[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - February 2, 2014
George Mokray
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Feb 2 17:01:18 PST 2014
Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston area that catch the editor's eye.
Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke at world.std.com
What I Do and Why I Do It: The Story of Energy (and Other) Events
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html
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Event Index - full Event Details available below the Index
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Monday, February 3
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12pm "A Different Way to Look at Carbon Emissions in China"
12:15pm "The Import of Expertise: Towards an International History of Indian Economic Planning"
4pm "A Hydrologic Thermostat for Chemical Weathering and the Geologic Carbon Cycle?"
4pm The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures by Herbie Hancock; Set 1: The Wisdom of Miles Davis
4pm Opportunities and Challenges in Control Systems Design Arising from Ubiquitous Computation and Network Communication
5pm Defending an Unowned Internet: Opportunities for Technology, Policy, and Corporations
5:15pm Greed: How Can Religions Address the Deepening Spiritual Crisis of Our Time?
6pm The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
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Tuesday, February 4
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9am IBM Entrepreneur Day - Innovate, Transform, Grow
12:15pm Lunchtime Talk: Pop Culture, Politics & Public Health with Darnell Strom
12:30pm 2014 High-Level Conferences on ICT and the Internet: What Do They Mean for the Internet As We Know It?
4pm SIGA Cover Air-sealing Workshop with Boston Green Building & Passive House New England
6pm The Sun Temple of Nefertiti: Sex and Death
6pm The Role of Regulation in Furthering Sustainability
6:30pm Wanna learn about Linux?
6:30pm Kenzo Tange Lecture: Junya Ishigami, "My Work"
7pm Beyond Recycling: Take It to the Next Level
7pm Getting Beyond Us and Them: Our Brains and the Possibility of Peace
7:30pm What a Plant Knows
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Wednesday, February 5
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10am Nuclear 101: Technologies and Institutions for Nuclear Security
12:30pm Live Webcast: Battling Drug-Resistant Superbugs
4pm “Partisan Media and Democracy: An Historical Perspective.”
4:15pm Discovering Our Way to Greatness: Better Healthcare for More People More Affordably
5pm MIT Big Data Challenge - Transportation in the City of Boston
7pm Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection
7pm Stolen Art
7pm A Utopia to our North?: Durable Economies and Cities that Work for All
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Thursday, February 6
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10am The Fidelity and Structure of Visual Memory
12:15pm Afghanistan: A Post-Mortem of U.S. Policymaking
3:30pm "China's Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Various Scales and Perspectives"
4pm Chemical changes to light absorbing carbonaceous aerosol with oxidative aging
4pm Atmospheric Water - The Climate System's Most Masterful and Magical Molecule
4pm The Arab Uprisings Three Years Later: Trajectories of Transition and Crisis
4pm The Politics of Public Space
4pm "The Next Generation of Sea Ice Models: New Physics Describing Sea Ice Mechanics and Melt"
4pm Citizens Derided: Corporate Politics and Religion in the Roberts Court
5pm NSA Surveillance and What To Do About It
5pm Media Lab Conversations Series: Chris Woebken
6pm Opening Reception: "Living as Form (The Nomadic Version)
6:30pm William Anderson and Mitchell Silver in Conversation: The Future of Planning: Perspectives from APA Presidents
6:45pm "High Power"
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Friday, February 7
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11am Media Lab Conversations Series: Shaka Senghor and Martha Minow
12pm Can Democracy Survive in the Middle East?
1pm "Beyond Capital: The Climate Crisis as a Challenge to Social Thought"
4pm The Way of the Carpenter: Tools and Japanese Architecture
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Saturday, February 8
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MIT Scaling Development Ventures Conference
1pm Massachusetts Peace Action 2014 Annual Meeting
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Monday, February 10
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12pm "Environmental and Technology Policy Options in the Electricity Sector: Interactions and Outcomes"
12:30pm Technology Invigorating Architecture
2pm Zen and the Arts of Liberal Ministry
4pm The Meaning of Mandela in Today's South Africa
4pm In the Wake of Traumatic Events: Population Health Consequences and Their Causes
5:30pm Hate Crimes in the Heartland
6:30pm Secrets Revealed: Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
7pm Afghanistan Present and Near Future - Will the US really Leave?
7pm Science by the Pint: The hidden cognitive biases of good people
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Tuesday, February 11
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12pm David Carr
12:30pm How Dungeons & Dragons and Fantasy Prepare You for Law and Life
12:30pm Live Webcast: Battling Drug-Resistant Superbugs
3pm BCSEA Webinar: The Carbon Bubble - Unburnable Fossil Fuels, with Mark Campanale
3:30pm Socialization Ain't Always Nice: Order, Disorder, and Violence in the Post-Cold War World
4pm “The Most Important Topic Political Scientists Are Not Studying: Adapting to Climate Change”
4:15pm Emergency Operations at Institutions of Higher Education
5pm The Ethicist's and the Lawyer's New Clothes: The Law and Ethics of Smart Clothes
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to are at:
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com
Restructuring Roundtable: Solar in CA and MA
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/02/restructuring-roundtable-solar-in-ca.html
Printing Buildings
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/02/1274522/-Printing-Buildings
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Monday, February 3
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"A Different Way to Look at Carbon Emissions in China"
Monday, February 3, 2014
12:00pm - 1:30pm
Harvard Kennedy School, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, HKS, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
with Zhu Liu, Giorgio Ruffolo Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Sustainability Science Program and the Energy Technology Innovation Policy project, HKS
ETIP/Consortium Energy Policy Seminar Series
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
Louisa_Lund at hks.harvard.edu
Lunch will be served.
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"The Import of Expertise: Towards an International History of Indian Economic Planning"
Monday, February 3, 2014
12:15pm - 2:00pm
Harvard, Pierce Hall, Room 100F, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
David Engerman, Brandeis, History
Abstract: Historians have long observed the fascination for economic planning among Indian economists and nationalists, from the final years of British rule to independent India's first Five-Year Plans - and beyond. This paper examines Indian enthusiasms for planning in the crucial decades in the middle of the twentieth century, emphasizing in particular the international elements of the planning debate. Especially in the crucial second and third Five-Year Plans (1956-65) - the high point of Jawaharlal Nehru's efforts - the planning process stood at the intersection of domestic Indian politics and Cold War geopolitics.
Biography: David C. Engerman is professor of history at Brandeis University. The author of two books on America's Russia expertise, he is currently writing "Planning for Prosperity: The Economic Cold War in India." That project has received support from the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Institute of Indian Studies, and the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research.
Lunch is provided if you RSVP.
Please RSVP to sts at hks.harvard.edu by 5pm Today, Wednesday, January 29.
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"A Hydrologic Thermostat for Chemical Weathering and the Geologic Carbon Cycle?"
Monday, February 3, 2014
4:00pm
Harvard, Haller Hall (Geo-Museum 102), 24 Oxford Street 1st Floor, Cambridge
Kate Maher, Stanford
EPS Colloquium Series
Post-talk Reception to follow at Hoffman Lab 4th floor
Contact Name: Sabinna Cappo
scappo at fas.harvard.edu
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The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures by Herbie Hancock; Set 1: The Wisdom of Miles Davis
WHEN Mon., Feb. 3, 2014, 4 p.m.
WHERE Sanders Theatre
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture, Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard
SPEAKER(S) Herbie Hancock
COST Free; tickets required
TICKET WEB LINK https://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu/Online/
TICKET INFO Tickets will be available starting at noon on the day of each lecture. Tickets will be available at Sanders Theatre's box office and online (handling fee applies). Limit of 2 tickets per person. Tickets valid until 3:45 p.m. on the day of the event.
CONTACT INFO humcentr at fas.harvard.edu,
NOTE The Norton Lecturer in 2014 is Herbie Hancock.
THE ETHICS OF JAZZ
4pm, Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street
Set 1 - THE WISDOM OF MILES DAVIS
Monday, February 3
Set 2 - BREAKING THE RULES
Wednesday, February 12
Set 3 - CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AND THE VOICE OF FREEDOM
Thursday, February 27
Set 4 - INNOVATION AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Monday, March 10
Set 5 - BUDDHISM AND CREATIVITY
Monday, March 24
Set 6 - ONCE UPON A TIME…
Monday, March 31
LINK http://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/content/norton-lectures
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"A Hydrologic Thermostat for Chemical Weathering and the Geologic Carbon Cycle?"
Monday, February 3, 2014
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
BU, 15 St. Mary’s Street, Room 105, Boston
Refreshments served at 3:45.
Joao Hespanha, University of California at Santa Barbara
Advances in VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) design and fabrication have resulted in the availability of low-cost, low-power, small-sized devices that have significant computational power and are able to communicate wirelessly. In addition, advances in MEMS (Micro Electric Mechanical Systems) technology have resulted in wide availability of solid-state sensors and actuators. The net result is ubiquitous sensing, communication, and computation that can be incorporated into small low-power devices.
In this talk, I will demonstrate that the above-mentioned technological advances present important opportunities and interesting challenges for control system designers. To this effect, I will describe recent work demonstrating that optimization-based approaches to path planning – which have been enabled by fast computation – can lead to solutions that significantly outperform previously proposed heuristics. I will also discuss how the introduction of digital communication in control loops gives rise to a need for new tools for the design and analysis of feedback control systems.
João P. Hespanha received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and applied science from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut in 1998. From 1999 to 2001, he was Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2002, where he currently holds a Professor position with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prof. Hespanha is the Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Executive Committee for the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies (ICB).
His current research interests include hybrid and switched systems; multi-agent control systems; distributed control over communication networks (also known as networked control systems); the use of vision in feedback control; stochastic modeling in biology; and network security.
Dr. Hespanha is the recipient of the Yale University’s Henry Prentiss Becton Graduate Prize for exceptional achievement in research in Engineering and Applied Science, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the 2005 best paper award at the 2nd Int. Conf. on Intelligent Sensing and Information Processing, the 2005 Automatica Theory/Methodology best paper prize, the 2006 George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award, and the 2009 Ruberti Young Researcher Prize. Dr. Hespanha is a Fellow of the IEEE and an IEEE distinguished lecturer since 2007.
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Defending an Unowned Internet: Opportunities for Technology, Policy, and Corporations
Monday, February 3, 5:00 p.m.
Harvard Law School, Milstein East B (Room 2036), Wasserstein Hall, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Free and Open to the Public
RSVP required at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2014/02/defending_an_unowned_internet#RSVP
In the wake of the disclosures about government surveillance and the rise of corporate-run applications and protocols, is the idea of an "unowned" Internet still a credible one? The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is pleased to invite the community to a panel discussion on February 3rd, 2014 that will address this question as well as explore the potential for reforms in policy, technology, and corporate and consumer behavior.
Panelists will include:
Yochai Benkler, Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School
Ebele Okobi, Global Head and Senior Legal Director for Human Rights, Yahoo!
Bruce Schneier, CTO of CO3 Systems and Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Editor in Chief of Lawfare
Jonathan Zittrain, Co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, will moderate the discussion.
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Greed: How Can Religions Address the Deepening Spiritual Crisis of Our Time?
WHEN Mon., Feb. 3, 2014, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Religion
SPONSOR Center for the Study of World Religions
CONTACT Lexi Gewertz, 617.495.4476
NOTE Please join us for our annual Greeley Lecture for Peace and Social Justice. This year the lecture will be held as part of Harvard's Interfaith Awareness Week, in honor of the United Nations' Interfaith Harmony Week.
We are honored to have the Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana deliver the 2014 lecture. Premawardhana is the President of the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) in Chicago. He is originally from Sri Lanka and was most recently the director for the program Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation in the World Council of Churches. He is also a member of the governing board of the National Council of Churches and a member of the board of trustees of the Parliament of the World's Religions.
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The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
Monday, February 3
6:00 PM
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge
$5 tickets on sale now through Harvard Book Store
Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee in conversation with MEGHNA CHAKRABARTI
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Tuesday, February 4
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IBM Entrepreneur Day - Innovate, Transform, Grow
Tuesday, February 4
09:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
IBM, 1 Rogers Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www-304.ibm.com/events/idr/idrevents/register.action?meid=15803&ieid=8674
Come one come all to IBM Entrepreneur Day, where you can network and learn from your local ecosystem of entrepreneurs, VCs, academic leaders, accelerators, IBM executives and Business Partners. Your ecosystem is the most effective means of fostering the success of everyone in the business community. Working together, we can go further than we would on our own!.
About IBM Entrepreneur Day - Innovate, Transform, Grow
Join IBM to celebrate Entrepreneur Week by “Connecting Companies with Capital”.
Build connections to an ecosystem of investors, incubators and entrepreneurial associations
Gain insights on IBM’s deep commitment to the entrepreneurial community and supporting resources.
Showcase your company to influencers, coaches and mentors from across industries
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Lunchtime Talk: Pop Culture, Politics & Public Health with Darnell Strom
WHEN Tue., Feb. 4, 2014, 12:15 – 1:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Kresge Amphitheater G2
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Education, Ethics, Health Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR HSPH Center for Health Communication
SPEAKER(S) Darnell Strom, executive at CAA Foundation
CONTACT INFO chc at hsph.harvard.edu
NOTE Darnell Strom is an executive at CAA Foundation—the philanthropic arm of Hollywood’s leading entertainment and sports agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA). The foundation’s mission is to mobilize popular culture to create positive social change. He previously served as deputy director of scheduling to former President Bill Clinton, and as director of the Office of the Chair at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
RSVP is required: CHC at hsph.harvard.edu
Pizza will be served.
LINK http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/
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2014 High-Level Conferences on ICT and the Internet: What Do They Mean for the Internet As We Know It?
February 4, 2014 at 12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Civic Media
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/02/markovski#RSVP
This event will be webcast live (on this page) at 12:30pm ET.
with Veni Markovski, Internet pioneer, co-founder of bol.bg, and current ICANN vice-president for Russia, CIS, and Eastern Europe
In October, President of Brazil Dilma Roussef announced a high-level meeting on Internet governance to be held in April in Rio de Janeiro. ITU will have not one, not two, but three international meetings, and will be tackling Internet issues. As governments initiate talks about policies with regards to who controls the Internet, Veni Markovski will explore how the 2014 landscape of Internet governance may change.
About Veni
In September 1990, Veni Markovski started his work on the Internet as a system operator of the first Sofia-based bulletin-board system, part of FidoNet. In 1993 Mr. Markovski partnered with another Bulgarian Internet pioneer, Dimitar (Mitko) Ganchev, to form bol.bg, the second Bulgarian Internet Service Provider in history. Veni Markovski was President and CEO ofbol.bg for nine years. The two owners sold the company successfully in 2008 to an international investment fund. In 1995, he co-founded the Bulgarian Internet Society, a non-profit, of which he serves still as President and chairman of the Board. In March 2002, Mr. Markovski was appointed as the Chairman of the Bulgarian President's IT Advisory Council, a position he held until the President stepped down from office at the end of his second term on January 22, 2012. In 2005, he was invited to be the senior international projects adviser to the chairman of the Governmental Agency for Information Technologies and Communications, a position that he has held until 2009. As of November 2012, Mr. Markovski is the ICANN vice-president for Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe, and frequently visits the region, where he is using his long-term personal and working relations with many of the Internet policy makers, pioneers, businessmen and non-profits for the good of the global domain names and IP addresses coordinating body.
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SIGA Cover Air-sealing Workshop with Boston Green Building & Passive House New England
February 4th, 2014
4-6PM
Boston Green Building, 218 Lincoln Street, Allston
FOR: Building construction, design, or consulting professionals
BuildingEnergy is about a month away. We can't wait, either.
So, in the meantime, we've teamed up with NESEA members SIGA Cover for a series of air-sealing and wind-tightness demo/hands-on workshops around the northeast. The workshops are led by James Drysdale, the Northeast Trainer/Application Advisor for SIGA. The first 45 minutes are focused on some building science 101 (or review - depending on how savvy an audience), then the rest of the workshop is dedicated to just getting your hands on the materials testing them on corner-cut window mockups.
If you're a building professional (construction, design, consultant) and curious about air-sealing/wind-tightness techniques, why not join us for a free 2 hour workshop Tuesday, February 4th, from 4-6PM, in Boston, hosted by NESEA members Boston Green Building and our friends at Passive House New England?
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The Sun Temple of Nefertiti: Sex and Death
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
6:00pm
Yenching Auditorium, 2 Divinity Ave.
Reception to follow in the Harvard Semitic Museum Galleries
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The Role of Regulation in Furthering Sustainability
Tuesday, February 4th
6 to 9 PM
Venture Café, 5th Floor, Cambridge Innovation Center, One Broadway, Cambridge
Cost: $12 - includes Eventbrite service fees
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/feb-4th-basg-presents-the-role-of-regulation-in-furthering-sustainability-tickets-10033748211
This month Boston Area Sustainability Group collaborates with New England Women in Energy & the Environment .
As long as a capitalist economy fails to capture the costs of negative externalities there is little incentive for corporations to reduce their environmental impact. However, as shown through the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Dodd-Frank, among other local, national, and international laws, businesses are required to evaluate and report their risks and impacts. That requirement can provide incentive for more sustainable actions. The following speakers will present information about successes and challenges in using regulation, legislation, and legal action to drive change for a more sustainable world.
Speakers
Ann Brewster Weeks, Senior Counsel, Legal Director at Clean Air Task Force
Ann will discuss the power of environmental regulation under the Clean Air Act in stimulating technological advances in pollution controls, both from personal observation and based on some academic studies on the topic.
Erica Mattison, Legislative Director, Environmental League of MA
Erica will speak about how businesses, labor, and environmental advocates are working together to make the case for progressive environmental policies and environmental agency funding.
Lea Reynolds, SeniorPolicy Analyst, M.J. Bradley & Associates, LLC, Concord MA
Lea will speak about the role of policy in the electric sector’s evolution of voluntary corporate climate change disclosure.
Steve Long, Director of Government Relations, The Nature Conservancy
Steve will reflect on thirty years of experience of influencing environmental policy with an emphasis on collaboration among non-traditional partners – including the roles of stakeholders, the dynamics among institutions, effective messaging and ultimately -- “Getting to Yes”.
Light fare will be provided by the Environmental League of Massachusetts - Thank YOU!
Time is short and we all need to learn a boatload, fast. One of BASG’s explicit goals is that we learn as much as we can from each other, where the very diversity of the group is one of our most valuable assets. Come join the discussion, or hang out and listen. Meet those folks working hard to do what you’re trying to do and your paths have not yet crossed. We have a great time and really want to meet you!
Our format for the evening begins with informal networking followed by quick introductions all round before several lightening-speed presentations from knowledgeable folks. Using a modified IGNITE-style format, our speakers will share their experiences and then open the discussion.
We’ll end the discussion with time left for more networking and sharing info on other local events. Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
Register: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/feb-4th-basg-presents-the-role-of-regulation-in-furthering-sustainability-tickets-10033748211
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Wanna learn about Linux?
Tuesday Feb 4th
6:30 - 8:00 pm
South End Technology Center, 359 Columbus Avenue, Boston
GNU/Linux is a free software; that's free as in freedom, and free as in beer. It's a full-featured operating system, developed by people from all around the world, and it comes without the costs (or restrictions) associated with proprietary systems like Windows or Mac OS. Linux respects the rights of its users, and it's not tied to a company who's eager to turn your personal information over to those notorious three-letter government agencies.
This Tuesday we'll cover GIMP, the GNU Image manipulation program. You can think of GIMP as a Libre version of Photoshop, that's handy for a lot of image editing needs.
http://www.tech-center-enlightentcity.tv/contactus.html
(We usually meet in the middle room, or in the fab lab).
http://www.gimp.org/
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Kenzo Tange Lecture: Junya Ishigami, "My Work"
WHEN Tue., Feb. 4, 2014, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Graduate School of Design, Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Graduate School of Design
SPEAKER(S) Junya Ishigami
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at gsd.harvard.edu
NOTE Born in Kanagawa, Japan, Junya Ishigami graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with an MFA in architecture in 2000 and joined the office of Kazuyo Sejima & Associates that same year. He founded his office, junya.ishigami+associates, in 2004; in 2010 he became an associate professor at Tohoku University. The office has won several awards, including the AR Award for Emerging Architecture (2008), the Bauwelt Prize 2009 for KAIT Workshop, and the Golden Lion for the Best Project of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale for “Architecture as Air: Study for Chateau la Coste” (2010). This lecture considers remarkable projects from the early years of the office until recently.
In conjunction with the exhibition "Another Nature," 1/20-3/9.
LINK www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/events/lecture-junya-ishigami.html
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Beyond Recycling: Take It to the Next Level
Tuesday, February 4
7:00pm
Dwelltime, 364 Broadway, Cambridge
Join us for a Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conversation where Cambridge Recycling Director, Ms. Randi Mail, will lead a lively discussion of steps we can take that go beyond normal recycling practices. Topics include zero waste solutions for individuals and benefits of reuse. We will look at personal choices and City initiatives that can significantly reduce our carbon footprint. This is the first in a series of "Conversations About Living in Mid-Cambridge," informal evening get togethers which will begin with a brief talk followed by an opportunity for small and large group conversations on a topic.
For more info contact
john_pitkin at earthlink.net
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Getting Beyond Us and Them: Our Brains and the Possibility of Peace
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building 6-120, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: EMILE BRUNEAU, Researcher, Social Cognitive Neuroscience, Saxelab, MIT and JOSHUA GREENE Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University and author of "Moral Tribes"
New brain imaging studies show us that our instincts and assumptions can set us up to experience greater conflict, especially between groups that have differing moral codes or unequal access to power. Dr. Joshua Greene and Dr. Emile Bruneau will share insights from their research into why we encounter conflict and the strategies we can use to overcome our brains' automatic responses and create new opportunities for compromise, coexistence and peace.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/tac
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT
For more information, contact: Patricia-Maria Weinmann
617-253-0108
weinmann at mit.edu
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What a Plant Knows
WHEN Tue., Feb. 4, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Phillips Auditorium, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
SPEAKER(S) Daniel Chamovitz
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO pubaffairs at cfa.harvard.edu, 617.495.7461
NOTE To understand life in the universe, we first must understand life on Earth - both animal and plant. Plant life impacts everything from the terrain under our feet to the air we breathe. Scientist and author Daniel Chamovitz will unveil the surprising world of plants that see, feel, smell, and even remember.
LINK http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/publicevents
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Wednesday, February 5
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Nuclear 101: Technologies and Institutions for Nuclear Security
WHEN Wed., Feb. 5, 2014, 10 – 11:30 a.m.
WHERE Harvard, Kennedy School, Fainsod Room, Littauer-324, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Ethics, Law, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Project on Managing the Atom
SPEAKER(S) Matthew Bunn, professor of practice, Harvard Kennedy School
CONTACT INFO atom at hks.harvard.edu
NOTE Bunn's research interests include nuclear theft and terrorism; nuclear proliferation and measures to control it; the future of nuclear energy and its fuel cycle; and policies to promote innovation in energy technologies.
