2011-12 Schedule
Prince William Campus - Hylton Center
Rift Valley Fever Virus: An Emerging Infectious Disease Threat
Charles Bailey, Executive Director, Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases
Monday, October 3, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Though the Rift Valley fever virus outbreaks are currently restricted to Africa and Southwest Asia, both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Center for Disease Control are concerned that this mosquito- and aerosol-transmitted virus has the potential to be introduced into the United States. The virus causes hemorrhagic symptoms and mortality in approximately 1 percent of humans infected, as well as abortions in 90-100 percent of infected domestic livestock. This presentation will focus on both what we have learned about the life cycle and epidemiology of this virus in its native habitat and what we think could happen if the virus is ever introduced into the Americas.
Local Theater: Tracing a Contemporary Theater's Redefining of Creative Passion
Ken Elston, Chair, Department of Theater
Monday, November 21, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Theater Art organizes sound and silence, form and color, and human actions in space and time to represent “truth”—truth made worthy of investment by its existence in moments in which human beings reveal their passions. Furthermore, audiences identify with both the truth and human passions reproduced in a theatrical setting. In 2005, Gray Ghost Theatre Company and Footsteps in Time grew out of the passions of a community. Identifying “history” as indispensable to Virginia’s vitality, this not-for-profit arts group was created to support the community’s passions, and, so, was forced to identify a new trajectory for making plays that considered the character’s story secondary to that of the audience’s. This lecture will trace the theater company’s journey, emphasizing local context as a new model for organizing the form itself.
Strange Mix of Entitlement and Exploitation: The African-American Experience in Predominantly White College Sport
David Wiggins, Director, School of Recreation, Health and Tourism
Monday, March 26, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
The first African-Americans to participate on predominantly white university campuses in the late 19th century experienced much success on the playing field, in the classroom and in their later careers, though they confronted the same kinds of racial insensitivity and discrimination as did other members of the black community during this time period. Later, when a win-at-all-cost mentality developed in college sports, African-Americans were exploited for their athletic abilities while enduring social isolation and being denied sufficient academic support to realize a quality education. Beginning in the 1980s and continuing to the present, the NCAA has responded with legislative reforms that seemingly bring some sanity back into intercollegiate athletics and establish more stringent academic guidelines for all athletes. In reality, though, the reforms serve to maintain eligibility rather than to ensure a quality education.
Doing Justice: How Professionals Understand and Make Justice Decisions
Shannon Portillo, Assistant Professor, Criminology, Law and Society
Monday, April 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
The term “justice” holds broad academic appeal, and the effective promotion of justice is a primary goal of policy makers and practitioners from a wide range of fields. However, justice is measured and conceptualized differently based on discipline, perception and policy orientation. Traditionally, justice is a philosophical and moral concept. But, as part of the foundation of more practice- and policy-orientated fields, the term has been adapted differently. Individuals often envision that, in a traditional adversarial justice system, two sides are locked in a battle of truths before a neutral arbiter where justice is revealed. Yet, most interactions with justice professionals are as mundane as a judge’s decisions about a person’s unemployment benefits. In her lecture, Dr. Portillo compares how academics conceptualize and measure justice with how practitioners implement and do justice, considering professionals’ day-to-day justice decisions and how these actions result in the process of “doing justice.”