[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - February 8, 2015
George Mokray
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Feb 8 11:13:30 PST 2015
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
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Monday, February 9
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11:30am Separated by a Common Language? A Unified Framework Bridging the Gap Between Language and Networks
12pm To Model or Not to Model? Formalizing the Conceptual Modeling Thought Process to Benefit Engineers and Scientists
12pm Design principles for heterogeneous materials synthesis : Lessons from biology
12pm Public Policy and the U.S. Solar Industry
12pm New Fossil Discoveries from the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa
1pm Women in Biotech
2:30pm Quality Predictability and the Welfare Benefits from New Products: Evidence from the Digitization of Recorded Music
4pm A Public Lecture and Conversation on Innovation with Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
4pm Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
4:15pm Still Waiting for Tomorrow: The Politics of Unresolved Refugee Crises
4:30pm What happens to media coverage of conflicts when everyone leaves?
5pm Group Love
5:30pm London's Mayor Boris Johnson at Faneuil Hall with John Fish and John Barros
6pm 3D Printing Wearables: Jewelry, Accessories and Clothing
6pm Designing Boston: Olympics 2024
7pm Science by the Pint: The Global Energy Challenge
7pm The Tyranny of the Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America
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Tuesday, February 10
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7:45am Boston Going for the Gold in 2024: Transportation and Infrastructure Opportunities and Hurdles
12pm In Government, Working with the Media
12:30pm Voices in Leadership Webcast: Leading as a Surgeon by Day and Writer by Night
4pm Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
4pm Controversy! Covering Climate & Energy from the Nation's Capital
4pm Oil, Politics and the Violence Linking Paris and Yemen? A General Discussion of Major Middle East-related Events
4:30pm The Art of Science TV
4:30pm Iran and the United States: Eternal Enemies or Natural Partners?
5pm Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific
5:30pm Occupy and Indignant Movements in Spain and the United States
6pm Gamification & Promoting Financial Systems
6:30pm Gamification & Promoting Financial Systems
7pm The Internet Is Not the Answer
7pm The Power of Wearable Technology in Sports with MC10's Isaiah Kacyvenski
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Wednesday, February 11
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12pm Eating local? Nature and origins of the first agricultural groups in the South Caucasus
12pm Fundraising in Energy
12pm David Sanger (The New York Times)
12pm National Security Cyber Operations and Policy Event
12:30pm Food Policy and Regional Food Systems: Opportunities for Networking across Jurisdictions
4pm Fellows’ Presentation Series: Prose Architectures
5:30pm Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
6pm Lecture by David Lisak
6pm Cambridge Getting to Net Zero Task Force
6pm cultureNOW: Public Art as Placemaking
6pm Mass Innovation Nights #MINFoodie8
6:30pm Green Exchange - Sustainability Speed Networking
7pm The Starfish Throwers
7pm Crops, Water, and Climate Change: What Can We Learn From The Maya?
7pm The Health of Democracy: Social Immobility and Civic Participation
7pm ThinkFWD – Broken Promise? Higher Ed and the Path to Upward Mobility
7:30pm Reporting from the New China: A Conversation about Writing with Evan Osnos
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Thursday, February 12
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10am Massachusetts' Global Divestment Day
12pm Bioethics in the 30th century: ecology, eschatology and empire in Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa manga
4pm The Polar Oceans During the Ice Ages
4pm The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It
4:30pm Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Change
6pm The Art and Science of Cheese
6pm Assistive Technology Hackathong: Meet-the-clients dinner
6pm The Future of Food: How Science, Technology, and Taste Shape What We Eat
6pm Cambridge Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Public Meeting
6pm B2Bee // Honey for your Honey!
7pm Movie Showing: 'A Fierce Green Fire'
7pm Cutting Edge Cooperatives
7pm Universities and the Climate Crisis: Financial Implication of Fossil fuel Divestment
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Friday, February 13
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8:30am Innovation Breakfast at VentureCafe (1 Broadway)
12pm A Bird's-Eye View of the Carbon Cycle: Using the Atmosphere to Inform Processes at the Land Surface
12pm Housing in Extreme Environments: Alpine Shelter
3pm The Eureka Myth: Creators, Innovators, and Everyday Intellectual Property
4pm Monarch Butterfly Migration: From Behavior to Neurons to Genes
4pm ID Hack 2015
7pm Believer: My Forty Years in Politics
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Sunday, February 15
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9am Rain Barrel Construction Workshop
1:30pm Culture and Creating Communities
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Monday, February 16
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6pm Power to the Pedals: Wenzday Jane and the Culture of Change
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Tuesday, February 17
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12pm Reporting on Ferguson and Subsequent Developments
12pm #StopEbola: What Nigeria did right
4pm Why Can't We Be Friends? Academe, Corporate Universities & Educational Partnerships
4pm Made in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka: The Labor Behind the Global Garments and Textiles Industries
4pm From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks: The Life and Times of Harry Bridges
6pm Whale Conservation and the Future of the Oceans
6:30pm Mario Schjetnan, "Landscape: An Evolution of Practice and Theory"
7pm CafeSci Boston: “Studying Genomic Origami"
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com
Pollster Peter Hart at Harvard 2/3/15
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2015/02/pollster-peter-hart-at-harvard-2315.html
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Monday, February 9
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Separated by a Common Language? A Unified Framework Bridging the Gap Between Language and Networks
Monday, February 9
11:30am to 1:00pm
Harvard, Maxwell Dworkin 119, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Oren Tsur, Harvard SEAS
Network science mainly deals with questions about the observed and potential structure of networks. Language processing, on the other hand, typically deals with content rather than the medium and the social setting of the discourse. In my talk, I will present a unified framework that bridges the gap between the two disciplines. The framework combines topic models, sentiment analysis, regression models and network analysis. I will present results from the political domain showing how we can detect patterns of coordinated campaigns for agenda setting, framing and political spin, based on automatic analysis of large collection of public statements made by members of the US Congress. If time (and questions) permit I’ll conclude with some initial results derived from automatic construction of political networks of cooperation and influence.
Speaker Bio: Oren Tsur is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University (SEAS & IQSS) jointly with Lazer's lab at Northeastern University. He earned his PhD. in Computer Science from the Hebrew University and his research combines Natural Language Processing and Network Science. Oren received the 2014 NSF fellowship for research of Political Networks.
Center for Research on Computation and Society
15 minutes of fame: Our work on sarcasm detection was selected by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2010. (Here is pop sci talk [HEB])
Homepage: http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~orentsur/
Contact: Carol Harlow
Email: harlow at seas.harvard.edu
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To Model or Not to Model? Formalizing the Conceptual Modeling Thought Process to Benefit Engineers and Scientists
Monday, February 9
12:00p–1:00p
Webinar at http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_020915/formalizing-conceptual-modeling-thought-process.html
Speaker: Dov Dori, Lecturer, Engineering Systems Division, MIT, and Harry Lebensfeld Chair in Industrial Engineering, Technion???Israel Institute of Technology
This webinar will introduce the principles of Object-Process Methodology (OPM) and demonstrate the value of OPM-based conceptual modeling in a variety of engineering and science domains. During this session, Professor Dov Dori will:
define and exemplify conceptual modeling and its benefits in various disciplines;
introduce OPM as a formal modeling language that is agile, lightweight, compact, and easy to learn;
show how OPM has benefited engineers and scientists in various disciplines; and
present a vision for the future role of conceptual modeling in improving endeavors across science and engineering.
A Q&A will follow the presentation. We invite you to join us.
MIT System Design & Management Systems Thinking Webinar Series
This series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.
Web site: http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_020915/formalizing-conceptual-modeling-thought-process.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to all
Tickets: See url above.
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design & Management (SDM)
For more information, contact: Lois Slavin
lslavin at mit.edu
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“Design principles for heterogeneous materials synthesis : Lessons from biology”
Monday, February 9
12:00pm
MIT, Building 4-331, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Arvind Murugan, Harvard University
In contrast to traditionally studied systems, biological materials are often highly heterogeneous — the number of kinds of degrees of freedom (e.g, number of particle species) is large and comparable to the system size. Examples include self-assembled macromolecular complexes and structures formed by the folding of polymers like RNA, proteins and membranes programmed with locally varying properties. By unraveling the principles behind such heterogeneous systems, we can not only improve existing synthetic methods of materials science but also discover completely new kinds of materials.
In this talk, I will first show that even basic questions about the assembly of heterogeneous structures, such as the optimal concentrations of different species in the structure, have counter-intuitive answers from the homogeneous perspective. Second, I will examine an assumption underlying current bottom-up approaches - namely, that only one target structure or behavior can be programmed into the properties of building blocks. In contrast, I will show, using ideas from theoretical neuroscience and spin glasses, that we can ``store’’ and ``retrieve’’ multiple desired structures in the frustrated interactions of a highly heterogeneous system. My framework has implications both for the evolution of biological assemblies as well as for synthetic materials ranging from DNA brick assemblies to novel mechanical meta- materials.
Special Biophysics Chez Pierre Seminar
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Public Policy and the U.S. Solar Industry
Monday, February 9
12-1:30
Harvard, Bell Hall (5th Floor Belfer Building), 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Frank O'Sullivan, Director of Research and Analysis, MIT Energy Initiative
ETIP/Consortium Energy Policy Seminar
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"New Fossil Discoveries from the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa"
Monday, February 9
12:00 pm to 1:30 pm
BU, 232 Bay State Road, Room 505
Jeremy De Silva (BU)
The Walter Rodney Seminars are held every Monday in the William O. Brown Seminar Room of the African Studies Center, 232 Bay State Road, presenting the latest research by local and international scholars and followed by robust discussions with the audience. Join us as "the Rodney" enters its 38th year!
Contact: Joanne Hart
617-353-3673 or johart at bu.edu
BU African Studies Center
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Women in Biotech
WHEN Mon., Feb. 9, 2015, 1 – 5 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, 10 Garden Street, Knafel Center, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Alison Wood Brooks, assistant professor of business administration, Harvard Business School
Daniel Carpenter, faculty director of the social sciences program, Academic Ventures at the Radcliffe Institute, Allie S. Freed Professor of Government in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and director of the Center for American Political Studies
Ann DeWitt, senior director of investments, Sanofi-Genzyme Bioventures
Deborah Dunsire, president and chief executive officer, Forum Pharmaceuticals
Robin Ely, Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community, Harvard Business School
Monica C. Higgins, Kathleen McCartney Professor in Education Leadership, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Anula Jayasuriya, cofounder and managing director, Evolvence India Life Science Fund
Janet Rich-Edwards, codirector of the science program, Academic Ventures at the Radcliffe Institute, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Laurel Smith-Doerr, professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Social Science Research, University of Massachusetts Amherst
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS Why are women underrepresented as leaders in the biotech industry? Scientists, industry and venture capital leaders, and academics will also consider new research, experimentation, and promising models that may help industry, universities, government, and private capital improve the current system.
Register online: http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2015-women-in-biotech-symposium
LINK http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2015-women-in-biotech-symposium
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Quality Predictability and the Welfare Benefits from New Products: Evidence from the Digitization of Recorded Music
Monday, February 9
2:30p–4:00p
MIT, Building E62-450, 400 Main Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Joel Waldfogel (Carlson School of Management)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): IO Workshop
For more information, contact: economics calendar
econ-cal at mit.edu
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A Public Lecture and Conversation on Innovation with Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
Monday, February 9
4:00pm – 5:00pm
MIT Sloan School of Management, Building E62, Room 262, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
doors open at 3:45
Moderated by Professor Fiona Murray
Associate Dean for Innovation, MIT Sloan School of Management
Co-Director, MIT Innovation Institute
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Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
WHEN Mon., Feb. 9, 2015, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
SPEAKER(S) Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO hutchevents at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS A Lecture in Three Parts
2/9 - The Law and Freedom of Slavery
2/10 - Rethinking the Underground Railroad
2/11 - The Record of Fugitives
LINK hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu
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Still Waiting for Tomorrow: The Politics of Unresolved Refugee Crises
WHEN Mon., Feb. 9, 2015, 4:15 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Nye Conference Room A, Taubman Building, Fifth Floor, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Middle East Initiative
SPEAKER(S) A seminar with Susan Akram, clinical professor, Boston University School of Law, discussing her book Still Waiting for Tomorrow: The Politics of Unresolved Refugee Crises.
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS A seminar with Susan Akram, clinical professor, Boston University School of Law, discussing her book Still Waiting for Tomorrow: The Politics of Unresolved Refugee Crises.
Followed directly by a book signing at the Harvard COOP, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA.
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6533/still_waiting_for_tomorrow.html
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What happens to media coverage of conflicts when everyone leaves?
WHEN Mon., Feb. 9, 2015, 4:30 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Tsai Auditorium (S-010), Knafel South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
SPEAKER(S) Farnaz Fassihi, middle east correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and Nieman Fellow
Robert Loftis, retired Foreign Serivce officer and professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO Donna Hicks, Chair
dhicks at wcfia.harvard.edu
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Group Love
Monday, February 9
5 p.m.
Yenching Auditorium, Yenching Library, 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Mahzarin Banaji
Abstract: From the moment of birth, every human is a member of many groups. By the opportunities and liberties offered or snatched away, group memberships shape lives ubiquitously and enduringly. Group memberships create affiliations of “us” and “them” and sensitivity to status in social hierarchies. Human minds reflect these in myriad attitudes and beliefs, which contain deep knowledge about the hidden presence of group love, its surprising absence, and its opposite. Unveiling them, through a diversity of methods now available to experimental psychology, allows understanding the natural and cultivated ways in which group love is elusively tuned up and down.
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London's Mayor Boris Johnson at Faneuil Hall with John Fish and John Barros
British Consulate General, Boston
Monday, February 9
5:30 PM to 7:00 PM (EST)
Faneuil Hall, 1 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/londons-mayor-boris-johnson-at-faneuil-hall-with-john-fish-and-john-barros-tickets-15616691946
Mayor Boris Johnson will be joined by Boston 2024 Chairman John Fish and Chief of Economic Development for the City of Boston John Barros to discuss London's 2012 Olympic legacy and opportunities to bring bold plans for development to life.
The discussion will be moderated by NECN's Jim Braude.
A valid Eventbrite registration and ticket must be presented to enter the event.
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3D Printing Wearables: Jewelry, Accessories and Clothing
Monday, February 9
6:00 PM
Liquid Art House, 100 Arlington Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Wearable-technologies-in-Boston/events/219398701/
Wearable technology is becoming easier to develop and prototype with the aid of 3D printing. Lets get together and take a look at some awesome projects happening all around Boston/Cambridge/Somerville. We'll have a couple of speakers present their work.
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Designing Boston: Olympics 2024
Monday, February 9
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
RSVP by emailing rsvp at architects.org
Join us on February 9 for our next Designing Boston conversation, this time on the U.S. Olympic Committee’s decision to back Boston as the host for the 2024 Olympics.
As former Boston city councilor Mike Ross said during a recent interview with WBUR’s Radio Boston, “[The Big Dig] changed the shape and face of Boston and... the Olympics will do the same thing.”
