2006 SEMINARS

1.  From Page to Stage: Dramatic Structure as a Creative Strategy
Associate Professor Stacey Connelly, Department of Speech & Drama
DAY ONE: Friday, September 15 (1-5pm)
DAY TWO: Friday, September 22 (1-5pm)
DAY THREE: Friday, September 29 (1-5pm)
DESCRIPTION: This three-day workshop would offer teachers a model for play analysis based on a modern interpretation of Aristotelian theory. Participants will apply the model to four fascinating modern plays. Through exercises involving the reading aloud of scenes, discussion, visual and written analysis, and watching video excerpts of particular plot elements, participants will learn to identify elements of plot, principal themes, and how to determine plots of thought, character, or causally-related incidents. These techniques will improve participants’ skills in directing, including text analysis, actor coaching, groundplans, and staging/composition.
Required reading includes two plays, EQUUS by Peter Shaffer, and TOP GIRLS, by Caryl Churchill. Participants are asked to dress comfortably and bring their readings and some writing material to class.
Registration deadline: Friday, September 8

2. Appetite for Destruction: How to Destroy Your Favorite Piece of Music
Assistant Professor Andrew Kania, Department of Philosophy
DAY: Friday, September 15 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: We all enjoy music of one sort or another, but what exactly is a ‘piece’ of music? One way to get a sense of the peculiar nature of this question is to ask yourself how you would go about destroying such a thing. Some works of art seem to be physical things; to destroy the Mona Lisa it is enough to destroy a particular paint-covered canvas. But how would you destroy Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, or the Beatles’ Abbey Road? Thinking about these issues raises questions about the similarities and differences between musical works, performances, and recordings, and the various relations that hold between them. In this one-day seminar, we will investigate these ‘ontological’ issues with respect to a range of musics—Western classical, rock, and jazz, and some non-Western music. The focus will be on the music interests of the participants, who are encouraged to bring recordings, instruments, and other ‘musical objects’ relevant to them.
A course packet of required and recommended  readings will be made available. Participants are asked to bring a CD or two of some music they’re passionate about, and/or a musical instrument.
Registration deadline: Friday, September 8

3. An Exploration of the Senses and Brain
Professor Glenn E. Meyer, Department of Psychology
DATE: Monday, September 18 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: This seminar will focus on the interaction of our senses, consciousness and our neural processes. In the past few years, tremendous progress has been made in understanding how we sense the world. It has always been a mystery to young minds as to how we perceive the world. Why do things look the way they do? Do people see the same things that I see? If I say something is red, maybe whey would say it is red but it looks green to them? Do dogs see color? How do 3-D pictures work and why can’t 20% of the population see them? Can apes understand speech? Do babies start to babble? All of these types of questions can lead to philosophical, psychological, and neuroscientific explorations of our perceived existence.
Registration deadline: Monday, September 11

4. Pirates, Merchants and Marines: Seafaring in the Ancient Mediterranean
Assistant Professor Nicolle Hirschfeld, Department of Classical Studies
DATE: Thursday, September 21 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Plato famously described the ancient Greek city-states as “frogs around the pond” of the Mediterranean sea. This “pond” was the lifeline of commerce and communication and often the decisive field of battle for the cultures that prospered along its shores — not only the Greeks, but also the Egyptians, Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Etruscans and Romans. The emergent discipline of maritime archaeology is providing an exciting new perspective from which to study the ancient Mediterranean world. This seminar surveys a selection of the newest discoveries, as case examples of the diversity of information and methodologies informing our understanding of the interactions and development of the many peoples of the ancient Mediterranean.
Although not required, the following are recommended readings:
The Ancient Mariners by Lionel Casson
http://ina.tamu.edu Virtual Museum of Nautical Archaeology
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/  Aegean and Black Sea 2006
Registration deadline: Thursday, September 14

5. The Literature of the Holocaust
Professor & Department Chair Victoria Aarons, Department of English
DATE: Thursday, September 28 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: This seminar will be structured around three varying historical and generational perspectives of the Shoah, the biblical term for ruin, calamity, and desolation, reintroduced into modern Hebrew to suggest the cataclysmic destruction of European Jewry, generally referred to as the Holocaust, that period of time from 1933-1945, in which the Nazi genocide destroyed a third of the world’s Jewish population. We will discuss the literature of the Holocaust from diverse perspectives: those writers who themselves experienced the Holocaust, who lived through the immediacy of events and their aftermath and whose first-hand accounts shape their narratives; and the “second generation”  Holocaust writers, children of survivors whose own lives were shaped by the experience of those who witnessed the Shoah and for whom the Holocaust is the single most defining condition of their lives.
Required readings are A Scrap of Time and Other Stories by Ida Fink, Elijah Visible: Stories by Thane Rosenbaum, and Night by Elie Wiesel. All books may be purchased off of Amazon.com. Participants are asked to dress comfortably and casually and to bring all readings to class.
Registration deadline: Thursday, September 21

