The TAMIU Philosophy Society is continuing last semester’s theme of Philosophy of Art to encourage discourse among students who are interested in the nature of art, its origins, purpose, myriad forms, standards of assessment, effects on the individual and society at large, and ends.
The Society was honored to welcome Dr. Mark Menaldo, assistant professor of political science at TAMIU, for their second open meeting of the Spring 2017 semester.
Menaldo received his PhD in Political Science from Michigan State University. He is currently writing a piece on Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, which served as the basis for his lecture.
Menaldo discussed “the Art of Lying,” as conceived by the creator of realpolitik Niccolò Machiavelli in his lecture “Authenticity and the Virtue of Deception in Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince”.
The Society’s sign-in sheets reveal there were at least 85 people in attendance, not including TAMIU faculty and The Society’s cabinet members. Open academic lectures, such as Menaldo’s, present new avenues towards the collegiate experience at TAMIU.
The open meeting was advertised two weeks prior through The Society’s social media platforms –Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter— SOLE-approved flyers around the campus’s buildings and bulletin boards. Proper promotion leads to great turnouts among the TAMIU and Laredo community, as well as an open forum for discussion.
Menaldo opened the floor for a question-and-answer discussion, following his talk on Machiavelli, where a few students and TAMIU professors engaged in discussion. The crowd stayed to listen. The Society used Facebook Live and 360 Echo –a program that records lectures and is set up by TAMIU’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) Program— to further foster philosophical and academic discourse.
Positive feedback was received after The Society’s open meeting. Other TAMIU student organizations should look to participating by hosting their own open meetings with guest speakers. This is a great way to facilitate academic knowledge and enlightenment around campus and the city of Laredo.
The Texas A&M International Philosophy Society hosts open meetings every second and third Friday at 1:30 pm in the Western Hemispheric Trade Center Room 111. Everyone is welcome to attend. The Society’s members host an array of talks in philosophical nature that any TAMIU student can relate to his/her studies and/or life.
