| Dean's Message
Why Global Thinking? The thinking that we do in the College—and that we teach to our students—must be global in two ways. It must be comprehensive, accounting for the connections between one question and another, between one discipline and another, between theory and practice, between fact and value, between today's action and tomorrow's consequence. And it must be international, not centered on St. Louis—nor, indeed, on London, Geneva, Leiden, Vienna, Bangkok, Shanghai, Kansai, or the many other sites of Webster programs—but on the planet. MORE
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Welcome to Global Thinking, the newsletter of the College of Arts and Sciences at Webster University. | Roundtables Provide Food for Thought Among Friends, Community
The roundtables, hosted by a volunteer participant and moderated by adjunct philosophy professor David Hilditch, bring a small group of St. Louis' influential and inquisitive minds to a participant's home to discuss an ethical issue selected by the host. Issues range from timely questions, such as, "What does patriotism mean in a time of war?" to the timeless, "Can an individual change the world?" Clearly, roundtable participants are seeking food for thought more nourishing than the latest serving of "TV dinners." Joe Noelker, CAS alum and Advisory Board member, said that he continues to chew on the issues raised in the roundtable...FULL STORY |
New Faculty The College of Arts and Sciences welcomed several new full-time faculty members in the last academic year. In this issue, Global Thinking introduces two new Health Sciences professors. FULL STORY
Ronald Smith comes to the University with 26 years of experience as a nurse anesthetist.
Director, Graduate Program in Nursing An adjunct professor at Webster for almost eight years—including her 2002-03 term as visiting assistant professor—Broeder teaches nursing research courses for undergraduates and graduates. |
Last Nov. 19, as American reality-TV junkies clamored to see which of two women "The Bachelor" would choose as his off-the-shelf bride, a group of community friends of the College of Arts and Sciences mulled the ethics of genetically modifying foods at one of the periodic "Ethics Roundtables" held by the college. 
Des Lee Scholar Explores "Otherness," Roots of Genocide The Plain-bellied Sneetches had none upon thars. The stars weren't so big; they were really quite small. You would think such a thing wouldn't matter at all. But because they had stars, all the Star-bellied Sneetches Would brag, "We're the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches." —from "The Sneetches," After years of researching comparative genocide, noted German Holocaust scholar Wolf Gruner has uncovered a thing or two about what makes societies define—and ostracize—people who are deemed to be different. Much like that depicted in Dr. Seuss's simplified but insightful story, "The Sneetches," the concept of "otherness" within a society often stems from a group's grasp for power, and is frequently fed by something as superficial as a star upon the belly of a Sneetch. FULL STORY |
