Monthly Archives: October 2014

History and Music Students Find New Knowledge with Nagata Shachu

HIS_Mus_drums On Friday, October 10th, the Toronto-based group Nagata Shachu will be performing at the UM-Flint Theatre. This group has toured worldwide, with performances in their native Canada, the United States, and Italy.

According to the UM-Flint History Department: “While rooted in the folk drumming traditions of Japan, this ensemble’s principal aim is to rejuvenate this ancient art form by producing innovative and exciting music that seeks to create a new voice for the taiko. . .Their playing is the combination of unbounded spirit and passion with the highest levels of musicianship and discipline. The result is an unforgettable experience that is both powerful in expression and heartfelt in its sincerity. Featuring an arsenal of taiko, bamboo flutes, the three-stringed shamisen, and an array of gongs, cymbals, shakers, and wood blocks, Nagata Shachu will take you on a musical journey beyond all borders.”

The group is being brought to campus by the History Department as part of a series of events related to their Wyatt Exploration Program. Each year, the Wyatt program focuses on a specific cultural or historical theme or topic. A department expert will plan and organize the events for the year. “Featuring affiliated course offerings, special extra-curricular events on campus, and a competition to participate in a university-funded student travel expedition, the Wyatt Exploration Program will enrich and deepen our understanding of the world and its history.” The 2014-2015 Wyatt Program is “Japan: Its History and People.” Other campus activities this year include a lecture series and a film series. History students involved in the Wyatt Program will be on hand for the October 10th Nagata Shachu performance, helping to facilitate a smooth production.

Nagata Shachu will not just be providing an amazing musical experience for audience members, or deepened cultural understanding for the Wyatt participants. UM-Flint Music Department students will be attending a workshop with the performers on Friday afternoon, learning more about the instruments that will be played on stage. When asked about this unique opportunity for his students, Music Department chair Brian DiBlassio said, “Taiko drumming is a deeply artistic and cultural form of music. By participating in the workshop given by Nagata Shucha before the concert, select UM-Flint students will have the rare opportunity to experience a taste of this authentic tradition firsthand. The Department of Music is grateful to share in this event made possible by the Department of History.”

The Nagata Shachu performance is open to the public. Tickets are $5 and available through the History Department Office (260 French Hall) and at the time of the event. Doors to the UM-Flint Theatre open at 6:30pm, the performance starts at 7pm. For more information, contact the History Department at 810-762-3366, email [email protected], or visit their website.

nagata_tickets2

Anthropology Students Participate in Archaeological Test Excavations

Stockton House 1
In April of 2014, Flint resident David Henry made an amazing discovery while using a metal detector on some property not far from the UM-Flint campus. He brought his find to the Archaeology & Biological Anthropology Laboratory at the UM-Flint for consultation. He met with Dr. Beverly Smith, Associate Professor and Honors Advisor of Anthropology, and she “determined the artifact to be a likely bracelet (based on size) and likely of trade silver probably dating to the 18th century. The artifact [had] designs reminiscent of traditional Algonquin origins.”

IMG_2036
On Friday, September 26th, Smith returned to the site of the find with over 15 of her UM-Flint students, recruited from two of her courses: Introduction to Archaeology and Historical Archaeology. Their plan was to map and make limited excavations to assess the location of Henry’s discovery. The excavations will help to determine whether the artifact was original to the place or whether it was brought from elsewhere. Discoveries on the property could have an impact on future use of the land and would help create “understanding of the potential for properties to contain deposits important for reconstructing the precontact and historic period of the city/region.”

The students who participated were Stephanie Grant, Monica Wiggins, Thomas Steele, Rhonda Banks, Daniel Conner, Tyler Legato, Sarah Dyszlewski, Kaitlyn Maitland, Amber Judd, Krystal Starr Perry, Katye Reed, Kami Misch, Guillermo Barillas, Jonathon Henneberry, Heather Inman, Emily Brender, and Mark Miller.

The students’ findings will be reported to several groups, including the Stockton House Museum, the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, the Genesee County Land Bank, and the State Archaeologist office.

To avoid destroying other possible archaeological remains, the Stockton House Museum has requested Smith and her students return in the spring to test some areas on their front lawn before a cannon is installed.

For more information on the Anthropology Department, please visit their website or contact Dr. Smith at [email protected].

IMG_2046Stockton House 4IMG_2031

Family Math Night 2014

FMN-March2013
The Mathematics Department of the University of Michigan-Flint is hosting a Family Math Night on Thursday, November 6th, in the University Center Michigan Rooms at the University of Michigan – Flint.  The fun begins at 6:00 pm and lasts until 8:00 pm.