6. The United States and China: Cooperation or Conflict?
Professor Donald N. Clark, Department of History
DATE: Thursday, September 28 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Why has China always fascinated-and repelled– Americans? How has our ambivalence shaped our relations with the “Middle Kingdom?” Why did we feel so betrayed when we “lost” China to the communists in the 1940s? Why is the U.S. so attached to Taiwan?
During the Cold War, America was completely estranged from China. Although President Richard Nixon opened a dialogue with China in 1972, some of the damage remains. Meanwhile, China has evolved toward a blend of Communist rule and capitalist economics. Many Chinese also demand political reform.
This seminar will examine our relationship with China, the way we think about each other, the forces that shape our mutual dealings, and the prospects for future cooperation (if we’re smart), or conflict.
Required reading include articles found at the following links:
The United States and China, Competitors, Partners, or Both? by David Lampton; http://www.nixoncenter.org/publications/ElliotSchoolspeech.pdf
China Replacing the United States as World’s Leading Consumer by Lester Brown; http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update45.htm
Registration deadline: Thursday, September 21

7. Searching for Socrates
Associate Professor John Heil, Department of Philosophy
DAY ONE: Thursday, September 28 (8:30-3:30pm)
DAY TWO: Friday, September 29 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Socrates (479-399 BC) revolutionized the field of education. The Socratic method of asking questions and helping students examine the truth of their own answers– and his basic insight that some things are best taught by getting students to think rather than by telling them what to think– continues to inspire many teachers today. But his native city, Athens, had mixed reactions to him. Many believed that his approach to education was subversive and dangerous. In 399 he was brought to trial, convicted, and executed for impiety and corruption of the youth. In the wake of this shocking episode, his closest followers wrote passionate defenses of Socrates, in an effort to set the record straight and give a true characterization of his wisdom and virtue. But these testimonies do not all paint the same picture, and without any writings of his own to test them against, Socrates remains as difficult to understand today as he was back then. This seminar will look at the three most prominent sources for our knowledge of Socrates-Aristophanes, Plato, and Xenophon– to see whether we can get at the man behind the different characters presented by these authors.
Required reading for the class is Plato, The Last Days of Socrates, translated by H. Tredennick and H. Tarrant, and Lysistrata and Other Plays by Aristophanes as well as a course packet of readings provided by the professor on the first day of class.
Registration deadline: Thursday, September 21

8. Food and Eating in the United States: From Obesity to Eating Disorders
Associate Professor Carolyn Becker, Department of Psychology
DATE: Friday, September 29 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: This seminar explores the phenomenon of disordered eating in the United States, and offers a dual focus on both obesity and eating disorders. The seminar will outline the major eating disorders and discuss the growing problem of obesity. In particular, participants will learn what we know about causal factors in the development of eating disorders, the latest developments in the prevention of eating disorders, and scientifically supported treatment options. In addition, the seminar will explore the historic rise in obesity, the risk obesity poses to our health care system, and systemic factors ranging from farm subsidies to changes in schools that have been implicated in the “obesity epidemic.” Participants also will discuss problems we face as a culture in terms of balancing personal responsibility with awareness of and respect for environmental factors that influence eating behavior.
Required reading for this seminar is Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and Power Steer by Michael Pollan. Participants are asked to dress comfortably and to bring paper and pens.
Registration deadline: Friday, September 22

9. Who Is In Control? How Our Brains and Not Our ‘Selves,’ Control Our Behavior
Assistant Professor Luis Schettino, Department of Psychology
DATE: Monday, October 2 (10:30-5pm)
DESCRIPTION: The workshop will focus on the systems and processes our brains use for interfacing perception to action. We will explore the difference between how we perceive the world and how we interact with the objects within it through discussions and behavioral experiments employing optical illusions and motion-capture analysis. We will also discuss experimental studies and neurological cases that  tell us about the bases for our perception of other people’s behavior, how we use information and experience to create a sense of Self and make decisions and whether there is such a thing as Free Will.
A course packet containing both required and recommended readings will be made available for participants. Participants are asked that they bring the reading to class.
Registration deadline: Monday, September 25

