2011 Regional Graduate Liberal Studies Conference

Hosted by the Master of Liberal Arts Program at UNC Asheville
April 8-9, 2011

Thank you to all who contributed to the great success of this Conference!  Fifty students and faculty members participated from: Clayton State University, Duke University, East Tennessee State University, UNC Asheville, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, Villanova University, Western Carolina University.

Conference Program

Friday, April 8, 2011, 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Opening reception and registration

Owen Conference Center, 302 Owen Hall (OH), UNC Asheville

5:30pm Plenary Address, Dr. Bill Spellman, Director of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), Professor of History, and former Director of the MLA Program at UNC Asheville

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be served. This reception is co-sponsored by the UNC Asheville Graduate Student Association. Many thanks to the GSA officers for all of their help with this reception and the planning of the Conference!

Saturday, April 9, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm

Individual & Panel Presentations

All presentations will be in Owen Hall (OH)

8:30 – 9:00am – Join us for coffee and scones, Owen Hall 2nd floor Lobby

Session 1A: 9:00-10:30am (OH 202) – Law, Government, and Politics

Moderated by Peg Downes, Ph.D., UNC Asheville MLA Program Director and Professor of Literature

- Nathan Cook, “Representational Role Orientations: Testing the Delegate Model through District Diversity” (UNC Asheville)

- Jonathan C. Ebersole, “A vote for Anarchy: Levinas and Political Resistance” (Villanova University)

- Anna Farias-Eisner, “The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): The Experience of Law Enforcement Agencies in North Carolina” (Duke University)

- Jeffrey Palmer, “Immigration Policy: Lessons Learned from Tristan and Isolde” (Duke University)

Session 1B: 9:00-10:30am (OH 250) – Education and Development

Moderated by Sandra Byrd, Ph.D., Assistant Provost for Graduate & Continuing Education and Associate Professor of Education at UNC Asheville

- Cheryl Dunson, “Parental Involvement, Socio-Economic Factors, and High School Graduation: A Comparative Analysis” (Clayton State University)

- Patricia Gerard, “Cursive Writing as a Fading Literacy” (East Tennessee State University)

- Joseph Penza, “Contextualizing Access and Making Content Accessible” (East Tennessee State University)

- Elaine Porter, “What Factors Affect Student Retention in Single Adult Sunday School Classes?” (UNC Greensboro)

BREAK: 10:30-10:45am

Session 2A: 10:45am-12:15pm (OH 202) – Globalization and the Environment

Moderated by Gerard Voos, Ph.D., Associate Director of the MLA Program at UNC Asheville

- Elizabeth Becker, “West Africa, Chocolate, and the Possibilities of Fair Trade” (UNC Asheville)

- Renee Eli, “Food as Sacrament: A Plea to Reclaim Human Interdependence with the Natural World” (UNC Asheville)

- Amanda González-Moreno, “Plastic in a Bottle” (UNC Wilmington)

- Jim Stokoe, “Global Surface Freshwater Resources in a Warming World – A Climate Modeling Experiment” (UNC Asheville)

Session 2B: 10:45am-12:15pm (OH 250) – Creative Writing

Moderated by Tommy Hays, MFA, UNC Asheville MLA Instructor & Director, Great Smokies Writing Program

- Maryedith Burrell, “Inquisition” (UNC Asheville)

- Jordan Dolfi, “My New York” (UNC Asheville)

- Elizabeth Wunderlich, “Changing Attitudes of Womanhood” (UNC Asheville)

12:20-12:55pm (Conference Center, 302 OH)- Plenary Panel

Moderated by Peg Downes, Ph.D., UNC Asheville MLA Program Director and Professor of Literature

- The Process of Finding a Capstone Project: Travis Byrd, Amanda Deweese, Jordan Dolfi, Josiah Johnston, and Tina Masciarelli (UNC Asheville)

LUNCH: 1:00-1:45pm, Conference Center (OH 302)

Session 3A: 2:00–3:00pm (OH 202) – Sociology and Anthropology

Moderated by Holly Iglesias, Ph.D., UNC Asheville MLA Instructor

- James Baxley, “How Has French-Creole Culture Influenced American Jazz?” (Clayton State University)

- Valerie Bodell, “Internal and External Stereotypes in Comics” (East Tennessee State University)

- Rebecca Lamb, “A Hard Road to Travel: A Feminine Approach to American Indian Documentary Photography” (UNC Asheville)

Session 3B: 2:00-3:00pm (OH 250) – The American South

Moderated by Pamela Nickless, Ph.D., MLA Instructor and Professor of Economics at UNC Asheville

- Travis Byrd, “Taking Their Stand: Southern Writers on the Fringe” (UNC Asheville)

- Heather Williams, “‘Living in Borrowed Splendor’- The Rhetoric of the 1944 Polio Epidemic in Hickory, North Carolina” (Western Carolina University)

- Jonathan Williams, “'And These Signs Shall Follow Them': Snake-Handling in Central and Southern Appalachia” (Western Carolina University)

BREAK 3:00-3:15pm

Session 4A: 3:15-4:00pm (OH 202) – World History

Moderated by Steve Wilkerson, M.D., Ph.D., UNC Asheville MLA Instructor

- Bob Mustin, “Silvester II and European Unity in the Year 1000” (UNC Asheville)

- Theresa Jackson, “From homeland to Holy Land: Iraqi Jews and the Formation of Modern Israel, 1940-1950” (UNC Wilmington)

Session 4B: 3:15-4:00pm (OH 250) – Philosophy and Language

Moderated by Holly Iglesias, Ph.D., UNC Asheville MLA Instructor

- Moira Bradford, “I Love You” (UNC Asheville)

- Joan Heller, “Faustian Striving and the Work of Poetry in W.E.B. Dubois’ The Souls of Black Folk” (UNC Asheville)

Saturday, April 9, 2011, 6:00pm: Closing dinner reception

Join us in celebrating Graduate Liberal Studies!

The Mediterranean Restaurant
57 College Street
Asheville, NC 28801-2819
(828) 258-0476

Directions and parking information will be included in your folder, which will be handed out at the Friday evening reception. The cost of dinner is included in your registration fees. Please note that the restaurant will be closed to the public, so all who plan to attend must register for the conference; it will not be possible to order dinner on another tab.

Thank you for participating in the 2011 North Carolina Graduate Liberal Studies Conference. We expect this to be an exceptional event and a tremendously rewarding experience for all. If you have any questions regarding the conference, please contact the GLS conference committee at glsconference@unca.edu.