Monthly Archives: April 2013

Grad Student & Faculty Pot-luck next Wednesday at 4:30!


Congratulations, Lay!

Thought you’d like to know:
Lay Phonexayphova received an award for best research paper presentation among those on his panel for his paper, “Personal Autonomy and the Military: Developing Relational Skills to Form the Professional Military Ethic,” at Loyola’s 6th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Symposium for Graduate School Students.
Congratulations to Lay!
VW

Sheila Nirenberg, “Talking to the Brain in its Own Language,” Frontier in Science Symposium, Tuesday, April 23th @ 4:30, Gavin

Hello everyone,
The Biology Department at Loyola University would cordially like to invite you to our keynote speaker at the Frontier in Science Symposium on Tuesday April 23rd at 4:30 PM in Gavin Auditorium.
Sheila Niremberg has developed an “artificial eye” that enables those with macular degeneration to see again.  Her work was the subject of a TED talk recently posted (http://www.ted.com/talks/sheila_nirenberg_a_prosthetic_eye_to_treat_blindness.html).
Attached are a poster and informational flyer. Please plan to attend this fascinating talk.
Dawn M. Franks PhD
Instructor
Biology Department
Loyola University of Chicago
1032 W. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL  60660

CFP: “Exploring Awe and Wonder”

Call for papers

Interdisciplinary conference
Exploring awe and wonder

6-8 September 2013
Institute for Simulation and Training
University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
Sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation’s
Research Grant: Space, Science and Spirituality
http://www.chdr.cah.ucf.edu/spaceandspirituality/

 

The concepts of awe and wonder occupy an important place in the history of ideas, often associated with the beginnings of philosophy and with religious experience.  In contemporary times, however, they are under-studied and rarely discussed.  It is not clear that such experiences are more rare in our time.  One might argue that given our ability to explore more and more corners of the physical and intellectual universe using technology and advanced science, and our capacity for representing the results of such explorations in art, film and various mass media, we should expect that experiences of awe and wonder are more common.

The interdisciplinary conference, Exploring Awe and Wonder, will bring together researchers in psychology, emotion theory, neuroscience, philosophy, art history, religious studies, and other relevant fields to explore the science and phenomenology of awe and wonder.  Proposals for presentations in these areas are welcome.  A special session on Space, Science and Spirituality is being organized to present current research on the experience of awe and wonder during space flight.

Keynote speakers
Jesse Prinz (Philosophy, CUNY Graduate)
Michelle Shiota (Psychology, Arizona State University)

Invited speakers
Jonathan Cole (Neuroscience, Bournemouth University)
Joerg Trempler (Art History, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and the Yale Center for British Art)
Jeff Williams (NASA, Astronaut)

Send abstracts and session proposals by June 15, 2013 to

Bruce Janz
Department of Philosophy
Center for Humanities and Digital Research
University of Central Florida

Bruce.Janz@ucf.edu


CFP: Faith, Film and Philosophy conference, “Of Fairy-stories, Fantasy and Myth”

Call for Papers:

“Of Fairy-stories, Fantasy and Myth”

October 11th & 12th, 2013

Gonzaga University’s Faith and Reason Institute and Whitworth
University’s Weyerhaeuser Center for Faith and Learning are pleased to
announce their Seventh Annual Seminar on Faith, Film and Philosophy,
entitled “Of Fairy-stories, Fantasy and Myth.” The past decade has
seen film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, as
well as three of C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia,” and, most
recently, Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Although the immediate inspiration for
our seminar is the release of the first part of Peter Jackson’s
cinematic treatment of The Hobbit, our interest is neither solely nor
primarily in Jackson’s films. Instead, we wish to explore a variety of
cinematic treatments of myth, fairy-story, and fantasy, and to explore
philosophical and religious questions raised by such films. The Star
Wars saga, the various incarnations of the world of Star Trek, the
imaginative world of Pan’s Labyrinth, the Narnia films, Snow White and
the Huntsman, Prometheus, Wrath of the Titans, How to Train Your
Dragon, Arrietty, Ponyo, Hugo, Shrek, Knowing, The Road, After
Earth….These are but some of the films that fall within the purview of
our seminar. Even apart from the content of these films, the genres
touched upon in our title raise very general questions about art,
reality, meaning, and truth. For example, is film an appropriate art
form for mythopoesis? What is the nature of the reality portrayed in
these films? What truth, if any, can films of this sort explore or
convey?

Possible topics for seminar papers include the following, although
proposals on other topics or questions of relevance are certainly
welcome and encouraged.

