[act-ma] Events

Sun Jan 31 19:03:20 PST 2010

MIT

Monday, February 01, 2010
"Technology X will save the world" and other myths of social  
entrepreneurship
Speaker: Manish Bharadwaj

Time: 3:00p–5:00p

Location: 1-277

The Fellows Series
Fellows of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics & Transformative Values at  
MIT share their work.

Predicting the success of any new enterprise is difficult, but most  
social entrepreneurs face an added challenge: their lives bear little  
resemblance to the people they serve. This can significantly impede  
their understanding of what matters most to their customer, her  
priorities and concerns, resources, the constraints imposed by her  
environment, and the interplay between agents. Bridging this gap, and  
not technology per se, is arguably the chief determinant of success.  
While there is no substitute for gaining a deeper understanding of the  
community, in part by immersing oneself in it, this talk will draw  
lessons from past successes and failures to help us avoid common  
traps, and improve our chances of meaningfully serving our communities.
(Acknowledgment: The title myth is courtesy Kentaro Toyama, Microsoft  
Research India.)

Web site: http://thecenter.mit.edu/events/upcoming/

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values

For more information, contact:
The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics & Transformative Values
4-6030
info at thecenter.mit.edu

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Susan Tierney: Why is Modernizing Our Energy Technologies So Darn  
Hard, But Worth the Effort?
Speaker: Susan Tierney, Managing Principal, Analysis Group

Time: 4:15p–5:30p

Location: 66-110

MITEI Seminar Series
A year-long series of seminars given by leaders in the energy field  
sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative.

So much work is underway to advance energy technologies to make them  
more efficient, have a lower carbon footprint, more accessible to  
communities, and so forth. And yet, it is so hard to put new energy  
technologies into place in domestic (and many international) markets.  
Why is that? Tierney discusses the array of factors arising out of  
national energy policy, regulatory approaches and practices, energy  
and other politics, investment settings, and so forth, that create  
tenacious barriers to the introduction of advanced energy technologies  
into existing systems. She also will address what is happening to  
overcome those obstacles and why more is needed.

Sue Tierney, a Managing Principal at Analysis Group in Boston, is an  
expert on energy economics, regulation and policy. Her previous  
positions included Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S.  
Department of Energy, Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental  
Affairs, Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Public  
Utilities Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Water Resources  
Authority, and executive director of the Massachusetts Energy  
Facilities Siting Council. She co-chaired the DOE Agency Review Team  
for the Obama Presidential Transition Team. Currently, she co-chairs  
the National Commission on Energy Policy, chairs the board of the  
Energy Foundation, chairs the Advisory Council of NREL; and is a  
director of World Resources Institute, Clean Air Task Force, Clean Air  
- Cool Planet, Evergreen Solar, and Ze-gen.

Web site: http://mit.edu/mitei/news/seminars/darn-hard.html

Open to: the general public

Cost: Free

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative

For more information, contact:
Jameson Twomey
4-2408
jtwomey at mit.edu

Thursday, February 04, 2010

LIDS Special Seminar Series: Future Challenges in Energy Systems and  
Networks
Speaker: Richard O'Neill (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)

Time: 2:00p–3:00p

Location: 56-154

LIDS Special Seminar Series

Web site: http://www.eecs.mit.edu:8008/cgi-bin/calendar.cgi?page=2010/data/22.d
at

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): LIDS Events Calendar

For more information, contact:
Jennifer Donovan
617-253-2142

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Old-fashioned Futures and Re-fashionable Media
Speaker: Joel Burges and Wayne Marshall

Time: 5:00p–7:00p

Location: E14-633

CMS Colloquium Series

Joel Burges and Wayne Marshall, MIT's Mellon Fellows in the Humanities  
(2009-11), will contribute to the rethinking of media studies at MIT  
by taking up the shared metaphor of fashion?the fashionable, the old- 
fashioned, the re-fashioned. Burges will talk about the turn away from  
the digital in contemporary cinema, particularly the case of Fantastic  
Mr. Fox, in an attempt to think about the uneven development of media  
over time. Marshall will discuss how popular but privatized platforms  
like Facebook and YouTube, pop culture fashion?and the negotiable  
refashionability of both?present crucial challenges to the study of  
media today.

Web site: http://cms.mit.edu/events/colloquiaforums.php#020410

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies

For more information, contact:
Andrew Whitacre
617.324.0490
cms at mit.edu

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Petroleum 102: Reservoir Modeling
Speaker: Professor Ruben Juanes

Time: 5:30p–7:00p

Location: TBA

Professor Ruben Juanes, ARCO Assistant Professor in Energy Studies in  
the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will present an  
introduction to petroleum reservoir simulation. This talk is part of  
the Petroleum 102 lecture series of the Oil & Gas Subcommunity of the  
MIT Energy Club.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club

For more information, contact:
Francisco Flores
fflores at mit.edu

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Energy Discussions: Demand Response - Managing Peak Electricity Demand
Speaker: Dan Livengood

Time: 6:00p–7:00p

Location: 26-204

A well-known challenge facing system operators on the electric grid is  
being able to generate enough megawatts to meet peak electricity  
demand. As the peak electricity demand grows, the traditional way to  
continue to meet the peak is to build more power plants. Instead of  
building more generation, an alternative strategy is to slow or  
prevent the growth of the peak electricity demand via demand side  
management. One of the many demand-side strategies for managing peak  
electricity demand is demand response, which targets electricity  
reductions during the peak hours via responses from all types of  
consumers. Some programs focus on securing large reductions of  
electricity usage from commercial and industrial consumers when called  
upon by the system operator. Other strategies include implementing  
time-varying pricing for all consumers, including residential  
consumers. We will discuss the pros and cons of these and other demand  
response strategies and the tradeoffs facing the different  
stakeholders when implementing these strategies as a means of  
producing ?negawatts? instead of megawatts during the peak hours of  
electricity demand.

