Virginia Wesleyan's annual Love Liberally symposium, Feb. 9-13, offers perspective, collaboration
By Stephanie Smaglo | February 6, 2015
Love Liberally: A Celebration of Love in the Liberal Arts
February 9-13, 2015
View the 2015 Love Liberally Program
Forget flowers and candy this Valentine’s Day. Virginia Wesleyan faculty will give the gift of thought as part of “Love Liberally: A Celebration of Love in the Liberal Arts” (Feb. 9-13). Professors are opening up their classrooms for the fifth annual campus-wide symposium, offering special lectures, workshops, and presentations that explore the concept of love through their own disciplinary lens.
"The symposium captures the essence of the liberal arts,” says event organizer Kathy Stolley, associate dean of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Engaged Learning. “Students are invited to learn about disciplines outside of their major, and the entire campus gets the opportunity for creative collaboration and conversation."
During the week, women’s and gender studies professors Taryn Myers and Kellie Holzer will have a conversation about perhaps one of the most important aspects of love: self love. They will dispel unrealistic beauty standards in a two-part presentation titled, “Love Your Body” (Feb. 10-11).
“Eating disorders, misuse of supplements like diet pills, and body dissatisfaction are very prevalent among college students,” says Myers. “We will incorporate ideas on how to combat that; every little bit we can do to help is vital.”
VWC Instructional Technology Director Robin Takacs will connect with the community on a more modern form of love in her presentation, “What’s Love Got to Do With It? Texting, Relationships, and Interpersonal Communication” (Feb. 12).
“We’ll talk about how texting breaks down interpersonal communication,” she says. “I see it every day; two or three people walking down the sidewalk, and they’re all on their phones texting to other people. They miss the richness of the opportunity of interacting with people that are in their presence. It’s kind of an ‘aha’ moment for students.”
Students in Sharon Swift’s photography course will take language out of love all together and replace it with imagery. They are tasked with choosing a love song and capturing its emotion photographically. VWC art major and communication minor Samantha Jackson ’16 has chosen the song "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat.
"I plan to capture the love between my field hockey teammate and her boyfriend," she says. "I'm aiming to convey the line, 'Lucky I'm in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where I have been.'"
Students will vote for their favorites and the images will be distributed throughout campus during the week.
All events are open to the campus community. Additional presentations will include: "Love Shouldn't Hurt" (Feb. 9) and "When Love Kills" (Feb. 11) with Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Alison Marganski; "Love Your Language—and Your Dialect and Your Accent—but Don’t Judge Others by the Way They Speak: with Associate Professor of English Carol Johnson (Feb. 10); "Love Under the Sea" with Batten Associate Professor of Biology Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson (Feb. 13); “Love is in the Air” a Food For Thought: Soup on Friday gathering hosted by the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom; and more.
For a complete schedule of events, view the 2015 Love Liberally Program. For more information, contact Kathy Stolley at kstolley@vwu.edu or 757.233.8768.