Harmony and Dissonance: the 17th Annual Interdisciplinary Colloquium
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
The beauty of harmony and collaboration is their ability to harness dissonance in the service of peace and agreement. This idea rings especially true in a present reality marked as much by conflict as by community. Both human-made and natural disasters can foster moments of togetherness and altruism. This same dynamic plays out in learning environments, where friction can serve as a catalyst to inspire change: we often learn through productive conflict, discomfort, and respectful engagement with opposing viewpoints.
This colloquium invites participants to contemplate the myriad ways that harmony and dissonance shape our world, our lives, and our communities, large and small.
Program
Virtual artwork on display (Ongoing):聽
Artwork and posters on display in Carter Hall: Throughout the day, we invite you to peruse the following artwork on display in Carter Hall
- Students and Faculty of ART 311 (Painting I), 鈥淗ow Do we See Sound?鈥� paintings inspired by the synesthetic artwork of Vasily Kandinsky and the Abstract Expressionists. Professor: Sara Christensen Blair
- 缅北强奸 Ceramics Students, 鈥淐ontrolled Chaos.鈥� Professor: AL Holen
- 缅北强奸 Printmaking Students, 鈥淗armony & Dissonance: A Mordant Response,鈥� intaglio prints. Professor: Brett Anderson
- Jocelyn VanMatre (Graphic Design), 鈥淭itle TBD鈥�
- Breakfast (bagels, pastries, fruit, coffee, tea, etc.)
- Opening remarks from colloquium organizers
- Opening remarks from Dr. Del Doughty, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts
Panelists: Jason Callahan, Laura Lutgen-Nieves, Bryan Moore, Taylor Petty, Jennifer Dennis Schaefer, and Melissa Stacer, faculty in the Department of Criminal Justice
- The Students of CRIM 475, 鈥淗armony and Dissonance in the Criminal Justice System: Reflections on Criminal Justice System Observations鈥�
Presenters: Evan Bryant, Kennady Burns, Wyatt Burton, Jasmyne Everson, Trey Hanisch, Adonis Martinez-Hidalgo, Keira Moore, Rylee Schantz, and Emma Strubinger.
Professor: Taylor Petty (Criminal Justice)
- Corrine Hurt (Pedagogical Leadership), 鈥淭he Dissonance of Truth: Education, Propaganda, and the Battle for Historical Memory鈥�
- Matt Hanka (Political Science), 鈥淐ognitive Dissonance in our American Political System鈥� (5-10 minutes)
- Oana Armeanu (Political Science), 鈥淐onflict and Cooperation in US-EU Relations
- Greg Blair (Art and Design), 鈥淯topia on the Wabash: Visions of New Harmony鈥�
- Benjamin Warner (English), 鈥淐yclic Violence and a Monstrous Creature: How the Beowulf Poet Riddles the Nature of Communities鈥�
- Laura Soderberg (English), 鈥淕enerational Echoes and Rifts: Daughters and the Telling of Reconstruction鈥�
- Tom Drury (Music), "Harmony and Dissonance are not Opposites!鈥�
*A buffet lunch will be served starting at 11:45. All colloquium participants and attendees are invited to bring lunch to the 12:00 panel*
- Meredith Schaefer (Biology), 鈥淩etinoblastoma Rundown: Designing an Informative Guide on Retinoblastoma鈥�
- The Students of GERM 290 (Global German), 鈥淚ntercultural Harmony and Exclusionary Dissonance in the German-Speaking World鈥�
Presenters: Gage Fowler, Katie Holloway, Lillian Ireland, Rhett Orpurt, and Aden Puerner.
Professor: Bartell Berg (World Languages and Cultures)
- Trent Engbers (Political Science and Public Administration), 鈥淛ewish and Arab Nonprofits in Israel: A comparison鈥�
- Timothy Mattison and Elizabeth Wilkins (Education), 鈥淭hrough the Lens of Intersectional 鈥楢merican鈥� and 鈥楿.S. Citizen鈥� Identities,鈥� a teacher candidate panel
- Andy Buck (Sociology) and Matt Hanka (Political Science), 鈥淚nnovative Communities: Past, Present, and Future鈥�
- Sophia Okotah (Art and Design), 鈥淯topia or Dystopia? A Ghanaian Perspective鈥�
- Michael Strezewski (World Languages and Cultures), 鈥淗armonie for Sale: Commerce and Commodities on the Indiana Frontier, 1824-1831鈥�
- Greg Brown (Center for Communal Studies), 鈥淧lanning for Harmony and Dissonance with Loose-Tight Coupling鈥�
- Staff at Historic New Harmony, 鈥淭he Five Triumphs and Five Lessons Learned from the Owen-Maclure Utopian Experiment鈥�
3:00-3:15 Coffee and Pastry Break
- Morgan Stewart (World Languages and Cultures), 鈥淔aith and Forensics in Pedro Escamilla鈥檚 Early Detective Fiction鈥�
- Jean Matheson (English), 鈥淓xtensive Reading: Harmony and Collaboration for Language Leaners鈥�
- Linh Nguyen (World Languages and Cultures), 鈥淭he Harmony and Dissonance of France and its Regional Languages鈥�
- Phil Todd (Communication and Media), 鈥淭he Universal Unison: Consonance, Dissonance, and Harmony in Villa-Lobos鈥� Bachianas鈥�
- Keene Short (English), 鈥淚n Defense of Ambivalence in Creative Nonfiction,鈥�
- Sydney Klinglesmith (World Languages and Cultures), 鈥淔rench Protest Culture: Why Dissonance may be Necessary for Harmony鈥�
- Justin Keown (English Teaching), 鈥淒o Americans Actually like Capitalism?鈥�
- Audrey Hanen (Biology), 鈥淗ues of the World鈥�
- Laura Bernhardt (Rice Library), 鈥淲ill the Real Slim Whitman Please Stand Up? Country, Kitsch, and Authenticity鈥�
Art Submissions
Epiphany Knedler
Art & Design Department, Lecturer
the specifics might be vague is visual exploration of the role images play in how and what we remember. The images are created using analog photographs from family photo albums overlaid with an abstraction and pixelization of the image, creating tension between the memory we hold and the one we craft. Each time we access a memory, we rewrite the moment. The very act of remembering alters the facts. This process, called reconsolidation, makes the image a bit more blurry and malleable, a retelling of the last time we shared the memory. Anything can alter our version of events, particularly in our increasingly artificial world.
Each retrieval of a memory is a portrait of our current self, combining with the changing ways we perceive our world. Ideas of truth and documentation have long entangled the history of photography. The photographer both conceals and reveals stories of our lives, curating the images of our lives. Images often spark memories and stories, overwriting any truth we may seek. With the increasing ease in the use of artificial intelligence and digital manipulation, images no longer spark your real memory but help you create your desired memory. Using analog photographs from my family archive, I re-record them as digital files, replicating the reconsolidation process. I pixelate each image by hand, blurring some areas while others remain visible, shaping the image into a new narrative. Memory is flexible and always changing; the only constant are the stories we tell ourselves.
