NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
3/20/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES - Keith Dromm, an associate professor of philosophy in the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University, has been named as the 2008 recipient of the Mildred Hart Bailey Research Award. The presentation was made at the 21st Annual Research Day.
The Bailey Award is given annually to a Northwestern faculty member or members for outstanding research and/or distinguished artistic performance or creative work substantially completed during the past three years. Criteria for the award include: scholarly or creative significance; national, regional or local impact; originality and ingenuity of project design and critical recognition by experts in the field.
Dromm, a member of Northwestern’s faculty since 2003, was honored for his research on the influential analytic philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and on the philosophy of film.
“I have examined ethical issues involved with the watching and creation of film and issues relating to knowledge,” said Dromm. “I have had an interest in film since high school. At one time, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but in graduate school I developed an interest in philosophy. That led to an interest in the philosophy of film which I have pursued.
“I have been able to use films to illustrate philosophical problems and to discern solutions to those problems.”
Dromm has written a chapter for a forthcoming book on the philosophy of Steven Spielberg films. He has also written on the television shows The Office and The X-Files. Dromm has also researched the obligations of makers of historic films to represent events accurately.
“In Titanic, the character of the First Officer, William McMaster Murdoch, was an actual person,” said Dromm. “He was shown in the film as accepting a bribe and holding a gun on passengers instead of helping them as the ship sank. Those events did not happen. He acted selflessly to save others and is remembered as a hero in his hometown of Dalbeattie, Scotland. The people of Dalbeattie were upset with his portrayal and got an apology from the producers.”
Dromm earned a bachelor’s degree at Evergreen State (Wash.) College and a master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Illinois. He taught at Northern Arizona University, Lewis-Clark State College and the University of Akron before coming to NSU.
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