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6241/nuclear_101.html
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Live Webcast: Battling Drug-Resistant Superbugs
WHEN Wed., Feb. 5, 2014, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE http://www.forumhsph.org
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health in collaboration with PRI's The World and WGBH
SPEAKER(S) Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health; Aaron Kesselheim, director, Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Stuart Levy, president of Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics; Beth Bell, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC; moderated by David Baron, Health & Science Editor, PRI's The World
CONTACT INFO theforum at hsph.harvard.edu
NOTE E-mail questions for the expert participants to theforum at hsph.harvard.edu.
LINK http://theforum.sph.harvard.edu/events/battling-drug-resistant-superbugs/
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“Partisan Media and Democracy: An Historical Perspective.”
Wednesday, February 5
4-6 p.m.
Harvard, Cason Seminar Room, Taubman Building, first floor, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Partisan Media Seminar Series with Matthew Gentzkow, Richard O. Ryan Professor of Economics and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow, University of Chicago; and Tim Groeling, Associate Professor and Chair of Communication Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.
Moderator: Marion Just, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College and an associate of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.
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Discovering Our Way to Greatness: Better Healthcare for More People More Affordably
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
4:15p–5:30p
MIT, Building E38-615, 292 Main Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Steven Spear, Sloan and ESD Senior Lecturer
Please join us for our first spring semester seminar in the Conversations on Sociotechnical Systems series. Steven Spear is a senior lecturer in both the MIT Sloan School of Management and Engineering Systems Division (ESD) and a senior fellow in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. He will discuss examples of transformation in the US healthcare system and illustrate a general theory for managing complex, dynamic, sociotechnical systems for exceptional performance. Light refreshments will be served.
Conversations on Sociotechnical Systems
Web site: ssrc.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Sociotechnical Systems Research Center
For more information, contact: Jacqueline Paris
jparis at mit.edu
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MIT Big Data Challenge - Transportation in the City of Boston
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM (EST)
MIT, Stata Center, Building 32, 32 Vassar Street, ROOM # (TBA), Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/final-event-mit-big-data-challenge-transportation-in-the-city-of-boston-tickets-9611611589
During this 1st MIT BIG DATA CHALLENGE final event the submissions will be showcased and the judging panel for the visualization challenge will announce the winners.
The first MIT Big Data Challenge launched November 12 2013 in partnership with the City of Boston and co-sponsored by Transportation at MIT focuses on transportation in downtown Boston. The challenge will make available multiple data sets, including transportation data from more than 2.3 million taxi rides, local events, social media and weather records, with the goal of predicting demand for taxis in downtown Boston and creating visualizations that provide new ways to understand public transportation patterns in the city.
The City of Boston is interested in gaining new insights into how people use all modes of transportation travel in and around the downtown Boston area. A critical imperative of Boston's Complete Streets Policy is to move all modes of transportation more efficiently and to use real-time data to facilitate better trip-planning between modes of transportation. With urban congestion on the rise, city planners are looking for ways to improve transportation such as providing people with more options to get from one place to another (walking, biking, driving, or using public transit) and by reducing and more efficiently routing vehicles in the city.
This Big Data Challenge provides a unique opportunity to analyze City of Boston taxi data and combine multiple data sets including social media, transit ridership, events data and weather data to effectively predict demand and better understand patterns in taxi ridership. We hope this will result in new insights for the City of Boston and the public that will improve transportation in the city (and ability to get a cab when you need one)!
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Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection
Wed. Feb 5
7:00 pm
Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Discussion/Signing with Ethan Zuckerman
Please join us as we welcome the director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, Ethan Zuckerman. He will be discussing and signing copies of his book REWIRE a rousing call to action for those who would be citizens of the world—online and off.
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Stolen Art
WHEN Wed., Feb. 5, 2014, 7 – 10:30 p.m.
WHERE First Parish in Cambridge, 3 Church Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Cambridge Forum
SPEAKER(S) Anthony Amore, art security expert, and Ingrid Neuman, conservator
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO 617.495.2727, director at cambridgeforum.org
NOTE Art security expert Anthony Amore and conservator Ingrid Neuman discuss the crime of art theft and what makes stealing art different from other kinds of theft.
LINK www.cambridgeforum.org
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A Utopia to our North?: Durable Economies and Cities that Work for All
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
7:00pm
First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain
with Bruce Seifer, advisor to fmr. Mayors Bernie Sanders and Peter Clavelle of Burlington, VT
What is a durable economy? How is it created and what does it take to sustain it over time? Bruce Seifer, author of Sustainable Communities: Creating a Durable Local Economy will provide insights and answers to these questions by exploring the components of sustainable economic development at the city level.
Bruce Seifer is a consultant with extensive experience in economic development. Under former Mayors Bernie Sanders and Peter Clavelle, he led Burlington, Vermont's Community and Economic Development efforts for 28 years by developing a nationally recognized model for locally focused and community oriented urban revitalization.
Contact http://jamaicaplainforum.org
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Thursday, February 6
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The Fidelity and Structure of Visual Memory
Thursday, February 6
10AM
MIT, Building 46-3189, McGovern Seminar Room, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Timothy Brady, Harvard University, Department of Psychology
Visual memory poses a striking paradox: We can remember a face we’ve seen only once, even years later; yet we have difficulty remembering more than four colored dots for just a few seconds, and experience dramatic failures like false memory. My research program seeks to understand the nature of the representations that underlie and explain these seemingly contradictory phenomena in visual memory.
In this talk, I will explore how precisely different types of visual information can be remembered, and what this can tell us about the structure of working memory and long- term memory. I’ll show that even for arbitrary colors, long-term memory is just as precise as working memory: Observers can remember the exact color of an object just as well after several hours as they can after a few seconds. Finally, I’ll ask: If long-term memory is just as precise as working memory, what is the purpose of working memory -- a separate but limited-capacity active storage system?
I’ll show evidence from EEG that provides some preliminary answers and points to an important role for active maintenance of real-world objects in working memory. I’ll end by providing a computational framework for predicting what kind of information is best remembered in visual memory and what kind is most difficult to store, and describing how the this framework may help to understand open questions about the structure of memory.
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Afghanistan: A Post-Mortem of U.S. Policymaking
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Belfer Center Library, Littauer-369, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR International Security Program
SPEAKER(S) Matt Waldman, research fellow, International Security Program
CONTACT INFO susan_lynch at harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6244/afghanistan.html
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Intelligence in the Private Sector
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 1 – 4:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman 5th Floor, Nye A&B, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Conferences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Belfer Center's Defense and Intelligence Projects
SPEAKER(S) Disney, Coca Cola, BP, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Office of Director of National Intelligence, FBI, Department of State
NOTE In today’s world, businesses are facing increasingly complex threats to infrastructure, finances, and information. The government is often slow to share classified information about these threats. As a result, business leaders are creating their own intelligence capabilities within their companies.
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6230/intelligence_in_the_private_sector.html
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"China's Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Various Scales and Perspectives"
Thursday, February 6, 2014
3:30pm
Harvard, Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Wang Haikun, Associate Professor, School of Environment, Nanjing University; Visiting Scholar, Harvard China Project
China Project Seminar
http://chinaproject.harvard.edu/
Contact Name: Chris Nielsen
nielsen2 at fas.harvard.edu
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Chemical changes to light absorbing carbonaceous aerosol with oxidative aging
Thursday, February 06, 2014
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 48-316, 15 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Eleanor C. Browne, Postdoctoral Fellow, Civil & Environmental Engineering, MIT
Light absorbing carbonaceous aerosol (LAC) is one of only two atmospheric components that both degrade air quality and cause climate warming. Due to the short atmospheric lifetime of LAC, there has been considerable interest in quantifying the climate and health impacts of LAC and developing mitigation strategies. Quantification of LAC's climate impact remains uncertain; in part due to the poorly characterized chemical reactions that alter the chemical and physical properties of aerosol. In this talk, I discuss experiments quantifying the kinetics and chemical composition changes to LAC (both black and brown carbon) upon oxidation. I find that heterogeneous oxidation by OH of the aliphatic compounds present on the surface of black carbon occurs quickly (lifetime of ~1 day). I also present results for the aging of brown carbon generated from the smoldering of pine needles. The primary aerosol emitted from smoldering is highly oxygenated and aging it in the presence of the gaseous smoldering emissions forms a chemically distinct secondary organic aerosol. These results show that, on the timescale of a day, LAC undergoes substantial chemical changes which likely have important impacts on the climate-relevant properties of LAC (such as light absorption and hygroscopicity). Thus, further quantification of these aging mechanisms and timescales is needed in order to accurately estimate the climate effects of LAC.
Environmental Sciences Seminar Series
Join us for a weekly series of EFM/Hydrology topics by MIT faculty and students, as well as guest lecturers from around the globe.
Web site: http://cee.mit.edu/events/360
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact: Ruth You
617-253-7145
ryiu at mit.edu
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Atmospheric Water - The Climate System's Most Masterful and Magical Molecule
Thursday, February 06, 2014
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 32-124, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Bjorn Stevens, Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology
Understanding of water, a deceptively simple molecule with an unusual appetite for infrared radiation, provides the foundation for much of what we know about climate, and climate change. Water is key to basic properties of the climate system, like the globally averaged surface temperature and the strength and patterns of the hydrological cycle, and how these might change. A lack of understanding of water, particularly the distribution of its condensed phases, is responsible for most of the uncertainty about the future trajectory of the climate system. All of which means that a better understanding of atmospheric water is climate science's foremost intellectual challenge.
Houghton Lectures
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Christine Maglio
617-253-6603
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The Arab Uprisings Three Years Later: Trajectories of Transition and Crisis
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS, Knafel 262, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar
SPEAKER(S) Paul Salem, vice president, the Middle East Institute
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO sroy at fas.harvard.edu
NOTE This event is off the record. The use of recording devices is strictly prohibited.
LINK http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/3519
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The Politics of Public Space
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 4 p.m.
WHERE Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Introduction by Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design
Lecture by Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times
COST Free and open to the public.
NOTE Registration is encouraged to guarantee a seat. To register: http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?470067
LINK http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2014-michael-kimmelman-lecture
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"The Next Generation of Sea Ice Models: New Physics Describing Sea Ice Mechanics and Melt"
Thursday, February 6, 2014
4:00pm
Harvard, Haller Hall, 24 Oxford Street 1st Floor, Cambridge
Reception to follow on Geology Museum, 4th floor, interactive area.
Daniel Feltham, Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading
EPS Climate Seminar
Contact Name: Jenifer Lee
jeniferlee at fas.harvard.edu
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Citizens Derided: Corporate Politics and Religion in the Roberts Court
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Room 2036 B, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Law, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School
SPEAKER(S) Jamin Raskin, professor, American University, Washington College of Law; Maryland State Senator
CONTACT INFO john_trumpbour at harvard.edu, 617.495.9265
NOTE Part of The Jerry Wurf Memorial Forum, this lecture will explore how recent Supreme Court decisions have augmented corporate power at the expense of U.S. democracy.
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NSA Surveillance and What To Do About It
Thursday, February 06, 2014
5:00p–6:00p
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Bruce Schneier
ABSTRACT: Edward Snowden has given us an unprecedented window into the NSA's surveillance activities. Drawing from both the Snowden documents and revelations from previous whistleblowers, this talk describes the sorts of surveillance the NSA conducts and how it conducts it. The emphasis will be on the technical capabilities of the NSA, and not the politics or legality of their actions. I will then discuss what sorts of countermeasures are likely to frustrate any nation-state adversary with these sorts of capabilities. These will be techniques to raise the cost of wholesale surveillance in favor of targeted surveillance: ubiquitous encryption, target dispersal, anonymity tools, and so on.
