HUMANITIES PRESENTATIONS DECEMBER 1 AT ABAC

Students in the Survey of Western Humanities I class at Abraham Baldwin College will present their class projects on Dec. 1 from 6:30 – 8 p.m. in Section A of the Cordell Conference Room on the ABAC campus. The event is open to anyone who would like to attend.

The theme of the students’ projects, From Babylonia to Byzantium: A Trip Down Humanities Lane, provided an opportunity for students to work in groups, focusing on the history and culture of a different civilization—from Assyrian and Babylonian to Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine. In their presentations, the students will use the art, artifacts, and architecture of each period to demonstrate what can be learned about each civilization through the study of its cultural production.

Dr. Luke Vassiliou, an assistant professor in ABAC’s Division of Humanities who teaches the class, said since the students worked in groups, they were able to put their different talents to use.

“On an essay or a test, everyone’s performance is judged by the same standards,” Vassiliou said. “These projects allowed the students to divide the labor according to what each student does best: research, organization, technology, public speaking, etc. They were also able to make the connections between cultural production and the political, economic, and social situations of the various civilizations they studied throughout the semester for themselves, rather than have a ready-made product from the textbook.”

Vassiliou said it is very important for students to have an audience for their presentations, and he strongly encourages the ABAC faculty, staff, and students, as well as members of the Tiftarea community to attend this event.

“There is a different sense of pride--and trepidation--when students present to an actual audience rather than just to their professor and classmates,” he said. “So, I definitely want the community to see what the students can do with the material and for the students to take pride in their work. We are all interested in the influences that have shaped modern western culture. But, while the audience will get to know and identify those influences--Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine--I think through that process of examination our audience will also get a sense of how our own culture is shaped by socio-economic forces today.”

For additional information, contact Vassiliou at (229) 386-3248, or e-mail him at lvassili@abac.edu.

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