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This blog provides  provide resources, such as electronic articles and documents, for Christian students, acdemics, educators and others.
Basically, the resources are classified by disciplines.

School of Communications and Theater assistant professor Dustin Morrow is a filmmaker, photographer, writer and media artist.

Among his recent works are two feature-length films, a dark comedy about the increasing automation of the American cubicle-dweller entitled The Working Man, and an anthology of shorts exploring contemporary Irish identity entitled Firinne: Searching for Ireland. Morrow is in post-production on Ground London, a short film about London’s urban landscapes; is in pre-production on Lay it Down, a narrative feature to be shot in the Pacific Northwest in 2010; and is supervising the editing of two films he recently directed - Laptop, a documentary about electronic music, and The Marriage of Figaro, a cinematic interpretation of the classic opera.

During the summers, Morrow teaches and produces films in London and Dublin.

Get to know Dustin and his work by visiting his website www.dustinmorrow.com

-Jazmyn Burton

A group of Indiana’s finest musicians, along with the Indiana Poet Laureate, will pay tribute to Bob Dylan at 7:30 (doors 6:30) in the Athenaeum Theatre on Jan. 9, 2010.   Jennie DeVoe, Gordon Bonham, Jason Wilber, Tim Grimm, Bobbie Jane Lancaster, The White Lightning Boys, and Joyous Garde will sing songs by probably the greatest songwriter of the twentieth century, and Norbert Krapf, Indiana Poet Laureate, will recite Dylan-related poems with backing by Bonham and Grimm. Producer Grimm observes: “Dylan has served as the model for all singer-songwriters to follow. He was the first folk musician to go electric and the first successful writer of political and social commentary on a mass scale.”  Krapf says this show is his best vehicle for accomplishing his IPL mission of “reuniting those kissing kin, poetry and music.”  

Advance tickets for Hoosier Dylan are now available for $15 at Luna Music, both the Mass Ave. and College & 52nd St. locations, and Indy CD & Vinyl, Broad Ripple Ave. Door price: $18.

More info: http://krapfpoetry.com/hoosier_dylan_comes_to_indy.htm

Arts | Humanities | Complex Networks – a Leonardo satellite symposium at NetSci 2010
taking place at BarabásiLab – Center for Complex Network Research,
Northeastern University in Boston, MA, on Monday, May 10, 2010.

By means of keynotes, contributed talks and interdisciplinary discussion we will explore and identify important issues surrounding the convergence of arts, humanities and complex networks. On the one hand we will concentrate on network structure and dynamics in areas ranging from art history and archeology to music, film and image science. In the same time we are interested in the development and critique of network visualizations from medieval manuscripts to the latest tools, such as Cytoscape and Processing. Our dual focus is based on the opinion that the study of networks and the study of visualizations of these networks complement each other, much in the same way as archeology cannot live without self-reflective art history – studying the represented always presupposes the study of representation. Bringing together network scientists and specialists from the arts and humanities we strive for a better understanding of networks and their visualizations, resulting in better images of networks, and a better use of these images. Running parallel to the NetSci2010 conference, the symposium will also provide a unique opportunity to mingle with leading researchers and practitioners of complex network science, potentially sparking fruitful collaborations.

Confirmed keynote speakers include:
Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg (IBM Visual Communication Lab, Boston): http://www.research.ibm.com/visual
Ward Shelley (New York artist): http://www.wardshelley.com

Contributions:
In addition to the keynotes we are looking for ten 15 minute contributions in order to cover a large territory around arts, humanities and complex networks.

Abstracts should not exceed 200-300 words. Applications should include one relevant URL and your most awesome figure. Please send a one page PDF not exceeding 500kb to: artshumanities@netsci2010.net

Selected original papers will be published in the Leonardo Journal, MIT Press.
Proceedings will be published online.

Important dates:
The deadline for applications is January 22, 2010.
Decisions for acceptance will be sent out by February 7.

