Making our cities more resilient, our elections more (lower-case) democratic, our music more global, our decisions more informed—Columbians don’t quit. Check out these Picks and take a break at one of the free Pop-Up Concerts at Miller Theatre, where you can sit on stage and enjoy a free drink!

March 28
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Data Science Institute
Data Science Day
Join President Bollinger; Jeannette M. Wing, Avanessians Director of the Data Science Institute; Diane Greene, Google Cloud CEO; and others for a day-long celebration of data science at Columbia. Topics include “Machine Learning: The Good, The Bad, and The Law.” Lerner Hall, Roone Arledge Auditorium. RSVP and purchase tickets here. (Data and Society)

REMINDER

March 27: Book Talk and Discussion: Taming the Sun by Dr. Varun Sivaram
March 29: American Voter Project: Hacking Digital Elections
March 29: Stalinist Terror and Today’s Russia: Masha Gessen & photographer Misha Friedman in conversation with Nicholas Lemann
April 5 – 6: StartupColumbia Festival

PICKS

March 27
6 p.m.
GSAPP | Earth Institute’s Climate Adaptation Initiative
Toward Resilient Cities and Landscapes
A launch event for GSAPP’s Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, includes a panel discussion with Sam Carter, director of the Resilience Accelerator at 100 Resilient Cities; Radley Horton, Lamont researcher and co-chair of the Climate Adaptation Initiative; Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center; Kate Orff, director of the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes; and others. Faculty House, 2nd floor. (Climate Response)

6:15 – 9 p.m.
The Earth Institute’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness
Disaster Philanthropy: Challenges and Solutions in Rebuilding After Disasters
A screening of Disaster Capitalism followed by a panel discussion about disaster response, the role of relief agencies, and challenges facing the international aid industry. Includes Thor Neureiter, director of Disaster Capitalism; Jeff Schlegelmilch, deputy director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP); and others. Moderated by Jonathan Sury, project director of communications and field operations at NCDP. Pulitzer Hall, Jamail Lecture Hall, Room 300. (Just Societies)

March 28
4 – 6 p.m.
Mailman
Demographic Problems and Opportunities in Environmental Health
For the 26th Granville H. Sewell Distinguished Lecture in Environmental Health Sciences, Joel E. Cohen, head of the laboratory of populations, will discuss seven major demographic trends and give examples of their interactions with environmental health, and more broadly with the environment, economics, and culture. Allan Rosenfield Building, Auditorium, 8th floor. (Global Solutions)

March 29
4 – 8 p.m.
Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity Earth Institute
Sustaining Peace Forum 2018
The United Nations has designated 2018 as the Year of Sustaining Peace. This year’s forum will explore the global implications and meanings of such a designation. Kicking off with a writing workshop focused on women, peace and security, led by Aja Monet, poet and activist. Followed by two consecutive panels and then a networking reception. RSVP and program details here. SIPA, Kellogg Center, 15th floor. (Global Solutions)

March 30
7 – 10 p.m.
Center for Jazz Studies
Afro-Travel: The Music of Yosvany Terry Quintet
A free concert featuring Yosvany Terry, an internationally acclaimed composer, saxophonist, percussionist, bandleader, educator and cultural bearer of the Afro-Cuban tradition. RSVP required by email at [email protected]. Miller Theatre. (Arts and Ideas)

April 2
6 – 7 p.m.
Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management | MS in Sustainability Science | MS in Sustainability Management | MPA in Environmental Science and Policy
Speaking Science to Power: The Importance of Facts in Decision-Making
How is science integrated into the decision-making processes? How are science and data used most effectively? A panel discussion featuring Art Lerner-Lam, deputy director of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Richard Moss, former chairman of the Federal Advisory Committee for the National Climate Assessment; and moderated by Steve Cohen, executive director of the Earth institute. Low Library, Rotunda. (Climate Response, Data and Society)

April 3
6:30 p.m.
School of the Arts | Creative Writing Program | International Students | Scholars Office at Columbia
The Global Poets Series with M. NourbeSe Philip and Tracy K. Smith
Tobago-born Canadian poet M. NourbeSe Philip reads with US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith ’97SOA. RSVP here. Lenfest Center for the Arts, Katharina Otto-Bernstein Screening Room. (Arts and Ideas)