BIO: Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a "security guru" by The Economist. He is the author of 12 books -- including Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive -- as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. His influential newsletter "Crypto-Gram" and blog "Schneier on Security" are read by over 250,000 people. Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, a program fellow at the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and an Advisory Board member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He is also the Chief Technology Officer of Co3 Systems, Inc.
MIT BIG DATA LECTURE SERIES
Talks will feature distinguished individuals from academia, industry and government including pre-eminent people from all the subfields of computer science that have something to say about data, data processing and analytics, as well as people from organizations that are consumers of Big Data from both industry and government.
Web site: http://bigdata.csail.mit.edu/talks
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Big Data Initiative at CSAIL
For more information, contact: Susana Kevorkova
617-324-8424
skevorkova at csail.mit.edu
---------------------------------
Media Lab Conversations Series: Chris Woebken
Thursday, February 06, 2014
5:00p–6:00p
MIT, Building E14, 3rd floor atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Chris Woebken in conversation with Kevin Slavin
Chris Woebken uses futuring practices to create props, narratives, and visualizations investigating the impacts as well as the aesthetic and social potentials of technologies. He runs participatory workshops and collaborates with scientists, organizations, artists, and engineers to invent and develop prototypes of future services and products. Woebken is a resident at Eyebeam and also part of the DAMM (Dark Matter Manufacture Factory) collective. He received his MA from the Royal College of Art.
Web site: http://www.media.mit.edu/events/2014/02/06/media-lab-conversations-series-chris-woebken
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab
For more information, contact: Jess Sousa
events-admin at media.mit.edu
--------------------------------
Opening Reception: "Living as Form (The Nomadic Version)
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 6 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Exhibitions
NOTE Exhibit on view February 7–April 6, 2014
Thursday, February 6
6-8 pm
Opening reception with the artists, performance by Tomashi Jackson, and Lessons in Capitalism by Caitlin Berrigan
LIVING AS FORM (THE NOMADIC VERSION)
co-organized by Creative Time and Independent Curators International (ICI), assembled in collaboration with Claire Grace, guest curator for the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
LINK http://www.ves.fas.harvard.edu/livingasform.html
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William Anderson and Mitchell Silver in Conversation: The Future of Planning: Perspectives from APA Presidents
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Graduate School of Design
SPEAKER(S) William Anderson and Mitchell Silver
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at gsd.harvard.edu
NOTE William Anderson, FAICP, MCRP '83, the new president of the American Planning Association, is principal/vice president of AECOM, a consultancy that works to improve built, natural, and social environments by creative, analytical, and technical means. Based in 69 countries, the firm’s architects, landscape architects, planners, ecologists, economists, engineers, program managers, and technicians collaborate to address complex challenges at various scales from buildings to public spaces, infrastructure, and management of open space and natural systems. Mitchell Silver is the previous president of the APA and the chief planning & development officer/planning director for Raleigh, North Carolina. An award-winning planner for over 28 years, Silver specializes in comprehensive planning, place making, and implementation strategies and is internationally recognized for leadership in his profession. Before moving to Raleigh in 2005, Mitchell was a policy and planning director in New York, principal of a New York-based planning firm, a town manager in New Jersey, and a deputy planning director in Washington, DC.
LINK www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/events/conversation-william-anderson-and-mitchell-silver.html
--------------------------------
"High Power"
Thursday February 6
6:45PM
Cambridge Main Library, Community Room, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and the Cambridge Peace Commission has invited nuclear engineer-turned-environmentalist Pradeep Indulkar with the film "High Power."
"High Power," a 27-minute documentary about the health issues faced by residents of Tarapur, a town in Maharashtra, and home to the 50- year-old Tarapur nuclear power plant, recently won the Yellow Oscar in the short film category in the Rio de Janeiro leg of the Uranium Film Festival.
The government was showing a very rosy picture of Tarapur on TV, so a few of us thought of going there and interviewing the people...That material was very strong, people were talking from their heart, and instead of showing it on a news channel, I thought it could be made into a documentary, says Indulkar.
After the film, Indulkar will describe the passionate anti-nuclear movement in India and their request for support from the global anti-nuclear movement,
particularly from those countries whose nuclear industries are building plants in India.
Indulkar's film tour in the western MA occurs at a time that the US has agreed to a deal in which India buys 6 nuclear power plants from Westinghouse a boon for the industry that is going bust in the United States. India reprocesses nuclear power waste into nuclear weapons and, thus, more nuclear power translates into greater weapons capability. The US-India agreement will require that India accept liability in case of a nuclear accident, a tragic undermining of the post-Bhopal Indian law that placed liability on the shoulders of the industry selling the equipment.
The film is free. The film is open to the public. Please circulate widely to interested people.
United for Justice with Peace is a coalition of peace and justice organizations and community peace groups in the Greater Boston region. The UJP Coalition, formed after September 11th, seeks global peace through social and economic justice.
info at justicewithpeace.org
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Friday, February 7
----------------------
Media Lab Conversations Series: Shaka Senghor and Martha Minow
Friday, February 07, 2014
11:00a–12:30p
MIT, Building E14, 3rd floor atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Shaka Senghor and Martha Minow in conversation with Joi Ito and Ethan Zuckerman
Media Lab Conversations Series
Web site: http://www.media.mit.edu/events/2014/02/07/media-lab-conversations-series-shaka-senghor-and-martha-minow
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab
For more information, contact: Jess Sousa
events-admin at media.mit.edu
---------------------------------
Can Democracy Survive in the Middle East?
Friday, February 07, 2014
12:00p–1:30p
MIT, Building E40-496, Pye Conference Room, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Colonel Miri Eisin (retired)
Colonel Miri Eisin (retired) earned a B.A. from Tel Aviv University, an M.A. in security studies from Haifa University, and is a graduate of the Israeli National Defense College. Colonel Eisin served as deputy head of the combat intelligence corps, assistant to the director of Military Intelligence, and as an intelligence officer in combat and research units. She served as the Israeli government spokesperson during the Second Lebanon War (2006), and as international press secretary to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during the Annapolis process. She is working on her doctorate at Haifa University, writing about political narratives in post-modern conflicts.
Cosponsored by MISTI MIT-Israel Program and MIT CIS
Light lunch will be served
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, MISTI MIT-Israel Program
For more information, contact:
starrforum at mit.edu
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"Beyond Capital: The Climate Crisis as a Challenge to Social Thought"
Friday, February 7, 2014
1:00pm
Harvard, The Thompson Room, Barker Center 110, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Dipesh Chakrabarty (University of Chicago),
Co-sponsors: Center for History and Economics, Harvard Center for the Environment and the Mahindra Humanities Center
History and Economics Seminar
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~histecon/index.html
Contact Name: Emily Gauthier
gauth at fas.harvard.edu
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The Way of the Carpenter: Tools and Japanese Architecture
WHEN Fri., Feb. 7, 2014, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Tsai Auditorium (S010), Japan Friends of Harvard Concourse, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Reischauer Institute Japan Forum presentation co-sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Design in commemoration of "The Thinking Hand" art exhibition on display until March 24
SPEAKER(S) William Coaldrake, Project Professor in Japanese Cultural Resources, University of Tokyo
COST Free, and open to the public
CONTACT INFO rijs at fas.harvard.edu
LINK http://rijs.fas.harvard.edu/programs/calendar.php
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Saturday, February 8
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MIT Scaling Development Ventures Conference
Saturday, February 8, 2014
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EST)
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/mit-scaling-development-ventures-conference-registration-9699378101
Exploring innovative, collaborative, market-driven strategies for poverty alleviation at scale.
The MIT Scaling Development Ventures conference is back for a second year! SDV brings together exciting perspectives from the international development and business communities to examine the best way to bring poverty-alleviating solutions to market at scale.
SDV 2014 features Paul Polak as keynote speaker, who is widely regarded as the father of market-centered approaches to development. Paul is the author of Out of Poverty (2008) and The Business Solution to Poverty (2013, with Mel Warwick), described recently by Bill Clinton as "one of the most hopeful propositions to come along in a long time...original, ambitious, and practical."
Panel Sessions include:
Appropriate Solutions for Real Needs - A discussion of the importance of rigorous needs and market assessment in crafting solutions for those living in poverty. Featuring speakers from the U. S. Agency for International Development, Vodafone, and Unilever.
Partnering for Scale - An exploration of partnership models between social enterprises, NGOs, and multinational corporations which have been effective in creating value in Base of the Pyramid markets. Featuring speakers from the Grameen Foundation, Danone Ecosystem Initiative, Greenlight Planet, and Schneider Electric.
MIT Alumni Driving Impact - A spotlight on MIT alumni currently driving change in NGOs, corporations, and social enterprises. Featuring speakers from Sanergy, Evidence Action, Air Liquide, and the Mars Sustainable Cocoa Initiative.
Also at SDV 2014:
Poster session featuring poverty-alleviating projects by MIT students
Affinity Group Networking Lunch
Attendance is free, but registration is required as seats are limited! Register to join us on Saturday, February 8th.
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Massachusetts Peace Action 2014 Annual Meeting
Saturday, February 8, 2014
1:00 to 5:00 pm doors open 12:30
St. Ignatius Church, Boston College, 28 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill
Free to members – others $10
RSVP at http://org.salsalabs.com/o/161/c/3952/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=81227
What a year! A popular outcry stopped a U.S. war with Syria and diplomacy promises relaxation of tensions with Iran (if Congress doesn’t interfere). The Budget for All proved that voters want less military spending and more social investment, and the Autumn Convergence showed that we can connect peace, climate, and economic and social justice into a single progressive agenda.
Why is the U.S. the world’s policeman and what is the alternative? How can we move our nation towards a more peaceful foreign policy? We present two important voices to solve these riddles and shape our work in 2014.
Barney Frank served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 2013. A constant campaigner to cut the military budget by 25%, he formed the Sustainable Defense Task Force in 2010 to propose practical ways to do so, and criticized U.S. support for NATO . The primary architect of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform act, Frank is now at work on a book.
Andrew Bacevich is Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. A West Point graduate and retired U.S. Army Colonel, he is author of The New American Militarism, Washington Rules, andBreach of Trust. Read an important recent article. Bacevich urges the U.S. to abandon its hegemonistic foreign policy and focus on rebuilding its society at home. His books will be available for signing.
Workshops will focus on Iran and the Mideast, Israel/Palestine, convergence and new foreign policy. Do you have a workshop idea? Propose a workshop – contact MA Peace Action.
We will complete the election of new board members.
All are welcome!
Massachusetts Peace Action
Phone: 6173542169
Email: info at masspeaceaction.org
Website: masspeaceaction.org
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Monday, February 10
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"Environmental and Technology Policy Options in the Electricity Sector: Interactions and Outcomes"
Monday, February 10, 2014
12:00pm - 1:30pm
Harvard Kennedy School, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
with Carolyn Fischer, Senior Fellow and Associate Director, Center for Climate and Electricity Policy, Resources for the Future
ETIP/Consortium Energy Policy Seminar Series
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
Louisa_Lund at hks.harvard.edu
Lunch will be served.
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Technology Invigorating Architecture
Monday, February 10, 2014
12:30 pm
MIT, Building 7-429, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Forrest Meggers, Princeton University School of Architecture
Building Technology Lecture Series
A talk in the Building Technology Discipline Group Lecture Series in the Department of Architecture
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture
For more information, contact: Anne Simunovic
617-253-4412
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Zen and the Arts of Liberal Ministry
WHEN Mon., Feb. 10, 2014, 2 – 4 p.m.
