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Show I~ Ir -- THE CAMPUS - ,,. C THE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL• SOUTHERN UTAH U NIVERSITY • FRll:)AY, DECEMBER 6, 1996 ··~ ~ East, West share similarities Courses discuss Eastern culture the East. Instead, he found America, thus uniting Eastern and Western cultures through the words of Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson OF THE JOURNAL STAFF and Walt Whitman. These men, according to "The East and the West have met," according to Moorty, opened their minds to Hindu concepts, Satyam S. Moorty, SUU professor and Confucian writing and Taoism . They then cam e Convocation lecturer. Moorty was awarded this out with the idea of transcendentalism. Today, Moorty said, there are frequent exchanges year's D istinguished Faculty Lecture, a of cultural delegations, presentation of folk and recognition given each year to professors who have progressed in their scholarly endeavors. classical dance performances and music concerts by visiting artistsas well as movies like Richard "East a_nd West: A T ime to Meet," was the title . - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - . Attenborough's Gandhi and of Moorty's speech. In his address, Moorty gave several Bernardo Bertolucci's The religious and cultural reasons Last Emperor. for his theory that the time All these further prove that the two cultures are for the integration of Eastern finally finding bonds. Not and Western cultures was long past due. just the material culture but Breaking st ereotypes was the spiritual word of the East also of importance to is finding its way into mainstream America. Moorty, as h ~ asked, "Is the "India's Mahatma Gandhi, East 'spiritual,' and the West Satyajit Ray, Zubin Mehta, Ravi Shankar all caught 'materialistic?' Is the East passive, the West the cultural consciousness. On the spiritual plane, aggressive? Is all mysticism in the East, all transcendental meditation, yoga and Zen Buddhism rationalism in the West?" have caught the imagination of the Americans. According to Moorty, " it is legitimate to consider ' East' and 'West' as relative terms or They are no more exotic, and they are here," said Moorty. He also said he was delighted to see the constructs-despite differences- and to treat them as complementary." Eastern culture taking a hold here in Cedar City with the opening of the Blue Heron Center, a yoga But with a "global econom y, satellite-beamed coverage of world events, and continual and meditation center. educational an d cultural exchanges," Moorty Moorty finished with the thought, "From one end believes the two are rapidly meeting. He also of the earth to the other, we are more alike than different. lo our similarities we share; in our noted that Columbus' initial intention when he set sail in 1492 was to discover a quicker route to differences, we complement each other." By JOSH JONES A Contemporary Issues course is offered at SUU for those students who are interested in receiving additiona l insight into the topics discussed at Con vocatio ns. Lana Johnson, director of lectures and special projects at SUU, said "The heart of the class is shar~d inquiry, where teachers and students discuss the material presented in lectures an d reading assignments. "Through discussion and writ ing, participants can learn to give full consideration to the ideas of others, to weigh t he merits of opposing arguments and to modify their initial opinions if the evidence demands it, 11 she added. Som e of the topics being discussed winter quarter include: "T he Seeking of the East, 11 taught by MiGhael Stathis, assistant professor of behavioral and social sciences; " Niels Bohr Meets Buddha," taught by Matthew Nickerson, assistant professor of library services; and "Influence of Eastern Thought on German Philosophy and Music," taught by James Harrison, professor of language and literature. Other courses will be taught by Terri LauterbachCotts, a local Cedar City r.esident; Michael Donovan, professor of biology; and Satyam S. Moorty, professor of English. Students interested in taking the course can sign up for either Honors 30 l or Honors 40 l. Both courses arc worth three credits. Johnson said other faculty are also invited to participate on a volun tary basis . .uGift Giving 201 Thoughtfulness!" Rely on McArthur's for Everythin g ... From your Promise Ring to your Engagement Ring. r--------------------------------, ! l Free Gift ! Sterling Silver chain ! :with Purchase of $25.00 or! : more : I I I I I I I I :I Expires 12-31-96 :I L--------------------------------~ ·. ~ McArtnur ~ewelers D IAM O ND SPEC I A LI STS Two Locations In St. George: 41 N . M a in Re d CLiffs 673 -2471 628-2664 , Projects like these can be constructed in Knitting I and Knitting II, taught by Lak shmi Moorty through th e SUU Continuing Edu ca tion program. The class will be taught again n ext quarter on Tuesday and Thurday nights at 7 p.m. Th e item s here come from Moorty's fa m ily collection. I |