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Ethics Bowl Team Wins Mid-Atlantic Championship
Group sweeps regional competition to advance to nationals in February 2020
UM Ethics Bowl team members celebrate winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Bria Mazique (front) shows off the team’s trophy with (clockwise) Alexandra Kotter, John Jacob Mabus, Justice Strickland, Jacob Ratliff, Harrison Durland and Mimi Shufelt. Submitted photo
JANUARY 3, 2019 BY EDWIN B. SMITH
The saying “third time’s the charm” proved to be true for members of the University of Mississippi Ethics Bowl team, which recently won the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional competition.
The seven-student group was among 20 teams representing 15 colleges and universities that competed at the November event at the University of North Georgia at Gainesville. Members are:
- Mimi Shufelt, a senior English major from Starkville
- Harrison Durland, a senior public policy leadership and international studies major from Suwanee, Georgia
- Bria Mazique, a senior marketing and communication strategy major from Brandon
- Alexandra Kotter, a senior philosophy major from Poplarville
- Justice Strickland, a senior psychology major from Tupelo
- John Jacob Mabus, a junior philosophy major from Jackson
- Jacob Ratliff, a sophomore political science major from of Hattiesburg
The Ole Miss team accumulated some of the highest overall scores in two previous regionals, yet failed to make the finals. By sweeping all categories in this year’s competition, they advance to the upcoming Association for Practical and Professional Ethics‘ Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, set for Feb. 22-23 in Atlanta.
“The competition focuses on students having a deep conversation about the ethical issues in real-life cases and developing concrete and ethical policy solutions to those problems,” said Deborah Mower, associate professor of philosophy and Bryant Chair of Ethics. “A panel of judges evaluated teams by a rubric that tracks a multitude of factors.”
Criteria included how clearly they presented their arguments, whether they addressed the full range of ethical issues and considerations, and how well they accommodated the needs or positions of those who hold the opposite viewpoint. Students also were critiqued on how well they presented objections to the opposing team, how well they responded to objections themselves and the quality of their answers in response to probing judges’ questions.
“I am still thinking about how we prepared before the recent tournament, coordinated at the tournament as a team and what could potentially be done better,” said Durland, who has been a member of the team since its inception four years ago. “To win the nationals would be a wonderful way to end my four-year run with the Ethics Bowl team.”
The nationals are held in conjunction with the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics conference. In preparation, students will spend evening practices and weekends to do the research on 17 cases. They also will hold practice rounds where the team members will debate faculty and graduate students specializing in ethics from the UM Department of Philosophy and Religion.
“We also invite faculty from across campus to serve as guest judges for these practice rounds and to give the students feedback on additional things to research for the cases and how to develop their arguments,” Mower said.
The team’s achievement demonstrated both the members’ incredible skills and their tenacity, said Steven Skultety, chair and associate professor of philosophy and religion.
“Each person on the team plays a different role in the actual debate process, so a spirit of cooperation is just as important as individual performance,” Skultety said. “Dr. Mower has done a remarkable job, and I hope more students will want to join.
“Students come out of this experience with a deep appreciation of ethics and new skills for engaging in civil discussion.”
Comicana Explores Broad Range of Real-World Issues
Weeklong UM event focuses on the role of comics and graphic novels in exploring weighty subjects
Comicana
OCTOBER 8, 2019 BY TRISTEN BLOXSOM
A number of University of Mississippi departments have teamed up for Comicana, which runs through Saturday (Oct. 12) on campus, focusing on the role of comics and graphic novels in offering insight into questions literature often doesn’t answer.
The departments of Art and Art History, Classics, English, Philosophy and Religion, and Writing and Rhetoric worked together to create the weeklong interdisciplinary conference. Comicana features readings of graphic novels and comics across the humanities.
It includes workshops, exhibitions at the J.D. Williams Library and Gallery 130, and guest speakers. The events are free and open to the public, and the majority of events are slated for Bryant Hall.
Despite what people already think about graphic novels and comics, the literature chosen to be discussed at Comicana will analyze more serious topics such as religion, gender roles, sexism and poverty, organizers said.
“The predetermined image of comics and graphic novels have limited people to see what these sequential arts have to offer,” said Mary Thurlkill, professor of religion. “I hope that this convention will bring awareness of these topics and bring more people into the world of sequential arts.”