April 5
5 – 7 p.m.
The Eric H. Holder Initiative
American Voter Project: One Person, One Vote in the US Today
A panel discussion on key issues that influence American voting today. Featuring Eric H. Holder Jr. ’73CC ’76LAW, 82nd Attorney General of the United States; Heather Gerken, dean and the Sol and Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale Law School; and Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent of The New York Times. Student reception from 5 –6 p.m., followed by the panel discussion at 6 p.m. Low Library, Rotunda. (Just Societies)

April 6
1 – 5:30 p.m.
Graduate School of Journalism | The George T. Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism
Magazines and Politics, 2018
A half-day conference on Russia, race, verticals, #MeToo, democracy, and more. Speakers include Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker; Adrian Chen, The New Yorker; Liza Featherstone, The Nation; Molly Fischer, New York Magazine/The Cut; and others. Moderated by Keith Gessen, director of the George T. Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism. Jamail Lecture Hall, Pulitzer Hall, 3rd floor. RSVP required here. (Just Societies)

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

What’s new in innovation? From entrepreneurship to neuroscience, the musical heritage of Japan to the threatened natural heritage of Bears Ears National Monument, labor activism to nation-building, Columbians start up and take notice!

April 5 – 6, 2018
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Columbia Entrepreneurship
StartupColumbia Festival
Join Columbia’s Fifth Annual StartupColumbia Festival, a two-day celebration of Columbia’s culture of entrepreneurship and innovation. Day one is the Columbia Venture Competition; more than 200 Columbia startups compete for $200,000 in cash. Winners are announced on day two, the StartupColumbia Conference, with discussions on Blockchain, the NewSpace startups, data ethics, and women inventors. RSVP and purchase tickets here. Miller Theatre. (Data and Society)

REMINDERS

March 28: Data Science Day
March 29: American Voter Project: Hacking Digital Elections
March 29: Stalinist Terror and Today’s Russia: Masha Gessen and Photographer Misha Friedman in conversation with Nicholas Lemann

PICKS

March 23
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
School of the Arts, Wallach Art Gallery
Opening Reception: Visual Arts First Year MFA Exhibition 2018
Join the opening of the Visual Arts First Year MFA Exhibition 2018, curated by Natalie Bell. The exhibit is from March 24 to April 8, 2018. Over 20 first-year Columbia MFA students will be featured. Wallach Art Gallery, Lenfest Center for the Arts. (Arts and Ideas)

March 26
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Center for the Study of Social Difference, Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, Heyman Center for the Humanities, Society of Fellows, Barnard College
We Are All Fast Food Workers Now: The Global Uprising Against Poverty Wages
Just a day after the anniversary of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a roundtable discussion on labor, activism, and gender with Author Annelise Orleck, Barnard Professor of History Premilla Nadesen, and other activists, moderated by Alice Kessler-Harris. 523 Butler Library. (Just Societies)

March 27
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Maison Française, Department of Sociology, Department of Political Science, Committee on Global Thought, et al.
Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart
Why do some diverse countries have national unity while others are destabilized by inequality between ethnic groups or even separatism and ethnic war? From early nineteenth-century Europe, Asia, and Africa, from the turn of the twenty-first century to today, Andreas Wimmer delves into the forces that encourage political alliances and build national unity across ethnic divides in his new book, Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart. Maison Française East Gallery, Buell Hall. RSVP here. (Global Solutions)

March 27
9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Italian Academy
Threatened Heritage: Bears Ears, Chaco, and Beyond
Trump’s recent decision to reduce Bears Ears—and continuing threats to Chaco Culture National Historical Park—endangers indigenous heritage and history in the United States. This symposium is intended to protest the scale of the potential for damage to these natural landmarks. The Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Avenue. RSVP here. (Just Societies)

March 29
4:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Mailman
Unrest Film Screening
Jennifer Brea’s Sundance award-winning documentary, Unrest, is a personal journey from patient to advocate to storyteller. Jennifer is twenty-eight years-old, working on her PhD at Harvard, and months away from marrying the love of her life when a mysterious fever leaves her bedridden. When doctors tell her it’s “all in her head,” she picks up her camera as an act of defiance and brings us into a hidden world of millions that medicine abandoned. Allan Rosenfield Building, 8th Floor Auditorium. RSVP here. (Arts and Ideas)

March 31
4:00 p.m.
Miller Theatre
Glories of the Japanese Music Heritage Annual Concert
The 13th Annual Concert of Japanese Heritage Instrumental Music will mark the 50th anniversary of Columbia sponsoring Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives. Renowned featured performers include Mayumi Miyata (shō), Hitomi Nakamura (hichiriki), Takeshi Sasamoto (ryūteki), Yumi Kurosawa (bass koto), and Hidejiro Honjoh (shamisen). The Columbia University Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble will play the classical work Etenraku. Miller Theatre. RSVP here. (Arts and Ideas)