Family Math Night is an opportunity for children and their parents to have fun together with math. Various activities, such as puzzles and games, will be scattered around the room.  Each activity takes a few minutes and children will have a chance to try quite a few different ones.  The emphasis is not on numerical computation, but rather on such things as estimation, patterns, spatial and geometrical perception, and hands-on activities.  No special knowledge or previous experience is necessary.

The event is open to the public and math resources, door prizes, pizza, and refreshments will provided at no charge.  For refreshment purposes, advance registration is encouraged (if possible), and can be done by leaving a message at 810-762-3244 indicating the number of people planning to attend.

For more information: email Laura McLeman at [email protected] or visit the Math Department website.

Mathematics Student Recognized at 2014 MATHfest

MathHorz

Congratulations to Mathematics student Matthew Allen Sutter for receiving one of 16 Outstanding Presentation Awards by undergraduates at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) MathFest meeting this August in Portland, Oregon.

According to Mathematics professor Dr. Ricardo Alfaro, “These were selected amongst 98 undergraduate presentations featuring 146 presenters at the annual meeting. His paper, coauthored with John Rahmani of Virginia Tech, is entitled “Mixing times of Markov chains.” Matthew’s presentation is a result of his studies in Markov Chains that started here at UM-Flint in the Winter and continued as one of the selected students to participate in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities at Willamete College in Oregon this past Summer.”

To learn more about MAA and MathFest, visit maa.org.

For information about the Mathematics Department at UM-Flint, please see their department page.

UM-Flint Philosophy Students, Professors Host International Conference on Free Will

The Philosophy Department of UM-Flint is partnering with the Insight Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience (IINN) to present a professional conference by the Center for Cognition and Neuroethics (CCN). The interdisciplinary conference, focusing on Free Will, will be held October 10th and 11th at the IINN in Flint, MI. Presentations will be made by over sixty scholars from Africa, Asia, West Asia, South America, and North America, including 22 separate states.

This second annual event has been coordinated by UM-Flint Philosophy Department faculty member Dr. Jami Anderson and will be realized through generous support from UM-Flint and IINN. Says Anderson, “This year, we had a donor sponsor the Kane-Dennett award to the top two papers that address the classic philosophical puzzles in area of free which concerned Robert Kane and Daniel Dennett, both philosophers who wrote some of the most important works addressing philosophical puzzles concerning free will.”

Dr. Anderson will not be the only representative of UM-Flint present at the event. As part of his capstone experience, Philosophy major Dustin Scruggs will also be there. Scruggs will gain hands-on experience that will later be implemented as he works at the 2015 Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, hosted by his department.

Thomas Mann, Philosophy Club president and dual-major in History and Philosophy, had the same experience during his capstone class in 2013. Mann found value both in learning the practical side of how a conference runs and the opportunity to “find someone who works professionally in the topics you are interested in pursuing. Next thing you know, you’re having an invaluable one-on-one conversation with someone you probably would have never met without the conference. Even beyond that, it provides an opportunity to meet with graduate students from across the United States and talk about their experiences–experiences that I will (hopefully) be having beginning next year!” He was able to apply what he learned by observing the CCN conference to running the Undergraduate Philosophy Conference later on, “I had an advantage especially last year (my first conference) because I already had an expectation of how things should go.”

Participants in the CCN Free Will conference will have the opportunity to turn their talks into full papers and then submit them for consideration for publication in the Journal of Cognition and Neuroethics.

For more information on the Free Will conference, and to see the program, please visit them online or email Dr. Jami Anderson at [email protected].

To learn more about the Philosophy Department of UM-Flint, please visit their website.

Philosophy Department Announces Lecture Series


hilde2

The Philosophy Department of UM-Flint has announced the first event in its Visiting Lecture Series.

On Thursday, October 16th, Dr. Hilde Lindemann, member of the Philosophy Department at Michigan State University, will present her lecture “Struggling to Catch Up: Families, Identities, and Narrative Care.”

Families perform many morally valuable functions for their own members, not the least of which is providing care when they are ill or injured. I argue that a second family function–that of sustaining their members’ personal identities–is deeply implicated in that care. After explaining the narrative nature of identity maintenance, I discuss three cases where family caregivers must find the right stories to repair the identity of one of their own: where the identity has been repudiated, where the identity lies at the limits of responsibility, and where the patient has lost her second nature. As I examine these cases, I argue that if health care professionals recognize and respect this familial caring labor, they can do a better job of providing the patient with their own form of care.

Her lecture will be held from 5:30-7:30pm in 302 Murchie Science Building.

The second lecture in the series will feature Dr. David Shoemaker. He will be presenting “Psychopathic Responsibility: From Anger to Disdain” on November 20th.

To learn more about the Philosophy Department and their Visiting Lecture Series, visit the department website or email the department chair, Stevens Wandmacher at [email protected].