Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Summer in the city

Keith Schumann, an MTSU student from Savannah, is one of 50 students chosen by competitive application as a 2008 Gilder Lehrman History Scholar Finalist. This summer, each of the finalists will participate in a one-week program in New York. They will meet eminent historians and history professionals outside the academic world. They also will visit historical archives and museums. The program is sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which is dedicated to the study and promotion of American History. This year’s applicants represented 166 United States colleges and universities.

Contact Sarah Bowman of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History at 646-366-9666, extension 38, or bowman@gilderlehrman.org

Ping-pong capitalism

Beijing will play host to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, which are slated for August 8-24. Dr. Jim Burton, Dean of the College of Business, visited Beijing in October 2007 when he accompanied Governor Bredesen and other state officials on a trade mission to China. In a column for Tennessee’s Business magazine, Burton wrote, “The Chinese—industrious and numerous with a rich history—are ready to do business. Because English is essentially the nation’s second language, there may be more English-speaking people in China than any other nation. Hungry for the ‘good things’ of life, willing to do what it takes to acquire them and possessing the necessary political resolve and human capital, they speak our language. It very well may be time we learn theirs.”

Contact Burton at 615-898-2764.
eburton@mtsu.edu

Nature or nurture?

Dr. Amy Jetton, biology, says biological research indicates that sexual orientation probably is determined mostly by genetics, fetal development and biological events early in the infancy stage. “Some views of sexual orientation liken it to handedness,” Jetton says. “There is a certain innate preference whether due to genetics or early development, and there is also a certain strength to that preference. Given that there are societal pressures to become right-handed, many people will do so—some because it is their preference, but others because their preference for left-handedness is not strong.” Jetton notes that Alfred Kinsey found in the 1940s and 1950s that many people have some level of attraction to both sexes, even though some people are exclusively attracted to one sex.

Contact Jetton at 615-898-5952.
ajetton@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

“LANGUAGE IS THE DRESS OF THOUGHT.”—SAMUEL JOHNSON--MTSU’s annual Summer Language Institute will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 16-20, June 23-27 and July 28-August 1 at the University School of Nashville. Languages to be taught will include Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic and Spanish Levels 1 and 2. The innovative teaching methods used at the institute, are designed to teach students a second language the same way they learned their first—by relating vocabulary to movement and learning grammar through storytelling. Students are completely immersed in the language from the first day of instruction in a fun environment. “I can now tell people who regret never having studied a language or who had a bad experience that it is not too late,” says Dr. Shelley Thomas, MTSU associate professor and institute founder. Contact Thomas at 615-898-5757 or
shthomas@mtsu.edu.

“ENGLAND SWINGS LIKE A PENDULUM DO.”—ROGER MILLER--The Fab Four, miniskirts and go-go boots, the “mods” versus the “rockers”—If you’re looking for a fun and informative course to take this summer, MTSU is offering British Popular Culture from 10:10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday July 7-August 7. This English course, taught by Dr. Jill Hague, will look at the development of popular culture in the United Kingdom after World War II, focusing on innovations in music, film and drama. Students will examine the cultural, historical and political contexts of the 1950s, the phenomenon of “Swinging London” and the Beatles in the 1960s and the rise of punk culture in the 1970s. Contact Hague at 615-904-8123 or ahague@mtsu.edu.

THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT--You can spend part of your summer examining the fascinating Native American history and prehistory of the Southwest and get geography or history credit for it at MTSU! The class is titled “Geography of Native Americans” and will be conducted for the 15th consecutive year by Dr. Doug Heffington, professor of historical geography and director of the Global Studies Program. “The class focuses on the examination of the human/land relationships between the native peoples of New Mexico and their natural environment,” Heffington says. “Most of our base camp is in the small colonial village of Truchas, which dates to the mid-1700s with its blend of Genizaro, Mestizo and Hispano cultures. The trip/course starts July 21st and takes about nine days to complete.” The cost is approximately $400 per student and includes transportation, two meals a day, lodging and entry fees. Contact Heffington at 615-898-5978 or jheffing@mtsu.edu.