Focusing on the role that architecture has (or has not) played in making previous Olympics successful, Ross will moderate this panel discussion and dive into lessons learned by architects and planners with past Olympic experience in such cities as Barcelona, Beijing, Sydney, and London. This event launches a series of conversations and debates related to potential roles, responsibilities, and opportunities available to architects, planners, and developers as this huge and exciting undertaking unfolds.
Moderator
Michael P. Ross, attorney, Prince Lobel Tye
Panelists will include
Dennis Pieprz Assoc. AIA, Principal, Sasaki Associates
Gavin McMillan, Senior Principal, Hargreaves Associates
Kyu Sung Woo FAIA, Kyu Sung Woo Architects
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Science by the Pint: The Global Energy Challenge
Monday, February 9
7 PM
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Somerville
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/NerdFunBoston/events/220122263/
Dr. Daniel Nocera: The Global Energy Challenge
The Nocera lab studies the basic mechanisms of energy conversion in biology and chemistry. We synthesize a variety of compounds and materials, ranging from organic supramolecular assemblies to inorganic coordination, organometallic, and extended layered compounds to biomolecules that permit us to investigate physical and chemical issues of pertinence to energy conversion. Expertise in a host of steady-state (absorption, emission, Raman) and time-resolved (nanosecond, picosecond, femtosecond) laser spectroscopies and other physical methods permits us to define critical phenomena, which in turn guide us in the further design of new systems with targeted reactivity. Students in all areas of expertise (inorganic, organic, solid state, physical and biological) apply their craft to solving important societal problems, the greatest of which is the delivery of a carbon-neutral and sustainable energy supply for the 21st century.
Science by the Pint is sponsored by an organization of Harvard graduate students called Science in the News. In between their sleepless hours of hard work at Harvard Med School, they bring cutting edge scientific research to the public in a fun and informal format.
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The Tyranny of the Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America
Monday, February 9
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Lani Guinier, author
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Tuesday, February 10
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Boston Going for the Gold in 2024: Transportation and Infrastructure Opportunities and Hurdles
Tuesday, February 10
7:45 AM to 9:45 AM (EST)
C. Walsh Theatre - Suffolk University, 55 Temple Street, Boston
How does Boston leverage its Olympics proposal to ensure that much-needed housing, transportation, and infrastructure improvements will be addressed for lasting benefits?
Panelists:
Richard Davey, CEO, Boston 2024
Peter Zuk, Principal, Zuk International, Inc.
Jeanne DuBois, Strategic Advisor, Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
Chris Dempsey, Co-Chair, No Boston Olympics
Alex Krieger, FAIA Principal, NBBJ, Professor of Urban Design Harvard Graduate School of Design
Moderated by:
Peter Howe, Business Editor, NECN
This event is free and open to the public; however, RSVP is required.
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In Government, Working with the Media
Tuesday, February 10
12 P.M.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Juliette Kayyem is a lecturer on Public Policy at the Kennedy School. She is a former candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, and was previously Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Homeland Security, on-air analyst for CNN, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Boston Globe. She will share her expertise on national security affairs and her experience working with and for the media.
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Can the State use information technology to police itself? A study of open governance in Andhra Pradesh, India
Tuesday, February 10
12:00 pm
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NXqspDV-9t3tvLat6z53mvLti2N0J4RBnGq79nCS-jw/viewform
Event will be webcast live on https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/9569 at 12:00 pm.
with Berkman Fellow, Rajesh Veeraraghavan
This talk examines the attempted use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to eliminate corruption within a bureaucracy in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. In this initiative, the senior bureaucrats built a digital network to curb corruption at the “last mile.” By increasing the visibility and by controlling the “micro-practices” of the work done by lower-level bureaucrats, this digital system allowed higher-level bureaucrats to exercise more control remotely, bypassing the existing “chain of command” form of control and reducing corruption. Ideally, the system was imagined to centralize power through technology in order to eliminate powers of discretion at the lower-levels of the bureaucracy. What my fieldwork revealed, however, was a constant struggle to control the digital system: the lower-level bureaucrats found creative ways to thwart the intentions of the higher-level bureaucrats. Agency was not removed from local politics; instead it was constantly renegotiated through efforts by local politicians and local bureaucrats on the one side and higher-level administrators on the other to control the technological instruments of surveillance. The struggle over surveillance is not the "Scottian" state against citizen but contestation within a divided state. ICT did reduce corruption and created a more “Weberian” bureaucracy but only up to a point. Local actors managed to defend their power and some of their ability to extract rents in the last mile. The struggle continues, on the new digital terrain.
About Rajesh
Rajesh Veeraraghavan is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Information, UC Berkeley, and a research fellow at the Transparency and Accountability Initiative at the Open Society Foundation. Rajesh questions the widespread belief that information technology can be used to "solve" either development or governance "problems," both by engaging in activism involving technological interventions and by using empirical methods to critically examine claims about the impact of ICT in governance. He studies how information and communication technology (ICT) is used in practice to regulate economic, social and political relationships.
Rajesh's PhD dissertation is an ethnographic examination of a bold "open government" experiment intended to eliminate corruption at the local "last-mile" of the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The government project takes place within the context of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA), which aims to support India's poorest citizens by guaranteeing a minimum level of employment for rural families. With the aim to eliminate corruption, the state instituted “social audits” and online record keeping, to improve government records and bureaucratic compliance, but the outcomes were found to depend greatly on existing state-citizen dynamics. Based on his findings, Rajesh recommends that open government projects go beyond the rhetoric of democratizing information to the more challenging task of democratizing administrative surveillance.
While at the Berkman Center, Rajesh will explore the use of high-resolution satellite map data to improve the quality of public infrastructure in India. Remote sensing data can be used as a starting point for material audits by providing a way to track built infrastructure and to enhance administrative surveillance. By monitoring the building of roads, canals, and other infrastructural assets and comparing it against project documents, it should be possible to create a "deviation report" that identifies and quantifies local corruption on a scale that was not possible before. Building on findings from his dissertation, the system will be a socio-technical system that relies on on-the-ground partners and human intermediaries both to detect and confirm deviations, as well as to celebrate creation of public assets.
Previously, Rajesh was an associate researcher at the Technology for Emerging Markets group at Microsoft Research India. His work focused on building appropriate technologies for socio-economic development. One of his projects there was the first in the context of developing-world rural ICT to replace an existing PC-based system with a mobile-phone system; the system communicated information between a sugarcane cooperative and its member farmers via SMS. His work led to several research publications as well as non-profit spin-off called Digital Green on whose board he serves. Before MSR India, he worked as a software developer at Microsoft in the United States and was an active volunteer with the Association for India's Development. Rajesh has degrees in Computer Science, Economics and Management.
For more information see http://ischool.berkeley.edu/~rajesh
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Voices in Leadership Webcast: Leading as a Surgeon by Day and Writer by Night
WHEN Tue., Feb. 10, 2015, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/voices/events/gawande/
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Science, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Voices in Leadership Series
SPEAKER(S) Atul Gawande, Executive Director, Ariadne Labs
COST Free
TICKET WEB LINK http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/voices/events/gawande/
CONTACT INFO voices at hsph.harvard.edu
LINK http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/voices/events/gawande/
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Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
WHEN Tue., Feb. 10, 2015, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
SPEAKER(S) Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO hutchevents at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS A Lecture in Three Parts
2/9 - The Law and Freedom of Slavery
2/10 - Rethinking the Underground Railroad
2/11 - The Record of Fugitives
LINK hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu
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Controversy! Covering Climate & Energy from the Nation's Capital
WHEN Tue., Feb. 10, 2015, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Malkin Penthouse, Littauer 4th Floor, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR HKS Belfer Center Environment & Natural Resources Program & Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics & Public Policy
SPEAKER(S) New York Times climate & energy reporter Coral Davenport, Washington Bureau
COST Free and Open to the Public
CONTACT INFO Cristine_Russell at hks.harvard.edu
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Oil, Politics and the Violence Linking Paris and Yemen? A General Discussion of Major Middle East-related Events
WHEN Tue., Feb. 10, 2015, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Room 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Center for Middle Eastern Studies
SPEAKER(S) Roger Owen, A.J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History, Harvard University
CONTACT INFO Liz Flanagan, elizabethflanagan at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS PLEASE NOTE: This event was originally scheduled for January 27, was rescheduled for February 3; and is now rescheduled for FEBRUARY 10.
This event is open to the public; no registration required. This event is off the record. The use of recording devices is strictly prohibited.
LINK http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/3824
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The Art of Science TV
Tuesday, February 10
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
MIT, Building E19-623, Knight Conference Room, 400 Main Street, Cambridge
Paula Apsell
Senior Executive Producer, NOVA Director of the WGBH Science Unit, and former Knight Science Journalism Fellow
Science Storytelling on TV
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Iran and the United States: Eternal Enemies or Natural Partners?
Tuesday, February 10
4:30p–6:00p
MIT, Building E51-376, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Stephen Kinzer
Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents. His articles and books have led the Washington Post to place him "among the best in popular foreign policy storytelling."
Kinzer spent more than 20 years working for the New York Times, most of it as a foreign correspondent. His foreign postings placed him at the center of historic events and, at times, in the line of fire.
Kinzer has taught political science, journalism and international relations at Northwestern and Boston University. He is now a Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, where he teaches international relations.
Kinzer's newest book, The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War, has been widely praised. Reviewers have called it sparkling, riveting, gripping, bracing, and disturbing.
Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar
The Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar is organized under the auspices of the MIT Center for International Studies, which conducts research on contemporary international issues and provides an opportunity for faculty and students to share perspectives and exchange views. Each year the Bustani Seminar invites scholars, journalists, consultants and other experts from the Middle East, Europe and the United States to MIT to present recent research findings on contemporary politics, society and culture, and economic and technological development in the Middle East.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/cis/bustani/
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, MIT Technology and Culture Forum
For more information, contact: Heidi Erickson
617- 253-1888
hae at mit.edu
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Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific
Tuesday, February 10
5:00p–6:30p
MIT, Building E40-496, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Christine Yano, Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, Harvard University, and Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Christine Yano, Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, Harvard University, and Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawai???i at M??noa will discuss her 2013 book, "Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific" and provide hints into Japanese culture of cuteness.
Web site: http://misti.mit.edu/pink-globalization-hello-kittys-trek-across-pacific
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT-Japan Program, Center for International Studies
For more information, contact: Christine Pilcavage
617-258-8208
csp18 at mit.edu
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Occupy and Indignant Movements in Spain and the United States
WHEN Tue., Feb. 10, 2015, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Observatorio Cervantes, 2 Arrow Street, 4th floor, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Instituto Cervantes at Harvard. Program Sponsored by Santander Universities, a division of Santander Bank.
SPEAKER(S) Professor Francisco Moreno-Fernández, University of Alcalá, Spain, and executive director of the Observatorio at Harvard University
Introduction: Diana Sorensen, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and director of the Observatorio)
CONTACT INFO RSVP: info-observatory at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS In recent years, a number of Indignant Citizens Movements have arisen around the world. They are known in Spain as the Spanish Revolution, the Indignants Movement, the 15M Movement, or the Movement of Outrage, and in the US as Occupy Movement (Occupy Wall Street). This social protest expresses public outrage at an unequal economic system, an unrepresentative political party system, and a social structure perceived to undermine individual freedoms. Francisco Moreno-Fernando analyzes the importance of language and communication at the origin, development, consolidation and expansion of these movements. The analysis shows that the Indignant Movement was built on a linguistic and communicative foundation which evolved horizontally rather than vertically.
LINK http://cervantesobservatorio.fas.harvard.edu/en/activities/lecture/conversaciones-en-el-observatorio-occupy-and-indignant-movements-spain-and-usa
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Gamification & Promoting Financial Systems
Tuesday, February 10
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Microsoft NERD Center, 1 Memorial Drive, 1st Floor, Sampson/Paul Room, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/gamification-promoting-financial-systems-tickets-15471383324
Cost: $6.27
Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund strengthens the financial opportunity and security of low and moderate income consumers by innovating, incubating and stimulating new financial products and policies. D2D works with the financial services industry, government agencies, national non-profit groups, grassroots community agencies, and public policy organizations to generate promising ideas, pilot test financial products and services, build awareness of the needs and potential of low-income communities, and advocate inclusive social and economic policies.
AGENDA
6:00PM – Networking/Socializing (with refreshments)
7:00PM – Start of D2D Talk
8:00PM – End of Meeting
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Gamification & Promoting Financial Systems
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
6:30p–7:30p
MIT, Building E19-319, 400 Main Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Carlos de la Torre, MIT SPURS Fellow in the Department of Urban Studies & Planning
In the context of energy poverty, this session provides a framework for evaluating investment projects from alternative points of view (sponsor, society, stakeholders, the less well-off) and technical lens (financial, economic, distributive, fiscal, risk).
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): e4Dev
For more information, contact: Lily Mwalenga
e4dev-request at mit.edu
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The Internet Is Not the Answer
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Andrew Keen, author
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The Power of Wearable Technology in Sports with MC10's Isaiah Kacyvenski
Tuesday, February 10
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EST)
Harvard Innovation Lab, 125 Western Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-power-of-wearable-technology-in-sports-with-mc10s-isaiah-kacyvenski-tickets-15602645934
We welcome Isaiah Kacyvenski, Sports Advisory Board Chair of MC10 to the i-lab to discuss the opportunities new and emerging technology provides to Innovate in Sports. MC10 is developing revolutionary products that transform the way we think about electronics and their interaction with the human body and intending to redefine the interface between electronics and the human body. In other words – make humans more superhuman.
Prior to MC10, Kacyvenski was 3-time Special Teams Captain of the Seattle Seahawks, and graduated from both Harvard College and Harvard Business School. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the not-for-profit, Sports Legacy Institute.
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Wednesday, February 11
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Eating local? Nature and origins of the first agricultural groups in the South Caucasus
Wednesday, February 11
12:00 p.m.
Harvard, Tozzer Anthropology Building 203, 21 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
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Fundraising in Energy
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building E62-276, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
Two entrepreneurs who have successfully raised capital will share with you their secrets to getting investors to give them money. Learn what the key is to a great investor pitch, how these successful entrepreneurs prepare for investor pitches, and ask your own questions at this exciting event, moderated by Prof. Fiona Murray, Co-Director of the MIT Innovation Initiative. RSVP at the link below. Lunch will be provided. Thanks to the MassCEC for sponsorship.
Leslie Dewan is the founder and CSO of Transatomic Power, a startup out of MIT that has found a super-safe way to generate power from nuclear waste. She recently raised an A Round of financing from the Founders Fund, Peter Thiel's San Francisco based Venture Capital firm.
Sarah Kearney is the founder and executive director of PRIME, an innovative fund that allows non-profit foundations to invest in for-profit cleantech startups. Its vision is to drastically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by enlivening the cleantech *Prof. Fiona Murray (moderator), the William Porter (1967) Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship, Faculty Director at both the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and the Legatum Center, Associate Dean for Innovation, Co-Director of the Innovation Initiative, and a Member of the UK Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology (CST).
