April is the fullest month….Check all calendars, and alert your volunteers, prospects, donors, and friends! Here are 10 brutally selective picks for the next few weeks.
April 10
12 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Conference: Housing the Majority
This symposium will explore the meaning of slums, the political agency of the constituents in informal housing arrangements, the future of urban life, and new processes of design in housing solutions for the majority. Participants include Amale Andraos, dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; Tatiana Bilbao, architect; Ramin Bahrani, filmmaker and SoA professor; Mamadou Diouf, Leitner Professor of African Studies; Safwan Masri, EVP for Global Centers and Global Development; University Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak; and keynote speaker David Sims, political economist and author of Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control. Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium.
April 13
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Columbia University Medical Center
Transforming the Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental Illness
Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, will share his knowledge of mental disorders and treatment. Insel is one of the leaders of the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) effort, a presidential initiative focused on developing new tools for understanding the brain. Reception to follow. CUMC Alumni Auditorium, 650 West 168th Street, 1st Floor.
April 14
6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Columbia University Libraries
From Single Vision to Four-Fold Vision: The Ever-Unfolding Merton
A lecture by Michael Higgins, vice president for mission and Catholic identity, Sacred Heart University. Followed by a viewing of the exhibition, Seasons of Celebration, on the life and legacy of the highly influential essayist, poet, and Trappist monk Thomas Merton ’38CC, ’39GSAS drawn from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library’s Thomas Merton holdings. Butler Library, Room 523.
6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Barnard College
Beauty and Aging
In magazines, newspapers, and throughout social media, there is seemingly endless discussion about women’s response to aging. Often this response is categorized as a battle over cosmetics, diets, and surgery, but how do ideas of beauty and aging intersect and coexist? This discussion features Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan; Dayle Haddon, former supermodel and founder and CEO of WomenOne; Dr. Rhoda Narins, cosmetic dermatologist and clinical professor at NYU Langone Medical Center; and Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth. Moderated by Debora Spar, president of Barnard College. Barnard Hall, Diana Center, Oval Auditorium.
April 15
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Columbia University Medical Center
Bringing a Public Health Lens to Health Care Delivery
Mary Bassett, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and associate professor of clinical epidemiology, will speak as part of the Department of Medicine Special Grand Rounds Lecture series. RSVP here. CUMC Alumni Auditorium, 650 West 168th Street, 1st Floor.
April 20
6:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The Heyman Center
The Writing Lives Series Artist at the Center: Maxine Hong Kingston
Author Maxine Hong Kingston, best known for The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood, will read from her work and discuss her writing. Kingston has received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and the National Humanities Medal awarded by President Bill Clinton. Dorothy Ko, professor of history at Barnard College, and Marie Myung-Ok Lee, founder of the Asian American Writers Workshop, will serve as discussants. Pulitzer Hall, Room 301.
April 21
2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Center on Global Economic Governance
Book Talk: Whither the World: The Political Economy of the Future
Grzegorz W. Kolodko, professor of economics at Kozminski University in Warsaw and former
Polish deputy prime minister, will discuss his new book, Whither the World: The Political Economy of the Future, on mankind’s long-term future and the global economy. Kolodko will be in discussion with Edmund S. Phelps, director of Center on Capitalism and Society and a 2006 Nobel Prize winner in economics; Joseph E. Stiglitz, professor and author; and Jan Svejnar, director of the Center on Global Economic Governance. Register here. International Affairs Building, Room 1512.
April 22
11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Engineering
The Engineering in Medicine
This symposium will address four key areas of discovery and innovation where engineering meets medicine: data and health; imaging and health; regenerative medicine; and neuroengineering. Discussants include: Mary C. Boyce, dean of engineering; Jingyue Ju, Samuel Ruben-Peter G. Viele Professor of Engineering; Andrew Laine, Percy K. and Vida L. W. Hudson Professor of Biomedical Engineering and professor of radiology; and Matthew Bacchetta, director of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation program. Register here. Low Memorial Library, Rotunda.
April 24
8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Columbia Entrepreneurship
#StartupColumbia Festival
A two-day entrepreneurship conference that brings together the Columbia, Barnard, and Manhattan entrepreneurial community in celebration of innovation, entrepreneurship, and the creation of new ventures. This year’s theme is “New York Innovation,” highlighting the industries that New York City is famous for in finance, advertising, media, real estate, and fashion. Keynote by Gotham Gal Ventures Founder Joanne Wilson. Visit here for a list of speakers. Purchase tickets here. Barnard Hall, Diana Center, Oval Auditorium.
Picks are campus or NYC events of high general interest to alumni, donors, and prospects. By design, regrettably, much more is omitted than featured. For RSVP, ticket availability, and other details, follow the links. I always appreciate hearing from you about future events!