What’s Coming
There are these exciting things to look forward to this
fall semester.
21 November: No classes
22-23 November: University
Closed.
29 November: The Rabbi Brooks
Memorial Lecture at the W. H. Thompson Alumni Center. Dr. Moshe
Gerschovich will speak on Muslim-Jewish relations.
5 December: 4 p.m. UNOmaha Undergraduate Philosophy Club in ASH 205
Conference Room.
6 December: Holiday Open House will be held from noon to 3 p.m.
14 December: Last day of classes for Fall Semester.
21 December: Commencement
22 December – 1 January: University closed.
14 January: Spring Semester Begins
Welcome to the first
issue of the Double D (Departmental Dispatch). We hope this will be a way
for each of you to be kept informed about the activities of the UNOmaha
Philosophy and Religion Department and each other in these busy times.
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New faculty welcomed
Members of the Philosophy and Religion Department
welcomed three new people to their group this fall and added another
full-time faculty member to the ranks.
Dr. Paul Allen Williams, visiting
assistant professor, is teaching four Introduction to World Religions
classes this semester. In the spring he will teach two Introduction to
World Religions and classes on a New Testament African Religions. He comes
to UNOmaha from the Chicago area.
Jonathan Evans is teaching two
philosophy classes this fall, Introduction to Philosophy and Introduction
to Ethics. A graduate student at UNL, he expects to complete his
dissertation by the end of December.
Dr. Thomas Martin, a familiar face some
years back at UNOmaha, is teaching one Introduction to World Religions
class this fall. He lives in Fremont.
Laura Grams was given a full-time
visiting assistant professor position in philosophy. She was full-time in
the spring in Dr. Rory Conces’ place, during his stay in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. |
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Dr. Halla Kim
has been given tenure track status. Kim teaches not only Introduction to
Philosophy, but is also teaching the Theory of Knowledge this semester.
Dr. Pamela Jean
Owens spent part of the summer in Texas and Oklahoma doing
research on her Cherokee Bible project and also made a presentation at a
conference in Texas. This semester, she also did a presentation at a
research poster session on campus. She is teaching Introduction to World
Religions, Native American Religion and Native American Studies this
semester.
Dr. Xiaomei Yang
spent five weeks in Hawaii attending an Institute. She is teaching Chinese
Philosophy and Religion this semester. She also teaches Introduction to
Ethics and Critical Reasoning.
Dr. Andrew Newman,
Department Chair, is putting the finishing touches on his latest book,
The Correspondence Theory of Truth
(Cambridge University Press, July 2002).
Dr. Ron Burke
and Dr. William Blizek attended a conference on Religion and
Literature at the University of West Virginia in Morgantwon, WV, Septmeber
28-29 where Blizek led one of the discussions. The two are working with
the conference organizers in hopes of having religion and film be the
focus of next year’s conference.
Blizek and Burke also have received word that the
Journal of Religion and Film
will be indexed in the Modern Language Association (MLA) International
Bibliography and the
Journal will also be listed in the MLA
Directory of Periodicals.
The MLA International Bibliography, the most
widely distributed humanities database, is the preeminent reference work
in the fields of literature, |
language, linguistics, and folklore.
It contains detailed
information on over 3,000 journals and book series publishing in
literature, language, linguistics, and folklore, regardless of frequency.
Dr. Rory Conces
had an editorial published in the Bosnia Daily on 26
September. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Sarajevo from
January to June of this year.
Dr. Paul A. Williams
presented a paper for a conference at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign this past week, 11-13 October 2001. Prof. Williams'
paper was entitled "'Continuing the Partnership': The Role of American
Protestant Churches in the Reconstruction of Congo." Called "Reclaiming
the Congo and Its Potential for Africa: Strategic plans for the
reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of Congo," the conference
included keynote speakers Mr. Adam Hochschild (author, King Leopold's
Ghost), Prof. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Dr. Faida Mitifu (Ambassador
to the United States from DRC), Dr. Ngoy Boliya (Rector of the Protestant
University of Congo), Prof. Ngwarsungu Chiwengo (Creighton University,
Omaha) and Dr. Roger Mwamba (Medical Inspector, Equator Province, DRC).