Kris Belden-Adams, associate professor of art history, worked to organize the conference and helped get students involved. She hopes the event will create a wide-ranging conversation for the community.
“It’s great for us to leave campus and connect with the community, and I don’t think we do that enough,” Belden-Adams said. “I think this event will help us make that much-needed connection with the community.”
Thurlkill was inspired to organize a comic conference on campus, and she brought in Belden-Adams; Lauren Cardenas; assistant professor of printmaking; and Wendy Goldberg, core instructor in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, to help put it together. Thurlkill also secured funding from the Mississippi Humanities Council.
“I think it’s important to show how comics are important throughout this community,” Belden-Adams said. “They are a way to bring all the departments together, and this conference gives a familiar place for people and gives them a more scholarly look into the comic community.”
All the organizers share the same passion about bringing awareness of the comic world to the Oxford community and want to encourage people to think more critically about controversial topics.
Cardenas hopes those who attend will begin to view comics as more than just entertainment, and that it will bridge some gaps between the humanities and the different discourses within them.
“Comics provide an interesting connection to humanities and when put through the lens of the comics, it helps people think more critically,” Cardenas said. “Looking at these topics from a variety of lenses – like a feminist lens, an LBGTQ lens or through a more contemporary culture lens – will help show how the dynamics of these topics have started to change.”
Cardenas created a student panel, made up of five Ole Miss undergraduate and graduate students, to help with Comicana in hopes of bringing student awareness to the event.
“I hope this event gets traction for the comics discussed and I think if it gets traction, it will gain traction with the student body,” Cardenas said.
For a full schedule and more information about Comicana, go to https://egrove.olemiss.edu/comicana/2019/.
Freeman Foundation Grants Send UM Students to Other Side of the Globe
Grant supports 20 student internships in Eastern Asia
Twenty University of Mississippi students interned in Eastern Asia this summer through a grant from the Freeman Foundation. Submitted photo
AUGUST 19, 2019 BY SHEA STEWART
Stretching from Beijing to Singapore, 20 University of Mississippi students received global work experience this summer while interning in Eastern Asia through a grant from the Freeman Foundation.
Their roles this summer varied, from an accounting internship in Bangkok to a medical internship in Shanghai, working for companies from a global truck and bus manufacturer to a Bangkok blockchain business. The students’ majors were likewise diverse, ranging from accounting to sociology.
The students interned for at least eight weeks through support from the UM Experiential Learning in Eastern Asia program. Each student received a $7,500 participation stipend from UM – with $5,000 of that coming from the Freeman Foundation grant and the other $2,500 provided by the university’s Office of Global Engagement and the students’ respective school(s) or college.
This is the second year of the program at UM after the Freeman Foundation grant was renewed in the fall of 2018. Last year, 17 students participated in the program.
“Freeman Foundation interns gain self-awareness and global awareness through participation in society, both locally and globally,” said Blair McElroy, UM senior international officer and director of study abroad. “Through this incredible program, they are gaining the skills needed to engage meaningfully with diverse people, places, challenges and opportunities.
“From providing dental health care in Vietnam, working to promote fair trade practices in Korea, creating curriculum on nutrition in China, devoting their creativity to magazines in Japan and many more amazing opportunities across the region, our students are doing significant work overseas and truly becoming global citizens.”
The students in this year’s program were:
- Elizabeth Atkinson, an international studies major from Memphis
- Diwas Bhandari, an accountancy major from Sharadanagar, Nepal
- Anna Bruno, an international studies and Chinese major from Abbeville
- Shivani Chaudhary, a managerial finance and economics major from Nepal
- Amira Coger, an economics major from Olive Branch
- Anna Conner, a pre-med general business major from Edwardsville, Illinois
- Carter Diggs, a journalism major from Oxford
- Olivia George, an international studies and Korean major from Biloxi
- Lillian Gordon, a biology major from Spring Hill, Tennessee
- Olivia Melvin, an international studies and Chinese major from Ocean Springs
- Azaziah Parker, a biomedical engineering major from Pearl
- Viviek Patel, an international studies major from Jackson
- Stephanie Penn, a banking and finance, and managerial finance major from Biloxi
- Shammond Shorter, a business management major from Atoka, Tennessee
- Nischal Timalsina, a mechanical engineering major from Lalitpur, Nepal
- Jeanne Torp, an international studies major from Biloxi
- Lily Van Elderen, an international studies and Chinese major from Martin, Michigan
- Emily Wang, an international studies, Chinese, Arabic and philosophy major from Randolph, New Jersey
- Jessica Washington, a sociology and psychology major from Hernando
- Haley Watts, a general engineering major from Hattiesburg
Diggs spent his internship with Tokyo Weekender, Japan’s oldest English magazine, where he photographed events, learned to manage the magazine’s website and smartphone application, and wrote for the magazine’s online and print publications.
“They were fantastic to work with and let me gain a wide variety of experience,” he said. “This will definitely give my resume and portfolio a hearty boost. … The experience and skills the team has passed on to me are invaluable, including being able to communicate with people from other cultures.
“Foreign internships aren’t too common on new graduates’ resumes, so I would definitely recommend other students to apply for this program if they can possibly manage it.”
Melvin put her interests in international studies and Chinese to good use this summer, interning with the Shenzhen Mangrove Wetlands Conservation Foundation based in Shenzhen, China. The foundation is China’s first environmental protection-focused organization.
“My personal goal for the summer was to find an opportunity that allowed me to grow both personally and professionally,” she said. “Being involved with a (nonprofit) that advocates for such an important global cause satisfied the first part of the criteria, and the ability to exercise my Chinese language ability while cooperating with my coworkers on a daily basis to perform various tasks both in and out of the office satisfied the latter.
“Immersing myself in such an intense and unfamiliar environment provided the opportunity for every little trial and success to be all the more meaningful.”
“Nothing short of amazing” is how Penn described her internship as a financial analyst with Bitkub, a Bangkok company that serves as a digital asset and cryptocurrency exchange platform.
The internship allowed her to learn about discounted cash flow analysis and financial modeling in industries ranging from cryptocurrency to oil and gas to real estate. She also attended investor meetings, and gained professional skills in international marketing, sales and business development while interacting with clients from all over the world.
“This internship has prepped me for my future career in investment banking with the tasks and projects that have been assigned to me,” she said. “The international connections I have made while interning at Bitkub will also be beneficial when applying for jobs upon my graduation in December.
“This internship has taught me both hard skills when presenting pitch decks to investors, as well as soft skills when meeting with potential clients. These hard and soft skills will be extremely beneficial when entering into the workforce.”
It is exciting that so many Ole Miss students took advantage of the “generously funded” program to expand their horizons, said Oliver Dinius, executive director of the UM Croft Institute for International Studies.
“When I first submitted the application for this grant two years ago, we did not know what to expect – both in terms of the Freeman Foundation’s enthusiasm about the application and the student response,” he said. “Fortunately, both the support from the Freeman Foundation and the excitement of interning students has been wonderful.
“We expect to apply again for this grant to give another group the chance to experience Eastern Asia in the summer of 2020 through such an internship.”
The UM Experiential Learning in Eastern Asia program funds internships, not study abroad programs. Grantees must intern full time, at least 20 hours per week, for a minimum of eight weeks. The Freeman grantees are full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students in good academic standing who are not in their last year of school.
The goal of the Freeman Foundation’s grant is to help students gain real-life experience while interacting regularly with local populations.
Established in 1994 by the estate of American International Group co-founder Mansfield Freeman and based in Stowe, Vermont, the foundation’s general mission is “to strengthen the bonds of friendship between this country and those of the Far East” and “to stimulate an exchange of ideas in economic and cultural fields which will help create mutual understanding.”
For information on internship programs in Eastern Asia for 2020, go to https://croft.olemiss.edu/home/freeman-internships-in-east-asia or contact Bree Starnes at bstarnes@olemiss.edu.
UM Graduate Earns Gates Scholarship to Cambridge
Josh Law heads to the United Kingdom to pursue a master’s degree
MAY 23, 2019 BY MICHAEL NEWSOM
Josh Law
A recent University of Mississippi graduate has received a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where he will pursue a master’s degree in health, medicine and society.
Josh Law, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion from UM in 2017, and was accepted to Cambridge in December. Two months later, he learned he was receiving the Gates Scholarship, which pays for tuition, room and board, airfare and other expenses.
Law, who teaches middle school science in Commerce City, Colorado, said he’s excited to start his studies, which will run from Oct. 1, 2019 until June 2020.
“The program I am entering is one I have been interested in for a long time,” Law said. “It’s essentially Cambridge’s interdisciplinary public health degree. I am so excited. I’m looking forward to getting to know all of the other scholars. They are a really bright group.
“I’m looking forward to learning beside people across the planet, which is going to be a really cool experience.”
He will join about 100 Gates Scholars from around the world who are working on master’s degrees and doctorates at the prestigious university in the United Kingdom.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and wife Melinda’s foundation funded the Gates Scholarship with a $210 million donation, which is used annually to send outstanding students from around the world to study at Cambridge.
The university boasts that its health, medicine and society degree is actually the most interdisciplinary health-related degree in the world. Law said he is interested in exploring this claim.
“Health is such an interdisciplinary experience,” Law said. “There is so much impacting an individual person and what it means for them to be healthy.
“Looking at that through as many academic lenses as possible through history and philosophy, but also through the social sciences, is going to provide the best opportunity for me to have a well-rounded view of health in the 21st century.”
Law hopes to enter medical school after he completes his studies at Cambridge and enter the field of psychiatry, he said. For now, he is enjoying teaching science to middle schoolers in the Denver suburbs, he said.
Law, who was a student in the UM Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, made an impression on Honors College Dean Douglass Sullivan-González while he was at Ole Miss. Law’s latest career news doesn’t surprise his former dean.
“We are thrilled with Josh’s success and enjoy the arc of his commitment to public health and education,” Sullivan-González said. “He has consistently applied himself at our university and in the public square, seeking the depth and breadth in life’s experiences to make this moment possible.
“Josh is the consummate citizen and scholar, and the world has taken notice.”
Graduate Researchers Take on the World
UM symposium showcases student research
APRIL 16, 2019 BY
UM graduate students discuss their work and results at the ninth annual Research Symposium, which featured topics ranging from termite species in the southern Appalachians to food security among rural Mississippi parents. Submitted photo
More than 50 graduate students at the University of Mississippi presented their research during the ninth annual Research Symposium, discussing topics ranging from termite species in the southern Appalachians to food security among rural Mississippi parents.
Presented by the UM Graduate Student Council and held at The Inn at Ole Miss, the recent event was an opportunity for Ole Miss graduate students to share their research with the academic body.
“Our graduate school is producing top-notch research, and the funds we are providing will allow our students to present in many places far and wide,’” said Christopher Bright-Ramos, president of the Graduate Student Council, or GSC, and a doctoral student in history.
“It’s common to get asked, ‘Are you ready?’ on this campus. Our graduate students are taking that question and asking it to the academic world.”
The all-day event started with 20 podium addresses by graduate students discussing their research in disciplines such as biomolecular sciences; physics; psychology; health, exercise and recreation management; chemical engineering; and more. The day concluded with 34 poster presentations on research from students in the College of Liberal Arts and the schools of Pharmacy, Engineering and Applied Sciences.
“The role of graduate students is critical in the success of any research university,” said Josh Gladden, vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs. “This symposium provides an excellent venue for them to both highlight their valuable contributions and practice communicating the motivation and results of their research to a broad audience.”
The daylong event had two purposes, said David Harmon, co-director of academic and professional development for the GSC.
“First, we want to give graduate students an opportunity to have the conference experience without forcing them to go through the logistical and travel nightmares that come along with traveling to a discipline-specific symposium,” said Harmon, a native of Springfield, Virginia, who is working on a master’s degree in philosophy.
“And second – and most importantly, in my opinion – we want to make sure that graduate students know that their research matters. That it is of great importance.”
The day concluded with 21 students being bestowed awards from a panel of faculty and staff. Nine students received awards for their podium presentations, nine for their poster exhibitions and three for their data blitzes, where students quickly explained their research questions and offered summaries of their research results without having to tie themselves to any particular interpretation of the results.
The awards include travel funding so students can present their research at upcoming conferences.
Supporting and aiding graduate students in their academic and professional success is the reason for the GSC, said MaKensey Sanders, the group’s co-director of academic and professional development.