Web site: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10Nrw73md1jdqyg7xLalMN0D8m5RZDgOFT7bzHbwsJ-Y/viewform
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club, MassCEC
For more information, contact: MIT Joules
womeninenergy at mit.edu
--------------------------
David Sanger (The New York Times)
Wednesday, February 11
12:00p–1:30p
MIT, Building E40-496, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: David Sanger
Wednesday Seminar Series, Security Studies Program
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/ssp/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact: Elina Hamilton
617-253-7529
elinah at mit.edu
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National Security Cyber Operations and Policy Event
Wednesday, February 11
12:00 pm
Harvard Law School, Pound Hall, Room 101, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Please join Luke Dembosky, the newest Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's National Security Division, for a discussion on economic espionage, protecting national assets in the digital age, and cyber-based security threats. He has previously worked as the Deputy Chief for Litigation in DOJ's Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section and the DOJ representative on matters of transnational crime at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia. He has been involved in some of the largest and most groundbreaking cybercrime prosecutions in U.S. history, including the recent GameOver Zeus botnet disruption, coordination of the Silk Road takedown, and U.S. v. Max Ray Butler.
Non-pizza lunch will be served.
Hosted by the HLS Journal of Law and Technology; Co-sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
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Food Policy and Regional Food Systems: Opportunities for Networking across Jurisdictions
Wednesday, February 11
12:30 PM - 2:15 PM EST
Webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3927084263151283457
RSVP at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3927084263151283457
Join Us for This Webinar:
Where does your local food policy council fit within the regional food system? Would you like to play a stronger role in both your locality and at a regional level but not sure how? Functioning with limited resources and volunteer members, it can often be easiest for a food policy council to concentrate locally. By understanding the role of local food policy councils within the context of a regional food system, groups can network across geographies to maximize impact and effectiveness of policy changes.
During this webinar, expert panelists will address a number of big picture questions local food policy councils have about regional food systems, including:
The role of local food policy councils within a regional network
When is it beneficial to connect across a region
How to determine your "region" and what to do when definitions vary
Best practices and challenges to organizing and building regional networks, including resources and infrastructure needed
These issues will be addressed to show participants how networking across jurisdictions can positively influence food system change. The webinar will also include time for participant Q&A.
SUGGESTED PARTICIPANTS:
Food policy council coordinators and members, policy-makers, members of the local and regional food system and food system advocates
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Fellows’ Presentation Series: Prose Architectures
WHEN Wed., Feb. 11, 2015, 4 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Poetry/Prose
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Renee Gladman, 2014–2015 Radcliffe Institute fellow
COST Free and open to the public
LINK http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2015-renee-gladman-fellow-presentation
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Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
WHEN Wed., Feb. 11, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
SPEAKER(S) Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO hutchevents at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS A Lecture in Three Parts
2/9 - The Law and Freedom of Slavery
2/10 - Rethinking the Underground Railroad
2/11 - The Record of Fugitives
LINK hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu
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Lecture by David Lisak
WHEN Wed., Feb. 11, 2015, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Emerson Hall, Room 105, Harvard Yard, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR H-OAP and Title IX Office
SPEAKER(S) David Lisak
DETAILS David Lisak, a nationally recognized clinical psychologist, will be discussing his research at a community-wide meeting. His lecture will be focusing on how his research informs bystander intervention and how the peer group can help prevent sexual assault. All are welcome!
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Cambridge Getting to Net Zero Task Force
Wednesday, February 11
6:00PM-8:00PM
TBA
Contact: Ellen Kokinda
ekokinda at cambridgema.gov, 617/349-4618
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cultureNOW: Public Art as Placemaking
Wednesday, February 11
6:00–8:00 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.architects.org/programs-and-events/culturenow-public-art-placemaking
Space is limitied
Free and open to the public
Join cultureNOW on February 11 for an evening of thought-provoking discussion about the role of art in placemaking in Boston, and learn more about how the city’s creative vision has been an important part of the planning process.
Building on last summer’s panel discussion focusing on public art on Boston’s waterfront, cultureNOW returns to BSA Space and invites artists, architects, planners, and civic visionaries to share their perspectives on the city’s vibrant culture and ask them to reflect on how it can help shape the city’s future.
Moderator
Mark Favermann, Favermann Design
Panel
Julie Burros, City of Boston, Chief of Arts and Culture
George Fifield, Boston Cyberarts Inc, Director
Sarah Hutt, Fund for the Arts
Ross Miller, Artist
Kawandeep Virdee, Artist
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Mass Innovation Nights #MINFoodie8
Wednesday, February 11
6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston
RSVP at http://mass.innovationnights.com/events/mass-innovation-nights-min-foodie-8
Every February and August, ten companies bring new food and food-related products to Mass Innovation Nights Foodie Events, and the social media community turns out to blog, tweet, post pictures & video, add product mentions to LinkedIn & Facebook, and otherwise help spread the word. These live events allow companies to show off Massachusetts-based innovation. In the last six years, Mass Innovation Nights have helped to:
Launch more than 700 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)
Registration and networking begin at 6:00 pm and presentations begin at 7:00 pm. Innovation Nights are held once a month on-site at various venues that donate their space to further the cause of local innovation.
Website: http://mass.innovationnights.com/events/mass-innovation-nights-min-foodie-8
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Green Exchange - Sustainability Speed Networking
Wednesday, February 11
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (EST)
Grossman Common Room, 51 Brattle Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-exchange-sustainability-speed-networking-tickets-15584480601
Save the date for our first Green Exchange of the Spring 2015 Semester! In the context of the upcoming Valentine's day, we are happy to present a "Sustainability Speed Networking", a concept inspired by speed-dating for sustainability professionals. You may not find a soulmate, but you will find someone who shares your passions! Refreshments will be served. See you there!
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The Starfish Throwers
Wednesday, February 11
7 pm
Kendall Square Cinema, 355 Binney Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://gathr.us/screening/9173
"This documentary tells tale of [3] remarkable individuals and the unexpected challenges they face. Despite being constantly reminded that hunger is far too big for one person to solve, they persevere and see their impact ripple further than their individual actions."
Interested? If enough people reserve tickets, Kendall Square theater will screen this film on Wednesday, February 11th. We will likely coordinate a panel discussion on hunger and food access to follow. So reserve your tickets now: http://gathr.us/screening/9173
"Worlds apart, a five-star chef, a twelve year-old girl, and a retired school teacher discover how their individual efforts to feed the poor ignite a movement in the fight against hunger. Award-winning chef Narayanan Krishnan, fighting against the caste system in India, quits his job to begin a life of cooking and hand-delivering fresh meals to hundreds of people in his hometown. Katie Stagliano’s planting of a single cabbage seedling when she was nine years old blossoms into Katie’s Krops, a non-profit with 73 gardens dedicated to ending hunger. Retired middle school teacher Mr. Law battles personal health issues as he hand delivers more than a thousand sandwiches nightly to the hungry in Minneapolis. This documentary tells tale of these remarkable individuals and the unexpected challenges they face. Despite being constantly reminded that hunger is far too big for one person to solve, they persevere and see their impact ripple further than their individual actions."
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Crops, Water, and Climate Change: What Can We Learn From The Maya?
Wednesday, February 11
7:00 p.m.
Cahners Theater, Museum of Science, Boston
Cost: $15 tickets on sale beginning Thursday, January 8 (Tuesday, January 6 for Museum members). Purchase tickets in advance at mos.org/events.
The Maya’s ingenious manipulation of natural resources is awe-inspiring; jungle-covered ruins reveal sophisticated agricultural techniques, water pipe systems, and reservoirs. Nonetheless, when faced with a changing climate, vital resources became scant and Mayan civilization was stressed beyond survival. Join scholars who are transforming our understanding of the Maya’s collapse and what we can learn from their wondrous achievements and mysterious demise.
William L. Fash, Jr., PhD, Charles P. Bowditch Professor of Central American and Mexican Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University; Douglas Kennett, PhD, professor of environmental anthropology, Pennsylvania State University; Timothy Beach, PhD, professor and C.B. Smith Centennial Chair, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin; Vernon H. Scarborough, PhD, Professor of Complex Society and Sustainability, Water, Department of Anthropology University of Cincinnati
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The Health of Democracy: Social Immobility and Civic Participation
Wednesday, February 11
7 pm
First Parish (UU), 3 Church Street, Harvard Square
Do we still believe that any child in America could grow up to be President of the United States? American’s have long resisted the notion that class plays a role in our society, but current research undercuts that idea. Economist Randy Albelda examines the rise in U.S. social immobility and the role that contemporary labor conditions have played in limiting Americans’ expectations to do better than their parents’ generation. Union organizer Joey Mokos responds by discussing the ways that the modern union movement is responding to changes in our worklife. What role does social mobility play in a healthy democracy? What role does organizing play in creating social mobility?
More information at http://www.cambridgeforum.org
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ThinkFWD – Broken Promise? Higher Ed and the Path to Upward Mobility
Wednesday, February 11
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Microsoft NERD Center, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Institutions of higher education have been described as “great equalizers,” giving Americans from all backgrounds a chance at social and economic mobility. But today, many argue that colleges are sharpening class divides rather than blurring them. How can we ensure that higher ed is a springboard for opportunity? And how can we create career pathways so students from diverse backgrounds can break into high growth industries like the technology sector?
SPEAKERS
Dr. Nish Sonwalkar: Dr. Nish Sonwalkar is an unconventional educator, more comfortable teaching online with adaptive technology than lecturing at a podium in a brick-and mortar classroom. After joining the MIT faculty, Sonwalkar realized that a one-size-fits-all pedagogical style would not suit his creative, complex, multifaceted student body. Marrying his technological expertise with his classroom experiences, he began creating new learning platforms for students, including two that are still in use throughout more than 800 courses at MIT. He is the former founding director of Hypermedia Teaching Facility.
Bridget Terry Long: Bridget Terry Long is the academic dean and Saris Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Bridget is an economist who specializes in the study of education, in particular the transition from high school to higher education and beyond. Her work focuses on college student access and choice and the factors that influence students’ postsecondary and labor market outcomes.
Lani Guinier: Lani Guinier is a professor at Harvard Law and is active in civil right in higher education. She has written extensively on issues of race, gender, and democratic decision-making, and sought new ways of approaching questions like affirmative action while calling for candid public discourse on these topics.
Amy Loyd: Amy Loyd is the Director of the Pathways to Prosperity Network, a collaboration of JFF and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She supports educators, employers, and government leaders from nine states in developing, implementing, and scaling sustainable policies, infrastructure, and practices to build engaging STEM career pathways.
ThinkFWD is a quarterly speaker series focusing on important issues at the intersection of tech and politics.
http://www.fwd.us/field_021115_bosthinkfwd
Contact: Andi Dankert
Phone: 7167851623
Email: Boston at fwd.us
Website: www.fwd.us
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Reporting from the New China: A Conversation about Writing with Evan Osnos
WHEN Wed., Feb. 11, 2015, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Thompson Room, the Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Writers at Work Lecture Series
SPEAKER(S) Evan Osnos
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS Evan Osnos is a staff writer at The New Yorker and a Harvard College alumnus. His book "Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China" won the 2014 National Book Award for non-fiction.
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Thursday, February 12
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Massachusetts' Global Divestment Day
Thursday, February 12
10am - 5pm
MA State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NAhj2lUzaZEM9ScZa296TUErcotYUOXbCTZTzXWBdXw/viewform
In the spirit of the People's Climate March, we invite everyone to come together on Massachusetts' Global Divestment Day, February 12.
Wear orange!
Schedule of events at Gardner Auditorium
10 AM – 11:30 AM -- Why Divest Our Pensions: Panel on Carbon Risk for Legislators (and the Public)
Sponsored by Sen. Ben Downing, Rep. Marjorie Decker, and Rep. Frank Smizik
Chuck Collins, Co-Founder Divest/Invest;
Leslie Samuelrich, President, Green Century Capital Management;
Tom Francis, Director, Oil and Gas Research, Fossil Free Indexes LLC
Noon – 2 PM-- Rally of Voices for Divestment
Speaker: Tim DeChristopher, climate justice activist
Plus voices from: Frontline Communities, Public Health, Labor, Business, Education, Faith, Environment, Science, Peace, Elected Officials, and more
2 PM-3 PM—Lobby for Divestment of the MA Pension Fund
3 PM-5 PM—Youth Rally for Divestment Panel, Student Speakers, Networking
With our voice we will directly challenge the social license of the fossil fuel industry in order to break the climate deadlock before it's too late. The divestment campaign highlights a conflict that most politicians are reluctant to address. If the world is to avoid catastrophic global warming, most known fossil fuel resources must stay in the ground. Yet fossil fuel companies not only plan to extract and sell their existing reserves, but are exploring ever more sensitive territory to find new ones.
Hundreds of events are planned around the world Feb. 12-14 to take action and demand that governments,
institutions and individuals do what is necessary for climate action by divesting from fossil fuels. Check out this calendar for other events.
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Bioethics in the 30th century: ecology, eschatology and empire in Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa manga
Thursday, February 12
12:00-1:00pm
Tufts, Lincoln Filene Center, Rabb Room, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Susan Napier, Professor of Japanese language and literature, Tufts University
The Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki is widely considered to be the world's greatest animator. His many films include the classic ecological science fiction movie, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, set in the 30th century in a post apocalyptic world where a toxic environment threatens what is left of humanity. Less well known but even more interesting is the seven volume manga version that Miyazaki finished long after the movie's release. A dense and morally complex vision the Nausicaa manga explores dynamics of interspecies rivalry in a world where humans are not necessarily paramount.
This talk examines the issues of bioethics and biopower that arise from the manga, seeking to understand whether Miyazaki's ultimate message is utopian or apocalyptic.
Susan Napier went to Harvard for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She has more than twenty years of teaching experience at universities such as the University of Texas, Harvard University, Penn State, Princeton, the University of London and lastly, Tufts University. Her research interests include Japanese animation (anime) and comics (manga), modern Japanese literature, popular culture, science fiction and fantasy among others. She has published several books and many articles on anime and popular culture. And she's currently writing a book on the films and manga of Hayao Miyazaki, Japan's greatest living animator and arguably the greatest animator in the world today.
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The Polar Oceans During the Ice Ages
Thursday, February 12
4:00PM - 5:00PM
Harvard, Haller Hall, 24 Oxford Street 1st Floor, Cambridge
Harvard Climate Seminar with Gerald Haug from Zurich, Switzerland, Dept of Earth and Sciences
Abstract: We argue for a pervasive link between cold climates and polar ocean stratification. In both the Subarctic North Pacific and the Antarctic Zone of the Southern Ocean, ice ages were marked by low productivity. The accumulated evidence from sediment cores points to an increase in density stratification that reduced the supply of nutrients from the ocean interior into the sunlit surface in both of these regions. The last ice age was associated with stratification of the Antarctic and the subarctic North Pacific and it can be argued that the well-known glacial decrease in North Atlantic Deep Water indicates a similar stratification of the North Atlantic. This link also applies to longer time scales, including the onset of extensive northern hemisphere glaciation 2.7 million years ago, which was concurrent with stratification of the Subarctic North Pacific and the Southern Ocean. The generality of the cooling/stratification connection calls for a general mechanism. Such a mechanism is provided by the non-linear relationship between the temperature of seawater and its density: cooling of the ocean will decrease the role that temperature plays in the density structure of the polar water column, allowing the freshwater cap that is always present in polar regions to cause greater density stratification, allowing the freshwater cap to intensify further. Nutrient-rich polar ocean regions such as the Antarctic and the Subarctic Pacific represent a “leak” in the biological pump, allowing deeply sequestered carbon dioxide to escape back into the atmosphere, and stratification of these regions largely stops that leak. Thus, the link between climate cooling and the stratification of nutrient-rich polar regions represents a positive feedback in the climate system, raising atmospheric carbon dioxide during warm periods and reducing it during cold periods.
Reception to follow afterwards in the interactive lounge on 4th floor of Geology Museum: Food and drinks will be served!
Contact Name: shawncappo at fas.harvard.edu
More at: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/2015-02-12-210000-2015-02-12-220000/harvard-climate-seminar#sthash.MkQGcaPu.dpuf
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The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It
WHEN Thu., Feb. 12, 2015, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Law, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR John T. Dunlop Memorial Lecture; Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
SPEAKER(S) David Weil, administrator, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO john_trumpbour at harvard.edu
DETAILS David Weil, industrial relations scholar and DOL administrator, discusses his new book for Harvard University Press on the fissured workplace and deteriorating labor conditions for many U.S. workers.
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Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Change
Thursday, February 12
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
MIT, Building E19-623, Knight Conference Room, 400 Main Street, Cambridge
Susan Solomon, Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry & Climate Science/ MIT EAPS
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The Art and Science of Cheese
WHEN Thu., Feb. 12, 2015, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard University, Geological Museum Room 100 (24 Oxford St, Cambridge)
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences, Lecture, Science, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Microbial Sciences Initiative
SPEAKER(S) Rachel Dutton, Harvard; Ihsan Gurdal, Formaggio Kitchen
COST Free and open to the public; tickets required
DETAILS This outreach event will teach the general public about the microbiology of cheese. The interactive lecture by a Harvard cheese scientist and the owner/head cheesemonger of one of the country’s most well regarded cheese shops will explore the role of microbes in the production and flavoring of cheese. Guests will taste different cheeses and learn the basic concepts of microbiology in play, including lactic fermentation, coagulation, and how microbes give cheeses their unique smells and flavors.
Admission: Tickets (free) are required and will be distributed through the Harvard Box Office. Check the MSI website in early February to find out when tickets will become available. Must be 21 or older and bring valid ID to be admitted to the event.
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Assistive Technology Hackathong: Meet-the-clients dinner
Thursday, February 12
6-8pm
MIt, Building 10-105, Bush Room, 222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
More information at http://assistivetech.mit.edu/athack/#about
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The Future of Food: How Science, Technology, and Taste Shape What We Eat
Thursday, February 12
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on
BU, 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 117, Boston
Food is as fundamental to human life as it is to the development of civilization itself. It is also a source of pleasure, a celebration of culture, and a foundation of health and well-being. To quote Kurt Vonnegut, “When it comes right down to it, food is practically the whole story every time.” From hunting and gathering to contemporary living in today’s fast-paced, digital world, how we produce food and what we eat is continuously shaped by scientific discovery and engineering ingenuity, which dovetail with our ever-evolving dietary preferences. In this lively and entertaining talk, P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, reflects on the human journey from farm to fork, science fiction to science, and paints a picture of what our plate will look like as we approach a population of nine billion. Dr. Newby, co-author of the new book Foods for Health: Choose and Use the Very Best Foods for Your Family and Our Planet, is a scientist, educator, speaker, and food writer who teaches at several universities in Boston and communicates regularly with the public via her blog The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen. Includes book.
Contact Email cularts at bu.edu
Phone 617-353-9852
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Cambridge Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Public Meeting
Thursday, February 12
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
MIT Building E51, Auditorium, Tang Center, corner of Wadsworth St. and Amherst St, Cambridge
The interim results of the Cambridge Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment will be presented and discussed at this public meeting. The meeting will focus on the physical and social vulnerabilities identified by the assessment based on scenarios for inland flooding and increasing temperatures. Preliminary coastal storm surge modeling results for 2030 will also be presented. Coastal storm surge modeling with sea level rise for 2070 is in progress. The vulnerability assessment for storm surge risks will be completed in the spring.
The City would like to hear responses to the interim results and draft findings to inform the vulnerability assessment report, which will provide a basis for the forthcoming Climate Change Preparedness & Resilience Plan, and discuss the community's thoughts about the direction of the plan. The meeting is open to all. Please see the draft agenda here: http://bit.ly/18Ask4B.
For more information on the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, please look to the project page or contact John Bolduc, jbolduc at cambridgema.gov, or 617/349-4628.
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B2Bee // Honey for your Honey!
Thursday, February 12
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Follow the Honey, 1132 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/b2bee-honey-for-your-honey-tickets-15304240395
Cost: $16.29 - $21.39
Join us for our next B2Bee at Follow The Honey!
To make things even more savory, Salt & Olive will be present to sample their delicious products!
Enjoy a concierge guided honey tasting with Caneen Canning, our Creative Director and in-hive liquid gold “sommelier”. Caneen is a member of the American Tasting Society and protege of its founder, Marchina E. Marchese, author of “The Honey Connoisseur. Enjoy a winter reprieve by way of the palette through which you’ll visit monoflorals cultivated by tropical blooms of Oaxaca, to earthy Spanish Chestnut to Autumn wildflowers of Massachusetts.
As family beekeepers themselves, Follow The Honey hive minders, will surely ignite your appetite for talking all things local, sustainable and apis melliferous. Join the buzz!
Sustainable Business Network of MA
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Movie Showing: 'A Fierce Green Fire'
Thursday, February 12
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.; Presentation begins at 7:30 p.m
First Parish in Cambridge Unitarian Universalist; 3 Church Street, Harvard Square
Spanning 50 years of grassroots and global activism, the documentary film, 'A Fierce Green Fire' (Sundance, 2011), brings to light the vital stories of the environmental movement, where people fought - and succeeded - against enormous odds. From halting dams in the Grand Canyon to fighting toxic waste at Love Canal; from Greenpeace to Chico Mendes; from climate change to the promise of transforming our civilization, A Fierce Green Fire is "nothing less than the history of environmentalism itself" (Los Angeles Times).
Narrated by Robert Redford, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, Isabelle Allende and Meryl Streep, this inspiring and empowering film not only informs and educates about what has been achieved through the environmental movement over the years, but also lays a foundation of solidarity and interconnectedness upon which to continue to build the movement into the future.
We welcome you this movie showing at the Boston Area Solar Energy Association Forum.
Refreshments and chatter at 7pm, movie at 7:30, discussion following, concluding by 9pm.
Please Join Us! Donations and membership support BASEA.
The Boston Area Solar Energy Association - www.BASEA.org
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Cutting Edge Cooperatives
Thursday, February 12
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
First Church, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain
Join Matt Meyer, Juan Leyton, Stacy Codiero and CERO as we discuss the cooperative movement on the local, regional, and global levels.
More information at http://jamaicaplainforum.org/event/cutting-edge-cooperatives/
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Universities and the Climate Crisis: Financial Implication of Fossil fuel Divestment
Thursday, February 12
7:00 pm to 9:30 pm
BU, LSE, Room B01, 24 Cummington Street, Cambridge
Speakers: Lisa Goldberg, UC Berkeley and Aperio Group; Bob Massie, Global Reporting Initiative; Leslie Samuelrich, President, Green Century Capital Management; Senator Ben Downing, Chair, Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities & Energy
An open forum that considers mathematical analysis of financial aspects of fossil fuel divestment; financial risks of stranded assets; divestment as an instrument of social change; and managing fossil-fuel free funds.
Contact Name Ed Loechler
Phone 617-543-8153
Contact Email loechler at bu.edu
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Friday, February 13
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Innovation Breakfast at VentureCafe (1 Broadway)
Friday, February 13
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (EST)
Cambridge Innovation Center, 5th Floor, 1 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/innovation-breakfast-at-venturecafe-1-broadway-tickets-15475072358
The Roving Innovation Breakfast continues! Hosted by Bobbie Carlton, founder of Mass Innovation Nights, we're partnering with Pivotal Labs Boston for a new edition of our weekly drop-in networking event. We'll be visiting VentureCafe on the 5th floor of the Cambridge Innovation Center located at 1 Broadway in Cambridge. Check out this cool co-working space. Join us for coffee+, networking and one-on-one discussions with the software development experts from Pivotal Labs.
Meet the Experts:
Jared Cosulich is the Director of the Boston office for Pivotal Labs. He is a serial entrepreneur who has been the technical founder or co-founder of three companies. He recently moved back to Boston after 12 years in San Francisco's startup scene and is eager to help Boston area entrepreneurs. He has extensive experience with software development, agile and XP processes, product roadmaps, and startups in general. Follow Jared on Twitter @jaredcosulich
Simon Holroyd is a product manager at Pivotal Labs. Prior to labs, Simon lead a product & development team at a successful fashion-tech startup, ran an iOS development consulting business, and worked as an developer & marketer in the digital advertising industry. After a 4 year stint living in NYC, he's recently returned to his home town in Boston and is eager to pass along as many hard-learned lessons in product development as he can!
Bobbie Carlton, founder of Carlton PR & Marketing and Mass Innovation Nights (MIN), is an award-winning marketing, PR and social media professional. Bobbie and the MIN community have helped to launch more than 700 new products. Every month the group provides 10 entrepreneurs with a free 30-day marketing program, featuring the products in social media campaigns, in a weekly newsletter, on the organization's showcase website and at a live event. Follow Bobbie on Twitter as @BobbieC or @MassInno or now, @WomenInno. Innovation Women is a new online speakers bureau for entrepreneurial and technical women, coming soon.
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A Bird's-Eye View of the Carbon Cycle: Using the Atmosphere to Inform Processes at the Land Surface
Friday, February 13
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Harvard, Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Anna Michalak
Speaker Bio: http://globalecology.stanford.edu/labs/michalaklab/
Atmospheric Sciences Seminar
Contact: Scot Miller
Email: smiller at fas.harvard.edu
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Housing in Extreme Environments: Alpine Shelter
WHEN Fri., Feb. 13, 2015, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Stubbin's Room, 48 Quincy Street, Gund Hall, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Exhibitions, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Graduate School of Design
SPEAKER(S) Spela Videcnik
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at gsd.harvard.edu
DETAILS The extreme climatic conditions of the North introduce a design paradox for architects. The fragile environmental conditions require incisive designs that respond to irregular loading from strong winds, heavy snowfalls, avalanche risk zones, and extreme cold. The studio investigated a prototypical design, and the talk serves as an opening for the exhibition curated by Spela Videcnik, with Rok Oman, displayed on the Experiments Wall (in Gund Hall).
LINK www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/events/spela-videcnik-housing-in-extreme-environments-alpine-shelter.html
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The Eureka Myth: Creators, Innovators, and Everyday Intellectual Property
Friday, February 13
3:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Jessica Silbey, author
---------------------------------
"Monarch Butterfly Migration: From Behavior to Neurons to Genes"
Friday, February 13
4pm – 5pm
MIT, Building 46-3002, Singleton Auditorium, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Steven Reppert, University of Massachusetts Medical School
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ID Hack 2015
Harvard Developers for Development, MIT Global Poverty Initiative, Tufts Entrepreneurs Society, and Tufts Empower
Friday, February 13
4:00 PM - Saturday, February 14, 2015 at 4:00 PM (EST)
Tufts University, Fletcher School, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/id-hack-2015-registration-15322472929
Organized by Harvard Developers for Development, MIT Global Poverty Initiative, Tufts Entrepreneurs Society, and Tufts Empower, the 3rd annual International Development Hackathon (ID Hack) will bring together hackers, technology enthusiasts, and organizations working in international development to create impact with technology.
International Development Hackathon 2015 Co-organized by Harvard, MIT, and Tufts with Platinum Partner TripAdvisor
4pm February 13th - 4pm February 14th
Tufts Fletcher School and Olin Center
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/632817420174496/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IDHack2015
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.
Projects are selected from NGOs, private sector comanies and governmental organizations and vetted by the organizers. Visit our website or the project proposals directly for specific information to start planning. We have projects from the World Bank, Qualcomm, . . . .
Schedule
4:00PM --- Doors open for check in
4:00PM-5:30PM --- Networking session with sponsors
5:30PM --- Opening remarks + Keynote by Asad Badruddin (Co-founder of Pakathon)
6:00PM --- Project pitches
7:00PM --- Dinner + project and group selection
7:30-8:30PM --- Beginner workshop; begin hacking!
10:00PM --- Snacks
3:00AM --- Another late-night snack
8:00AM --- Breakfast w/ Coffee
12:00PM --- Lunch & Deadline for project submission (code/link/etc)
12:00PM-2:00PM --- Project Presentations and Judge Deliberations
2:00PM --- Closing ceremony + winners present
All skill levels welcome!
For questions: directors.idhack at gmail.com or post on our Facebook event!
Making a difference in the world, networking, great prizes...
I’D Hack for international development ... wouldn't you?
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Believer: My Forty Years in Politics
Friday, February 13, 2015
7:00 PM
First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.harvard.com/event/david_axelrod/
David Axelrod, author, in conversation with David Gergen
$5 tickets on sale January 20 at 9am
Ticket pre-sales begin online only
on January 6 ($34.75, book included)
More information at (617) 661-1515 or info at harvard.com
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Sunday, February 15
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Rain Barrel Construction Workshop
Green Cambridge
Sunday, February 15
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (EST)
Cambridge Community Center Inc, 5 Callender Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rain-barrel-construction-workshop-tickets-15457266099
Green Cambridge is running a hands-on workshop to teach you how to construct a rain barrel for stormwater runoff collection!
The barrels you construct, made from repurposed food shipping barrels, will be distributed to families who cannot afford their own. This is part of a Green Cambridge community program alongside the Cambridge Department of Public Works and the Cambridge Community Center. We'll be going through the steps of the process, and providing you with the resources you need to hone your new-found skills into a great do-it-yourself project at home!
By collecting rainwater, you can drastically reduce the amount of water used outdoors at your home during peak spring and summer months. Plus, collecting water reduces stormwater runoff, a major source of pollution. Check out this website created by the University of Rhode Island for more information on why rain barrels matter, and how you use them: http://www.uri.edu/ce/healthylandscapes/rainbsources.html
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Culture and Creating Communities
Sunday, February 15
1:30 PM
Humanist Hub, 30 JFK Street, 4th Floor, Harvard Square, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/HarvardHumanist/events/220068335/
Humans have changed dramatically over the past couple of decades. We've changed how we live, how we connect and how we grow . Dharmesh (who is not used to writing about himself in the third person) has experienced some of this change first-hand. As founder and CTO of HubSpot, he helped build a culture that grew the company from 2 to 800 people. He's also built two online communities with thousands of members. In this informal talk, he'll share some of the lessons learned on crafting culture and creating communities in our hyper-connected world.
