The Mississippi University for Women Gordy Honors College Forum Series will highlight the research of university faculty this fall, beginning with Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Paul Mack’s presentation “Natural Selection and Altruism: Putting the ‘Self’ Back in ‘Selfless'” on Thursday, Aug. 28.
The Series is open to the campus and the wider community, and all events are free.
“I’ll show how the very same processes that lead to competition between individuals can also lead to cooperation,” says Mack of his research. “In a surprising number of cases, the conditions are just right for individuals to all do better by cooperating rather than competing. In such cases natural selection ‘favors’ individuals who cooperate.”
On Sept. 25, Dr. Beverly Joyce, professor of Art History, will present “Stolen Art, Nazi Ideology, and the Monuments Men,” to be followed Oct. 9 by a screening of the film “The Monuments Men.” Both are tie-ins to the MUW Welty Gala scheduled for Oct. 24 and featuring author Robert M. Edsel, whose book about Allied forces saving European art treasures from the Nazis is the basis for the film.
On Nov. 6, Dr. Julia Mortyakova, chair of the Department of Music, will discuss “The Hidden Gems of Classical Music: Women Composers.”
The Series will also showcase undergraduate research in the Honors College’s Fall Research Symposia, slated for Nov. 20 and Dec. 4, when senior honors students will present their research proposals and completed projects. The projects are conducted in disciplines as varied as speech-language pathology, graphic design, biology, history, and literature.
The Series will also feature a presentation on study abroad by Erinn Holloway, interim director of MUW’s Study Abroad Programs, on Sept. 11. Students on recent trips to Spain and Ireland will talk about their experiences, and faculty will highlight upcoming trips. All of MUW’s general study abroad offerings are available to community members as well as students.
All presentations are at 6 p.m. in Nissan Auditorium on the MUW campus, except for Mortyakova’s presentation, which will be held in Poindexter Hall.
For more information, contact Kim Whitehead, interim director of the Honors College, at [email protected], 662-241-6850, or visit muw.edu/honors/forum.
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