News from Transy

LEXINGTON, Ky.—A liberal arts education is about more than sitting under a tree, pondering the meaning of life. For example, Transylvania University students explore technology’s cutting edge with 3-D printers. Computer science professor Kenny Moorman teaches a May term course that uses the school’s two MakerBot 3-D printers and a 3-D scanner to create functional and whimsical objects. Students were intrigued by the somewhat unusual class offering. “It actually filled up faster than any class I’ve ever taught,” he said. 3-D printing is a relatively new technology that allows you to produce a three-dimensional solid object from a digital model. An existing item can be scanned using a 3-D scanner, or an object can be designed from scratch using computer software. The “printing” involves fusing successive layers of material of various shapes and sizes. It can be an inexpensive and practical way for designers from a variety of industries to produce concept models or small quantities of parts. Having this technology on campus offers a somewhat rare opportunity. Moorman said that students at small liberal arts schools don’t usually get a chance to play with this kind of technology. During the class, students have printed out objects such as a fully jointed hand, which may eventually be connected to a robot, and a fully functioning crescent wrench. They printed some not-so-practical stuff, too—check out the video. As is typical in a liberal arts program, class discussion ranged across several disciplines.

Read “3-D printers add new dimension to education at Transylvania”

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s enthusiasm for bicycling kicks into high gear this month with a wide range of activities—from cycling through France to riding to a local pie shop. One of the more popular May cycling events is Bike to Work Day, which is Friday, May 16. Faculty, staff and students will meet at Shriners Hospital for Children on Richmond Road at 8 a.m. and ride as a group to Transylvania. This will be the fourth year the university has celebrated Bike to Work Day. Also this month, 18 students made a trek to Europe for the May term class, Transy’s Tour de France. During this unique trip to Paris and the South of France, students immerse themselves in French society and explore the past. Other bicycle-related events for the Transylvania community during National Bike Month include: a jaunt to Missy’s Pies on May 7; the Bike for Blooms and Bon Bons on May 11 to the UK Arboretum; a Legacy Ride and picnic May 14; and a ride from Wallace Station on May 18. “Transylvania is a great place for biking,” Sustainability Director Angela Poe said. “We’ve got the bike maintenance shop on campus to support those with their own bikes, and the loan program for those who weren’t able to bring their own or are trying out biking for the first time since childhood.” The university recently expanded the free loan program so bikes can be checked out for

Read “A merry month for Transylvania biking”

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Dr. Bert Scruggs, an expert in modern Taiwanese literature and film, concludes this year’s Creative Intelligence lecture series with “Rusticated Memories and Consuming Environments: Zhiqing Fiction and Film,” an examination of the effects of China’s Cultural Revolution. Scruggs, assistant professor of East Asian languages and literature at the University of California, Irvine, will speak Thursday, May 8, at 4:15 p.m. in the Cowgill Center, room 102, on Transylvania University’s campus. The talk is free and open to the public. Beginning in the 1950s, and until the end of the Cultural Revolution, educated youth in the People’s Republic of China willingly, or under coercion, left the densely populated urban areas and moved to the countryside where they worked as farmers or manual laborers as part of their revolutionary education. Despite having been “sent-down youth” or “rusticated” over 30 years ago, memories of rustication continue to garner critical and artistic attention, as evidenced in contemporary Chinese literature and film. “Due to the massive nature of the rustication program—17 million people—few lives or families in contemporary China have not been directly influenced by the program that sent a generation to the hinterlands to educate, re-educate, reclaim and tend to the land,” explains Scruggs. For his presentation, Scruggs compares Liang Xiaosheng’s 2009 short story “A Land of Wonder and Mystery,” a rusticated-youth narrative, to Sean Penn’s film adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild,” among other texts. He posits that

Read “Cultural Revolution still significant in contemporary Chinese culture”

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University will bring the world to Lexington on Thursday, May 1, from 5-8 p.m., and we’d like you to join us. Transylvania’s historic campus in downtown Lexington will be the scene of the university’s first World Culture Fair. This lively event will offer an opportunity to sample foods indigenous to China, Ireland, Mexico and Brazil. Entertainment will include a salsa performance and a concert by the Kentucky Refugee Children’s Choir. Those in attendance can participate in a salsa class or join in the Brazilian drumming experience presented by Trio Ginga at 7 p.m., when more than 50 instruments will be available for fair-goers to learn to play as a group. The fair will also include exhibits by international students, faculty and staff representing their native cultures or places where they have spent a significant amount of time. Other exhibits will focus on African American history, world religions and international non-profit service organizations. The public is invited. The admission fee is $8.48, which covers the entertainment as well as all the diverse foods you want to sample. Cash and debit cards will be accepted, and group rates are available. Dinner will be served until 7 p.m., but visitors will want to come early to enjoy the full experience. “Shows will be spread out over the course of the evening, but it’s best to come at 5 p.m. if you want to see it all,” said Serenity Wright, Transylvania’s international

Read “Transylvania to host World Culture Fair”