More information at http://harvardhumanist.org/2014/12/15/sunday-speaker-series-spring-2015/
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Monday, February 16
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Power to the Pedals: Wenzday Jane and the Culture of Change
WHEN Mon., Feb. 16, 2015, 6 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Room 2012, 1585 Mass Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Environmental Sciences, Film, Law
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic & Transactional Law Clinics, of Harvard Law School
DIRECTED BY Bob Nesson
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS Power to the Pedals: Wenzday Jane and the Culture of Change, a film by Bob Nesson, portrays the transformative vision and extraordinary efforts of a woman whose mechanical skills and innovative actions are reshaping her community. Wenzday Jane heads a movement to replace trucks with human powered vehicles for local cargo transportation. She goes to the heart of the sustainability issue by offering practical solutions.
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Tuesday, February 17
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Reporting on Ferguson and Subsequent Developments
Tuesday, February 17
12 P.M.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Wesley Lowery is a reporter for the Washington Post, where he joined from the Boston Globe. Wesley received widespread national attention due to his reporting on the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, both through traditional reports and his innovative use of real-time social media updates. He will discuss his experience of the events in Ferguson, the subsequent developments and national conversation, and his career as a reporter.
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#StopEbola: What Nigeria did right
Tuesday, February 17
12:00 PM
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person via https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/9571#RSVP
Event will be webcast live on https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/9571 at 12:00 pm.
with Berkman Affiliate, Aimee Corrigan
On July 20, 2014 the Ebola outbreak landed in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Public health officials warned that an outbreak could be catastrophic in Lagos, a densely populated city of 21 million. 19 confirmed cases left 11 dead from the disease, but Nigeria’s nightmare scenario never occurred. Within three months, the World Health Organization declared Nigeria Ebola-free, deeming the nation's efforts to contain the disease a "spectacular success story”.
In a country with 130 million mobile-phone users and active social networks, social media and mobile technology played a central role in Nigeria’s Ebola containment. SMS platforms were used to share information on the signs and symptoms of the virus. Ebola Alert, a technology organization formed by group of volunteer doctors, used Facebook and Twitter to increase awareness through 24/7 updates and online Ebola chats. Social media campaigns deployed Nollywood stars to sensitize audiences, manage fear and myths, and reduce stigma. Contract tracers were equipped GPS technology on mobile devices to ensure accountability and accuracy during interviews and monitoring. Health workers were provided with mobile phones and an Android app that allowed for immediate and critical information sharing. Each of these strategies led to fast communication, better self-reporting and identification of Ebola contacts, successful tracking and monitoring - all essential components of an outbreak response that Nigeria got right in record time. What can we learn from Nigeria? And how can these strategies be utilized in public health challenges in Africa and beyond?
This discussion will included video interviews with Nigerian doctors, health workers, social media campaigners and Ebola survivors from an upcoming documentary on this subject.
About Aimee
Aimee Corrigan is the Co-Director of Nollywood Workshops, a hub for filmmakers in Lagos, Nigeria that supports and delivers movie production and distribution, training, and research. She is also a documentary photographer and filmmaker. Aimee's passion for Nollywood sparked during her participation in the production of the documentary This Is Nollywood.
Aimee completed her Masters in Education at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.
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Why Can't We Be Friends? Academe, Corporate Universities & Educational Partnerships
Tuesday, February 17
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 4-270
Speaker: Jenny Stine
Corporate universities, centralized learning and development organizations in medium and large corporations, are providing sophisticated education on a massive scale. While they might seem like natural partners to universities looking to engage with industry, the commoditization of content coupled with outdated partnership and program delivery models in universities has worked against productive relationships. Based on the results of a recent research study, this talk explores key challenges in university-corporate educational relationships and highlights opportunities for collaboration and innovation.
xTalks: Digital Discourses
This series provides a forum to facilitate awareness, deep understanding and transference of educational innovations at MIT and elsewhere. We hope to foster a community of educators, researchers, and technologists engaged in developing and supporting effective learning experiences through online learning environments and other digital technologies.
Web site: http://odl.mit.edu/events/jenny-stine/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): OEIT- Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, Office of Digital Learning
For more information, contact: Molly Ruggles
617-324-9185
ruggles at mit.edu
--------------------------
Made in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka: The Labor Behind the Global Garments and Textiles Industries
WHEN Tue., Feb. 17, 2015, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS South, S250, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR South Asia Institute
SPEAKER(S) Sanchita Saxena, director of the Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, Berkeley and executive director, Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley
Fauzia Ahmed, assistant professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies, Miami University; SAI Research Affiliate
John A. Quelch, Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School and professor in Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO sainit at fas.harvard.edu
LINK http://southasiainstitute.harvard.edu/event/made-in-bangladesh-cambodia-and-sri-lanka-the-labor-behind-the-global-garments-and-textiles-industries/
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From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks: The Life and Times of Harry Bridges
WHEN Tue., Feb. 17, 2015, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Theater
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
SPEAKER(S) Ian Ruskin, actor
TICKET INFO Free and open to the public
DETAILS Actor Ian Ruskin performs his dramatic play about the life and times of labor organizer Harry Bridges
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Whale Conservation and the Future of the Oceans
Tuesday, February 17
6:00 PM
Harvard, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Joe Roman, Sarah and Daniel Hrdy Fellow in Conservation Biology, Harvard University; Fellow at the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont
Whales have long been valued as a source of oil and whalebone. Treated as a commodity throughout history, they are increasingly recognized for their complex forms of communication, even culture, and the ecological role they play in the ocean. Joe Roman will discuss the history and future of whales in the world’s oceans, drawing from historical archives, DNA analyses, ecological studies of whale carcasses in the deep sea, and the effects of whale fecal plumes on ocean productivity. He will explain why conserving great whales is essential for the welfare of marine ecosystems.
Lecture and Book Signing. Free and open to the public.
-----------------------------------
Mario Schjetnan, "Landscape: An Evolution of Practice and Theory"
WHEN Tue., Feb. 17, 2015, 6:30 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Graduate School of Design
SPEAKER(S) Mario Schjetnan
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at gsd.harvard.edu
DETAILS In 37 years of practice with Grupo de Diseño Urbano (Mexico City), Mario Schjetnan has overseen award-winning projects in architecture, urban design, and landscape. Among his most recognized works are the Parque Tezozomoc in Mexico City, the El Cedazo Park in Aguascalientes, and Parque Ecológico Xochimilco, for which the firm was awarded Harvard GSD’s Veronica Rudge Green Prize in 1996.
LINK www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/events/mario-schjetnan-landscape-an-evolution-of-practice-and-theory.html
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CafeSci Boston: “Studying Genomic Origami"
Tuesday, February 17
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Le Laboratoire Cambridge, 650 East Kendall Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/cafesci-boston-february-2015-tickets-15667951264
with Miriam Huntley
How is it that every cell inside our body has the exact same DNA, and yet an eye cell performs a very different function from a blood cell?
It turns out that different cells fold up their DNA in different ways, much in the same way an origami artist will fold up the same piece of paper in different ways in order to create different shapes. I'll talk about some of our recent work done in the Aiden Lab which sheds light on the exciting mystery of how the genome folds.
Miriam Huntley is a doctoral student at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
CafeSci Boston https://www.facebook.com/groups/388970764555159/
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, February 18
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February Boston Sustainability Breakfast
Wednesday, February 18
7:30 AM to 8:30 AM (EST)
Pret A Manger, 185 Franklin Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/february-boston-sustainability-breakfast-tickets-15436825962
Join us for the February Boston Sustainability breakfast, an informal breakfast meetup of sustainability professionals together for networking, discussion and moral support. It’s important to remind ourselves that we are not the only ones out there in the business world trying to do good!
So come, get a cup of coffee or a bagel, support a sustainable business and get fired up before work so we can continue trying to change the world.
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Boston Urban Ag Visioning Steering Committee & Public Meeting
Wednesday, February 18
9:00 AM to 9:45 AM (EST)
The Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center, 200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-urban-ag-visioning-steering-committee-public-meeting-tickets-15667363506
The next meeting of the Boston Urban Ag Visioning Steering Committee will be held at The Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center on Wednesday February 18, 2015. This meeting is open free to the public, but RSVP is requested by 2/17/2015. Please note specific timing and meeting location below.
Agenda
8:00 - 9:00 am (Steering Committee only)
9:00 - 9:45 am (Public presentation and engagement in the Ampitheater)
Background
In December 2013, the City of Boston passed Article 89, a new addition to the city’s zoning code that allows for urban agriculture. Since this time, the support for urban agriculture in the city has been tremendous, but there has been limited collaboration between the multitude of public, private, and non-profit sectors on how to create a vision for its future in Boston.
In support of a Boston Urban Ag Visioning process, the City of Boston has received a $25,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP). The goal of this process will be to bring diverse organizations to the table to create a vision for Boston around food production and distribution, which will enable farmer livelihoods, provide multiple access points for food, and determine how to create food access for low-income constituents. Representatives from all aspects of urban growing in the city will be engaged, including community gardeners, traditional farmers, gleaners, edible forest developers, farmers’ market reps, traditional and rooftop farmers, as well as food production folks.
Holly Fowler of Northbound Ventures will facilitate and a Steering Committee has been selected to guide and to inform the process. The Steering Committee will meet the third Wednesday of each month from January to August 2015. All meetings are open to the public. The location of each meeting will vary. The existence of this group will allow every area of urban growing in Boston to have a role in determining this vision, and to collaborate as one entity to achieve this goal.
More information at https://bostonurbanag.wordpress.com
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The struggle for human rights as struggle against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia
WHEN Wed., Feb. 18, 2015, 12:30 – 1:20 p.m.
WHERE 651 Huntington Avenue, 7th Floor, Room 710, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR FXB Center for Health and Human Rights
SPEAKER(S) Irmtrud Wojak, 2014-15 Frieda L. Miller Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
COST Free and open to the public
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The Surprisingly Dynamic Snowball Ocean
Wednesday, February 18
3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
MIT, Building 54-915, Green Building Lecture Room (the tallest building on campus)
Eli Tziperman, Professor of Oceanography and Applied Physics, Harvard University
The hypothesized complete freezing of the Earth during the Snowball Earth events of the Neoproterozoic Era (1,000 to 542 Myr) poses several interesting problems related to ocean and ice dynamics, testing our understanding of ocean dynamics in an unusual dynamical regime. An ocean covered by thick ice and driven only by a very weak geothermal heat flux (0.1 watts/m^2) is shown to be surprisingly dynamic, characterized by strong zonal jets, an energetic turbulent eddy field and a dramatic meridional overturning circulation limited to very close to the equator. We discuss the dynamics of the mean zonal jets and meridional circulations, the Lorenz energy cycle and the relevant eddy-generating instability mechanisms. Figuring out the snowball ocean circulation also requires solving for ice flow and ice thickness on a sphere, and we discuss the relevant dynamics and resulting insights.
A reception in Building 54, Room 923 precedes the talk.
All are welcome.
If you have any questions regarding the lecture, please contact Jen Fentress at 617.253.2127 or jfen at mit.edu. Reservations not required.
Sponsored by the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science, MIT.
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What should India do to Accelerate Economic Growth?
Wednesday, February 18
5:30p–6:30p
MIT, Building E51-335, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: S.P. Kothari, Deputy Dean of Sloan School
MIT-India is excited to present a talk from S.P. Kothari, Deputy Dean and Gordon Y. Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance at the Sloan School of Management. Dean Kothari has served as the global head of equity research for Barclays Global and as the head of the Department of Economics, Finance, and Accounting at the Sloan School. Currently, Dean Kothari is the Faculty Director of MIT-India.
The talk will be moderated by moderated by Sanjay Sarma, Dean of Digital Learning at MIT and the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
An India 2.0 event.
Hors d'oeuvres will be served.
Web site: https://misti.mit.edu/what-should-india-do-accelerate-economic-growth
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, MIT India Program
For more information, contact: Melanie Mala Ghosh
(617) 258 5917
mghosh at mit.edu
----------------------------
Askwith Forum on girls in STEM education
WHEN Wed., Feb. 18, 2015, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Longfellow Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge
TYPE OF EVENT Discussion, Diversity & Equity, Forum, Lecture, Question & Answer Session
PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT Alumni, AskWith Forum
BUILDING/ROOM Askwith Hall
CONTACT NAME Roger Falcon
CONTACT EMAIL askwith_forums at gse.harvard.edu
CONTACT PHONE 617-384-9968
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION/DEPARTMENT Harvard Graduate School of Education
REGISTRATION REQUIRED No
ADMISSION FEE This event is free and open to the public.
RSVP REQUIRED No
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education
DETAILS Speakers include:
Maria Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd College
Stephanie Wilson, Astronaut, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Moderator: Karen Brennan, Assistant Professor of Education, HGSE
---------------------------------
The Art of Scientific Storytelling
WHEN Wed., Feb. 18, 2015, 6 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Observatorio Cervantes at Harvard University, 2 Arrow Street, 4th floor, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Organized by Instituto Cervantes at Harvard, program sponsored by Santander Universities, a division of Santander Bank.
In collaboration with ECUSA
SPEAKER(S) Rafael Luna, the author of The Art of Scientific Storytelling, and the CEO of Luna Scientific Storytelling LLC.
COST Free; RSVP is suggested
TICKET WEB LINK ecusabostonfeb2015.eventbrite.com
CONTACT INFO info-observatory at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS Please, RSVP: ecusabostonfeb2015.eventbrite.com
LINK ecusabostonfeb2015.eventbrite.com
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What Art Can Tell Us About The Brain
Wednesday, February 18
6:30 – 8PM
Mass College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Avenue, Tower Auditorium, Boston
Dr. Margaret Livingstone is a Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School with a keen interest in the ways in which vision science can understand and inform the world of visual art.
She is the author of the groundbreaking book, "Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing," which demonstrates how the cellular structure of our eyes and brain determines how we see and process artworks.
Contact Name Chloe Zaug
Contact Email chloe.zaug at massart.edu
Contact Phone 617.879.7337
Link http://www.massart.edu/Galleries/Visiting_Artists/Margaret_Livingstone.html
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Thursday, February 19
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Tufts Innovation Symposium 2015
The Fletcher School's International Business Club
Thursday, February 19
8:00 AM to 6:00 PM (EST)
Tufts University, 51 Winthrop Street, Medford
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/tufts-innovation-symposium-2015-tickets-14053505413
The Tufts InnovationSymposium, sponsored by the Fletcher School’s International Business Club is excited to present this year's conference, Customer in Context, on February 19, 2015. The conference will approach innovation through the customer perspective and propose methods, raise questions, and offer insights about designing products and programs with your customer in mind.
Come and be inspired by some fantastic speakers from the Archimedes project, Frog design group, Dalberg Design Impact Group, Boston Bikes and New Balance Hubway Bikeshare, and let Patrick and Doug Coughran, Co-Founders of Foxtrot Systems fuel the entrepreneur in you.
Make sure you don’t miss this exciting opportunity to take a deep dive into the innovation ecosystem!
