/news-archive/tag/jana-mcauliffe/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Fri, 25 Jan 2019 14:32:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/01/25/arkansas-high-school-ethics-bowl-feb-2/ Fri, 25 Jan 2019 14:32:01 +0000 /news/?p=73168 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to host 7th annual Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl Feb. 2]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies will host more than 100 high school students from across the state of Arkansas on Saturday, Feb. 2, for the seventh annual.听 The event will begin at 8 a.m. in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development with matches beginning at 9:20 a.m. The keynote address with guest speaker Tim Jackson of Fried Green Media will begin at 2:15 p.m. followed by the awards ceremony at 3 p.m. Differing from typical debate competitions, the Ethics Bowl encourages collaborative engagement about serious moral topics. Teams consider and discuss cases drawn from current events, which range from social and political issues, environmental concerns, and issues in the workplace and classroom. Teams receive a list of competition topics in advance to prepare for the event, but they are unaware of which one they will be assigned until they face off against a competing team. Winners of the competition will be determined by the scores of three judges who were recruited from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and local community. Judging will be based on student鈥檚 abilities to reason and engage in civil, rational discourse. More than 20 teams from 15 schools have registered for the competition this year, each one hoping to win and advance to the National High School Ethics Bowl, which is set to take place April 5-7 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 聽 For more information, contact Ethics Bowl organizers and professors in the Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies, Dr. Michael Norton at mbnorton@ualr.edu, or Dr. Jana McAuliffe at jxmcauliffe@ualr.edu.]]> /news-archive/2018/12/18/carlene-akins-grad/ Tue, 18 Dec 2018 14:36:03 +0000 /news/?p=73007 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student fulfills dream of earning college degree]]> On May 15, Carlene Akins, 44, of Little Rock, fulfilled her decades-long dream of 聽earning a college degree as she graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mass communication surrounded by family cheering for her.听 鈥淚 am so excited about graduating because I didn鈥檛 think I was smart enough,鈥� Akins said. 鈥淚 used to think that people who didn鈥檛 go to college were just lazy or not smart enough, but now my whole mind frame of going to college is different. I think if you want to achieve that goal, that you should do it, no matter how long it takes you, no matter what stands in your way.鈥� Akins grew up in Ferguson, Missouri, one of 10 children and the first in her family to earn a college degree. 鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted a college degree,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y mom said I wasn鈥檛 college material, that I would just be a wife and mother. I have two kids and two grandchildren. I had my oldest daughter at 21, but I still wanted to go to school. I saw the difference between having an education and not having one. Mostly, I want to show my two girls that no matter how your life turns out and what happens in it, that you can turn it around. At the same time, I wanted to prove to my parents that I was more than just a wife and mother.鈥� Before she moved to Little Rock, Akins worked as a paramedic in the St. Louis area. She decided to return to school after realizing that paramedics made less money than what she used to make in Missouri. She first attended University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College and then transferred to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2014. 鈥淚 chose mass communication because I have the gift of gab. I could sing, and I wanted to learn how to produce audio,鈥� Akins said. 鈥淚 ran into David Weekley (senior mass communication instructor), and he said, 聽鈥榃hy would you chop your legs off and do one thing, when you can do a whole array of skills?鈥� I went home and thought about what he said and did the assessment to see what I was interested in. After I took a few classes, I got good grades. I took an audio and media broadcasting class, and I felt like I found my voice. I felt like I wasn鈥檛 important because I didn鈥檛 have a voice. I took more classes about media production and creating content. I felt like I was telling the story of how I feel.