Two podiums, one air conditioned auditorium, being shown in another air conditioned auditorium. Yes, the O’Reilly/Stewart debate is on and USDemocrazy is hosting a public showing of The Rumble in the Air Conditioned Auditorium next Saturday (October 6th) in the Commons’ Skylight Lounge. 

As you may know the TV comedian and the man-bear pundit have sparred in the past and never fail to produce compelling debates. This time they will be discussing America’s problems and the direction of the country. You know, just keeping it light. 

Following the 90 minute debate we will have a discussion session lead by our Editor-in-Chief Kal Kallaugher. 

The event starts at 8pm. Admission is free but we are accepting donations to charity as half of the debate’s profits are being donated by Stewart and O’Reilly. 

Show up, enjoy the slug fest, and maybe jump in our own debate afterwords.

Kathy O’Dell, the associate dean of the college of arts, humanities and social sciences, has been appointed to the Maryland State Arts Council.

The Council is an appointed body of 17 citizens. Thirteen are named by the Governor to three-year terms, which are renewable once. Two private citizens and two legislators are appointed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House.

“The newly appointed councilors represent broad arts expertise across a diversity of Maryland communities and professional backgrounds,” said Theresa Colvin, executive director of the MSAC. “Under the leadership of our new chair, Barbara Bershon, they will be a great asset to the arts in Maryland.”

O’Dell chairs the Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance’s Higher Education in the Arts Task Force, and is a member of The Maryland State Department of Education’s Fine Arts Education Advisory Panel. O’Dell is on the Exhibits Committee of Howard County Center for the Arts and has served on the boards of Maryland Art Place, Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance and the Contemporary Museum.

The Maryland State Arts Council, an agency of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts, is dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. The mission of the council is to encourage and invest in the advancement of the arts for the people of Maryland.

Kevin A. Wisniewski, first year Ph.D. candidate in the Language, Literacy, and Culture program, was named a 2012-2013 HASTAC Scholar.  Dr. Craig Saper, Director of the LLC program, was selected to serve as Wisniewski’s HASTAC Mentor. 

HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory, pronounced “haystack”) is a virtual organization of over 7000 individuals and institutions inspired by the possibilities that new technologies offer for shaping how society learns, teaches, communicates, creates, and organizes at the local and global levels. It was founded by Cathy N. Davidson, former Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies and co-founder of the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University, and David Theo Goldberg, Director of the University of California’s state-wide Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI),

The HASTAC Scholars program is an annual fellowship program that recognizes graduate students who are engaged in innovative work across disciplines.  Among their duties, HASTAC Scholars blog, host forums, organize events and discuss new ideas, projects, experiments, and technologies that re-conceive teaching, learning, research, writing and structuring knowledge. They also function as links between their home institutions and the virtual community they foster on the HASTAC site.

Wisniewski’s research investigates the future of the book and changing face of publishing in the digital world.  He will be founding a new group and forum at HASTAC dedicated to digital publishing; his blog can be found here.