AGLSP - Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs

It’s education few get that we all need

Ken Smith — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:07:23 +0000

That’s what one graduate student said about the MLS program at Rice University in this short video by a recent graduate. Many Rice graduate students talk about their reasons for loving the program, and glimpse some passionate professors as well. Interviews begin at 1:40.

The 2012 Midwestern conference

Ken Smith — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:47:21 +0000

Conferences are a great way to begin anyone’s publication record. The second annual Midwestern Graduate Liberal Studies Conference was hosted this year at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Students from several IU campuses, such as IU Northwest, as well as Kent State and Northern Kentucky University, presented on various topics that related to this year’s theme: “Taking it to the Streets: Scholarship and the Public Audience.”

The conference began last year, when the topic was “Communities and Beyond.” This year, the conference continued with its focus on community, and in particular, with the public. According to Michael Kaufman, the director of the Master of Liberal Studies program at IPFW, “One important goal shared by graduate liberal studies programs is that of helping students to comprehend knowledge from various academic fields and translate it for dissemination to a wider public audience. This conference focuses on ways in which our own scholarship, no matter how specialized or technical, can be reframed in order to speak directly to public concerns.”

The panels in this conference carried this same intent, with some focusing on “Platforms for Influencing the Public,” “Connecting with an Audience,” and “Arguments for the Future,” just to name a few. The keynote address entitled “Connecting the Academy with Industry and National Security,” given by Dr. Lawrence A. Kuznar of IPFW, focused on his own experiences as an anthropologist working with diverse groups from engineers to the military. The presentation provided keen insight on interdisciplinary study by describing the various modes of thought undertaken by the different disciplines. In his prime example, he discussed his role as a member of academia working with both industry and the military in an effort to quantifiably study rates of terrorism.

The presenters brought exceptionally interesting works of interdisciplinary study to the table as well. David Deaubrey, of IU Southeast, presented “The Big Opus,” where he combined the evolutionary biology and ethnobotany with a love for art and creativity. Instead of presenting only scientific facts David combined those facts with an artistic trail of his personal experiences, including a photographic food diary, a time-lapse video of his weight loss, and paintings based on full-body MRI scans. Another presentation, “Connect the World, Change the World,” by Joel Barrett of IU South Bend, focused somewhat on health through the role of community gardens as a method of sustainability. Joel’s primary focus was on building the sustainable community through networking; specifically through social media platforms such as Facebook. Green Drinks, a world-wide movement that has a local group in South Bend, was established utilizing social media and that is how Joel continues to operate this group he founded.

Although only in its second year, the Midwestern Graduate Liberal Studies Conference is continuing strong. It will be hosted by IU Kokomo next year, with the topic yet to be decided. [Report by Brandi David.]

Life science, movement, hope

Ken Smith — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:18:36 +0000

In one of the briefest of TED talks, Nalini Nadkarni looks for dynamic elements in rather static things: trees. And by teaching natural history and sustainability in a prison, she sees movement in a group of people whose lives cry for change. If we seek movement and hope, we can find clues and traces in the most difficult of circumstances, and we can learn to nurture it, she suggests, in “Life Science in Prison.”

Save the Date – 2012 Annual Conference

AGLSP — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:16:44 +0000

2012 Annual Conference – Call for Papers Extended to June 1

AGLSP — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:06:10 +0000

The Crisis of the Book: Worlds of Opportunity, Worlds of Change
October 18–20, 2012
The Governor Hotel
Portland, Oregon
Hosted by the Reed College Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program

Call for papers deadline is extended to June 1, 2011. Download guidelines

From scroll to codex, printing press to computer screen, revolutions in technology have changed the way we receive and process information, and even the way we think about ideas. This interdisciplinary conference will place the transformation in print culture in a historical framework, and will reflect upon the changing nature of text delivery and the experience of reading.

How is knowledge produced? What role does the book play as cultural, material, and sacred object? What is the place of the modern library in the electronic age? How does the field of new media studies reflect evolving social contexts? How do we “see” graphic novels or navigate through hypertext fiction? What questions concerning copyright and intellectual property does the digital age raise?