鈥� Akins has faced many challenges in earning her degree. While at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, she was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. Her diagnosis was so grim at one point that her husband took her on a spontaneous vacation to Europe because the doctors told him she would not survive. 鈥淚t was a learning experience,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 survived, and I鈥檓 stronger for it.鈥� Born three months premature, Akins has severe visual impairment due to Retinopathy of Prematurity, which made it difficult for her to read class materials and get to class since she cannot drive. 鈥淚 did use Disability Resource Services a lot. They are a lifesaver,鈥� Akins said. 鈥淢y vision kept me from doing a lot of stuff. Sometimes, I get a little anxious when it comes to my disability, but I don鈥檛 use it to make excuses. It makes me stronger.鈥� Akins credits Weekley, who inspired her to expand her horizons in mass communication, as well as Sonny Rhodes, associate professor of mass communication, and Jana McAuliffe, assistant professor of philosophy, for inspiring her to do her best at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. 鈥淒r. Sonny Rhodes was good. He made you want to do your homework, and he made you want to learn,鈥� Akins said. 鈥淗e valued you as a student and made sure you were getting what you needed to learn. He was one of my most valued professors. Jana McAuliffe taught me ethics. She was very challenging, but she made me want to succeed. She made me become a critical thinker.鈥� Akins, who currently works at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, is looking forward to traveling to Tokyo, Japan, in May 2019 to begin a six-month internship, where she will get experience in mass communication, broadcasting, public relations, and analytics. In the upper right photo, graduate Carlene Akins (right) receives her diploma from Dr. Julien Mirivel, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Communication. Photo by Benjamin Krain.]]> /news-archive/2018/02/12/octoroon/ Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:43:29 +0000 /news/?p=69342 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock theater presents “An Octoroon”]]> An Octoroon 聽Feb. 21-25 in the Haislip Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts on the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock campus, 5900 University Dr. An Octoroon offers audiences a provocative, funny, and surprisingly poignant examination of race in 21st-century America. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, recipient of the 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play,聽cleverly exposes the roles that we play in maintaining the melodramatic travesty of 鈥渨hiteness鈥� in contemporary America, and how race still functions to keep someone in her 鈥減lace.鈥� (The word 鈥渙ctoroon鈥� means 鈥渙ne-eighth black.鈥�) Content includes mature language and themes and is not recommended for children. Performances are as follows:

• Wednesday, Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 25, 2:30 p.m.

Pre-show discussion panels with university faculty on melodrama, Louisiana Creole culture, racial stereotypes in popular media, and other issues relevant to An Octoroon and our times will take place 6:45-7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 1:45-2:15 p.m. on Sunday. Post-show discussions with director Stacy Pendergraft and the actors will be after the Thursday and Friday shows. Ticket are $10 for general admission; $5 for faculty, staff and students; and $5 for military and seniors. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the theater鈥檚 box office from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, by calling 501-569-3456, or online at 聽/theatre/season/ Pre-show speakers and topics:

• Wednesday, Feb. 21 – 鈥淩acial Stereotypes vs. Self-representation in American Popular Media and the Visual Arts,鈥� with Brad Cushman, Edma Delgado, and Erin Fehr, 6:45-7:15 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 22 –聽鈥淚ntersections of Race, Gender, and Performance鈥� Candrice Jones, Kristina McAbee, and Jana McAuliffe, 6:45-7:15 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 23 –聽鈥淎ntebellum Creole Culture and Melodrama鈥� with Brian K. Mitchell and Lawrence D. Smith, 6:45-7:15 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 25 – 鈥淟egacies of the Delta Slavery Economy鈥� with John Kirk, 1:45-2:15 p.m.

]]> /news-archive/2018/01/22/2018-ethics-bowl/ Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:22:00 +0000 /news/?p=69040 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Philosophy Department to host Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl Jan. 27]]> The event enhances critical thinking skills in high school students and helps them engage in important ethical dialogues. The event will also benefit teachers who seek to incorporate ethical reasoning into their lesson plans. The Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl is led by Drs. Jana McAuliffe and Michael Norton in the Department of Philosophy. Together, they will plan, advertise, oversee, and help evaluate the Ethics Bowl. This event allows students to participate in team-based ethical reasoning, persuasion, and communication. 鈥淐ompeting in the Ethics Bowl requires students to develop arguments that support what they believe to be right and practice disagreeing in ways that are thoughtful and productive,鈥� McAuliffe said. The 2018 Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl will be held Saturday, Jan. 27, in the Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development on the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock campus. “The High School Ethics Bowl is a unique event that brings together some of the brightest, most impressive students from across Arkansas, and our department is pleased to have the opportunity to organize it each year,” Norton said. The winner will be eligible to compete in the National High School Ethics Bowl. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Upper right photo: Students from Little Rock Central High School won the 2017 Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl and represented Arkansas at the National Bowl. Contributing Writer/ Lydia Perry, Editor, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs]]> /news-archive/2017/11/22/feminist-research-collective/ Wed, 22 Nov 2017 14:05:52 +0000 /news/?p=68622 ... Faculty members create research collective to highlight feminist research]]> Faculty members at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have started a group to explore feminist research and collaboration opportunities around campus.听 The Feminist Research Collective is open to all faculty members interested in intersectional feminist research, advocacy, and pedagogy at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. Kris McAbee, associate professor of English and one of the group鈥檚 founders, said faculty members have talked about starting such a group for years. She was inspired by a similar group her friends started at the University of Texas at Dallas. 鈥淭hey found really productive engagement with each other,鈥� McAbee said. 鈥淥ne rhetorical scholar and one artist have collaborated on projects and now have a joint installation at a museum in Dallas. It鈥檚 a relationship they wouldn鈥檛 have formed had they not come together through this group.鈥� This semester, the group has held two meetings exploring research on masculinity and child sexual abuse in abolitionist narratives by Dr. Laura Barrio Villar, associate professor of English, and the work on anti-racism, love, and politics by Dr. Jana McAuliffe, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been so heartwarming and encouraging to meet and work with colleagues who have interests that I didn鈥檛 know were so similar to mine,鈥� McAbee said. 鈥淚 think it can be easy to get isolated in your department. This is a way for us to collaborate across departments and fields and share our research with each other. It鈥檚 nice to have a group to keep us committed to keeping up our scholarship.鈥� For more information, contact Kris McAbee, kxmcabee@ualr.edu, or Catherine Crisp, clcrisp@ualr.edu. ]]> /news-archive/2017/01/18/ualr-bowen-arkansas-high-school-ethics-bowl/ Wed, 18 Jan 2017 17:29:31 +0000 /news/?p=66103 ... Law professor to speak at Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl]]> John DiPippa, dean emeritus and distinguished professor of law and public policy at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, will serve as the keynote speaker at the Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl.听 High school students from across the state will debate some of the country鈥檚 most important ethical issues during the fifth annual Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl Saturday, Jan. 28. The competition will begin at 9 a.m. at the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development, with DiPippa鈥檚 keynote speech beginning at 2 p.m. 聽 DiPippa joined the 糖心Vlog传媒LR faculty in 1983 and teaches constitutional law, public service law, and interviewing and counseling. He previously worked as the executive director of Blue Ridge Legal Services in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and as an inaugural professor of public service at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. Differing from typical debate competitions, the Ethics Bowl encourages collaborative engagement about serious moral topics. Teams consider and discuss cases drawn from current events, which range from social and political issues, environmental concerns, and issues in the workplace and classroom. Some of the potential 2017 competition topics include online privacy, contraception, the legal tobacco use age, donor babies, white privilege, and virtual and augmented reality. Teams receive a list of competition topics in advance to prepare, but they do not know which one they will be assigned until the competition begins. Judging is based on reasoning and the ability to engage in civil, rational discourse. Eighteen Arkansas high school teams will compete to advance to the National High School Ethics Bowl April 7-9 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Members of the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Ethics Bowl Team will serve as moderators and assistants for the event. Judges will be drawn from faculty at 糖心Vlog传媒LR, University of Arkansas for Medical Science, and the University of Central Arkansas, as well as members of the business and nonprofit community. The competition is hosted by the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, contact Dr. Michael Norton at mbnorton@ualr.edu or Dr. Jana McAuliffe at jxmcauliffe@ualr.edu. ]]>