The Lion’s Share. A full plate as the fall semester culminates. Write your event stories here.

REMINDERS

November 29: What Would it Mean to Understand Climate Change?
December 1–2: Brexit Before and Beyond
December 2: Democracy and Education and Why is India the Fastest Growing Major Economy in the World?

PICKS

November 30
4:30 p.m.
Center for Gender and Sexuality Law
Panel Discussion: Current LGBTQI Rights Discourse in Eastern Europe and Africa
With the growing success of the LGBTQI rights movement in industrialized nations, the LGBTQI community remains one of the most vulnerable groups worldwide. Panelists from Armenia, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe will discuss perspectives and narratives around LGBTQI issues on a global scale. Jerome Greene Hall, Room 101. (Just Societies, Global)

6 p.m.
Data Science Institute | Data Science Institute Colloquium
Weapons of Math Destruction
Cathy O’Neil, author and former director of the Lede Program in Data Practices, defines “Weapons of Math Destruction” as a class of algorithms with the potential to destroy lives, increase inequality, and threaten democracy. Schapiro Hall, Davis Auditorium. (Data and Society)

6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
The Center for Science and Society
Art and the Brain
Nobel prize-winner Eric Kandel, director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science and co-director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, will discuss and sign copies of his latest book, Reductionism in Art and Brain Science. RSVP required here. 7 East 7th Street, Cooper Union, The Great Hall. (The Future of Neuroscience)

December 2

7 – 9 p.m.
Astronomy Department
Life in the Universe
Are we alone? How do we contact other conscious, technologically advanced civilizations? How do we listen for signs that they are contacting us? Allyson Sheffield (CUNY, LaGuardia College) explores these questions in her lecture, which includes a Q&A session, astrophotography slideshows, and an observatory tour, followed by stargazing with telescopes (weather permitting). Pupin Hall.

Dec 2 – 3
The Italian Academy
Nero and the Fall of Lehman Brothers
Join the world premiere of the latest opera by composer Jonathan Dawe, “one of our most important, yet little known, composers” (Seen and Heard International). Purchase tickets here.

9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
IRAAS | ILAS | French Department | Africana Studies Department at Barnard College
Digital Caribbean III
A forum on challenges and opportunities of media technologies reconfiguring the Caribbean’s social and geographic contours. Panel topics include: Digital Diasporic Religion, Mapping Caribbean Concepts, Tales from the Archive, Multimedia Melting Pots, Caribbean Praxis, and Framing Digital Art. RSVP here. Maison Française, Buell Hall, East Gallery. (Data and Society)

December 2
6 – 9 p.m.
Columbia Journalism School | Film Fridays
Jim: The James Foley Story
The final Film Friday screening of the semester. A documentary about American journalist James Foley who was kidnapped and executed by ISIS while reporting on the Syrian war. Followed by a Q&A with the director Brian Oakes, also a childhood friend of Foley’s. Pulitzer Hall, Lecture Hall, 3rd floor.

December 4
7 – 9 p.m.
Columbia Law School | Broadway Advocacy Coalition
The Invitation: The American Hangover
What’s going to happen with gun laws, immigration, gay marriage, education, crime, and safety? Panelists discuss these questions in a monthly series promoting civic education, community outreach, self-care, social equality, unity, and social change. Featuring Tony Award-winning actor Ben Vereen, Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori, Tony Award nominee Brandon Victor Dixon and Condola Rashad, among others. Register here. This event will be livestreamed here. International Affairs, Altschul Auditorium, Room 417. (Just Societies)

December 6
6 – 7 p.m.
Columbia Global Reports | The Committee on Global Thought (CGT)
#BringBackOurGirls
A discussion on Islamist militancy in Africa with Helon Habila, author of The Chibok Girls: The Boko Haram kidnappings and Islamist militancy in Nigeria; Brian Larkin, professor of anthropology at Barnard College and CGT member; Shobana Shankar, professor of history at Stony Brook University; Nicholas Lemann, dean emeritus of Columbia Journalism School and director of Columbia Global Reports. Register here. Columbia Journalism School, Pulitzer Hall, Room 607B. (Global)

December 8
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Mailman School | Dean’s Seminar Series on Chronic Disease
(Don’t) Take a Deep Breath: Air Pollution and Chronic Disease
A discussion with C. Arden Pope, Mary Lou Fulton Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University, and Patrick Kinney, director of the Program on Climate and Health at Mailman School of Public Health. For more information or to RSVP, contact Kim Milian at [email protected]. Allan Rosenfield Building, 8th Floor, Auditorium.

For RSVP, ticket availability, and other details, follow the links. We always appreciate hearing from you about future events.

Who says American politics is paranoid? Columbia historian Richard Hofstadter, about 50 years ago, prompted by the Goldwater candidacy! His centennial is marked tonight in a special program. Most Picks this week deal with issues of identity, opportunity, and the global economy.

Write your event stories here.

REMINDERS

November 29: What Would it Mean to Understand Climate Change?

SNEAK PEAK

December 13
6 – 8:30 p.m.
New York Genome Center
Are You Your Genome? Exploring Identity Through the Lens of DNA
Panel discussion and Q&A with Joseph Pickrell, core member and assistant investigator; Alondra Nelson, dean of social science and author of The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome; and Wendy Kramer, director and co-founder of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR). Moderated by Yaniv Erlich, core member and assistant investigator. Register here. 101 6th Avenue, New York Genome Center. (The Future of Neuroscience)

PICKS

November 21
6 – 8:30 p.m.
Rare Book and Manuscript Library | Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History
Hofstadter at 100
Panel discussion honoring the 100th anniversary of Richard Hofstadter’s birth with Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia; Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies at Harvard; Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia; and Adrienne Petty, associate professor at the City College of New York. To register e-mail Thai Jones at [email protected]. Journalism Building, Lecture Hall, 3rd floor.

November 30
6:15 p.m.
Columbia Journalism School | Heyman Center for the Humanities
Dan Hoyle’s The Real Americans
Award-winning playwright and performer Dan Hoyle spent 100 days traveling through small town America, meeting union coal miners, rural drug dealers, and anti-war Veterans, among others. Come hear about how Hoyle found himself in the center of our country’s growing economic inequality and polarized politics. Pulitzer Hall, Lecture Hall. (Just Societies)

December 1–2
Columbia European Institute | Heyman Center for the Humanities
Brexit Before and Beyond
This two-day event brings together journalists and scholars from European and American universities to discuss the underlying issues that precipitated the UK’s decision to separate from the EU as well as the ongoing fallout from the “Brexit” vote, especially for those of us working in global universities. Includes John Lanchester, journalist and novelist, Columbia faculty Susan Pedersen, Adam Tooze, Mark Mazower, and others. No registration required. Jerome Greene Annex and Heyman Center, 2nd floor, Common Room. (Global)

December 2
9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Center for American Studies
Democracy and Education
Are American schools educating citizens? How are civic engagement programs reshaping liberal arts education? What are the public responsibilities of colleges and universities?
On the centennial of John Dewey’s classic Democracy and Education, the conference will consider his legacy for twenty-first century civic education. Register here. Faculty House. (Just Societies)

4:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.
SIPA | Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies | Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business
Why is India the Fastest Growing Major Economy in the World?
The second Kotak Family Distinguished Lecture on India will be presented by Dale Jorgensen, Samuel W. Morris University Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Reception at 4 p.m. and lecture at 4:30 p.m. RSVP required here. International Affairs Building. (Global)

December 3
12:30 p.m.
School of the Arts
Young Writers Present
Readings from the students of Columbia Artists/Teachers (CA/T), Double Discovery Center, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, High School of Fashion Industries, Brooklyn High School of the Arts, Bronx Studio School, and Global Tech Prep. Collaborating with local schools and various community organizations in New York, C/AT establishes no-cost arts education programs designed specifically to the needs and goals of the institutions. Free and open to the public. Dodge Hall, Room 501.

For RSVP, ticket availability, and other details, follow the links. We always appreciate hearing from you about future events!

Populism, climate change, business leadership, race, women’s rights, the future of capitalism, and working class discontents: election issues remain Columbia issues. Write your event stories here and view on the Jerry’s Picks Blog.

REMINDERS
November 17: Negroland: A Memoir

PICKS

November 14
4 –  5:30 p.m.
Global Mental Health Program
Mental Health Impacts of Global Climate Change: Beyond a Disaster Framework
A University Seminar with psychologist Thomas Doherty ’87CC. Doherty s facilitates trainings on conservation psychology in the US and abroad. His ecopsychology work has been profiled in the New York Times. New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Room 6601. (Global, Climate Change)

November 14 – 28
The University Seminars and Columbia University Press
Fancy Sticks: The Action Art of Toni Morrison, Romare Bearden, and Jazz
Leonard Hastings Schoff Memorial Lecture to be given by Robert G. O’Meally, director of the Center for Jazz Studies. Coming lectures include “If the White Man Is Laughing at Me, at Least He’s Not Shooting at Me: Ralph Ellison and Jean-Michel Basquiat on Louis Armstrong’s Intercontinental Comedy”; The Open Corner—Space Is the Place: Romare Bearden, Toni Morrison, Duke Ellington”; and “Questions of Translation: Paris Blue—from Novel and Movie to Collage.” All lectures are held in Faculty House, 64 Morningside Drive, and followed by receptions.

