Humanities News, Features, and Other Updates

Join the English programs at Michigan Tech and Finlandia for the local book launch/celebration of Stephanie Carpenter’s (HU) new book of short stories, “Missing Persons” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10 at the
Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock.

Carpenter will read from her book and a short reception will follow. George Saunders, winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize and author of “Lincoln in the Bardo,” has described “Missing Persons” as “Inventive, magical, compelling and strange in just the way life and people are strange. Stephanie Carpenter is a rare and wonderful talent.”

Join Scott Marratto (HU) from 4-5 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 1) in MUB Ballroom B1 for his presentation, “Morality and Technology: Rethinking Engineering Ethics.”

Marratto’s discussion will conclude the Fall 2017 HuskyLEAD workshops; however, individuals are still encouraged to check out the HuskyLEAD-Strengths Series opportunities still happening.

Traditional approaches to engineering ethics stress the application of professional codes of ethics to real-world problems. The mainstay of education in this approach is the case-study: the examination of real and hypothetical incidents (e.g., the space shuttle Challenger accident) with a view to drawing lessons about how ethical rules and procedures could, or should, have been applied. A number of ethicists and philosophers of technology have raised critical questions about this approach.

They have argued that ethics should be more integrated into the education of engineers and designers. In this talk and discussion, we will consider some of these challenges and proposals for new approaches to engineering ethics.

Vicky Bergvall (HU), Diane Shoos (HU) and Patty Sotirin (HU), along with RTC doctoral students Nancy Henaku and Tolulope Odebunmi and RTC alumna Lindsay Hingst, presented papers in the panel “Signs of Women’s Empowerment and Collective Action” at the 40th anniversary conference of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender in Omaha, Nebraska, Oct 12-14.

L. Syd M Johnson (HU) attended the American Society for Bioethics & Humanities annual meeting from Oct.19-22 in Kansas City, Missouri. She organized, presented at and moderated a workshop session on “Belmont for Animals? Considering a framework for protecting nonhuman primates in research”. She also organized, presented at and moderated a panel session on brain death, “Ethics in the Center: When medically ‘settled’ matters and social, cultural, or religious values diverge.” She organized and chaired the Animal Bioethics Affinity Group meeting and she was a guest panelist for a film screening of the documentary film “Unlocking the Cage.”

L Syd M Johnson (HU) was in Daegu, South Korea for the Global Neuroethics Summit Monday through Wednesday (Oct. 16-18). She was part of the delegation representing the Neuroethics Division of the NIH BRAIN Initiative.

The program has been announced for the 41 North Film Festival and is now available online. The festival runs Nov. 2-5 in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and features four days of award-winning independent film from around the world, along with music, guests and special events.

The festival opens on Thursday, Nov. 2, with “Voices of Light: The Passion of Joan of Arc,” an evening of film and music in collaboration with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and the ConScience Michigan Tech Chamber Singers.

Regarded as one of the most influential films in the history of cinema, the 1928 silent film by Danish director Carl Th. Dreyer will be presented with Richard Einhorn’s hauntingly beautiful composition for solo voices, chorus and orchestra performed live.

Film theorist and historian David Bordwell will present a public lecture on Dreyer and participate in a Q&A with Conductor Joel Neves and Choral Director Jared Anderson following the performance.

Tickets for this special events must be purchased separately here. Michigan Tech Students with the Experience Tech fee need only bring their ID to the performance. The rest of the festival is free and open to the public, although a ticket must be reserved.

Other featured events include:

• Friday, Nov. 3: The festival will feature “AlphaGo“ at 7:30 p.m., the story of Google Deepmind’s A.I. challenge match with the world Go champion, Lee Sedol. The film will be followed by a panel discussion and after party.
• Saturday, Nov. 4: The festival will honor Michigan Tech Professor Emeritus Joe Kirkish for his long-standing contribution to film appreciation and community in the Keweenaw. The Festival will pay tribute to Kirkish at 4 p.m. before the screening of film legend Agnès Varda’s new film “Faces Places“ and then gather for a reception following the film at 6 p.m. in the Rozsa lobby. At 7:30 p.m. the festival presents the critically-acclaimed “Sami Blood,” a drama about a 14-year-old Sámi girl who is subjected to racism and eugenic scrutiny in 1930s Sweden. The film will screen with the short film “Ogichidaa,” which features Jerry Jondreau of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in a story about his grandfather’s struggle for tribal rights. A panel discussion will follow these films.
• Sunday, Nov. 5. The festival’s closing night film, “Far Western,” tells the story of a dedicated group of Japanese country/bluegrass musicians and the unique bonds forged through music. Keweenaw Brewgrass will start off the final event with music at 7 p.m.

More a dozen additional new films will play during the festival. Visit the festival website for more information on films and events throughout the weekend. Festival patrons who would like to have dinner at the theater between films on Saturday, Nov. 4 will be able to reserve a picnic dinner box for $10 when they reserve their festival ticket.

Major sponsorship for the 41 North Film Festival is provided by the Department of Humanities, the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

New York History and New York History: The Quarterly Journal of the Fenimore Art Museum published the research article “Studying Objects, Objectifying Students: Natural History at Women’s Colleges in Postbellum New York State” by Andrew Fiss (HU). Looking at historical lessons in natural history, it argues that certain ways of teaching science encouraged the treatment of students as experiments, specimens, and museum exhibits.

Through generous support from a Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) mini-grant, the English Education Program, partnering with the Copper Country Reading Council (CCRC), invites the Michigan Tech community to a family-oriented concert in Houghton at at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 at Saints Peter and Paul Church (Madeline Street).

We are able to offer the community accomplished musician and children’s author, Kitty Donohoe. Donohoe will be in the Copper Country this fall as the CCRC’s visiting artist in the schools for the CCRC’s North Woods Kids Project. The concert is free, and family-oriented; however, donations to the CCRC at the door would be appreciated and are used to support classroom and community literacy projects in the Copper Country.

Ann Arbor based songwriter and Michigan Emmy recipient Donohoe is not an Irish or Celtic singer, but she clearly draws from that part of her heritage, as well as her American roots, as an artist.

Iconic WFMT-Chicago folk DJ Rich Warren calls Kitty “far above and beyond most singer songwriters.”

She writes music that has been called “earthy, luminous and compelling” (The Weekender), and she’s been praised in the press equally for her voice, her musicality and her songwriting.

Donohoe will visit schools during the week prior to her concert, performing and working closely on creative writing with students for the North Woods Kids project, now in its third year. Any young person between the ages of 5 and 19 (and not in college) is eligible to submit writing or art to Evelyn Johnson, Dept. of Humanities, MTU by Dec. 1.

The 2017-2018 prompt is, “In creative writing or visual art, show your appreciation of Lake Superior.”

For more information on how to submit work to NWK, or on the Donohoe concert, email evjohnso@mtu.edu.