Library Buzzz

Mar. 21, 2013

DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR PRESENTATION

“The Political Implications of the Greek Debt Crisis and the New Political Landscape in Greece”

The Sacramento State Hellenic Studies Program and the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Foundation invite you
to join us for a lecture by Prof. Othon Anastasakis, Director of South East European Studies, University of Oxford.

Thursday, Mar. 21, 2013
Senator Nicholas Petris Room, Library 3023 (3rd floor)
Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, University Library

Schedule of Events:
7:00 – 8:00 p.m. presentation and discussion
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. light refreshments

The presentation and refreshments are free and open to the public.

Print out a parking permit (PDF document) to use for the evening.

For further information, contact Prof. Katerina Lagos at (916) 278-7103 or klagos@csus.edu.

Get ahead of the research curve! Sign up for one of the Library’s FREE research workshops today!

Take SCHOLARLY JOURNALS to build your search skills to help you find the best scholarly articles on your topic.

Take CITING YOUR SOURCES to make APA, MLA and CHICAGO style manuals easier to use for your papers.

Take ENDNOTE…BIBLIOGRAPHIES MADE EASY if you are working on your thesis or dissertation and need to organized your resources so the you can cite while you write (CWYW).

Go to http://library.csus.edu/workshops to register.

Please note: these sessions meet the Leadership Initiative Professional Development requirement. Sessions begin February 11 and the last one is March 11, 2013.

“Reading Old Poets in New Ways: Perspectives in Archaic Greek Epic Poetry
from the Modern Greek Folk Tradition”

The Sacramento State Hellenic Studies Program and the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Foundation invite you to join us for a lecture by Prof. Andromache Karanika, Associate Professor of Classics at UC Irvine.

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012
Senator Nicholas Petris Room, Library 3023 (3rd floor)
Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, University Library

Schedule of Events:
7:00 – 8:00 p.m. presentation and discussion
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. light refreshments

For more information, see http://library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos/news.asp.

“Understanding Quantum Mechanics: The Rehabilitation of Aristotle in Modern Physics”

The Sacramento State Hellenic Studies Program and the American Hellenic Professional Society invite you to join us for a lecture by Prof. Michael Epperson, Research Professor and Director of the Center for Philosophy and the Natural Sciences, Sacramento State, and Prof. Elias Zafiris, Institute of Mathematics, University of Athens.

Abstract:

“Recent advances in modern science, particularly those occurring in the areas of quantum physics, cosmology, and the study of complex adaptive systems in nature, have begun to inspire an increasingly resonant shift in the conventional Western understanding of the natural world. The central pillars of the worldview inherited from the Enlightenment—Cartesian dualism and mechanistic materialism—have begun to crack under the weight of modern science. Quantum physics in particular has proven impossible to support with these pillars, and it was Werner Heisenberg who first suggested that the proper interpretation of quantum mechanics required a rehabilitation of Aristotelian entelecheia—the notion that a thing’s potentiality is a material constituent of its reality and not merely a figment of human understanding—that potentiality and actuality are both species of reality. Today, the most coherent interpretations of quantum mechanics have proven to be those that have committed either implicitly or explicitly to this Aristotelian notion. Eminent quantum theorist Roland Omnès has extended this Aristotelian rehabilitation even further, suggesting that the logical structure by which potentia are related in quantum mechanics is likewise a ‘real’ feature of nature, and not merely a function of human reasoning. Quantum theorist and mathematician Elias Zafiris and philosopher Michael Epperson will discuss how these ideas form the foundation of an intuitive interpretation of quantum mechanics, which they present formally in their forthcoming book, Foundations of Relational Realism: Quantum Mechanics, Category Theory, and the Philosophy of Process (Lexington Books, 2013).”

See http://library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos/news.asp for further information.

The Library has reactivated its subscription to the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) database for a year on a trial basis. The TLG is a full-text database of Greek literary works spanning Homer (8th c. B.C.E.) to the fall of Byzantium in 1453 and beyond. Today the Online TLG contains more than 105 million words from over 10,000 works associated with 4,000 authors and is constantly updated and improved with new features and texts.

You can find the link to it on our databases page (http://xerxes.calstate.edu/sacramento/databases/alphabetical) and also under ‘digital collections’ of the Classical studies research guide (http://csus.libguides.com/classicalstudies).

“Censorship is the enemy of truth - even more than a lie. A lie can be exposed; censorship can prevent us knowing the difference.”

- Bill Moyers, America journalist and public commentator

This is the week that libraries and librarians all over the US set aside for awareness of the dangers of censorship, or as Bill Moyers says, “Banned Book Week reminds us of the foundation of our freedom - the First Amendment - and the freedom of all of us – including our kids – to read and think and nurture the life of the mind.”

So help us celebrate - READ A BANNED BOOK THIS WEEK!

The American Library Association has lists of frequently challenged books you can choose from at:

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged

For more information about Banned Book Week go to: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek

As of September 11, 2012 you are able to register to vote if you have a valid California driver’s license or ID. Go to this website for the application: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm English, Spanish and eight other languages are available. Once the registration form is filled out, signatures are digitally transferred from the license or ID card.

REGISTER NOW and VOTE November 6, 2012.

A quilt is more than something to keep you warm at night. It’s part history, part art, part personal memoir – all lovingly crafted by hand.

Sacramento State will host two free quilt exhibits this fall, both from the collection of Carol Gebel, the University’s former library services specialist.

“Artistry of the Traditional Quilt” runs Sept. 7-Oct. 20 in the Library Gallery Annex. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. “Piecing the Past Together: Nineteenth Century Quilts” runs Sept. 7-Dec. 20 in the Library’s Special Collections and University Archives. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A reception will be held 5-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in the Library Gallery Annex.

Pieces in the Library Gallery Annex demonstrate the artistic aspect of quilts, says Gebel, while those in the Special Collections and Archives were selected to illustrate the evolving history of the quilt.

Gebel began studying and collecting quilts after receiving one made by her great-grandmother. Her collection includes pieces from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Missouri as well as many other states.

“Quilts are powerful artifacts,” she says.

One of the pieces in the exhibit is a Four Eagles quilt, an appliqué design from the nation’s centennial. Another features a colorful leaf medallion design.

Gebel notes that quilts offer something blankets can’t provide. Quilts are made for special occasions such as weddings and births. They have been made to support soldiers and in support of causes from abolition to world peace.

“Women have reported wrapping themselves in a quilt made for a deceased loved one and feeling the maker’s and the loved one’s arms around them and experiencing the warmth of their love and caring,” says Gebel. “Not many objects can elicit such emotion or provide the degree of comfort a quilt can.”

For more information on the displays, call Gebel at (916) 630-9240. For media assistance, call Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.

The library’s online payment system is down temporarily. Payments can still be made with a OneCard or courtesy OneCard at the User Services desk. We apologize for the inconvenience.