Students to present at honors conference

Northwestern College students Deborah Admire, Megan Feuchtenberger and Hana Spangler will present their research at the Upper Midwest Region Honors Conference at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, April 24–26.

The students were assigned a 10-page paper in a Greek legacy course taught by Northwestern religion professor Dr. John Vonder Bruegge. The assignment required students to research the roots of their particular academic disciplines within the confines of ancient Greece.

The theme of this year’s conference is “seeds,” which references the parable in Matthew 13:1–23. “Dr. Vonder Bruegge encouraged all the students in the Greek legacy seminar to submit our papers from class, since they each had to do with the ‘seeds,’ or ‘beginnings,’ of a particular academic study or art form,” says Spangler.

Admire, a senior writing/rhetoric major from Pipe Creek, Tex., will present her paper, “The Separation of the Sophists.” Admire’s research focused on rhetorical schools of thought in ancient Greece, specifically how Plato created a division between himself and other rhetoricians by calling himself a philosopher, and referred to all others as Sophists. She then studies the differences between Plato and Sophists to discern whether that division was warranted.

Feuchtenberger, a sophomore Spanish and biology health professions major from Alvord, Iowa, will present “How Aristotle’s Beliefs Influenced His Scientific Endeavors.” She will be speaking on how Aristotle’s beliefs affected how he studied and classified animals, as well as how he explained the reasons for his conclusions.

Spangler, a sophomore from Overland Park, Kan., will present her paper, “Spectators, Frogs, and Satyrs: The Role of the Chorus in Ancient Greek Drama.” A history and theatre major, Spangler wrote her paper on the beginnings of theatre in ancient Greece, focusing on the role of the chorus in shaping and sustaining theatre.

“For those of us traveling to Greece this summer for the honors study abroad program, the paper gave us the opportunity to research things we are likely to visit or hear reference to,” says Spangler. “It also allowed us to share with other students in the class the cultural legacy of Greece in each of our fields.”