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Scientia - 2013-14

an institute for the history of science and culture founded by Salomon Bochner

2013-2014 Scientia Program theme:

"The Power of Ideas"

Ideas - and the various processes of inventing, developing, critiquing, testing, transforming, rebutting, transmitting, and implementing them - are the heart and soul of the university. Each of this year's Scientia colloquia will present a set of 5-minute talks by faculty on the ideas that have most powerfully influenced and engaged them in their career and intellectual life.

Fall of 2013 - Colloquia Schedule:

Tuesday, 18 September, 4:00 PM
Ray Courtyard, Rice Student Center

Social Capital and Finance”
Mahmoud Amin El-Gamal, PhD
Professor of Economics and Statistics and Chair of Islamic Economics, Finance and Management

“Super”
Sarah Whiting, PhD
Dean and William Ward Watkin Professor of Architecture
School of Architecture

“Why Minds Need Art”
Anthony Brandt, PhD
Associate Professor of Composition and Theory
Shepherd School of Music

“Innovation Fallout”
Naomi Halas, PhD
Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Director, Laboratory for Nanophotonics


webcast

Friday, 12 October, 4:00 PM
Brochstein Pavilion Garden 

“Mt. Fuji and Me”
John H. Zammito, PhD
John Antony Weir Professor of History

“I Didn’t Do This By Myself”
Robert F. Curl, PhD
Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences
Emeritus and University Professor Emeritus

“Local:Global = David:Goliath”
Elizabeth Long, PhD
Professor of Sociology and Department Chair

“Getting to Know President Lovett”
John B. Boles, PhD
William P. Hobby Professor of History
Editor, Journal of Southern History

“Learning to Swim”
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, PhD
Stanley C. Moore Professor of Bioengineering and Chair, Department of Bioengineering

“Turrell with Music”
Robert Yekovich, D.M.A.
Dean, Shepherd School of Music and Elma Schneider Professor of Music

webcast

Tuesday, 13 November, 4:00 PM
Ray Courtyard, Rice Student Center

The Pursuit for Total Control
Thomas Killian, PhD
Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Department Chair

Risk
Elaine Howard Ecklund, PhD
Associate Professor of Sociology and Director, Religion & Public Life Program

Thinking with History
Paula A. Sanders, PhD
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies; Professor of History

Numerate Citizenship
Mark Embree, PhD
Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics and Director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership

webcast

Reception after each event

Spring 2014 - Colloquia Schedule:

THE BOCHNER LECTURE

Tuesday, January 29, 7:00 PM
McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall

“Zionism, America, and the Creation of the State of Israel”
Allen J. Matusow, PhD
Academic Affairs Director at the Baker Institute for Public Policy and William Gaines Twyman Professor of History, Rice University

webcast

COLLOQUIA – “The Power of Ideas”

Tuesday, 22 January, 4:00 PM
McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall*

Mechanobiology”
K. Jane Grande-Allen, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering

“Mind, Brain & Reality”
James Pomerantz, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychology

“The Love of Wisdom and the Wisdom of Love”
Marcia G. Brennan, PhD
Associate Professor, Religious Studies and Art History

“Saying Goodbye to Rube Goldberg”
Yousif Shamoo, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Cell Biology

webcast

Tuesday, 12 February, 4:00 PM
McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall*

“Atoms of Thought”
Steven J. Cox, PhD
Professor, Computational and Applied Mathematics

“Discriminated Against”
Michelle Hebl, PhD
Professor, Psychology and Management

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Unfinished Ethics”
Matthias Henze, PhD
Watt J. & Lilly G. Jackson Professor in Biblical Studies

 “Life is Incredible”
Janet Braam, PhD
Chair and Professor, Biochemistry & Cell Biology

webcast

Tuesday, 12 March, 4:00 PM
Ray Courtyard, Rice Student Center**

Symmetries
Marjorie Corcoran, PhD
Professor, Physics and Astronomy

“Who's Eating Who”
Evan H. Siemann, PhD
Professor and Department Chair, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

“Standpoint”
Rosemary Hennessy, PhD
Professor, English and Director, Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality    

“The Villain”
Farès el-Dahdah, PhD
Professor, Architecture and Director, Humanities Research Center

webcast

Tuesday, 9 April, 4:00 PM
Ray Courtyard, Rice Student Center**

“Modeling Individual Choice Behavior”
Richard R. Batsell, PhD
Associate Professor of Marketing  

“Computational Thinking”
Devika Subramanian, PhD
Professor, Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering

“the Beauty Premium and the Beauty Penalty”
Rick K. Wilson, PhD
Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Political Science

Gender”
Lora Wildenthal, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair, History Department

webcast

Reception after each event.

*If weather permits, the colloquium will be held outside in Ray Courtyard, Rice Student Center
**In case of inclement weather, colloquium will take place in McMurtry Auditorium

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