Possible subjects include:

• Multi-modal networks of features and meta-data in art, film, music and literature;
• Citation and transmission of motifs (Mnemosyne);
• Emergence and Evolution of canon in art, music, literature and film;
• Evolution of communities of practice in art and science;
• History of network visualization (genealogies, trees, matrices);
• Art history of taxonomy and evolutionary models (like Darwin‘s corals vs. Wallace‘s trees);
• Networks in architecture (from the Ekistics movement to modern traffic planning);
• Cultural exchange and trade networks (from the Neolithic to modern supply chains);
• Contemporary art and network science;
• Network structure in cultural heritage, film and music databases;…

Attendance:
Attending our symposium will be free of charge. As space is limited, we require registration. Registration will open on January 22, 2010 at http://artshumanities.netsci2010.net

NetSci 2010 attendees can register directly now. For the NetSci 2010 registration fee and deadline please see http://www.netsci2010.net.

Organizers:
The symposium is organized by Maximilian Schich (Art Historian at BarabásiLab), and co-chaired by Roger Malina (Executive Editor at Leonardo journal) and Isabel Meirelles (Associate Professor at Dept. of Art + Design, Northeastern University).

The symposium is a satellite to NetSci 2010 and counts with the support of the BarabásiLab – CCNR and Dept. of Art + Design, both at Northeastern University in Boston, and Leonardo/ISAST.

Links:
Arts | Humanities | Complex Networks: http://artshumanities.netsci2010.net
BarabásiLab: http://www.barabasilab.com
Dept. Art+Design: http://www.art.neu.edu
Leonardo: http://www.leonardo.info
NetSci2010: http://www.netsci2010.net

Contact:
artshumanities@netsci2010.net

December 22, 2009 – Denver, CO – Outskirts Press, the fastest growing full service self-publishing and book marketing company, today announced it will sponsor the 2010 Colorado Book Awards.  This annual event is run by The Colorado Center for the Book, the program department of the Colorado Humanities which is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of Colorado’s outstanding authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers.

The Colorado Book Awards began in 1991 with four categories of awards, but by last year the awards were presented to contributors from ten separate literary categories.  Over the years, the Colorado Book Awards have celebrated some of Colorado’s most prominent authors, including John Fielder, Linda Hogan, Tom Noel, Stephanie Kane, and David Milofsky.

“The Colorado Book Awards are presented annually by Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book,” stated Colorado Humanities Executive Director Maggie Coval.  “The Awards ceremony, finalist readings and other events are ways for Coloradans to say ‘thank you’ to the authors, illustrators, editors and publishers who enrich our lives with their stories, images, research and perspectives. We are proud to have Outskirts Press as a new partner in the Colorado Book Awards.”

Denver-based Outskirts Press has been helping authors worldwide successfully publish and market books since 2002.  In 2007 The Denver Business Journal announced Outskirts Press as the 3rd fastest-growing privately-held company in Colorado and in 2008 The Denver Business Journal again recognized Outskirts Press, this time as the #1 fastest-growing company in the “Flight IV” category.  In 2009, Inc. Magazine found Outskirts Press to be the fastest-growing self-publishing company, placing #268 on its national Fast-500 list. Outskirts Press is the only Inc. 500 self-publishing company.

During the season of giving, Outskirts Press made a $10,000 charitable donation to Colorado Humanities in order to help it achieve its goal of inspiring the people of Colorado to explore new ideas and to appreciate Colorado’s diverse cultural heritage.

Applications for the 2010 Colorado Book Awards began on September 1, 2009 and run through January 15, 2010.  The selection process will go through March, 2010, judging will occur in April, and the awards will be presented at a ceremony in Aspen in late Spring, 2010.

Visit www.coloradohumanities.org for more information about the Colorado Book Awards and visit www.outskirtspress.com for more information about self-publishing.

About Outskirts Press, Inc.:

Outskirts Press, an Inc. 500 company, offers full-service, custom self-publishing and book marketing services for authors seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining all their rights and full creative control. Available for authors globally at www.outskirtspress.com and located on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press represents the future of book publishing, today.

# # #

Outskirts Press, Inc., 10940 S. Parker Rd. – 515, Parker, Colorado 80134
http://outskirtspress.com  1-888-OP-BOOKS

It’s a question any humanities major faces from interviewers, extended family members, and even friends upon learning your field of study: “why?” I explain that I am passionate about reading, writing, and analyzing the way people behave and the way the world works.  I believe that pursuing your passions is important for being good at what you do and being happy with your life.  Yet still I’m met most frequently with blank stares, and after finding out that I don’t really want to teach, go to law school, or run for public office, people typically run out of things to say.

