Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

It’s enough to make your blood boil.

Dr. Rami Shapiro, adjunct professor of religious studies and ordained rabbi, has a definite take on Sarah Palin’s use of the term “blood libel” in her defense of her usage of gun language and gun imagery in her political communications. The term “blood libel” comes from a medieval fiction that Jews used the blood of Christian babies in preparing matzoh for religious rituals. Shapiro writes, “This is serious stuff. The blood libel is not to be taken lightly. The fact that Jews are forbidden from eating blood in any form (Leviticus 7:26-27) is irrelevant to hate-filled perpetrators of this slander. And though it is true that Sarah Palin is not a Jew, and therefore is permitted to consume blood, it is no less slanderous to claim that the blood she consumes is that of little children.”

Read Shapiro’s blog at http://rabbirami.blogspot.com.

Thinking about what you think

Mark Twain wrote, “It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races.” Have you ever wondered how you can voice your opinions with authority and promote them in an effective way? Dr. Jane Marcellus, journalism, is teaching “Opinion Writing and New Media” this semester. In this specialized reporting (Journalism 3520) class, students will learn about the origins of journalistic opinion writing and columns, discuss how opinion writing is changing, write both traditional columns and blog posts and learn in a supportive environment. The class meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:40-2:05 p.m.

Contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282.
jmarcell@mtsu.edu

Female fugues and funk

After a very successful fall 2010 semester debut, “Women in Music” returns for the spring semester to continue its exploration of the vast variety of women’s musical activities. The professor, Dr. Felicia Miyakawa, says, “The course will cover not only women composers in the Western tradition, but also women performers, women patrons and women as objects and symbols in the marketing of music.” Students will discuss cultural constructions of gender as they pertain to music, identify important women in musical history and outline their significance, talk about connections, between diverse forms of feminism and their manifestations in music and much more. Women to be studied will range from Clara Schumann to Janis Joplin and from Jenny Lind to Tori Amos.

Contact Miyakawa at 615-904-8043.
miyakawa@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

LEARNING ABOUT COLLEGE -- “How to Win at the Game of College,” a three-part seminar series to equip students with the tools and strategies to ensure college success, will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, in the State Farm Lecture Hall (Room S102) of the Business and Aerospace Building at MTSU. A dynamic, interactive and audio-visual presentation by Dr. Ryan Otter, assistant professor of biology, and based on his book How to Win at the Game of College: Practical Advice from a College Professor, the opening installment of the series is titled “The Benefits of the ‘Be Weird’ Strategy.” It will focus on how college is different from high school and how being “weird” will lead to success. For more information, contact Otter at 615-898-2063 or rrotter@mtsu.edu or Gina Logue of the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

SCIENCE SAYS … -- Middle Tennessee Education Center in Shelbyville is offering an Experimental Physical Science course beginning tomorrow, Jan. 19. Dr. Pat Patterson, associate professor of chemistry at MTSU, will teach this four-hour graduate course. It involves basic concepts, laws and principles of astronomy, chemistry, geology and physics with an emphasis on the utilization of equipment available in actual school situations. The class will meet each Wednesday from 4-10 p.m. at MTEC and is recommended for teachers who wish to begin or continue their “Plus 30” hours of graduate work. MTEC is located at 200 Dover St. in Shelbyville. To find out more, contact Molly Culbreath at 931-685-4444 or mculbrea@mtsu.edu.
YES, THEY CAN! -- The Center for Health and Human Services at MTSU will administer the “Yes I Can! Diabetes Self-Management Program” from February through June in Rutherford County. It will consist of six weeks’ worth of two-and-a-half-hour sessions that will be completely free to participants. The community-based protocol is derived from a model created by Stanford University and used nationwide for the past 20 years. Diabetics, their supporters and people who might have indications of a pre-diabetic condition are encouraged to participate. There will be a cap of 20 people per class, so sign up now. Doctor’s referrals are not required. Participants must be 18 years of age or older. Children will not be allowed to attend. For specific times and locations or to register online, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/achcs/YesICan.shtml.

“NOTHING HAPPENS UNLESS FIRST A DREAM.”—CARL SANDBURG--Dr. Jhon (spelling is correct) C. Akers will interpret the works of poet Carl Sandburg on classical guitar in “Carl Sandburg and the Spanish Guitar,” a lecture slated for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building. Akers was twice the featured lecturer for the Sandburg Days Festival in Galesburg, Ill. He is an associate professor of modern languages at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. Sandburg, a poet, historian and winner of three Pulitzer Prizes, also collected folk songs and wrote children’s literature and had a lifelong love for the Spanish guitar. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. William Yelverton at 615-898-2004 or 615-898-5623.