Upcoming News from The Citadel

 

Got what it takes to survive the 2015 Bulldog Challenge? Register now!

The Bulldog Challenge, known nationally as one of the most punishing tests of fitness and endurance, will be hosted again in 2015 by The Citadel’s Naval ROTC Unit. It is a 10k (6.2 mile), team-oriented race that runs through The Citadel campus and the surrounding Charleston area. Included within the race are various obstacles and challenges, such as the Marine Corps combat fitness test, a Marine Corps obstacle course, a simulated casualty evacuation using stretchers, and maneuvers through the thick pluff mud of the Lowcountry marshes. The Bulldog Challenge is designed to test mental toughness, the ability to work within a team and physical endurance.

Each team is composed of four individuals. Creative costumes are highly encouraged. Proceeds from the event contribute to scholarships for students to attend The Citadel. The registration fee is $200 per team. Individuals are permitted to register for a fee of $50. Citadel cadet teams receive a discount of $60 if registering before Feb. 1.  To register click here. Registration ends Feb. 26.

 

Do machines understand? Could machines ever understand?

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Douglas Hofstadter presenting Jan. 27

Douglas Hofstadter, distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Comparative Literature at Indiana University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gödel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid, will give a lecture entitled “Do Machines Understand? Could Machines Ever Understand?” at The Citadel. The event will be held at 7 p.m., Jan. 27, in Duckett Hall Auditorium. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Hofstadter’s research and interests range from musical composition to meta-mathematics and from consciousness to creativity. If Hofstadter’s primary research is in cognitive sciences, his interest is fundamentally about human thinking. He draws from the history of science and mathematics, the study of languages, poetry and music, and from the intricacies of day-to-day conversations to get at the roots of the complex and surprising elements of human thinking.

Though Professor Hofstadter’s greatest impact has been in the cognitive sciences, his influence on other disciplines is also remarkable. Professor Hofstadter’s work has also influenced research in the sciences at The Citadel. “Dr. Hofstadter may no longer be actively engaged in physics research, yet one of his most seminal contributions, a 1976 prediction on how electrons in crystals might behave in the presence of a magnetic field, was only first confirmed in the lab in 2013 using novel two-dimensional materials,” said Lok Lew Yan Voon, Citadel professor and Dean of Mathematics and Science. “Fittingly, a research project on discovering analogs of Hofstadter’s butterfly (as the pattern is known) in other two-dimensional materials is under way at The Citadel.”

“This program,” said Bo Moore, Dean of Humanities & Social Sciences, “is the first of what we hope will be many that will integrate the study of the humanities with the natural and social sciences in order to better train our cadets and students to lead effectively in a broad range of pursuits in the ever more interconnected world in which we live.”

A distinguished author, Hofstadter’s books include Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language and Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking. His visit to The Citadel is made possible through the efforts of Professor Grant Goodrich of the Department of English and the Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics, and Professor Caroline Strobbe of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.

 

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F Troop and Other Citadel Stories: a discussion with author and Citadel alumnus Tom Worley on Jan. 27

Join Friends of the Daniel Library and author Tom Worley, graduate of The Citadel Class of 1968, for a discussion on Worley’s book, F Troop and Other Citadel Stories, at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 27 in room 165 of Bond Hall.

Worley takes readers back to the 1960’s at The Citadel with his collection of short stories. While the stories are fictional, they are inspired in part by his days as a student on The Citadel campus. With humor and dramatic clarity, Worley reveals the harshness of the plebe system, how success is achieved through perseverance, and the character-building benefits of a Citadel education. Worley, who was a member of F Company while a cadet, currently practices law in Charleston.

A book signing will follow Worley’s presentation. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available on campus at no cost.

 

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The Citadel Republican Society presents internationally followed author and speaker John Horvat, with Norman Fulkerson

Feb. 6 presentation is open to the public

Family, honor, faith and tradition are the most powerful tools Americans have to reclaim their great country from the throes of social and economic chaos, according to the two distinguished presenters of “How to Solve Our Crisis of Authority: Make America a Family Again.”

Internationally followed speaker and author of Return to Order, John Horvat II, with Norman Fulkerson, contributing editor of Crusade Magazine and the author of the award-winning book, An American Knight will share insights about how to end the socioeconomic divisions in the nation with members of The Citadel Republican Society and the college community.

“If our nation ever needed to return to traditional values, it is now. Return to Order does a great job of highlighting the source and solution to our impending demise,” said Major General Patrick H. Brady, Medal of Honor Recipient.

Return to Order has sold more than 30,000 copies and has received dozens of endorsements from military, political and religious leader.  Horvat serves as Vice President for the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property and contributes regularly to media outlets across America such as The Wall Street Journal, FOX News, The Christian Post, The American Thinker andTheBlaze.com.

The event takes place at noon on Feb. 6, in Buyer Auditorium, located in the college’s Mark Clark Hall.  It is open to the community and there is no fee to attend.  A book signing at The Citadel Bookstore, also in Mark Clark Hall, will follow from 1 – 3p.m.

 

Black History Month activities

January 31 – Annual African American Society Bazaar

10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Buyer Auditorium, Mark Clark Hall.

The annual bazaar features music, exhibits and food and attracts visitors to campus from across the Lowcountry.  Music will be performed by Urban Roots band and there will be a special exhibit by Tut-Tut Kemetic Group. The Center for Heirs Property Preservation will present an informative seminar to answer questions about heirs’ property.  The center’s mission is serving, supporting and empowering  property owner-heirs and their communities.

 

February 7 – Black History Quiz Bowl

9:30 a.m., Copeland Auditorium, Grimsley Hall 

The Citadel is again proud to host the Annual Black History Quiz Bowl, presented by the Mu Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi.  Local elementary, middle and high school teams will test their Black History knowledge and compete for the annual award and recognition as the Black History Quiz Bowl Champions.  Attendance is free and open to the public.

 

 February 19 – “Too Proud to Whitewash: Charleston since the Civil Rights Movement”

6:45 p.m., Duckett Auditorium

Steve Estes is an author, researcher and professor of history at Sonoma State University in California and a native of Charleston, S.C.  His research focuses on five areas of recent American history: labor organizing, education, the American South, race relations, and sexuality.  He is the author of I Am a Man!: Race, Manhood and the Struggle for Civil Rights, and Ask & Tell: Gay and Lesbian Veterans Speak Out.

“Professor Estes, who spent much of his childhood in Charleston, is a well-regarded historian of twentieth-century American history and will be very interesting to hear,” said Katherine Grenier, Ph.D., head of the Department of History at The Citadel. “He is currently writing a book on Charleston since the Civil Rights movement which is sure to be an important contribution to our understanding of Charleston’s important role in modern American history.”

The presentation will take place at 6:45 p.m. in Duckett Hall. It is free and open to the public.

 

 

About The Citadel

Charleston, South Carolina. The Citadel offers a classic military college education for young men and women profoundly focused on leadership excellence and academic distinction. Graduates are not required to serve in the military but about 30 percent of each class commission as officers in every branch of U.S. military service. Graduates of The Citadel have served the nation, their state and their community as principled leaders since the college was founded in 1842. The Citadel Graduate College offers more than 50 Master’s degrees and graduate certificates in a wide range of disciplines, plus six undergraduate programs, through an all-evening schedule. Some graduate courses are available online.