engaged life
engaged life engaged life
A Day of Scholarship Students “Create a Course” By Caitlyn Mitchell ’13 If you could create an academic class out of thin air, what would you choose? In the spring of 2011, Oglethorpe students had the chance to decide just that. Students from every major and discipline were invited to put their heads together to engage in the selection and creation of a new academic course. The student community wrote potential course plans and materials lists, voiced their opinions and made their cases for which subjects they wanted to know more about and how the class should be taught.
OU’s Liberal Arts & Sciences Symposium By Caitlyn Mitchell ’13
Every year Oglethorpe’s classes are suspended for a day dedicated to celebrating the liberal arts and sciences. The annual Symposium in the Liberal Arts and Sciences is a day to revel in educating, exploring and sharing knowledge. This Oglethorpe tradition gives students and faculty the opportunity to share their analytical and creative works from the previous academic year. For nearly 12 straight hours, students and faculty, as well as their guests, indulge in a “cornucopia of academia.” Panels, roundtables, poster presentations, art exhibitions and performances showcase the fruits of Oglethorpe’s liberal arts and sciences curriculum, as well as student-driven initiatives. (above) The Symposium’s poster sessions give students the chance to share and discuss their research.
18 CARILLON | spring 2013
Joscelyn Stein ’13 described this beloved tradition as “a day seeing what other students have been pouring all of their time and energy into…I love getting to be a part of all the other students’ work.”
Made up of a series of hour-long sessions, the day moves nonstop from the moment it begins this year with a keynote address about the importance of the liberal arts, by Dr. Catherine Lewis from Kennesaw State University. During the “Meeting of the Majors,” students meet with their department faculty, discuss upcoming opportunities within and beyond university boundaries and socialize with their contemporaries. As the day continues, students are encouraged to cross disciplines and hear about subjects beyond their normal academic realms. “I just watched an awesome presentation about Mormonism…a very specific, very interesting presentation on something I never would have known anything about if it hadn’t have been for the Liberal Arts Symposium,” said Weston Manders ’13 during the 2012 Symposium. “I love seeing all my fellow Oglethorpians…engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and supporting their friends who are really reaching out there to better
themselves through independent research.” At the Liberal Arts and Sciences Symposium, a physics major can attend a poetry reading, and a studio art major can learn the basics of chemical bonding. Participants can attend a panel on such differing and fascinating subjects as “Cosmology and Questions: An Ever Moving Cycle,” “New Media and Our Brains,” “Performance Art: A Catalyst for Change in Modern Art,” “Sports, Media and Body Image,” and “Horror-Comedy: The Chaotic Spectrum and Cinematic Synthesis.” The Symposium gives students a chance to reach outside of their fields of study and make connections between their own work and others’ passions. And it’s an indescribable day for anyone who wishes to witness the Oglethorpe education in action.
The suggestions were a mixed bag, reflecting the passions and diversity of the student body. The proposals mirrored a mixing of the minds, combining traditional and modern pursuits as well as cross-disciplinary studies. And no doubt there was probably a “Core moment” involved in the creation of many of the offerings. Classic Rock: the ’60s to the ’90s sound interesting? It didn’t make it to the final voting block, but ideas just as varied and wildly inspired flooded the selection committee as students responded to the challenge. The selection committee evaluated the pool of proposals, and seven possible subjects rose to the top. Students voted online between History of Fashion, Sherlock Holmes, Positive Psychology, From Emma to Clueless, Pop Culture and Propaganda, Science Fiction and Fantasy: 20th–21st Century and Political Assassination. Where else could one find such a succinct summation of the various interests of the Oglethorpe student body? History, fashion, literature, politics and modernism versus antiquity! But in the end, there could only be one selection. By popular demand, Positive Psychology became the choice that was integrated into the official fall 2012 course schedule. The class explored “the science of how to be happy” and “the resiliency, self-efficacy and ability to create and live a happy life.” After such a positive initial response, this could very well become a beloved Oglethorpe tradition. Who knows what we’ll see next on the scholarly line-up? Entomology? 3-D Filmmaking? Marvel vs. DC Comics? The possibilities are as endless as the imaginations and interests of Oglethorpe students.
Visit Oglethorpe’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/ oglethorpeuniversity) to view videos and commentary about the symposium.
spring 2013 | CARILLON 19