Members of the Spring 2012 Philosophy and Religion Senior Seminar recently devoted a class meeting to the offering of advice for PHRE majors.  Included below are some of the bits of sage wisdom that they had:

Senior Seminar preparation

• Try to get in to the specific required PHRE courses as soon as possible
• Try to have a light course load in the semester you take Senior Seminar
• Have the sense of a trajectory toward Senior Seminar so that you are prepared for your Senior Seminar topic
• Think in advance about the selection of your Senior Seminar thesis director and topic
• Regularly put files in the Truman portfolio vault for future use
• Be pragmatic about the direction of your thesis project

Course planning

• Take early on the courses in logic and Methods & Theories in Religious Studies
• Take a course early on in the “other” area (philosophy or religious studies) that you don’t think you are interested in (but may be)
• Take courses from a diversity of faculty, who have differing methodologies and interests
• Make a multi-year plan using the course listings on the PHRE website
• Distribute well your LSP, PHRE courses in your plan

General course-taking tips

• Get comfortable doing a lot of writing
• Develop a thick skin and a willingness to learn from constructive criticism
• Write down one comment you want to make / one question you want to ask in preparation for each of your class sessions
• Budget your time for assignments early on
• Anticipate the density of PHRE readings, and allow yourself enough time to do the reading slowly and carefully

Research and the general scholarly life

• Save up for applications for grad school
• Don’t limit yourself to a single database for research (for example, JSTOR)– take the library science course to learn about the library’s resources
• Use Google Alerts to keep abreast of new development in your topics of interest
• Take advantage of the extracurricular activities promoted in the PHREmail email list
• Go to NCUR
• Talk to your fellow majors– make friends in the major

Columbia College Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Columbia, Mo.
Papers in any area of philosophy are welcome!

All abstracts are due by Sept. 1, 2012
3,000 word limit for all papers
There is no fee to attend the conference.

Event sponsored by the Columbia College Philosophy Club and the Department of Humanities

Direct inquiries and submissions to:
Dr. Melanie Johnson-Moxley
mkjohnsonmoxley@ccis.edu

Submission Guidelines
Format
Abstracts and papers should be submitted as Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text (.rtf)
email attachments, sent to mkjohnsonmoxley@ccis.edu

Abstracts
Abstracts should not exceed 300 words.
The author’s name, institution and paper title should be included with the abstract. All abstracts must be received by Saturday, September 1st.

Papers
Papers should not exceed 3,000 words.
(20 minutes will be allotted for paper presentation.)
The author’s name, institution, paper title and word count should appear on the first page.
Papers for the Whitehead track only must be received by Monday, October 1st.
An electronic copy of all other papers should be sent no later than Thursday, October 18th.

Notifications
Notifications will be sent by Monday, Sept. 10th. Additional information for travelers will be sent with notification.

Updates will be posted on the Philosophy Club website:
http://sites.cougars.ccis.edu/philosophyclub/

Details here!

All presentations are scheduled for 30-minute time slots and will take place in Violette 1146.

Tuesday, April 10:

5:00:        Adam Keeton
The superhero myth of American culture and its influence on the image of Jesus
Dereck Daschke, faculty reader
Jennifer Jesse, faculty respondent

5:30:        Elmer Stunkel:
The role of reason / logic in Horkheimer and Adorno
Natalie Alexander, faculty reader
Torbjörn Wandel, faculty respondent

6:00        Harini DeSilva
The portrayal of Islam in Bollywood cinema, post September 11
Mark Appold, faculty reader
Mustafa Sawani and Chad Mohler, faculty respondents

Thursday, April 12:

4:30:        Vince Ballard
Urban II’s motivations for launching the first crusade
Patricia Burton, faculty reader
Sally West, faculty respondent

5:00:        Brad LaPlante
Urban II and Christian Just War Theory
Patricia Burton, faculty reader
Sally West, faculty respondent

5:30:        Cyle Tomusiak:
Comparison of the sublime in Kant and the Other in Derrida
Natalie Alexander, faculty reader
Brent Orton, faculty respondent

Saturday, April 14:

9:30:        Adam Tenhouse
Axis Mundi of displaced cultures
Mike Ashcraft, faculty reader
Natalie Alexander, faculty respondent

10:00:    Alissa Walkner
Studying the mystical practices and life of Ramakrishna
Lloyd Pflueger, faculty reader
Dereck Daschke, faculty respondent

Tuesday, April 17:

3:30:        Alex Senger
Theoretical approaches used by Thomas Tweed in his book Crossing & Dwelling
Mike Ashcraft, faculty reader
Neal Delmonico, faculty respondent

4:00:        Christine Hartford
The Komeito Party and the separation 
of church and state in Japan
Ding-hwa Hsieh, faculty reader
Lloyd Pflueger, faculty respondent

