Free series begins Feb. 28

Trine to host Humanities Symposia

Word Count: 499
Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes

ANGOLA, Ind. – The Humanities Symposia, sponsored by the Trine University Department of Language and Humanities, will begin Feb. 28 and continue through April 17. Each session is free, open to the public and will run from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Wells Theater in Taylor Hall on the main campus in Angola.

Join Dan Matthews as he presents “Data Visualization: The New Tech Art Form” on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Data has been often referred to as the “new oil” because of its value and importance in the 21st century. It has also been referred to as the "new soil" as so many new ways exist to visually present information that is grown from this new soil. This session will demonstrate visualizations that are pleasant to the eye and yet convey interesting information that can be interpreted from the visualizations.

Sarah Zimmer will discuss “The Investigation of Object TH1988.18: Rembrandt’s Guilder Print” on Wednesday, March 14. The 2008 discovery of a missing etching of Rembrandt Van Rijn is the focus of this session. What began as a task to locate several missing art works within an institution's collection ultimately generated controversy, secrecy and threats. This investigation uses Rembrandt as a model to explore different systems of value.

Don Jones, Ph.D., will look at “The Rhetoric of Food” on Tuesday, March 20. Rhetoric (the persuasive use of symbols) constitutes or creates our understandings of reality, including what is "food." Don Jones, Ph.D., will discuss how rhetoric and public relations changed the way Americans perceive "food" and the way American's eat.

Neil Shamberg will discuss “The Holocaust: Before They Killed the Jews” on Wednesday, March 28. He will describe some early antecedents of the mass murder of the Jews, in 1939 (before World War II began in Germany) with children, the most defenseless segment of the already vulnerable group. These early programs will be outlined in some detail.

Sean Wagner will give a presentation, “Japanese Culture: How I Won the War,” on Tuesday, April 3. He will discuss navigating everyday life in Japan from life at home, work or school or in the community to getting around and being a gaikokujin. This session will offer a glimpse of some of the Japanese cultural norms that guide interaction.

Join Ana Boman as she discusses “Frida Kahlo: Painting Her Reality” on Wednesday, April 11. Mexican artist and painter Frida Kahlo is one of the most important female artists of the 20th century. Although she had a controversial existence, filled with passion and physical suffering, her legacy will live on forever.

John M. McGrath will give a presentation, “James Joyce, Dive into Darkness,” on Tuesday, April 17. Psychiatrist Carl Jung observed that Lucia Joyce "fell" into schizophrenia while James Joyce chose to "dive" into it. In this session, McGrath reflects on the progress of Joyce's life from incredible possibilities to struggles to survive, and his descent into blindness and dependence.

For more information about these programs, contact Trine instructor Brandy DePriest at depriestb@trine.edu or 665.4205.

To share your news, contact Trine University communication specialist Lindsay Winslow Brown at winslowbrownl@trine.edu.