10. The Science of Self-Esteem
Assistant Professor Harry Wallace, Department of Psychology
DATE: Thursday, October 5 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: The topic of self-esteem has been a key pillar of the booming self-help industry that now dominates bookstores and talk shows. Unfortunately, the popular sources of information on self-esteem often ignore or make selective use of the large body of relevant empirical evidence. This workshop will explore the past 20 years of self-esteem research by personality and social psychologists. We  will discuss the nature of self-esteem, how it develops, how it can be assessed, and what it predicts. The information presented will confirm important benefits of high self-esteem while highlighting why programs intended to raise self-esteem may be misguided and ultimately dangerous.
Registration deadline: Thursday, September 28

11. Growing Up Female in a Traditional Muslim Society: Learning the Rules

Cox Distinguished Professor Mary Ann Tetreault, Department of Political Science

DATE: Friday, October 6 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: As every parent– and teacher– knows, education is far more than reading books and attending classes. Many of our most important lessons deal with how to live in our own societies, and they come to us via many different media. In this seminar, we will look at how a young Muslim woman in Mo-rocco was taught the values of her culture and society and the rules she would be expected to live by to be a good Muslim, a good person, and a good Moroccan throughout her life. We’ll also, through a class exercise, generate a set of rules that students themselves will design to accomplish a particular social goal. We’ll compare our invented rules and the rules embedded in our subject’s upbringing and imagine how the rules we were brought up to follow do and do not accomplish similar goals in our own society and culture.
Required reading is Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi. Recommended reading is Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East, 2nd ed. by Donna Lee Bowen and Evelyn Early.
Registration deadline: Friday, September 29

12. Fairy Tales of the World
Associate Professor Heather Sullivan, Department of Modern Languages & Literatures
DATE: Thursday, October 12 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: While the fanciful stories and simple structure of fairy tales appear little more than idealized children’s stories, they actually tell us a great deal about cultural identities, class differences, and gender roles through time. These stories have also been used to assert specific national and cultural identity despite their widely divergent origins and complex histories. Fair tales exist throughout the world in every language, and there are many shared tale types. It is this international, cross-cultural aspect of fairy tales that makes them so relevant in today’s global world. No other stories, other than religious texts, have such wide-spread influence and such complex origins.
This seminar discusses specific versions of individual tale types like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Cinderella,” addresses their variation across the world, and notes how their cultural role ranges from merely reflecting to questioning social norms and values. Considering the fact that fairy tales are standard texts for children and that they have long had a major role in their acculturation around the world (whether as oral tale, book, or film), it is worthwhile to take a closer look at what these stories really say, how they originated, and what versions we emphasize today.
Required reading is The Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar and recommended readings include The Brothers Grimm and Their Critics: Folktales and the Quest for Meaning by Christa Kamenetsky, and When Dreams Come True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition by Jack Zipes. Participants are asked to bring the book Maria Tatar’s The Classic Fairy Tales to class.

Registration deadline: Thursday, October 5

13. Pyramids, Women of Power and Heretics: The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt
Professor & Department Chair Mark B. Garrison, Department of Art and Art History
DAY ONE: Friday, October 13 (9-3:30pm)
DAY TWO: Friday, October 20 (9-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: The goal of this workshop will be to familiarize participants with the material record in ancient Egyptian art and archaeology (both old and new evidence) and with recent research trends for these topics. Among other topics, the workshop will explore the functions and origins of pyramids, how a woman of power managed to rule Egypt for some twenty-odd years, and  the mystic-revolutionary-heretic king, Akhenaten. These particular topics have been selected because they are exceptionally well-known (indeed, in many cases, one could say even famous within our own pop culture) and because recent scholarly inquiry has resulted in a tremendous number of new explanatory models. For example, recent discoveries in tombs at the site of Abydos, in Upper Egypt, have pushed back in time, dramatically, the date for the earliest writing in Egypt. This new evidence has led to substantial re-evaluation not only of the role that writing played in the process of state formation in early Egypt, but also of the very nature of state formation itself.
The workshop will focus on the nature of the archaeological data (how much, from where, how intelligible, etc.?) and how archaeologists, art historians, historians, etc. attempt to make sense of that data. The workshop will consist equally of presentation of the relevant archaeological record and group discussion of the interpretations of that data.
Articles will be made available for participants through a course packet.
Registration deadline: Friday, October 6

