducted the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis study, also conducted a similar study in Guatemala. Participants were infected with the deadly disease without their consent; 83 participants died over the course of the study. When the information that Dr. Reverby discovered was revealed, it resulted in a former apology by President Obama to the people of Guatemala. While the practices of the Guatemala Syphilis study are shocking, this ABC report highlights that issues still prevail in the developing world where medical research is conducted on the less educated and poor.