PROGRAMS | GAEDE INSTITUTE Archive: Fall 2016
The Emmett Till Memory Project
Dave Tell
Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of Kansas
Erasmus Lecture (Communication Studies)
Thursday, September 8, 2016, 7pm
Adams 216
For fifty years following the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, there was not a single commemorative marker anywhere in the state of Mississippi. Since 2005, however, the state has invested nearly $5 million in Till commemoration. In this talk, Dr. Dave Tell reveals the untold stories, backroom deals, ethical quandaries, and outright scandals that have attended this sudden explosion in commemorative activity.
Dave Tell is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. His 2012 book, Confessional Crises: Confession and Cultural Politics in Twentieth-Century America, explains how the genre of confession has shaped (and been shaped by) some of the twentieth century's most intractable issues: sexuality, class, race, violence, religion, and democracy. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Penn State. www.coms.ku.edu
Threats and Affirmations: The Interplay of Self and Social Identity
David Sherman
Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, UC Santa Barbara
Natural and Behavioral Sciences Lecture
Friday, September 9, 2016, 3:30pm
Winter 210
David Sherman holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Health Psychology at UCLA. Since 2005, he has been a faculty member in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at UCSB. His research, which is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, centers on how people respond to information and events that threaten the self. www.psych.ucsb.edu
Immigration: The Best Thing for Britain Since Sliced Bread?
Alister Chapman
Professor of History, Westmont College
Responses by Heather Keaney and Charles Farhadian
Paul C. Wilt Phi Kappa Phi Lecture
Monday, September 12, 2016, 7:00pm
Hieronymus Lounge
As nationalistic energies grow in the United States and Europe, questions about immigration, Islamic terrorism, and national decline have gained new prominence. But the fear of cultural dissolution might be overblown. In a talk examining postwar immigration to the city of Derby, England, Alister Chapman makes the case that, despite a large influx of immigrants from South Asia and the Caribbean, strong cultural continuities have persisted. In the case of the city's churches, growing diversity might even have strengthened the character and force of Christian expression. Alister Chapman is a professor of history at Westmont College.
The Paul C. Wilt Phi Kappa Phi Lecture Series is a primary venue for on-campus presentation of research by Westmont faculty. The series brings together faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the local community to consider a significant piece of peer-reviewed scholarship, as well as two formal faculty responses.
Paul Cronshaw
President, Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association
Sustainability Speaker Series
Tuesday, September 13, 2016, 3:30pm
Founders Dining Room
Beekeeping is an increasingly popular way for urban and suburban homes to produce delicious food while contributing to local agriculture and ecosystems. Paul “The Beeman” Cronshaw has been keeping honeybees in Santa Barbara County since 1971. He set up his first hive on the roof of his parent’s house, purchased his first hive equipment from the Sears catalog, and ordered a package of bees from Mississippi. Since then he has been following his passion for honeybees by teaching beekeeping classes to adults and youth, maintaining apiaries in the Santa Barbara area, removing and relocating honeybees humanely from structures, and recently starting a Host A Hive program to promote the urban beekeeping movement. www.sbaa.org/about.
The Sustainability Speaker Series brings to campus local leaders whose work exemplifies responsible stewardship of natural resources. New for 2016-2017, the series is jointly sponsored by the Westmont Garden and Sustainability Club and the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts.
Congressman Frank Wolf and Ambassador Tony P. Hall
Political Science Lecture
Thursday, September 15, 2016, 12:00pm
Winter 210
For decades on Capitol Hill, Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Tony Hall (D-OH) worked on different sides of the aisle. But as longtime prayer partners, they've also discovered shared purposes that transcend political affiliation. In a lunchtime conversation, Wolf and Hall discuss their substaintial work together on a wide range of issues, including poverty and hunger, human trafficking, and religious persecution.
This Political Science Department lecture is sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute's Values & Capitalism Project.
From Adams v. Jefferson to Trump v. Clinton: Elections and the Framers' Constitution
Derek Muller
Pepperdine University
Constitution Day Lecture
Monday, September 19, 2016, 3:30pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Derek Muller is an associate professor of law at Pepperdine University. Specializing in electoral law, Dr. Muller's work has treated federalism and the role of the states in the administration of elections. His work has appeared in the Arizona Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, the Arizona State Law Journal, the Florida State University Law Review, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the peer-reviewed Election Law Journal. law.pepperdine.edu
Funding for this lecture is provided by the John Templeton Foundation through a grant from the Institute for Humane Studies.