“Thanks to the judges and our team, I think this year was incredibly successful,” said Sanders, a native of Clinton who also is pursuing a master’s in philosophy.
“All the participants did a phenomenal job, and I believe even those not awarded gained invaluable experience in presenting their research.”
Forum to Examine Religious Freedom Laws in State
Policy Talks event draws on expertise of faculty, alumni from Department of Philosophy and Religion
APRIL 12, 2019 BY
The inaugural Policy Talks is set for 5:30 p.m. April 25 in Bryant Hall, Room 209. Three UM faculty members and three select alumni will discuss religious freedom laws. A reception will follow the free event in the Bryant Hall Gallery. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
A panel discussion examining religious freedom laws is scheduled for April 25 at the University of Mississippi.
The inaugural “Policy Talks” begins at 5:30 p.m. in Bryant Hall, Room 209. Three UM faculty members and three select alumni will discuss religious freedom laws. A reception will follow the free event in the Bryant Hall Gallery.
“This is part of the Dialogue Initiative, which is designed to address highly contentious issues within our society and to integrate students, faculty, alumni and the campus community,” said event organizer Deborah Mower, associate professor of philosophy and Bryant Chair of Ethics.
“Invited panelists discuss what they think the best approach or resolution would be to address the issue given their expertise. After the panelists each give their presentations, a second panel of UM faculty pose questions to the initial panelists and a brief conversation amongst all the panelists will ensue.”
Audience members may submit questions, screened by a moderator, to any of the panelists. Following the speakers, a question-and-answer session will continue the conversation with the panelists informally.
The genesis of the event began last year during a discussion between Neil Manson, UM professor of philosophy, and a friend who is also an Ole Miss alumnus.
“He stopped by my office to talk about what he could do to promote civil discourse on campus,” Manson said. “We brainstormed several possibilities, but we kept returning to ideas that somehow involved our alumni.
“Was there a way to get them in conversation with one another about a hot-button issue, so that an audience could see how people of very differing opinions could have a genuine dialogue rather than just a shouting match?”
They ran their ideas by Mower, who liked the concept and agreed to take over organizing the event, placing it under the umbrella of the Dialogue Initiative, a series started by the Department of Philosophy and Religion.
“We decided that, for the initial Policy Talks, we would seek alumni who majored in philosophy,” Manson said. “They could showcase the relevance to civil discourse of the skills they learned as students here: the use of critical thinking and logic, the sensitivity to definitions and the need for charitable interpretation of one’s opponents.”
Steven Skultety, chair of the department, enthusiastically backed the idea.
“We think of our alumni as an incredible intellectual resource for furthering the mission of the university,” Skultety said. “We also believe that they can serve as role models for how smart and reflective citizens discuss difficult topics.”
Working with a faculty committee to select topics, Mower suggested examining religious freedom laws.
“We had several very strong contenders as topics for our first event, but no topic was a clear frontrunner,” she said. One weekend, Mower came across a newspaper article about a dispute in Georgia stemming from the state’s statutes.
“The second I read the article, I knew this was the perfect inaugural topic for us because it brings together the fields of philosophy and religion in our joint department,” Mower said.
Sarah Moses, associate professor of religion
With the topic in place, organizers began to select panelists with the appropriate expertise to address the issue. Faculty panelists are Matthew Hall, associate professor of law; Sarah Moses, associate professor of religion; and Amy McDowell, assistant professor of sociology. Guest panelists are UM philosophy alumni C.J. Rhodes (2004), Eleanor Ruffner (2001) and former Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth.
An Oxford native, Ruffner is an attorney and partner in Ruffner Schoenbaum PLLC, specializing in commercial litigation in Texas. She also teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law. Daughter of Ron Vernon, UM professor emeritus of music and a former associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Ruffner has been named the 2018 Texas Super Lawyer and a 2018 Texas Rising Star.
A Hazelhurst native, Rhodes is pastor at the Mount Helm Baptist Church in Jackson. Son of renowned civil rights attorney Carroll Rhodes Sr., he has published columns in the Jackson Free Press and the Mississippi Link, and he hosts “The CJ Rhodes Show” on WRBJ 97.7-FM.