14. Postmodern Style in Television and Film
Associate Professor Harry Haines, Communication Department
DAY ONE: Friday, October 13 (8:30-3:30pm)
DAY TWO: Friday, October 20 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Parody, pastiche, hybrid genres, the collapse of coherent narratives? Well, maybe! This two-day workshop identifies and critically analyzes postmodern style in American television and film. The workshop provides a concrete framework for describing and explaining (and enjoying!) postmodern media style. Participants will view several examples, ranging from The Simpson's to David Lynch’s seldom seen On the Air, complete with Japanese subtitles. Participants will view extended clips of television and film examples and also receive course handouts and other materials developed by the instructor for his media criticism courses at Trinity. The workshop includes lectures, discussions and small group critical analysis.
The only homework required is that the participants watch TV (guilt free!) and bring some observations and questions to the workshop.
Registration deadline: Friday, October 6

15. Women, Girls and Media
Assistant Professor Beate Gersch, Communication Department
DATE: Tuesday, October 17 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: This seminar will explore the debates surrounding women, girls and media. While many discussions on this topic focus exclusively on representations of women and girls in the media, this workshop also looks at women and girls as users and producers of media. The seminar will provide an overview of scholarly research on women and media, from pornography debates to grrrl sites on the Internet, from I Love Lucy to Sex and the City, from Glamour to Bitch. Participants will discuss media portrayals of women and girls and explore how this group actively engages with media in negotiating identity, producing a space for political activism, or indulging in “guilty pleasure.” 
Registration deadline: Tuesday, October 10

16. Animal Behavior and Its Application to Human Behavior
Assistant Professor Denise Pope, Department of Biology
DATE: Thursday, October 19 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Since the 1970s, the field of behavioral ecology has vastly increased our understanding of the function and evolution of animal behavior. In this workshop, we will review the major breakthroughs in behavioral ecology, including sexual dimorphism and sex roles, altruistic behavior, and the use of game theory and other economic models to understand animal behavior, drawing examples from a wide range of animal species. We will also consider the various, and sometimes controversial, attempts to extend these discoveries into the realm of human behavior, from sociobiology to evolutionary psychology. Weather permitting, we will conduct an experiment on ants that is easily transferable to K-12 biology classes.
Required reading will be emailed to participants prior to meeting. Participants are asked to bring readings to class. Also, it is advised that those attending this seminar bring a hat (if it is sunny), wear long pants, and closed-toed shoes and socks. The class will spend about 1 hour outside working with ants. Although the participants won’t touch them, it is advised that participants minimize surface area available to them.  
Registration deadline: Thursday, October 12

17. Calligraphy, Manuscripts, and the Beginning of Books in Early China
Associate Professor Wen Xing, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
DAY ONE: Thursday, October 19 (8:30-3:30pm)
DAY TWO: Friday, October 20 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Fully developed at least in the 14th century B.C., over a millennium earlier than when paper was invented, Chinese calligraphy played a critical role in Chinese civilization. With more and more recent archaeological discoveries of ancient Chinese manuscripts, calligraphy works and early books produced on media other than paper became exciting and critical sources for examining ancient Chinese art, culture, and their roles in the Chinese tradition. By painting traditional Chinese calligraphy and exploring its connections with early Chinese manuscripts and books produced on bone, bronze, bamboo, jade, silk, wood, and eventually paper, the participant will not only enjoy the esthetics of Chinese calligraphy but also be updated with the latest development of one of the hottest research field in Chinese studies—excavated Chinese manuscripts.
Recommended readings are: A History of Chinese Calligraphy by Tseng Yuho, and Written on Bamboo and Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books & Inscriptions 2nd ed. By Tseun-Hsuin Tsien.
Registration deadline: Thursday, October 12

18.Order in Chaos
Professor Saber Elaydi, Department of Mathematics
DAY ONE: Friday, October 20 (8:30-3:30pm)
DAY TWO: Friday, November 3 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Newtonian physics, theories of relativity, and quantum mechanics break down nature into its minutest parts in order to understand it. But now, through Chaos Theory, we have more holistic ways of making sense of turbulent and unpredictable natural phenomena. This workshop will provide an introduction to the mathematics involved in these new perspectives. Topics will include:
·          What is chaos and the butterfly effect?
·          Chaos in nature and the physical world
·          Graphical and analytic methods
·          Mathematics and chaos theory
·          Fractals in nature and the human-made
The workshop will include hands-on experience with Maple, a computer algebra system. No programming experience is required.
Recommended reading is Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick.
Registration deadline: Friday, October 13

