It’s been said when great minds unite, amazing things can happen. Central Methodist University’s Humanities Conference proves this to be true.
Central’s Humanities Division held the eighth annual event on Friday, April 20, which also welcomed students from Columbia College and William Woods University to Inman Student and Community Center on the Fayette campus.
“Putting on a conference like this is a tremendous amount of work, so we’re very grateful CMU does it,” said Dr. Peter “Pete” Monacell, chair of the Language and Communication Studies Department at Columbia College. “It gives our students a venue to present their work in a professional setting to an audience of interesting and educated people, which builds character.”
Students who participated shared humanities-related projects they had completed throughout the academic year. This included readings of creative work, academic papers, roundtable discussion, displays, and more.
“I would consider getting accepted into the conference prestigious,” said Dr. Jeremy Reed, associate professor of English at CMU. “Our goal is to highlight some of the best work of students in humanities courses on campus, and put those students into conversation with the best students from other local schools.”
The day’s schedule included “Philosophy of Religion: Bruce Almighty,” moderated by Dr. Kevin Carnahan, associate professor of philosophy and religion; “Creative Writing,” moderated by Dr. Travis Johnson, assistant professor of English; “The Good Life in Chinese Philosophy,” moderated by Dr. Travis Smith, assistant professor of philosophy and religion;
“Making Films at CMU,” moderated by Dr. Ryan Woldruff, assistant professor of English; “Race in Literature,” moderated by Dr. Kavita Hatwalkar, associate professor of English; and “Modern British Novels,” moderated by Dr. John Porter, associate professor of English.