University of Arkansas at Little Rock

A Chance to Win with MALS….

Current students and alumni are invited to enter our Liberal Studies Intellectual Scavenger Hunt. Just like a real scavenger hunt, we give you clues and you find the items. Only this scavenger hunt will take place in the finest virtual reality we can bring you… which is ualr.edu. Those of you who follow our newsletter might recognize the answers to these clues without too much scavenging. However, if you have lapsed in your reading then you may catch up on all our news and begin your search here:

http://ualr.edu/ma/list/index.php/tags/News

Once everyone has sent their answers in by the deadline–Monday March 12th at 9:00pm–the first three entries randomly drawn with the correct  answers will win their choice of UALR swag from the highly coveted Liberal Studies Bag of Potentially Useful Items with UALR Branding. This is a rare chance to get a look inside one of our department’s greatest mysteries: what’s in that bag and what might you like to have in it. So put on your thinking caps and try to solve the following:

1. Whose name would be cited for the following quote? “In the end, to trace the emerging cult of Vincent Ferrer is to observe what religious scholars like to call ‘lived religion,’ the way in which people use religious ideas to shape the worlds they make for themselves, as well as how religious idioms and practices are formed in turn by those worlds.”

2.  Complete the phrase, “A New _______ for Matter _______ within the _______.”

3. What diamond did one MALS student decide to write his thesis about, and where was it found?

Email your entries to jlwright@ualr.edu by 9pm Monday, March 12th, 2012. Winners will be notified by the email address of the entry. Prizes must be picked up in person at the UALR campus (at your convenience).

Welcome to the 2011 academic school year at UALR! We hope everyone had a great summer and are excited about another Fall semester.
We would especially like to welcome our newest members in the MALS program: Samson Gottshall, Sarah Blakely, Charla Hammond, Brittany Blanton, Colby Davis, Stephen Satterfield, and Porsha Hart.

This edition of the MALS e-newsletter puts a spotlight on current research by Dr. Laura Smoller (History) and by John Eichler (MALS student).

Please check us out on Facebook and “like“ us to get updates on the program and interact with alums, students, and faculty.
Alums: We’d love to hear your updates! In fact, we need to hear them. Help us show future applicants what you do with your Masters in Liberal Studies as well as sharing news about what you’re doing with the MALS community.  We are working on a series of short videos that feature alums. If you’re interested in participating (even if you live outside of the area), please contact GA Jeff Wright (jlwright@ualr.edu).

Don’t forget to look for announcements and news items that will be posted about our program website throughout the semester.

Have a great semester!

Congratulations to our Spring 2011 graduates of MALS.

Justin Anders

Implication of Background Music on the Behavior of Children in the Elementary Classroom: An Interdisciplinary Approach.

Stacy Harter

Absence of Sense of Community in E-Learning Courses: Can the Implementation of Tools Used by Facebook Help?

Rohn Muse

The Anthropology and Sociology of Proponent and Opponent Worldviews in Central Arkansas Regarding Same-Sex Issues and Constitutionally Protected Rights.

Kevin Quinn

The Old Gray Lady and the Campaign for the Equal Right Amendment in Arkansas: A Content Analysis of the Arkansas Gazette 1972-1979.

This semester we are featuring the work in progress of Professor of History and MALS Advisory Committee member, Dr. Laura Smoller. She is near completion of her book tentatively titled The Saint and the Chopped-Up Baby: The Cult of Vincent Ferrer and the Religious Life of Later Medieval and Early Modern Europe. This book gives readers a peak into the lives of the people and religious institutions in medieval Europe through the lens of canonization inquests for St. Vincent Ferrer.

Of her disciplinary approach in the book, Dr. Smoller says, “My main discipline is history, although I think of myself primarily in terms of the multi-disciplinary field of medieval studies. In this book, one finds (besides history) a little art history, a little history of science, a good deal of textual analysis of a rather literary bent, a little reception analysis, a lot of religious studies, and a little anthropology. I cross boundaries of time (medieval to early modern), space (Europe to New World), and language (sources in Latin, French, German, Italian dialects, Catalan, and Spanish) in this book.  In other words, I don’t stay put, intellectually.” Read more »

John Eichler has recently published an article in Nexus magazine (Vol. 18, No.3), an international publication with primary readership in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe where it is translated into 6 languages. The title of the article is “A New Mechanism for Matter Increase within the Earth.”

For over one hundred years, a number of PhD geologists have maintained that what is observed about the geology of the Earth can only be explained if the Earth had undergone a massive expansion over time. Numerous books and articles have been written on this subject which goes against the current Plate Tectonic concept. However, the drawback has always been that if the Earth has increased in size, where did the increase in matter come from? Several proposals have been made over the years but on close examination they have been rejected as not a viable source of new matter. Read more »

A graduate of the MALS Program, Mr. Clay Robinson died of metastasized melanoma on August 22, 2009. He was born on September 17, 1934. Clay graduated from Little Rock Senior High School, attended Georgia Tech, and earned a law degree from the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville. During his retirement, he pursued many educational opportunities, including completion of the MA in Liberal Studies degree in 2005, where he studied Philosophy, Political Science and Urban Studies, ultimately producing a thesis entitled “Of the Common Law Worldview and the American Constitution.”

We have collected some thoughts about Clay from a few of his former professors. Read more »

We recently interviewed George Lea, a MALS graduate. George is currently a teacher and coach. He talked with us about his MALS experience, research, and advice for current students. An excerpt from his thesis, Taylor Field: A Diamond in the Rough, was recently published in the latest issue of the Jefferson County Historical Quarterly. Further excerpts are slated to be published soon so keep a look out for this distinguished alum!

Tell us a little bit about your thesis and the areas you studied in MALS.

In my thesis, Taylor Field: A Diamond in the Rough, I researched the construction, early use, and unique aspects of Taylor Field, a baseball field located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The facility was constructed in 1939 using WPA funds and was used by both professional and amateur baseball clubs, including about a dozen Negro League games in 1940. It was also utilized by political figures as a stage for launching campaigns and hosting debates in the 1940’s-1950’s. My two fields of study, political science and history, tied all of these aspects together. Read more »

MALS 2010 Alum Survey

We recently conducted a survey of MALS graduates to find out what they are doing and what they think about the program in retrospect. Results point to the diversity of student interests possible through an interdisciplinary study program. Several MALS alums are professionals in medical, non-profit, service, and computer/technical fields. 68% of MALS alums are active in teaching K-12 or teaching at a 2 or 4-year college. Analysis of the data reveals that 100% of respondents were satisfied with their decision to pursue and receive a MALS degree. When asked why they chose the MALS Program, respondents commented on the flexibility of the degree and opportunities to include coursework from a variety of areas. Specific responses include, “To tailor my degree to my own specifications”, “to combine interests in both major and minor fields of study”, “it had the widest variety of opportunity”, and “the flexibility to complete the degree at my own pace”.

Have an update?

If you’re a MALS alum and you have an update you’d like to share with the MALS community, please contact Angela Hunter at anhunter@ualr.edu or at 501-569-3312. We look forward to hearing from you!

Some news from our busy 2010 year

In February 2010 MALS welcomed Dr. Allen Repko (author of articles and books about interdisciplinary research) to lead a thesis writing workshop. He shared guidelines for combining multiple disciplines and suggestions for synthesizing complex ideas. Dr. Repko also provided feedback on students’ thesis proposals.

During spring 2010, MALS reached out to local K-12 teachers in the Little Rock School District. We think MALS is a great program for teachers who want to deepen knowledge in their content areas of teaching while also having the opportunity to explore issues in pedagogy.

We are now on Facebook and Twitter under the name UALR MALS! Friend us to stay in touch with the MALS Program. There is also a MALS Facebook group for current students, faculty and alums to share and discuss. We look forward to forming a vibrant online community.

Dr. Angela Hunter, coordinator of the MALS Program since Fall 2004, was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Liberal Studies. Congratulations!

Thank you to the MALS GAs who supported the program for 2 years straight: Natalie Griffin and Justin Sangster. We appreciate all of your hard work!

Congratulations to our Spring and Summer 2010 graduates!
Lori Gardner (Rhetoric, Mass Communication, & Psychology)
Judy Warner (Music and Rhetoric)
Natalie Griffin (Music and Education)

We would like to send a special welcome to the new students who have recently joined our program.

Our Spring 2010 admits and their disciplines of study are:
Brian King (English and Philosophy)
Terina Freeman Mitchell (Music and Education)
 

Our Fall 2010 admits and their disciplines of study are:
Jessica Kokinos (Rhetoric and Writing and Public Administration),
Keith Smith (English and History)
Jeff Wright (Anthropology and Theater)
Holly Beard (English and Speech Communication)
Whitney Thompson (English and Mass Communication)
Jessica McWilliams (Rhetoric and Political Science)
Derek Lind (History and International Studies)
and Nataliya Shull (International Studies and Political Science)

**Jessica Kokinos-Havel and Jeff Wright are the new Graduate Assistants for the department and they are very much looking forward to getting to know everyone in the MALS program.**