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Exhibition Debate: NSU vs Great Britain

Thu, 05 Nov 2009

The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Humanities will sponsor an exhibition debate between two students from the top-ranking British National Debate Team and two undergraduates from Nova Southeastern University on Monday, November 23, 2009. The event will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the Performance Theatre of the college’s Performing and Visual Arts Wing in the Don Taft University Center. This year’s debate topic, advocated by the NSU team and refuted by the students representing Great Britain, will be “Parents should be punished for the crimes of their children.” The debate will consist of an initial round of speeches (both constructive and rebuttal) and cross-examination between the debaters, followed by audience questions and discussion. Jennifer Reem, communication program coordinator in the college’s Division of Humanities, will moderate the debate. A faculty panel from the college’s Division of Humanities—consisting of Chetachi Egwu, Ph.D., assistant professor; Ben Mulvey, Ph.D., associate professor; and Megan Fitzgerald, Ph.D., assistant professor—will judge the students’ performances. About the Debaters:

—Jean Paul (JP) Bermeo, a senior psychology major in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, is former president of Lambda Theta Phi, Latin Fraternity Incorporated, which won Philanthropic Chapter of the Year at the 2008–2009 Florida State Conference. He has delivered more than 100 public speeches representing Lambda Theta Phi. Bermeo is applying for admission to the Ph.D. program in Psychology at NSU to begin fall semester 2010. He also conducts philosophy research in Realism vs. Anti-Realism. —Alexander Caldwell, a junior communication studies major in the Division of Humanities, graduated from Broward College with highest honors and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa national honor society. Caldwell is also a musical performer, actor, and motivational speaker with his own business. Both students are enrolled in the college’s SPCH 2020 Argument and Debate course at NSU.

—Dan Bradley is former president of the Manchester Debating Union and the Northern and Midlands Debating Alliance. He is about to submit his thesis for a Ph.D in chemistry from the University of Manchester, having interrupted his degree pursuit to complete an internship on climate-change policy at the Houses of Parliament. While earning his doctoral degree, Bradley has competed in more than 75 debates, reaching the semifinals of the World University Debating Championships. —Andrew Tuffin is as an active debater on the European universities’ debating circuit. He received an M.A. in Philosophy from King’s College, London. He began debating two years ago after a broken foot sidelined him from the university’s hockey team. Since then, he has won inter-varsity debate tournaments, picked up individual-speaker awards, and acted as the chief adjudicator at competitions on the British university circuit. NSU is the final stop on the British National Debate Team’s two-month tour of the United States, which included debates at Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh, and Oregon State University, among others. The 2007 and 2008 British National Teams visited NSU to debate about terrorism and the United States’ involvement in other countries’ conflicts, respectively. Admission to this event is free and open to all members of the NSU and South Florida community.

Refreshments and an informal reception with the debaters will follow. For more information, contact Jennifer Reem at reemj@nova.edu or (954) 262-8409.

Travel Study: Spend Spring Break Studying 20th Century Genocide in Europe

Wed, 14 Oct 2009

The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences announces a Travel Study program for Spring Break 2010, titled “Genocide in the 20th Century and Beyond.” The trip, led by Gary Gershman, J.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the college’s Division of Humanities, is a component of the HIST 4700 course with the same name.

Students enrolled in the winter 2010 class will embark on a 12-day European excursion through the cities of Kraków, Belgrade, and Sarajevo in March. The trip will give students the opportunity to explore first-hand the historical sites studied and discussed in class.

To be eligible for this trip, students must enroll in HIST 4700. Students will receive academic credit upon completing the course, which includes the trip abroad.

The projected cost of the European trip is $2,515.00, which includes airfare, transportation to all sites, shared accommodations, daily breakfast, and any entry fees to sites on the itinerary. Students are responsible for additional meals and other miscellaneous expenses incurred during travel.

There will be three payment periods, as follows:

Payment No. 1: $1,300.00—Due Monday, November 30, 2009
Payment No. 2: $700.00—Due Monday, January 4, 2010
Payment No. 3: $515.00—Due Monday, February 1, 2010

Payments, made out to Nova Southeastern University, are due by posted deadlines to the college’s Office of the Dean. Credit cards are accepted.

Course/trip space is limited. Students interested in enrolling in HIST 4700 and participating in this travel study program should contact Gary Gershman, J.D., Ph.D., at (954) 262-8211 for complete details.

