Humanities symposium planned to expand curriculum | Campus Times

Julia Sklar, Presentation Editor

A one million dollar endowment has been given to the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering by UR Alumnus and Trustee Bernard T. Ferrari and his wife Linda Gaddis Ferrari for a yearly humanities symposium and related curricula.

?The symposia allows us to expand on the research and teaching that UR faculty do, enabling us to bring to campus experts in fields of interest to the broader community,? Dean for Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies Thomas Dipiero said.

Set to feature public talks from visiting scholars with a focus on the 14th to 17th century humanistic thought, the symposium hopes to bring a greater appreciation to the beauty of art, literature and history. The symposia will take place annually and will consist of several events, with the next one set to take place in the spring semester of 2013. Talks of having them span throughout a semester and possibly the entire academic year are also on the table.

The symposium will also offer half- or full-semester long courses designed to bring a ?wide variety of humanistic inquiry to a broad cross-section of the undergraduate population? Dean Dipiero said.

This semester, nine faculty members are participating in ?The Art and Science of Time,? a series of classes in conjunction with the inaugural visit of Anthony Grafton, the Henry Putnam Professor of History at Princeton University, who gave the keynote lecture entitled ?Maps of Time: Science, Scholarship, and History in Early Modern Europe? in the Carlson-Hawkins Room in Rush Rhees Library on March 21.

?He lent us his experience as the past president of the American Historical Association, and he shared his thoughts on the future of graduate education in the humanities,? Dipiero said.

?[The symposium] is a catalyst to the work we do and shows significant progress in in humanistic studies,? History Professor Richard Kaeuper said. ?Having world-renowned scholars will boost interest as well as give recognition to how important the humanities are to students and the university. To students this is a validation of their studies.?

?It?s one of the banes of being a humanities major that I have sort of accepted,? said senior and American History and literature double major Nicole St. James said. ?UR is well-known for its top-notch science programs and often times the humanities seem underrepresented.?

?People gloss over them because they aren?t as research based,? Olufemi Watson, a health and medical communications interdepartmental major, said. ?Nine times out of ten no one is giving donations to them. This was the perfect avenue to generate new enthusiasm for the humanities both within the student body and the faulty.?

Ferrari is a Rochester native and graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1970 with a bachelor?s degree in science cum laude, and a graduate from the School of Medicine and Dentistry with a medical degree in 1974. He serves the University as a trustee and a member of the Meliora Challenge Campaign Cabinet.
Ferrari and his wife are also Charter Members of the George Eastman Circle.

?The study of the humanities provides people with the ability to appreciate beauty and better appreciate life,? Farrari, who first took interest in the arts when he took a course in Medieval and Renaissance era architecture and art, said. ?The arts have relevance to solving today?s problems when that knowledge is brought together with science and other disciplines.?

He added that art helped to keep him grounded through his rigorous studies in science and medicine.

Johnson is a member of the class of 2013.

Source: http://www.campustimes.org/2012/03/29/humanities-symposium-planned-to-expand-curriculum/

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