Monthly Archives: December 2014

Jerry’s Picks #11: DIY

Along with a few events, this week’s picks are links to Columbia hubs regularly providing great programming and news. Many of these have Facebooks, newsletters, or RSS feeds as well. Follow your bliss, sign up, pick your own, DIY!

December 6
10 a.m – 12:30 p.m.
Tell Me a Story: Family Day
Center for Jazz Studies | Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery
Readings of Bearden-themed children books, interactive jazz musical performances, and family gallery tours of the Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey exhibition every 30 minutes. Readers are the award-winning poet Mervyn Taylor, Broadway actress Sheria Irving, and movie actress Devyn Tyler! Free. Schermerhorn Hall, 8th Floor.

December 6
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
CUMC Symphony Orchestra presents: Messiah Sing!
Columbia University Medical Center, Bard Hall Student Lounge.

PROGRAMMING
CAA Arts Access
Center for Jazz Studies
Columbia Entrepreneurship
Columbia Global Calendar (University-wide)
Columbia University Libraries
CU168/CUMC Events Calendar
Earth Institute Events Calendar
Heyman Center for the Humanities
Mailman School of Public Health (Grand Rounds, Deans’ Series, and Special Seminars)
Miller Theatre
School of the Arts Public Programs
Studio-X
Tow Center for Digital Journalism
The University Lectures (University Programs and Events)
Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery
World Leaders Forum (including featured events)

NEWS
Columbia University News
CU168: News for and About CUMC (CUMC Office of Communications)Subscribe.

Jerry’s Picks #10: Nov. 24 – Dec. 9

Taking on Ebola, riffing on Bearden, learning from Snowden, lecures on outer space and inner consciousness – so many reasons to be thankful for the Columbia community! Happy Thanksgiving!

December 1
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Columbia Club, multiple Schools, CAA
Strategies for Fighting Ebola: A Columbia University Summit
Leading experts from the University and other institutions will discuss specific strategies to end the Ebola epidemic. Panels address medical care and public health, containment and eradication, and public policy, economic, and business strategies. Faculty participants include Wafaa El-Sadr, MD(Mailman), Scott Hammer, MD (CUMC), Elaine Larson (Nursing), Stephen Morse, PhD (Mailman), Kathleen Crowley, AVP of environmental health and safety, Ranu Dhillon, MD (Earth Institute via Skype from Guinea), Irwin Redlener, MD (National Center for Disaster Preparedness), and Susan Michaels-Strasser (Nursing). Columbia University Club.

December 2
10 a.m.
Center for Jazz Studies
Improvisation in the Arts: A Symposium
Go if you can – and invite adventurous alumni and donors!
In this interactive program inspired by Columbia Explores A Black Odyssey, a luminary group of scholars and artists explore improvisation in music, literature, theology, cinema, dance, and critical theory. With author and humanities scholar Fred Moten; film director, writer, and theorist John Akomfrah Obe; professor and theologian J. Kameron Carter; dance and performance studies scholar Danielle Goldman; poet M. NourbeSe Philips; and musician Matana Roberts. Inspired by Bearden and, most importantly, together with the audience, the panel hopes to form a new experimental band. Faculty Room, Low Memorial Library.

December 3
12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Journalism After Snowden – In Defense of Leaks, with Jill Abramson
Journalist Jill Abramson has spent the last 17 years in the most senior editorial positions at the New York Times, where she was the first woman to serve as Washington bureau chief, managing editor, and executive editor. Before joining the Times, she spent nine years at The Wall Street Journal as the deputy Washington bureau chief and an investigative reporter covering money and politics. She is currently a lecturer with the department of English at Harvard University. RSVP is required. Pulitzer Hall, 3rd floor, World Room.