Results of the conference discussions will be forwarded to the
InterCongolese Dialogue, a national dialogue organized to find a solution
to the war in Congo and the full implementation of the Lusaka accords.
Retirement:
Dr. Michael
Gillespie announced this
month that he would retire at the end of this academic year.
Dr. Russell
Palmer also
has announced that he will retire at the end of this academic year.
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Also
Worthy of Note:
Three presentations in the Colloquium Series for 2001-2002 have been held.
Dr. Dale Stover gave a presentation on “Keeping Kinship with
Plant and Animal Relatives”. Dr. Bruce Johansen spoke in
October on “Ground Zero: Environmental Apocalypse”. Dr. Michael
Gillespie’s topic was “When Normal Is Bad: Is It Possible To Live
Well In A Highly (Economically) Developed Society?”
10 October was the
annual Goldstein Lecture. This year’s speaker was LaShawn Jefferson
who is executive director of the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights
Watch.
The Department also held an Open House for
students in September which was well attended, attracting both faculty and
students.
Department faculty also participated in the Office
of Recruiting Services Open House on 19 October. Owens had created a
PowerPoint presentation to tell the department’s story and several
handouts were available for students.
Student
Kudos:
Lisa Bobba,
Jennie Crudup, Andrea Jorgensen, Amanda
Kirk and Elena O’Connell were awarded the
undergraduate prize for the best presentation by undergraduate students to
the Student Research Conference at UNL in February. They presented two
case studies on ethical problems in education. The five were students of
Dr. William Blizek in his Ethics in Education class.
Ashley Barnett
participated in the German Academic Exchange Service over the summer.
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More Student
Kudos:
Brett Mertins and Joan Percival
were May Philosophy major graduates.
Michelle Mason was a May graduate with a minor in Philosophy.
Sandra Kozel and Jerry Corner graduated in May
will minors in religion.
Christopher
Lantz graduated in August
with a major in Philosophy.
Give
us Your Input
Have something you would like the department to consider - a class,
presentation? Send us your ideas!
We’d also appreciate receiving personal updates that we may share with
other alumni and friends of the Philosophy and Religion Department.
Include your name, address, phone number, year you graduated,
major/minor and a little bit about what you are doing now. With your
permission, we will include some of that information in our next
newsletter.
Our postal address
is:
Department of
Philosophy and Religion
ASH 205 UNOmaha
6001 Dodge St.
Omaha, NE 68182-0265
Email us at
phil-rel@unomaha.edu.
Just mark your
email as Phil-Rel Idea or Phil-Rel Newsnotes so it gets routed in the
correct direction.
Don’t want to stay
in touch via the Philosophy and Religion Department’s mailings. Let us
know but we’d also appreciate hearing why you wish to be removed from
the list.
Think of
Us
Think of us when
you consider your gift giving this holiday season – both for your tax
relief and our benefit. Tax deductible donations may be given to The
Anderberg Fund and The Brooks and Goldstein Lectures funds by earmarking
them for the fund you wish to support in care of the University of
Nebraska Foundation, 6712 W. Dodge Rd, Suite 100, Omaha NE 68114.
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In addition to the classes that are taught every
semester by departmental faculty, the Spring 2002 schedule will also
feature several upper division courses, including special topic classes
that are not taught regularly.
Here’s a rundown of those classes (Professor’s name
follow the courses they are teaching):
Archeology of the New Testament
Biblical Cities
Dr. Rami Arav
Religion in America
Karl Barth
Dr. Russell Palmer
Ethics & Film
Dr. William Blizek |
Medieval Religious Philosophy
(religion or philosophy class)
Judaism in the Modern Age
Guy Matalon
Religion & Homosexuality
Dr. Dale Stover
New Testament
African Religions
Dr. Paul Williams
Chinese Philosophy and Religion
(either a
religion or philosophy class)
Dr. Xiaomei Yang
And through Continuing Studies:
The Four Gospels
Dr. Marty McDaniel
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