Monday, November 25, 2013

Students present research projects at PA Sociological Society

On October 12, two BU students in the department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice successfully presented their research projects, supervised by Dr. Megumi Omori, at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Sociological Society held at Penn College in Williamsport.

Ethan Minier and Stephen Staats at the Pennsylvania Sociology Society,
courtesy of Dr. Omori

Ethan R. Minier, a senior sociology major, presented research titled “An Assessment of Mortality for Pennsylvania’s Aging Population” and Stephen Staats, a senior criminal justice major, presented his presentation on “Low Abortion Rates in Wyoming.” Congratulations to both!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

English Classes Take Learning Outside the Classroom

Dr. Christina Francis' English 288 – Feminist Reading of Culture traveled to New York City on September 18th to visit the New York Public Library exhibit entitled “The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter” as part of their exploration of fairy tales and gender representation this semester. 
Students on the steps of the New York Public Library,
courtesy of Dr. Francis

Student particularly enjoyed learning about banned children’s books and children’s literature from other cultures, and they also attended a performance of the newly adapted Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella on Broadway, which offered a Cinderella more in control of her own glass slipper. The trip was sponsored by a College of Liberal Arts Curriculum Enhancement Grant and the English Department.


Students in Dr. Francis' English 341 – Medieval Literature traveled to the PA Renaissance Faire from October 11 - 13 in order to experience some approximation of the material culture and activities associated with the Middle Ages. Students have been studying the original stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by writers such as Chretien de Troyes and Sir Thomas Malory.  


courtesy of Dr. Francis
At the Faire, students witnessed a game of human chess--a board game invented during the Middle Ages--listened to talks on archery, sword-making, glassblowing, and falconry and watched several sessions of tournament and combat jousting, a form of military training common in the medieval period. Medieval and Renaissance torture devices were on prominent display during this Halloween season.

Students standing with a replica guillotine,
courtesy of Dr. Francis

Friday, November 8, 2013

What We Did Over Summer "Break": Philosophy Professors Attend Conferences in Greece & Scotland

Dr. Steven Hales of the philosophy department participated in two conferences this past summer. The first was a "Workshop on Luck" at the Department of Philosophy of University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Dr. Hales delivered an invited talk entitled "Some Analyses of Luck and their Failures."

The second conference was the 23rd World Congress of Philosophy in Athens, Greece, where Dr. Hales gave three talks. His invited addresses were "Motivations for Relativism as a Solution to Disagreements" and "Synchronic and Diachronic Luck." He also contributed a paper entitled "Virtue Epistemology and the Value Problem."

"Both conferences were an outstanding opportunity to hear other researchers from around the world, as well as engage more broadly in the community of scholars," said Hales.

Dr. Lee and Dr. Hales at the remains of Poros,
courtesy of Dr. Hales
Dr. Wendy Lynne Lee, professor of philosophy, also gave a talk at the Athens conference. Together, they visited the remains of the Poros, the state prison of ancient Athens. Located in the ancient Agora, it is the likely location of the imprisonment and death of Socrates.