19. Creative Leadership Workshop
Vice President of Student Affairs Gage Paine
DAY ONE: Monday, October 23 (8:30-3:30pm)
DAY TWO: Monday, October 30 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Have you ever thought of leadership as a performing art? Have you ever seen leadership as an expression of your creativity? Have you thought of leadership as service to others? What is the role of the follower in leadership? This workshop will explore these questions through a variety of different ways of thinking and learning about leadership. It will provide participants with opportunities for self-exploration, creative expression and learning through multiple modalities and from each other. The workshop sessions are highly interactive and participants should wear comfortable clothes for both days of the workshop.
Recommended readings include: Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World by Margaret Wheatley, and The Power of Servant Leadership by Robert K. Greenleaf. Participants are asked to dress comfortably for moving around, and to bring paper and pen.
Registration deadline: Monday, October 16

20. The Biology of Aging

Assistant Professor Jonathan King, Biology Department

DATE: Monday, October 23 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Why do we age? We will explore facets of the biological basis of aging. Many current hypotheses concerning mechanisms of aging abound with enthusiastic research coming from cellular, invertebrate and vertebrate models. The workshop will highlight new findings and place them in context with broader topics concerning aging. Important areas of research including free radical damage (why are antioxidants good?), molecular repair mechanisms (can you repair damage from aging?), bioenergetics (aging and “slowing down”), and hormonal regulation will be considered. As with a variety of biological processes it will be important to discuss the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to or prevent aging. The incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer dramatically rise with aging, and there will be a discussion of these diseases and their links to the aging process. In light of all the new research and anti-aging hype that we are exposed to, we will examine the scientific basis for these claims and attempt to synthesize a workable model of aging.
Required reading is The Science of Staying Young, a special issue of Scientific American.
Registration deadline: Monday, October 16

21. The New Science of Complexity: Simulating the World We Live In
Assistant Professor Eugenio Suarez, Department of Business Administration
DAY ONE: Thursday, October 26 (9:30-3:30pm)
DAY TWO: Thursday, November 2 (9:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: Complexity Science reflects a view of the world in which agents are interrelated. These agents can be people, political parties, companies, governments or even norms and institutions. Unlike a system of independent agents, the interrelations create wholes that are more than the sum of their parts, just as a brain is more than a collection of neurons, an anthill is an organism, and a marriage is to some extent an entity independent from the two people that form it. Until recently, science has for the most part assumed independence of agents, thereby creating models that focus on the average individual of the population: ask the average American what she thinks of the war in Iraq, multiply by 300 million and you should understand how public opinion will form. In a complex world, however, people may be influenced by others and therefore cannot be modeled in the traditional analytical fashion, but instead can only be described by simulations in the computer. In this seminar we explore the use of simulation in the sciences of the 21st century, and we discuss how this new view of the world can change the way in which economic policies are established.
After introductory lectures, participants in the workshop will discuss the vast implications of this new way of thinking, and will apply their knowledge in a computer simulation they will develop and play with. Only basic computer skills are required. All topics will be discussed at an intuitive level and from scratch, so therefore everyone is welcome.
Recommended reading includes Complexity by Mitchell Waldrop and On a Hierarchically Decomposed Agent by E. Dante Suarez.
Registration deadline: Thursday, October 19

22. Copernicus, Galileo, and the Scientific Revolution in Early Modern Europe
Professor and Department Chair John Martin, Department of History
DATE: Thursday, November 2 (8:30-3:30pm)
DESCRIPTION: This workshop explores new ways that historians of science have examined the role of politics, patronage, religion, instrumentation, and culture in one of the greatest paradigm shifts of all times: the movement from the Ptolemaic, geocentric universe to the Copernican, heliocentric universe. While we will examine Copernicus, Brahe’s observatory, and Kepler’s observations and laws, we will focus in particular on the life, ideas, and trial of Galileo Galilei. Teachers will examine the ideas of Thomas Kuhn, Mario Biagioli, and Gerald Holton as well as a select number of primary sources (including the telescope) that should prove of value in teaching this subject.
Required reading is Sidereus Nuncius, or the Sidereal Messenger by Galileo Galilei and Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel. Although not required, recommended readings include:
Galileo Courtier by Mario Biagioli; Tycho and Kepler by Kitty Ferguson; The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History by Maurice A. Finocchiaro; The Copernican Revolution by Thomas Kuhn; and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn.
Registration deadline: Thursday, October 26