News from Transy

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University seniors Travis Maynard and Liz Lane were chosen to present projects at the 80th Annual Convention of the Southern States Communication Association and 20th Annual Theodore Clevenger Jr. Undergraduate Honors Conference held in early April at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. Writing, rhetoric and communication professor Scott Whiddon, who encouraged them to submit their projects for consideration, called their acceptance to present at the conference “a serious honor.” Maynard’s project was titled “And on the Eighth Day, God Created Rhetoricians: A Case Study of the Creation Museum.” Lane’s project was “Creativity, Consumers and Copyright: How the Internet and Consumer Usage has Changed the Music Industry.” Maynard and Lane are both majoring in writing, rhetoric and communication, one of the newest of the university’s 37 majors. The projects were adapted from larger projects they completed for their senior seminar class, the final component of the major. In this class, students essentially design, research and compose an independent research project that is somewhat equivalent to a master’s thesis chapter. While the goal is to produce a product that is discipline-specific, students draw heavily upon their liberal arts education background. “What I like most about the senior seminar is that students build upon their own interests and connect them to ongoing scholarly conversations,” said Whiddon. “Travis’ project, an analysis of the Creation Museum, connects well with the scholarship of Ernest Bormann, the originator of fantasy-theme based rhetorical methods. Liz’s

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Three Transylvania University juniors, Abigail Dority, Holly Milburn and Jessica Short, have been awarded scholarships by the Lexington Rotary Club. Dority, a sociology major, is a nontraditional student, having served in the United States Army, mothered two children and helped her husband through medical school before she attended Transylvania. She teaches yoga on campus and is a member of the sociology honor society. She plans to attend graduate school for sociology. Milburn, a social justice major, works as a student assistant in the president’s office during the day and participates in the alumni office’s phone-a-thon at night. She was named to the 2010 all-conference basketball team, has been designated Most Valuable Player for the varsity track and field team and received the Lydia Todd Hunter award as the “best all-around sophomore woman” last year. Short, a mathematics and physics double major, is a William T. Young Scholar and is involved in a wide range of activities including karate club, Phi Alpha Delta pre-law fraternity and math club. She has served in the student government association since her freshman year. She plans to attend law or graduate school. Transylvania, founded in 1780, is the nation’s sixteenth oldest institution of higher learning and is consistently ranked in national publications as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Forty-one first-year students at Transylvania University were recently inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, a national honor society that recognizes academic excellence. To be included, students must have maintained a 3.5 or higher GPA and be in the top 20 percent of their class during their first year or term of college. The new inductees are: Alisha Reece Acuff, Courtney Ann Baughman, Laura Elizabeth Campbell, Cassie Lorene Caudill, Alex Walter Cheser, Alyson Michelle Cox, Sarah Elizabeth Czack, Elizabeth Rose Davis, Hannah Elizabeth Edwards, Laura Pryor Edwins, Joseph Rodolfo Enderle, Jordan Harris Evans, Charli Beth Fant, Anna Elizabeth Followell, Rachel MacKenzie Gilliam, Nicholas James Hall, Kaitlin Elizabeth Hizny, Eryn Abigail Hornberger, Katherine Bennett Hoskins, Ryan Michael Kaufman, Nika Larian, Allison Kelsey Meade, Laura Catherine Miller, Savannah Elizabeth Nicholson, Scarlett Alexandra Nicholson, John Hartman Proctor, Robert Clark Puckett, Jordan Nicole Rebsch, Jennifer LeeAnn Robbins, Daniel Matthew Rouse, Cierra Nichole Sharp, Emily Marie Shepp, Katelyn Elizabeth Shouse, Ryan Matthew Smith, Sarah Elizabeth Tipton, Hannah Marie Trinkle, Christiane Marie Velez, Denise Lowelle Ward, Jennifer Ashley Woods, Quinton F. Williams and Alexander Christian Yaden.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University philosophy professor Peter Fosl has recently published “Philosophy: the Classic Readings,” a volume he co-edited with David E. Cooper. The book is a comprehensive collection of the greatest works of philosophy from ancient to modern times and draws on both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions. The works are arranged chronologically within sections on ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of religion and political philosophy. Original readings from more than 100 of the world’s great philosophers including Lao Tzu, Confucius, Kierkegaard and Sartre are included. “In my academic scholarship, I’ve explored topics concerned with skepticism and the history of philosophy,” said Fosl. “But through my work as a teacher at a liberal arts college, I’ve also become convinced of the importance of trying to bring philosophy to a wider audience. It shouldn’t just be something for professionals. ‘Philosophy: The Classic Readings’ is a part of my work both to transmit the history of philosophy and to make philosophy available to a wider readership.” Fosl received his bachelor’s from Bucknell University in 1985 and his master’s and Ph.D. from Emory University in 1990 and 1992. He is a contributing editor to “The Philosophers’ Magazine,” co-author of “The Philosopher’s Toolkit” (2002), co-editor of two volumes of “The Dictionary of Literary Biography” and is an editorial board member of The Journal of Transcendent Philosophy. He is a recipient of the Bingham Award for Excellence in Teaching at Transylvania and received the Acorn Award

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