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 fall 2005, all offered at noon in Conference Room 101, located in the Commons on campus at 1500 N. University Dr., Waukesha. Admission is free, and the public is welcome.
On Thursday, September 29, associate professor of music Craig Hurst will present “They Rock, They Roll, They Swing: Early Rhythm and Blues and the Music that Became Rock and Roll.” In the post-Big Band era of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, teenagers gravitated to dance music that was a swinging, rocking boogie woogie called rhythm and blues. Created by African Americans such as Louis Jordan, Bull Moose Jackson, Big Joe Turner, Wynonie “Mr. Blues” Harris, H-Bomb Ferguson, The Treniers, Screaming Jay Hawkins, and others, this music drew white teenagers to their audiences and eventually was dubbed Rock and Roll. Hurst will use recordings from some of the lesser-known artists as examples in his discussion.
Assistant professor of English John Allen will speak on “The Death Penalty in Literature, Art, and Rhetoric” on Wednesday, October 12. After laying out the various arguments for and against capital punishment, Allen will discuss how they have been addressed in literature, art, and other forms of popular culture, looking to the works of Andy Warhol, George Orwell, Franz Kafka, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and others. He notes that Wisconsin is one of only 13 states that do not have a death penalty, but even that is subject to change. Allen frequently investigates the relationship between literature and social justice, addressing topics such as homelessness, prison, and gangs. He has taught Dead Man Walking by Sr. Helen Prejean several times and currently is editing a collection of essays, Reading and Teaching Dead Man Walking: Responses to the Book, the Film, the Play and the Opera.
Moving into the classroom, Bill Schneider, lecturer in philosophy, will discuss “Corrupting the Youth: The Use of Socratic Method in Education” on Wednesday, October 19. After describing this method, he will argue that it is the teaching model best suited to achieve the educational goal of knowledge, not simply short-term remembering, which too often is the sole product of the most popular teaching model, the lecture. He also plans to address some misconceptions about the limitations of the Socratic method.
Having returned to his native Egypt recently after an 18-year absence, Salah Bassiouni, associate professor of anthropology and sociology, will share his experiences in “A Journey to Egypt” on Wednesday, October 26. Going back, he found a different country, a globalized generation raised on the Internet. He will show pictures from his trip and relate the stories behind them and also discuss the impact of the enormous demographic, economic, and political problems facing Egyptian society today, including their meaning in the preservation of the ancient civilization’s many treasures.
Bob Birmingham, a lecturer in anthropology and the former chief archeologist for the state Historical Society, will present “Ancient Aztalan: Wisconsin Outpost of the Mississippian Indian Civilization,” based on the same research he used in his award-winning 2000 book, Indian Mounds of Wisconsin, which he co-wrote with Leslie Eisenberg. He will speak on Tuesday, November 1. One of Wisconsin’s most important archaeological sites, the Aztalan in Jefferson County showcases an ancient Middle-Mississippian village and ceremonial complex that thrived between A.D. 1000 and 1300. Reconstruction of the history continues, but it is known that the people of Aztalan built large, flat-topped pyramidal mounds and a stockade around their village. They hunted, fished, and farmed on the floodplain of the Crawfish River.
Mark Lococo, associate professor of communication & theatre arts, will follow the theme set by the campus read when he speaks Thursday, November 17, on “The Films about Vietnam: Portraying the Dissolution of Invincibility.” He will draw on his Ph.D. dissertation in describing how America’s self-image was unalterably changed by the experience of Vietnam.
UW-Waukesha has the largest enrollment among the 13 freshman-sophomore University of Wisconsin Colleges campuses. For information about programs, admission, or financial aid, contact the Student Services office at (262) 521-5200 or visit the Web at waukesha.uwc.edu.
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