[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - April 9, 2017
gmoke
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Apr 9 11:12:33 PDT 2017
Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater
Boston area that catch the editor's eye.
Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke at world.std.com
What I Do and Why I Do It: The Story of Energy (and Other) Events
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html
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Details of these events are available when you scroll past the index
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Index
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Monday, April 10
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9am Culture Beyond Borders: The Roma Contribution
12pm Can we finally balance the marine nitrogen budget?
12pm Can a Life-Cycle Assessment Model Aid Sustainability Negotiations?
12pm California and Guangdong: A Tale of Two Cap-and-trade Programs
12pm Winners and Losers: Financial Globalization in the Middle East
12:30pm People, Power and Change
12:30pm Wars Change Everything: World War II, Food, and Agriculture in America
4pm Spiritual Activism: A Conversation with Ruby Sales
4pm MassRobotics Open House for Students
4:15pm The Populist Challenge
4:30pm Income Inequality and Health in America: A Lancet Special Issue
6pm How your smart phone will allow America to cut its carbon emissions in half
6pm Life Resurrected: Traveling Backwards in Evolutionary Time
6pm Water Innovation Prize : Final Pitch Night
6pm Boston New Technology April 2017 Startup Showcase #BNT76
6:15pm Design + Future + Drinks + Food
8pm Engineering Earth
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Tuesday, April 11 - Wednesday, April 12
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Boston Harbor & Islands Science Symposium
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Tuesday, April 11
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11am Toward Resilient Robot Autonomy through Learning, Interaction and Semantic Reasoning
11:45am Funding 101: Pathways to Funding Your Clean Tech Startup
12pm Power Shift: Networks, Politics, and the New Rules of Money and Fame
12pm Speaker Series: Sarah Lewis – Politics, Art and Visual Culture
12pm Multitasking: Why Your Brain Can't Do It and What You Should Do About It
12pm Phragmites australis: A Model Species for Plant Invasions
12pm Democracy against Domination: Power, Populism, and Resistance in the Era of Trump
12pm Starr Forum: Digital Innovation and Africa
12:30pm Science Communication Lecture: Dietram Scheufele
1pm The 2010 Earthquake [in Haiti]: Its Impact, Dynamics, and Implications
2:15pm Future of the Left Symposium — Panel 1: Perspectives from Political Leaders
4:15pm Afternoon talk with US Ambassador to Vietnam, Ted Osius and Chief of Staff & Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, Jon Finer
4:15pm Environmental Justice and Citizen Science - How to Lift Communities that Have Been Left Behind and Broaden Citizen Engagement
4:15pm Future of the Left Symposium — Panel 2: Perspectives from Scholars
5pm Indivisible Film Screening
5:15pm When We Walked: Pilgrimage Across Tradition
5:30pm Producing the future of energy in developing countries: contested visions in Thailand
6pm Cambridge Trees Advisory Committee meeting
6:30pm A Conversation with Conductor Andris Nelsons
7pm Work and Leadership in An Age of AI and Robotics
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Wednesday April 12
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Inaugural Planetary Health/Geohealth Annual Meeting
10am MIT INSPIRE 2017 Closing Ceremony
12pm Approach & Impact Lunch
12pm Is Slavery Being Rebranded?
