Thursday, January 24, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“The Bucket List”

In the recent movie “The Bucket List,” Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman portray two terminally ill old men who make a list of all the things they want to do before they die, or “kick the bucket” (hence the title) and set out to do them. Dr. Janet Belsky, a psychology professor who specializes in aging issues, says, “According to psychologist Erik Erikson, there are specific tasks linked to each of the eight stages of the lifespan (Could he have borrowed the stage idea from Shakespeare?). The agenda of the eighth and final old age stage is to have the sense that you fully lived your unique life. So yes, when death is looming on the scene (or you think you may be kicking the bucket), it’s appropriate to try to squeeze in all those unfulfilled goals—whether it’s to skydive or laugh until you cry or make peace with your kids—so you can feel ‘I lived life to the fullest.’”

Contact Belsky at 615-898-5935.
jbelsky@mtsu.edu

The way they play the game

MTSU’s Sport Management Program will be the point of origin of a new scholarly journal that will provide cutting-edge research on issues affecting the sport industry. A call for papers will be issued soon to scholars around the world requesting submissions for the Journal of Sport Administration & Supervision. The publication is the brainchild of Dr. Colby Jubenville, associate professor of health and human performance and coordinator of that department’s graduate program. In a twist on conventional academic publications, Jubenville says that, in addition to academicians, sport practitioners will be allowed to review scholars’ works, examine their research, and assess whether it is useful to them.

Contact Jubenville at 615-898-2909.
jubenvil@mtsu.edu

She’s a Mainiac

MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibit titled “MAINE WOMEN living on the land” featuring the works of Lauren Shaw. She photographed, recorded and videotaped 20 women whose livelihoods come either from producing a product or building a community. Shaw’s work is in the collections of the Getty Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Library of Congress, among other venues. Shaw will present a lecture, documentary screening and book signing at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 28, in Room 221 of the McWherter Learning Resources Center. A reception will follow in the gallery. The exhibit and the lecture are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Tom Jimison at 615-2085.
tjimison@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

GOING GRAY BEHIND BARS--“Grandma Lifers in Prison: Approaches to Understanding the Lives of a Forgotten Population” will be the first presentation of the new year in the Women’s Studies Research Series at 3 p.m., today, Jan. 24, in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. This lecture is free and open to the public. Dr. Ron Aday, professor of sociology and anthropology, will deliver the address and answer questions. “The number of women inmates in state and federal prisons has increased rapidly in recent decades and, more recently, older women have been the fastest growing segment of this population,” Aday says. “As a forgotten minority, virtually nothing is known about the distinct experiences of older women in prison.” For more information, contact Dr. Jane Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu, or contact the Women’s Studies office at 615-898-5910 or womenstu@mtsu.edu.

“THE ONLY WOMAN AWAKE IS THE WOMAN WHO HAS THE FLUTE.”—RUMI--
The eighth annual MTSU Flute Festival featuring guest artist Jonathan Keeble will be held Saturday, Jan. 26, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby on the MTSU campus. Guest artist Keeble will give a 2 p.m. recital performance and a 4 p.m. master class in the Hinton Music Hall located in the Wright Music Building. In addition, Keeble will make a presentation titled Making Old Music New: Transforming the ‘Warhorses’ Into Modern Language. “Other flute festival events include a High School Solo and a Junior Solo Competition, which takes place in the morning. Also, area college teachers will be the hosts of a Flute Chat session,” says Deanna Little, festival coordinator and assistant professor of flute. Contact Little at 615-898-2473 or drhahn@mtsu.edu.

FIT FOR LIFE--The MTSU Faculty-Staff Health and Wellness Program for the spring semester will begin Monday, Jan. 28, and run through April 11. For a $25 fee, each registrant will get blood testing before and after the 10-week program, fitness testing, nutritional coaching by a registered dietician and an optional session with a “life skills coach.” Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, “The main focus of the program is to replace negative habits related to lack of exercise, poor nutrition and other lifestyle choices that compromise your health and quality of life. … Our exercise coaches are either graduate students in the MTSU exercise science program or have extensive experience as a personal trainer.” Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812 or manshel@mtsu.edu.

DIALING FOR DELEGATES--Dr. Michael Nelson, the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College, will present “MTSU’s Super Tuesday Lecture” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building. A member of Rhodes’ political science faculty since 1991, Nelson is the author of more than 200 articles published in scholarly journals such as the Journal of Politics and Political Science Quarterly and in periodicals such as Newsweek and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Dr. John Vile, chairman of MTSU’s political science department, says Nelson is considered “the gold standard” when it comes to presidential discourse. “He’s one of the leading presidential scholars in the country,” Vile says. For more information, call 615-898-2534 or 615-898-2351.

THE SEVENTIES’ SCREEN--In the 1970s, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and other filmmakers responded in passionate but diverse ways to the defining events of a highly charged political era, including Watergate, Vietnam, the emergence of global corporatism and the continued threat of nuclear holocaust. It was a period when the American film industry eagerly absorbed the values of the counterculture, which, in turn, had deeply questioned the seemingly sacred foundations of American society. This semester, Dr. Will Brantley, English, is teaching “American Film in the 70s,” a University Honors College class which explores some of the ways in which the creative community made sense of the so-called “Me Decade.” Screenings include Cabaret, Carrie, The Conversation, The Deer Hunter, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show, Nashville, and Taxi Driver. Contact the University Honors College at 615-898-2152.