Panel Discussion: What is Gender?
Amanda Sparkman, Meredith Whitnah, Sameer Yadav
Westmont College
Gender Studies Lecture
Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 7:00pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Join Westmont faculty as they explore the nature of gender from three disciplinary perspectives. Amanda Sparkman (biology), Meredith Whitnah (sociology) and Sameer Yadav (religious studies) anchor an interactive panel discussion co-sponsored by the Gender Studies program and the Westmont Feminist Society.
All Things New: Justice and Our Calling
Kristen Deede Johnson
Western Theological Seminary
Sociology Department and NetVUE Initiative Lecture
Wednesday, September 21, 2016, 3:30pm
Hieronymus Lounge
God promises that in Christ He is making all things new. This means that every injustice in this world will be overcome and every wrong set right through the reconciling love of Jesus Christ. In the meanwhile, we still see brokenness and injustice all around the world, including in our lives and in the church. What does this mean for our callings right here and right now? How do we receive God’s passion for justice and allow it to shape how we live and serve in our jobs, communities, churches, and families? Drawing on her recent book, which was written in partnership with International Justice Mission and offers a comprehensive biblical theology of justice, Kristen Deede Johnson will help us consider ways in which we today can weave God's commitment to justice more deeply into our lives and callings.
Boundary Crossings: Nocturnal
Staged reading of a play by Juan Mayorga, directed by Mitchell Thomas
Boundary Crossings: New International Plays about the Immigrant Experience
Thursday, September 22, 2016, 7:00pm
Porter Theater
Sponsored by the Westmont Theatre Arts Department, Boundary Crossings features staged readings of works by international playwrights about immigration and the immigrant experience. In the opening performance, Westmont professor Mitchell Thomas directs Nocturnal, Juan Mayorga's satire about insomnia and the loneliness of a big city.
Global Peacemaking as Discipleship: Lessons from Welcoming the Stranger
Jon Huckins
Director, The Global Immersion Project
Office of Global Studies Lecture
Tuesday, September 27, 2016, 7:00pm
Hieronymus Lounge
How can ordinary people be peacemakers? Jon Huckins, co-founding director of the Global Immersion Project, explores the ways that all Christians can be agents of reconciliation, both in their neighborhoods and in regions of the world that experience deep conflict and suffering. Huckins writes and speaks about peacemaking in a variety of venues, and has published in Red Letter Christians, Sojourners, and RELEVANT. He holds a Master of Arts degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Reel Talk: "Who is Dayani Cristal?"
with Mary Docter, Jason Cha, Rachel Winslow, Rachel Fabian, and Liz Robertson
Thursday, September 29, 2016, 7:00pm
Adams 216
Since 2001, more than 2,100 people have died attempting to cross the Sonora Desert into Arizona. "Who is Daynia Cristal?" takes viewers inside this brutal, often dehumanizing experience, tracing the journey of one young Guatamalan father who migrates north in search of money to care for a sick child. In a film that combines documentary and dramatic approaches, actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal embeds himself on the Central American migrant trail, learning what it might have been like for this man who died, anonymously, in Arizona's "corridor of death." Politics aside, the filmmakers argue, the volume of mortality in the desert demands a response. Following the film, Mark Sargent hosts a conversation with participants in Westmont's 2016 Border Experience Faculty Mayterm.
How Christian Women Envision Their Future
Angela D'Amour
Director of Campus Life, Westmont College
Gender Studies Lecture
Monday, October 3, 2016, 7:00pm
Hieronymus Lounge
How do women at Christian colleges think about their future selves? What factors—in their campus community, in their faith background, in society at large—influence those projections and plans? Westmont's own Director of Campus Life, Angela D'Amour, explores these questions, drawing from her dissertation research at UCSB's Gevirtz School of Education, where she earned a PhD in 2015. In addition to her doctorate, D'Amour holds a M.Ed. in Higher Education from the University of Vermont and B.S. in psychology from Westmont.
