October 2007

John Contreni

A Whole New Mind

This semester's "Readings with the Dean" (GS 490V) selection, Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind-Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age (New York, 2005), argues that "[t]he future belongs to a very different kind of person with a different kind of mind-creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people-artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers-will now reap society's richest rewards and share its greatest joys."

Pink urges his readers to think of the last 150 years as a three-act drama that opened in the 19th century with the Industrial Age centered in the mass production worker. Act Two, the Information Age of the 20th century, introduced the knowledge worker whose talents were built on sequential, literal, functional, textual, and analytical modes of thinking. The finale, Act Three, introduces the creators and empathizers of the 21st century's dawning Conceptual Age. These ages and actors, including the farmers of the 18th century's Agriculture Age, are all part of the drama of the modern world.

A Whole New Mind

What has propelled creators and empathizers to the forefront is the 21st century's encounter with "abundance, Asia, and automation." Readers of Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat will recognize some common themes here. But, where Friedman focused on the implications of technology on social, political, and economic trends, Daniel Pink, in the words of the book's jacket blurb, is interested in how these forces "impact the way we work and imagine our world."

The way we work in the 21st century increasingly will require what Pink describes as "six high-concept, high touch senses: Not just function but also DESIGN; not just argument but also STORY; not just focus but also SYMPHONY; not just logic but also EMPATHY; not just seriousness but also PLAY; not just accumulation but also MEANING."

Peppered with sprightly aphorisms ("the MFA is the new MBA"), Pink's lessons are well worth contemplating.

Sincerely,

John J. Contreni
Justin S. Morrill Dean

NEWS AND RESEARCH

Neuroscientist receives long-term funding to understand obesity

A professor of Psychological Sciences is the recipient of an $8.4 million, 10-year National Institutes of Health Method to Extend Research in Time Award that will fund research on how the brain and stomach communicate about the food people eat.

Terry Powley

"Understanding the two-way conversation the brain and stomach are having is a step toward addressing the obesity epidemic," said Terry Powley, the Ben J. Winer Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences and an expert in physiological psychology who studies the role of the central nervous system in eating and metabolism.

Powley, who has been at Purdue since 1980, is a member of the Ingestive Behavior Research Center and PULSe, the Purdue University Interdisciplinary Life Science graduate program.

Powley's award is from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, where Powley has received funding for 28 years. This grant, also known as the MERIT, is awarded to only a few scientists each year to provide a long-term source of funding so the researcher can devote more time to science and less to the application process for additional funding. More

Purdue trustees honor History professor

The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Sept. 28 approved the appointment of Randy W. Roberts as a Distinguished University Professor.

Randy W. Roberts

Roberts has been a Purdue history professor since 1988 and has earned several distinctions. His main area of teaching is American history, including modern U.S. history and World War II.

In 2006 he was chosen as Indiana Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He also was recognized as Teacher of the Year in Liberal Arts in 1997 and by the Society of Professional Journalists in 1993. He was named one of Purdue's Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Teachers, which is Purdue's top teaching honor, in 1991. More

Prof: Young toddlers think in terms of the whole object, not just parts

Seeing through a child's eyes can help parents better introduce new words to young toddlers, according to research from Psychological Sciences.

George Hollich

"This new research shows that as young toddlers learn language, they are more likely to focus on objects rather than parts," said George Hollich, an assistant professor of Psychological Sciences. "Because of this bias, children automatically assume you are talking about an object. So, when labeling more than just an object, adults need to do something special such as pointing at the part while saying its word or explaining what the item does."

The study appears in the fall issue of the journal Developmental Psychology. More

Prof: Misperception of media bias causes problems for democracy

The perception of mainstream news media bias may play a role in fewer Americans having an active interest and concern about politics, says a political sociologist.

"If people hear over and over again that the media are biased, then they will begin to believe that," says Philo Wasburn, a professor of Sociology who studies bias in the media. "Currently, public confidence in media is quite low, as it is in some other social institutions, and the misperception that the media are not providing balanced coverage certainly contributes to this trend."

Wasburn, who is co-writing a book about media bias, says the assumption that the news media are biased is based largely on anecdotal evidence and often fueled by letters to the editor, talk radio, and guests on television news programs. More

Students to work with media in Beijing during 2008 Olympics

The Department of Communication is seeking students to serve as media liaisons for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China.

The Beijing Olympics and the Communication University of China invited Purdue to send 15 to 25 Purdue students to work with the English-speaking media, such as BBC, NBC and CNN, as well as the Associated Press and The New York Times during the Aug. 8-24, 2008 Games in Beijing. Communication faculty member Jane Natt will lead the class, and students will receive course and internship credit in this study abroad experience.