•       What constitutes a literary fantasy?
•       What motivates literary fantasies? Is there a psychological payoff?
If so, what is it?
•        What is the underlying neurological basis for fantasy?  Why do we
fantasize in the first place and what evolutionary value might this
have?
•       Gender identity in fantasy and science fiction.
•       Social functions of fantasy literature, including political
functions.
•       Cinematic treatments of sexual fantasies.
•       Revenge fantasies.
•       Heroic figures and our fantasies of being like them. (What do Iron
Man and I have in common?)
•       Fantasies of the end of the world, their characteristics and
functions.
•       Fantasies and reality: since most fantasies are never realized in
actuality, why do we keep having them?
•       What’s the difference between a fantasy, whether literary and filmic
and outright hallucination or delusion?
•       Criticisms of the work of Peter Jackson.
•       Epistemological issues: what can be known by means of a fantasy that
might not be known otherwise?
•       The Life of Pi as fantasy.
•       Fantasy and possible worlds.

We are particularly interested in popular films from the last 20
years, although the program committee will certainly consider
exceptions to the 20-year rule.

Seminar sessions will take place on Friday (October 11th) and Saturday
(October 12th). Public lectures and other events associated with the
seminar will take place in the days leading up to the seminar. One of
the public lectures will be on the evening of October 11th, when one
of our invited speakers will give a keynote address. The invited
speakers include Michael Foley (Baylor University), Richard McClelland
(Gonzaga University), and Katherin Rogers (University of Delaware).
These invited speakers will also participate as resident “experts”
during the seminar discussions.

Proposals not longer than two pages (double-spaced), and in Word
format, should be submitted electronically to Dr. Brian Clayton at
clayton@gem.gonzaga.edu no later than 30 June 2013, and should include
title, author(s), institutional affiliation (if any), mailing address,
email address, and the text of the proposal. The seminar organizers
will send acceptances by 8 July 2013.

The seminar and its associated public events are part of a series of
jointly-sponsored programs focused on “Faith, Reason and Popular
Culture.”  The conviction behind these programs is that if Christian
institutions of higher learning are to respond properly to their
charge to be places where faith seeks understanding, then they must
engage contemporary popular culture. Film is among the most powerful
and important forms of popular culture. Thus, the seminar organizers
seek scholars who will engage in two days of discussion investigating
issues of faith and philosophical import raised by contemporary
popular film. Presenters need not have any formal academic
appointment.

For further information please contact Dr. Brian Clayton, Director,
Gonzaga University Faith and Reason Institute at
clayton@gem.gonzaga.edu.


Dante Lecture rescheduled for May 30th

 

Lumen Christi Institute | 773-955-5887 | info@lumenchristi.org |1220 East 58th Street | Chicago, IL 60637


CFP: SEP/FEP 2013, “Modern European Philosophy and its Politics”

CALL FOR PAPERS

Modern European Philosophy and its Politics

The Society for European Philosophy/Forum for European Philosophy Joint Annual Conference for 2013 will be hosted by the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University London
5–6 September 2013
Penrhyn Road Campus, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2EE

Plenary speakers
Professor Sara Ahmed, Goldsmiths/Cambridge University
Queer Will
Professor Robert Bernasconi, Penn State University
Kant and the Hottentots
Professor Tuija Pulkkinen, University of Helsinki
Thinking Intervention

The SEP/FEP conference is the largest annual event in Europe that aims to bring together researchers, teachers and others, from within different disciplines, interested in all areas of Modern European Philosophy. Submissions are therefore invited for individual papers and panel sessions in all areas of Modern European Philosophy. For 2013 submissions that address the conference’s plenary theme – Modern European Philosophy and its Politics – are particularly encouraged. This would include papers and panels that address philosophical issues in the history of Modern European Philosophy with regard to the cultural, social and political contexts of their elaboration; and those that address philosophical issues with regard to the social, cultural and political contexts of the present.

Abstracts of 500 words for individual paper submissions and proposals for panels should be sent to Stella Sandford (S.Sandford@Kingston.ac.uk) by 17 May 2013. Proposals for panels should include a 500-word abstract for each paper within the panel. Proposals from academics, graduate students and independent scholars are welcome.

Enquiries: S.Sandford@Kingston.ac.uk


Publishing Advice from Thom Brooks

Hi all,
The attached article, “Publishing Advice for Graduate Students,” was forwarded to me by a former grad student.
best,
Vicki Wike
Link to pdf:

SAVE THE DATE! Grad student and faculty end-of-year potluck coming up on May 1st!

On Wednesday May 1 from 4:30 – 7:00 in the Crown Lobby, you are invited to a Philosophy Grad Student and Faculty End-of-Year potluck.  We will be cheering on those graduate students who have defended and are graduating. And we will be honoring those faculty members retiring or recently retired.
More details soon.

Request for Proposals – Advancing Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities Initiative, Deadline: May 15

Request for Proposals – Advancing Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities Initiative

(Deadline Extended! – May 15th, 2013)

See attachment for more details


The home and community is a place that serves many purposes besides a place of residency. Both are places where we begin and finish our day, where families and their children live, play, and grow for years, and where people have a sense of comfort and safety. Unfortunately, both the home and community for some is a place where many known and unknown environmental toxins are causing health hazards that are continuously affecting residents on a daily basis.