Challenges to Turkish-American Relations in a Turbulent Middle East
ÅŸuhnaz Yilmaz
Assistant Professor of International Relations, Koç University, Istanbul
Visiting Professor, UCLA
Provost's Lecture
Wednesday, October 5, 2016, 3:15pm
Hieronymus Lounge
ÅŸuhnaz Yilmaz is a visiting professor at UCLA with a dual appointment at the Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Luskin Center for Innovation. She is also an associate professor of international relations at Koç University, Istanbul. Her recent research focuses on the international affairs of the Middle East, foreign policy analysis, Turkish foreign policy, international security and European security and foreign policy, Euro-Mediterranean relations, Eurasian politics, energy politics, and Turkish-EU-US Relations.
The Fate of Rainfall in the African Sahel Under Global Warming
Spencer Hill
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA / Caltech
Natural and Behavioral Sciences Lecture
Thursday, October 13, 1:30 pm
Winter Hall 210
The Sahel is the semi-arid, transitional region separating the Sahara Desert from humid equatorial Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Sahel experienced one of the 20th century's most dramatic climatic events, a severe drought that produced widespread famine and displacement. The future of rainfall in the region is uncertain, but the consequences of changes there will be immense, affecting populations and migration patterns throughout the world. In this talk, NSF postdoctoral fellow Spencer Hill describes how climate scientists are trying to reduce this uncertainty--work that will help make adaptation possible for millions of people.
Kya Mangrum
Assistant Professor of English, University of Utah
Erasmus Lecture
Thursday, October 13, 2016, 3:30pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Kya Mangrum is an assistant professor of English at the University of Utah, where she specializes in visual studies, African American literature, and African American visual culture. Prior to coming to Utah, Mangrum was a Mellon Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Michigan.
How to Reduce your Carbon Footprint TODAY
Kathi King
Director of Outreach and Education, Santa Barbara Environmental Council
Sustainability Speaker Series
Friday, October 14, 2016, 3:30pm
Founders Dining Room
Kathi King is the director of outreach and education programs at Santa Barbara's Community Environmental Council. She is involved in a variety of public environmental programming in the tri-county area, including the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival, CEC's Green Gala, and the "Rethink the Drink" bottle reduction program in area schools. Ms. King worked for several years in the LA television industry, where she was an associate producer of the popular sitcom “Full House.”
Empathy and Anger in the Struggle Against Injustice
Nicholas Wolterstorff
Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology, Yale University
Erasmus Lecture (Philosophy)
Monday, October 17, 2016, 3:30pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Most people who struggle against some particular case of injustice are energized to do so by emotional engagement with the victims or the perpetrators: empathy with the victims or anger at the perpetrators - or both. But almost always there are also people who are acquainted with the plight of victims but feel neither empathy with them nor anger at the perpetrators. Why is that? What blocks empathy and anger? What accounts for "hardening of the heart?" Nicholas Wolterstorff is the Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University.
Reel Talk: "Zootopia"
with Cynthia Toms and Sameer Yadav, hosted by Mark Sargent
Thursday, October 27, 2016, 7:00pm
Porter Theatre
Last year's "Zootopia" treats in a lighthearted way some fairly heavy themes: difference, fear, and violence. That these troubling subjects are fair game for a talking-animal movie might say something interesting about American society's sensibilities in an age marred by terror and demagoguery. Following the film, Mark Sargent hosts conversation with Sameer Yadav (Religious Studies) and Cynthia Toms (Kinesiology). This event is cosponsored by Westmont's Office of Campus Life as part of Focus Week 2016, which examines at length issues of diversity and immigration.
Boundary Crossings: Letters from Cuba
Staged reading of a play by Maria Irene Fornes, directed by Lindsey Twigg
Boundary Crossings: New International Plays About the Immigrant Experience
Thursday, November 3, 2016, 7:00pm
Porter Theater
In her final, most auto-biographical play, MarÃa Irene Fornés gives us an unapologetically feminine look at a relationship that's been stretched across borders. Based on three decades of letters Maria received from her brother in Havana, "Letters from Cuba" moves back and forth in time and place and spirit, linking a young dancer and her relatives across the sea. A dreamy meditation on the ties of family and the longing and urgency to maintain familial connection that is so integral to the immigrant experience.