WHERE Rabinowitz Room, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Religion
SPONSOR Office of Ministry Studies, Buddhist Ministry Initiative
CONTACT Julie Barker Gillette, x6-5586
NOTE Please join the Buddhist Ministry Initiative for a lecture by the Rev. James Ishmael Ford, a UU Worldonline columnist, Zen Buddhist priest and senior guiding teacher of Boundless Way Zen, as well as senior minister of First Unitarian Church of Providence, Rhode Island. Ford is the author of several books, including If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break: Field Notes from a Zen Life (Wisdom Publications, 2012). He writes the Monkey Mind blog.
This lecture is part of the Buddhist Ministry Initiative Colloquium series.
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The Meaning of Mandela in Today's South Africa
WHEN Mon., Feb. 10, 2014, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS Knafel Building, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Room K-354, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict
SPEAKER(S) Greg Marinovich, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist from South Africa and Nieman Fellow
CONTACT INFO Donna Hicks: dhicks at wcfia.harvard.edu
NOTE Free and open to the public
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In the Wake of Traumatic Events: Population Health Consequences and Their Causes
WHEN Mon., Feb. 10, 2014, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
SPEAKER(S) Sandro Galea, Anna Cheskis Gelman and Murray Charles Gelman Professor and Chair of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
CONTACT INFO ksmall at hsph.harvard.edu
LINK http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/population-development/events/pop-center-seminars/
------------------------------------
Hate Crimes in the Heartland
WHEN Mon., Feb. 10, 2014, 5:30 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, WCC 2019 Milstein West B, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Film, Law, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Law School's John Hamilton Houston Institute on Race and Justice
SPEAKER(S) Charles Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and vice dean for clinical programs at Harvard Law School
DIRECTED BY Rachel Lyon
COST Free
TICKET WEB LINK http://www.hatecrimesheartland.com
CONTACT INFO David Harris: dharris at law.harvard.edu
NOTE Following the film, Professor Charles Ogletree will lead a dialogue on race relations in the U.S. with the film's director and national and local leaders.
-----------------------------------
Secrets Revealed: Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, 6:30-8pm
Somerville Public Library (Main)
79 Highland Avenue, Somerville
Sponsored by the Sierra Club and State Rep. Denise Provost
The TPP has been represented as a trade deal to harmonize tariffs and promote trade among the countries involved, however, this deal includes many other details that are being hidden from the American public. The agreement has been described as a "stealthy delivery mechanism for policies that could not survive public scrutiny."
Why is this agreement with such purported benefits, being hidden from Americans while on a fast-track to be passed by Congress? Join us as we uncover what they're hiding, by reviewing reports and leaks, and addressing the impacts on the environment, local economy and workers. We will also discuss how we can work together to help stop the TPP Agreement.
On bus routes 90 (Central Sq-Wellington) and 88 (Davis-Lechmere), and 80 (Arlington-Lechmere).There is free parking.
Click here for details and to RSVP.
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar?view=Detail&id=170941
For more information: phil at sierraclubmass.org
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Afghanistan Present and Near Future - Will the US really Leave?
Monday, February 10, 2014
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cambridge Friends Meeting, 5 Longfellow Park (off Brattle Street, Cambridge
Kathy Kelly with Afghan Peace Volunteers
What are the conditions for women and ordinary people?
What are the effects of the US drone war on people in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan?
What should we be doing in response?
Kathy Kelly, coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-violence, has recently returned from Afghanistan where, as a guest of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, she lived in a working class neighborhood of Kabul. This was her 13th trip to Afghanistan since 2010. She continues to be a voice for the voiceless in war zones.
Ms. Kelly is known for her decades of peace activism. She was on the floatilla to Gaza. She has been in Gaza to witness the suffering of Palestinians following "Operation Cast Lead." Between Gulf War I and II, Ms. Kelly made over 25 trips to Iraq leading humanitarian delegations and documenting the effects of use of economic sanctions against Iraq..
Ms. Kelly founded "Voices in the Wilderness," co-coordinates "Voices for Creative-Non Violence." She is renowned among the Catholic Worker Community. She has received and been nominated for numerous awards including: USA Teacher of Peace - Pax Christi, and Woman of Courage" - Peace Abby Courage of Conscience. She is an author of book(s) documenting her experience " Other Lands Have Dreams". And, she has been a prisoner of conscience in US Federal Prison.
United for Justice with Peace (Greater Boston) and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Boston Branch are pleased to offer an evening of conversation with Kathy Kelly about the US presence in Afghanistan and how the peace and justice community should respond.?
United for Justice with Peace is a coalition of peace and justice organizations and community peace groups in the Greater Boston region. The UJP Coalition, formed after September 11th, seeks global peace through social and economic justice.
info at justicewithpeace.org
617-383-4857
http://www.justicewithpeace.org
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Science by the Pint: The hidden cognitive biases of good people
February 10
7pm
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Davis Square, Somerville
Dr. Mahzarin Banaji
Banaji studies unconscious thinking and feeling as they unfold in social context. She has primarily studied social attitudes and beliefs in adults and children, relying on multiple methods including cognitive/affective behavioral measures and neuroimaging (fMRI). With these, she explores the implications of her work for questions of individual responsibility and social justice in democratic societies. Her current research interests focus on the origins of social cognition and applications of implicit cognition to improve organizational practices. Her book with Anthony Greenwald, Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, was published in 2013 by Delacorte Press.
For more information on her research and teaching, seehttp://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~banaji/
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Tuesday, February 11
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David Carr
Tuesday, February 11
12 p.m.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Speaker Series with David Carr, media and culture columnist for The New York Times.
More information at http://shorensteincenter.org/news-events/
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How Dungeons & Dragons and Fantasy Prepare You for Law and Life
February 11, 2014
12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/02/gilsdorf#RSVP
This event will be webcast live (on this page) at 12:30pm ET.
Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, in conversation with Jonathan Zittrain
How is a lawyer like a wizard? How does a courtroom resemble an epic battle? How is a casebook like the Dungeon Master's Guide? If you played Dungeons & Dragons in another age, or today, then you know this enormously influential role-playing gaming, which shaped the video gaming industry and geek culture, can be perfect training ground for law and life. This low-tech, pencil-and-paper-and-dice game teaches us how to solve problems, be a heroic leader, and achieve a common goal in a collaborative group environment. But the skills, rulebooks and "laws" required to play D&D --- whether understanding complex "to hit" charts or inventing the backstory of an evil Witch King -- can especially apply to law students. What Dungeon Master or lawyer doesn't need to parley with a foe? In this informal talk and conversation, critic and journalist Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, discusses how D&D's inherent storytelling skills can champion a role for creative play space in both your work and leisure life. We'll also discuss the push and pull of laws and rules vs. imagination in a game like D&D, a book series like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, or any fantasy world, and the role of the dungeon master/author/world-builder in the consistent (or inconsistent) application of these rules and standards, and how this all might apply to the imaginary world of law, too.
Jonathan Zittrain will join Ethan Gilsdorf for a conversation about how D&D can be a perfect training ground for law and life.
About Ethan
Ethan Gilsdorf is a journalist, memoirist, critic, poet, teacher and 17th level geek.
He wrote the award-winning travel memoir investigation Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms.
Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, Gilsdorf writes regularly for the New York Times, Boston Globe, Salon.com, BoingBoing.net, PsychologyToday.com, Washington Post andwired.com. He has published hundreds of articles, essays, op-eds and reviews on the arts, pop culture, gaming, geek culture and travel in dozens of other magazines, newspapers, websites and guidebooks worldwide. He has also published dozens of poems in literary magazines and anthologies. [More...]
About Jonathan
Jonathan Zittrain is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. His research interests include battles for control of digital property and content, cryptography, electronic privacy, the roles of intermediaries within Internet architecture, human computing, and the useful and unobtrusive deployment of technology in education.
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Live Webcast: Battling Drug-Resistant Superbugs
WHEN Wed., Feb. 5, 2014, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE http://www.forumhsph.org
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health in collaboration with PRI's The World and WGBH
SPEAKER(S) Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health; Aaron Kesselheim, director, Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Stuart Levy, president of Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics; Beth Bell, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC; moderated by David Baron, Health & Science Editor, PRI's The World
CONTACT INFO theforum at hsph.harvard.edu
NOTE E-mail questions for the expert participants to theforum at hsph.harvard.edu.
LINK http://theforum.sph.harvard.edu/events/battling-drug-resistant-superbugs/
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BCSEA Webinar: The Carbon Bubble - Unburnable Fossil Fuels, with Mark Campanale
Tuesday, February 11
3:00 PM EST (noon PST)
Webinar
Reserve your free Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/138159178
Fossil fuel companies and oil producing nations have confirmed reserves, with firm plans to extract them, of enough fossil fuels to generate about 2,975 GT CO2e - five times more than can be burnt if we are to avoid 'disastrous' climate change.
In 2012, these reserves were valued at US $4 trillion of share values and US $1.27 trillion in debt; a further US $650 Billion was spent on exploration for yet more reserves.
What will be the effects on the financial system if these are stranded assets? What are the financial risks of holding or buying them now ? And how could these funds be re-allocated to safe renewable energy sources which will have more secure future returns ?
And what are the consequences for coal, oil and natural gas expansion and exploration plans, and the governments and companies involved?
In preparation for the webinar, an edited report of their work in 2013 at http://www.bcsea.org/blog/guy-dauncey/2014/01/30/carbon-tracker’s-work-2013
Mark Campanale is Founding Director of The Carbon Tracker Initiative (http://www.carbontracker.org) in London UK. He conceived and originated the ‘unburnable carbon’ thesis which was picked up by Bill McKibben in Rolling Stone Magazine and has since taken on huge global significance. He was editor of Unburnable Carbon, are markets carrying a carbon bubble?, and the 2013 report Wasted Capital.
Mark is responsible for strategy, board matters and developing our capital markets framework analysis. Prior to forming Carbon Tracker, Mark had twenty years experience in sustainable financial markets.
See BCSEA's previous webinars at http://www.bcsea.org/past-webinars
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Socialization Ain't Always Nice: Order, Disorder, and Violence in the Post-Cold War World
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
3:30p–5:00p
MIT, Building E40-496, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Dr. Jeff Checkel
Dr. Checkel is Professor of International Relations and Simons Chair in International Law and Human Security at Simon Fraser University
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, Political Science, Security Studies Program
For more information, contact: Blair Read
bmread at mit.edu
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“The Most Important Topic Political Scientists Are Not Studying: Adapting to Climate Change”
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Harvard, Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) Knafel Building, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Featuring Debra Javeline, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame; Fellow, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies; Fellow, Nanovic Institute for European Studies; Affiliated faculty, Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative
Chaired by Dustin Tingley, Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy, Department of Government, Harvard University.
A seminar jointly sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Harvard University Center for the Environment.
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Emergency Operations at Institutions of Higher Education
Tuesday, February 11
4:15 - 6:00 PM
Harvard, 124 Mt. Auburn Street,Suite 100/Room 106, Cambridge
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The Ethicist's and the Lawyer's New Clothes: The Law and Ethics of Smart Clothes
Tuesday, Feb 11, 2014
5:00 pm (doors open at 4:45 p.m.)
Sheerr Room, Fay House,10 Garden Street, Cambridge
A lecture by I. Glenn Cohen RI '13, Professor of Law and Codirector of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, Harvard Law School
From enhanced exosuits for members of the armed services to clothing that spies on you, this lecture will focus on legal and ethical issues pertaining to the future of smart clothes.
Lecture is free and open to the public.
A video of this lecture will be shared on the Radcliffe Institute website in February.
The smart clothes science lecture series is part of the Academic Ventures program at the Radcliffe Institute and examines the science and ethics of designing materials that improve and protect lives. A larger, one-day public symposium on the topic took place on Friday, November 15, 2013.
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, February 12
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Ideas in Action Virtual Conversations in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab & MacArthur Foundation
February 12
11 AM-10 AM (?)
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_0aPo-ZtaOgpujie4SImIfAWddN1KYbgNuFzgxD_zSY/viewform
We want to experiment this year with a number of different ways to advance ideas, i.e. to put Ideas in Action
We have the opportunity to try an interesting new format - virtual conversations using a kind of Google Hangout
We are inviting 10 of our speakers to be hosts of virtual discussion rooms on Feb 12 in which a group of up to 10 people in each room will view a TEDxBeaconStreet talk and discuss it with the speaker and audience members
On the day of the event, attendees will log in to the platform using their gmail account (note: you must have a gmail account). There will be a general welcome for a few minutes and then people will proceed to the session they are interested in (limit of 10 people per session).
In the individual discussion room, participants will hear from a speaker, view a talk and discuss it
We hope this catalyzes interest, ideas, and the potential for follow-up to helpadvance the idea!
If you are interested in helping facilitate or document the conversation (with a blog post we will share on TEDxBeaconStreet.com), please let us know.
This is an experiment and afterwards we will seek your feedback about whether we should continue to host more Virtual Conversations.
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Wind Energy Lecture
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
1:00pm to 2:00pm
MIT, Building 4-145, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Dan Shreve, a partner at MAKE, a wind power consulting firm, will discuss the state of the global wind industry, core demand drivers, and obstacles to higher levels of grid integration. He will also cover new turbine technology trends that support reductions in wind energy???s levelized cost of electricity and progress towards grid parity.
Sponsor: MIT Energy Club
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THE ORIGINS OF FREEDOM: The Continuing Debate Over Equality: Lincoln and Darwin @ 204
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
4:30p–6:00p
MIT, Building 3-333, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: HELEN ELAINE LEE, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, MIT; JOHN STAUFFER, Program in the History of American Civilization, Harvard University; and JONATHAN KING, Biology, MIT
Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born hours apart on the same day, in the same year: February 12, 1809. Although born to differing circumstance, both men played a huge role in the struggle for human equality. Our panel of speakers will offer insights ranging from the voices from slavery and abolition; Lincoln, Douglas and Emancipation; and Darwin's contribution to human equality.
Web site: web.mit.edu/tac
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT, The Darwin Bicentennial Project
For more information, contact: Patricia-Maria Weinmann
617-253-0108
weinmann at mit.edu
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Building a Vibrant Social Enterprise Ecosystem in Massachusetts
February 12, 2014
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center
Audience: Open to the broader social enterprise and innovation community - including impact driven organizations, funders, policy makers, academics and students
Twitter: @sea-mass, @ MassCouncil
Description:
Social Enterprise communities are flourishing in cities and states across the country. Social Venture Partners Rhode Island has been leading an effort to create a dynamic and interconnected innovation “ecosystem” - including practitioners, business leaders, academics, impact investors, students and policymakers – with a goal towards driving economic development and innovation. Their efforts have led to drafting the proposed SEEED Act legislation (The Social Enterprise Ecosystem and Economic Development (“SEEED”) Commission Act (H.R. 2043), which would establish a Commission on the Advancement of Social Enterprise to make recommendations on ways the federal government can support and utilize SEs.
Please join us for a conversation with Kelly Ramirez, CEO of the Social Enterprise Greenhouse (part of the Social Venture Partners network) to learn more about the vibrant Social Enterprise ecosystem in the state of Rhode Island and discuss how we can help catalyze similar growth in the state of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has an emerging number of individuals and organizations focused on social enterprise and innovation. The Social Enterprise Alliance Massachusetts (SEA MA) acts as a convener in bringing together these diverse but vibrant groups. We hope this event will provide a forum for an engaged discussion on how Massachusetts can similarly connect key stakeholders and strengthen an innovation ecosystem
About the Speaker:
Kelly Ramirez is CEO of the Social Enterprise Greenhouse (part of the Social Venture Partners Rhode network), and creator of the successful SEEED Summit, a collaboration between Brown University and Social Venture Partners Rhode Island (SVPRI), which is the first national conference that focuses on what is needed to build an effective social enterprise ecosystem. Kelly is also a driving force behind the proposed SEEED Act legislation.
Kelly has more than fifteen years of social enterprise and international development experience, advising NGOs, corporations and governments on civic engagement, sustainability, business development and advocacy. Kelly directed the Social Enterprise Initiative at the William Davidson Institute (WDI) and was an adjunct lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. She has extensive fundraising, consulting and project management experience with organizations including Aid to Artisans, the Ford Foundation, the European Commission, USAID, the State Department, and Roche. She is active as a board member and volunteer with several non-profits. Previously, Kelly worked as a political analyst for the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service, an election monitor for the OSCE, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Slovakia. Kelly received MA Degrees in Public Policy and Urban Planning and a BA in political science from the University of Michigan where she has also done post-graduate work at the Ross School of Business. She was named a 2011 Woman to Watch by the Providence Business News.
About the Sponsors
This event is co-sponsored by the Social Enterprise Alliance Massachusetts and the Providers Council of Massachusetts.
About the Social Enterprise Alliance Massachusetts (SEA MA)
SEA MA was formed in 2010 with the vision of making Massachusetts a national leader in building sustainable social enterprises. SEA MA is a thriving community that comes together to connect, learn and share knowledge to advance the field of social enterprise. We provide education and information, practical tools, and support to improve the profitability and impact of social purpose ventures. To learn more, visit http://sea-mass.org/
About the Providers Council
The Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, Inc. is a statewide association of health and human service agencies. Founded in 1975, the Providers' Council is the state's largest human service trade association and is widely recognized as the official voice of the private provider industry.
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MIT Community Forum on East campus/Kendall gateway design
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
5:30p–7:30p
MIT, Building E25-111, 45 Carleton Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Design team
As recommended by the Faculty Task Force on Community Engagement in 2030 Planning, MIT has commissioned an urban design study to help us envision the future of our east campus and the Kendall gateway area. An important element of the study process is the gathering of thoughts and ideas from the MIT and Cambridge communities. We are hosting several forums through February 2014 to share our progress and invite discussion and ideas.
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/mit2030/projects/eastcampusgateway/index.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Campus Planning Office
For more information, contact:
mit2030info at mit.edu
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Mass Innovation Nights #MINFoodie6
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
6:00pm - 8:30pm
Le Cordon Bleu - College of Culinary Arts Boston 215 First Street, Cambridge
Cost: FREE
RSVP at http://mass.innovationnights.com/content/mass-innovation-nights-minfoodie6
Description:
The first Foodie Innovation event of the year—Mass Innovation Nights Foodie 6 is going to be AMAZING! There are some refreshing, ingenious and fun products to be launched. The Canadian Trade Commission will be sponsoring so there will be some BONUS innovation from the north.
Every month ten companies bring new products to the event and the social media community turns out to blog, tweet, post pictures and video, add product mentions to LinkedIn and Facebook statuses, and otherwise help spread the word. In the last four years, the events have helped to:
Launch more than 550 products
Connect dozens of job seekers and hiring managers
Profile dozens of local experts
Launch a wave of Innovation Nights events around the world (coming soon)
Held once a month, registration and networking at 6:00 p.m., presentations start at 7:00 p.m., the live events allow companies to show off Massachusetts-based innovation. The Experts Corner team has one-on-one conversations with start-ups and entrepreneurs. Innovation Nights are held on site at various venues who donate their space to further the cause of local innovation.
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Thursday, February 13
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MIT Energy Fair
Thursday, February 11
11am
MIT, La Sala de Puerto Rico
contact MIT Undergraduate Energy Club
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Design Guidelines for Transit Supportive Communities
Thursday, February 13, 2014
1pm EST; noon CST; 11am MST; 10am PST
webinar
RSVP at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/518603078
To have access to effective public transit, every step of the user's trip must be accessible, efficient, safe, and comfortable. The transit system must eliminate barriers -- real or perceived -- in order to make it a viable or preferred alternative. The goal of these Design Guidelines for Transit Supportive Communities is to foster reliable, efficient, convenient, and accessible transit, from the customer's front door to the bus.
This free, one-hour webinar will feature Bryce Word, special projects manager with Pace Suburban Bus Services, and Thomas Radak, senior project manager with Pace Strategic Services.
About Pace
Pace is a suburban Chicago transit provider serving tens of thousands of daily riders with fixed bus routes, vanpools and Dial-a-Ride programs. Pace covers 3,500 square miles and is one of the largest bus services in North America. Its fresh approach to public transportation gives the agency a national reputation as an industry leader.
Key Take-Aways
Pace's Transit Supportive Guidelines for the Chicagoland Region present principles and standards that may be implemented by municipalities, designers, engineers, and many others. Ultimately, it is Pace's vision to provide a higher level of bus service to places that actively remove barriers to transit as a viable transportation choice.
Join us Thursday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. Pacific, 11 a.m. Mountain, noon Central and 1 p.m. Eastern. (Please note your time zone!)
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Games Forum Demo Night
Thursday, February 13, 2014
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EST)
Microsoft, One Cambridge Center (not the Microsoft NERD Center) Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-february-demo-night-tickets-10206719573
The Games Forum is the place to see the newest independent games being built in Boston and network with the people who built them. Each month, we get together to watch five demos, drink beer and eat pizza. We're doing it again this month at Microsoft. Join our community of game developers, designers, creatives, investors and more building across multiple platforms and genres.
Want to demo your game? Complete the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zBPsqV0L6qOKvSYIy4FjlnujnDatQFH3QbZdbtAXfdw/viewform and we'll be in touch.
Please include your first and last name when you RSVP. Your name must be on the list to get past building security. Also, all guests must RSVP on their own.
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IDEAS Global Challenge Spring Generator Dinner
THursday, February 13
7:00pm
MIT, Building W20-202, La Sala de Puerto Rico
RSVP at http://bit.ly/UPOCTN
Working on a project to help underserved communities? Need funding?
Want to recruit new members for your IDEAS Global Challenge team? Want to get involved, but don't yet have an idea?
Then join us for the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge Spring Generator Dinner, taking place from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb 13, in La Sala de Puerto Rico.
Come hear tips from past winners of the IDEAS Global Challenge and learn about current social impact projects that teams are getting started on. This is also the chance to pitch your idea and recruit teammates or pitch your skills to get hired onto a team.
Please RSVP at http://bit.ly/UPOCTN, where you can also sign-up for a 60-second pitch opportunity!
The final opportunity to submit a Scope Statement and enter the 2014 competition is coming up on February 25th, so be sure to register on the IDEAS platform soon!
Questions? Contact us at globalchallenge at mit.edu or 617.715.5474
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Friday, February 14
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National Preach-In on Climate Change
Friday, February 14 - Sunday, February 16
To find a participating religious institution, contact http://www.preachin.org
Interfaith Power & Light just received funding that allows it to pass along free online copies of the award-winning film Chasing Ice to congregations who download the National Preach-In on Climate Change kit.
With the extreme winter weather recently brought on by the unusual polar vortex, there is great confusion about climate impacts and global warming. This film shows the long-term impact on glaciers, and how that contributes to sea level rise, and changes in weather patterns.
IP&L will also send you the full Preach-In kit that will help you host a climate sermon and valentine postcard signing activity at your congregation. More than 1,000 clergy of all faiths nationwide will be giving Preach-In sermons, talks, and events on the weekend of February 14-16, 2014.
Together, we're going to have a huge impact as we send thousands of Love Creation valentines to our senators so they hear our call to protect Earth's climate, and thus our children's future and all of Creation. To order your free kit: https://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50836/t/15471/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=10
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Innovations in Sustainability & Resiliency
2/4/14
8-10am
District Hall in Boston's Innovation District, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.usgbcma.org/civicrm/event/register?id=538&reset=1
Innovations in Sustainability & Resiliency: District scale strategies to enhance values and ensure business continuity
Innovation is driving sustainability beyond the individual buildings to district scale strategies and actions. Boston’s Innovation District, already pioneering new practices, is poised to pursue new businesses and organization models to greatly enhance the sustainability and resiliency of the district.
Building on the momentum of the 2013 EcoDistricts Summit, presenters will discuss how the innovation and EcoDistricts framework can create new opportunities to promote business and community sustainability in ways not met by individual buildings and property owners.
How resilient are we today and how are we not?
How do we maintain asset values and maintain profitability in our properties in the light of climate change? How can EcoDistricts expand our risk mitigation and adaptation options and create new business models that enhance sustainability and resiliency.
How can EcoDistricts advance practices across the broader sustainable communities’
agenda?
How can analytics help? Here’s the state of the art in defining the problem, how can it be
beneficial to everyone?
Speakers Include:
Kairos Shen, Chief Planner, City of Boston
John Aubrecht, President, Longwood Medical Energy Collaborative
Galen Nelson, Director of Market Development, Mass Clean Energy Center
Matthew Gardner, Director, SustainServ
Karthik Rao, Strategic Energy Manager, EnerNOC
Bruce Douglas, Vice President, Natural Systems Utilities
Charlie Reed, Director, Boston Global Investors
Join us for what promises to be an informative and engaging breakfast program at District Hall in Boston's Innovation District.
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Saturday, February 15
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American Energy Data Challenge “Apps for Energy II” Hackathon
February, 15-16
12:00 PM - Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 4:00
hack/reduce, 275 Third Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-energy-data-challenge-apps-for-energy-ii-hackathon-tickets-9978089735
Join hack/reduce and the U.S Department of Energy for the American Energy Data Challenge "Apps for Energy II" Hackathon to develop apps that address some of America’s most important energy challenges.
Teams that participate in the hackathon and demo something they built will be eligible to win prizes. Additionally, teams can continue to work on their app and submit it to the Department of Energy’s American Energy Data Challenge by March 9, 2014 to be eligible for the big cash prize pot - over $70,000 in total prizes!
For the weekend hackathon at hack/reduce, there will be a total of $1,500 for the first place winner, and $1,000 for the second place winners. More information is available here: http://energychallenge.energy.gov.
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ID Hack 2014
6pm February 15th - 10pm February 16th
@ the Cambridge Innovation Center
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/id-hack-2014-tickets-9524585291
The International Development Hackathon (ID Hack) is a 24-hour hackathon that brings together hackers, international development enthusiasts, and NGOs from the greater Boston area to work on projects that will make an impact on international development.
All skill levels welcome!
We have workshops and projects for you whether you’re an experienced hacker, just finished CS50, or have no experience at all. We will be conducting workshops on introductory web development for those without experience.
Why hack for international development?
Enjoy delicious food, compete for $2000+ in prizes, and have fun!
Network with sponsors such as Google, Microsoft, Twilio, Dropbox, McKinsey, and J.P. Morgan., Bridgewater, Intuit, InterSystems, and more!
Work on projects from Partners in Health, Peace Corps, Sana Health, Dimagi, Jana Care, and more!
Use technology to impact the world.
Sign up today AT http://www.eventbrite.com/e/id-hack-2014-tickets-9524585291
The first 100 participants get 5GB free Dropbox space!
Making a difference in the world, networking, great prizes...
I’D Hack for international development ... wouldn't you?
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Sunday, February 16
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Genetically Engineered Foods: A community film screening and discussion in Jamaica Plain
Sunday, February 16th
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Spontaneous Celebrations, 45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain
This event is free and open to the public.
Join with Massachusetts GMO labeling advocates for a screening of the documentary Genetic Roulette (60 minutes) followed by a discussion about what GMOs mean for Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and how we can work together to keep our communities safe and healthy.
What are the health risks associated with Genetically Engineered foods (GMOs)?
What can we do to protect our food and our health?
How can we support efforts to label GMO foods?
Following a screening of the award-winning documentary "Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of our Lives," community members will join in discussion with Jack Kittredge, policy director at the Northeast Organic Farmers Association MA Chapter, and Ed Stockman, biologist, organic farmer, and co-founder of MA Right to Know GMOs.
People will hear about the national and statewide movements for GMO labeling and discuss how to take action to declare our right to know what's in our food.
Boston Organics, a local and organic food delivery company, and Life Force Juice, an organic juice delivery company, are co-sponsoring the event and providing light refreshments.
For details and updates on the event, please visit http://www.marighttoknow.org/home/jp
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Tuesday, February 18
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Boston TechBreakfast: Abine, Gradeable, InsideTracker, 1sqbox, HubEngage
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
8:00 AM
Microsoft NERD Center, Horace Mann Room, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-TechBreakfast/events/155722462/
Interact with your peers in a monthly morning breakfast meetup. At this monthly breakfast get-together techies, developers, designers, and entrepreneurs share learn from their peers through show and tell / show-case style presentations.
And yes, this is free! Thank our sponsors when you see them :)
Agenda for February 2014:
8:00 - 8:15 - Get yer Bagels & Coffee and chit-chat
8:15 - 8:20 - Introductions, Sponsors, Announcements
8:20 - ~9:30 - Showcases and Shout-Outs!
Abine - Zach Rachins
Gradeable - Kattie Lam
30 Second Lightning "Shout Outs": JOBS
InsideTracker - Gil Blander
1sqbox - Alexis Coates
30 Second Lightning "Shout Outs": EVENTS
HubEngage - Chris Requena
~9:30 - end - Final "Shout Outs" & Last Words
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Caryl Rivers, professor of journalism, Boston University
Tuesday, February 18
12 p.m.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Speaker Series with Caryl Rivers, professor of journalism, Boston University, blogger on media and politics, commentator on Women’s e-news; and Rosalind Barnett, senior scientist at the Women's Studies Research Center and executive director of Community, Families & Work Program, Brandeis University. Rivers and Barnett are co-authors of The Soft War on Women: How the Myth of Female Ascendance is Hurting Women, Men and our Economy. Co-sponsored with the Women and Public Policy Program.
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Talking to Strangers: Chinese Youth and Social Media
February 18, 2014 at 12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/02/wang#RSVP
This event will be webcast live (on this page) at 12:30pm ET.
with Tricia Wang, Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
When we read about the Chinese internet in the Western press, we usually hear stories about censorship, political repression, and instability. But there's a lot more to be learned about life on the other side of “The Great Firewall.”
Based on over 10 years of ethnographic research, Tricia Wang's fieldwork reveals that social media is creating spaces in China that are shifting norms and behaviors in unexpected ways. Most surprisingly, Chinese youth are sharing information and socializing with strangers. She argues that they are finding ways to semi-anonymously connect to each other and establish a web of casual trust that extends beyond particularistic guanxi ties and authoritarian institutions.
Chinese youth are discovering their social world and seeking emotional connection—not political change. Tricia argues that this reflects a new form of sociality among Chinese youth: an Elastic Self. Evidence of this new self is unfolding in three ways: from self-restraint to self-expression, from comradeship to friendship, and from a “moral me” to a “moral we.” This new sociality is lying the groundwork for a public sphere to emerge from ties primarily based on friendship and interactions founded on a causal web of public trust. The changes Tricia has documented have potentially transformative power for Chinese society as a whole because they are radically altering the way that people perceive and engage with each other.
About Tricia
Tricia is a global tech ethnographer transforming businesses into people-centered organizations. Utilizing Digital Age design research methods, Tricia specializes in balancing qualitative and quantitative data analysis for institutions to fulfill their strategic goals. She advises organizations (large and small) on how to understand their "users" or "consumers" as people, not just datasets. She’s passionate about her work as a people champion in companies, start-ups, and non-profits. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Nokia and GE and numerous institutions from the UN to NASA.
Her research interests lie at the intersection of technology and culture—the investigation of how social media and the internet affect identity-making, trust formation, and collective action. Through extensive fieldwork in China and Latin America, she has developed expertise on digital communities in emerging economies, leading to the formulation of an innovative sociological framework for understanding user interactions online.
Tricia relishes on-the-ground, hyper-immersive ethnographic fieldwork, which has provided her with a unique understanding of the experiences of edge communities. During her projects she has pioneered ethnographic techniques such as live fieldnoting, which uses social media tools to share real-time fieldwork data. She is a thought leader on integrative approaches of combining Big Data and what she terms, Thick Data.
A Fulbright Fellow and National Science Foundation Fellow, Tricia has been recognized as a leading authority by journalists, investors, and ethnographic and sociological researchers. Her research has been featured in The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, Fast Company, Makeshift, and Wired. She has presented at the Microsoft Social Computing Symposium, Lift, and South by Southwest. She is also proud to have co-founded the first national hip-hop education initiative, which turned into the Hip Hop Education Center at New York University and to have built after-school technology and arts programs for low-income youth at New York City public schools and the Queens Museum of Arts.
She is a visiting scholar at New York University's Interactive Telecommunication Program and Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet Studies. She received her PhD in Sociology at UC San Diego. She is also an advisory board member of Rev Arts in New York City. She is currently writing a book, tentatively titled, Tales from the Chinese Internet, which is about the Chinese Internet as an expressive space in which people uniquely shape their identities in an otherwise rigid society, a phenomenon she calls "the Elastic Self.” Her research philosophy is that you have to go to the edges to discover what's really happening. She is the proud owner of an internet famous dog who balances stuff on her head, #ellethedog.
Links
@triciawang
Tricia Wang's website
Tricia's blog: Ethnography Matters
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"Geology Rules: Unconventional Development of Oil/Gas from Shale Formations"
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
1:15pm
Harvard, EPS Faculty Lounge, 4th Floor, Hoffman Laboratory, 20 Oxford Street, Cambridge
with Anthony R. Ingraffea, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
Abstract: We will explore some myths and realities concerning large-scale development of the unconventional natural gas/oil resource in shale deposits. On a local scale, these concern geological aspects of the plays, and the resulting development and use of directional drilling, high-volume, slickwater, hydraulic fracturing, multi-well clustered pad arrangements, and the impacts of these technologies on waste production and disposal, and possible contamination of water supplies. On a global scale, we will also explore the cumulative impact of unconventional gas on greenhouse gas loading of the atmosphere.
Solid Earth Physics Seminar and SEAS Applied Mechanics Colloquium
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Wednesday, February 19
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"Science and Technology of Unconventional Fossil Fuel Production"
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
4:00pm
Harvard, 301 Pierce Hall (near McKay Library entry), 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
with Robert L. Kleinberg, Schlumberger
Abstract: The advent of fossil fuel production from gas shale and tight oil resources has revolutionized the energy economy of the United States. The effects have been widespread, and have included a shift from coal to natural gas in electric power generation, the return of the petrochemical industry from overseas, and a marked improvement in U.S. energy security. However, production techniques such as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) have raised questions about whether these new sources of energy can be exploited in a manner consistent with environmental protection. The scientific and technological foundations of unconventional fossil fuel production will be discussed, and applied to a selection of topics of public concern.
Solid Earth Physics Seminar and SEAS Applied Mechanics Colloquium
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"The Economics of Attribute Based Regulation: Theory and Evidence from Fuel Economy Standards."
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
4:10pm - 5:30pm
Harvard, Kennedy School of Government, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Room L-382, Cambridge
Koichiro Ito, Boston University, and James M. Sallee, University of Chicago
Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
For further information, contact Professor Stavins at the Kennedy School (495-1820), Professor Weitzman at the Department of Economics (495-5133), or the course assistant, Jason Chapman (496-8054), or visit the seminar web site.
http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k96249
Contact Name: Jason Chapman
617-496-8054
Support from the Enel Endowment for Environmental Economics and the Department of Economics is Gratefully Acknowledged
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Thursday, February 20
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Re-thinking the Urban freeway
Thu, Feb 20, 2014 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
Webinar Registration at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/698597710
Across the country, urban freeways are at the end of their design lives, and communities are wrestling with the question of how to deal with them. States and cities have the opportunity to re-think, remove, or re-purpose urban freeway space, which can address environmental and social justice harm and result in significant local economic and social benefits. This webinar considers best practices and solutions for aging freeways that states and cities can look towards to help mitigate freeway impacts and secure a healthy and more prosperous future for the communities these roadways travel through.
Panelists: Joan McDonald, Commissioner, New York State DOT, and Billy Fields, Assistant Professor, Texas State University
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"Challenges of Balancing the Chinese Power System with Large-Scale Renewable Penetration"
Thursday, February 20, 2014
3:30pm
Harvard, Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
with Zhang Ning, Research Associate, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University; Visiting Scholar, Harvard China Project
China Project Seminar
http://chinaproject.harvard.edu/
Contact Name: Chris Nielsen
nielsen2 at fas.harvard.edu
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Beyond Smart Cities: Design of new urban systems
Thursday, February 20
6:00 pm
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
Ryan Chin, managing director for the City Science Initiative at MIT Media Lab, who has developed numerous technologies, strategies, and designs to address congestion, energy inefficiency, and pollution, outlines new urban vehicle systems while highlighting possibilities for Greater Boston’s space-constrained streets. The talk will also explore innovations in the areas of energy, housing, and food-production systems that may close the gap between what we have and what we need. For example, what if we lived in high-density live/work neighborhoods where 80% of what most people need are within a 20-minute walk?
To attend, email rsvp at architects.org with "Traffic 2/20" in the subject line.
Rights of Way: Mobility and the City on exhibit at the BSA until May 26, 2014
http://bsaspace.org/exhibitions/rights-of-way-mobility-and-the-city/
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Friday, February 21
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2014 MIT Energy Conference
February 21-22, 2014
http://mitenergyconference.com
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Saturday, February 22
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Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) Workshop
Saturday, February 22
St. Paul's Episcopal Churchm 39 E. Central Street, Natick
RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=s4blzzbab&oeidk=a07e8rs0p9v554b139a
Sign up for a Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) workshop to be eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan and reduce energy costs!
Would you like to save money for your parish? Did you know that the average parish in the diocese spends over $20,000 on energy costs annually but that savings of 20-30% are possible? Do you know Diocesan grant and loan funds are available to assist with energy efficiency improvements that can help achieve these savings? As importantly, reducing your energy use also cares for God’s creation by reducing the greenhouse gases your parish produces.
The Diocese’s Creation Care Initiative can help your parish learn how to reduce its energy use and cost, evaluate potential energy savings projects then purchase needed supplies and equipment.
The harvest has been plentiful! Since the grant program launched in 2011, we have granted nearly $600,000 in Green Grants to 69 congregations, and all have representatives that attended SHOWs to learn the whys and hows of sustainability and reducing carbon footprints. In 2014, we will have another round as we use the resources our diocese’s Together Now campaign has raised.
Consider this: whether you intend to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan or not, determining the size of your carbon footprint is the first step in energy savings and caring for creation. One of the first steps to being eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan is to attend a SHOW workshop.
In this half-day session conducted by Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (www.mipandl.org) you will learn:
How to track your energy use, cost and carbon footprint
How to find no-cost and low cost projects that can have a big impact on your electricity and heating bills
How to evaluate energy using equipment and systems to determine whether they should be updated
Incentives, rebates and other financial help available through utility companies
How to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan
There is $10 per person fee to attend the workshop, payable during online registration through PayPal or by check. Light refreshments are included. Registration begins at 8:30 and the program starts at 9.
When you register, you will receive an easy-to-use spreadsheet to calculate your parish’s energy use and cost; you are encourage to fill it out and bring it to the workshop. You may also download the spreadsheet here: http://www.mipandl.org/MIPL_resources/MIPL_HOWUtiUseCost.xls
Who should attend: Parishes are encouraged to send two members from their environment committee, property committee or Vestry. Other members who are interested are also welcome.
REGISTRATION CLOSES FEBRUARY 20TH
Contact Esther Powell
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
617.482.4826 x421
epowell at diomass.org
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Ideastorm - Free Event for High School Students
Saturday, February 22, 2014
1:00pm - 5:00pm
Cambridge Innovation Center, Venture Cafe 1 Broadway, Cambridge
Cost: FREE
RSVP at http://youngentrepreneurchallenge.com/ideastorm/
What is IdeaStorm?
IdeaStorm is a mini-version of the Young Entrepreneur Challenge for high school students. Come into Cambridge, MA to work with the YEC mentor team to develop a new business idea.
When you're here, you'll join other high school students in a down and dirty brainstorming and business pitch event. Complete with coaching from our mentors and lots of prizes to win, IdeaStorm is the perfect exploration of entrepreneurship!
The Run Down
When is IdeaStorm?
The next IdeaStorm will take place on February 22nd, 2014 from 1.00PM to 5.00PM. Registration is now open!
Where is IdeaStorm?
IdeaStorm takes place at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Cambridge, MA at Kendall Square.
Do I have to do anything before IdeaStorm?
Nope! Simply show up and we'll take over from there!
Do I have to register?
We have limited spots so we'd appreciate if you could use the EventBrite registration form below to officially reserve your spot at IdeaStorm. You may also show up at the event and see if there's extra spots.
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Thursday, February 27
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Oilfield Technology : How innovation changes the game
Thursday, February 27, 2014
3:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building 3-333
Speaker: Julius Kusuma, Schlumberger
In this Energy Club Lectures Series, Julius Kusuma of Schlumberger will discuss Schlumberger's innovative oilfield technologies.
Energy Lectures Series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact: Aziz Abdellahi
aziz_a at mit.edu
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Saturday, March 1
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Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) Workshop
Saturday, March 1
9:00 AM to 12:30 PM EST
Trinity Episcopal Church, 124 River Road, Topsfield
RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=s4blzzbab&oeidk=a07e8sp7hkpc2a4f02a
Sign up for a Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) workshop to be eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan and reduce energy costs!
Would you like to save money for your parish? Did you know that the average parish in the diocese spends over $20,000 on energy costs annually but that savings of 20-30% are possible? Do you know Diocesan grant and loan funds are available to assist with energy efficiency improvements that can help achieve these savings? As importantly, reducing your energy use also cares for God’s creation by reducing the greenhouse gases your parish produces.
The Diocese’s Creation Care Initiative can help your parish learn how to reduce its energy use and cost, evaluate potential energy savings projects then purchase needed supplies and equipment.
The harvest has been plentiful! Since the grant program launched in 2011, we have granted nearly $600,000 in Green Grants to 69 congregations, and all have representatives that attended SHOWs to learn the whys and hows of sustainability and reducing carbon footprints. In 2014, we will have another round as we use the resources our diocese’s Together Now campaign has raised.
Consider this: whether you intend to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan or not, determining the size of your carbon footprint is the first step in energy savings and caring for creation. One of the first steps to being eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan is to attend a SHOW workshop.
In this half-day session conducted by Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (www.mipandl.org) you will learn:
How to track your energy use, cost and carbon footprint
How to find no-cost and low cost projects that can have a big impact on your electricity and heating bills
How to evaluate energy using equipment and systems to determine whether they should be updated
Incentives, rebates and other financial help available through utility companies
How to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan
There is $10 per person fee to attend the workshop, payable during online registration through PayPal or by check. Light refreshments are included. Registration begins at 8:30 and the program starts at 9.
When you register, you will receive an easy-to-use spreadsheet to calculate your parish’s energy use and cost; you are encourage to fill it out and bring it to the workshop. You may also download the spreadsheet here: http://www.mipandl.org/MIPL_resources/MIPL_HOWUtiUseCost.xls
Who should attend: Parishes are encouraged to send two members from their environment committee, property committee or Vestry. Other members who are interested are also welcome.
Location Information: Trinity Church is located just off I-95 at 124 River Road in Topsfield. Click here for directions. The workshop will take place in the Vestry Room/Worship Room space, which is in the office wing. There will be signs to direct you! The space is completely handicap-accessible.
REGISTRATION CLOSES FEBRUARY 27TH
Contact Esther Powell
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
617.482.4826 x421
epowell at diomass.org
---------------------------------
Concert for the Silver Maple Forest
Saturday, March 1, 2014
7:30pm
The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Avenue, Belmont
Tickets: http://www.belmontcoalition.org
Donation $25 or $27 at the door
Featuring: The Loomers
with food baby opening
Contact Save the Silver Maple Forest
https://www.facebook.com/savethesilvermapleforest
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2nd Annual Massachusetts Urban Farming Conference
Saturday, March 8, 2014
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Northeastern University Student Center, Curry Center, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-massachusetts-urban-farming-conference-tickets-7547919029
The 2nd Annual Massachusetts Urban Farming Conference (UFC) is designed to advance urban farming issues ranging from farming techniques and
business models to climate change adaptation and food security. The UFC contributes to short-term and long-term state-wide strategic planning for a sustainable food system in Massachusetts.
Network with Massachusetts' diverse, multi-sector stakeholders in this dynamic event that looks at current issues, emerging practices and programs, and markets that
can contribute to Massachusetts' urban farming sector resiliency.
For vendor or general information, contact Rose Arruda at MDAR; Rose.Arruda at state.ma.us
For sponsorship opportunities, contact Crystal Johnson at Crystal at isesplanning.com
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"Transit Equity"
Friday, March 21
6:00 pm
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
John A. Powell, professor of law, African American Studies and Ethnic Studies, and executive director of the Haas Diversity Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, will speak about transit equity's key role in Boston's upcoming transportation visioning. To attend this free event, emailrsvp at architects.org with "Traffic 3/21" in the subject line. Seats are extremely limited. Reserve yours today!
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Opportunity
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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!
Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.
For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home
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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images
Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.
HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.
Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.
Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.
The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.
Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.
That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.
With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).
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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ
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HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.
During the assessment, the energy specialist will:
Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.
Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.
HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.
(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)
(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)
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Resource
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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide
SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!
To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha at sbnboston.org
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Free Monthly Energy Analysis
CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.
https://www.carbonsalon.com/
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Boston Food System
"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."
The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.
It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs
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Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/
Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations http://thesprouts.org/
Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei at wellesley.edu
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Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
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Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com
Thanks to
Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area: http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com
MIT Events: http://events.mit.edu
MIT Energy Club: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events/calendar/
Harvard Events: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/
Harvard Environment: http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
Mass Climate Action: http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/
Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/
Microsoft NERD Center: http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx
Startup and Entrepreneurial Events: http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar
High Tech Events: http://harddatafactory.com/Johnny_Monsarrat/index.html
Cambridge Civic Journal: http://www.rwinters.com
Cambridge Happenings: http://cambridgehappenings.org
Boston Area Computer User Groups: http://www.bugc.org/
Arts and Cultural Events List: http://aacel.blogspot.com/
Boston Events Insider: http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/
Nerdnite: http://boston.nerdnite.com/
More information about the Act-MA
mailing list