Faculty seminar series to encourage dialogue on 'unintended consequences'

The Faculty Seminar Series, “Unintended Consequences: What the Humanities Could Have Told You (If Only You Had Asked),” presented by the Institute for Humanities Research, draws faculty, students and community members together to discuss the concerns and methodologies that characterize and distinguish humanities research.

The first event in the series, “The Limits of Reason,” will be held at 12 p.m., Oct. 5, at the Tempe campus’ Social Sciences building, room 109, and is free and open to the public.

Presenters include Joel Gereboff, Associate Professor of religious studies in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, who will speak on “Emotions and Reason,” and Patricia Huntington, Professor of philosophy in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, who will present “Decentering the ‘Rational Man’ in Philosophy.”

The Nov. 14 event, “Literary Insight,” features Deb Clarke, professor in the Department of English, and her talk, “Reading Faulkner in Sichuan” and Ian Moulton, Associate Professor with the School of Letters and Sciences, who will present “Love, Sex, and Mechanical Reproduction: Print and the History of an Emotion,”

The Jan. 30 event “Stolen Rhetoric,” features Keith Miller, professor in the Department of English and his topic, “Mangling Martin Luther King: How to Oppress the Poor While Hijacking Affirmative Action,” and Matthew Whitaker, professor of history with the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, and his presentation, “One Nation Under a Groove: How Black Culture Makes America Cool.”

All events will take place at noon, in Social Sciences room 109, on the Tempe campus.

The Institute for Humanities Research in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was established in 2005. It has taken the lead in promoting excellence and innovation in humanities scholarship by contributing to scholarly research that addresses socially significant issues and engaging the community. More information is available at http://ihr.asu.edu or 480-965-3000.