In response to the risks that environmental toxins disproportionately pose to children and families’ health, the Center for the Human Rights of Children, Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy, Center for Urban Research and Learning, Loyola University Medical Center, and Loyola Law School’s Civitas ChildLaw Center (“The Centers”) at Loyola University Chicago have developed an interdisciplinary, multi-sector initiative, Advancing Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities – Tackling Environmental Disparities (“Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities”).
As part of this initiative’s goal and the need for new or current search on healthy homes and communities, a request for proposals (RFP) is being offered to Loyola faculty/staff/students funded through a grant provided by the Provost’s office consisting of stipends between $1,000-$3,000 per proposal. The RFP is designed to encourage broad faculty involvement in the initiative’s goal and help develop a sustainable network of social, economic, political, and academic relationships, which will be a leading force in advocating for and creating healthier homes and communities.

 

The proposal can support:

 

1. Research that identifies a current or developing indoor environmental toxins OR

2. Identification of resources or assets that have/have not been previously recognized OR

3. Development of new policy ideas, interventions, or advocacy to address familiar problems

 

Attached you will find the RFP with more detailed information about the proposal, it’s goals, and expectations from those interested in submitting. If you have any questions, comments, or general inquiries, feel free to check out the Advancing Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities site (http://luc.edu/chrc/environmentsustainability/advancinghealthyhomeshealthycommunities/#d.en.83996) or contact:

 

Adrian J. Segura
Project Coordinator

Center For The Human Rights of Children
Loyola University – Chicago
6430 N. Kenmore Ave
Cuneo Hall, Room 323
asegura2@luc.edu
Ph: (773) 508-8052

 

ATTACHMENT: HHHCI INFO

 


Lecture: Dr. Aili Mari Tripp on “New Trends in Women and Politics in Africa,” Loyola, April 24


Death Penalties Conference, De Paul, Apr. 19-20


6th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Symposium for Graduate School Students, Apr. 20


“Sustaining Jesuit Ideals: Exploring the Extraordinary”
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Crown Center, Lake Shore Campus
The theme of the symposium is Sustaining Jesuit Ideals: Exploring the Extraordinary.
Graduate Students were selected to present their research based upon one of the Jesuit ideals:
Community & Social Justice
Global Awareness & Sustainability
Innovative Approaches
Religious Experience & Faith        
Values & Culture
Symposium Schedule
8:30 AM  Registration
9:00 – 10:45 AM  Paper Session
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM  Poster Session
12:00 – 12:30 PM  LUNCH
12:30 – 1:15 PM   Faculty Guest Panel
1:30 – 3:00 PM   Paper Session
3:15 – 4:00 PM   Awards Reception

The full symposium schedule and list of participants are available at the symposium website: LUC.EDU/gradschool/research_symposium.shtml. The Graduate School Interdisciplinary Research Symposium is part of the University wide annual Weekend of Excellence activities: LUC.EDU/excellenceweekend.

New Perspectives on Understanding in Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology accepting proposals


Namaste! It’s Hindu Awareness Week, April 8-12

Namaste, Philosophy Department!

On behalf of Loyola University’s Hindu Students’ Organization, I would personally like to invite you all to learn more about the Hindu culture and traditions through Hindu Awareness Week during the week of April 8-12. As a growing organization on campus, HSO strives to raise awareness of the Hindu faith and culture throughout our campus. Hindu Awareness Week consists of a series events to help students and faculty learn and celebrate different aspects of Hinduism.


We will be kicking off the week with the opening of the new puja room in Damen 238 with an afternoon prayer followed by a clay diva painting activity. In the evening we will be honoring our Sanskars, or traditions, through a skit about the 16 sacraments. The next day, we will continue learning about Hinduism through Bhakti, or devotion, in our Traditional Music Night. Students will join together and put on performances to show their devotion to their faith. On the third night HSO will celebrate their ten years of success with an extravagant Anniversary Dinner, in which various students and staff will be speaking about their experiences with HSO. The fourth day will consist of a trip to a local temple, followed by a discussion about the Bhagavad Gita. We will be ending the week with yoga on Friday morning, followed by Relay for Life in the evening. All of the details and times for the events are attached in the flyer.

I hope you can join us for this exciting week of events filled with food, activities, and a celebration of the Hindu Students’ Organization’s tenth year in the Loyola Community. Loyola takes pride in being a multicultural and multifaith university, and we’re excited over this opportunity in which we can share our experiences and ideals of Hinduism with you. Please do also share this invitation with whomever you please, the more the merrier!



Sincerely,
HSO Loyola