“BLESSED ARE THE CRACKED FOR THEY SHALL LET IN THE LIGHT.”—GROUCHO MARX--How do you see God? Do you see the Almighty as a man, a woman, an ambiguous force of nature? These are questions to be explored this summer as Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, teaches “Images of God in the American Media” from July 7 through August 8 at MTSU. Pondillo and his students will pursue the subject by examining television programs ranging from “Family Guy” to “Joan of Arcadia” and movies like “Oh, God” and “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Pondilo says, “We’ll have an intellectual discussion and a cosmological discussion and a theological discussion—a discussion, not make it a time to convert people or anything like that. Let’s just talk and try to understand.” Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465 or pondillo@mtsu.edu.

ALMA MATER MATTERS--Registration has been extended to June 10 for MTSU’s Alumni Summer College, a two-and-a-half-day even full of fun, fellowship and presentations on local topics June 25-27. Faculty, staff and other experts who are slated to speak include Dr. Lisa Pruitt, director of the Gore Center, on “A Century of Service: The History of MTSU”; Dr. Rhonda Hoffman, associate professor of equine science, will introduce attendees to the latest research and technology in the horse world; and alumni Gloria Christy (’71) and Bill Shacklett (’73) will discuss the technical world of photo restoration. Also on tap are a trip to the Grand Ole Opry, dinner at Caney Fork Fish Camp and a scavenger hunt. Contact Rhonda Wright at 1-800-533-6878 or rwright@mtsu.edu.

HOMETOWN BOYS AND GIRLS MAKE GOOD--ATTENTION, EDITORS AND REPORTERS: Admissions officials have released their list of some 554 students who, as of May 30, have accepted scholarships to attend MTSU beginning in the fall 2008 semester. To obtain the list of those students from your Tennessee county who were awarded scholarships for the upcoming academic term, please go to http://www.mtsunews.com and click on the “Scholarship Recipients” link on the upper left-hand side of the page. Click on the “2008--June” link, which will lead to an alphabetical, county-by-county listing. This list includes each student’s hometown, high school, name of scholarship and award amount. Please note that students are listed by county based upon the information they provided to MTSU’s Records Office regarding their permanent address. Contact the Office of Admissions at 615-898-2111 or visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~admissn.

ROLL OVER, JUNIOR!--Everything a human being is concerned with is based on learning and theory. That’s what makes the Learning Theories class being taught by Dr. Donald Kendrick through Thursday, July 3, at MTSU so fascinating. Kendrick, a psychology professor, says, “For example, students will gain insights and learn specific techniques to train their pets to do fun and funny things. These training techniques also generalize to raising children, the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of punishment, accepted practices on permitting young children to sleep with Mom (and Dad), the nature of the mother-infant bond, breaking bad habits and acquiring new ones, and how to get your roommate to have more respect for your things!” Contact Kendrick at 615-898-2706 or psyskip@mtsu.edu.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE PLAYSTATION.--Budding authors who have completed fourth through 12th grades will invade MTSU next week for the Youth Writers’ Camp presented by the Middle Tennessee Writing Project. This two-week day camp through June 19 helps kids who are excited about writing make connections with experienced classroom teachers who have a passion for writing. The camp counselors strive to make sure that students become more confident in their own writing ability while fostering a supportive, non-threatening environment. Youngsters will receive realistic feedback from peers and mentors, explore new writing styles and topics, and meet published authors. For more information, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtwp or contact Angela Pope, Youth Camp Coordinator, at pope_a@worldnet.att.net or Dr. Bobbie Solley, MTWP Director, at bsolley@mtsu.edu.

DAD, TAKE THE LAMPSHADE OFF YOUR HEAD WHILE THE CAMERA’S ROLLING!--Working with perhaps the most technology-savvy generation of young adults ever, Dr. Lorne McWatters, history, will teach a class titled “Genealogy and Documentary Film: Doing Your Own Family History in Film” to undergraduates for the first time at MTSU this fall. “The fall class will have 15 students, and each student will make a film about 10 minutes long on either some aspect of his/her family (genealogy) or some aspect of the history of MTSU,” McWatters says. “In speaking to students about the class, I found the undergraduates to be very enthusiastic, much more so than the graduate students, in general.” Contact McWatters at 615-898-5805 or dmcwatte@mtsu.edu.