SCAS to Host Spring Lecture Series Beginning in March

February 27, 2020

Finlandia University’s Suomi College of Arts and Sciences (SCAS) will be hosting a lecture series showcasing four assistant professors from mid-March until early April in the Chapel of St.Matthew. The Assistant Professors presenting include Dr. Jeff Pettibone (Psychology), Dr. Patricia Grosse (Philosophy), Dr. Mike Reay (Sociology), and Dr. Carolyn Dekker (English). The lectures are free and open to the public.

SCAS Lecture Series Schedule

Thursday, March 12, 4:30 PM

“Finding Yourself in the Archive.” Dr. Carolyn Dekker, Assistant Professor of English

Thursday, March 19, 4:30 PM

“Laughing All the Way to the Bank (Crisis).” Dr. Michael Reay, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Thursday, March 26, 4:30 PM

“What Does Dopamine Really Do?” Dr. Jeff Pettibone, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Thursday, April 2, 4:30 PM

“Representation and Appropriation in Open-World Video Games.” Dr. Patricia Grosse, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

More Information on the Lecturers

Carolyn Dekker is an Assistant Professor of English. Her recent scholarship deals with works set in the American Southwest by authors Jean Toomer, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Willa Cather.

Mike Reay is an Assistant Professor of Sociology. He is especially concerned with how information is unevenly distributed across social situations, with different groups of people knowing different, conflicting things. His research explores how this distribution and insulation helps explain the authority and influence of scientific experts, the persistence of economic inequality, the shortcomings of financial institutions, and even the causes and effects of spontaneous laughter.

Jeff Pettibone is an Assistant Professor of Psychology. His work in the field of neuroscience seeks to understand how the brain makes decisions. Using multiple techniques, he has explored some of the brain structures involved in being motivated to do work (the decision of whether something is worth doing) and learning from rewards and punishments (the decision of what to do next after making good and bad decisions). Most recently, his work has contributed to our knowledge of how dopamine– a key neurotransmitter implicated in addiction, movement disorders, and mood– can influence both of these aspects of decision-making.

Patricia Grosse is an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Finlandia University. She received her PhD in Philosophy from Villanova University in 2017. Her research and teaching interests include feminist readings of religious thought, embodied and extended emotion theory, the thought of Augustine of Hippo, and the philosophy of pop culture.

For more information, please contact Mark Lounibos, Associate Professor of English mark.lounibos@finlandia.edu

Tags: English, Philosophy, Psychology, SCAS, Sociology