Newsletter for The Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center THE FOUNTAIN

Transcription

1 Newsletter for The Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center THE FOUNTAIN

2 Director s Message Table of Contents 01 Director s Message 02 Research Fellowships Community Lectures 07 Mormon Studies Initiative 09 National Theatre Live 11 Programming Highlights 13 Donors and Supporters With next year my last as director of the Tanner Humanities Center, this will be my final newsletter message to you. For more than a decade I have served as director, one of the most prestigious positions that I could possibly have held at the. It has been the capstone of my career. During this time, we have developed programs that reveal humanities as the core of an intellectually healthy campus and community. The humanities teach us to be human. They inspire not only this world, but a better world. The state of the Center is excellent; we have raised high this tribute to Obert and Grace Tanner. Over the past twelve years, the Tanner Center staff has inaugurated a dozen new initiatives. We have increased the number of research fellowships provided to faculty and students. The World Leaders Lecture Forum brings to Utah global leaders and has included Ehud Barak, Julia Gillard, and Shirin Ebadi. The Tanner, McMurrin, Artist in Residence, and Gardner Lecture series has welcomed Margret Atwood, Andrew Solomon, Tony Kushner, Suzan Lori Parks, and Richard Bushman. Classes, speakers, and conferences in Mormon Studies enhance not only an understanding of the LDS community but also foster tolerance of diversity. Our British National Theater Live performances attract large and committed audiences. Professors off Campus supports service work and touches many communities in Salt Lake City. Gateway to Learning Teacher Workshops make a significant impact on our junior and senior high schools. We have organized conferences on such topics as Blacks and the LDS Church, Body Image, Mormon intellectuals, and Hurricane Katrina. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of the Tanner Center staff. Over the years many hands and hearts were involved. I thank Josh Elstein, John Boyack, Kim Barnett, and most recently Susan Anderson and Megan Dipo for their devotion to the Center s mission. Associate Director Beth James, who outranks me in years of Center service and who is familiar with every aspect of our work, will make the transition easy come July All of this would be impossible without our supporters on campus and in the community. You have contributed over four million dollars to underwrite our efforts. Thank you again for honoring me with your encouragement and support. Robert A. Goldberg, Professor of History Director, Tanner Humanities Center

3 Research Fellows 02 The Annie Clark Tanner Fellow in Environmental Humanities Gretchen Henderson Lecturer, Department of English, Georgetown University In Spring 2019, Henderson will return to the as the Annie Clark Tanner Fellow in Environmental Humanities. She will teach Tectonic Essays: A Philosophy of Stones, where students will excavate recent writing, art, and scholarship related to stones across geographies and cultures and write ethnographies of local lithic spaces. They also will conduct fieldwork to develop their creative and critical practices. Henderson has compiled an extensive teaching, performance, exhibition, and publication profile working across many fields. She has numerous awards for her innovative and interdisciplinary work in multiple genres. Her books include Ugliness: A Cultural History (2015, currently being translated for Turkish and Korean editions), The House Enters the Street (2012, shortlisted for the AWP Award Series in the Novel), Galerie de Difformité (2011, winner of the Madeleine P. Plonsker Writer s Prize), and On Marvellous Things Heard (2011), along with opera and intermedia works. Recent awards include the Hodson Trust-JCB Fellowship in Creative Arts from Brown University, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities from MIT, and MetaLAB Research Fellowship from Harvard. Visiting Research Fellow Heather Houser Associate Professor, Department of English, The University of Texas at Austin Houser s project, Environmental Culture of the Infowhelm, analyzes 21st century fiction, poetry, visual art, and digital media to assess how they employ ecological data and processes as resources for artistic expression. She aims to demonstrate how we arrive at environmental knowledge through a variety of epistemologies, with particular attention to the interactions between positivist ways of knowing and those based in speculation, emotion, ambiguity, and uncertainty. This project will argue that scientific data and processes of producing knowledge become essential to culture under conditions of information deluge and environmental crisis Faculty Advisory Board Brian Birch, Utah Valley University Bob Goldberg, Gema Guevara, Robin Jensen, Jeff McCarthy, Ted Moore, Salt Lake Community College Colleen O Neill, Utah State University Susie Porter, Dustin Stokes, University of Utah Jonathan Stone, Matthew Wickman, Brigham Young University Matthew Romaniello, Weber State University Jeremy Rosen,

