CAS in the Media | Washington State University

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Still down the rabbit hole for ‘The Matrix’ 20 years later

August 30, 2019 adriana

In the time since its home release, and with the proliferation of YouTube and video essays, the film The Matrix has only risen in popularity among movie buffs. Along with 2010’s Inception, it’s one of the only mainstream movies to push certain types of philosophical themes so successfully on the masses.

And if you’re Michael Goldsby, who’s earned his doctoral degree in philosophy and teaches the subject at Washington State University, it’s a movie that best showcases those ideas.

Chief among them are thought experiments posed by 17th century French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes. His idea: What if sensory experiences don’t match reality. He considered cases where our senses typically deceive us, such as mirages or when we are dreaming.

He even considers the possibility that we are being systematically deceived by an all-powerful demon. How could one prove that we’re not? If we can’t prove that we’re not, then how could we trust our senses? What would it be like when we discover the truth? Similar to when Neo awakes in the vat of pink goo.

And not unlike Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, wherein a group of prisoners are chained to the wall of a cave. Their whole life is shadows on the wall from objects passing in front of a flame behind them. They’re content, don’t want to escape, until they do, which is when they discover life isn’t what they thought.

“The whole point of the project was to see what one can actually determine,” said Goldsby. “What one could say that they know. Even in the face of that sort of radical, global doubt.”

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Spokesman Review

Peter Chilson awarded Idaho Commission on the Arts Fellowship

August 30, 2019 adriana

Professor of English Peter Chilson is one of five Idaho writers recently awarded an Idaho Commission on the Arts Fellowship.

The ICA announcement states, “The awards, given every two years, recognize outstanding writers, honoring work deemed to exhibit the highest artistic merit during peer review. Applicants were reviewed anonymously in a highly competitive process by panelists from out of state and were judged solely on the basis of existing work and professional history.”

Chilson lives in Moscow, Idaho and has taught writing and literature at WSU for two decades. He is working on a new literary nonfiction book project about the history of immigration in one American town.

He has written three books on Africa, including We Never Knew Exactly Where: Dispatches from the Lost Country of Mali. His most recent book is the travel writing guide, Writing Abroad: A Guide for Writers (co‑authored with Joanne Mulcahy).

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WSU Insider

WSU professor works with music educators in India

August 29, 2019 adriana

Dean Luethi, associate professor and director of the School of Music, traveled to India in early August to provide education to music teachers.

“They’re eager for western pedagogies,” Luethi said. “They hear western music, they want to perform western music, and they want help to be able to teach it.”

The National Association for Music Education started the Western Music Educators Association (WMEA) in India in 2017. Luethi, who is a member of NAFME’s Council for Choral Education, made his second trip to Delhi this summer to provide educational materials and training to WMEA choral conductors.

During both trips, Luethi was a judge for the All‑Country Festival of Choirs competition and the choir director for the festival’s One‑Voice Choir. He also presented at the WMEA Conference at the International Center in New Delhi.

“These educators are motivated to learn and pass what they’ve learned to their students,” Luethi said. “They’re looking to perform western repertoires and want their choirs to sound like western choirs. I’m lucky I’m in a position to help them do just that.”

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WSU Insider

Regional History Museum mounts new exhibition

August 28, 2019 adriana

‘In Good Faith’ examines mixed-band for Wagon Days

The reconciliation of past grievances through contemporary politics is at the forefront of Ketchum, Idaho’s collective consciousness, as the city readies for its biggest event of the year: Wagon Days.

Last year’s Wagon Days festival marked the first time in the event’s long history that the city formally extended an invitation to the Shoshone-Bannock people to take part in the weekend’s proceedings. That invitation was extended once again this year, but the Mixed-Band’s presence will be expanded further, both with the festival and by independent, unaffiliated organizations.

In particular, The Community Library is doing its share, inviting back a Washington State University history professor and filmmakers of “In Good Faith” to install an associated exhibition of art and artifacts at the library’s Regional History Museum in Ketchum’s Forest Service Park.

The film and the exhibition alike were created by Orlan Svingen, a professor of history at WSU who came upon the story of the Virginia City Treaty while doing fieldwork with students in Montana.

Speaking with locals of Virginia City, Mont., and members of the Fort Hall Reservation, Svingen and his associates wove together a comprehensive history of events. The museum exhibition elaborates upon the narrative of the documentary with a wide array of artifacts.

“We are grateful to be able to share the decades of collaborative work between the Shoshone-Bannock tribe and the students and faculty of WSU,” said Mary Tyson, the library’s director of regional history. “This telling of the Virginia City Treaty and the case for reparations is a powerful story for all ages.”

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Idaho Mountain Express

Washington: DFW to Use Drone to Count Spawning Salmon Nests

August 28, 2019 adriana

Starting in September and going through November of 2019, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will partner with Washington State University (WSU) on a research project to use drone technology to advance conservation efforts for summer Chinook salmon.

An unmanned aerial vehicle – also known as a drone – will be used to identify and inventory salmon spawning nests, called redds, in three areas of the Upper Wenatchee River watershed. Those areas include near Lake Wenatchee, near Tumwater Campground, and near Blackbird Island (near Leavenworth). In addition, surveys conducted on foot and by boat will also be used.

The use of a drone is expected to provide improved data for more accurate population forecasting. It is also less expensive and labor intensive than manual count methods used in the past. The use of the drone, and drone pilot Daniel Auerbach’s expertise, will be of minimal cost to WDFW. Auerbach is a graduate student at WSU’s School of Environment and this project is part of his thesis research. His work is a collaboration with WDFW’s McLain Johnson, who leads research efforts in the area.

High resolution photos and video taken by the drone will help to identify spawning locations and habitat characteristics. Redd abundance and distribution are common metrics used to monitor and evaluate the status and trend of adult salmon populations.

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Fishing Wire