social theory

The End of Wonder in the Age of Whatever

Dr. Michael Wesch, a cultural anthropologist and media ecologist at Kansas State University, will be giving a talk entitled "The End of Wonder in the Age of Whatever" presented by the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT). Dr. Wesch regularly teaches large classes and was the 2008 U.S. Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 
 
He will be talking about creating a sense of "wonder" in the classroom and giving students the gift of "big questions." Professor Wesch's visit strives to inspire UK faculty and foster a dialogue on campus around topics such as teaching large classes and using new media and technologies in the classroom to nurture student curiosity and exploration as they pursue authentic and relevant questions. 
 

New media and technology present us with an overwhelming bounty of tools for connection, creativity, collaboration, and knowledge creation - a true "Age of Whatever" where anything seems possible. But any enthusiasm about these remarkable possibilities is immediately tempered by that other "Age of Whatever" - an age in which people feel increasingly disconnected, disempowered, tuned out, and alienated. Such problems are especially prevalent in education, where the Internet often enters our classrooms as a distraction device rather than a tool for learning.

What is needed more than ever is to inspire our students to wonder, to nurture their appetite for curiosity, exploration, and contemplation. It is our responsibility to help them attain an insatiable appetite and pursue big, authentic, and relevant questions so that they can harness and leverage the bounty of possibility, rediscover the "end" or purpose of wonder, and stave off the historical end of wonder.

Date:
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Location:
WT Young Auditorium
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Table, Map and Text: Writing in France circa 1600

Tom Conley is Lowell Professor in the Departments of Romance Languages and Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University. Conley studies relations of space and writing in literature, cartography, and cinema. His work moves to and from early modern France and issues in theory and interpretation in visual media. In 2003, Dr. Conley won a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work in topography and literature in Renaissance France.

Date:
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Location:
Lexmark Room, Main Building
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16th Annual University of Kentucky Philosophy Graduate Student Conference

The College of Arts & Sciences and the Committee on Social Theory presents the 16th Annual University of Kentucky Philosophy Graduate Student Conference. The conference is also co-sponsored by The Graduate School at the University of Kentucky. While all academic papers in any area of philosophy will be considered, preference will be given to those addressing the broad themes of the intersection and relation between philosophy and community, culture, and society.  Such themes may include: What is philosophy's proper relationship to the community?  How can philosophy (or humanities/academia in general) better relate itself, or communicate its concerns, to the greater community?  What are some philosophical conceptions of community?  And so on.  All quality papers in any philosophical "style," whether "analytic," "historical,"  or "continental," will be considered.  Papers of an interdisciplinary nature are strongly encouraged.
 
Deadline for submission: February 8th, 2013.
 
Submission Guidelines: Papers and abstracts should be prepared for blind review. 
 
Please submit the following as separate documents: 
 
a) cover page with author's name, title of paper, word count of paper, institutional affiliation, and contact information (including email, phone number, and mailing address) 
b) an abstract of no more than 300 words 
c) the paper itself, double spaced, of no more than 3500 words. Word, pdf, and rtf are all acceptable formats.
 
All submissions and queries should be emailed to: justin.spinks@uky.edu.
Date:
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Location:
WT Young Auditorium
Event Series:

A Mistake on the Edge of Time: Rusty Barrett on the Mayan Calendar

Most of us heard that the world was going to possibly end on December 21st, 2012, and that it was predicted by the traditional Mayan calendar. In this podcast, Rusty Barrett, a linguist and scholar of Mayan culture and history, explains the superstitions and misunderstandings surrounding December 21st, and a little bit about how the Mayan calendar works.

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