UNF March events spotlight women’s stories in VR, a philosophy slam, and a Florida art exhibit opening

The UNF events calendar for the second week of March includes a virtual reality series focused on women’s stories, a philosophy slam, and the opening of a new art exhibit.

Upcoming events include the Philosophy Slams: What is Law?, a four-day virtual reality event highlighting women’s stories, and the grand opening of the art exhibit with an artist talk by Christopher Still.

Women’s stories in VR

The University of North Florida’s Virtual Learning Center will host the VLC Cultural VR/AR Series: Women’s Stories in VR at the Thomas G. Carpenter Library, listed on the UNF events calendar. 

The event description states that students can explore women’s experiences, creativity, and leadership in the Carpenter Library’s Virtual Learning Center during March’s Cultural VR/AR Series. They will engage with themes of resilience, identity, activism, and social change through immersive storytelling. The event is open to students, faculty, staff, and the community.

The library events calendar for March features the theme Women’s Voices & Global Storytelling, focusing on women’s lives, creativity, leadership, and resistance across cultures. 

The VLC Cultural VR/AR Series, specifically about women’s stories, has four scheduled dates. The goal is for students to assess how VR narratives portraying women’s lives across cultures reveal themes of resilience, identity, activism, and social change, according to the UNF events webpage.

According to the LibGuides VLC website, the Virtual Learning Center aims to leverage the immersive power of virtual reality (VR) to improve teaching, learning, research, and outreach within the university community, with the addition of 28 Meta Quest 3 standalone headsets, along with our PC-based VR systems. 

Beryl White-Bing is the event organizer; she is the Assistant University Librarian, according to her UNF faculty bio. Her expertise includes 3D Virtual Worlds, Academic Libraries, Augmented Reality, Genealogy, Library Science, Library Exhibits, Library Instruction, Library Marketing, Social Media, Virtual Environments, and Virtual Reality.

North Florida Philosophy Slams: What is Law? 

The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies will host a philosophy slam, “What is Law,” on March 11, according to the UNF events calendar. 

The event description states that the slams encourage group reflection on philosophical issues related to life. Each slam will have a brief presentation by the facilitator, followed by an informal discussion lasting about an hour. Attendees meet on the patio of Sahara Cafe once a month. 

The event will feature Justin Sorrell. According to the UNF General Council website, Sorrell is one of the University of North Florida’s senior associate general counsels. Before joining the University, Sorrell worked as in-house litigation and employment counsel for The Adecco Group North America, which is one of the world’s largest staffing companies. 

Jonathan Matheson is the event organizer. According to the UNF faculty bio, Matheson is a Canadian philosopher who specializes in epistemology. His areas of expertise are epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. 

Artist Talk: Christopher Still

The UNF Department of Art, Art History and Design will host a talk by artist Christopher Still on March 12. 

The grand opening of the exhibit “La Florida” will start with a reception at 4:30 p.m. The reception will be followed by a talk from Still, whose work is featured in the exhibit, according to the UNF events calendar.

The Allen Lastinger Center for Florida History collects primary and secondary source materials related to Florida’s transportation and economic industries, according to the Allen Lastinger Center for Florida History LibGuides website.

Still is a native Floridian who graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. According to Still’s personal website, he has received several awards for his exceptional achievements in painting, including a European Travel Fellowship and the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for fine art. 

Still’s paintings are part of various museums and private collections, such as the Governor’s Mansion of Florida and the Smithsonian Institution. Notably, he completed ten murals for the Florida House of Representatives, showcasing Florida’s historic and natural beauty.

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