Spring 2011 Brown Bag Series
"Designing Novel Antibiotics in Undergraduate
Laboratories"
Jeremy Johnson, Chemistry
Wednesday, March 30, noon - 1 p.m.,
AU111
Since the discovery of penicillin in the 1920's, antibiotics
have become the standard treatment for bacterial and fungal
infections. The overuse of these antibiotics has however led to the
development of antibiotic resistance amongst bacterial populations.
The emergence of these new antibiotic resistant bacteria or
"superbugs" has created a significant human health hazard. Yet,
only three new classes of antibiotics have been developed in the
last 40 years. So how do you design a novel antibiotic? In this
presentation, Jeremy Johnson, Chemistry, will explain the basics of
drug design and describe the construction of novel antibiotics
using undergraduate laboratories at Butler.
Click here to see a pdf
version of the poster for this presentation.
"What is Transnational Literature?"
Ania Spyra, English
Wednesday, March 9, noon-1 p.m.,
University Club (AU111)
"Transnational" has become the buzzword in literary studies. It
often replaces terms such as "comparative," "international,"
"world," or "global" in describing literature influenced by
globalization. But is there really such a thing as transnational
literature? If so, how is it different from immigrant or
postcolonial literature? While questioning the ubiquity of the
term, Ania Spyra will argue that its strength resides in
de-centering the nation state as the standard unit of academic
inquiry. Used as a way to describe a collection of literary
texts, "transnational" transforms the perception of literature as
necessarily a national endeavor.
With the support of BAC Short Course Attendance Grant, Dr. Spyra
participated in Rebecca Walkowitz's Summer Seminar titled "After
the National Paradigm: Literary History, Translation, and the
Making of World Literature." Dr. Spyra would like to use this
opportunity to share with her colleagues how the readings and
discussions at the seminar influenced her research on multilingual
experiments in literature.
Click here to see a
pdf version of the poster for this session.
"Designed for Failure: America's Alternative Energy
Policies"
Peter Grossman, Clarence Efroymson
Professor of Economics
Monday, February 28, noon-1 p.m.,
University Club (AU111)
Why have U.S. government programs to create alternative energy
technologies always failed? Because they have been based on the
mistaken belief that - like the Apollo moon landing - creating a
viable alternative energy technology is only an engineering
problem. In fact, substitution of energy technologies involves
commercial and social questions that engineering alone cannot
solve. Peter Grossman contends that policymakers are confused about
the way innovation occurs and how new products succeed in the
market. Although the promise of a grand engineering feat has
political traction, U.S. energy policy with respect to alternatives
has inevitably failed, and current programs will almost surely
continue that historical record.
Click here to see a pdf
version of the poster for this session.
"Beyond Pleasure and Pain: The Motivational
Implications of Our Misguided Attempts at Predicting Future
Feelings"
Ali O'Malley, Psychology
Monday, February 14, noon-1 p.m., University Club
(AU111)
People tend to be quite bad at predicting how they will feel in
the aftermath of events. This is unfortunate, for our predictions
about our future feelings--known as affective
forecasts--play a role in the decisions we
make. Although we know that the affective forecasting
process is rife with error, we don't know much about the origins of
affective forecasts or their impact on motivation and behavior.
Alison O'Malley will discuss her work linking affective forecasts
to feedback seeking and performance in organizational and classroom
contexts.
Click here to see a pdf
version of the poster for this session.
Fall 2010 Brown Bag Series:
"Tending a Difficult Hope"
Leah Gauthier, Art
Monday, December 6, noon-1 p.m.,
University Club (AU111)
The time to act is NOW. I mean RIGHT NOW. This earth we live on
has changed beyond manageable repair, and there is not another
moment to spare to prepare us for the uncertainties that lie ahead.
In this Brown Bag session, Leah Gauthier will discuss how we the
people have become a nation largely dependent on industry to care
for our needs.
"Tending a Difficult Hope" is an artistic journey towards
self-sufficiency. Throughout the duration of this work, Leah is
learning self-sustaining skills, and teaching them to others
through gallery installations, performances and workshops. Her hope
is that if we can learn together to live "lightly, carefully,
gracefully", maybe, just maybe, we'll gather through what may come,
and learn a second chance to make things right.
The Brown Bag Series provides an opportunity for Butler faculty
to present their original research, scholarship, and creative work,
aimed to speak to both departmental colleagues and those in
completely different disciplines.
Click here to see
a pdf version of the poster for this presentation.