Sustainability at Salty Girl Seafood
Salty Girl Seafood
Santa Barbara, CA
Sustainability Speaker Series
Wednesday, November 9, 2016, 3:30pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Founded in 2013 by graduate students at UCSB’s Bren School for Environmental Science and Management, Salty Girl Seafood works to see the health of the oceans, fisheries, and fishing communities continue long into the future. In their words, "Salty Girl Seafood was founded out of a love for the ocean and the belief that serving sustainable, traceable seafood dishes should be fun and easy." Come hear from their staff about what they do and how you can promote sustainable fishing.
Spiritual Companioning as Presence
Angela Reed
Assistant Professor of Practical Theology, Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University
Winner of the 2016 Martin Institute/Dallas Willard Center Book Award
Provost's Lecture
Thursday, November 10, 2016, 7:00pm
Hieronymus Lounge
How do relationships with other Christians inform one's experience of faith? Angela Reed, assistant professor of practical theology at Baylor's Truett Theological Seminary, researches and writes about spiritual formation in congregations, with special emphasis on spiritual guidance relationships. In conjunction with this lecture, Dr. Reed and her coauthors, Richard Osmer and Marcus Smucker, will be recognized as the recipients of the 2016 Martin Institute/Dallas Willard Center Book Award.
Hospitality in the Midst of Plurality: A Theological Journey
Heup Young Kim
Professor of Systematic Theology, Kangnam University
World Christianity and Adams Mission Series Lecture
Tuesday, November 15, 2016, 3:30pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Heup Young Kim is a professor of systematic theology at Kangnam University, South Korea. He is a Christian theologian and scholar of East Asian religions, particularly Confucianism and Taoism. Dr. Kim specializes in constructive Asian theology, interfaith dialogue, and religion and science, and is one of the founding members of the International Society for Science and Religion.
South Asian Cottons and the World
Prasannan Parthasarathi
Professor of History, Boston College
Erasmus Lecture
Wednesday, November 16, 7:00pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Prasannan Parthasarathi earned his doctorate in history at Harvard and has served on the faculty of Boston College for eighteen years. His books include Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia did not (2011) and The Spinning World: A Global History of Cotton Textiles (2009). His work draws attention to the history of globalization and the prominent place of Indian weavers and cotton textiles in the global economy through the Industrial Revolution.
Reel Talk: "Gattaca"
with Tim Van Haitsma, Eileen McMahon McQuade, and David Vander Laan
Thursday, December 1, 7:00pm
Porter Theater
In social media, in the college and career process, in a burgeoning genetics field—the idea that precise engineering of our lives is possible and desirable has achieved unprecedented power. The dystopian thriller "Gattaca" imagines a world in which such engineering has produced a race of ideal human specimens (think Uma Thurman and Jude Law), a new norm by which all lesser beings (think Ethan Hawke) are judged. In a society devoted to a very narrow vision of perfection, Hawke's character struggles to realize a sense of worth and identity—indeed, to steal it. Following the film, the Gaede Institute's Aaron Sizer hosts a conversation with Eileen McMahon, professor of biology and a specialist in human genetics, Tim Van Haitsma, professor of kinesiology, and David Vander Laan, professor of philosophy.
Water Delivery Across Western North America Since the Last Glacial Maximum
Juan Lora
Friday, December 2, 3:30pm
Winter Hall 106
In Santa Barbara, we're well aware that Western North America is in the midst of a record drought. But the western part of the continent has also seen a much more dramatic decline in rainfall, observable not over a few years, but several millenia. What we experience as Southern California desert would have been, 20,000 years ago, an unrecognizably wet place. UCLA / NSF postdoctoral fellow Juan Lora discusses how and why these changes have happened.
Sustainability Across the Spectrum
Ellie Perry
Sundowner Sustainability Consulting
Sustainability Speaker Series
Tuesday, December 6, 3:30pm
Hieronymus Lounge
Ellie Perry is an Owner/Managing Partner of Sundowner Sustainability Consulting. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a B.S. in Environmental Systems and obtained a master's in Environmental Management from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. In addition to being a LEED Accredited Professional, she has a professional Certificate in Recycling and Waste Management from UCLA Extension, holds a Green Gardener Certificate through the County of Santa Barbara, and is an EPA WaterSense Watershed Wise Landscape Professional (WWLP).