Ninth Annual
Quest for Community: A Call to Action
"Art and Innovation: Diverse Visions of Community"

Please join us as we kick off the Quest Conference with a Presidential Lecture Series event...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

7:00 p.m
Reza Aslan
CBS News Middle East Analyst, best-selling author, and expert on Islam
Apollo room, Student Union

The first young Muslim intellectual to come on the scene in years, Reza Aslan brings a new, passionate, and much-needed perspective to the national discussion regarding Islam. Aslan is a fellow at the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy and Middle East analyst for CBS News. In his internationally acclaimed book No god but God: the Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, as in his lectures and writings, Aslan explores the intricate interplay between faith and politics in the Muslim world, presenting Islam as an ever-evolving faith and culture currently in the midst of a cataclysmic internal battle for reform and modernization.

Friday, April 17, 2009

8:00–9:00 a.m
Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:50–9:00 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks
Ms. Tonya Mathis and Ms. Leah Underwood
Co-Chairs, Quest 2009

Dr. David R. Hopkins
President, Wright State University

9:00–10:00 a.m.
Keynote Speaker - Nikki Giovanni
Poet and professor of English, Virginia Tech

Over the past 25 years, Nikki Giovanni's outspokenness, in her writing and in person, has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of our most widely read American poets, she prides herself on being "A black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English."

Despite the dramatic changes that have occurred in American society since she roared out of the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni remains determined and committed as ever to the fight for civil rights and equality in education.

10:15–11:00 a.m.
Concurrent Sessions I

The Poetry Movement in Pursuit of Diversity
E156C Student Union
Nikki Giovanni, Virginia Tech
Since her groundbreaking 1967 poetry book Black Feeling, Black Talk, Nikki Giovanni has been known for her outspokenness and commitment to civil rights and equality in education. In this question-and-answer session with the audience, our Quest keynote speaker brings the unique perspectives from her roots in the Black Arts Movement and poetry writing, as well as her experiences as a professor of English at Virginia Tech, to offer her insights into the contemporary social value of the poetry movement on the pursuit of diversity.

How Do Models of Disability and Disability Culture Inform One’s Opinion of Medical Advancement?
E163A Student Union
Anne Willis, Wright State University
Julie Williams, Wright State University
Jenna Mercadante, Wright State University
Tyler Valentine, Wright State University
Disability art is used to describe three prevalent disability models that have not only informed society’s attitudes toward disability, but also has informed disability laws, policy, and medical procedures. The emergence of disability culture, specifically, Deaf culture and the controversial procedure, cochlear implants will be discussed.

Opening the Door to Diversity: How Art Provides the Key
E156A Student Union
Jennifer Vogel, Wright State University
Anna Lyon, Wright State University
Deborah Hess, Wright State University
This presentation weaves various art activities to express views of diversity into a variety of courses, therefore providing a safe environment to explore college students’ perceptions of diversity.

The Educational Theatre Company (E.T.C.): Drama for the Mind
E156B Student Union
Ken Lydy, Wilmington College
Tara Lydy, Wilmington College
Members of the Wilmington College Educational Theatre Company
Peer educational theatre enables students to develop a more positive attitude toward education and learning while addressing important social and personal issues for themselves and others. In his session, watch a performance, acquire script writing skills, acting techniques, and creative ways to educate others using drama.

Art Across Borders: Conveying a Message Through Artistic Expression
E157 Student Union
Gabriela Pickett, Wright State University
This presentation illustrates the role of art as a universal language. Art can convey messages that break cultural, ethnic, and religious barriers. In an era where globalization should bring us closer, our differences sometimes pull us apart. Art can overcome those barriers and instill tolerance and respect for diversity.

Zen and the Art of Scientific Discovery
E163B Student Union
Kyle Behymer, Wright State University
Using Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, this presentation examines how creativity is linked to discovery and diversity and the ways in which creativity can be fostered in the traditional academic environment.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions II

Accessing Gestures to Improve Educational Outcomes for Student Who Are Blind
E163B Student Union
Heidi Cowan, Wright State University
Francisco Oliveira, Virginia Tech
Mary Ellen Bargerhuff, Wright State University
The “Enabling Multimodal Communication for Enhancing the Ability of Learning for the Visually Impaired” project is interested in measuring the educational improvement of students who are blind when they are given access to teacher gestures.

Poems from Guantánamo
E156A Student Union
Trudy Bond, Psychologist, Toledo, Ohio
This presentation examines individual poems written by detainees at Guantánamo Bay, some written in toothpaste or scratched into foam cups with pebbles, compiled by attorneys representing the detainees in Poems from Guantánamo. The collection presents art in a most unique form, confronting diversity as well as adversity.

Art as Metaphor: Women’s Contributions to Campus and Community
E157 Student Union
Lisa Rismiller, Wright State University
Amber Vlasnik, Wright State University
Kristi Nelson, University of Cincinnati
Jane Goettsch, Miami University
Join the ACE Ohio Women’s Network for an interactive workshop on engaging and serving women higher educational professionals. Identify and share campus-level and inter-institutional strategies for using art to bring women together to explore their commonalities and distinctions, understand their professional work as art, and make professional and personal connections.

STEAM 3: Using Co-curricular Science, Art, and Music to Reach More Students
E163A Student Union
Bill Jobert, Wright State University
Ben Montague, Wright State University
This panel presentation is composed of two faculty and several students from the STEAM3 course at Wright State University. The focus is on how teaching education majors to design and teach co-curricula units enhances the classroom learning experience and excites students about multiple subject areas.

The Uprooted and Replanted: Exploring Brown and Black Childhood—Implications for Higher Education
E156B Student Union
Erika Delgado, More Than Just…
Phillithia Charlton, More Than Just…
This presentation focuses on the African American and Latina female experiences using the art of poetry and dramatic expression in an effort to bring diversity awareness to students, faculty, staff, and the community.

12:30–2:15 p.m.
Luncheon
Poetry Readings by student poets from Dayton Public Schools
Presentation of the Annual
Kim Goldenberg Quest for Community Award
Choral Selections by Paul Laurence Dunbar Chorale

2:30–3:15 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions III

The Portrayal of Women with Disabilities in Film/Literature as a Method to Facilitate Diversity Training
E156A Student Union
Julie Williams, Wright State University
Cassandra Jones, Wright State University
Erin Farr, Wright State University
Film and poetry and examples of art about and by women with disabilities are used to illustrate disability history, landmark legislation, and the emergence of disability culture.

Exploring the Beauty of Art and Engineering: We R Connected
E156B/C Student Union
Lisa Roberts, Wright State University
Melissa Vanzant, Wright State University
Jenny Garringer, Wright State University
“We R Connected” demonstrates how art and/or innovation are used to forge connections among disconnected individuals within a community. Our Faculty/Staff and students will collaborate to take the lessons learned in the classroom and exhibit them using art and science as a tool.

When She Began to Speak Freely
E157 Student Union
Lindsay Contini-Gentry, Wright State University
This presentation addresses the power of art as a form of education about the prevalence of domestic violence in our culture and as a tool for healing.

Using Comic Books to Initiate Discussion About Race and Gender
E163B Student Union
Craig This
This workshop shows that while somewhat simple and basic in their presentation, comic books and graphic novels can provide a rich and diverse resource for discussing the issues of race/ethnicity and gender/sexual orientation with college students.

How Can Art and Innovation Be Used to Forge Connections Among Disconnected Individuals Within a Community?
E163A Student Union
Herbert Dregella, Jr., Wright State University
Linda Caron, Wright State University
Jan Driesbach, Dayton Art Institute
Paul Helfrich, Dayton Philharmonic
Charles Taylor, Wright State University
Shaun Yu, WDPR Public Radio
Art has been described as a universal language. It can both express our individuality and address common aspects of the human condition. The panel explores how the extensive local arts community can use and has used art to connect disconnected individuals in our society.

3:15–4:00 p.m.
Closing Session
Ice Cream Reception