UCA’S 2012 Humanities Fair is Thursday

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas will hold the 2012 Humanities Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center

The Humanities Fair is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The fair is open to high school students and their teachers to enable students to experience a typical day attending university humanities courses.

Students will have their choice of attending sessions conducted by UCA professors in philosophy, religious studies, history, English, anthropology, African and African-American studies, Asian studies and gender studies.

UCA faculty will make presentations exploring the chosen theme of “Patriotism: Civility, Civil Disobedience, and Consequences.”

Conrad Shumaker will trace the origin of patriotism back to early Christianity, when it was generally seen as a “pagan” value. He will discuss the origins, implications and consequences of identifying love of America with the love of God. Raymond Frontain will approach the subject of “Shakespeare, Spenser and the Creation of National SelfConsciousness.”

Wendy Castro will discuss the book George Washington transcribed as a boy on Rules of Civility, and she will use it as a lens into social rules in the early 1700s and what it was like to be the first president and how aware Washington was that he was establishing protocol for the nation. Jay Ruud will discuss Joan of Arc, James Deitrick will discuss Asian religions in American Pop Culture, Michael Yoder will discuss bringing back urban centers more conducive to enhancing civility, Lori Leavell will discuss African-American print culture and citizenship, and Chad Terrell will discuss films on patriotism and civility.

Although it is not required, students are encouraged to submit original humanities projects to the fair’s competition. Awards will be presented to highlight excellence and creativity in the areas of poetry, short stories, essays and multimedia presentations. Student projects based on the theme are welcome, as are projects on other topics.

Visit the Humanities Fair website at uca.edu/hwci/ humanities-fair/ for more information on registration, student project entry forms and submitting student works.

For more information,