Spotlight on Student Research

AGLSP 2009 Writing Award Nominee Laura Zimmerman

Oakland University's MALS program has nominated Laura Zimmerman's paper, "Telling Stories Without Words: The Role of Art in Charles H. Red Corn's A Pipe for February," for the first national "Confluence Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Writing." This award will be given for the first time in 2009 by the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs (AGLSP).

The winner not only receives $500 but also will have the pleasure of seeing his or her article published in the AGLSP journal, Confluence. The award ceremony will be part of the association's annual conference, which will be held in Orlando, Florida in October 2009.

Laura's paper was written for Professor Gladys Cardiff's course, Contemporary Native American Writing, in the winter semester of 2008. The abstract she wrote for her paper concisely delineates her interdisciplinary approach to understanding the place of Native American artists in America. She writes: "Interweaving the fictional Osage Indian artist John Grayeagle in Charles Red Corn's A Pipe for February with examples from Kiowa and Pueblo Indian artists as well as non-Native ones, 'Telling Stories Without Words' explores the complex relationship between art, literature, anthropology, sociology, and history. As we are drawn into Grayeagle's quest to capture the essence of his people in his paintings, we are led to examine the dichotomy of classifying art by Native artists as something other than American or Western. Do curators and historians segregate art created by Indians as an exotic subclass of lesser importance and impact? Why is art viewed this way while works by respected authors such as Gerald Vizenor, M. Scott Momaday, and Leslie Silko - who happen to be American Indians - are assimilated into mainstream literary criticism?" She concludes her abstract by asserting that " 'Separate but equal' exhibitions of American Indian art perpetuate the myth that the art and artists are exotic and require special 'handling.' "

MA in Liberal Studies Regional Conference 2010

Oakland University MALS students will have an opportunity to present their research at a regional graduate liberal studies conference to be held on May 8, 2010, at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Participating institutions include Oakland University, University of Toledo, Findlay College, and the conference host, UM-Dearborn, among other institutions. Details on the conference will be announced in fall 2009. All MALS students will be welcome to attend and present their research at this new forum. The conference promises to offer excellent opportunities to exchange ideas, hone presentation skills, and meet with peers at other universities.

MALS Student To Present Research in the UK

MALS graduate student Dan Brown will present his research on "The Scapegoats of London" at the University of Gloucester, England in September, 2005. Dan will be traveling to an international conference hosted by the British Association of Victorian Studies in Cheltenham, England. His research focuses on the figure of the scapegoat, drawing on the theories of Rene Girard and examining such diverse scapegoat figures as the housebreaker and murderer Bill Sikes in Dickens’s Oliver Twist; Holman Hunt’s 1854 painting of the Biblical scapegoat; Punch and Judy street performances; and Joseph Merrick, the “Elephant Man” of late 19th century London. Dan appreciates the support of the University Research Committee, which awarded him a student research travel grant for his airfare. This interdisciplinary conference paper grew out of work completed for LBS 513, an independent study on Rene Girard with Professor Charles Mabee, and LBS 500: the City in History, Literature, Art and Film, with Professor Natalie Cole, both taught in Winter 2005.

Graduate Liberal Studies Conference at San Diego State University

The Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies/ Master of Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences program at San Diego State University is currently accepting proposals for presentations at the Eighth Joint Graduate Liberal Studies Conference to be held October 28-30, 2005 in San Diego, CA.

At intervals of 12 - 18 months, students and faculty from the GIS/MALAS program, along with students and faculty from the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and others, participate in a Joint Graduate Liberal Studies Conference.

The conference is designed to promote an international dialogue on contemporary issues in interdisciplinary studies and to further the fundamental concept of an interdisciplinary program as an exploration and integration of diverse ways of thinking and methods of analysis. The conference will include student presentations of papers and faculty presentations of research, as well as panels and guest speakers.

For more information, please see the informational flyer [PDF]

Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters Regional Academic Conference

MALS students are encouraged to submit their work for presentation at The Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters regional academic conference. The meeting is held annually and rotates between various Michigan colleges and university campuses. The next meeting will be at Eastern Michigan University March 3 - 4, 2005.

The call for papers comes out in the fall and the deadline for paper proposals is usually in October. Please contact Natalie Cole for further information, at cole@oakland.edu.

In March 2004, Anelia Petrova, a graduate student in Oakland University’s MALS program, presented a research paper, “The World of A Christmas Carol: Through the Prism of Journalism,” at the Michigan Academy conference at Grand Valley State University.

Petrova’s paper analyzes the relationship between Dickens’s techniques and social concerns in his journalism of the late 1830’s and early 1840’s and those he employs in “A Christmas Carol” (1843), particularly his concerns about child labor and education, allegorized in the figures of “Ignorance” and “Want” in the Christmas book.