Anthropology - Butler University

admissions offices to give undecided students an idea of what majors are best for their learning
styles.
The Allegory of the Cave and its Implications for Modern Education
Sarah Risley, Faculty Sponsor: Richard McGowan, Butler University
Many of the ideas that Plato sets forth throughout his dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon,
known as the Allegory of the Cave, follow similar patterns as cognitive theorists such as
Lawrence Kohlberg, Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky, and William Perry. Kohlberg outlines the
stages of moral development, which can loosely be traced through the prisoner’s path to
enlightenment. Piaget tracks a child’s stages of cognitive development, all the way to concrete
and abstract thought. Noam Chomsky and the cognitive theory of language acquisition and
development put forth the idea that the general terms of our language are not names; they are
simply concepts and ideas of something larger. Perry argued that students progress through
different stages of intellectual and moral development, parallel to the development of the slave
throughout Plato's dialogue. According to the ideas of Plato, Kohlberg, Piaget, Chomsky, and
Perry it is imperative that philosophy be incorporated more and more into education in order to
produce the higher order thinking and moral development that educators expect of high school
and college students today.
ENGLISH (LITERATURE & CREATIVE WRITING)
Eat Your Heart Out: Consumption, Escape, and the Discourse of Desperation in Günter
Grass's The Tin Drum
Emelia Abbe, Faculty Sponsor: Ania Spyra, Butler University
The incredibly jarring and morbid nature of Agnes Matzerath’s suicide in Günter Grass’s Nobel
Prize winning novel The Tin Drum is one of the most perplexing and graphic scenes of the entire
work. Agnes literally gorges herself to death by mindlessly consuming mass amounts of fish and
fish products. What is the purpose of depicting such a violent and gruesome method of
suicide? What are the underlying causes of the act itself? By taking an in-depth look at the
death of Agnes Matzerath, overarching themes concerning the nature of war itself become
apparent within Grass’s colorful portrayal of human reactions to World War II inside the
contested city of Danzig.
Arthur through the Ages
Emily Armstrong, Faculty Sponsor: Paulette Sauders, Grace College
The Legend of King Arthur began in 5 th century Britain and has gone through several evolutions
since then. Early mentions of Arthur portray him as a warrior and list a few of the battles he was
involved in, but in A History of the Kings of Britain Arthur is portrayed as a king of great honor
and a warrior for God. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, the spiritual aspect of