Photographic artistry showing abandoned industry within natural vistas, mathematics and the Arab Spring, prayer in Shakespeare, research on the nanoscale, seeing and mobile phones, and student entrepreneurship will all be featured during the annual Hope College Winter Happening on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Winter Happening will feature multiple seminars in two blocks in the morning, a luncheon with musical entertainment and a home men’s basketball game with Alma College. Open to the general public, the event is sponsored by the college’s office of public and community relations.
The morning will feature six seminars, three at 9:30 a.m. and three at 11 a.m.
The 9:30 a.m. seminars are “Entrepreneurial Leaders and Student Start-up Companies at Hope,” “Shakespeare’s Prayers” and “Helping People to See Better with Mobile Phones.” The 11 a.m. seminars are “Reading and Writing on the Nanoscale: Imaging and Manipulating Nanoparticles, Molecules, and Atoms,” “The Gardens of Post-Industrial Michigan,” and “Bicycles, Volleyballs, and the Arab Spring: Insights from Mathematical Modeling with Undergraduates.”
“Entrepreneurial Leaders and Student Start-up Companies at Hope” will highlight the experiences and vision of students who have pursued projects through the mentorship of the Hope Entrepreneurship Initiative (HEI), a program of the college’s Center for Faithful Leadership designed to empower participants to positively respond to the challenges God has placed on their hearts. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Steven VanderVeen, who is professor of management and director of the center, and students including sophomore Taylor Brushwyler of St. Joseph, sophomore Hayden Davis of Stevensville, senior Matt Rutter of Sylvania, Ohio, and senior Samantha Wolffis of Grand Rapids.
“Shakespeare’s Prayers” will explore the variety of prayers that Shakespeare included in his plays, comedies and tragedies alike; some serious, some slight and some devious; and what they reveal about his understanding of the function of prayer in the Christian moral life. The seminar will be presented by Dr. John Cox, who is the DuMez Professor of English at Hope.
“Helping People to See Better with Mobile Phones” will consider how the power and flexibility of mobile phones—of which some five billion are in use worldwide—provide a unique opportunity in the search for computing assistance to visual impairment. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Michael Jipping, who is a professor of computer science and chairperson of the department.
“Reading and Writing on the Nanoscale: Imaging and Manipulating Nanoparticles, Molecules, and Atoms” will consider how scanning probe microscopy permits the exploration of the nanoscale regime at unprecedented levels of resolution and applications of the technology in research at Hope. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Beth Anderson, assistant professor of chemistry, and Dr. Jennifer Hampton, assistant professor of physics.
“The Gardens of Post-Industrial Michigan” will feature photographs taken of abandoned industrial sites in Michigan’s Northern Lower Peninsula and Western Upper Peninsula, a study presenting unique perspectives of abandoned structures found within the expanse of remote natural vistas. The seminar will be presented by Steven Nelson, associate professor of art and chairperson of the department.
“Bicycles, Volleyballs, and the Arab Spring: Insights from Mathematical Modeling with Undergraduates” will explain the process, promise and pitfalls of using mathematical modeling to understand and predict phenomena in the world—including faculty/student research at Hope investigating topics ranging from how bicycles stay upright, to how to more effectively serve a volleyball, to why, after decades of subjugation, the Arab Spring seemingly spontaneously occurred. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Timothy Pennings, professor of mathematics, and Hope junior Morgan Smith of Grand Rapids.
The luncheon begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center ballroom, and costs $12 per person. Highlights will include the presentation of a Meritorious Service Award to Barbara Dee Folensbee ’43 Timmer of Holland and musical entertainment. Reservations for the luncheon are required.
The men’s basketball team will host Alma College at 3 p.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse. Tickets are $6, and a limited number of general admission tickets will be available for persons attending other Winter Happening events.
Also during the weekend, the gallery of the De Pree Art Center will be featuring the exhibition “Calla Thompson: Solid State.” The exhibition is running from Monday, Jan. 16, through Friday, Feb. 10, and the regular gallery hours are Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is free.
In addition to being required for the luncheon, advance registration is recommended for the seminars. Additional information may be obtained by calling the college’s office of public and community relations at (616) 395-7860 or online at www.hope.edu/pr/12WinterHappening.html
Registration during the morning of the event will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center, located facing College Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets.