December 2017
Dan Jurafsky – “Does This Vehicle Belong to You?” Processing the Language of Policing for Improving Police-Community Relations
This talk will also describe the differences we find in the language directed toward black versus white community
members, and offer suggestions for how these findings can be used to help improve the fraught relations between police officers and the communities they serve.
What is Life: Is Life Inevitable?
The question “What is life?” takes just three words. But it is one of the hardest questions in science, attracting researchers from a huge range of disciplines, from molecular biology to astronomy to philosophy. This fall, science writer Carl Zimmer delves into this question by talking to eight experts over four nights to understand what the newest research tells us about life.
Find out more »The Success of Failure: Perspectives from the Arts, Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Law
We are all familiar with the platitudes teaching us the value of failure on the path to success, constrained by a view of failure as a means to an end, a necessary obstacle to be overcome. What about the intrinsic value of failure? Failure that contains valuable data, not just an error message? Failure that is a critical part of the process? Can there be such a thing as positive failure? Can failure make progress? Can we use failure to improve creativity, education, or behavior? How do we research and recognize failure? This two-day conference will investigate these and other perspectives on failure across disciplines, searching for commonalities and differences.
Find out more »Megan Todd – The Biology of Disadvantage: The Immune System and Social Inequality
Megan Todd, postdoctoral scholar at the Columbia Aging Center, discusses The Biology of Disadvantage: The Immune System and Social Inequality.
Find out more »Megan Coyer – James Hogg (1770-1835) and Illness Narratives in a Scottish Context
This lecture series will explore the enigma of how what we write relates back to the experience of bodies, healthy and unwell. Megan Coyer of the University of Glasgow discusses the interdisciplinary nature of narration and medicine, specifically surrounding James Hogg (1770-1835).
Find out more »Marcella Walker – Parathyroid Hormone: A Novel, Modifiable Risk Factor for Age-Related Cognitive Decline?
Marcella Walker, MD -- a Columbia Aging Center Faculty Research Fellow -- will present findings in her seminar "Parathyroid Hormone – A Novel, Modifiable Risk Factor for Age-Related Cognitive Decline?"
Find out more »Pablo Alvarez – The Art and Science of Healing: A Curator’s Dream
Last February the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and the University of Michigan Library hosted a major exhibition, “The Art and Science of Healing: From Antiquity to the Renaissance.” The display explored various themes such as the role of religion and magic in healing the soul and body, the influence of Greco-Roman methods of diagnosis and treatment in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the multilingual transmission of medical knowledge in both manuscript and printed form. This talk will be a behind-the-scenes look at the different stages of a multidisciplinary adventure that culminated with the publication of an exhibit catalog.
Find out more »CANCELLED: Lena Struwe – The Love and Hate of Dandelions and Their Symbolism in Today’s Society
This event has been cancelled.
Find out more »Ruth Ottman – Genetics of the Epilepsies: Developments and Dilemmas
This presentation will describe findings from research on these issues in an important group of stakeholders: members of families containing multiple individuals with epilepsy.
Find out more »What is Life: What Did the First Life Look Like?
The question “What is life?” takes just three words. But it is one of the hardest questions in science, attracting researchers from a huge range of disciplines, from molecular biology to astronomy to philosophy. This fall, science writer Carl Zimmer delves into this question by talking to eight experts over four nights to understand what the newest research tells us about life.
Find out more »