This spring we are honoring five Liberal Arts alumni as our 2005 Distinguished Alumni. These individuals are nationally known for making great contributions in their fields – Communication, History, Psychology, Sociology and Theatre.
Jack G. Wiggins, Ph.D. Psychology, 1952. Clinical psychologist.
If you are still interested in attending the April 15 Annual Awards Banquet, please contact Christine Sharp, alumni relations coordinator, by April 6. These Distinguished Alumni, as well as Liberal Arts' Outstanding Seniors, will be recognized at the dinner. Tickets are $35, and the event will start at 6:15 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union's South Ballroom.
I am also pleased that Liberal Arts is experiencing an active and successful faculty recruiting year. I want to thank you for your efforts in helping to recruit new faculty, and I am especially appreciative of the faculty, staff and students who met with interviewees during their campus visits. More information will be available about these new hires when visits are completed and details are finalized.
Just a reminder, Liberal Arts is holding its first grant-writing workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on May 11. If you have any questions or are interested in signing up, contact Richard Johnson-Sheehan, associate professor of English. The workshop will offer strategies for writing more effective grants, especially those directed to federal sources, such as the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Faculty who have not written grants before, or who have limited experience, are encouraged to attend.
Good luck to everyone as the spring semester comes to a close.
Toby L. Parcel
RESEARCH
Urban neighborhoods affect how people think about health
The number of days people stay home ill is influenced by neighborhood poverty and whether they receive subsidized health care, such as Medicaid, says a Purdue urban sociologist.
Sandra Barnes
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"As state policy-makers decide whether to cut or invest in their state health insurance programs, such as Medicaid, they need to better understand factors, both systemic and individual, that influence whether and how people seek treatment for illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure," said Sandra Barnes, assistant professor of Sociology.
"Limited health-care options mean that many people in poor urban communities are less likely to seek preventive care that could help them better manage their illnesses. In too many instances, this means that residents are forced to turn to emergency care in the form of expensive hospital emergency rooms."
Barnes found that difficulty in obtaining adequate, affordable, accessible health care continues to undermine the health of many residents in poor urban neighborhoods. The problem is particularly acute for urbanites who are women and racial/ethnic minorities.
"Policy should be shaped to provide more health-care assistance for the working poor – people who are employed but do not earn enough money to purchase health care or make too much to qualify for Medicaid," Barnes said. "If not, we will see higher mortality rates and a decrease in people's quality of life."
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Prof promotes African-Brazilian dance, sport of Capoeira
A Purdue Spanish professor says the best way to understand the African-Brazilian influenced Capoeira is by comparing its deceptive elements to what it is not – dance, martial arts or gymnastics.
Floyd Merrell
and a berimbau
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"There is nothing in English to describe Capoeira, which looks like a scrappy, ritualized ballet that challenges the performers' physical and mental abilities," says Floyd Merrell, who studies and practices Capoeira (pronounced KA puer AH). "Even more than 100 years after slaves used Capoeira to deceive their slave owners, the ideas of deception are still part of the movement today."
Capoeira is usually performed in a circle, which is outlined by a ring of people. Some of the participants play traditional African instruments, such as the bow-shaped berimbau. The traditional form of Capoeira, called Capoeira Angola, is a non-contact activity in which performers move to music by flipping, somersaulting and kicking. Basic moves are practiced, but performances are always improvised, Merrell says.
"The performance looks like play, but it is serious," he says. "It's a labyrinth of contradictions. It is not a religion, but has religious attitudes and symbols on its instruments and costumes, as well as in its movements."
Capoeira is a fusion of physical, mental and spiritual activity influenced by Brazilian, African and Native American traditions, writes Merrell in his new book. Capoeira and Candomblé: Conformity and Resistance through Afro-Brazilian Experience ($69.95 hardback and $24.95 paperback) was released in January by Markus Wiener Publishers.
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Prof explains persuasion strategies, trial tactics in the courtroom
Trial tactics that defy common sense are just one reason millions of Americans are drawn to the many law-related shows on television, says a Purdue psychologist who studies persuasion in the courtroom.
Kipling Williams
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"One kind of tactic copied in television shows is called 'stealing thunder,'" said Kipling Williams, professor of Psychological Sciences. "This technique, which goes against the thinking that first impressions are important, is employed when the defendant's attorney brings up the worse piece of evidence against his or her own client before the prosecution makes the charge.