April 10
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Zuckerman Institute
Finding the right medicine one patient at a time
One of the most promising avenues for identifying the underlying causes of disease in individual patients lies in the field of genetics and precision medicine. In this lecture, Dr. David Goldstein will share his progress and recent successes in developing targeted treatments that have improved the lives of patients with devastating diseases. Graduate School of Journalism. Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor. RSVP here. (Precision Medicine, Future of Neuroscience)

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

From the census to the senses, spanning boardrooms and comedy clubs, check out this week’s Picks—and remember to get your Data Science Day ticket.

March 28, 2018
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Data Science Institute
Data Science Day
Join President Bollinger; Jeannette M. Wing, Avanessians Director of the Data Science Institute; Diane Greene, Google Cloud CEO; and others for a day-long celebration of data science at Columbia. Topics include “Machine Learning: The Good, The Bad, and The Law.” Lerner Hall, Roone Arledge Auditorium. RSVP and purchase tickets here. (Data and Society)

REMINDERS

March 15: We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe
March 19: Where Next on Climate? Responses from America’s Corporate Board Rooms
March 22: American Voter Project: Census 2020 and Redistricting

PICKS

March 14
6:30 – 8 p.m.
Zuckerman Institute
The Science of Vision: Is Perception Really Reality?
How do our memory and expectations influence our visual perception? Tiago Siebert Altavini, a neuroscientist working in the Laboratory of Neurobiology at The Rockefeller University, will discuss as part of a Know Science Public Talk. RSVP here. Education Lab, Jerome L. Greene Science Center. (The Future of Neuroscience)

March 19
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Center on Global Energy Policy
Where Next on Climate? Responses from America’s Corporate Board Rooms
Is America’s corporate sector taking steps to reduce climate change? Can corporate climate actions support rather than detract from market growth? What policies are favored? Explore these questions with Geoffrey Heal, Columbia Business School; Nancy Meyer, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions; and John MacWilliams, Center on Global Energy Policy. Pulitzer Hall, World Room. (Climate Response)     

March 20
6 – 8:30 p.m.
Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion
Seriously Funny: A Roundtable on Women, Comedy, and Politics
Featuring Frances Negrón-Muntaner, professor of English and Comparative Literature, filmmaker, and author of Not Funny: Latinos in Comedy; Kate Clinton, humor activist and author of I Told You So; Negin Farsad, author of How to Make White People Laugh and director and producer of The Muslims are Coming; Dulce Sloan, one of TimeOut LA‘s “Top Comics to Watch for 2017” and The Daily Show correspondent. RSVP here. Low Library. (Just Societies)

March 21
4 – 5:15 p.m.
Mailman
Technology and Public Health: Grand Rounds on the Future of Public Health
A Dean’s Grand Rounds with Mary C. Boyce, Dean of the School of Engineering. During the Grand Rounds series, panels of faculty experts explore disruptive thinking—how innovatively framing a research question might offer new public health insights and approaches. Join the conversation by using #DisruptiveThinking on Twitter. Allan Rosenfield Building, 8th Floor, Auditorium.  

March 21
6 – 8 p.m.
Mailman, Incarceration and Public Health Action Network
Rikers: Innocence Lost
Join the Incarceration and Public Health Action Network (IPHAN) for a dinner, film screening of Rikers: Innocence Lost, and discussion on public health and incarceration in NYC. Hear from those with lived experience on Rikers and from leaders in mass incarceration reform. Panelists include the filmmaker and those interviewed in the film. RSVP here. Bard Hall, 50 Haven Avenue. (Just Societies)

March 27
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Center on Global Energy Policy
Book Talk and Discussion: Taming the Sun by Dr. Varun Sivaram
Solar energy has become the cheapest, fastest-growing power source on earth. Dr. Varun Sivaram, Philip D. Reed Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations and CGEP Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, discusses this and more in his new book Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Save the Planet. Book signing to follow. View livestream here. RSVP here. Faculty House, Garden Room 2. (Climate Response)

March 29
5 – 7 p.m.
The Eric H. Holder Institute for Civil and Political Rights
American Voter Project: Hacking Digital Elections
Panelists include Malek Ben Salem ’11SEAS, Cybersecurity Policy Fellow at New America
Matt Rhoades, Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
RSVP here. Low Library, Rotunda. (Data and Society, Just Societies)

