WAUKESHA – Each semester several members of the faculty and staff at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha present 50 Minute Lectures on their research or topic of interest. Five such presentations have been scheduled for spring 2004, to be held at noon and, except as noted, in the Commons Room 101 on campus at 1500 N. University Dr., Waukesha. Admission is free, and the public is welcome.
Thursday, February 12, Ellyn Lem, assistant professor of English, will speak in Room 123 in Southview Hall (Fine Arts Center entrance) on the “Battle Over Bagels?: Reading Jewish Cultural Conflicts Around Eating.” The dishes we serve, the way we prepare them, and the taste preferences we develop combine to create cultural caricatures. Lem has gone to the kitchen to find ethnic identity in “culinary texts,” such as cookbooks, product pamphlets, and cooking school notes and compares these images to the struggles depicted in literary works. Lem earned a Ph.D. from New York University and wrote her dissertation on “The Woman Question” in turn-of-the-century American literature.
Tuesday, March 9, Clyde Salyards, a mathematics lecturer and certified flight instructor, will encourage latent pilots to “Fly Away – Safely.” In describing the planning for a flight in a Cessna plane from Waukesha to Davenport, Iowa, he will tickle the common human dream of flying while injecting the cautionary steps a pilot must take to make it a reality. Then he will fly part of such a trip on a simulator and entertain questions.
Thursday, March 18, Dean Kowalski, assistant professor of philosophy, assesses what happens when instructors use current cultural media, such as film and TV shows, to teach students in “The Pearls and Pitfalls of Popular Culture in the Classroom.” He will relay his experiences employing such student-friendly resources and invite feedback from others on the advantages and disadvantages they have encountered with these pedagogical tools.
Wednesday, March 31, Craig Hurst, associate professor of music, will give “A Brief History of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” reviewing the happenings of the 30’s and 40’s and how they laid the groundwork for today’s rock ‘n’ roll music. Hurst periodically teaches a course in rock ‘n’ roll and this semester has a 3-credit evening class, including an in-depth study of its origins and influences.
Thursday, April 15, Paul Zillgitt, a lecturer in biological sciences, gets personal with “It’s in Your Genes.” Those tiny bits of matter make big differences in our health as well as controlling how we look and, at least partly, what we can do. Zillgitt brings his extensive medical background into the classroom daily, teaching human anatomy and physiology as well as human genetics.
The 50 Minutes Lecture Series is sponsored by the University Convocations Committee as part of its regular schedule of events.
For information about UW-Waukesha, contact the Student Services office at (262) 521-5200, or visit the Web at waukesha.uwc.edu. |