It’s easy to let these questions unnerve you, and to doubt the worth of your skills and education.  Corporate manager and motivational speaker  Susan de la Vergne has a great blog, For English Majors, that reminds humanities and social science majors exactly what they have to offer.   The ability to extract the most important details from a tangled mass of information, organize it into a cohesive message, and deliver it effectively are just a few.  Susan points out that the business and technology fields are sadly lacking in competent writers and communicators, which takes a toll on profit, productivity, and morale.

One benefit of my double major that I’m especially grateful for is a solid understanding of human nature.  Reading literature provides endless examples of how different types of people think and respond to situations, what motivates them, and what are their weaknesses and biggest regrets.  Analyzing societies and political structures facilitates an awareness of strategy and power as well as why certain systems fail or succeed, and reveals historical patterns that are more relevant today than most people would like to admit.  Many of the ideas derived from these questions are directly applicable to business, the workplace, and interpersonal relationships.

I don’t claim to be a master communicator or expert on humanity, and I hardly profess to understand all the secrets of the universe.  But that’s the beauty of my education.  I spend a huge chunk of my free time reading and absorbing just about any material I can get my hands on, and having meaningful conversations with people whenever and wherever I can.  Because it also happens to be my passion, my education never ends.  It’s a part of me that I will cultivate for the rest of my life.  I truly believe there is no greater investment, and it’s impossible for the rewards not to permeate my personal and professional lives.

See the ning

MsMatani.ning.com

We heard she had done well “out east”.  Folks said she was a friend of Pearl S. Buck and had lots of other hoidy toidy friends as well.  For someone from a small, rural place like Hollandale, Wisconsin, that would be something to crow about.  But all this was back in the 1940s and 50s so no one here really had any facts.  But it was a fun story and as clueless as I was I had fun telling it, too.

In these parts she was simply Alyce Engelbert Stocklin, the daughter of Nick Engelbert, the guy by Hollandale who built the statues and decorated his yard with them.  She went to school here – little town of about 300 – and like many kids, left for a big city to further her education.

Nick and his wife Katherine had four children.  They all did well, we’re told, which makes sense because the parents really stressed the importance of education.  All four indeed were college-educated.  I think 60, 70 years ago that may not have always been the case for young women but it was for the Engelbert girls as it was for their brothers.

The Engelbert kids have passed away now, but I was fortunate to meet them in 1997 when they came home one last time.  The Kohler Foundation had purchased and restored their childhood home – now known as Grandview – and the occasion was the gifting of the place back to the community.

The four Engelbert children, home for the last time. Alyce Engelbert Stocklin is between her brothers Ed and Ernie.

With the site came a lot of history and some great archives: lots of old pictures, family memorabilia, documentation of Nick’s art, Katherine’s many outstanding gardens, old news stories and information on the site’s restoration.  Recently the Kohler Foundation gave us a new box – more treasures to be discovered.

Like many rural folk I am seldom inside when the weather is decent.  The chill of fall brought wood chores, which is a huge job.  It takes scores of pick-up truck loads to keep us warm, so weeknights and weekends are consumed.  But when winter finally set upon us in earnest with the first major snow, it gave permission to relax and be thoughtful.  I sat down with the newest archive box like a kid at Christmas.

After an hour or so of sorting through old pictures, I got to a three-ring binder that seemed kind of musty and forgotten.  As I paged through quickly, the 1950 clipping of women planning a fashion show and tea did not grab me at first.  It is an ugly old photocopy.  But I had just done some reading on Pearl S. Buck so I stopped to check it out after I saw “Welcome House” in the headline.

And there was Alyce Engelbert Stocklin from little Hollandale, leaning over to look at something being held by Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein, who hosted the get together.  To her left was Mrs. James A. Michener.   I thought, “Oh my – the stories were true – big time true”.

So with apologies for name dropping, all this is fun and, if you’re from a little place often confused with the Dutch, it is certainly something to be proud of.  Who cares if it was in the last century?

Of course, the real story is what she did, not whom she did it with.  Another clipping in the musty folder showed a picture of Alyce holding an orphan.  The headline is: “Break Down Racial Barriers” and the caption reads, “Mrs. Walter Stocklin and an unadoptable”.