Amy McDowell, assistant professor of sociology
Howorth is founder and owner of Square Books in Oxford, one of the country’s largest independent bookstores. Former chairman of the American Booksellers Association, he chairs the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Because religious freedom laws vary so much by state, Mower hopes to keep the conversation focused.
“Given the complexity of these issues and the law, as well as the fact that we only have a short time during this event, we want both our panelists and attendees to focus on religious freedom laws in Mississippi,” she said. “Because our society is so polarized, we rarely talk about complex moral and political issues, which merely breeds a greater lack of understanding and increases polarization.”
Religion major and Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors Collegesenior Samuel Brassell, of Olive Branch, wrote his honors thesis on the influence of Southern Baptists on a religious freedom bill that recently passed in Mississippi. Mower asked him for permission to use his thesis as a resource for Policy Talks. Brassell consented, and his thesis is posted online as a background reading resource to prepare panelists and attendees.
“We want to showcase current students and alumni and to integrate both the work of our current students do and the expertise of our alumni,” Mower said. “Our goal for Policy Talks is civil conversations with experts to examine policies that affect our lives. What could be more interesting than that?”
The event is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion, University Lecture Series, the Self Family Foundation, the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement and the Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hume Bryant Chair of Ethics.
For more information, visit https://philosophy.olemiss.edu/dialogue-initiative-policy-talks/.
Ethics Bowl Team Hosts Great Debate
Students prepare to discuss qualifications for moral leadership in public service, professional life
MARCH 26, 2019 BY
The UM Ethics Bowl team discusses the question, ‘Should the standard of sexual consent be an affirmative verbal yes?’ during last year’s Great Debate. Photo by Marlee Crawford/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
With statewide elections later this year as the backdrop, the question of whether past actions disqualify an individual from holding a position of moral leadership is the focus of a student discussion scheduled April 4 at the University of Mississippi.
The Great Debate of 2019 is being presented by the university’s Ethics Bowl Team, a student group organized last year within the Department of Philosophy and Religion. The free event begins at 5:30 p.m. in Bryant Hall, Room 209. A reception follows in the Bryant Hall rotunda.
“Given the number of high-profile scandals recently, the students chose this year’s topic to address the question of qualifications for public service,” said Deborah Mower, associate professor of philosophy. “Through the clear presentation of claims and civil dialogue, we demonstrate how to make progress on thorny ethical and political questions in our society through civil dialogue.”
During the debate, the audience will be presented a case with pertinent details, arguments and concerns on both sides of the issue, along with a copy of common fallacies made in arguments. The Ethics Bowl Team will divide into two, with each side presenting an answer to the question supported by careful arguments.
This year’s resolution question is, “Should prior actions, once discovered, disqualify an individual from holding a position of moral leadership?”
The arguments will be projected onscreen via PowerPoint to help the audience follow the intricacies of the arguments. After the debate presentation, the two teams will field questions from three guest judges who will model the civil and insightful inquiry being highlighted in the event.
Then, teams will receive questions from audience members. The teams must to clarify their initial arguments and respond to challenges by developing arguments on-the-spot.
The process of planning the debate includes brainstorming areas of interest, identifying specific possible topics, picking a topic, drafting a resolution question, researching cases, issues, factual details of current law/policy, hashing through a range of ethical issues, deciding on the most applicable normative frameworks and developing the arguments, Mower said.
“This is a very complex process and the students were very organized in working through each of these progressively week-by-week,” Mower said.
Team members decided to cover officials who are embroiled with scandals concerning actions from their past, said Dakota Warren, a senior anthropology major from Jackson.
“We really wanted to find a topic that could relate to a large majority of people, but also an issue that will only grow larger as time progresses,” said Mimi Shufelt, a junior English major from Jackson. “After discussing Virginia Gov. William Northrop’s blackface scandal, our teammate Justice Strickland proposed a case where we determine to what extent is an individual responsible for actions they may have done 20-plus years ago.”
Although the Northrop case sparked the topic, the students see the issue as affecting most professions.
“We ultimately concluded that the gravity in this sort of scandal is largely due to the positions occupied by those involved, positions which we consider to be of moral leadership,” Warren said.
After the group figured out the parameters of the discussion, team members Shufelt and Bria Mazique, a junior marketing major from New Orleans, organized meetings and made sure everyone voiced their ideas.