March 29
6 –7:30 p.m.
Columbia Global Reports
Stalinist Terror and Today’s Russia: Masha Gessen & photographer Misha Friedman in conversation with Nicholas Lemann
2017 National Book Award winner Masha Gessen and renowned photographer Misha Friedman join Nicholas Lemann, dean emeritus of the Journalism School and director of Columbia Global Reports, for a discussion of the new book Never Remember: Searching for Stalin’s Gulags in Putin’s Russia. Journalism School, Jamail Lecture Hall, Room 301. (Global Solutions)

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

From film noir to water rights, the Education Center in Manhattanville to droughts in California, more Picks to make brains more aware! 

March 9
12 – 1:30 p.m.
Data Science Institute  
Data for Good: Vulnerabilities in a Sociotechnical Society
A conversation with Danah Boyd, principal researcher at Microsoft Research and the founder of the Data & Society research institute. Boyd will discuss cultural challenges presented by big data and machine learning. RSVP required here. Register for the webinar here. Read related Q&A article on Data for Good with Jeannette M. Wing. Schapiro CEPSR, Room 750, Costa Engineering Commons. (Data and Society)

REMINDERS

March 7: Forced Migration and Justice
March 8: How to Listen
March 10: Saturday Science: Your Changing Brain
March 13: Engineering Human Tissues

PICKS

March 6
6:30 – 8 p.m.
SIPA
Editor’s Night at Claudia Dreifus’ Class: Covering Global Science for the International Media
Top journalists and editors discuss their experiences covering health, science, and the environment. Panelist include Yaffa Fredrick, opinion editor at CNN; Susan Matthews, science editor at Slate; Kate Phillips, senior science editor at The New York Times; Thomas Lin, editor in chief and founder of Quanta Magazine; and others. Moderated by Claudia Dreifus, adjunct professor of International and Public Affairs. Discussion followed by a Q&A. To RSVP, please e-mail professor Dreifus at [email protected]. Fairchild Life Sciences Building, Room 601. (Arts and Ideas)

March 12
3:30 – 6 p.m.
Zuckerman Institute
Brain Awareness Week at BioBase Harlem
Students, families, and community groups are invited to explore the workings of the brain through hands-on science. Explore the five senses and discover how other animals perceive their environment. Children with parents are welcome. RSVP here. Jerome L. Greene Science Center, Education Lab. (The Future of Neuroscience)

March 23
8 – 11:30 a.m.
Columbia Water Center
America’s Water  – The Changing Landscape of Risk, Competing Demands, and Climate
A discussion with the lead researchers from CWC’s signature initiative, The America’s Water, which takes a comprehensive look at the past, present, and future of water. Introduction by Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center. RSVP here. Schapiro CEPSR, Davis Auditorium, Room 412, 4th Floor. (Climate Response, Data and Society)

8:30 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Columbia Law Review | Center for Constitutional Governance | The Knight First Amendment Institute
A First Amendment for All? Free Expression in an Age of Inequality
This symposium explores questions about the First Amendment’s meaning and function in areas such as Internet law, media law, labor law, anti-discrimination law, campaign finance law, and commercial speech. Panelist include Tim Wu, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law; Jameel Jaffer, executive director of The Knight Institute; Olatunde Johnson, vice dean and Jerome B. Sherman Professor of Law; among others. RSVP here. Jerome Greene Hall, Room 101. (Just Societies)

March 24
5 p.m.
Lenfest Center for the Arts
Paul Schrader in Conversation with Annette Insdorf
In 1972, the young screenwriter and soon-to-be-director Paul Schrader published “Notes on Film Noir” in Film Comment magazine. Schrader’s piece helped establish noir on the agenda of American film scholarship and criticism. In conversation with Film and Media Studies professor Annette Insdorf, Schrader will consider noir’s relevance to the New Hollywood of the 1970s and its continued legacy into the present. Lenfest Center for the Arts, The Lantern. (Arts and Ideas)

March 27
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Maison Française
Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart
Why is national integration achieved in some diverse countries, while others are destabilized by political inequality between ethnic groups, contentious politics, or even separatism and ethnic war? Andreas Wimmer, Lieber Professor of Sociology and Political Philosophy, will discuss his book Waves of War and Ethnic Boundary Making. Wimmer will be joined in conversation by other speakers, including Jack Snyder, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations. East Gallery, Buell Hall. (Just Societies)

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