6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Zuckerman Institute and Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Race Matters, but Not How You Think it Does: How Stereotypes Affect How We Live, Work, Play, and Pray with  Dr. Valerie Purdie-Vaughns
W.E.B. Du Bois used the term “double consciousness” to describe how societal structures shaped the ways in which African Americans viewed themselves, others, and their relations with American institutions. This talk will use the tools of psychology and neurobiology to show how “double consciousness” is experienced by many groups in American society, with implications for health and cognitive performance. Discussion includes recent findings in brain science that can be used by individuals to reduce stress and improve performance, and that could help bridge racial and gender disparities in the population. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard. (Reminder)

December 9
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.
University Lecture
Why We Explore the Solar System: The MESSENGER Mission to Mercury with Lamont-Doherty director Sean C. Solomon 
For decades, the exploration of Mercury lagged behind that of Venus and Mars because of Mercury’s proximity to the sun. Given that each of the four rocky inner planets of our solar system represents a distinct outcome of common physical and chemical processes, we cannot claim to know the workings of our own planet until we are also able to understand why our planetary neighbors are different. Discoveries by the MESSENGER spacecraft, the first to orbit the innermost planet, have substantially challenged many of the leading theories for those differences. Rotunda, Low Memorial Library.

Highlighted above are general interest campus or NYC events across a range of topics of possible interest to alumni, donors, and prospects. This listing is highly selective by design – regrettably, much more is omitted than featured. For RSVP, ticket availability, and other details, follow the links.

As always, I appreciate hearing from you about future events! Best, Jerry

Jerry’s Picks #9: Nov. 17 – Dec. 8

Climate change, fossil fuels and funding; race in the brain, on the gridiron, and beyond; artists working at a certain age – Columbia keeps exploring.

November 20
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Center for Jazz Studies
Acting Homer: A Staged Reading of the Odyssey
Part of Romare Bearden-related events known as “Columbia Explores A Black Odyssey,” “Acting Homer” features prominent actors readings key passages from the Odyssey. With Devyn Tyler ’13CCTy JonesRichard Habersham, and Sean Patrick Thomas. Earl Hall Auditorium. (Reminder)

November 21
8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Columbia Business School | Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program and the Healthcare Industry Association (HCIA)
Columbia Business School 11th Annual Healthcare Conference: Using Data and Technology to Innovate, Value, and Reengineer Healthcare
Speakers and panelists explore biopharmaceuticals, medical technologies, payers, providers, HCIT, venture capital/private equity, M&A/financing, and healthcare entrepreneurship, and related topics. Networking opportunities include a lunchtime career fair with healthcare employers and a closing reception. New York Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway. (Reminder)

November 24
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute
Should Universities and Pension Funds Divest From Fossil Fuel Stocks?
Mounting scientific evidence of the perils of climate change is bringing growing pressure on universities, pension funds, foundations, religious institutions, and others to divest from the stock of fossil fuel companies. Hear from proponents and opponents of divestment, and from experts on the effect of divestment on portfolio value and its place in the corporate social responsibility movement. With Bennett Freeman, senior vice president, sustainability research and policy, Calvert Investments; Stephen Heintz, president, Rockefeller Brothers Fund; John Willis, portfolio manager, Sustainable Insight Capital Management; Christianna Wood, president and chief executive officer, Gore Creek Capital, Ltd. Moderated by Michael B. Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice and Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School. Jerome Greene Hall, Room 103.

December 2
6:15 p.m. – 9:15 p.m.
Heyman Center for the Humanities, School of the Arts, Columbia University Libraries, the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies
Old Masters: Spiegelman, Feiffer, Melamid
Legendary artists and authors Jules Feiffer and Art Spiegelman and painter and performance artist Alex Melamid will discuss the history and achievements of aging artists, with a focus on artists whose best-known works were completed in the later years of their lives. This event is sold out, but you may be able to get in by arriving early. The event will be first come, first seated at event start time to accommodate attendees without an RSVP. Italian Academy.

December 3
11 a.m. – 12:50 p.m.
Earth Institute
Congress Today: The Role of Campaign Finance on Environmental Legislation
As senior staff members, Leon G. Billings and Thomas C. Jorling led the Senate environment subcommittee that developed major environmental legislation in the 1970s, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Superfund Act, a series of environmental laws that defined the direction and character of environmental policy in the U.S. and globally. Here Billings and Jorling discuss Congress today and why the federal government has not taken substantial action on environmental law for  several decades, with a look at the evolution of campaign finance laws and how campaign finance and fundraising impact policy and legislation. RSVP required. For further information, please contact Hayley Martinez: [email protected]. International Affairs Building, Room 407.

December 3
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Zuckerman Institute and Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Race Matters, but Not How You Think it Does: How Stereotypes Affect How We Live, Work, Play, and Pray with Dr. Valerie Purdie-Vaughns
W.E.B. Du Bois used the term “double consciousness” to describe how societal structures shaped the ways in which African Americans viewed themselves, others, and their relations with American institutions. This talk will use the tools of psychology and neurobiology to show how “double consciousness” is experienced by many groups in American society, with implications for health and cognitive performance. Discussion includes recent findings in brain science that can be used by individuals to reduce stress and improve performance, and that could help bridge racial and gender disparities in the population. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard.

December 8
6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Café Columbia
Breaking the Line: Black College Football and the Civil Rights Struggle
Come hear award-winning columnist, book author, and journalism professor Samuel Freedman discuss how student-athletes at historically black colleges and universities like Grambling and Florida A&M used the leverage of football to help crack segregation’s stranglehold – both on the gridiron and well beyond. Columbia Alumni Center.

Highlighted above are general interest campus or NYC events across a range of topics of possible interest to alumni, donors, and prospects.  This listing is highly selective by design – regrettably, much more is omitted than featured. For RSVP, ticket availability and other details, follow the links.

As always, I appreciate hearing from you about future events! Best, Jerry

Jerry’s Picks #8: Nov. 14 – 21

From visual art to equine therapy, fighting corruption to re-engineering healthcare, a Columbia week for every interest…

November 14 (busy Friday!)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Columbia Law School | Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity
Corruption in the 21st Century
This day-long conference brings together leaders on the front lines of the fight against corruption. Panels will address such emerging topics as how to enlist new technologies to enhance integrity and methods for understanding corruption in an increasingly globalized world. Includes former U.S. Attorneys Michael Garcia and Patrick Fitzgerald, who made the exposure and prosecution of public corruption their signature initiatives, as well as New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters, and officials from the FBI and the Department of Justice, among others. Jerome L. Greene Hall, Room 103.

2 p.m.
Engineering 150
Columbia’s Engineering Renaissance: Foundation for the Future
In this sesquicentennial celebration of the School’s past and future, faculty will address 15 topics in TED-style talks highlighting research “then” and “now.” For more program information, see the full story on the Engineering website. Roone Arledge Auditorium, Alfred Lerner Hall. A dessert reception will follow from 4-5 p.m. in the Lerner lobby. (Reminder)

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Riding My Way Back, A Story About a Veteran, a Horse, and Hope
Screening of a new documentary by Academy Award nominee Robin Fryday and Peter Rosenbaum chronicling one soldier’s journey back from the brink of suicide after multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Discussion of the film and equine therapy follows, with NYSPI experts Drs. Prudence Fisher, Yuval Neria and David Shaffer, as well as Aaron Heliker, Sgt. U.S. Air Force, Ret., Mindy Fisher, certified PATH therapeutic riding instructor, and Peter Rosenbaum, co-director. For more on the film, visit Riding My Way Back. Miller Theatre, no RSVP required.

November 16
3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
School of the Arts
Columbia Harlem Art Sunday
MFA visual artists open their studios to the public. The studios are in Prentis Hallat 632 West 125th between Broadway and Riverside Drive. The day also invites visitors to view the Romare Bearden exhibition at the Wallach Gallery, the Neiman Gallery, and Studio Museum of Harlem.

November 20
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Center for Jazz Studies
Acting Homer: A Staged Reading of the Odyssey
Part of this fall’s Romare Bearden-related events known as “Columbia Explores A Black Odyssey,” “Acting Homer” features prominent actors readings key passages from the Odyssey. With Devyn Tyler ’13CCTy JonesRichard Habersham, and Sean Patrick Thomas. Earl Hall Auditorium.

November 21
8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Columbia Business School | Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program and the Healthcare Industry Association (HCIA)
Columbia Business School 11th Annual Healthcare Conference: Using Data and Technology to Innovate, Value, and Reengineer Healthcare
This event attracts more than 500 professionals and students. More than 30 prominent speakers and panelists cover a broad array of subjects, including biopharmaceuticals, medical technologies, payers, providers, HCIT, venture capital/private equity, M&A/financing, and healthcare entrepreneurship. The conference offers networking opportunities throughout the day, including a lunchtime career fair with healthcare employers and a closing reception. New York Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway.

Highlighted above are general interest campus or NYC events across a range of topics of possible interest to alumni, donors, and prospects. This listing is highly selective by design – regrettably, much more is omitted than featured. For ticket availability and other details, follow the links.

As always, I appreciate hearing from you about future events! Best, Jerry