“We would all sit down together, talk about cases which we thought might be relevant for our topic and stage mock debates,” Warren said.
Each person on the team plays a different role in the actual debate process, so everyone must stay focused for the team to be productive.
“I know that process may not sound very fun, but discussing extremely controversial cases with a group of people who all have different viewpoints leads to some hilarious conversation,” Shufelt said.
Mazique said she hopes the public will listen and understand the arguments to the point that it moves them to feel and/or think about the subjects.
“I want the audience to be moved, whether that means they are happy or upset,” she said. “Regardless of whether they agree with the standpoints or not, my goal is for them to be able to listen to different ideas and be able to talk about them, no matter how difficult or controversial.”
Students say they joined the team because they wanted to provide a platform to demonstrate the civil behavior they believe ought to be maintained while engaging in discussions of controversial contemporary issues.
“The most important goal for this event is to demonstrate how to engage in a rigorous debate about hot-button issues, yet to do so in a way that is civil,” Mower said. “People are often surprised to think of ‘civil dialogue’ along with ‘debate’ because they associate the term ‘debate’ with heated emotion, a battle to be won, and an argumentative attitude.
“All too often, people shy away from discussing or even considering contentious issues because we – as a society – simply don’t know how to engage in reasoned, thoughtful and deeply analytical discussion about issues. The ability to engage in civil debate is a skill which has largely been lost.”
Sponsors for the Great Debate of 2019 are the Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hume Bryant Chair of Ethics, Department of Philosophy and Religion, and SOPHIA: The Society of Philosophers in America.
Oxford Conference for the Book Welcomes Authors for 26th Year
Readings, panel discussions and lectures are free and open to the public
MARCH 4, 2019 BY
The 26th annual Oxford Conference for the Book is set for March 27-29 at the University of Mississippi.
What do a championship poker player, the U.S.-Mexico border controversy and the Appalachian South have in common? They are all part of this year’s Oxford Conference for the Book, set for March 27-29 at the University of Mississippi.
The 26th annual event is a mixture of authors, editors, historians and scholars who are interested in the written word.
The longest-running event put on by the UM Center for the Study of Southern Culture is free and open to the public. The only exception is the March 27 opening reception featuring music, food, drinks and conversations with conference attendees and guest authors at Memory House, 406 University Ave. Tickets are $50 and are available online.
At 11:30 a.m. that day, Travis McDade, author of “Torn From their Bindings: A Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries,” gives the keynote lecture after a free luncheon sponsored by the Friends of the Library in the Faulkner Room in the Department of Archives and Special Collections at the J.D. Williams Library. The lunch begins at 11 a.m. and reservations are required.
“I’m beyond pleased with how well this conference coordinates across the campus with various organizations, departments and institutions,” conference director James G. Thomas Jr. said. “The opening lunch, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is a great example of this conference’s commitment to partnering with our friends – old and new – on campus and in Oxford.”
New to the conference this year is a partnership with the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Department of Psychology, Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and the Ole Miss Student Union to bring author, professional speaker, decision strategist and former professional poker player Annie Duke for the “Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts” panel, set for 4 p.m. March 28 in the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics.
The philosophy department teaches many courses in logic, and professor Neil Manson teaches common statistical fallacies in connection with probability theory in his courses.
“Still, there is only so much excitement a professor can convey in a classroom, and the material can seem remote,” Manson said. “Having a world-class poker player – someone who has literally made millions of dollars based on her deep knowledge of the very material we cover – will definitely make the ideas in probability, statistics, and psychology come alive for our students.
“It also helps that she’s a great writer with lots of down-to-earth examples and stories, not to mention that she nearly won ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ 10 years ago, which is pretty awesome.”
All Ole Miss students are invited to a reception for Duke at 12:15 p.m. March 28 in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.
As in years past, “Thacker Mountain Radio Hour” will host a special Oxford Conference for the Book show with Leanne Shapton, author of “Guestbook: Ghost Stories,” and Ken Wells, author of “Gumbo Life: Tales from the Roux Bayou,” at 6 p.m. March 28 at the Lyric Theatre, at 1006 Van Buren Ave., just off the Oxford Square.
