Joan DelFattore, professor emerita of English, will speak on “The Healer Within: Psychological Research on the Use of Writing to Relieve Stress.”

Raymond Callahan, professor emeritus of history, will give a talk on “Why Study History?”

John Jungck, director of the Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories and professor of biological sciences and mathematical sciences, will speak on “Moving Beyond 'Two Cultures.'"

March 4: University for a Day

Article by Tara White Kee February 23, 2017

MALS program offers thought-provoking lectures in half-day program

On Saturday, March 4, the University of Delaware Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) program will sponsor a half-day experience for all members of the community craving intellectual stimulation.

The speakers at the University for a Day program, who are all associated with MALS, will be:

• Joan DelFattore (English), “The Healer Within: Psychological Research on the Use of Writing to Relieve Stress.” What is reflective writing? What is known and what is not yet known about how it can help to pull the themes of one's life together, reduce stress, and improve the quality of life?

• John Jungck (biological sciences and mathematics), “Moving Beyond ‘Two Cultures.’” Jungck will address the classic division between STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and the arts and humanities and how a "third culture" might be built. After reviewing team-taught courses involving artists, art historians, anthropologists, poets, playwrights, political scientists, etc., with a biologist-mathematician, Jungck will argue for the importance of interdisciplinary scholarship that is mutually informed by arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

• Raymond Callahan (history), “Why Study History?” The world has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. The pace of change seems to accelerate geometrically. Does it matter any longer, as people try to navigate the situation in which they now find themselves, what the Romans did? Or why the Spanish Armada failed? Perhaps it still does. Decisions are still made by people and the dilemmas they face while doing so – about power, responsibility, judgment and the direction of societies and states – remain remarkably constant over time. History illuminates this constant in human affairs – if deciders are aware of it.

More information on University for a Day is available online.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Registration is required. Write to mals-info@udel.edu with your name, phone number and email address or call 302-831-4130.

The event is sponsored by the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program, an interdisciplinary degree for intellectually curious adults who want focus in their search for enrichment.