Stroganoff and smoothies
9/9/2005
Well, the school year has officially begun with welcome weekend, opening lectures and liturgies, various rituals large and small, and mostly a sense of excitement. We're putting the band back together.
In arts and sciences we were delighted to welcome five new faculty members.
It's been amazing to run into faculty and students I haven't seen in a few months and to hear about their summer travels, study and serious playtime. One of my favorite moments was greeting the student who came in a week early thinking classes started before Labor Day. Not this year, but she got an A for enthusiasm.
Today in my first class of the Freshman Seminar on "Dimensions of the Self: Thinking for Oneself," I presented students with a recipe for beef stroganoff. (Our course will study how the self is constituted, how a person is made/inherited/given/discovered under influences that are physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual, as freedom works itself out amid a kind of destiny.) And so, as a first day in-class icebreaker I asked them to provide their own recipe, not for stroganoff but for themselves. Some of the answers were pretty creative.
Well, the school year has officially begun with welcome weekend, opening lectures and liturgies, various rituals large and small, and mostly a sense of excitement. We're putting the band back together.
In arts and sciences we were delighted to welcome five new faculty members.
- Michelle VanNatta in criminology studies the criminal justice system, focusing on assumptions about race, gender and emotion in the prosecution and defense of battered women, as well as issues of rape in prisons.
- Joseph Heininger in English works on British and Irish literature and culture around issues of resistance to social and political domination, as well as identity, gender and class boundaries.
- Susan Strawn in fashion does historical and ethnographic studies of Navajo textiles and other communities within contexts of social/psychological aspects of dress, historic costume, cultural anthropology, textile science, fair trade marketing and apparel design.
- Kristin Duncan in mathematics does Bayesian statistics and educational measurement.
- Stephanie Townsend in psychology studies community and prevention research, and worked most recently on secondary traumatic stress and burnout among sexual assault nurse examiners.
- They enrich our already vital faculty community and we're glad to have them as new colleagues.
It's been amazing to run into faculty and students I haven't seen in a few months and to hear about their summer travels, study and serious playtime. One of my favorite moments was greeting the student who came in a week early thinking classes started before Labor Day. Not this year, but she got an A for enthusiasm.
Today in my first class of the Freshman Seminar on "Dimensions of the Self: Thinking for Oneself," I presented students with a recipe for beef stroganoff. (Our course will study how the self is constituted, how a person is made/inherited/given/discovered under influences that are physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual, as freedom works itself out amid a kind of destiny.) And so, as a first day in-class icebreaker I asked them to provide their own recipe, not for stroganoff but for themselves. Some of the answers were pretty creative.
- 1 dash of spunk with 3 cups of spirituality to calm the intensity of the flavor. 8 cups of laughter to bring down stress levels. 2 cups of creativity to make your mind question. 7 cups of music to ease the spirit. 2 cups of joy to appreciate life. 1 cup of grumpiness just because.
- You first take dedication and honesty and mix together for 5 min. After intense mixing you should notice a trustworthy character developing. Next place the excitement, energy, and care in another bowl. Boil until you realize a strong bond being formed. Finally combine both mixtures and you get a very independent, strong-willed young man capable of achieving goals. He's very reliable and willing to help others with whatever they need.
- First you add 1 pound of loyalty together with 6 cups of courageousness. Mix together for 4-5 minutes. Add 1 ounce of responsibility along with 3 cups of trustworthiness. Put it all in a blender and blend and then you got a smoothie.
- Ingredients: desire of knowledge, video games, music, work, concerts, lack of patience. Throw into a pot and hope it doesn't spontaneously combust. Heat on high for an hour stirring it until contents become volatile. Let sit for 20 minutes before serving. Warning, contents will be crazy.