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Emotional and Financial Impatience: A Behavioral-Economics and Affective Science Approach
WHEN Thu., Feb. 19, 2015, 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government (M-RCBG) at the Harvard Kennedy School.
SPEAKER(S) Jennifer Lerner, professor of Public Policy and Management, Harvard Kennedy School and co-founder of the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory.
CONTACT INFO Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to mrcbg at hks.harvard.edu
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Folklore and Flaherty: A Symposium on the First Irish-Language Film
WHEN Thu., Feb. 19, 2015, 1:30 – 4 p.m.
WHERE HFA, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Film
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, the Harvard Film Archive, Houghton Library, and the Provostial Fund for Arts and Humanities
COST Free Admission
TICKET INFO http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2015janfeb/symposium.html
DETAILS In celebration of the rediscovery and preservation of Robert Flaherty's short film Oidhche Sheanchais (A Night of Storytelling), the first Irish-language "talkie," the symposium participants will discuss the film within the larger context of Irish folklore and its storytelling and song traditions. Screenings of the film will precede and follow the papers and discussion.
Symposium participants
Kate Chadbourne, PhD from Harvard Celtic Department 1999; singer and poet; teacher of Irish and Irish folklore and mythology in Harvard Extension and Harvard Summer School; author of "The Knife Against the Wave: Fairies, Fishermen, and the Sea," Béaloideas 80 (2012), 70–85.
Maureen Foley, filmmaker-director, producer and writer of Home Before Dark (1997) and American Wake (2004); great-granddaughter of Máirtín Ó Conghaile, an Aran Island storyteller whose stories were collected in the 1890s and published as Scéalta Mháirtín Neile in 1994; manager of special projects, Office of the Dean of Arts and Humanities at Harvard.
Barbara Hillers, lecturer in Irish folklore, University College Dublin; PhD from Harvard Celtic Department 1997; associate of the Celtic Department (and spotter of OS in HOLLIS).
Catherine McKenna, Margaret Brooks Robinson Professor and Chair, Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University.
Deirdre Ní Chongaile, expert in Aran Island song traditions; National University of Ireland, Galway PhD; award-winning blogger on Aran Island songs.
Natasha Sumner, PhD candidate in Celtic languages and literatures at Harvard (expected 2015); transcriber and translator of the soundtrack of Oidhche Sheanchais.
Reception follows at Houghton Library
LINK http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2015janfeb/symposium.html
----------------------------
Regulatory Barriers to Decarbonizing China's Power Sector
Thursday, February 19
4:00PM
Harvard, Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
with Michael DAVIDSON, Ph.D. Candidate, Engineering Systems Division, MIT
China Project Seminar
http://chinaproject.harvard.edu/event/Davidson150219
Contact Name: Chris Nielsen
nielsen2 at fas.harvard.edu
More information at: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/2015-02-19-210000/china-project-seminar#sthash.7QsCPgzJ.dpuf
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A Day in the Life of the Ocean's Microbiome: The Transcriptomic Motion Picture
Thursday, February 19
4:00 PM EST
MIT, Building 32-141, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker Name: Ed DeLong
--------------------------------
Labor, Racism, and Justice in the 21st Century, with Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr.
WHEN Thu., Feb. 19, 2015, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, Ames Court, Austin Hall, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Law, Lecture, Religion
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School; Jerry Wurf Memorial Forum
SPEAKER(S) Reverend James M. Lawson, Jr., pastor emeritus, Holman United Methodist Church, Los Angeles
CONTACT INFO john_trumpbour at harvard.edu
DETAILS Reverend James Lawson, who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, delivers the 2015 Jerry Wurf Memorial Lecture at Harvard.
------------------------------
Starr Forum: Demystifying ISIS
Thursday, February 19
4:30p–6:00p
MIt, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Juan Cole, Richard Nielsen
A discussion with with Juan Cole and Richard Nielsen
About the Speakers:
Juan Cole is a public intellectual, prominent blogger and essayist, and the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan.
Richard Nielsen is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at MIT. His current work uses statistical text analysis and fieldwork in Cairo mosques to understand the radicalization of jihadi clerics in the Arab world.
Juan Cole's book "The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East" will sold at the event.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact: starrforum at mit.edu
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Modeling Malaria's Spread
Thursday, February 19
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
MIT, Building E19-623, Knight Conference Room, 400 Main Street, Cambridge
Caroline Buckee, Associate Director, CCDD, Harvard School of Public Health
---------------------------------
Gordon R. Willey Lecture: The Origins of Maya Civilization: New Insights from Ceibal
Thursday, February 19
6:00 pm
Harvard, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Takeshi Inomata, PhD, professor and Agnese Nelms Haury Chair, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona
Daniela Triadan, PhD, associate professor, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona
In the 1960s, Gordon Willey and a team of Harvard archaeologists led the investigation of Ceibal, a Maya site in Guatemala. Their research revealed that Ceibal was a very early settlement, one that predated the cities constructed in the heyday of Maya civilization. Recent excavations in Ceibal, directed by Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, have produced exciting new findings, including the discovery of what is considered the earliest ceremonial complex in the Maya lowlands, dating to 950 BCE. Inomata and Triadan discuss the new discoveries and what they reveal about the origins of Maya culture and society.
Co-presented by the Museum of Science, Boston and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
-------------------------------
American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity
Thursday, February 19, 2015
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Christian G. Appy, author
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Sniffing the Air of Alien Earths
Thursday, February 19, 2015
7:30 pm
Harvard, Phillips Auditorium, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge
Sarah Rugheimer
Are we alone in the universe? We've found hundreds of planets orbiting distant stars, including several dozen in their star's habitable zone. But do any of them host life? To find out, we'll need to look for telltale molecules like oxygen or methane. The next generation of telescopes may answer this question when they take their first "sniffs" of alien air. Sarah Rugheimer is a 2014 Harvard Horizon Scholar and member of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Free and open to the public
Contact pubaffairs at cfa.harvard.edu, 617.495.7461
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Friday, February 20
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Africa on the Global Stage
Friday, February 20
8:00 AM to 6:00 PM (EST)
Tufts, The Fletcher School, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/africa-on-the-global-stage-tickets-15411434014
The Fletcher Africana Club is pleased to present the second annual Africana Conference, Africa on the Global Stage on Friday February 20th, 2015 at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford, MA.The conference will include panels on Technology and Innovation, Governance, Conflict and Peacebuilding, and Trade and Investment in the region with keynote speeches from Amina Alum Ali, the permanent representative of the African Union to the United States and Antoinette Sayeh, the Director of the African Department at the IMF.
The Fletcher Africana Conference is an annual gathering of students, professionals, policymakers and academia at The Fletcher School, Tufts University in Boston (USA). It is organized by the Fletcher Africana Club, a group of graduate students from Africa and/or with a keen interest and work experience in the African continent. We aim to provide a forum that creates contextual understanding of African issues through debate and discussion. This is possible only if we examine questions of socioeconomic and political significance through the multiple lenses of development, business, politics, security, and science and technology. Therefore, the Africana Club strives to engage thought leaders from different sections of society and bring them together in ways that create an understanding of the various forces at play.
In March 2014, we organized the inaugural conference called Africa Beyond the Headlines, which focused on intertwining issues in security and development on the continent. In October 2012, The Fletcher School held a conference called Africa’s Turn that strove to make sense of the gap between the promise and on-ground realities of Africa’s economic potential. This academic year, we have hosted a series of events on health, human security, economic development and inclusive growth in Africa: Ebola: Mutations, Markets and the Military; Inclusive Growth: Ensuring Prosperity Reaches Africa’s Bottom of the Pyramid; and Entrepreneurship and Business in Emerging Markets: The Obusai, Ghana Gold Mine.
Additionally, The Fletcher School has a strong interest in African affairs, as exemplified through events this year such as Transforming Smallholder Farming in Africa; View From the Ground: International Criminal Law, Transitional Justice and Survivor Advocacy in Rwanda; The Golden Hour: Africa’s Rise and the Challenge of American Diplomacy; and a panel discussion on private sector internships in sub-Saharan Africa. We invite you to join us. The 2nd Fletcher Africana Conference will focus on reconciling the dichotomies that exist in 21st century Africa: technological innovation alongside forces of friction like infrastructural and regulatory gaps; economic growth alongside unemployment and lack of inclusive growth; improvements in health and well-being indicators alongside health crises and increased human insecurity; increased foreign direct investment alongside unclear risk management strategies.
-----------------------------
Destination Europe
Friday, February 20
8am - 7pm
TAJ HOTEL, 15 Arlington Street, Boston
RSVP at http://destinationeurope-boston.teamwork.fr/en/registration
'Destination Europe' events showcase the vibrant and exciting research and innovation culture in Europe and the opportunities available to researchers, from anywhere in the world, interested in working in Europe.
It is a joint initiative of the European Union and its Member States.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Researchers, of any nationality, who are considering their next career move to Europe
International officers and Career Guidance Officers of universities/ research organisations
Anyone interested in learning about the research and innovation landscape and opportunities in Europe
CONFERENCE OUTLINE
At the Boston event you will find:
Experts from European research organisations, funding agencies and European Commission services who will present programmes, initiatives and excellent institutions
Researchers who have had the experience of moving to Europe temporarily or permanently and who will share their experience with you
Information about the practicalities of moving to Europe (scientific visa, mobility centres etc.)
An exhibition space to provide additional information
----------------------------------
Let’s Talk About Foams
Friday, February 20
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Reynolds Advanced Materials, 45 Electric Avenue, Brighton
RSVP at boston at reynoldsam.com
Our “Let’s Talk About” series is an informal get together of people who want to know more about materials and processes. It won’t take long, there is no commitment and our goal is to educate. You will meet people just like you and we often get contributions from industry pros that add value to the conversation. We welcome any and all comments.
Event Details
Let's Discuss:
The Variety Of Rigid & Flexible Foams Available
Choosing The Right Foam For Your Project
Expansion Rates & Densities
Proper Mixing & Pouring
Common Problems & How To Avoid Them
Material Demos Will Be Ongoing FREE To The Public - Light Refreshment Will Be Served
----------------------------
Data Centers, Energy, and Online Optimization
Friday, February 20
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
BU, TBA
Refreshments served at 2:45.
Adam Wierman, California Institute of Technology
This talk will tell two parallel stories, one about designing sustainable data centers and one about the underlying algorithmic challenges, which fall into the context of online convex optimization.
Story 1: The typical story surrounding data centers and energy is an extremely negative one: Data centers are energy hogs. This message is pervasive in both the popular press and academia, and it certainly rings true. However, the view of data centers as energy hogs is too simplistic. One goal of this talk is to highlight that, yes, data centers use a lot of energy, but data centers can also be a huge benefit in terms of integrating renewable energy into the grid and thus play a crucial role in improving the sustainability of our energy landscape. In particular, I will highlight a powerful alternative view: data centers as demand response opportunities.
Story 2: Typically in online convex optimization it is enough to exhibit an algorithm with low (sub-linear) regret, which implies that the algorithm can match the performance of the best static solution in retrospect. However, what if one additionally wants to maintain performance that is nearly as good as the dynamic optimal, i.e., a good competitive ratio? In this talk, I’ll highlight that it is impossible for an online algorithm to simultaneously achieve these goals. Luckily though, in practical settings (like data centers), noisy predictions about the future are often available, and I will show that, under a general model of prediction noise, even very limited predictions about the future are enough to overcome the impossibility result.
Adam Wierman is a Professor in the Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the California Institute of Technology, where he is a founding member of the Rigorous Systems Research Group (RSRG) and maintains a popular blog called Rigor + Relevance. His research interests center around resource allocation and scheduling decisions in computer systems and services. He received the 2011 ACM SIGMETRICS Rising Star award, the 2014 IEEE Communications Society William R. Bennett Prize, and has been coauthor on papers that received of best paper awards at ACM SIGMETRICS, IEEE INFOCOM, IFIP Performance (twice), IEEE Green Computing Conference, IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting, and ACM GREENMETRICS.
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Saturday, February 21
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MIT Infinite Labs 2015 Tech Conference
Saturday, February 21
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EST)
MIT Media Lab, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/mit-infinite-labs-2015-tech-conference-tickets-4896219725
Cost: $26.88 - $47.78
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Global Urban Datafest: Smart Cities Challenge - Boston
Saturday, February 21
8:30 AM to 7:00 PM (EST)
Harvard Business School- iLab, Batten Hall - 2nd Floor, 125 Western Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/global-urban-datafest-smart-cities-challenge-boston-registration-15048728151
A month-long series of events leading up to a hackathon on Saturday, February 21st at the Harvard iLab
The Challenge: Join us and work with Massachusetts cities to solve real challenges they face. Help Holyoke develop solutions to improve its pedestrian experience & support Somerville measure the impact of its city services.
Who Should Participate: Everyone! You don’t need to be a technology expert to participate... We’re looking for business thinkers, policy analysts, journalists, designers, community organizers, urban planners, or anyone else who is interested in solving real urban challenges.
What You'll Do: Form teams to rapidly design and prototype solutions for participating cities. At the end of the day, teams will present their solutions to a panel of city representatives and other experts ready to implement the best ideas. You could create an innovative app, a hardware idea, a new business model, or a policy intervention!
Awards: Two winning teams will go on to compete globally against contestants from 20+ cities around the world participating in the 3rd Annual Global Urban Datafest. Global winners will receive cash prizes, mentorship from industry thought-leaders and support to see their ideas prototyped!
More information at http://global.datafest.net/cities/Boston
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I ♥ Science
Saturday, February 21
9:00AM - 4:00PM
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Regular museum admission rates apply.
http://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/i-%E2%99%A5-science
Embrace your love of science! Explore fossils of long-extinct animals. Try your hand at sketching a mammal, excavating a mock dinosaur dig, or discovering life in a rotting log. Meet a live scorpion and tarantula. Bring a rock, mineral, or shell to be identified by members of the Boston Mineral Club or the Boston Malacological Club. Talk with scientists and graduate students studying topics ranging from tiny insects to dinosaurs. This event is appropriate for children and adults of all ages.
More at: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/2015-02-21-140000-2015-02-21-210000/i-%E2%99%A5-science#sthash.ShUROyJx.dpuf
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Tufts Energy Conference 2015
Saturday, February 21
9:00 AM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Tufts, The Fletcher School, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/tufts-energy-conference-2015-tickets-15346784646
Cost: $10.00
The 10th Annual Tufts Energy Conference will revolve around the theme "Breaking Barriers to a Clean Energy Future." Come hear from panelists, keynotes, and fellow conference attendees about solutions-oriented ways to move us toward a greener future.
Join us for eight panels, two keynotes, an energy competition and showcase, and a networking reception. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided.
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Monday, February 23
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MASS Seminar
Monday, February 23
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Caroline Nowlan
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Atmospheric Science Seminars (MASS)
For more information, contact: MASS organizing committee
mass at mit.edu
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How to Open-source the Creative Process: Democratizing Innovation, Product Design and Development, and Technology Strategy
Monday, February 23
12:00p–1:00p
Webinar at http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_022315/how-to-open-source-creative-process.html
Speaker: Ali Almossawi, Data Visualization Engineer, Mozilla; Author, An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments; and SDM Alumnus
In this webinar, SDM alumnus Ali Almossawi will discuss the benefits of expanding the creative process through open-sourcing on the Internet, where there are more creators, fewer industry gatekeepers, and endless opportunities to engage directly with users. He will:
describe a model for open-sourcing the creative process and how it can be used to build a self-sustaining product or business;
outline the key players???often a combination of professionals with expertise in technology, business, and/or design;
discuss what is needed for team members to work together effectively???and the pitfalls to avoid;
provide examples of failure, success, and failure leading to success; and
offer next steps that can be adapted and applied across all industries.
A Q&A will follow the presentation. We invite you to join us.
MIT System Design & Management Systems Thinking Webinar Series
This series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.
Web site: http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_022315/how-to-open-source-creative-process.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to all
Tickets: See url above.
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design & Management (SDM)
For more information, contact: Lois Slavin
lslavin at mit.edu
---------------------------------
EPA's Clean Power Plan: What Should States Be Sure Not To Do?
Monday, February 23
12-1:30
Harvard, Bell Hall (5th Floor Belfer Building), 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Paul Sotkiewicz, Chief Economist, Markets, PJM Interconnection
ETIP/Consortium Energy Policy Seminar
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"The Ascent of Science Fictional Futurity in Anglo-American Legal Thought"
Monday, February 23
12:15PM - 2:00PM
Harvard, Room 100F, Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Michael Bennett, Northeastern Law School
Sandwich lunches are provided. Please RSVP to sts at hks.harvard.edu by Wednesday at 5PM the week before.
STS Circle at Harvard
http://sts.hks.harvard.edu/events/sts_circle/
Contact Name: Shana Rabinowich
sts at hks.harvard.edu
More at: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/2015-02-23-171500-2015-02-23-190000/sts-circle-harvard#sthash.wvVSRHOJ.dpuf
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Play, Videogames and Education Reform
Monday, February 23
5:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building 32-141
Speaker: Gonzalo Frasca
No, videogames are not going to change the school system. Unfortunately, the majority of educational games cater to the fears of parents and administrators rather than to the children???s needs. How should we create games that are both useful and effective inside and outside the classroom?
Gonzalo Frasca is now making math games at okidOkO. A while ago, he sort of invented newsgames, wrote videogame and play theory, made tons of webgames for Hollywood animation studios, got PhD in videogames and even co-created the first official videogame for a US Presidential election. He calls Uruguay home and teaches game development to a bunch of merry kids at ORT University and Liceo Jubilar.
Web site: http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/gonzalo-frasca-play-videogames-and-education-reform/
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, MIT Game Lab
For more information, contact: Andrew Whitacre
617-324-0490
cmsw at mit.edu
----------------------------
Askwith Forum: Smarter Charters?
WHEN Mon., Feb. 23, 2015, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Longfellow Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge
TYPE OF EVENT Discussion, Forum, Lecture, Question & Answer Session
PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT Alumni, AskWith Forum
BUILDING/ROOM Askwith Hall
CONTACT NAME Roger Falcon
CONTACT EMAIL askwith_forums at gse.harvard.edu
CONTACT PHONE 617-384-9968
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION/DEPARTMENT Harvard Graduate School of Education
REGISTRATION REQUIRED No
ADMISSION FEE This event is free and open to the public.
RSVP REQUIRED No
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education
DETAILS Participants include:
Richard Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation; co-author, A Smarter Charter: Finding What Works for Charter Schools and Public Education
Martha Minow, Ed.M.’76, Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Halley Potter, Fellow, The Century Foundation; co-author, A Smarter Charter: Finding What Works for Charter Schools and Public Education
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AB Forum with Moshe Safdie: Design for a small planet
Monday, February 23
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
RSVP at rsvp at architects.org
From Kuwait City to Singapore, US architecture firms are realizing an increasing share of their commissions from projects abroad. This raises immediate, sometimes delicate questions: What is the responsibility of US architects to sustainability, to the local workforce, to a country’s design aesthetic? What can we learn from the developing world? Join 2015 AIA Gold Medal winner Moshe Safdie FAIA and other Boston-area architects for a wide-ranging discussion. The event will be followed by a reception.
For those who qualify, 2.0 LUs are available.
Moderator
Jay Wickersham FAIA
Panel
Moshe Safdie FAIA
Peter Kuttner FAIA
Deborah Bentley, RIBA
——————————-
Tuesday, February 24
———————---------
Envisioning Our Energy Future
Tuesday, February 24
10:00 AM to 3:30 PM (EST)
Federal Reserve Plaza, 600 Atlantic Avenue, Connolly Center; Harborside 4th Floor, Boston
RSVP by 2/11 at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/envisioning-our-energy-future-tickets-15275579670?aff=es2&rank=648
Cost: $31.59
Featuring panel discussions on:
Utility of the Future
The advancement of viable, distributed energy technologies in the marketplace is happening quickly. Arguably, technology changes in the market are occurring faster than the regulatory structure governing utilities. The potential to structure a new energy system that embraces decentralized energy technologies is large. Utilities throughout the region are reacting to the changing landscape differently; some utilities are seeking to secure revenue through rate structure changes that could impose barriers to the deployment of new technologies. Others are re-envisioning their future role and the functions the utility will provide. Participants on this panel will be asked to describe their vision of the future and identify key steps to achieving it.
Panelists:
Nathan Adams, Green Mountain Power
Tim Woolf, Synapse Energy Economics, Inc.
Jonathan Schrag, Guarini Center, NYU
Leveling the Playing Field for Distributed Energy Resources
The current system for planning and paying for the energy system favors expenditures on poles and wires over investments that reduce demand for grid-supplied power. The failure to utilize all of the tools in the energy toolbox drives transmission and distribution costs higher than they would be if “non-wires alternatives” (NWAs) could compete on a level playing field. At the same time, successful policies and falling costs are leading to increasing investments in distributed energy resources. This panel will examine recent examples of utilizing NWAs and explore policy reforms that can facilitate competition and reduce transmission and distribution system costs.
Panelists:
Scudder Parker, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Fran Cummings, Peregrine Energy Group
Jim Grevatt, Energy Futures Group
Kerrick Johnson, Vermont Electric Power Company
The Role for Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Resources to Reduce Price Pressures in the Energy System
Flexibility in energy efficiency investment programs offers the potential to achieve specific objectives such as serving low-income customers or geographic targeting to defer infrastructure upgrades. States across the region are beginning to target efficiency programs toward peak demand for natural gas and electricity in winter months, in response to increased electric prices during these periods in recent years. This panel will explore current efforts to utilize efficiency investments to help alleviate this and other issues, and consider challenges to efficiency program design and implementation related to targeted efficiency.
Panelists:
Jeremy Newberger, National Grid
Eric Wilkinson, ISO-NE
Michael Stoddard, Efficiency Maine Trust
Jeff Schlegel, Efficiency Expert
Lunch Speaker: Klaus Vesløv, EcoGrid EU
Developer of a €23M smart grid pilot program on the Danish island of Bornholm, which is the first pilot in the EU to focus on how customer behavior impacts grid modernization efforts. The ECOGRID pilot program is one of the foundations for fullfilling the Bornholm strategy of being 100% fossil free by 2025. For more information: http://www.eu-ecogrid.net/ecogrid-eu/the-bornholm-test-site
Please RSVP by February 11th.
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Workshopping Ideas: Presentations from the Digital Problem-Solving Initiative (DPSI) Teams
Tuesday, February 24
12:30 pm
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/02/DPSI#RSVP
Event will be webcast live on http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/02/DPSI at 12:30 pm.
Introduction from Berkman's Executive Director, Urs Gasser
The Digital Problem-Solving Initiative (DPSI, or "dip-see") at Harvard University, is an innovative and collaborative project, hosted through the Berkman Center. DPSI brings together a diverse group of learners (students, faculty, fellows, and staff) to work on projects to address challenges and opportunities across the university. DPSI offers participants a novel opportunity to engage with research, design, and policy relating to the digital world. Student teams will be presenting their work (see link below) and seeking feedback from the Berkman community.
About Urs Gasser
Urs Gasser is the Executive Director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. He is a visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and at KEIO University (Japan), and he teaches at Fudan University School of Management (China). Urs Gasser serves as a trustee on the board of the NEXA Center for Internet & Society at the University of Torino and on the board of the Research Center for Information Law at the University of St. Gallen, and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin. He is a Fellow at the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research.
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The Rails Race: Japan and China in Global Infrastructure Politics
WHEN Tue., Feb. 24, 2015, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), 2nd Floor, CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Program on U.S.-Japan Relations
SPEAKER(S) A. Maria Toyoda, associate professor and associate dean for Interdisciplinary Studies and Global Initiatives, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Villanova University
moderated by Susan Pharr, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics and director, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard University
COST Free and open to the public
LINK http://programs.wcfia.harvard.edu/us-japan/calendar/upcoming
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Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War
Tuesday, February 24
6:00p–7:30p
MIT Museum, Building N51, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Meet Ron Fierstein, author of "A Triumph of Genius", the newest biography of Polaroid founder, Edwin Land. Book signing to follow talk.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/museum/visit/calendar.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact: Brindha Muniappan
617-253-5927
museuminfo at mit.edu
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Boston Green Drinks - Febrary Happy Hour
Boston Green Drinks
Tuesday, February 24
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Scholars, 25 School Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-green-drinks-febrary-happy-hour-tickets-15502989860
Darned blizzard! We will miss you in January but let's make Green Drinks double the sustainable fun in February!
Join the conversation with sustainability professionals and hobbyists. Enjoy a drink and build your connection with our green community!
Keep sending feedback to Lyn at bostongreendrinks.com for ideas about speakers or content for the future and mark your calendar for drinks on the last Tuesday of every month. Also, if you RSVP and can't make it, e-mail us to let us know.
Boston Green Drinks builds a community of sustainably-minded Bostonians, provides a forum for exchange of sustainability career resources, and serves as a central point of information about emerging green issues. We support the exchange of ideas and resources about sustainable energy, environment, food, health, education.
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How "Plankton Blooms" Absorb CO2
Tuesday, February 24
6:30 PM
Belmont Media Center, 9 Lexington Street, Belmont
Amala Mahadevan, PhD, Senior Scientist, Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Dr. Mahadevan is a 2014-2015 Radcliffe Fellow.
Plankton are microscopic organisms that represent the base of the ocean food chain. More important for us, plankton function as a biological pump, removing about one-third of the atmospheric CO2. The planet's health depends on regular plankton "blooms," in which enormous aggregations of plankton spread for miles over the world's oceans. The NASA satellite image here is a fragment of a plankton bloom off the New Zealand coast. Scientists are trying to understand the complex physical, chemical and biological mechanisms that trigger the plankton blooms. Dr. Mahadevan is a leader in this research and recently discovered a critical trigger. She explains how plankton absorb so much CO2 and the unexpected triggers that cause the sudden aggregations.
Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations
WHOI article about Dr. Mahadevan's work Scientists Discover New Trigger for North Atlantic Plankton Bloom at
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7545&tid=3622&cid=143653
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In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Michael Meyer, author
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Evolution Matters Lecture Series: The Revolution in Plant Evolution
Tuesday, February 24
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM (EST)
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/evolution-matters-lecture-series-the-revolution-in-plant-evolution-tickets-15354441548
Today’s digital technologies enable museums to “unlock” their cabinets and share their treasures online. Pamela Soltis, Distinguished Professor and Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida,
will discuss how access to digital data and images of natural history collections is becoming a game changer in the understanding of plant evolution. From enabling novel research on plant genetics, to highlighting the roles plants play in nature and how they respond to climate change, museum collections are a key resource, particularly when studying plants that are rare, hard to collect, endangered, or extinct.
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Wednesday, February 25
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Identifying Ideology: Experimental Evidence on Anti-Americanism in Pakistan
Wednesday, February 25
2:30p–4:00p
MIT, Building E51-376, 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Speaker: Leo Bursztyn (UCLA)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Development Economics Seminar
For more information, contact: economics calendar
econ-cal at mit.edu
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Leaving Prison and Entering Poverty
WHEN Wed., Feb. 25, 2015, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Bruce Western, 2014-15 Evelyn Green Davis Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute
COST Free and open to the public
LINK http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2015-bruce-western-fellow-presentation
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Bioinspired Materials
Wednesday, February 25
6:30pm - 7:30pm
Honeycomb, Le Laboratoire Cambridge, 650 East Kendall Street, Cambridge
Joanna Aizenberg, Ph.D.
Platform Leader and Core Faculty member, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Sciences, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Director, Science Program, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
Co-Director, Kavli Institute for Bionano Science & Technology
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The Future of the Past: A History Ignored -- Honoring the 100 Year Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Through Art and Dialogue
Wednesday, February 25
6:30 PM to 8:15 PM (EST)
Washburn Auditorium, Brattle Campus, Lesley University, 10 Phillips Place, Cambridge
How can we process the horrors of genocide, especially when the hurt of these atrocities is compounded by a century of denial?
Between the eve of World War I and 1922, 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children were killed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in what has been coined the first genocide of the 20th century. Those who were not rounded up to be killed at once were sent on death marches through mountains and deserts without food, drink or shelter. But still today, the Turkish government rejects the conclusions of historians, saying there was no premeditation in the deaths, no systematic attempt to destroy a people. Indeed, in Turkey today it remains a crime to use the term genocide.
The power of images from the art community has historically moved our society. Now is the time to openly accept Armenian history, including the Genocide, and honor the numerous contributions of the Armenian civilization.
Join artists Hope Ricciardi, John Avakian, Marsha Odabashian, and Adrienne DerMarderosian as they share their personal narratives and how they make meaning of the resulting intergenerational transmission of trauma through their art.
Presented by Violence Transformed and Lesley University's Expressive Therapies and Interdisciplinary Studies Programs.
Event is Free and Open to the Public!! Walk-ins welcome!
Any questions? Please contact Beth Chambers at echambe5 at lesley.edu
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Thursday, February 26
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Officer of the World Economic Forum USA to Speak at Volpe
Thursday, February 26
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, 55 Broadway, Cambridge
John B. Moavenzadeh, Senior Director of Mobility Industries and Officer of the World Economic Forum USA
John Moavenzadeh is senior director, Mobility Industries, and an officer of the World Economic Forum USA. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
As an officer of the World Economic Forum USA, the Forum’s U.S.-based affiliate, Moavenzadeh shares leadership for the 100 Forum staff based in New York. Moavenzadeh’s responsibilities include engaging CEOs and business leaders from the automotive, logistics & supply chain, aviation, travel & tourism industries in projects and processes to advance strategic global issues. He has contributed to reports and initiatives on topics ranging from trade facilitation to connected and smart transportation to supply chain resilience.
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PETA President Ingrid Newkirk at Harvard Law School
WHEN Thu., Feb. 26, 2015, 12 – 1 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Room B015, 1585 Mass Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Ethics, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Law School Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (orgs.law.harvard.edu…)
SPEAKER(S) Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO saldf.hls at gmail.com
DETAILS Animal Rights, Human Obligations: An Open Forum with PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. All viewpoints encouraged. Riveting Q&A to follow.
