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UCA Anthropology Students Collaborated With Faulkner County Museum

1During the fall 2014 semester, UCA anthropology students gained glimpses into Conway’s past by examining archaeological artifacts excavated from Cadron Settlement Park, a National Historic Site located west of Conway along the Arkansas River. The students, enrolled in the Archaeology of North America course offered by the Department of Sociology, evaluated the Faulkner County Museum collection to learn about some of the earliest Euro-American settlers who ventured into the western frontier of central Arkansas in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Megan Stane, a student in the class, enthused, “I’ve learned a lot about the process it takes to record artifacts by working on the project. This experience makes me want to intern at the Faulkner County Museum to help record more of the county’s history.”

2The project is planned as a multi-semester, collaborative effort be-tween the UCA Department of Sociology and the Faulkner County Museum under the instruction of Dr. Duncan P. McKinnon, UCA anthropology lecturer, and Lynita Langley-Ware, the Director of the Faulkner County Museum.

Through an analysis of artifacts housed at the museum (ceramics, glassware, armaments, buttons, beads, nails, etc.) and analysis of literature and historical documents, students are using these data in their final projects to address questions related to trade, exchange, identity, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and cultural change at this important site in the history of Arkansas.

3As Ms. Langley-Ware explains it, “Through the process of examining small, seemingly insignificant objects and referencing historic documents relevant to the settlement of this area, UCA students are gaining a better understand-ing of the global influences on the early development of today’s Faulkner County and the importance of history to inform on the present.”

Dr. McKinnon added, “This hands-on experience facilitates instruc-tion in the methods of conducting archaeological research, but it also offers a new perspective for students and a better understanding and visibility about the community in which they live.”

4Dr. McKinnon and Ms. Langley-Ware expressed excitement about getting more students interested in community awareness and social identity tied to to the conservation and preservation of the history of the greater Conway area.

Article Written By UCA Professor Published In Philosophy In The Contemporary World

charleshUCA Professor Dr. Charles Harvey wrote an article title “Heidegger within the Technium: Re-viewing The Question Concerning Technology after Kevin Kelly’s What Technology Wants.”

His article appeared in the spring edition of Philosophy in the Contemporary World.

UCA Alum Received Madison Fellowship

The UCA Department of History’s reputation for scholarship has brought two recent James Madison Memorial Fellowship scholars to our graduate history program.

Charles Williams, 2009 UCA graduate, received the Madison Fellowship in 2011, and is currently completing his BA history degree.

Charles teaches history at Conway Junior High, where he and his students participate in the National History Day program.

UCA Professor’s Publications Spotlighted In The Guardian

heldUCA Professor Dr. Jacob M. Held has worked at the intersection of philosophy and popular culture for over a decade.  His recent publications, including Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (Rowman and Littlefield, 2011) and Roald Dahl and Philosophy: A Little Nonsense Now and Then (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), were recently spotlighted in The Guardian.

In her article, “Terry Pratchett Rethought As A Philosopher In New Study” Alison Flood discusses the philosophical themes underlying the work of British Fantasy author Terry Pratchett.  She also interviews Dr. Held and his co-editor Dr. James B. South about their newest book, Philosophy and Terry Pratchett (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

The book is a collection of solicited essays focusing on philosophical aspects of Pratchett’s Discworld series. Essays deal with existential themes, metaphysics, ethics, gender, distributive justice, and rights. Longtime fans of Pratchett, Held and South were excited to finally find a venue to explore the work of Terry Pratchett. The book is slated to be released Dec. 3rd but has already been labeled as the #1 New Release in Philosophy on Amamzon.com.

Held and South are hopeful that the book will reach a wide audience and encourage interest in both Pratchett’s work and philosophy in general.

UCA Professor Awarded Grant For Course

jbutlerUCA Philosophy professor Dr. Jesse Butler received a National Endowment for the Humanities Enduring Questions grant for the development of a new cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural course on the perennial human pursuit of self-knowledge.

Stemming from the enduring question “Who Am I?”, the course will explore diverse conceptions of self-knowledge and identity across ancient texts from Eastern and Western culture, classic and contemporary works in American literature, and cutting-edge developments in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.

The course will be taught for the first time in the upcoming Spring 2015 semester as a PHIL 3395 “Topics” course and is open to all interested students regardless of major.

Dr.  Butler’s article “Knowledge and NOW: What Is the Epistemic Standing of the Present Moment?” was published in the online Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective.