Summer 2012 College of liberal arts Summer 2012 contentS s > In PraISe of Play acwilliam M y LL e k Philosophy is a serious business — Alumni from diverse professions repeatedly seemingly abstruse and humorless. Yet tell me that, above all, the liberal arts chal- much philosophical thinking has been lenged them to think. Critical thinking can be THE born of humor and the creative power of acquired, of course, without the study of the play. Democritus, arguably the first liberal arts, but it’s the questions that the lib- philosopher of science, was known for his eral arts ask, rather than the thinking itself, propensity for laughter, and his serious that have special significance. Only in the lib- Democritus sense of play resulted in some remarkable eral arts are questions raised about the mean- JAMes A. PArente, Jr. INCREDIBLE Dean, College of Liberal Arts discoveries. ing of life, the nature of social, political, and economic order, and the variety of the human POWER OF LiBERAL ARTS In that vein we introduce this summer’s Reach with a jocular experience and our beliefs. cover as an entrée into the creativity of our faculty, students, and alumni. It is by virtue of their diversity that the liberal arts can provide a context for discerning connections between seemingly distinct Current public discussion about higher education has lost spheres of knowledge. The liberal arts have thrived for centu- THinKERS sight of the “serious play” of discovery and innovation tradi- ries because of their capacity to entertain fundamental questions tionally stimulated by universities. In the course of this year’s that elude definitive response, to force connections between did you know they fuel discovery intense presidential campaign, higher education itself has disparate fields, and to train generations of students to use both become, not only a topic, but also a target for divisive debate. and innovation between disparate reason and imagination to create with confidence and verve. Most Americans agree about the demonstrated economic In this issue of Reach you will read about exciting connec- benefits of a college degree, but concerns about cost and tions that faculty and students in our college are drawing fields — including science and restricted job opportunities are causing students and their between science and the humanities. You will see how in families to question the value of the experience. technology? Stories CLA we not only do science, we interrogate the scientific Such skepticism is understandable. The cost of an undergrad- method and its assumptions; and you’ll see how we are deci- begin on page 6. uate education continues to rise, especially at public institu- phering and reconstructing ancient papyri, restoring the liv- tions whose states have disinvested in this public good. ing language of the Ojibwe people, and exploring the Students and their families rightly ask for data about job dynamics of molecular structures through dance — all this placement for graduates across several fields before choosing using the latest scientific techniques. a course of study. These questions are not new. The link Summer is the season for reflecting and preparing for the between an academic program and a career has always been busy fall ahead. It is also the season of play. I encourage you to implicit in higher education. Medieval universities were animate your summer with “serious play”— the imaginative founded to train lawyers, physicians, and theologians, and exploration of the self and the world for which the liberal arts Renaissance universities construed training in the liberal arts, have prepared you. the studium humanitatis, to be in the service of the state. The psychologist Erik H. Erikson wrote, “The playing adult The link between career and the liberal arts can be less obvious << On the COver steps sideward into another reality.” In preparing to meet than the link between career and the study of, say, business or the liberal arts and science both our private challenges, and — in this election year — those engineering. Yet we know that the liberal arts can and do lead get bright ideas together. of our global society, the power to envision and create new Illustration by Jonathan twingley their students to many different paths — ranging from business, realities is certainly one to exercise and cherish. law, and the health sciences to journalism and the fine arts. 6 10 13 16 2 fIeld of InquIry 22 We thank our donorS 29 for the love of learnIng news and research from CLA Mary hicks writes about the World of PhI-ScI ServIng uP good can you Say “Internet” you, too, can tranSlate 23 on a PerSonal NOTE Bound to PleaSe Our alums — one won internships. so an evolutionary biologist, a news aBout food In ojibwe? ancIent documentS! 19 spotlight on a book about an Oscar! Back COver philosopher and a yeast cell walked the psychology of getting kids to technology to preserve Citizen-scientists around the feeding the world. On the uses of failure into a bar – true story. Mostly. eat their veggies, and astronauts a language world are decoding Greco- 27 the lIveS they led In memory By Randall FILLMOre to eat enough By GreG BreInInG egyptian fragments. By GreG BreInInG By kIrsten WeIr read reach onlIne: z.umn.edu/reach of InquIry > news and reSearch from cla APPs fOr AID 40 YEARs OLd ANd GETTING BETTER Thanks to five undergraduate students, humani- program from the Ultralingua has led me to job interviews and job Emerging 40 years ago during the Civil with courses on education policy and tarian aid workers around the world will be able ground up — from offers. This experience as a whole is where I see Rights Movement, the Department of practices, community filmmaking, health, to communicate with disaster victims in their strategies and tactics my education and career come together. CLA Chicano Studies was a manifestation of business, and media. own languages. to the webpage. understands the importance of doing more than the nation’s 20th-century struggle to end Department chair Louis Mendoza says the learning by sitting in a classroom. I did a real racism, sexism, homophobia, and other In a class on strategic commu- A year later, Apps for department’s future will be shaped by two goals. project and made a real difference.” inequalities. Today it continues to ground nication campaigns taught by Aid has been used by “First, we’ll continue to play a critical role in its work in social justice, and incorporates instructor Bruce Moorhouse, the the Red Cross and by International Medical This tiny company, literally down the street educating everyone on the important contribu- community outreach and service-learning five decided to take on a group Relief (IMR), an organization that sends short- from Folwell Hall — CLA’s center of language tions Latinos and Latinas make to the social, as key distinctions. project for Ultralingua, a Dinky- term medical missions to help in disasters around and cultural study — abounds with CLA folks. cultural, intellectual, political, and economic town startup that makes language the world — recently in China, Indonesia, Chile, Alum Chris Ernt, B.A. ’04, cinema and media In celebrating its anniversary, the well-being of this country,” he says. “Second, translation software for business, and the Philippines. culture, is a designer; adjunct linguistics instruc- department is looking forward more we’ll continue to partner with the local Latino travel, and education. Sarah tor Blake Howald is in R&D; German-language than backward. A name change, to community to increase educational access, and Apps include general translation and medical Theisen, ’12; Jaclyn Lien, ’12; and marketing student Christopher Kuehl, and “Department of Chicano-Latino Studies,” through our service-learning opportunities work dictionaries, verb conjugators, apps for grammar Michelia Pham, ’11; and Patrick Ashleigh Lincoln, B.A. ’09, and Kelsey Lund, ’12, will signal its intent to address the to improve their overall quality of life.” er and numbers, and flashcards. Users don’t need to Puckett, ’12 (College of Design), both in strategic communications, all work in changing face of Minnesota’s and the ILL – keLLy O’BrIen M connect to the Internet to use the services. joined Christopher Lucia, ’11, marketing; Jeremy Bergerson, M.A. ’04, German, United States’ fastest-growing ethnic A s I L who was already on board as Meanwhile, Theisen has been hired as an intern and Herman Koutouan, M.A. ’11, French, are group. And it will add an intern. to expand the program. She says: “When I walked language specialists. to an already inter- ChicanO-LAtInO stUDIes: ADDressInG the into Bruce’s class the first day, I had no idea that it disciplinary curriculum Left to right: Ashleigh They were responding to Ultralingua’s desire to – MAry PAttOCk ChAnGIng face OF MInnesOtA’s fastest- would change my life. I am so glad I was a part of Lincoln, Chris kuehl, Chris formalize a program that would make the ernt, Blake howald and the Apps for Aid group because it led me to an GrowinG ethnIC GrOUP translation software available to response and sarah theisen internship at Ultralingua. What I have done at relief agencies. The challenge was to build the DaNCe As tEST-TUBE? VOTERs WHo COMe in fROm tHe WEB n U professors Carl Flink and David Odde have There are limits. Dancers can’t simulate every O Did you realize that younger adults are only half as likely to vote as people Until now, that is. Lewis and his former colleagues at The University discovered that skilled dancers can test a scientist’s conceivable 3D movement. But there are plusses, er AM over 30? It’s true: Election Day turnout averages about 69 percent for older of Texas at Austin have produced a study suggesting that because young model of a cell’s inner life more quickly than a too.