"Not only will the Olympic Media Liaison Project provide students with valuable professional skills but it's also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of such a magnificent event," said Howard Sypher, professor and head of the Department of Communication. "We anticipate most students will be communication majors, which is part of our agreement with our Chinese partners, but we will open this up to exceptional students in related majors at Purdue. We are also excited to be working with some of the best journalism and communication programs in the country in supporting this premier international event." More

Galleries joins Department of Visual and Performing Arts

Beginning this semester, Purdue Galleries has joined the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

The integration has made it possible to house all the visual arts personnel on campus under one roof, said David Sigman, head of the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

"Previously, Purdue Galleries, which are made up of the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in Purdue Memorial Union and the Stewart Center Gallery, were separate from the Patti and Rusty Rueff Galleries in Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts," he said. "By combining the areas, we are better able to facilitate greater interaction between Galleries and visual and performing arts students, faculty, and staff." More

Listening study seeks children, ages 5-12

Purdue researchers are looking for children, ages 5-12, to participate in a speech perception study in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.

The study, led by professor Karen Iler Kirk, is evaluating how children listen to spoken words. Participants need to have normal hearing, be native speakers of American English, and have no known history of speech and language difficulties.

Testing will last a maximum of two hours in one or two sessions. Each child will receive $10 per hour. More

Therapy group recruiting men with early-stage Alzheimer's

A speech-language pathologist is recruiting men with early-stage dementia for a new group that will provide cognitive and language therapy.

The group, Brainbuilders Men's Group, begins meeting weekly in January, but participants are being screened now. In addition to the patient group, a support group for spouses and caregivers will be offered simultaneously.

"The purpose of the Brainbuilders Men's Group is to maximize thinking, memory, and language during what we call a mind workout," said Joanne Gutek, a speech-language pathologist and clinical supervisor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. "We believe that cognitive function is improved by capitalizing on preserved cognitive and language abilities." More

EVENTS

Some Experience Liberal Arts events are highlighted below. Please visit Experience Liberal Arts for more details and a complete schedule.

Galleries exhibits examine gender and faculty work

A pair of exhibitions in the Purdue Galleries will examine gender identities and the relationships of humankind to the natural environment.

Charles Gick,
"Water Witching,"

On display from Oct. 22 to Dec. 2 in the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in the Purdue Memorial Union will be "Does Gender Still Matter?"

"Dried – Cracked – Wet – Dripping – Blooming: Installations by Charles A. Gick" will be presented Oct. 22 to Dec. 2 in the Stewart Center Gallery.

Gick, an associate professor of Art and Design, has exhibited his interdisciplinary installations nationally and internationally.

Gick said of his work, "My hybrid installations explore the intersections between memory, the body, our emotions, and the sensory experience that we share with the natural environment, attempting to expose the fertility and futility of human communication." More

Purdue Theatre to present Six Degrees of Separation

Purdue Theatre will present John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation Oct. 25-28 in the Gordon and Carole Mallet Theatre in the Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts.

Evening performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25-28. Matinee performances will be at 3 p.m. Oct. 27-28.

Directed by Kristine Holtvedt, associate professor of Theater and head of acting, the title of the play refers to the theory that any two people in the world can be connected through only six other people. More

Award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates to speak at Purdue

Best-selling author Joyce Carol Oates will speak at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse.

Joyce Carol Oates

Oates is the author of more than 100 books, including the recent, The Gravedigger's Daughter, as well as The Falls, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? and You Must Remember This. Her novel We Were the Mulvaneys was a selection for Oprah's Book Club in 2001, and her novel, them, won the National Book Award, for which she has been a five-time finalist. What I Lived For, Blonde, and Black Water were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and 35 of her books have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year.

"Joyce Carol Oates is famously prolific, but she has also been one of the best writers and chroniclers of contemporary American life, particularly its dark side, since the 1960s," said Porter Shreve, director of the Creative Writing Program and coordinator for Oates' visit. "Her work spans five decades and every imaginable genre, including novels, shorts stories, essays, poetry, and books for young adults. She is a powerful storyteller, known for taking traditional forms like gothic tales, ghost stories, and mysteries, and reinventing them in brilliant, often chilling ways." More

Public showing of alum's documentary to be at Purdue

An advance showing of a documentary film chronicling the public confession of a man who killed a classmate more than 50 years ago will be shown Oct. 29 at Purdue.

The Killer Within

The Killer Within, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is co-produced by Purdue alumnus Leonard Cox. The movie will be shown at 8 p.m. in Matthew Hall, Room 210. Cox, who earned a bachelor's degree in communication in 1979 and a master's degree in organizational communication in 1996, will introduce the film and answer audience questions after its showing.

Leonard Cox

The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of October's Experience Liberal Arts.

The film is about Bob Bechtel, a current professor at the University of Arizona who studies environmental psychology, confessing to his family, friends and colleagues that he murdered a college classmate 50 years earlier. On Jan. 11, 1955, Bechtel shot and killed a student at Pennsylvania's Swarthmore College and plotted to kill all the students in his residence hall because he had been bullied. Bechtel, at the age of 22, was found not competent to stand trial and sent to a state hospital for the criminally insane. More than four years later he was released. More

November Events

Political science Sears Lecture Series begins with former CIA director

A former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is the first of four speakers in the Purdue University Sears Lecture Series. R. James Woolsey will present "Energy, Security, and the Long War of the 21st Century" at 8 p.m. Nov. 12 in Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse. The title for this year's Sears Lecture Series is "U.S. Security in an Insecure World."

