Upcoming BHSU Geek Speak to explore metapatterns

Dr. Liz Fayer will explore mettapatterns in her upcoming Geek Speak with Dr. Joanna Jones.

Dr. Joanna Jones and Fayer will explore metapatterns, or natural patterns, in their Geek Speak lecture Thursday, April 20 at 4 p.m. in Jonas Hall, room 110 at BHSU. A pre-speak will be hosted at the Jacket Zone (617 Main Street, Spearfish) Thursday, April 20 at 1:30 p.m.   

Dr. Liz Fayer, instructor/coordinator of Project SECOND at Black Hills State University, and Dr. Joanna Jones, former BHSU professor, will examine how we can see metapatterns in nature, culture, design, and innovation at the next Geek Speak lecture at BHSU.

Fayer and Jones will present "Metapatterns" Thursday, April 20 at 4 p.m. in Jonas Hall room 110 on the BHSU campus. They will look through the lens of the past at how Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota visionary, saw these patterns many years ago to the present and how these patterns are used in exciting new innovations. A pre-speak will be hosted at the Jacket Zone (617 Main Street, Spearfish) Thursday, April 20 at 1:30 p.m.    

According to Fayer and Jones, anthropologist Gregory Bateson gives an excellent description of what a metapattern is, "It is a pattern of patterns."  

Fayer says that before science was well understood in history or culture, as in Black Elk's culture, people's survival depended on the understanding of nature's patterns used in art, ceremony, and games. With our current deeper and more complete understanding of science, Fayer says metapatterns can be used to create innovations, art, and design.  

"Using universal patterns, we can make connections between a turtle and a satellite, a leaf and the ocean, and a snake and a rocket," says Fayer.

Fayer and Jones are asking the audience to be involved in Google Jockeying, surfing the internet for terms and resources related to the topic, while they present.

"We want the audience to be actively involved by looking up the metapatterns being discussed in the presentation on tablets or their phones, and we are hoping to display search results on the screen for everyone to see.  This involves the audience and allows for interesting discussions to emerge," says Fayer.

Fayer and Jones say they hope that the audience walks away with a deeper understanding of how Black Elk and the Lakota people saw the metapatterns in nature due to the deep connectedness with nature every day of their lives.

"We hope that the audience will begin to look at shapes and patterns differently. Often we are too busy with everyday lives to recognize the simple patterns we see," said Fayer. "Metapatterns, as professor Tyler Volk states, &lsquoidentify functional universals for forms in space, processes in time, and concepts in mind.&rsquo We never know who will be our future innovators."

The Geek Speak lecture series, sponsored by the BHSU University Honors program, features academic discussion and topics not normally discussed in the traditional classroom. The goal of the weekly lectures is to expose students to diversity within the disciplines.

The following on-campus Geek Speak presentations, are scheduled for this semester:
  • April 27, "Madness in Popular Culture: The &lsquoInsanity&rsquo of Women," by Dr. Laura Colmenero-Chilberg, professor of sociology, Jonas 110 at 4 p.m.
  • May 2 &amp 4, "The University Honors Capstone Defenses," Joy Center, 2-5 p.m.
For more information, contact Dr. Courtney Huse Wika, director of the University Honors Program and assistant professor of English, at 605-642-6918 or email Courtney.HuseWika@BHSU.edu.

Cutline: Dr. Liz Fayer, and Dr. Joanna Jones will explore metapatterns, or natural patterns, in their Geek Speak lecture Thursday, April 20 at 4 p.m. in Jonas Hall, room 110 at BHSU. A pre-speak will be hosted at the Jacket Zone (617 Main Street, Spearfish) Thursday, April 20 at 1:30 p.m.