Reading is at the heart of what we do in the academy, both personally and professionally. What is the future of your practice of reading? Please join us for a lively discussion of how knowledge is produced and disseminated.

We are now accepting proposals for presentations — deadline is extended to June 1. Download guidelines

Registration and Hotel information

The conference will run from Thursday evening, October 18, 2012 through Saturday noon, October 20. The pre-conference workshop will be held Thursday, October 18. Conference banquet will be held Friday evening, October 19. We strongly advise reserving your hotel room early to secure the desired room/rate at The Governor Hotel, a small, historic hotel with limited rooms in each price category.

Registration and hotel terms and fees: Download Registration form: Download

Conference Schedule

Visit Portland

Faces of Graduate Liberal Studies

AGLSP — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:28:08 +0000

Welcome New Members

AGLSP — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:04:20 +0000

Congratulations Dr. James P. Pappas, Dean of the College of Liberal Studies, University of Oklahoma — Fellow of the AGLSP!
Fellow Membership is bestowed upon individuals to honor them for substantial service to the Association, through long-time participation and leadership.

Welcome New Full Members!
- Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC) — welcome back!

Welcome New Associate Members!
- University of Houston-Downtown (Houston, TX)
- Lourdes University (Sylvania, OH)

Welcome New Individual Members!
- Larry Creech, DLS student at Georgetown University

Recalling Memphis at the passing of Rev. Shuttlesworth

Ken Smith — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:17:40 +0000

In the national news, the passing of civil rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth recalls not just a long and vital history of struggle and triumph but also, on a smaller, more personal level, for many AGLSP folks, the excellent annual meeting held in Memphis a few years ago where many of our panels, keynote talks, and excursions focused on this history. We might remember from that program, for example, the witness offered us by Rev. Billy Kyles, who was with Dr. Martin Luther King during the last hour of his life, or the storming of the stage during a Nat King Cole concert that historian Michael T. Bertrand described for us as part of his talk on the roles music played in the unfolding of cultural change. Hey, thanks again to The University of Memphis University College for hosting that conference for all of us in AGLSP.

Winners of the 2011 AGLSP writing awards

Ken Smith — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:55:29 +0000

At the annual meeting in Saratoga Springs, we will be celebrating the accomplishments of the winners of this year’s AGLSP writing awards:

Eriika Etshokin, Hamline University, for “Insights From Outside the Bathtub”

Toni Bunton, The University of Michigan-Dearborn, for ”A Tree Grows in Prison”

Congratulations to these two writers and to the faculty and students of their home programs which helped foster their fine work.

2012 Graduate Liberal Studies Symposia

AGLSP — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:12:34 +0000

Villanova University Graduate Liberal Studies Program Hosts Conference: Post-Conflict Peace: Paradigm and Practice, June 2, 2012

The GLS program will host a one-day graduate student conference on the politics of peace. They invite students across the humanities and social sciences conducting research in this area to submit proposals (due April 20).

For more information and submission details, download conference details.

Georgetown University Graduate Liberal Studies Symposium, June 16, 2012 in Washington, DC

The Graduate Liberal Studies program at Georgetown University invites GLS students and alumni to submit academic papers for its annual GLS symposium.

For more information and submission details, download symposium form.

Call for Papers — West Coast Graduate Liberal Studies Symposium, June 22-24, 2012 at University of Southern California

The University of Southern California Master of Liberal Studies Program, with the USC MLS Student Association, will host the sixth annual 2012 Joint Graduate Liberal Studies Joint Symposium June 22-24, 2012 on the USC campus. Participating in the symposium will be students, alumni, and faculty from GLS programs at Dominican University of California, Maastricht University, Marylhurst University, Mount St. Mary’s College, Reed College, Simon Fraser University, Stanford University, and USC. Proposals for papers are due March 1.

Check here for call for papers and symposium information: http://dornsife.usc.edu/mls/2012-gls-symposium/.