UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

History

2019 Connelly Lecture: “Rethinking Glaciers & Icebergs,” Feb. 21

The Rev. James Connelly, C.S.C. Lecture Series will welcome history professor Mark Carey to campus on Thursday, February 21, 5 to 6 p.m., in Franz Hall room 120. Carey will present “Rethinking Glaciers and Icebergs: From the Sinking of the Titanic to Climate Change and Offshore Oil,” and discuss how we must rethink ice to understand past human relationships with icebergs and glaciers in order to adapt to the future. Carey is professor of history and environmental studies in the Clark Honors College and director of the Environmental Studies program at the University of Oregon.

For ADA or event information contact Blaire Woodard, history, at woodard@up.edu or x8765.

New Duties For Fr. Art Wheeler

wheeler copyRev. Art Wheeler, C.S.C., has indicated to the provost that he would like to return to the history faculty on a full-time basis beginning with the 2015 fall semester. He currently serves as assistant to the provost and director of the Studies Abroad Progam.

In his 20 years as study abroad director, Fr. Art has been relentless about adding programs and encouraging students to study abroad, and now about one-third of UP students have studied abroad at some point in their academic programs. He has also served as associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and was a long serving chair of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Athletics. Father Art has  consistently taught classes while serving in administrative roles. He won the Culligan Award, the highest award for faculty at the University of Portland, in 2005, and was recognized with the Dean’s Award for Leadership in 2012. He is a well-known advocate for students and his counseling and advising services have been influential in students’ lives for many years.

For more information contact the provost’s office at 7105 or staten@up.edu.

Faculty Symposium on Dante’s Divine Comedy, Oct. 30

University of Portland, upBrad Franco, history, will conduct a faculty symposium in advance of the November 6 lecture on Dante’s Divine Comedy, according to Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center. The symposium will take place on Thursday, October 30, from 4 t0 5:30 p.m., in the Holy Cross Lounge on Franz Hall’s third floor. All faculty are invited and refreshments will include wine and cheese.  Those who plan to attend are encouraged to read articles by Bill Cook and Ron Herzman, which include “What Dante learned from Francis,” provided at this link. Tapes developed by Cook and Herzman are available in the Garaventa Center, which is sponsoring the symposium as well as the November 6 lecture.

For more information or to RSVP contact Franco at 7192 or franco@up.edu.

Humor As A Weapon Against Fascism, Oct. 22

U of PThe Garaventa Center welcomes UP history professor Brian Els as he focuses on humor as a response to Nazi oppression on Wednesday, October 22, at 7:30 p.m., in Mago Hunt Center recital hall. Nicole Hanig, performing and fine arts, and Gregory Pulver’s Musical Theater & Opera Workshop Ensemble will provide live renditions of music heard in 1930s Germany, including the singing sensation known as the Comedian Harmonists. The lecture is part of the Beckman Humor Project.

For more information contact the Garaventa Center at 7702 or powell@up.edu.

Craige Champion Lecture, Feb. 17

Craige_Champion copyCraige Champion, associate professor of history at Syracuse University, will give a lecture, “To Believe or Not to Believe: Roman Senators and the State Religion,” on Monday, February 17, at 7 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 319. Champion will present the findings of his recently completed manuscript on ancient Roman religion (Pax Deorum: Elite Religious Practices in the Middle Roman Republic, Yale University Press). Countering an embedded, widely-held interpretation over two thousand years old, he argues that Roman governing elites did indeed believe in their gods, rather than being the skeptical and incredulous manipulators still perceived by most scholars on Roman religion. The argument should be of interest to anyone who is concerned with questions of the intersections between politics and religion, and elite/non-elite social relations in any historical society.

The lecture is sponsored by the history department with the support of the Distinguished Historian Fund, founded by Fr. James Connelly, C.S.C. For more information contact Brad Franco, history, at 7192 or franco@up.edu.

UP Hosts History Conference

The University history department and its Rho Pi Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honors society, hosted the Northwest Regional Conference on April 4-6. It is the largest regional conference in the country and included 140 student presenters from over 20 different schools around the region, including University of Idaho, Montana State University/Billings, Gonzaga University, Western Washington University, Portland State, and Linfield College. Eight students from UP presented their research at the conference. The conference program can be found at  http://wordpress.up.edu/history/2013-pat-conference-info/.

Northwest Passages First Again

The spring 2012 edition of the history department’s student journal, Northwest Passages, has again been awarded first prize in the Gerald D. Nash History Journal competition, the second year in a row that the journal has received first prize and the fourth time overall. Special recognition goes to faculty advisor Mark Eifler and student editors Tessa Daniels, Cassie Passon, and Whitney Simpson (all 2012 graduates); senior Renee Erb, and junior Lindsey Tsuruda. For more information contact Elise Moentmann, history, at 7341 or moentman@up.edu.