November 15
4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Center for Gender and Sexuality Law | Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality
The Uncondemned: Film Screening and Panel Discussion
The Uncondemned tells the story of a group of young international lawyers and activists who fought to make rape a crime of war, and the Rwandan women who came forward to testify and win justice where there had been none. Followed by a discussion with the lawyers who worked on the cases discussed in the film. Includes Sara Darehshori, senior counsel in the US program at Human Rights Watch, and Consolee Nishimwe, author, journalist, and survivor of the Rwandan genocide. Moderated by Katherine Franke, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law. Jerome Greene Hall, Room 104. (Global, Just Societies)

November 18
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
The Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia University
Restoring Trust: New Realities and New Possibilities for Business Leadership
A conference to exchange ideas about how to restore confidence in the fairness, value, and productivity of our economic system, both in the US and abroad. Speakers include Roy Vagelos ’54PS ’83PS, chairman of the board, Regeneron, and former chairman and CEO of Merck & Co. Inc.; Donnel Baird ’13BUS, founder and CEO of Blocpower; Sunil Gulati ’86GSAS, president of US Soccer; and David Stern ’66LAW, former commissioner of the NBA. Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.

November 18
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
The Center on Capitalism and Society | Roosevelt Institute | Common Good
14th Annual Conference: Agency, Prospering, Progress, and the Working Class
The conference will discuss the frustration and disaffection voiced by lower middle class workers and blue collar workers and determine what policies would be helpful. Includes J.D. Vance, (author of Hillbilly Elegy), Matthew Winkler (Bloomberg News), W. Bowman Cutter (Roosevelt Institute), Philip K. Howard (Common Good), David Weil (US Department of Labor), Saskia Sassen (Committee on Global Thought), Richard Sennett (London School of Economics), and Simon Head (New York Review of Books). International Affairs Building, Room 1501. (Just Societies)

November 18
6 p.m.
Heyman Center for the Humanities | European Institute | East Central European Center | Maison Française
What is Populism?
Populists are on the rise across the globe, but what exactly is populism? Does populism bring government closer to the people or is it a threat to democracy? Who are “the people” anyway and who can speak in their name? Includes Nadia Urbinati, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory and Hellenic Studies, and Turkuler Isiksel, assistant professor of political science. Heyman Center, Common Room, 2nd floor. (Global, Just Societies)

November 29
3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Heyman Center for the Humanities
What Would it Mean to Understand Climate Change?
What kind of understanding is needed for climate change? Does “understanding” mean the same thing to concerned citizens as it does to scientists, humanities scholars, or policymakers? Isaac Held, senior research scientist at Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAA; Philip Kitcher, John Dewey Professor of Philosophy; and Jonathan Weiner, Maxwell M. Geffen Professor of Medical and Scientific Journalism will be in discussion. Heyman Center, Common Room, 2nd floor.  (Climate Response)

For RSVP, ticket availability, and other details, follow the links. We always appreciate hearing from you about future events!

Who are we? Questions and answers from the arts and architecture, journalism, and all that jazz!  

Write your event stories here.

REMINDERS

November 10: Precision Medicine: Ethics, Politics, and Culture  and Can Children Save the Lives of Their Parents in the Throes of Stroke?

PICKS

November 9
4 – 5:30 p.m.
Columbia University Global Mental Health Program
Global Mental Health Award for Innovation in the Arts
A discussion with Javier Téllez, acclaimed filmmaker and recipient of the 2016 Global Mental Health Award for Innovation in the Arts. Téllez’s films and installations question definitions of normality and pathology, diminishing stereotypes associated with mental illness. Moderated by John Hanhardt, consulting senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Register here. Pardes Building, Hellman Auditorium. (Global)

7 p.m.
Chris Washburne and SYOTOS
Celebrating 24-years together, Chris Washburne, director of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program, and the SYOTOS band will perform acid-latin mambo jazz. Includes John Walsh (trumpet), Ole Mathisen (tenor saxophone), Hector Martignon (piano), Leo Traversa (bass), and Vince Cherico (drums). Purchase tickets here. Smoke Jazz and Supper Club, 2751 Broadway.

November 10
4:30 p.m.
CUMC
You Are Your Environment: How Architecture Shapes Us
Amale Andraos, dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, will present the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities. Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center, Clyde and Helen Wu Auditorium.

