Windows to Other Worlds: C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia as Fairy Tale and Myth
Dr. Peter Schakel
9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia have proven extraordinarily successful, selling millions of copies since publication of the first in the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in 1950. Last December a new film version of that book appeared, accompanied by a huge promotional campaign; a second film, Prince Caspian, is currently in production and scheduled for release in May 2008. In view of all this attention to the Chronicles, it seems appropriate to consider what makes the stories so effective. In this Winter Happening session, Dr. Schakel says that it is partly due to Lewis’s use of the universally popular fairy-tale form (as defined and explained in an essay by Lewis’s friend J.R.R. Tolkien), and his ability to imbue his stories with mythic overtones. The Chronicles as myths provide windows that let us see out of the temporal, physical, material world we inhabit so briefly and catch a glimpse of the Reality that awaits beyond it.

Ties that Bind (Pun Intended):
Whither the RCA and CRC?
Dr. Don Luidens ’69 and Dr. Roger Nemeth
9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

The 150th Anniversary of the split between the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church of North America is upon us. It has moved many to consider again, why did we divide in the first place? Some of the reasons – styles of music, use of the English language, involvement in the Masons – seem strangely quaint. Yet, the division remains despite the many common strands which have been shared by these two denominations. So some folks are asking, why are we STILL divided?

Thirty years of research conducted by Roger Nemeth and Don Luidens of Hope College and Corwin Smidt and Jim Penning of Calvin College have been brought together to respond to these issues. In terms of worship, beliefs, personal piety, political and social perspectives, and life opportunities, how are we the same? Where do we differ? Where do women’s ordination, attitudes about homosexuality, political perspectives, and parochial schools come in? Join us to consider these matters; your vote will be counted.

Dr. Luidens arrived at Hope in 1977 after completing graduate degrees at Princeton Seminary and Rutgers University. Dr. Nemeth came in 1984 following doctoral work at the University of North Carolina. Together they have authored more than two dozen articles which have appeared in journals, books, and conferences. Together they edited Reformed Encounters with Modernity: Perspectives from Three Continents (Media-Com of South Africa, 2004) and have co-authored, with Drs. Smidt and Penning, Divided by a Common Heritage, which has just been published by Eerdmans Press.

The Challenge of Aircraft Hardening
Dr. Roger Veldman ’89
9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Since 9/11, significant efforts have been made to improve airline safety. Today, everything from electronics to cosmetics is scrutinized to prevent potentially dangerous items from getting on board. It is especially important to screen for explosive materials, given recent events such as the attempted shoe-bombing of 2001 and the London airline bombing plot of 2006. But what is being done to safeguard passengers in the event that an explosive device is not detected? Can anything be done to protect the aircraft from the effects of an on-board explosion? An area of research known as aircraft hardening proposes structural modifications to commercial aircraft to enhance survivability. In this talk, the challenges of aircraft hardening will be discussed and recent research findings both at Hope College and elsewhere will be presented.

Dr. Veldman joined the Hope faculty in 1998 and holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Western Michigan University. He teaches both introductory and advanced courses in the department of engineering. His research, currently funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, investigates blast mitigation methods for aircraft structures.

An Illustrated History of the Restoration
of Skinner Opus 732 - Dimnent Memorial
Chapel’s Magnificent Pipe Organ
Dr. Huw Lewis
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

College organist Dr. Huw Lewis will describe the process by which the magnificent organ in Dimnent Memorial Chapel has been returned to its original pristine condition by the Thompson-Allen Company of New Haven, Connecticut. To many members of the Hope family, the sound of the Chapel organ elicits a deeply emotional response. But the effect of the sound of this instrument is readily acknowledged to be extraordinary by those who have neither loyalty to Hope nor memory of formative worship experiences. The organ has an international reputation for being remarkable. Dr. Lewis will explain how, through a combination of happy accident mingled with a little bit of subterfuge, this particular organ stands as one of America’s most respected musical instruments.

Dr. Lewis has taught at Hope since 1990. He maintains a busy career as a performer and lecturer at both the national and international level. He has been featured during the profesional conferences of the American Guild of Organists and the Royal College of Organists.

The formal re-dedication of the organ takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 30th in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.

Improving Drinking Water Quality
and Community Health in Developing Communities - An Interdisciplinary Approach
Through Nursing and Engineering
Professor Amanda Barton and Dr. Jeff Brown
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

How can we integrate nursing and engineering students into an interdisciplinary research team that looks at real-world complex questions like poverty, infant mortality and lack of clean water with the goal of making a difference? How can undergraduate students improve the health of a village in Cameroon, West Africa?

Come and hear how Professors Barton and Brown began incorporating interdisciplinary research in Cameroon into their scholarship programs and the engineering/nursing curricula at Hope College. They will present an overview of the project, research findings and lessons learned in Nkuv, Cameroon.

Professor Barton is a Family Nurse Practitioner and assistant professor of nursing. She has an avid interest in working internationally, with experience in Armenia, Tajikistan and Rwanda before moving to Holland in 1998.

Dr. Brown is an assistant professor of engineering. He received a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Florida in 2005. Prior to completing his graduate studies, Dr. Browm served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania, East Africa.

Medical Mysteries: Face Blindness
Dr. Charles Behensky, Dr. Lorna Hernandez Jarvis
and Dr. Heather Sellers
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, prevents its sufferers from recognizing or “reading” the human face. Just as a dyslexic person knows what a word is, but can’t always make sense of it, people with prosopagnosia see faces, but can’t associate them with individual identities or make fine distinctions between faces. Researchers are fascinated by the condition because of what it reveals about the complicated ways humans recognize each other. Two pyschologists, Dr. Lorna Hernandez Jarvis and Dr. Chuck Behensky, explain the neuroscience of prosopagnosia. Dr. Heather Sellers, who suffers from the rare condition, reads from her memoir, Face First, which details her experiences with the bizarre disorder.

Dr. Sellers, professor of English, discovered she had prosopagnosia two years ago. She is the author of three books of poetry, several books on writing, a children’s book, and a collection of short fiction, Georgia Under Water.

Dr. Hernandez Jarvis received her Ph.D in cognitive psychology in 1993 from Kent State University. Her expertise is in psycholinguistics and bilingualism. She discusses prosopagnosia and other agnosias in the cognitive psychology course she regularly teaches at Hope.

Dr. Behensky earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in cognitive neuroscience, looking at how thinking processes are implemented within the brain. His research focuses on how faces and emotional expressions are perceived and processed by the brain.

For additional information please contact: Lynne Powe ’86, (616) 395-7860, powe@hope.edu