Messiah College Humanities Symposium: Day 6

Today is the final day of the 2010 Messiah College Humanities Symposium. Here is today's lineup:

Student Colloqua: “Remembering Tragedy: A Comparison of Columbine and Nickel Mines”
Boyer Hall 131 | 4-4:45 p.m.
Benjamin Voran, Dr. James LaGrand, Advisor (History)
Benjamin Voran will address how two recent school shootings — Columbine High School (1999) and Nickel Mines Amish school (2006) — have been remembered in markedly different ways by two very different communities. He will explore how several factors, including religion and social class, have contributed to ways of remembering tragedy.

Student Colloquia: “The Forgotten Presidents”
Boyer Hall 131 | 4:45-5:30 p.m. | Melinda Maslin, Tommy DeShong, Rachel Skotnicki, Dr. James LaGrand, Advisor (History)
Which American presidents should be remembered and for what? This student group will present the findings of their survey of Messiah College students, faculty, and staff on these questions. They will discuss how school, documentary films, popular non-fiction books, and various forms of popular culture have shaped how we either remember or forget various presidents.

Faculty Lecture Series: “Messiah College’s Changing Identity, 1970-2000”
Boyer Hall 131 | 7:00-7:45 p.m. | Dr. Paul W. Nisly (English)
As Dr. Nisly has been interviewing, researching, reflecting, and writing about Messiah College’s last 35 to 40 years he has sensed that a “meta-theme” is the issue of identity as the College has grown and changed. Who were we, who are we now, what are we becoming? Size, academic climate, religious affiliation, changes in the profile of the faculty, a more diverse student body, the five-school structure, a challenging economic climate — all these and more affect our identity.

Faculty Lecture Series: “Messiah College’s Forgotten Landscapes”
Faculty Lecture Series | Boyer Hall 131 | 7:45-8:30 p.m.
Dr. David K. Foster (Biology and Environmental Science)
The natural history of our community and how it has shaped us will be reviewed. This history includes geological formation of Messiah’s as well as some of the notable non-human residents that share this location. Dr. David K. Foster will also speak about earlier human presence in this area and how their understanding of their place in the world shaped what we have come to call “natural.” Also explored will be how memory of the past shapes our future and what this site will forever reveal about our relationship to the Creator.