4 03 Virgil C. Aldrich Faculty Fellows Kevin Deluca Professor, Department of Communication Activism on the Wild Public Screens of China: Environmentalism, Social Media, and Civil Society focuses on China s growing environmental movement s use of social media. It analyzes four case studies of citizen and organizational-led initiatives mass protests, international social media campaigns, image events, and a viral documentary and features interviews with activists, domestic and international media reports, and close readings of social media texts and images. Deluca s project will suggest new practices of resistance for activists in a world immersed in a global surveillance society. It also will consider how social media creates pockets of makeshift democracy and thus fosters advances in China s civil society. Rachel Griffin Assistant Professor, Department of Communication In Still I Rise : Early Black Feminist Rhetors, Griffin addresses the unique late 20th century/early 21st century cultural circumstances that foster the sustained audibility and visibility of Black feminist rhetors. This project will track Black women s discursive presence, highlight their intellectual contributions, and theorize their use of Black feminist rhetoric as a distinctive resistance strategy. It also will address how this rhetorical work responds to systemic oppressions that render women of color inferior, inaudible, and invisible. Angela Smith Associate Professor, Department of English and Gender Studies Program Disability Affect: Moving Images and Special Effects considers representations of disability across cinema, television, and the Internet. It draws on recent affective film theory and considers the emotional effects of a set of devices Smith calls dis-fx that is, actors disability simulations, prosthetic costuming, in-camera tricks, post-production editing, digital manipulation, and CGI. It notes the failure of dis-fx to represent disabled moves credibly and analyzes how the presence of disabled bodies as stunt performers, stand-ins, and actors helps reimagine the corporeal and emotional possibilities of atypical bodies on screen.

5 04 Graduate Student Research Fellows Adam Giannelli Department of English Giannelli s dissertation, Stutterfied, consists of a series of poems and essays about stuttering that examine and call into question the ways it is represented in culture and society. These texts not only consider Giannelli s own stuttering and his mother s slurred speech after a stroke, they also look outward toward the environment and place stuttering in a larger context. Influenced by the disability-rights movement and the social model of disability, this project examines the interaction between impairment and environment, blurs the boundary between disability and ability, and portrays stuttering in a positive light, even likening it to poetry itself. Ryan Nelson Department of Philosophy Nelson s dissertation, Understanding Autism: Ontology, Classification, and Ethics, lies at the intersection of the philosophy of medicine and disability studies, with a particular focus on autism. His project seeks to understand how views about what autism is influence views about how individuals with autism ought to be treated. Specifically, Nelson is interested in the distinction between difference and disorder, and the role this distinction plays in judgments about clinical ethics and public policy. As he will argue, clarity on this matter informs a range of debates, including those surrounding the DSM-5, the neurodiversity movement, and the social model of disability. Honors College Undergraduate Research Fellow Maya Kobe-Rundio Honors College, Department of Communication Kobe-Rundio s honors thesis, In Her Element: Outdoor Recreation as a Tool for Female Empowerment and Community Building, explores how outdoor recreation activities can act as a vehicle of female empowerment and community among college-aged women. Kobe-Rundio will interview and photograph a diverse group of female-identified individuals who participate in outdoor recreation. She will analyze both the positive and negative experiences of being a woman in the outdoors and produce a written and visual portrait that reveals her findings.

6 Community Lectures Tanner Lecture on Human Values Anita Hill From Social Movement to Social Impact: Ending Sexual Harrassment September 26, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. Alumni House, Anita Hill is Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University. She also chairs the Commission on Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace. Her public testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee prior to Clarence Thomas Supreme Court appointment in 1991 began a national conversation about sexual inequality and harassment, and her lecture will offer historical context and commentary. The Human Experience in Documentary Films Helen Whitney is an Oscar nominated and Emmy and Peabody award-winning film producer, director, and writer. Her films have explored topics as varied as youth gangs, presidential candidates, the McCarthy era, mental illness, the Mormon faith, and spirituality. Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death features interviews with nine people facing their mortality who consider death in the context of religion, science, art, the natural world, and the power of love. Helen Whitney Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death Film Screening and Q&A November 7, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. Broadway Centre Cinemas, Salt Lake Film Society Tanner Lectures on Human Values Advisory Board Tori Baker, Salt Lake Film Society Martha Bradley, Betsy Burton, The King s English Bookshop Ann Darling, Bob Goldberg, Matt Haber, David Mack, Attorney Mark Matheson, Tom Richmond,

7 06 World Leaders Lectures Forum Vicente Fox Building Bridges: Fixing the Immigration Issue and Strengthening U.S.-Mexico Relations February 12, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Kingsbury Hall, Vicente Fox began his career at Coca-Cola Mexico as a delivery truck driver and route supervisor and rose to become its president and oversee its Latin American operations. He entered public service with election to the federal Chamber of Deputies and then as Governor of Guanajuato. He served as President of Mexico from 2000 to A charismatic leader, Fox spearheaded economic and educational reforms, negotiated trade and immigration policies with the United States, and tackled government corruption. Lecture Ticket Information Our community lectures are free and open to the public, but seating is limited. The screening of Helen Whitney s film and the Vicente Fox lecture will require tickets. Anita Hill s lecture will have first come, first served seating. To stay tuned on event details and ticket or seating availability, check our website or social media pages, subscribe to our mailing list, or contact Megan Dipo at megan.dipo@utah.edu or Professors Off Campus Professors Off Campus allows faculty members to be released from teaching a semester-length class so they may work on-site on a community project. In , this program will support Professor Cathleen Power from the Gender Studies Program. Power will collaborate with Neighborhood House, a local non-profit organization that provides quality, affordable day care and support services to children and adults, based on their ability to pay. Working with students taking communityengaged learning courses, Power will implement and assess an anti-bias curriculum in a Neighborhood House after school program World Leaders Lecture Forum Advisory Board Sheri Bolding, Philanthropist Connor Morgan, Associated Students of The Anne Dolowitz, Philanthropist Spencer P. Eccles, The Cynosure Group Bob Goldberg, Page Juliano, Summit Sotheby s International Realty Derek Miller, The Salt Lake Chamber Mike Morris, Zions Bank David Peterson, Haynie and Company Naoma Tate, Philanthropist

8 07 Mormon Studies Initiative Marlin K. Jensen Scholar in Residence Dr. Ian Barber Associate Professor, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand During his fellowship, Barber will teach a special topics course for the Department of History titled Mormons and the Past. This class will be offered during Fall 2018 and explore a fundamental question: how have Mormon communities lived with and in their past? The course will consider perspectives from cultural anthropology, archaeology, and history, covering difficult topics such as religious violence as well as changing practices with regard to identity, science, and sexualities. Dr. Barber is a former Fulbright scholar who has published widely in anthropology, history, and archaeology. His specializations include New Zealand and Oceania, as well as North American cultural heritage. Graduate Research Fellow in Mormon Studies David Dmitri Hurlbut Department of History, Boston University In Understanding the Rise of Mormonism in the Aba-Uyo Hinterlands of Nigeria, , Hurlbut examines why the Igbo and Ibibio of Southern Nigeria abandoned established mission churches and African indigenous churches in order to join the LDS Church in the late-twentieth century. It also asks how this religious change affected not only the LDS Church s policies and practices, but also Igbo and Ibibio culture. This project will provide insights into religious conversion in Africa, cultural change, and the transformation of Mormonism into a global faith during the second half of the 20th century Marlin K. Jensen Scholar & Artist In Residence Selection Committee Steven Petersen, Petersen Advantage, LLC Matt Grow, LDS Church History Department Fiona Givens, University of Richmond Sally Gordon, University of Pennsylvania Brian Cannon, Brigham Young University Bob Goldberg, Larry Lunt, Retired Brigadier General David Wirthlin, Retired

9 Black, White, & Mormon II A Conference on Race in the LDS Church Since the 1978 Revelation 08 Panel Chair Dr. LaShawn Williams; Keynote speaker Darius Gray On June 29-30, the Tanner Humanities Center hosted Black, White, & Mormon II: A Conference on Race in the LDS Church Since the 1978 Revelation at the downtown Salt Lake Public Library. This two-day event brought together academics, mental health experts, and community leaders to discuss race in the LDS Church. The conference opened Friday evening with the 2018 McMurrin Lecture on Religion and Culture featuring journalist Darius Gray, who spoke on his 54-year experience as a black man in the LDS church. The following day, audiences engaged with several panels discussing historical context, community issues, and the real-world experiences of black Mormons. Dr. Paul Reeve, the College of Humanities Simmons Mormon Studies Professor, opened the conference with the announcement of A Century of Black Mormons, a newly composed database hosted by the Marriot Library that includes primary sources about black Mormons in the first 100 years of the church. Video of all panels and talks is available for viewing on our YouTube channel: Mormon Studies Initiative Steering Committee Martha Bradley, Spencer P. Eccles, The Cynosure Group Bob Goldberg, Peter Huntsman, Huntsman Chemical Corporation James Macfarlane, IC Group Kent Murdock, Philanthropist Brett Parkinson, Intermountain Health Care Gregory Prince, Virion Systems, Inc. Kim Wirthlin, Wirthlin Strategies

10 09 National Theatre Live at SLFS-Broadway The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Encore) SAT 09/8, 12 p.m. The Madness of King George III SAT 1/12/19, 12 p.m. Julie SAT 10/6, 12 p.m. Frankenstein (Encore) TUE 10/23, 6 p.m. Antony & Cleopatra SAT 2/9/19 12 p.m. King Lear SAT 11/17, 12 p.m. I m Not Running SAT 3/2/19 12 p.m. Season tickets available now for only $199 contact Megan Dipo at for more info.

11 10 Gateway to Learning Educator Workshops Our Gateway to Learning Educator Workshops aim to energize humanities education statewide by offering Utah s K-12 teachers rigorous professional development and continuing education courses. In partnership with the Utah State Office of Education, we provide a limited number of scholarships to teachers from Title I and other underserved schools. In 2018, we served over 250 teachers and estimate that their training will impact over 5,000 students. In June 2018, we piloted a workshop in partnership with Better Days 2020, a non-profit dedicated to popularizing Utah women s history in creative and communal ways. Here, Barbara Jones Brown discusses polygamy and suffrage during a fieldtrip on Temple Square Workshops 100 Years of Suffrage and Women s Rights in Utah (Colleen McDannell, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Katherine Kitterman, Jennifer Robinson, Naomi Watkins, Quinn Rollins). Gender in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Ginger Smoak) The Native Peoples of Utah: Culture, History, Sovereignty (Greg Smoak) Asia and the Pacific Islands: Art and World History (Christin McKnight Sethi, Maile Arvin, Jessica Garrett) Refugee Communities in Utah: Best Practices for Educational Success (Caren J. Frost) Connection & Disconnection: Media and Everyday Life (Natasha Seegert) Survey of Traditional Chinese Culture (Ming Wen, Minqi Li, Winston Kyan, Steve Riep, Robert Griffiths).

12 11 Program Highlights World Leaders Lecture Forum On March 14, 2018, former CIA Director John Brennan delivered the World Leaders Lecture Forum public talk in the packed Dumke Auditorium at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. In The Cyber Threat: Security Solutions for a Rapidly Changing World, Brennan discussed the current political climate, the role of integrity and nonpartisan collaboration for national security, and counterterrorism. He also gave a keynote address to approximately 300 university and community leaders and students that evening in downtown Salt Lake City. There, he reflected upon his personal experiences as CIA Director and upon current global intelligence challenges. The Sterling M. McMurrin Lecture on Religion and Culture On September 27, 2017, scientific researcher and historian Gregory A. Prince lectured on Mormonism and homosexuality to a standingroom only crowd at the downtown Salt Lake Public library. In Science vs. Dogma: Biology Challenges the LDS Paradigm, Prince discussed the combination of genetic and epigenetic factors that act during fetal development to imprint sexual preference and gender identity indelibly on the brain. He argued that evidence calls for a reassessment of Latterday Saint doctrines, policies, and attitudes towards homosexuality.

13 12 Program Highlights The Tanner Lecture on Human Values At Libby Gardner Hall on October 19, 2017, award-winning writers Michael Chabon and Zadie Smith interviewed each other about the cultural significance of the arts and the humanities, the role of the novel and the essay in contemporary American life, and the pressures and pleasures of creativity. They also reflected upon the existential impact of reading and how exposure to diverse voices in literature can enhance our imagination and enlarge our ideas about what it means to be human. On October 20, 2017, they also met with graduate students and faculty members from the Department of English. They offered frank advice about reading critically, conducting research, setting writing goals, recognizing life s limitations and opportunities, and revising wisely. David P. Gardner Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts Artist in Residence Program Award-winning documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson delivered the David P. Gardner Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts and screened Freedom Riders on April 4, 2018 at Broadway Centre Cinemas. He outlined why documentary film was an appropriate artistic medium for examining diverse communities and underrepresented stories, addressed the difficulty in reaching audience members with increasingly short attention spans, and reflected upon the particular challenges and rewards in creating Freedom Riders. He also met with students and faculty from the Department of Film & Media Arts.

14 13 Donors and Supporters We are grateful for donations received from campus and community in If we inadvertently left anyone off of this list, please let us know. Pearl $100,000+ O. C. Tanner Charitable Trust Diamond $20,000+ George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation Peter and Brynn Huntsman Ruby $10,000+ Bill and Pat Child Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, David Eccles School of Business, Joan and Jess Hurtado Emerald $5,000+ Bruce W. Bastian Foundation Better Days 2020 Sheri Bolding Brigham Young University R. Harold Burton Foundation Chevron Corporation College of Humanities, The Confucius Institute, Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation Deseret Management Corporation David Eccles School of Business, Spencer P. Eccles Herbert I. and Elsa B. Michael Foundation David Peterson, Haynie and Company J. Frederick and Phyllis B. Pingree Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks Program (ZAP) Naoma Tate Utah State Office of Education The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) World Trade Center Utah Sapphire $2,500+ Anonymous Asia Center, Associated Students of the Castle Foundation The Center for Latin American Studies, Charles Redd Center, Brigham Young University Kathy Christiansen College of Fine Arts, Department of Communication, Department of English, Anne and David Dolowitz Talley and Sarah Goodson Hinckley Institute of Politics, University of Utah Page Juliano LDS Church History Department Jon and Philip Lear Marriott Library, Michael Morris, Zions Management Services Company Office of Global Engagement, Office of Institutional Advancement, Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Barbara Roberts The Semnani Family Foundation Ned Siegfried Salt Lake Community College University Information Technology, Utah Valley University Opal $1,000+ Pete Ashdown J. Robert and Janene Bonnemort W. Boyd Christensen Martha Bradley Department of History, Bob and Anne Goldberg Richard H. and JoAnn O. Keller Family Foundation Jim Macfarlane David Mack and McKay Christianson Kent Murdock O. Don and Barbara Ostler Doreen Payne Greg Prince Paul Reeve, Simmons Mormon Studies Professor, Smith-Pettit Foundation Salt Lake City Arts Council

