UW-Whitewater receives $185,000 in grants from National Endowment for the Humanities
Released: June 20, 2008

Translations of the influential 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's four works and the survey and excavation of a Peruvian archaeological site are some of the groundbreaking research being conducted by faculty in the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater thanks to $185,000 in grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the most awarded to any university in the state.

Considered one of the foremost authorities on the influential 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, David Cartwright, professor of philosophy and religious studies, and Ed Erdmann, assistant professor of languages and literatures, are providing translations of Schopenhauer's four works to be published in two volumes available through the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge University Presses.

Inspired by the classical Greek philosopher Plato and the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer was among the first 19th-century philosophers to contend that the universe is not a rational place. According to Cartwright, Schopenhauer's works have influenced major figures in psychology (Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung), sociology, music (Richard Wagner), literature (Leo Tolstoy and Joseph Campbell) and philosophy (Friedrich Nietzsche).

"These new translations will provide reliable and useful texts for students and scholars alike," he said.

Cartwright and Erdmann received $140,000 from the NEH for their project, "Translation of Arthur Schopenhauer's 'The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics' and 'On the Fourfold Root and Other Writings." The works to be translated include: "Die beiden Grundprobleme der Ethik" (1841), "Uber die vierfache Wurzel des Satzes vom zureichenden Grunde" (1847), "Uber das Sehn und die Farben" (1854) and "Uber den Willen in der Natur" (1854).

"This grant is significant because it's buying us time to complete the translations over the next two years," Erdmann said. "Up until this point we have been working on this in moments of free time. This award provides three-quarters release time reducing our teaching load to one class per semester for the next two years."

In addition to Cartwright and Erdmann's grant, assistant professor of sociology, anthropology and criminal justice Jo Ellen Burkholder will use a $45,000 NEH award to conduct a survey and excavation at the Pisanay, Peru archaeological site. A large site in the Sihuas Valley, Pisanay shows evidence of human occupation from approximately 200 B.C. through approximately A.D. 1400. According to Burkholder, the site has excellent preservation of delicate materials, including ancient textiles.

"The NEH grant for work at Pisanay, Peru is a stepping stone, a foundation for a long-term research agenda in the Sihuas Valley and a starting point for understanding the lives of people living at the margins of great empires," Burkholder said. "It'll be a chance to see into a way of life that has not really been explored before."

The project, "Archaeological Pilot Study at Pisanay, Peru: Corporate Identity at the Margins of Andean Tradition," will have Burkholder and a team of researchers map the area's topography and visible architectural features, as well as sample sub-surface materials to assess overall site integrity and complexity.

"For me this is a real milestone," she added. "I have been working in Peru and Bolivia in small ways for 15 years, getting small grants, working under the auspices of other investigators either with their research staff or as a kind of adjunct to their project. I've often had a lot of autonomy to pursue my own interests but never a lot of say in how, when, or why a project would pursue certain ends. This is a little like growing up as a professional archaeologist."

In total, Wisconsin received three NEH grants worth $235,000. The only other university to receive an award was the University of Wisconsin-Madison for $50,000.

"For UW-Whitewater to earn two of the three awards given by the NEH shows that we're doing research as significant as is being done at other major universities," Cartwright said. "The NEH grant process is highly competitive and to be honored by them serves as more external validation of the significance of our work."

"I continue to be impressed by the tenacity and talent of our faculty," Denise Ehlen, director of UW-Whitewater Research and Sponsored Programs, said. "These researchers epitomize our commitment to the educator/scholar model."

*Note: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this news release do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

- Melissa DiMotto, dimottom@uww.edu