Assistant Professor Helps Kick Off National Novel Writing Month

Thu, 05 Nov 2009

Andrea Shaw, Ph.D., assistant professor and assistant director in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Humanities, celebrated the start of National Novel Writing Month on November 1, 2009, with a keynote speech at the Alvin Sherman Library. November is known to aspiring and experienced writers alike as National Novel Writing Month (“NaNoWriMo”). During NaNoWriMo, writers are encouraged to pen a 50,000-word novel within the confines of the 30-day month, a challenging yet rewarding task for those interested in pouring their thoughts into a manuscript. Speaking to about 30 prospective authors on the first day of NaNoWriMo, Shaw discussed the challenges of being a writer and the need to treat the activity as a sort of “sacred endeavor.”“So many of us who write are very disoriented and distraught when we don’t,” Shaw added. “We must treat our writing as a sacred ritual, one that helps sustain us and breathe life into us.” Shaw also spoke about the basics of fiction writing and about plot, character development, and point of view. She concluded with a visualization exercise in which participants encounter and chat with a character from their novel—upcoming or current. In addition to her Caribbean Literature class, Shaw also teaches a Fiction Writing Workshop course as part of the college’s M.A. in Writing program, offered within the Division of Humanities. She is the author of the 2006 book The Embodiment of Disobedience: Fat Black Women’s Unruly Political Bodies and the essay “Big Fat Fish: The Hypersexualization of the Fat Female Body in Calypso and Dancehall,” which published in 2007’s Music, Memory, and Resistance: Calypso and the Caribbean Literary Imagination. For more on National Novel Writing Month, visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/.

Auditions for Stop Kiss Play

Thu, 05 Nov 2009

The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Performing and Visual Arts will hold auditions on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, for its production of Stop Kiss. Auditions will be held from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre, located in the college’s Performing and Visual Arts Wing of the Don Taft University Center. The division will present the play April 9–11, 2010, at Nova Southeastern University. About Stop Kiss After Callie meets Sara, the two unexpectedly fall in love. Their first kiss provokes a violent attack that transforms their lives in a way they could never anticipate. Variety calls Stop Kiss “a poignant and funny play about the ways, both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably.” Roles available include: Sara, a school teacher from St. Louis, who just moved to New York City; Callie, a traffic reporter from New York City; George, Callie’s on again-off again boyfriend; Paul, Sara’s fiancé from St. Louis; Detective Cole, a New York City police officer; Mrs. Winsley, an older New York City apartment dweller; and a role for the Nurse. Auditions are open to all NSU students, faculty, and staff. Those interested in auditioning should prepare a one-minute contemporary monologue. Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, December 2, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m., also in the Black Box Theatre. Callbacks are by invitation only; prospective performers will receive notification of invite immediately following their first audition. A copy of the Stop Kiss script is available for check out from the Division of Performing and Visual Arts office, located in the Don Taft University Center, third floor. For more information, please contact Margaret Ledford, technical theatre manager, at (954) 262-7626.

Students to Present Mathematical Projects During Final Colloquium of Semester

Thu, 19 Nov 2009

Three students from the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Math, Science, and Technology will conclude the division’s Mathematics Colloquium Series for the fall semester with presentations on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Mailman-Hollywood Building, room 310. The student research stems from independent-study projects. —Donald Henry, a junior marine biology major, will present his research titled “Mathematical Epidemiology: Models and Strategies for Infectious Diseases.” The project assesses how a group of individuals with a communicable infection spreads the disease to a population able to catch it. Henry explores models of infectious diseases, vaccination and quarantine strategies, and the interaction of populations engaged in different strategies. —Megan Oswald, a senior biology major, will talk about “Mathematical Neurophysiology: The Emergence of Orientation Tuning in Primary Visual Cortex.” The central nervous system, which primarily communicates and processes information, consists of trillions of neurons whose communication results in complex emergent network dynamics. One network appears in primary visual cortex where neurons do not simply passively signal the brightness or darkness of the retina, but rather meaningful combinations of features of the visual stimulus. —Bryan Candela, a senior majoring in computer science, will present “From time travel to black holes: A mathematical approach to science fiction.” The presentation outlines the basic mathematical concepts of general relativity. Candela will analyze the question of time travel in terms of the existence of "time-like" curves in various universe models. No prior knowledge of time travel is necessary—just an imagination. Henry and Oswald’s projects were produced under the faculty guidance of Evan Haskell, Ph.D., associate professor in the division. Candela worked with Vehbi Paksoy, Ph.D., assistant professor in the division. All NSU students, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend this event. For more information on this lecture or the college’s Mathematics Colloquium Series, please contact Vehbi Paksoy, Ph.D., or Iuliana Stanculescu, Ph.D., assistant professors in the college’s Division of Math, Science, and Technology

Faculty Art on Display at Divide and Conquer Gallery Exhibition

Sun, 04 Oct 2009

The spotlight will shine on three Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences faculty members and their artwork during Divide and Conquer: Second Annual Visual Arts Faculty Gallery Exhibition, on display at Nova Southeastern University October 19–December 4, 2009. The gallery will feature works created by faculty in the college’s Division of Performing and Visual Arts and is part of the division’s exhibition series. Featured faculty/work includes:

• Tennille Shuster, M.F.A., assistant professor | “Walking in Circles”
Shuster’s recent artist’s books and altered book installations comment on the growing destruction of the natural environment. By re-envisioning the relationship with detritus, Shuster proposes a new way to coexist with the environment by repurposing discarded books donated from local libraries, and by using alternate bookbinding and printmaking methods to document personal efforts to improve her carbon footprint.

• Barbara Ryan, M.F.A., assistant professor | “Toys and Weapons”
“Toys and Weapons” is a series of detailed oil paintings of toys that reflects and projects greater violent tendencies of our society into objects manufactured, sold, and given to children. From a toy army tank to a snub-nose cap gun, these plastic objects are presented as isolated still-life objects, allowing the observer to see them separate from the play the public might associate them with and ponder about the violence that might later precipitate. The gallery also will include typographic fashion illustrations created by Sherdean Rhule-Rheaume, adjunct professor in the division. There will be a reception on opening night (October 19), from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., in Gallery 217, located in the Performing and Visual Arts Wing of the Don Taft University Center. Attendees will have the opportunity to examine the artwork, and learn more about the artists’ diverse creation methods and the messages conveyed through the works. The exhibition will continue during select hours through December 4. For more information on Divide and Conquer, please contact Lindsay Bartels, in the college’s Division of Performing and Visual Arts, at (954) 262-7620. For a complete schedule of upcoming events presented by the division, visit www.fcas.nova.edu/performingarts/schedule.cfm.

Students Present Research at Neuroscience Conference in Chicago

Thu, 05 Nov 2009

Kristen deAlmeida and Randy Denis, students from the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, each presented their Divisional Honors theses at the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Conference in Chicago, October 17–21, 2009. Joining them was their faculty mentor, Jaime Tartar, Ph.D., assistant professor in the college’s Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences. deAlmeida, a senior biology major and psychology minor, presented her thesis, titled “The Effects of Emotional Influences on Cognitive Processing: An Event Related Potentials (P300) Study.” Her research has found that emotional stimuli can alter attentional resource allocation. Denis, a senior psychology major and counseling minor, presented his Honors thesis on “The Effect of Academic Stress on Memory Performance in Undergraduate Students.” Denis’ data show interesting gender differences in stress and memory responses to academic examination stress. Along with Tartar, Denis has collaborated with Jason Gershman, Ph.D., assistant professor in the college’s Division of Math, Science, and Technology, on the statistical analyses of his findings. deAlmeida and Denis showcased their research alongside Ph.D.-level scholars at the 39th annual conference, which is considered the “world's largest forum for neuroscientists to debut research and network with colleagues from around the world,” according to SFN. Both students received funding and support from the Office of the Dean for their scholarship and subsequent travel to Chicago. Completing a Divisional Honors thesis is the culmination of students’ active participation in the Divisional Honors Program, part of the college’s Undergraduate Honors Program. The program provides a value-added experience for highly motivated and high-achieving undergraduate students through curricular and co-curricular programs and activities. Students work with their faculty adviser(s) throughout the process of researching and composing their theses, thus encouraging greater academic interaction between faculty and students through exploration of disciplinary inquiry and establishment of community—an underlying goal of the Undergraduate Honors Program. For more on the program, visit www.fcas.nova.edu/currentstudents/honors.