LINK https://www.facebook.com/events/404248646401789/
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Flooding risk and the modernization of agriculture
Thursday, February 26
12:00-1:00pm
Tufts, Lincoln Filene Center, Rabb Room, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Kyle Emerick, Department of Economics, Tufts University
Approximately 30% of the cultivated rice area in India is prone to crop damage from prolonged flooding. Dr. Emerick will discuss a two-year study in rural Odisha India investigating the effects of introducing a new flood-tolerant rice variety on farm investment. He will discuss the effects on both farm productivity and farmer decision-making.
Kyle Emerick received his PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Berkeley in 2014. His research is in development economics — with a particular focus on the economics of agricultural development. His work has included studies on the effects of risk-reducing technologies on the decisions of poor farmers in rural India, the efficiency of informal seed exchanges between Indian farmers, and the effects of more secure property rights on labor reallocation in Mexico. His studies rely on both field experiments and observational data.
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Upstart Roundtable Venture Café
Thursday, February 26
4:00pm – 6:00pm
Venture Cafe, One Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at http://thecapitalnetwork.cloverpad.org/event-1810234
TCN UpStart Roundtables are monthly gatherings at the Venture Cafe that bring together Boston-area early-stage startups and seasoned entrepreneurs. This free series with The Capital Network, Venture Cafe, and Silicon Valley Bank is a great opportunity for you to ask burning questions about starting a company and meet other like-minded entrepreneurs in a casual cafe setting.
Pre-registration is not required to attend the TCN UpStart Roundtable series, but we do appreciate knowing in advance how many people to expect.
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Boston Meetup + Pitch-Off
Thursday, February 26
6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (EST)
Estate Club, One Bolyston Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-meetup-pitch-off-tickets-14985607355
Cost: $10.00
TechCrunch's legendary meetup + pitch-off event is coming to Boston! Join us for beer, good conversation, and a battle to the death to see which entrepreneurs can dazzle and excite the judges in under sixty seconds.
Pitch-Off Competition
Participants interested in competing in the pitch-off will have 60 seconds to explain why their startup is awesome. These products must currently be in stealth or private beta. The application will open soon.
Office Hours
Office Hours are for companies selected to compete in the Pitch-Off. These 15 minute one-on-one talks will be held the day of the event. We’ll hear about your company, give feedback and reommend the best pitch strategy for the 60-second rapid-fire competition. Think of us as Adam Levine on The Voice.
Pitch-Off Winners
Pitches will be rated by 3-5 judges, including TechCrunch writers and local VCs. First Place will receive a table in Startup Alley at an upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt. Second Place will receive (2) tickets to an upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt. Third Place will receive (1) ticket to the upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt.
VENUE: Estate - One Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116
This is a 21+ only event.
AGENDA:
6:00 Doors Open
7:00 Pitch-Off Competition
8:15 Winners Announced
8:20 Networking
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Is Shame Necessary? New Uses for an Old Tool
Thursday, February 26
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Jennifer Jacquet, author
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Winning Marriage: The Inside Story of How Same-Sex Couples Took on the Politicians and Pundits—and Won
Thursday February 26
7:00 pm
Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Coolidge Corner, Brookline
Marc Solomon
Ten years ago no state allowed same-sex couples to marry, support for gay marriage nationwide hovered around 30 percent. Today, same-sex couples can marry in seventeen states, polls consistently show majority support, and nearly three-quarters of Americans believe legalization is inevitable. In Winning Marriage Marc Solomon, a veteran leader in the movement for marriage equality, gives the reader a seat at the strategy-setting and decision-making table in the campaign to win and protect the freedom to marry. With depth and grace he reveals the inner workings of the advocacy movement that has championed and protected advances won in legislative, court, and electoral battles over the decade since the landmark Massachusetts ruling guaranteeing marriage for same-sex couples for the first time.
More information at http://www.brooklinebooksmith-shop.com/event/mark-solomon-winning-marriage-inside-story-how-same-sex-couples-took-politicians-and-pundits-a
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Mass Extinctions: A Brief History of Life’s Worst Moments
WHEN Thu., Feb. 26, 2015, 7 – 8:15 p.m.
WHERE Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Boston, MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Phoebe Cohen, assistant professor of geosciences, Williams College
COST $10 (students: email to register for free)
TICKET WEB LINK https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1409&DayPlannerDate=2/26/2015
CONTACT INFO adulted at arnarb.harvard.edu
617.384.5277
DETAILS Life on Earth has experienced at least five major events we call “mass extinctions,” during which a huge number of species have gone extinct in a short period of time. In this talk, paleontologist Phoebe Cohen will explore how scientists decide which extinctions get to be considered “mass,” the ways in which these events have reshaped life as we know it, and how a deep understanding of past extinctions can help us see the future.
LINK arboretum.harvard.edu
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Friday, February 27
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MIT 2015 Energy Conference
Global Energy Shifts: Disruption and Convergence
February 27-28, 2015
Cost: $53.74 - $401.35
More information at http://mitenergyconference.org
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Lunch and Learn: Idea to Invention
Friday, February 27
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (EST)
Workbar Boston, 711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/lunch-and-learn-idea-to-invention-tickets-15008222999?aff=es2&rank=1018
Cost: $11.54
Idea to Invention
You don't have to be a mechanical genius to be an inventor. Anyone can invent - it's simply finding clever solutions to everyday challenges. Author and inventor Patricia Nolan-Brown, inventor of the original, best selling rear-facing car seat mirror, has turned common annoyances into ingenious and money-making products. She will teach you how to master the invention process and achieve success in a timely and cost-effective way. Don't have an idea yet? No worries - she will teach you how to come up with one! Check out the instructor's website at www.patricianolanbrown.com.
Key takeaways:
This session covers:
How to successfully run any business
Essential success traits
What you need to know to cash in on your inspiration
Social media platform building
About the Instructor:
As a successful inventor, Patricia offers her advice to aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs -- based on 24 years of experience. Patricia has broken down the invention process into 6 Simple Steps. She offers a do-it-yourself method which saves inventors a ton of time and money.
The Workbar Lunch and Learn classroom series is designed to connect and educate professionals from every industry and on a variety of topics. The Workbar Lunch and Learn classroom is open to members and non-members alike. To ensure the right vibe and to deliver value to the sponsors and supporters who make our community possible, we do not allow soliciting of any kind. We appreciate your help, please see our event guidelines for more information regarding participation in our events.
Space is limited. Lunch is included.
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Harvard Food+ Research Symposium
Friday, February 27
12:30–4:30 pm
Harvard CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17xpktLWDCdmijI-fZIR4fPT5dtcqQm2Uc8QkfN_hwW8/viewform?usp=send_form
The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs is pleased to announce the first Harvard Research Symposium on the Nexus of Food, Agriculture, Environment, Health, and Society (or as we call it, the Food+ Symposium). The Symposium will feature 20 Harvard faculty members from 8 schools and a dozen departments giving 7 minute "speed presentations" on their current Food+ research. A reception will follow at the Weatherhead Center.
The goal of the Food+ Research Symposium is to provide attendees with a sense of the excitement and breadth of the Food+ research underway at Harvard and foster cross-fertilization among researchers.
Faculty, staff, students, and members of the wider Boston community should RSVP at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17xpktLWDCdmijI-fZIR4fPT5dtcqQm2Uc8QkfN_hwW8/viewform?usp=send_form
Confirmed faculty presenters include:
Michele Holbrook, Professor of Biology and Forestry in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Elsie Sunderland, Associate Professor in Environmental Science and Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Ann Forsyth, Professor of Urban Planning at the Harvard raduate School of Design
Michael Kremer, Professor of Developing Societies in the Department of Economics at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
J. Gunnar Trumbull, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School
David Ludwig, Professor of Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School and Professor of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health
Samuel Myers, Instructor in Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health
Walter Willett, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health
Robert Paarlberg, Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School
William Clark, Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development at the Harvard Kennedy School
Daniel Schrag, Professor of Geology in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment
Peter Huybers, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Emily Broad Leib, Lecturer on Law and Clinical Instruction at the Harvard Law School and Director of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic
Jacob Gersen, Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School and Director of the Harvard Food Law Lab
PK Newby, Lecturer at the Harvard Extension School and author of the blog The Nutrition Doctor is in the Kitchen
More at: http://green.harvard.edu/events/harvard-food-research-symposium#sthash.0sQWA8MG.dpuf
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Reality Check: Russia, Ukraine, and the West in Crisis and Conflict
Friday, February 27
2:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building E40-496, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Matthew Rojansky, Director of the Kennan Institute
The death toll from the war in Ukraine's southeast is in the thousands, the government in Kyiv is on the edge of bankruptcy, and mutual hostility between Russia and the West has not been so intense for more than a quarter century. The intensity of this ongoing crisis threatens not only to upend the precarious security balance in the post-Soviet space and beyond, but to reinforce a serious challenge to the very political and economic system that Ukrainians embraced when they turned out support the so-called Euro-Maidan by the hundreds of thousands last Fall and Winter. With poor prospects for a comprehensive diplomatic settlement, and political pressure for escalation from all sides, what can be done to contain the damage? Is crisis and confrontation the new normal for Europe and Eurasia, and if so will these problems come home to roost in the West?
Matthew Rojansky is Director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.. An expert on U.S. relations with the states of the former Soviet Union, especially Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, he has advised governments, intergovernmental organizations, and major private actors on conflict resolution and efforts to enhance shared security throughout the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian region.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, Security Studies Program, MISTI MIT-Russia Program
For more information, contact: Ema Kaminskaya
617-2542793
ekaminsk at mit.edu
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Soldier, God, and the State: Religion in the Armies of India and Pakistan
Friday, February 27
2:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building E40-464, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Professor Amit Ahuja, UCSB
A session of the South Asia Politics Seminar Series cosponsored by MIT, Harvard and Brown.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, Harvard University, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; Brown University, Watson Institute
For more information, contact: Laurie Scheffler
617 253-3121
lauries at mit.edu
Editorial Comment: I wonder if anyone will mention the world's first non-violent army, the Khudai Khitmadgar, the Servants of God, the Red Shirts which were Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh who gathered together to institute Gandhi's Constructive Programme and protect people during religious riots. They were formed and led by Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Badshah Khan, the Khan of Khans from around 1930 until 1948.
More at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/06/27/534378/-Islamic-Satyagraha-Army
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Censors at Work: How States Shaped Literature
Friday, February 27
3:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Robert Darnton, author
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Askwith Forum: How Do You Define American?
WHEN Fri., Feb. 27, 2015, 5 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Longfellow Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge
TYPE OF EVENT Discussion, Forum, Lecture, Question & Answer Session
PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT Alumni, AskWith Forum
BUILDING/ROOM Askwith Hall
CONTACT NAME Roger Falcon
CONTACT EMAIL askwith_forums at gse.harvard.edu
CONTACT PHONE 617-384-9968
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION/DEPARTMENT Harvard Graduate School of Education
REGISTRATION REQUIRED No
ADMISSION FEE This event is free and open to the public.
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education
DETAILS Speaker: Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and the founder of Define American
This forum is held in conjunction with Alumni of Color Conference (AOCC). Jose Antonio Vargas is a 2015 AOCC Keynote Speaker.
The 2015 AOCC conference theme, “The Other Narrative: Celebrating Untold Stories,” will provide participants the opportunity to challenge dominant narratives that position the racial, ethnic, and cultural identities belonging to communities of color as inferior. By highlighting untold stories and counter-narratives, AOCC will engage participants in exploring different voices that celebrate just alternatives that include and go beyond academic discipline and pedagogy.
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Saturday, February 28
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Collapse: video by Lydia Eccles
Saturday, February 28
7PM
Brickbottom Gallery, 1 Fitchburg Street, Somerville
COLLAPSE INTERVIEWS: A Gathering of People With Nothing In Common (2 hours) with intermission, refreshments and discussion. (free)
More information at http://www.brickbottom.org
The water is rising. Keep calm and create.
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Opportunity
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The Boston Network for International Development (BNID) maintains a website (BNID.org) that serves as a clearing-house for information on organizations, events, and jobs related to international development in the Boston area. BNID has played an important auxiliary role in fostering international development activities in the Boston area, as witnessed by the expanding content of the site and a significant growth in the number of users.
The website contains:
A calendar of Boston area events and volunteer opportunities related to International Development
- http://www.bnid.org/events
A jobs board that includes both internships and full time positions related to International Development that is updated daily - http://www.bnid.org/jobs
A directory and descriptions of more than 250 Boston-area organizations - http://www.bnid.org/organizations
Also, please sign up for our weekly newsletter (we promise only one email per week) to get the most up-to-date information on new job and internship opportunities -www.bnid.org/sign-up
The website is completely free for students and our goal is to help connect students who are interested in international development with many of the worthwhile organizations in the area.
Please feel free to email our organization at info at bnid.org if you have any questions!
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Intern with Biodiversity for a Livable Climate!
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (BLC) is a nonprofit based in the Cambridge, MA area. Our mission is to mobilize the biosphere to restore ecosystems and reverse global warming.
Education, public information campaigns, organizing, scientific investigation, collaboration with like-minded organizations, research and policy development are all elements of our strategy.
Background: Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon sink on the planet. Restoring the complex ecology of soils is the only way to safely and quickly remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the ground, where it’s desperately needed to regenerate the health of billions of acres of degraded lands. Restoring carbon to soils and regenerating ecosystems are how we can restore a healthy hydrologic cycle and cool local and planetary climates safely, naturally, and in time to ensure a livable climate now and in the future.
Our Work: immediate plans include
Organizing the First International Biodiversity, Soil Carbon and Climate Week, October 31-November 9, 2014, and a kick-off conference in the Boston area, “Mobilizing the Biosphere to Reverse Global Warming: A Biodiversity, Water, Soil Carbon and Climate Conference – and Call to Action” to expand the mainstream climate conversation to include the power of biology, and to help initiate intensive worldwide efforts to return atmospheric carbon to the soils.
Coordination of a global fund to directly assist local farmers and herders in learning and applying carbon farming approaches that not only benefit the climate, but improve the health and productivity of the land and the people who depend on it.
Collaboration with individuals and organizations on addressing eco-restoration and the regeneration of water and carbon cycles; such projects may include application of practices such as Holistic Management for restoration of billions of acres of degraded grasslands, reforestation of exploited forest areas, and restoring ocean food chains.
Please contact Helen D. Silver, helen.silver at bio4climate.org for further information.
781-316-1710
Bio4climate.org
SharedHarvestCSA.com
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Climate Stories Project
http://www.climatestoriesproject.org
What's your Climate Story?
Climate Stories Project is a forum that gives a voice to the emotional and personal impacts that climate change is having on our lives. Often, we only discuss climate change from the impersonal perspective of science or the contentious realm of politics. Today, more and more of us are feeling the effects of climate change on an personal level. Climate Stories Project allows people from around the world to share their stories and to engage with climate change in a personal, direct way.
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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://mitenergyclub.org/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/
Startup and Entrepreneurial Events: http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/
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/
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