Please prepare for the discussion by reading the articles provided on  
the event website. Refreshments will be served.

Web site: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events-and-programs/discussion-series

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club

For more information, contact:
Rebecca Walsh Dell
rwdell(at)mit.edu

Friday, February 05, 2010
UEA Spring Lecture - Paul Krugman
Speaker: Paul Krugman

Time: 4:15p–5:15p

Location: 32-123

Paul Krugman PhD '77, Nobel Laureate, and columnist for the New York  
Times, will speak on the current economic crisis and related topics in  
his talk titled "What have we learned, if anything?". Professor  
Krugman is an esteemed writer and economist, famous for his self- 
avowed liberal perspective. A reception will follow.

Open to: MIT-only

Cost: 0

Tickets: N/A

Sponsor(s): Undergraduate Economics Association

For more information, contact:
Gary King
617-253-0951
uea-officers at mit.edu

Friday, February 05, 2010

Building an Ethical Economy: Theology & the Marketplace
Time: 5:00p–9:00p

Location: W32-141

February 5 5pm-9pm
February 6 9am-4pm

* Theology & Economics: Two Different Worlds?
* Is Capitalism a Belief System
* What is Wealth?
* What Do We Owe the Future?

Video keynote addresses by Archbishop Rowan Williams, ethicist Kathryn  
Tanner, and economist Sir Partha Dasgupta. On-site reflection groups  
to deepen learning and prepare for action. Local experts to respond to  
keynote addresses, answer questions, and participate in conversation.  
Advice and insight on organizing for justice from leaders of Boston  
Faith and Justice Network and Mass. Interfaith Committee for Worker  
Justice.

Advanced registration required.
To register: Christina English for registration details: cenglish at mit.edu
Info also at http://web.mit.edu/tac

Web site: http://web.mit.edu/tac/upcoming/index.html#theo

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT, Boston Faith and  
Justice Network, Episcopal Divinity School, the Episcopal Diocese of  
Massachusetts, Life Together: The Young Adult Internship Programs of  
the Diocese of MA, and Mass. Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice

For more information, contact:
Christina English
617-253-4101
cenglish at mit.edu

Harvard

Climate Change & the Media Series
February 4, 2010 - 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Contact Name:
  Christine Russell
Cristine_Russell at hks.harvard.edu
Harvard Kennedy School Nye B/C, Taubman Building, 5th Floor 79 JFK  
Street Cambridge, MA

"The Public Divide Over Climate Change: Scientists, Skeptics and the  
Media."

Speakers:

Andrew Revkin: The New York Times "Dot Earth" blogger and journalist;  
senior fellow, Pace University Academy for Applied Environmental Studies
Matthew Nisbet: Assistant Professor, American University School of  
Communication; "Framing Science" blogger; climate change public  
opinion expert
Thomas Patterson (discussant): Bradlee Professor of Government and the  
Press, Shorenstein Center, HKS

Moderator:  Cristine Russell, senior fellow, Belfer Center Environment  
and Natural Resources Program

First in a new spring seminar series on "Climate Change & the Media,"  
sponsored by the Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources  
Program and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public  
Policy.

Climate change coverage has greatly increased in the international  
mainstream press and in the opinion-driven blogosphere in recent  
years, including the recent focus on "Climategate" science emails, the  
US congressional debate and the United Nations Copenhagen conference.  
Surveys show that the American public is among the most divided in  
terms of agreement with scientific findings that climate change is a  
serious manmade threat that requires urgent action in the United  
States and abroad.  The public divide appears to be increasing in this  
country, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.This seminar will focus on  
the role of the media in communicating about climate change science,  
policy and politics to the general public and the influence on public  
opinion. The seminar will look at ways to improve the public dialogue  
over climate change.

All are welcome and invited to attend. Lunch will be served.  
Admittance will be on a first-come, first serve basis.

Bioenergy, Biodiversity, Food and Global Change Mitigation – Can We  
Have It All?

WHEN
Thu., Feb. 4, 2010, 5 p.m.
WHERE
Biolabs Lecture Hall, 16 Divinity Ave.
TYPE OF EVENT
Environmental Sciences, Presentation/Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S)
Stephen Long, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
COST
Free and open to the public
NOTE
Reception to follow. Part of the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Global  
Change Series.
LINK
www.environment.harvard.edu

Thanks to Fred Hapgood's Boston Lectures on Science and Engineering list
http://fhapgood.fastmail.fm/site02.html

Links to greater Boston college and university lectures and events at http://hubevents.blogspot.com