"Tending a Difficult Hope" a
poem by Larry Lad
Sustainable, useable, reusable
Pertaining to
Refraining from
Consumption presumption
Consciousness raising
Planet Earth dug up
Dirt under fingernails
Tending hope, tending garden
Digging in, reclaiming ½ acre among 20,000
Munificent planet
Reintroducing heirloom plants, learning preserving
Declaring the gallery as classroom
Repurposing discards, growing edible sculptures
It's about the beginning of change, engaged senses
Seeing broadly
Smelling, nostrils tingling
Taste buds on fire
Touch as tactile, primordial
Hearing and listening for the gold
Food emotion, food lust
Reflect on this bridge to self sufficiency
Leah's journey work, vision quest, meaning uncovered in this
rediscovery
Small is beautiful!
"More than a Writing Group: Notes from an Active
Research Group"
Terri Carney, Spanish, and guests from IUPUI
Monday, November 1, noon-1 p.m., University Club
(AU111)
Do you want to increase your scholarly output? Perhaps you would
like to develop a more concrete, organized plan to work towards
promotion and tenure? This session is for any faculty member who
would like to approach their research production in a more
organized and supported fashion. In this short session we will
address:
- Individuals' typical research trajectories
- Tools to our success; testimonies of "failures"
- Resources for forming your own research group
- The importance of peer mentoring
- Accountability systems to ensure continued production
Click here to view a pdf
version of the poster for this session.
"Banging your Head Against
Buildings: Differences in Window Strikes Between Downtown and
Suburban Birds and Prospects for Saving our Fine Feathered
Friends."
Chris Hess, Biology
Wednesday, October 20, noon-1 p.m., University Club
(AU111)
Just days after arriving on campus,
Chris Hess started to notice a high frequency of birds dying
from window collisions on campus and started collecting data on
when, where and what species were most at risk. Hess will
discuss the results of these studies as well as compare them to
data gathered by the Amos Butler Audubon Society for buildings in
downtown Indianapolis. He will end with a discussion of
options aimed at decreasing the frequency of window strikes and a
possible experiment that will begin at Butler over the next
year.
Click here to view a pdf
version of the poster for this session.
"Libel, Free Speech and Shared Governance"
Bill Watts, English
Monday, October 4, noon-1 p.m.,
University Club (AU111)
The libel lawsuit Butler University v John Doe
occasioned a good deal of discussion last year about free speech
and the rights and responsibilities of students. In his paper, Bill
Watts argues that the lawsuit also raises important issues related
to shared governance, the principle that the faculty,
administration and board of trustees share responsibility for
shaping and guiding the academic mission of the university. In
particular, he attempts, through examination of the principles of
shared governance, to initiate discussion about the proper role of
the faculty in shaping the learning environment of our students.
This presentation contains the substance of a paper Bill will
deliver at the AAUP Conference on Shared Governance in
November.
Click here to view a pdf
version of the poster for this session.
"Perspectives on Microfinance: Evolution and
Revolution"
Larry Lad, Marketing, and Sheryl Ann
Stephen, Finance
Wednesday, September 22, noon-1 p.m.,
University Club, AU111
A revolution is catching on. Even during the current global
financial turmoil, microfinance and micro-lending has drawn
increased attention in both popular business press and academic
research. This Brown Bag session will trace the evolution of
microcredit, and offer a range of perspectives on its potential and
practice including both international and local examples. Where
possible, we intend to engage the group in an interdisciplinary
discussion about how we can move from "third person" observers to
"first person" doers in this movement.
Click here to
view a pdf version of the poster for this session.
Click here to
view the PowerPoint presentation from this session.
"Explaining Nature, Explaining History"
Stuart Glennan, Philosophy
Wednesday, September 8, noon-1 p.m.,
AU302
What if anything is the connection between the explanatory
methods of historians and natural scientists? Some philosophers
have argued that the nature of the subject matter in history and
the "human sciences" demands a special methodology, while others
claim that historical explanations, if they are to really explain
things, must emulate the explanatory techniques of the natural
sciences. Stuart Glennan (Philosophy) will argue that the
explanations in the natural sciences (especially biology) have more
in common with explanations in history than is commonly supposed.
Biologists (especially evolutionary biologists) are concerned with
historical questions, and like historians their explanations often
utilize narrative. Certain problems that have been raised about the
legitimacy of narrative explanation in both history and the natural
sciences can be solved if we understand narratives as descriptions
of something Stuart calls an "ephemeral mechanism."
Click here to view
a pdf version of the poster for this session.