March 8, 2006

Henry Smits Lecture

"Illness and Identity: The Leper That Lurks in Us All"
Gerald G. Osborn, lecturer in philosophy at Truman State University.
7:00 pm, SUB Alumni Room

Philosophically, identity implies sameness, but paradoxically people maintain a sense of personal identity in the midst of lives changing constantly. Illness and injury can alter this abiding sense of sameness and can become an affront to people's personal identity. In its most malignant form, the process becomes all-consuming and the person becomes their disease.

A psychiatrist, teacher and consultant, Dr. Osborn's areas of research center on the interfaces between psychiatry and primary-care medicine and in medical ethics and history.

March 1, 2006   

Third Annual Il Salone dello Spazio:

Skepticism for fun and (very little) profit

Dr. Edis, Associate Professor of Physics, Truman State University, will discuss how he has ended up writing books critical of religious and paranormal claims, rather than locking himself in an office to solve equations as proper physicists are supposed to do.

October 26, 2005

Harry Laughlin, Eugenics, and Racism: Then and Now.   

Lecture by Maria Evans, Associate Professor of Pathology, A.T. Still University, and Anton Weisstein, Assistant Professor of Biology, Truman State University.

7:00 pm at the First Christian Church Fellowship Hall, 100 N. High St.

2003 Annual Meeting Held December 14

The Annual Meeting for the Phi Beta Kappa Association of Northeast Missouri (NEMO-PBK) was held Sunday, December 14, 2003.  Dereck Daschke and Kasye Hahn were re-elected as President and Vice President, respectively, and Abby Swetz, a Member-in-Course of Delta of Missouri, was elected Secretary-Treasurer.  Mary Shapiro, Andrea Davis, and Carol Marshall all leave the executive board with many thanks and the sincere appreciation of all who worked with them over the last two years!

Plans for the year were discussed, including inaugurating "Il Salone dello Spazio" (see "Latest Association News ," above) and hosting a PBK Fellow, University of Chicago Historian of Science Robert Richards, on April 4, 2004.  Dr. Richards is one of the foremost authorities on the history and cultural impact of the theory of evolution.

DUES:  We are beginning our collection of dues for 2004.  Please plan to bring $10 to the meeting to cover your membership (and our expenses!) for the year if you have not already (thanks to those who have!).  If you are a Resident member of Delta Chapter and you have not paid your annual dues to them (also $10), we will collect for them at the meeting as well.


President Daschke is Association's Delegate to PBK Society's 40th Triennial Council

Association President Dereck Daschke attended the National PBK Society's 40th Triennial Council in Seattle, WA, August 6-10, as the delegate from the NEMO-PBK Association.  In this capacity, he participated in voting for National officers, including President, Vice President, District Senators ( Association member and former Treasurer Carol Race was elected Senator from the North Central District -- congratulations, Carol! ), Senators-at-Large, and the Nominating Committee.  He also participated in awarding new PBK Chapters to eight universities:  Alfred University, Eckerd College, SUNY-Geneseo, Roanoke College, Saint Michael's College, University of San Diego, Texas A&M University-College Station, and Valparaiso University.  President Daschke also attended break-out sessions on Association fundraising and membership retention and expansion, as well as the ongoing PBK nationwide conversation on the public value of a liberal arts education.  A report on his participation and ideas he has for the future of NEMO-PBK will be presented at the Annual Meeting in December.

Lewis Binford Gives Annual Association Lecture

Dr. Lewis Binford, one of the preeminent figures in American anthropology in the last thirty years, gave the NEMO-PBK Association lecture this year on April 26 in the Georgian Room of the Truman State University campus.  The lecture, entitled “Where Does Knowledge Come From?  What Archaeologists Want From Educated Students,” was enthusiastically received by an estimated 100 attendees.  After his talk, Dr. Binford answered questions from the audience, and elaborated on his experiences as a participant-observer among various indigenous peoples, including the Inuit Eskimos of Alaska.