Faculty's Summer School

June 13, 2005 | Written By Nicole Chin '08

As a question is posed, hands fly up, mouths open to speak, and ideas are exposed. More than 20 faculty members, with varying areas of expertise, plow through concepts of Shakespeare and meet a young man named Hamlet. There’s Biology and Communication Studies, Social Work and Biblical Studies – every dynamic represented by a brilliant mind. They agree and disagree, observe and discuss in hopes of arriving at some consensus, and if nothing else, discover a new profound respect for a colleague.

The 10th annual Faculty Seminar in the Liberal Arts, from June 6-10, invited APU faculty to study Shakespeare’s Henry V, Hamlet, and Much Ado About Nothing. Meeting at the Glendora Country Club, the yearly seminar seeks to develop a complete understanding of the liberal arts for faculty by studying a classical work. The seminar also strives to help professors “establish connections between their courses and other disciplines and Christian liberal education as a whole.”

The seminar divides into two groups, and each day a different facilitator begins discussions by posing simple questions. As the discussion progresses, more complex questions are raised. This year, four film versions of Hamlet were viewed, and Monica Ganas, Ph.D., associate professor of communication studies, and an APU alumnus performed a scene from Hamlet.

“[This seminar] is a way of collegial communication and getting to know each other,” said professor of English Carole Lambert, Ph.D. “A lot of intellectual dynamic discussion takes place, raising questions, and providing interpretations. What I deeply appreciate is there’s a lot of respect for each other.”