R. James Woolsey

"R. James Woolsey has been a prominent figure in the U.S. national security policy community across several presidential administrations for both parties," said Louis René Beres, a professor of political science and event organizer. "Of course, he is best known for his leadership of the CIA during President Bill Clinton's administration."

Woolsey served as director of the CIA from 1993-95. He also served as ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe from 1989-91, as undersecretary of the Navy from 1977-79 and general counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services from 1970-73. From 1983-86 he was a delegate to the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks and the Nuclear and Space Arms Talks. He also served as a military adviser to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks from 1969-70. More

Upcoming religious and history lectures

– Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture, will present "Catholicism's Many (and Sometimes Contentious) Public Faces: A Look at American Catholics Today" at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Krannert Building, Krannert Auditorium. Prior to her work at Fordham, she spent 15 years as the editor of "Commonweal," an independent bi-weekly journal of political, religious, and literary opinion edited by Catholic laypeople since 1924. The lecture is sponsored by the Aquinas Education Foundation, as well as the College of Liberal Arts' Department of Sociology and Religious Studies Program.

– Peng Xiaoyu, professor of History at Beijing University, will present "Charity as a Cultural Tradition: Implications of American Catholic Social Thought in the Current Social Milieu of China," from 7-9 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Lawson Building, Room 1142. The event is sponsored by the Department of History.

FACULTY & CLA HONORS

Liberal Arts representatives to serve on search committees

Margaret Rowe, a professor of English, will chair a search advisory committee to identify candidates for the university's new Provost. More

Anne Smith, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, was appointed to a search advisory committee to identify candidates for the next Vice President of Research. More

Purdue Research Foundation honors faculty inventors, entrepreneurs

The Purdue Research Foundation on Oct. 10 recognized 29 Purdue faculty and staff, including a Liberal Arts professor, at its annual Inventors' Recognition Dinner in the Purdue Memorial Union ballrooms.

Seokbo S. Shim, an associate professor of Visual and Performing Arts, and the other inventors, were recognized for their discoveries that have resulted, or may soon result, in commercial applications that benefit society.

Shim was part of a team in spring 2005 that won the grand prize at the Ninth International Bicycle Design Competition in Taiwan with a new design called SHIFT. The design, which topped 853 entrants from 56 countries to win the $15,000 prize, looks like a tricycle, but as the child gains momentum and learns to balance, the two rear wheels shift inward to merge into one wheel. This causes the balance to gradually shift from the bicycle to the child. SHIFT also was included among the most innovative inventions in 2005 by Time magazine. More

Scholar addresses issue of 'radical evil' in post-secular world

Philosophy professor Martin Beck Matuštík delivered the annual Gannon Lecture at Duane Library on the Rose Hill campus at Fordham University.

Martin Beck
Matuštík

He talked about radical evil that leads to genocides and other atrocities.

"We have lost the language to speak about the types of cruelty and wanton violence that occurred in the 20th century, as well as in our own century," Matuštík said. "And so the question is: Should we give up the notion of evil all together? What are we supposed to do in Kosovo, in Sarajevo, in Guatemala, in future Darfurs, and in those villages where humans have raped women and killed their neighbors and the U.N. or the European Union tells the victims to move back to those villages and live with each other? We do not have the political means to legislate forgiveness. We do not have the language and political means to bring about answers to such questions." More

New Faculty

Bios and photos of the College's 28 new faculty are available online.

More Faculty Honors

– James Davidson, a professor of Sociology, was honored by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate on Oct. 3. Davidson received the Rev. Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD, Award for Exemplary Church Research. The award is named after the first executive director. The organization, which was founded in 1964, is an independent Catholic research agency that has been affiliated with Georgetown University since 1989.

– The Department of Political Science's Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society, has awarded the Purdue chapter "Best Chapter Award" for 2006-07. Professor Rosalie Clawson is the mentor for group. – Two CLA faculty members have been named Fulbright U.S. Scholars for 2007-08. Sally Hastings (History) will be working in Japan, and Lisa Lee Peterson (Visual and Performing Arts) will be in Mexico.

EXPERTS IN THE NEWS

The New Yorker –
Alumnus wins caption contest
(Department of English)

On Point, Boston's NPR station –
Novelist Doris Lessing wins Nobel prize
(Margaret Moan Rowe, Department of English)

Los Angeles Times –
Respecting, and liking, these elders
(Departments of Sociology and Health and Kinesiology)

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly –
Political Buddhism in Southeast Asia
(Donald Mitchell, Department of Philosophy)

UPI, sciencedaily.com –
Young toddlers think in terms of the whole object, not just parts
(George Hollich, Department of Psychological Sciences)

Lafayette Journal & Courier –
Professor brings insights on Iran, immigration
(College of Liberal Arts)

Lafayette Journal & Courier –
Liberal arts very much present at Purdue
(College of Liberal Arts)

Any story ideas can be sent to Amy Patterson Neubert at the Purdue News Service, 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu