Just about every professor has had a student ask, “When am I going to use this?” This question is what inspired the theme Learning is life for the Arsenal Speaker Series of ASU’s chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
This year’s series will give some ASU faculty an opportunity to share what they have learned about life through their discipline. Organizers say the programs will show that learning doesn’t end when students leave the classroom but continues in their everyday lives.
“My view is that within each academic discipline, there are transcendent concepts or principles that are life lessons that apply to everyday life,” says Dr. James Grayson, program chair for the Arsenal Speaker Series. “So the topic learning is life will hopefully convey that while we may not apply in life everything we learn in a particular class, there are life principles in every class, that once recognized, will help us navigate the challenges of life,” he adds.
The series kicked off in September with the William S. Morris Eminent Scholar, Tom Nakashima, speaking to dozens of students and faculty on the topic of Learning is Life. In this session, Nakashima expressed and illustrated how the world of art changed his outlook on life.
Two additional programs are planned for fall. Dr. Hubert van Tuyll, chair of ASU’s Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy, will discuss War and History: Comprehension and Performance, on Friday, Oct. 10, at 10 a.m. in the Jaguar Student Activities Center Coffeehouse as part of A Day for ASU.
Another Learning is Life program will be presented by Dr. Sam Robinson, chair of ASU’s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 1 p.m. in the JSAC Coffeehouse.
Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 and is considered to be the oldest, largest, and most selective honor society for all disciplines. The society’s mission is to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.
Sep 22, 2008
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