6 p.m.
Barnard | Urban Studies Film Series
Changing Face of Harlem
How does Harlem, a creative, vibrant neighborhood preserve its rich cultural history while discovering the “good” in change? Changing Face of Harlem is a documentary that examines and challenges the benefits of the “revitalization” of a community. Q&A with Shawn Batey, director and producer. Diana Center, Lower Level, Room 104. (Just Societies)

November 12
8 p.m.
Miller Theatre
Alicia Olatuja Sextet
Called “one of the most thrilling vocalists of today” (JazzTimes), Alicia Olatuja will make her Miller debut. Olatuja sang at Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration. Purchase tickets here. Miller Theatre.

November 13
12 – 5 p.m.
Wallach Art Gallery
Family Day: Columbia Harlem Art Sunday
A guided tour of the exhibition The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa. Includes opportunities to make photo-portraits and participate in collage workshops with African fabrics led by artists Miguel Luciano and Ti Jay. Free and open to all. RSVP here. Schermerhorn Hall, 8th floor.

November 17
1 p.m.
School of the Arts
Complex Issues | Negroland: A Memoir
Margo Jefferson, Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic, and Trey Ellis, Emmy-nominated screenwriter will discuss Negroland, a work on privilege, discrimination, and the fallacy of post-racial America. The Complex Issues series explores difference, visibility, and representation through recent work by Columbia faculty. Register here. Dodge Hall, Room 501. (Just Societies)

For RSVP, ticket availability, and other details, follow the links. We always appreciate hearing from you about future events!

Photos, drama, film, teaching, and a lecture with Dr. Williams, the new co-director of the Wellness Center supported by the Zuckerman Institute. The November 10 precision medicine event brings together genomics, data, and just societies.  From indigenous knowledge to biopolitics, hip hop stroke to human tribes, focus on the Columbia Now!

Write your event stories here.

REMINDERS

November 1: Thought Leader Series: Jelani Cobb on Race and the Presidency
November 2: Narrative Medicine Rounds: John Donvan and Caren Zucker and Domestic Policy in the 2016

PICKS

November 2
7 p.m.
Wallach Art Gallery
Focus On Urban Now
A conversation with photographer Sammy Baloji and anthropologist Filip de Boeck. Moderated by Giulia Paoletti, co-curator of The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa. Followed by a screening of Pungulume and The Tower: A Concrete Utopia. The gallery will be open for viewing at 5 p.m. and at the conclusion of the event. Reception to follow. Schermerhorn Hall, Room 612. (Global)

November 3–4
ILAS | CSER | Teachers College
Contributions to Indigenous Knowledge Education: Responding to New York Migration in NYC Schools
A discussion on the historical, political, and economic factors that compel migrants to move to the United States and their transnational ties between the two worlds. Speakers will examine linguistic and cultural diversity in education. Registration required here. Teachers College, 525 West 125th Street. (Just Societies)

November 3
1 p.m.
School of the Arts
Complex Issues: Sweat
A discussion of Sweat, a play by Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter. With David Henry Hwang, SoA faculty playwright. The Complex Issues series explores difference, visibility, and representation through recent work by Columbia faculty. Register here. Dodge Hall, Room 501. (Just Societies)

November 4
6 – 8 p.m.
Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity
Perspectives on Peace 2016: Award-winning Author and Journalist Sebastian Junger
In Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, Sebastian Junger, author and award-winning journalist, explores the human drive to belong to groups defined by purpose. Junger will be joined in conversation by Peter Coleman, director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, and Beth Fisher-Yoshida, director of the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program. RSVP here. Teachers College, Cowin Auditorium.
                   
November 10
5 – 7 p.m.
Center for the Study of Social Difference
Precision Medicine: Ethics, Politics, and Culture
Ruha Benjamin (African American studies, Princeton University) will give a lecture entitled Can the Subaltern Genome Code? Reimagining Innovation and Equity in the Era of Precision Medicine. Benjamin examines precision medicine within the broader big data phenomenon and examines how power and inequality shape what we know about human difference. Followed by a talkback and reception. Schermerhorn Extension, Room 754. (Precision Medicine, Data and Society, Just Societies)

6:30 – 8 p.m.
Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute
Can Children Save the Lives of Their Parents in the Throes of Stroke?
For the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Brain Insight Lecture Series, Olajide Williams, director of Acute Stroke Services at New York Presbyterian’s Comprehensive Stroke Center and new co-director of the Wellness Center in Manhattanville, will discuss an intervention called “Hip Hop Stroke” that targets inner city children as mediators in the chain of stroke recovery. Columbia Journalism School, Lecture Hall, 3rd floor. (Neuroscience)

ONGOING

September 7 – December 10: The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa (Wallach Gallery)

For RSVP, ticket availability, and other details, follow the links. We always appreciate hearing from you about future events!