At 8 p.m. at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center, SouthDocs filmmaker Rex Jones will screen his film “La Frontera” with Mark Hainds, author of “Border Walk.” Both the film and book document Haind’s 1,000-mile walk along the entire stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border.
Other conference participants include Edmund White; Ralph Eubanks and Dennis Covington; Jessica Wilkerson with Karida Brown, Elizabeth Catte and Meredith McCarroll discussing the Appalachian region; Jason Berry; David Blight; Kiese Laymon; Wright Thompson with his editor Scott Moyers; Salvatore Scibona; and David Zurick.
At 1:15 p.m. March 29, William Boyle, UM adjunct instructor in writing and rhetoric, moderates a panel titled “On the Fringes of Noir,” with authors Willy Vlautin, Elle Nash and Gabino Iglesias. The panel is unified by Dennis Lehane’s definition of noir as “working-class tragedy,” Boyle said.
“Willy is my favorite novelist and songwriter, so I knew he’d be the first writer I’d invite,” Boyle said. “He’s rarely, if ever, identified as a noir writer, but he works the edges of the genre in some really interesting ways.
“From there, I thought it’d be great to invite a couple of other young writers who work the edges of the genre in varying ways.”
The Children’s Book Festival is held in conjunction with the OCB on March 29 at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, with more than 1,200 first- and fifth-graders from Oxford and Lafayette County schools in attendance, all of whom receive their own copy of their grade’s book.
Dan Santat will talk to first-graders at 9 a.m. about his book “After the Fall: (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again),” sponsored by the Lafayette County Literacy Council. Sharon Draper, sponsored by the Junior Auxiliary of Oxford, will talk to fifth-graders at 10:30 a.m. about “Out of My Mind.”
The Oxford Conference for the Book is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Square Books, Lafayette County Literacy Council, J.D. Williams Library, Friends of the J.D. Williams Library, Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics, Junior Auxiliary of Oxford and the Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library. The conference is partially funded by the university, a contribution from the R&B Feder Foundation for the Beaux Arts, a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council and promotional support from Visit Oxford.
For a full schedule and more information, visit http://www.oxfordconferenceforthebook.com and the conference’s Facebook page. Register for special events on the conference website or by contacting conference director James Thomas Jr. at 662-915-3374 or by email at jgthomas@olemiss.edu.
Philosophy Chair Wins National Excellence in Academic Advising Award
Steven Skultety recognized for service and support of students
JANUARY 23, 2019 BY
Steven Skultety
Over the past few years, Steven C. Skultety has advised, encouraged and lent a compassionate ear to hundreds of students at the University of Mississippi. Now some of those same students are nominating him for awards – and he’s winning.
Skultety, chair and associate professor of philosophy and religion, has been honored with the 2018 Region 4 Certificate of Merit by the National Academic Advising Association. He was awarded the university’s Excellence in Advising Award last fall.
It’s fulfilling to hear students talk about their rewarding academic experiences at the university, said Skultety, who joined the Ole Miss faculty as an assistant professor in 2006.
“The aspect that I enjoy most is that advising presents me with an opportunity to be entirely constructive,” Skultety said. “The whole point of meeting with an advisee is to solve problems and identify best options.”
An alumnus of Northwestern University and the University of Montana, Skultety was promoted to his current position with the Department of Philosophy and Religion in 2012. Advising became a natural career path as he worked with students.
“Advising a diverse group of philosophy students over the course of several years has helped me better appreciate the inner workings and strengths of my own department,” he said. “While surveys and exit interviews are helpful, nothing compares to having extended conversations with students.”
In the College of Liberal Arts, Skultety is known for guiding aspiring students through degree paths and toward obtaining a profession. He’s also known for giving students either the compassion or motivational push needed when the pressures of college become overwhelming.
“The National Academic Advising Association is the gold standard for research, publications and best practices within the profession of academic advising,” said Travis Hitchcock, UM assistant director of advising who nominated Skultety for the award. “To be recognized by them is a huge achievement for Dr. Skultety, and highlights the university’s commitment to facilitating a quality advising program.”
The university and NACADA awards mark the first time that Skultety has been honored for his work with students, a distinction that is most fulfilling, he said.
“My job as adviser is very different from all my other roles,” Skultety said. “It is especially gratifying to know that my advising efforts have made enough of a difference in students’ lives that they nominated me with strong support.”