4:30:        Daniel Gilmore
Nietzsche’s influence on Strauss
David Murphy, faculty reader
Paul Parker, faculty respondent

5:00:        Zach Vicars
Christian understandings of the shepherding metaphor in the 1st and 21st centuries
Mark Appold, faculty reader
Jennifer Jesse, faculty respondent

5:30:        Rachel Cook
Relationship between jihad and the five pillars of Islam
Mark Appold, faculty reader
Ding-hwa Hsieh, faculty respondent

Thursday, April 19:

4:30:        Nathan Hardy
St. Mark & Coptic Christianity’s beginnings
Mark Appold, faculty reader
David Murphy, faculty respondent

5:00:        Jenna Homeyer:
Religious themes in rap music
Mike Ashcraft, faculty reader
Bob Mielke, faculty respondent

5:30:        Chelsea Beary:
African-American women, their religious role, 
and health concerns
Mike Ashcraft, faculty reader
Linda Seidel, faculty respondent

PHRE majors and minors,

You may be interested in the seminar I will teach next fall, a historical and cultural approach to the end of the world called “The Millennium and the Apocalypse,” PHRE 476, TR 10:30-11:50 am.  It will cover the roots of apocalyptic thinking in Judaism and Christainity, its develoment in the middle ages, its role in formulating American identity up to modern times — and of course the Mayan “prophecy,” which would put the end of the world just days after the class ends!

Dereck Daschke, Ph.D.
Chair and Professor
Department of Philosophy & Religion

Contact Peter Ramberg for more details.

NASC 400
TTh 1:30-2:50

Introduction to basic topics in the history of science from ancient Greece to Isaac Newton. Students will read a variety of primary and secondary sources covering three time periods: the origins of western science in Greece and the Middle East, the nature of science in medieval Islam and medieval Europe, and the Scientific Revolution in Europe (1500-1700). Emphasis is placed on the historical, philosophical, and religious influences on the emergence of western science. Previous knowledge of science or history is helpful, but not necessary.

JINS 362
TTh 10:30-11:50

Does life or intelligence exist outside the earth? This course will consist of readings and discussion of approaches to this question from historical, scientific, philosophical, and theological perspectives. Topics will include the emergence of the Copernican Principle, the search for life on Mars, the study of the origin of life, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) program.

The Office of Student Research is now accepting Grants-In-Aid-of-Scholarship and Research (GIASR) applications for research and creative activities to be conducted during the Summer or Fall 2012 semesters. The purpose of these grants is to promote a culture of research, scholarship and creative activity at Truman while providing flexibility to accommodate different research styles and requirements. Projects supported by this program should involve original ideas but may encompass a variety of activities including obtaining preliminary data or information, exploring new topics, and continuing ongoing projects. The OSR anticipates awarding 5-8 GIASR grants (up to $750 each) per semester depending on availability of funds.

Students must be current Truman undergraduates or graduate students and be mentored by a Truman faculty member. Grant applications may request up $750 and can cover student stipends as well as supplies and travel to conduct the research. Complete guidelines can be found at the Office of Student Research website http://osr.truman.edu.

All students that wish to be considered for GIASR Summer 2012 or Fall 2012 funding should submit applications online at https://secure.truman.edu/osr-s/ by Wednesday, April 11, 2012 11:59 pm.

Please email any questions about the Office of Student Research programs to osr@truman.edu.

Call for Abstracts
2012 Student Research Conference
Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Abstracts due: Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 11:59 PM
http://src.truman.edu

On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, Truman State University will hold its 25th annual Student Research Conference. The Conference is a University-wide celebration of student research, scholarship, and creative achievements. Both undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit abstracts.

Abstracts should be submitted online at http://src.truman.edu. All abstracts need to be sponsored by a Truman faculty or staff member. A copy of the information submitted will be sent electronically to the student presenter’s mentor for approval. Students should work with the faculty mentor before submitting the abstract to be minimize multiple drafts in the system.

The submission site is now open and the deadline for receiving abstracts is Friday, February, 17, 2012 11:59 pm.

In addition to the many student presentations, the day will feature a conference-wide plenary address delivered by David Micklos, Executive Director of the DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Director Micklos specializes in eugenics as well as educating teachers and the public about DNA technology.

Faculty-requested special sessions are included in the discipline options. If you are planning to present in such a session, please look for the specific discipline designation when submitting your abstract (Ex: History Senior Seminar, Democracy and Human Rights in South Africa, Kirksville Sigma Xi, Secondary English MAE Intern Research).

Please direct any inquiries about the Student Research Conference sessions, guidelines and program to Dr. Nagan by emailing osr@truman.edu.

Please call Marsha Redmon at x4598 if you have questions about and/or problems with the abstract submission process.

A good opportunity for pursuing summer research in philosophy for undergrads:

http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/outreach_summer_seminar.shtml