Discussion promoted by Times Talk event

The Times Talk program combines students, faculty and a newspaper in order to inspire thoughtful conversations among all groups across campus.

Every week students and faculty meet to discuss an article from the New York Times. The article is selected by a faculty member, who is also the leader of the discussion. Each week features a new faculty member, and the faculty members come from a variety of disciplines.

Director of The Coverdell Institute Greg Kaufman said the program is designed to bridge a gap between students and faculty.

“We envisioned the program this summer, and we thought that it would be great to have students and faculty put together in a kind of interdisciplinary approach to current events,” Kaufman said. “And it would help students who might not be scientists be exposed to a science professor and so on and so forth.”

Faculty from nursing, theater, business and geography, just to name a few, will lead discussions over the course of the fall semester.

Secondary Education Chair Cynthia Alby is among the faculty members who have already hosted the event. The mix of students and faculty are what brought her to the project.

“I think it is just an interesting forum to bring together such a wide variety of people,” Alby said. “Most classes, you’ve got a more homogenous student base where only freshman take this class or seniors take this class. But here, you seem to have a mix of a number of students of all ages and faculty. How often does that group get together and just talk?”

Katie Harmon, a junior art history major, is a regular attendee of Times Talk and said that mixing faculty and students would be beneficial for students in the end.

“I think it is really good because it is a good way for students to network themselves, to get to know faculty members on a one to one basis rather than them lecturing in class,” Harmon said. “So really it helps you out a lot. As a faculty member, if they know that you are trying, they are going to do what they can to help you.”

Alby chose the article “The Return of the Shrew, and other TV Woes” by Margo Jefferson for her session of Times Talk. She said she chose the article after considering several options.

“Well, I seriously considered picking a Katrina article, and then I thought that maybe we are all just a little too stressed by that, and it might be smart to pick something that is a little lighter. I ran across this and thought ‘reality TV, that’s bound to spark conversation,’” Alby said.

For her part, Harmon thinks that Alby’s choice fit right in with at least part of the message Times Talk is trying to convey.

“This is good because I think that a lot of us sit down and watch crap shows on TV and don’t pick up a newspaper, and this way we at least have one article a week that you really get to study, and you can walk away feeling like you learned at least a little bit of something new,” Harmon said.

During Alby’s session, about 30 students and faculty were in attendance. Kaufman said that this was a good number for such a young program.

“It has grown very quickly. We are averaging about 30 (people) the first few weeks, so we are further ahead than just starting something from scratch,” Kaufman said. “I am very encouraged. We have a waiting list of faculty, and we are having some faculty and administrators lining up for spring.”

Still, Alby expected that more students would take advantage of a free program.

“I can’t believe more people aren’t here,” Alby said. “Somehow, when I pictured free pizza mixed with great conversation, I imagined that it would be at least double this, and I would like to think that it will become double this.”

Times Talk is sponsored by The New York Times and The Coverdell Institute and is part of The New York Times Knowledge Network. The program meets every Wednesday at 12 p.m. in Lanier Hall 211.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 16 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry