What does it mean to be a woman then and now, at two turns of the century? What does it mean to be a feminist, a scholar, a brown, thick-accented woman in American academia? Escaja’s lecture invites you to reflect on the elusive concept of otherness, from fin-de-siecle decadence to technological fallacies of liberation in […]
C. William Kilpatrick, “The Mystery of White-nose Syndrome”
Howard Professor of Zoology and Natural History of the Department of Biology Of the nine species of bats that occur in Vermont, only two were of conservation concern prior to the 21st century. By the winter of 2007-2008, white-nosed syndrome had spread into Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut and killed somewhere on the order of 600,000 […]
William Geiger, “How Can One Small Electron Make Such a Big Difference?”
Professor, Department of Chemistry Molecules taking part in chemical and biochemical reactions receive their energy either thermally (i.e., heat), photo-chemically (light), or through electron transfer (electricity). The last of these often requires transfer of a single electron from one molecule to another. Given that an electron is, by far, the smallest of the major subatomic […]
William Paden, “Mapping the Gods: Comparative Religion and the Search for Patterns”
We can’t escape seeing the world in terms of patterns. The patterns in turn help us connect things in the world to larger frames of significance. How does this apply to religion? For centuries people have tried to figure out the themes common to all religions. Professor Paden will illustrate how these patterns of “comparative […]
Dennis Mahoney, “Rings and Precious Things in German Literary and Musical Culture.”
Dennis Mahoney, professor of German and director of the Living/Learing Center’s Global Village Residential Learning Community, delivered his College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Lecture — one of the highest honors for faculty in the college — on Thursday, Nov. 6 2008 in Memorial Lounge, Waterman. Mahoney, an expert of on literature from the Age of Goethe and German Romanticism, spoke on on “Rings and Precious Things in German Literary and Musical Culture.”