Some of the things in the article were a little disturbing but worth sharing. Those were different times.

It read: “Welcome House was founded in 1949 by Pearl S. Buck, author of “The Good Earth” and other books, who has lived in the Orient for many years.  Miss Buck and several of her Bucks County, Pa., neighbors, including Stocklins, began the project to give “unwanted” children of part American, part Oriental blood a chance for opportunity equal to that of other American children.

“While adoption has become an accepted part of American social life, these “half caste” children have remained a problem because they are unwanted in many American homes because of prejudice against color differences and “slanted” eyes.  As a result, according to Mrs. Stocklin, many children of exceptional intelligence must be sent to institutions……..”

I thought of my brother-in-law Allen, who was “detained” in a “relocation camp” during WWII.  Allen was as American as I am, but of Japanese heritage.

And I wondered what values were instilled in young Alyce by family and her little country school that made her such a supporter of these children.   Courage is certainly right up there.

My daughter and one of my sons graduated recently.  They too, are Hollandale kids, although the school is now Pecatonica and their father is not the artist Nick Engelbert was.  As a jaded, older parent it seems that sometimes values can lie somewhere between Facebook and the Food Court – but maybe not.   I think those same principles that Alyce championed continue to be instilled by our teachers and families.  The kids still get it and maybe more so.  We aren’t the same America; we’re a better America.

It’s hard to stop thinking about this, but that’s OK, it’s the holiday season and some contemplation is good for me.

I stopped by a snowed-in Grandview this morning, waded through the drifts and sat on the porch for a while.  It is vacant and cold but still Alyce’s home.

And I thought about my daughter.

Rick Rolfsmeyer, Wisconsin Rural Partners, Hollandale, Wisconsin

Happy holidays everyone………

The Humanities and Social Sciences Library of the NYPL, now called the Stephen A Schwarzman Building,  is one of my favorite places on earth.  In grad school I spent hundreds of hours in the Rose Reading Room alternately taking notes from volumes found no where else on the East Coast or waiting for my number to light up on the screen to annouce that my books have made it up from the stacks.  Sheer heaven.  This video, How to Research a Building – NTPL Insight,  gives a glimpse of what makes this place, it’s collections, and it’s staff so special.  It is nominated for Best Humanities Video.

Join Vincenzo Rutigliano of the NYPL’s Art and Architecture Department as he presents a mini class on, wait for it… How to research a building using the department’s resources.  This is a pretty common assignment for Architecture, Art History, and Urban Planning students and Rutigliano shows, in a fun,  engaging way, how to leverage his collection’s depth to find information.

I think I’m going to find a way to work pirates into all of my classes.

The last ten years are likely the most important ten years of American history since the decade from 1929 to 1939.

The approach of a new year often signals a time for reflection. Offering a historical perspective, Temple History Professor Jim Hilty says that the last ten years are likely the most important ten years of American history since the decade from 1929 to 1939.

According to Hilty, during both decades America experienced extreme highs and lows. “Both were periods of unprecedented wealth and prosperity followed by descent into financial abyss. Both decades saw American financial power, status among nation states, and its prestige plummet. Both decades saw America’s fundamental passions and purposes challenged from within and without,” he said.

But, said Hilty, there are substantial differences.

“The ’30s era started with depression and ended with world war, American prosperity and purpose restored, its people at least temporarily unified, and America positioned as a world power,” he said.

By contrast, the period from 1999 to 2009 began with America as prosperous as any time in its history but ideologically divided as at no time since the 1850s.

“Then we were staggered by 9/11 and momentarily united in shock and grief seeking common cause to remain united. But here we are eight years later staggering along in two wars,” he said.

–Kim Fischer

Arts | Humanities | Complex Networks
– a Leonardo satellite symposium at NetSci 2010

is taking place at BarabásiLab – Center for Complex Network Research,
Northeastern University in Boston, MA, on Monday, May 10, 2010.

Abstract:
By means of keynotes, contributed talks and interdisciplinary discussion we will explore and identify important issues surrounding the convergence of arts, humanities and complex networks. On the one hand we will concentrate on network structure and dynamics in areas ranging from art history and archeology to music, film and image science. In the same time we are interested in the development and critique of network visualizations from medieval manuscripts to the latest tools, such as Cytoscape and Processing. Our dual focus is based on the opinion that the study of networks and the study of visualizations of these networks complement each other, much in the same way as archeology cannot live without self-reflective art history – studying the represented always presupposes the study of representation. Bringing together network scientists and specialists from the arts and humanities we strive for a better understanding of networks and their visualizations, resulting in better images of networks, and a better use of these images. Running parallel to the NetSci2010 conference, the symposium will also provide a unique opportunity to mingle with leading researchers and practitioners of complex network science, potentially sparking fruitful collaborations.

Confirmed keynote speakers include:
Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg (IBM Visual Communication Lab, Boston): http://www.research.ibm.com/visual
Ward Shelley (New York artist): http://www.wardshelley.com

Contributions:
In addition to the keynotes we are looking for ten 15 minute contributions in order to cover a large territory around arts, humanities and complex networks.

Abstracts should not exceed 200-300 words. Applications should include one relevant URL and your most awesome figure. Please send a one page PDF not exceeding 500kb to: artshumanities@netsci2010.net

Selected original papers will be published in the Leonardo Journal, MIT Press.
Proceedings will be published online.

Important dates:
The deadline for applications is January 22, 2010.
Decisions for acceptance will be sent out by February 7.

Possible subjects include:
* Multi-modal networks of features and meta-data in art, film, music and literature;
* Citation and transmission of motifs (Mnemosyne);
* Emergence and Evolution of canon in art, music, literature and film;
* Evolution of communities of practice in art and science;
* History of network visualization (genealogies, trees, matrices);
* Art history of taxonomy and evolutionary models (like Darwin‘s corals vs. Wallace‘s trees);
* Networks in architecture (from the Ekistics movement to modern traffic planning);
* Cultural exchange and trade networks (from the Neolithic to modern supply chains);
* Contemporary art and network science;
* Network structure in cultural heritage, film and music databases;…

Attendance:
Attending our symposium will be free of charge. As space is limited, we require registration. Registration will open on January 22, 2010 at http://artshumanities.netsci2010.net

NetSci 2010 attendees can register directly now. For the NetSci 2010 registration fee and deadline please see http://www.netsci2010.net.

Organizers:
The symposium is organized by Maximilian Schich (Art Historian at BarabásiLab), and co-chaired by Roger Malina (Executive Editor at Leonardo journal) and Isabel Meirelles (Associate Professor at Dept. of Art + Design, Northeastern University).

The symposium is a satellite to NetSci 2010 and counts with the support of the BarabásiLab – CCNR and Dept. of Art + Design, both at Northeastern University in Boston, and Leonardo/ISAST.

Links:
Arts | Humanities | Complex Networks: http://artshumanities.netsci2010.net
BarabásiLab: http://www.barabasilab.com
Dept. Art+Design: http://www.art.neu.edu
Leonardo: http://www.leonardo.info
NetSci2010: http://www.netsci2010.net

Contact:
artshumanities@netsci2010.net

By Cassie Stockamp, President of The Athenaeum Foundation, Inc.

IndyTalks is a cool collaboration that has taken on a life of its own and is being led by many right brain creative types – here in Indianapolis. Basically, IndyTalks is a series of community-based discussions will take place at different venues across the city to promote civic dialogue while exploring what it will take for Indiana to survive and prosper in the 21^st century. Using Richard C. Longworth’s 2008 book Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age Globalism as a starting point, Indianapolis residents will have to chance to participate in a series of dynamic exchanges themed on the question, “What is the future of Indiana and the Midwest?”

The concept started because of conversations around the desire to make the community aware of the soul of the historic Athenaeum and what it represented historically to the community.

The building was a place for the German Free Thinkers to pursue intellectual conversation on a range of topics without edit or bias. Another member of the Athenaeum Board and I began to ask ourselves what we could do to have this level of conversation in the building again, and realized that there were many civil dialogues going on around the City. How could we encourage them to use this historic venue?

We invited many guests andorganizations to a meeting and began to ask questions about how we could best serve the city, and how we could all work together to a greater end. IndyTalks emerged!

Connections between groups have emerged to a greater degree than existed prior to this collaboration and new relationships and friendships have formed. Please join the conversation and help us make Indy an even better place to live and work.

Learn more at www.indytalks.info.