Monday, September 18, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Fickle about faith?

In a new study by Baylor University, one-tenth of the people who picked “no religion” out of 40 possible religious groups when asked which religion they embrace later wrote down a place when asked where they worship. Dr. David Rowe, a history professor who specializes in American religion, says, “Perhaps they worship at a place where they do not belong and do not wish to belong. Commitment to institutions is weak among the last two or three cohorts in the population. Possibly, too, they do not wish to be labeled or categorized because labels always denote negative as well as positive qualities.”

Contact Rowe at 615-898-2646.
dlrowe@mtsu.edu

Give until it feels good

The Office of Development’s fall annual giving phonathon begins TODAY. MTSU students will be calling alumni “to inform them of the latest developments from MTSU and their respective colleges and ask them to make a gift to the university,” says Lucie P. Murphy, coordinator of annual giving. The phonathon includes: TODAY: Regents Online Degree Program; Sept. 19-28: College of Education and Behavioral Science; Oct. 1-20: College of Basic and Applied Sciences; Oct. 22-26: College of Mass Communication; Oct. 29-Nov. 9: Jennings A. Jones College of Business; and Nov. 12-21: College of Liberal Arts.

Contact Murphy at 615-898-2728.

Middle East dialogue

Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) will present “The Israeli-Lebanese Conflict: How the Media Affect the U.S. Perspective,” a panel discussion, at 7 p.m. THIS WEDNESDAY in Room 221 of the Learning Resources Center. “The event will allow students an opportunity to ask questions and express their opinions about the current crisis between the Lebanese and Israelis,” Angie Feeney, president of the MTSU chapter of AID, says. MTSU professors participating in the dialogue include Dr. Karen Petersen, political science; Dr. Sean Foley, history; Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism; and Dr. John Omachonu, associate dean of the College of Mass Communication.

Contact Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu


TR EXTRA

THE ROAD TO MOROCCO--Dr. Khalid Amine, Professor at Abdelmalek Assaadi University in Tetouan, Morocco, will be giving a lecture entitled “Performing Postcoloniality in the Moroccan Scene” at 2:00 p.m. THIS MONDAY in Room 105 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building. Amine is an expert in contemporary Moroccan drama and has written on the reception of Shakespeare in the Arab world. He has been the moving force behind two recent international conferences, “Writing Tangier” and “Voices of Tangier.” Amine is a Fulbright scholar at the Graduate Center of Theater Studies at the City University of New York, where he is doing research related to his current project,“Fields of Silence in Moroccan Performance Studies.” This lecture is sponsored by the MTSU Middle East Center. Contact: Dr. Allen Hibbard at 615-494-8809 or ahibbard@mtsu.edu

HE WRITES THE SONGS--Composer Ray Stephenson will conduct a special songwriter’s workshop TODAY at 7 p.m. in Room 104 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. Stephenson, whose new album on the Universal South label is slated for release later this year, moved to Nashville in 1998. His songs have been recorded by Steve Holy, Sonya Isaacs, Guy Clark, The Wilkinsons, Wynonna Judd and Dean Miller, among others. Most recently, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and John Anderson recorded Stephenson’s “Me and Willie’s Guitar.” This free public event is sponsored by by the National Songwriters Association International at MTSU—the first student chapter of the Nashville-based NSAI.Contact the Department of Recording Industry at 615-898-2949.

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. TOMORROW in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu