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American Heritage Week: Feb. 24--
Talks Set on Science, Birds, Art and "Digs"
(Posted: February 4, 2005) (Printable Version)
Three separate activities are planned for Feb. 24 in observance of American Heritage Week at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, with speakers including three UA Fort Smith faculty members and a professor from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
“Science in America: From Colonial Times to the Present”
A 2:30 p.m. session titled “Science in America: From Colonial Times to the Present” will be conducted by professors Todd Timmons and Ragupathy Kannan and a group of students. The event will be held in the Reynolds Room of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center.
The first part of the program includes students in the History of Science class with posters they have prepared to show various people and events in the history of American science. Those attending will have the opportunity to visit each poster display and hear about it prior to a talk by Timmons on the role of science in American history.
Kannan’s part of the program is a talk on “Extinct Birds of North America,” which will cover the natural history of each species and the reasons why they vanished, as well as reasons why wild animals should be a part of the national heritage.
George Catlin: Artist or Historian
UA Fort Smith Professor Henry Rinne will speak on “George Catlin: Artist or Historian” at 6 p.m. in the Reynolds Room of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center. Rinne said that artists in the 1800s traveled throughout the United States, capturing images of the land, the people, and the animals. Rinne called Catlin one of the “premier artists” of this genre.
Rinne will talk about Catlin’s work that was published and exhibited, focusing on the painter as both an artist and a chronicler of the historical record. Rinne said Catlin even traveled up the Arkansas River and stayed in the Drennen family home in Van Buren. Rinne will discuss Catlin’s portraits of the Drennen family as part of his American Heritage Week presentation.
Spring Break Excavations
Professor Jamie Brandon of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville will speak at 7 p.m. in room 129 of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center, highlighting plans for Spring Break excavations of the Zachary Taylor residence site in Fort Smith.
Brandon, who has 15 years of experience in the field of archaeology, has been involved with projects in a total of 12 southeastern states and authored or co-authored publications and/or technical reports on research in seven of those states. He is a registered professional archaeologist and has worked for academic institutions, state agencies and private cultural resource firms.
A meeting of the UA Fort Smith chapter of the Arkansas Archaeology Society will follow Brandon’s presentation.
American Heritage Week activities include presentations in the fields of history, science, art, music and archaeology, as well as a re-enactor group demonstrating uniforms, drills and weaponry and an end-of-the-week international dinner on Feb. 25. For more information, call 788-7588 or 788-7611. For dinner reservations at $6 for adults and $3 for children under 10, call Carol Hill, 788-7960.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations |
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