Oklahoma City University has been awarded a grant from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Specialty Crops Research Initiative to help a team of 25 breeders, geneticists, economists and extension specialists from 10 universities who are working on a project to speed up the grape breeding process. The team hopes to hone in on the genes that are behind economically important traits such as powdery mildew resistance, cold hardiness and superior fruit quality.
The $82,000 grant awarded to OCU is part of the first installment of a five-year overall grant to Cornell University at $1 million a year.
Oklahoma City University will help with some of the initial research. Students in the Oikos Scholars Program will work under the direction of philosophy professor Scott Davidson on questions that cannot be answered by a grape’s DNA.
Through a series of national surveys, they will gather information about consumers’ perceptions of desirable grape traits. This information will be used to set priorities for grape research and to help align the work with the desires of consumers.
In addition to the award from NIFA, the project is supported by a matching contribution from OCU.
Read more about the research project at the link:
http://www.pressoffice.cornell.edu/releases/release.cfm?r=61803&y=2011&m=10
Jason Bell, a lecturer in philosophy in the Petree College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to research at Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen in Germany during the 2010-11 academic year. Bell will research relations between German phenomenology and American pragmatism that were established by the 19th-20th century Goettingen-Harvard philosophy exchange. Bell is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program during the academic year. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
Scott Davidson, associate professor and chairman of the Philosophy and Rhetoric Department, recently published an edited book titled “Ricoeur Across the Disciplines” on Continuum Press. “Ricoeur Across the Disciplines” is the first book to carry out a multidisciplinary study of the work of the French thinker, Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005). In his introduction, Davidson suggests that Ricoeur’s account of the work of translation provides a good model for thinking about the benefits and difficulties facing interdisciplinary scholarship.
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma City University philosophy professor is preparing for the May release of a book he translated from French to English.
Scott Davidson, associate professor and chair of the Philosophy Department at OCU, translated the book “Seeing the Invisible: On Kandinsky” by French philosopher and novelist Michel Henry.
The book provides philosophical insight into the works of abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky by showing how the artist liberates color and line from the constraints of visible form and, in so doing, conveys the invisible intensity of life.
Davidson plans to use the book in his aesthetics course at OCU.
“Most people enjoy but do not understand the meaning of Kandinsky’s art, so what makes this book important is that it reveals the spiritual significance behind his paintings,” Davidson said. “His works are about the inner essence of life.”
The book has garnered some early critical acclaim, including an endorsement from Michael O'Sullivan of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
“Scott Davidson's clear and timely translation provides the reader with both a revolutionary take on twentieth century art and a gateway into the thought of one of the leading French philosophers of the past 50 years,” O'Sullivan stated.
Davidson previously translated another book by Henry called “Material Phenomenology.” The latest book, “Seeing the Invisible,” is now available for preorder on Amazon.com.
An Oklahoma City University professor has been getting a significant amount of press since his book hit the shelves in late February.
Robin Meyers, an OCU philosophy professor, wrote “Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus,” a book that reflects his many years of scholarly Biblical research.
Since the release, the book has had feature stories on KGOU radio (an NPR affiliate) and KFOR television (NBC affiliate).
For more information about the book, visit the publisher’s website »
The Philosophy Department announces a new joint degree progam, Philosophy and Politics. The program, housed in both the Philosophy and Political Science departments, is modeled on a long-standing Oxford degree program. The program is designed to prepare students for law school. Students, provided that they meet certain eligibility equirements, will qualify for preferred admission to the OCU Law School. Learn more »
09.02.09 - Oklahoma City University Philosophy Professor Scott Davidson recently completed a translation for Michel Henry’s “Material Phenomenology,” published by Fordham University Press.
The book is Henry’s most sustained investigation of Husserlian phenomenology. Henry reveals the decisive methodological assumptions that led Husserlian phenomenology in the direction of Idealism.
Henry was professor of philosophy at the Université Paul Valéry, Montpelier.
For more information, visit www.fordhampress.com.