15 14 School for Social and Cultural Transformation, Summit Sotheby s International Realty Tanner Center for Nonviolent Human Rights Gael and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Utah Humanities Council Topaz $500+ Darrel and Anne Brodke Allan Cook International Studies Program, University of Utah Muffy Mead-Farro Trent Michie Middle East Center, Peggy Tomsic Amber Up To $275 Susan Anderson and David Johnson John and Lauren Boyack Mary Beth Clark Jim Clayton Scott Coombs Beverly Cooper Rita Elman Dani Eyer Lou Jean Flint Grant Foster Thomas Godfrey Paul and Janet Griffin Robert Huefner Kimberly Jones Peter Kraus Michaela Mohr L. Jackson Newell Margaret and Rex Olson Grethe Peterson Rachel Posner Jonathan Ruga Jeri Schryver Ali H. Sabbah Joseph Stuart National Theatre Sustainers Nancy Appleby Banu Ozlen Balcioglu Lindy Barrett William Becker Carolyn Bentley Scott Black Ann Blackner Nancy Borgenicht William Braun Nancy Brown Janice Burk Aaron Cavender Anne Cullimore Decker David Dean Amy Dixon Peter Paul Dorgan Kim Duffy Jane England Jennifer England Jody England Hansen Fae Engstrom Gerald Ernest Holly Esch Patricia Falk Susan Fleming Lou Jean Flint Allene Fowler Paul Griffin Octavia Haines Bo Hall Patricia Hanna Mary Heers Marynell Hinton Audrey Hollaar Cheryl Hunter Gordon Jones Stven Labrum Melissa Larson Michele Margetts Gudrun Mirin David Richards Marjorie Riches Ofer Rog Aden Ross Katrina Smithee George Sumner Cory Thorell Virginia Vierra Elaine Weis Barry Weller Wendy Wilde Betty Yanowitz Patrick Zwick In-Kind Donations The King s English Book Shop KUED KUED, Contact with Mary Dixon Presidential Ambassadors, Office of the President, Salt Lake City Public Library Salt Lake Film Society We welcome donations at all levels and would be honored to discuss our programs and potential funding opportunities. Please contact Bob Goldberg, Director, at or bob.goldberg@utah.edu or Susan Anderson, Development Officer, at and susan.anderson@utah.edu.

16 Mission and Overview Since 1988, The Obert C. & Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center has promoted humanities inquiry and exchange by supporting innovative scholarly projects and creating opportunities for interaction among scholars, students, and lifelong learners. We offer twenty programs in three major areas: research support, public lectures and programs, and faculty outreach. Our activities reflect a vision of the humanities as not only relevant, stimulating, and cutting-edge, but also essential for developing critical thinking, tolerance, and respect at the and in our community. New Staff Member Please join us in welcoming Megan Dipo as our Marketing and Communication Manager. Megan received a bachelor s degree in history and religious studies from the University of Utah and previously worked in the Department of History. She also is a published freelance writer, a veteran concert and event photographer, and an internationallycommissioned digital artist. As our marketing and communications expert, Megan develops and designs promotional materials, cultivates media relations, and connects various constituencies with our programs. She also manages our website, databases, and social media; handles video and photo logistics and production; and runs our National Theatre Live program. You may contact Megan at megan.dipo@utah.edu or CAROLYN TANNER IRISH HUMANITIES BUILDING 215 S. CENTRAL CAMPUS DRIVE, ROOM 110 SALT LAKE CITY, UT Tanner Humanities Center Staff Pictured left to right Susan Anderson, Development Officer Bob Goldberg, Director Beth James, Associate Director Megan Dipo, Marketing & Communications Manager Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building 215 S. Central Campus Drive Rm. 110 Salt Lake City, UT THC.UTAH. EDU 801/