"By stealing thunder, the attorney diminishes that impression's impact," said Williams in a chapter about trial tactics in Psychology and Law: An Empirical Perspective. The new book ($60), which Williams co-edited, was released in March by Guilford Press.
Williams, who also has studied the biasing effects of judges' instructions to jury members and eyewitness accuracy, said many lawyers assume the stealing thunder tactic works because they are framing negative news in a positive light. For example, the attorney might say, "Though my client was convicted of a similar crime 10 years ago, he served his probation and turned his life around and now volunteers in the community regularly."
But Williams has found that attorneys don't have to frame the negative news.
"Just saying he was convicted of a similar crime 10 years ago does just as much to minimize the issue because it makes the attorney, and the client, look honest," he said. "It also makes members of the jury think this news must not be so bad if the attorney is willing to bring it up."
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Professor's study reclassifies traditional gentleman class in India
The image of India's popular middle class established under colonial rule in the mid-1800s is still rippling through current Indian society, says a Purdue Indian history expert.
Tithi Bhattacharya
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The "bhadralok" (pronounced BHAD-ra-lock), which means "gentleman" or "polite man," makes up less than 2 percent of the Indian population. It is a social group that originated in Bengal (now composed of the state of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh) during the period of British rule in the 18th and 19th centuries. Myths about their intellectual prowess are still, however, so dominant that even today people from Bengal are considered to be more educated and cultured than the rest of India, says Tithi Bhattacharya, an assistant professor of South Asian history.
"Yes, a small part of the bhadralok does think of itself as the gatekeeper of Indian culture," says Bhattacharya, who researched how this gentleman class was created in the 19th century. She focuses on the northeastern part of India, which is Bengal.
"It is a very small group, but its influence is still significant. Even today, prominent people in West Bengal still see themselves as bhadralok. People think that this group is limited to doctors, lawyers, heads of government departments, magistrates, poets and novelists. Little attention is given to the other group of the bhadralok – orderlies or bookkeepers."
Bhattacharya's analysis is published in The Sentinels of Culture: Class, Education and the Colonial Intellectual in Bengal. The book ($29.95), released by Oxford Press in February, focuses on the formation of this group from 1848-1885.
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Trend: Governors get behind the wheel to build voter relationships
A Purdue public opinion expert is giving politicians the green flag for driving home their messages – even after the election – in the vehicles of their choice.
James McCann, an associate professor of Political Science who studies public opinion, says he won't be surprised if more elected officials turn to four wheels, or more, to promote their platforms. Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mitch Daniels are both traveling their states, California and Indiana, respectively, in distinctive vehicles. Schwarzenegger is cruising in a military-style Humvee, and Daniels is making appearances in a recreational vehicle similar to the one used during his campaign.
"Many Americans are turned off by conventional news broadcasts because they don't have much love for typical political debate," McCann says. "This is why alternative shows, like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, are so popular. Americans have a deep attachment to democracy, but many don't have the stomach, or the necessary background information about policies, for debate. Driving these vehicles is just another way to communicate with constituents."
McCann says there is not much difference between politicians who are on the campaign trail or in office governing. Many elected officials are engaged in a permanent campaign to maintain their popularity so they can influence political decisions and rally support for their proposals and programs.
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Expert: Violent passion dramas distort biblical accounts
A Purdue historian says people who watch Mel Gibson's passion play film should be careful that its violent portrayal of Christ's death does not distort their attitudes.
"The Passion of the Christ is a benchmark for portrayal of Jesus' passion, his suffering, during his last week on earth," says Gordon R. Mork, a professor of History and Jewish Studies who has studied anti-Semitic messages in passion plays. "As people watch and talk about various performances of the passion drama, Mel Gibson's film will spark discussion for many years to come about how passion dramas should be done or how they should not be done."
The Gibson film was rereleased on March 11, 2005.
"From a historian's perspective, one of the dangers of the film The Passion of the Christ is that people may jump to the conclusion that the brutal motion picture is true in every detail," Mork says. "If you read the Gospels, you get a different picture. Jesus did suffer and die, but the lurid details Gibson presents came from the visions of a German nun, Sister Emmerich, who lived 1,800 years after the events themselves."
Mork, who has written several articles on the subject and presented his work at interfaith conferences, has compared the film with the published account of the nun's visions, as well as with the Bible. The way Gibson portrays the violent death of Christ follows the nun's vision more than the Bible. For example, the film's violent whipping of Jesus is mentioned with a few words in the Gospels, but the nun's description continues for several pages in what Mork calls "vicious detail."
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OTHER NEWS
Class, professor address needs of Spanish-speaking students
A new class is helping Purdue Spanish-speaking students learn more about the language they grew up listening to and speaking with their family.
"There is a growing Latino population in this country, and for many of these students, Spanish is their first language," said Sonia González, assistant professor of Spanish and director of the Spanish for Heritage Language Students program. "However, these Spanish-speaking students spent most of their time learning English in school. And even many of those who enrolled in traditional Spanish classes did not find a program that addressed their linguistic needs as a native or heritage speaker."
The term "heritage" is used to describe a student who grew up learning Spanish to some degree and is also bilingual in English, González said.
Students interested in the fall 2005 course can attend an informational session at 6 p.m. on April 7 in Stanley Coulter, Room 131. Refreshments will be provided, and students currently taking the course will be available to answer questions. Students interested in enrolling in the course need to take a placement exam at 6 p.m. on April 21 in Stanley Coulter, Room G030. For more information, contact González.
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FACULTY AND HONORS
– Charlene Haddock Seigfried, professor of Philosophy and American Studies in the College of Liberal Arts, has been awarded the 2005 John Dewey Society Outstanding Achievement Award. Seigfried, who was recognized as the 1998 John Dewey Lecturer, also will be presenting at the University of Cologne in Germany in April as part of the ceremony to inaugurate the university's new Center for Dewey Studies. John Dewey, a founder of pragmatism, is known as the philosopher of democracy and for his innovative educational theory.
Seigfried also has been named the new director for the English and Philosophy doctoral program in the Department of Philosophy. She is an expert in classical American philosophy and pragmatism.
– The A.H. Ismail Center for Health, Exercise and Nutrition at Purdue has been recognized as an age-friendly facility by the International Council on Active Aging, known as the ICAA. The Ismail Center is the first fitness facility in Indiana to obtain this designation. The council is the world's largest trade association for the senior fitness and wellness industry.
Purdue's Ismail Center gained this designation by meeting requirements set out by the ICAA in nine areas, including equipment, staffing and customer service, and programming. By meeting these requirements the center will participate in the ICAA's national, age-appropriate fitness and wellness facility locator and patient-referral program. The Ismail Center operates three fitness programs for older adults, including the 650-plus member Adult Fitness Program. The center was opened in 1999 and is operated by the Department of Health and Kinesiology in the College of Liberal Arts.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Purdue Theatre to present world premiere of His Occupation
Purdue Theatre is currently presenting the world premiere of the Ross Maxwell play His Occupation through April 10 in the Black Box Theatre, Creative Arts Building 3.
Kristine Holtvedt, associate professor of Theatre at Purdue, is directing the production.
His Occupation is scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. on April 5-9. A Sunday matinee of the play also will take place at 2 p.m. April 10. The play opened March 31.
Admission is $5.50 per person for each performance. Tickets are available at Stewart Center's Loeb Box Office or by calling (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW toll-free.
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Purdue Theatre upcoming productions include Metamorphoses on April 14-24.
Based on the epic works of Ovid, Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses is about love, loss, obsession and inspiration. This mix of comedy, tragedy and music breathes new life into such tales as the legend of King Midas and recounts the captivating stories of Cupid, Psyche, Aphrodite, Orpheus and others.
Rueff Galleries sets schedule for April exhibits
The Patti and Rusty Rueff Galleries at Purdue University will feature a variety of exhibits in April, including a series of pieces created with mud and a chance to observe how artists install art exhibits.
The galleries, located in the Yue-Kong Pao Hall for Visual and Performing Arts, 552 W. Wood St., are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Exhibits and receptions are free and open to the public.
Artwork created by seniors in the Fine Arts program in the Division of Art and Design will be displayed April 25-29 in the East and West galleries. The show is entitled "Tapping Softly on a Weather Ceiling." A reception will take place in the Rueff Galleries from 4:30-6:30 p.m. April 29.
West Gallery exhibits include:
