New Technology for an Old Dilemma

Most philosophers are familiar with the Trolley Problem.  It's a theoretical scenario where our moral intuitions are tested: Can we provide a moral reason to distinguish between pulling a lever to divert a threat, or actively putting a person in harm's way to prevent a worse consequence?  Is there a moral difference between intentions and consequences in these situations?  Does it matter?  How do we make sense of the conflict of moral intuitions and values that your average person feels when evaluating these cases? READ MORE

Responding to Orlando

By Craig Hovey

We at the Ashland Center for Nonviolence join with so many others throughout the world in mourning the shooting in Orlando, the worst mass shooting in US history. There is just too much to mourn at once: the 49 lives lost, the 53 additional wounded, the terror felt especially by LGBT people, the inevitable backlash against Muslims in the US, the increasingly shrill tone of the debate about assault rifles, and the opportunistic political responses that jump on one or the other of these facets. FULL STORY

Ohio Arts Council to Present Info for Local Artists

Local artists are invited to a presentation by Kathy Signorino from the Ohio Arts Council on Wednesday June 15 at 6 p.m. in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center auditorium at Ashland University. The presentation will provide information on the Individual Excellence Award program, the OAC's online grant application system and other individual artist services provided by the state agency. The Coburn Gallery and the Ashland Community Arts League is co-hosting the event which is free and open to the public.

Actuarial Science Program Ranked in Top 40

The Actuarial Science program at Ashland University has been identified as having one of the best values in a recent ranking by Online Accounting Degree Programs. AU is one of only three schools in Ohio to make the top 40 list of actuarial degree programs in the country.

Dr. Christopher Swanson, professor of mathematics at Ashland University, was pleased with AU’s ranking in the Top 40. "When I developed that actuarial science program at Ashland University in 2009, I did so as I believed our faculty would be able to effectively prepare students for passing the professional actuarial exams and for starting their actuarial careers, with individual attention that students often do not receive at larger universities,” Swanson said.

Michael Hudec Secures Actuarial Internship

Congratulations to junior Michael Hudec on his 2016 Summer Internship in actuarial science at Benchmark Insurance. He will gain experience with employee benefits.

Call for Art: "Interrupted"

Coburn Art Gallery seeks works for a thematic exhibition entitled "Interrupted." Open to all media including video and sound works, works should address the concept of loss and longing within our lives. Deadline to submit entries is June 22, 2016 and the exhibition will run September 1-25, 2016.  MORE DETAILS

2015 Putnam Mathematical Competition

The results of the 2015 Putnam Mathematical Competition are in. Ashland University had one student receive a non-zero score. Congratulations to Michael Woode for his score of 10. A total of 4275 students from 554 colleges and universities in Canada and the United states participated in the 2015 Competition. Of the 4275 participants, 2367 received scores of 0, 343 received scores of 1, 761 received scores between 1 and 9, and 405 received scores of 10. Thus, Michael Woode did better than 73.2% of students taking the exam and at least as well as 82.6% of students taking the exam.

Theatre's Sean Smith at SNL

Theatre alumnus Sean Smith (2011) was recently featured in a news story by the University of South Carolina Department of Theatre and Dance where he earned his masters in costume design.

Sean Smith is making a name for himself in NYC one SATURDAY NIGHT (LIVE) at a time, and tells us all about working for the legendary TV comedy's 41st season. The job was just the latest in a series of career successes for the young designer that are proving that his talent will be seen on the theatre and film stages of New York City for a long time to come... FULL STORY.

 

Art Faculty Works at Cleveland's Waterloo

Ashland University Art Department faculty members Dan McDonald and Cynthia Petry have their artworks now on exhibit in Cleveland's Waterloo Arts at Loren's Art Lounge waterlooarts.org/about/waterloo-arts-district/

Toxicology alumna earns Ph.D

Alumna Daphne Guinn (Toxicology, 2011) was awarded a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Ohio State University earlier this month.  Her Ph.D. dissertation research was focused on chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Following graduation, Daphne has been offered a postdoctoral fellowship at Georgetown University as a PRSM-PhRMA Fellow in Regulatory Science. MORE

Posner Awarded Research Grant from NIH

Ashland University’s Dr. Mason Posner, professor and chairperson of the Department of Biology and Toxicology, has received a $305,000 research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue his research program using the small zebrafish to investigate the causes and prevention of lens cataract. FULL STORY