The varying views and uses of the human body and soul have been topics of academic study, research, and discussion for centuries. This was the subject of the January 23rd, 2008 Dinner and Discussion at Drexel, held in MacAlister Hall's University Club at 5pm. The presentation, which consisted of five speakers from across academic and artistic fields, took a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the body and mind.
The audience, a mixture of over 60 students, faculty, and administration, overflowed into adjacent rooms as event coordinators struggled to find more seats and room for the apparently unexpected, large turnout.
Although the numerous and diverse group of presenters ranged from a dancer to a professor of biomedical engineering, it was the final speaker of the evening whose presentation seemed to resonate most with the audience. Perhaps this was due to the background of philosophy professor Dr. Stacey Ake, who has a PhD in both Biology and Philosophy. This made her well equipped to tackle the complex difficulties of the lecture's topic, and gave her the ability to present a multifaceted approach to understanding humanity, which was the overall goal of the event.
Ake approached the topic through the use of philosophy and science, her areas of expertise. Possibly because of her work as a philosopher, she prefaced her talk by pointing out that her goal was not to provide concrete answers to questions about the connection between body and mind, but rather, to present even more questions. Her lecture was as varied as her background, and she touched upon such topics as epilepsy, psychoanalysis, human ignorance about the inner workings of the brain, and WWII-era German resistance fighter, Minister Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
The managing editor of Painted Bride Quarterly and Drexel English professor, Kathleen Volk Miller, was on hand to provide a literary perspective to the issue, and choose to focus on her experience at the literary magazine to approach the subject. Painted Bride Quarterly regularly selects themes around which to base their issues, and an upcoming thematic issue will be centered on the human body. Volk Miller read a number of passages from pieces submitted for this issue. Their topics were extremely diverse and presented the body's sanctity, objectification, and celebration, which fit accordingly into the presentation's overall focus.
Biomedical Engineering professor Dr. Peter Lewin gave a presentation highlighting how cutting-edge technology is changing humanity's understanding of the body. Lewin focused his talk on how new noninvasive procedures are drastically changing approaches to medicine. His expertise in the area of ultrasound technology showed as he presented videos that displayed the evolution of the science, from grainy two-dimensional images to nearly real-time representations of the body's innards.
The remaining presenters were both from the field of visual arts. As the head of the Department of Art and Art History in Drexel's Antoinette Westphal College, Dr Joseph Gregory naturally centered his talk upon representations of the human body. He focused primarily on how feminine artists like Carolee Schneeman, Ana Mendieta, and Judy Chicago tried to transform the image of women through their art. Similarly, Dr. Melinda Copel, a dancer and humanities professor at Widener University, presented ways in which the art of dance has changed people's bodies, as well as their individual perceptions. Copel illustrated the intimate connection between body and mind by explaining how therapeutic forms of dance and expression have helped heal cancer patients both physically and emotionally.
The presentation, sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Certificate Program in Humanities, Health Sciences, and Society, and the Department of English and Philosophy, was followed by a dinner. The meal, eaten as a group, was designed to stimulate further discussion between students and faculty about the topics which had been discussed.