12pm Costly Conversations: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Interstate Conflicts
12pm Layer Upon Layer: Experience, Ecology, Engineering, Heritage, and (Most of All) History in the Making of China's Agricultural Terraces
12pm Nature's Present: Environmental Crossroads in 21st Century India
12pm Finance, Geography, & Sustainability Speaker Series: From Internal Colony to Subprime Haven to Circular Economy
12:30pm China: End of the Reform Era
2pm MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS IN FINANCE, HEALTHCARE AND RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS
3pm xTalk: Learning from Videos in Open Online Education
4pm The Who and How of Microbial Control over Soil Carbon Dynamics
4pm The Impact of Pollution on Planetary Health: Emergence of an Underappreciated Risk Factor
4pm Environmental ice crystals: how ice clouds form and fish survive
4pm Digital Transformation Summit 2017
4:15pm Asymmetric Information, Drilling Distortions, and Oil and Gas Leases (Evan Herrnstadt)
4:15pm Book Talk with Jorrit de Jong, Author of "Dealing with Dysfunction: Innovative Problem Solving in the Public Sector”
6pm Numbered: Mapping Cancer onto Artistic Algorithms of Art, Dance and Music
6pm Climate Change Preparedness & Resilience Planning for the Alewife/Fresh Pond Area
6pm Mass Innovation Nights 97
7pm #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media
7pm The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors
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Thursday, April 13
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8:30am Cybersecurity - Avoiding and Reacting to Data Breaches
10am RISE:2017
11:45am Cost-Benefit Analysis and Environmental Regulation in the New Era
12pm Sustainability at the municipal level in Somerville
1:30pm STEX Workshop - Killer Apps in the Internet of Things
4pm Books at Baker presents "Democracy: A Case Study" with David Moss
4pm Refugees And Migrants: A Comparative Study Of Response--The UN, Government And Civil Society
4:15pm A Woman’s Place at the Harvard Observatory: A Lecture by Dava Sobel
4:15pm The Annual Zaleski Lecture in Modern Polish History — Dismantling Democracy on the EU's Watch: Poland and Its Constitutional Tribunal
5pm Rebecca Henderson - "Reimagining Capitalism: Business, Purpose and the Big Problems”
5:30pm Green Building Advocacy Roundtable
6pm authors at mit - Adam Gazzaley - The Distracted Mind
6pm Passage at St. Augustine: Film Screening and Discussion with filmmaker Clennon L. King, Civil Rights Veteran Mimi Jones who is featured in the film
6pm The U.S. and the International Climate Change Agreement
6:30pm Toward an Artificial Brain
6:30pm Bumble Bees & Orchard Bees; Understanding & Rearing Native Pollinators
6:30pm PREVENTING TERRORISM AT HOME & ABROAD: ASSESSING U.S. COUNTERTERRORISM POLICY
7pm An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back
7pm Sharks in Danger: Silver Fins and a Silver Lining?
7pm Lake Erie's Death, Resurrection, Re-Death, and the Role of Models in Guiding a Re-Resurrection
7pm U.S. Never-Ending War in the Time of Trump and How to Stop It
7:30pm Boston Area Solar Energy Association Forum: The Regenerative Soil Solution
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Friday, April 14 - Sunday, April 23
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Cambridge Science Festival
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Friday, April 14
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9am Clinical Research Across the Color Line: A Dialogue on Racial Disparities
12:15pm EXPLAINING ASIA: Three Professional Journalists And 2017 Nieman Fellows at Harvard on Reporting and Telling Stories About Their Richly Divergent Cultures -- Japan, Nepal And South Korea
12:30pm Friday Lunch Seminar: Responses to Distress Migration with Dr. Jennifer Leaning
1pm IACS Seminar: Exascale and Extreme Data Science at NERSC
4pm Transforming the Planet Atom by Atom - Computation Design of Materials
4:30pm Aponte's Vision: Towards a Hemispheric History of Black Antislavery
5pm Architecture Symposium: Politics of the Image: Lamia Joreige, Keith Krumweide, Michael Webb
6pm American Socialist: Eugene Victor Debs - Film
7pm Film Screening + Discussion | 'Rumba Clave Blen Blen Blen’
7pm Cinematheque: An Evening with Thorsten Trimpop
7:30pm Are We Alone? Exploring the Possibility of Other Intelligent Life in the Universe
7:30pm Energy Mixer Series: Smart Homes
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Saturday, April 15
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11am Hacking Harvard Open Data to Fight Crime, Save Energy and Improve Student Life
12pm Science Carnival & Robot Zoo
12pm Carbon Pricing Awareness Launch Party (and Tesla Raffle)
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Sunday, April 16
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9am SWAPFEST
9am MITxMake Maker Festival
7:30pm Reality Show: Stalking the Musical Brain
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Monday, April 17
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11:30am American Socialist: Eugene Victor Debs - Film
12pm Stratospheric Variability and Tropospheric Climate Change
12pm Transitioning China's Energy System Towards Decarbonization
12pm Making a Martyr: Emotions and Social Media in the Egyptian Uprising
12pm Film screening of Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective
12:15pm Assessing and Mitigating Synthetic Biology Risks: Exemplary Cases and Cautionary Tales
2:15pm Book Launch & Discussion — Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy
7pm New Perspectives: Lightning, Climate Change & Other Exciting Scientific Challenges
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Tuesday, April 18
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9:30am MIT April 18: Day of Engagement, Day of Action
12pm Dreams and Nightmares of Urban Restoration Ecology
12pm Speaker Series: Sarah Smarsh – Examining the Class Divide
12pm Disobedience and its Reward by Joi Ito
12pm nternet Access as a Basic Service: Inspiration from our Canadian Neighbors
featuring Mr. Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
12pm GSD Talks: Mia Lehrer, “Advocacy by Design”
1pm Climate Change and Global Health Seminar featuring Joel Schwartz, PhD
2pm Statistical Pitfalls & Challenges: Communicating Scientific Research to the Public
4pm Healing in the Wake of Community Violence: Lessons from Newtown and Beyond: Panel discussion and screening of the documentary Newtown (2016)
4pm The Economic Status of African Americans
4:15pm ObamaCare: Repeal and Replace It, or Keep It and Fix It?
5pm 16th Annual Kendall Lecture with Thomas R. Karl on Climate Data: Mysteries, Wonders, and Reality
5:15pm Book Event: The Market as God
5:30pm Gentrification Beyond Displacement
6pm Numbers in the news
6pm “Before the Trees Was Strange”
7pm NOVA’s CaféSci Boston presents “Science Storytelling 101”
7pm Is It Real or Fake?
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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
Mark Twain on Trmp’s Syrian Missile Strike
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/04/09/1651641/-Mark-Twain-on-Trmps-Syrian-Missile-Strike
Notes from Society of the Spectacle
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2017/04/notes-from-society-of-spectacle.html
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Monday, April 10
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Culture Beyond Borders: The Roma Contribution
WHEN Monday, Apr. 10, 2017, 9 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Barker Center (Room 133), 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Conferences, Humanities, Law, Poetry/Prose, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The conference is co-sponsored by the Berklee College of Music and the following departments and centers at Harvard University: The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, The Center for European Studies, The Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights, The Mahindra Humanities Center, The Department of Music, The Provost’s Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.
COST Free and open to the public.
CONTACT INFO For inquires, contact Margareta Matache, instructor, Harvard FXB Center, and director of the Roma Program at Harvard. Email: mmatache at hsph.harvard.edu.
DETAILS
The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights will host the Fifth Annual Roma Conference, Culture Beyond Borders: The Roma Contribution, at Harvard University to mark International Roma Day. The event will bring together academic, literary, artistic, and student communities to explore the contributions of the Roma community to global culture, arts, and material production.
The Harvard FXB Center has organized an event on International Roma Day for the past four years. Previous events have centered on social science, political and legal issues, with particular focus on questions of discrimination, disproportionate exposure to violence, stigma, and marginalization. This year, we intend to add a new emphasis to the discussion by documenting and contextualizing Roma creative and artistic achievement across a range of domains.
Culture Beyond Borders debuts with “I Declare at My Own Risk,” Alina Șerban’s illuminating and highly acclaimed examination of conflicting identities, social discrimination, and the redemptive force of self-expression. The performance, inspired by the autobiographical story of the actress, a Romanian from the Roma minority, follows the dilemmas, challenges and revelations that accompany a girl from a poverty-stricken Roma community in Bucharest on her sinuous way to social emancipation as a performer trained in some of the best artistic schools in the world. www.facebook.com…
At the conference, please also join us for a conversation and celebration of the new volume, Realizing Roma Rights. The launch will take place between the morning and afternoon conference sessions in the same location. Copies of the book will be available for purchase (and author signature).
https://www.facebook.com/events/287406671679891/
More information about the conference (including the conference agenda) is available here: fxb.harvard.edu….
RSVP informally here: https://www.facebook.com/events/258535897933011/
LINK https://fxb.harvard.edu/event/conference-culture-beyond-borders-the-roma-contribution/
NB: What happens to the Roma people in countries all over the world is a measure of what can happen to any of us. Hungary’s Fidesz Party has hollowed out their post-Communist democracy partially, in my opinion, by scapegoating the Roma. This is only one example of what I consider to be a global wave of authoritarian nationalism that includes Putin, Órban of Hungary, Abe in Japan, and Trmp in the USA.
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Can we finally balance the marine nitrogen budget?
Monday, April 10
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 54-923, 21 Ames Street, (the tallest building on campus), Cambridge
Speaker: Andrew Babbin, EAPS MIT
The marine xed nitrogen budget is widely thought to be out of balance, losing enough bio-available nitrogen that the oceans would be devoid of life within 3,000 years. But is such a apocalyptic scenario realistic? Surely not. This talk will present nuances of the cycling of marine nitrogen, expanding specically on the anaerobic metabolisms within the oxygen decient “shadow” zones of the ocean. I’ll present a hypothesis for attempting to balance the nitrogen budget calculation by incorporation of a novel but potentially signicant pathway: anaerobic nitrite oxidation. This metabolism would further help resolve another long-standing debate among the nitrogen community, i.e., the respective roles of anammox and denitrication in regulating xed nitrogen loss. In all, a lunchtime full of nitrogen is to be expected.
About the Speaker
Andrew Babbin is a marine biogeochemist, working on the nitrogen cycle, and especially on the processes that return fixed nitrogen in the ocean back to nitrogen gas. This work is relevant, for instance for understanding the controls on marine productivity and the ocean’s potential for storing carbon. In his short career, Andrew has already made some major contributions to this field, especially with regard to the contributions of anaerobic metabolisms (e.g. ammonium oxidation (anammox) and denitrification) in the ocean. He aims to expand his observational biogeochemical studies by using microfluidic devices to reproduce a variety of chemical conditions simultaneously and finely control the chemistry experienced by microbes. In addition to opening exciting new lines of research at EAPS—at the interface of physical-, chemical-, and (micro)biological oceanography and climate—his recruitment strengthens partnerships across campus (e.g. with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and beyond (e.g. with the MIT-WHOI Joint Program).
Babbin received a BS degree from Columbia University (2008) and his doctoral degree (2014) from Princeton University. He came to MIT in November 2014 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Civil and Environmental Engineering before joining the EAPS faculty as of January 2017. His lab group conducts research across a variety of avenues, coupling observational oceanography with laboratory experiments to understand the chemical underpinnings that control microbes in the environment and how these microbes in turn reshape Earth’s climate.
PAOC Colloquium
The PAOC Colloquium is a weekly interdisciplinary seminar series that brings together the whole PAOC community. Seminar topics include all research concerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmospheres, oceans and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars take place on Monday from 12-1pm in 54-923. Lunch is provided after the seminars to encourage students and post-docs to meet with the speaker. Besides the seminar and lunch, individual meetings with professors, post-docs, and students are arranged. 2016/2017 co-ordinators: Tom Beucler (tbeucler at mit.edu), Deepa Rao (drao at mit.edu), Madeleine Youngs (myoungs at mit.edu) and Catherine Wilka (cwilka at mit.edu)
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Can a Life-Cycle Assessment Model Aid Sustainability Negotiations?
Monday, April 10
12:00p–1:00p
Webinar at http://sdm.mit.edu/can-a-life-cycle-assessment-model-aid-sustainability-negotiations/#reg
Speaker: Ellen Czaika, PhD, Head of Global Engagement, Gamaya; SDM Alumna
About the Webinar
Supply chain partners often work together to negotiate a more environmentally friendly end of life for their product. However, while they can typically agree on issues such as sustainability, environmental protection, financial feasibility, and social impact, partners are frequently unable to reconcile disparate business strategies. This can result in serious disagreements about how to reach common goals.
In this webinar, SDM alumna Dr. Ellen Czaika, head of global engagement at Gamaya, will discuss her research into whether a life-cycle assessment model can help. She will:
1. explain what a life-cycle assessment model is, why such a model can improve negotiations, and how she tested the model???s benefits in her research;
2. compare the benefits of using an expert-created model versus one created by the parties involved;
3. detail ways to use the model to test alternatives; and
4. provide recommendations for other sustainability negotiations.
A Q&A will follow the presentation. We invite you to join us!
MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar Series
Sponsored by the System Design & Management (SDM) program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar 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. Recordings and slides from prior SDM webinars can be accessed at http://sdm.mit.edu/news-and-events/webinars/
Web site: http://sdm.mit.edu/can-a-life-cycle-assessment-model-aid-sustainability-negotiations/#reg
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to all. Pre-reg *required*
Tickets: See url above
Sponsor(s): MIT System Design & Management
For more information, contact: Lois Slavin
sdm at mit.edu
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California and Guangdong: A Tale of Two Cap-and-trade Programs
Monday, April 10
12:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Pu Wang, Giorgio Ruffolo Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Sustainability Science in the Environment and Natural Resources Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, HKS.
Contact Name:
Louisa Lund
louisa_lund at hks.harvard.edu
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Winners and Losers: Financial Globalization in the Middle East
WHEN Monday, Apr. 10, 2017, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, WAPPP Cason Seminar Room, Taubman Building, Room 102, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Middle East Initiative
SPEAKER(S) A seminar with Joseph Florence, MEI Research Fellow and PhD Candidate in Political Science, Cornell University.
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS
This seminar will provide an overview of recent trends in cross-national investment in the MENA region along with an assessment of the political implications of such investments.
LINK http://www.belfercenter.org/event/winners-and-losers-financial-globalization-middle-east-rescheduled
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People, Power and Change
Monday, April 10
12:30p–2:00p
MIT, Building 9-415, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Marshall Ganz, Harvard University, trainer and organizer
Marshall Ganz has successful combined organizing, training and teaching for many years. He worked for 16 years with Cesar Chavez on the successful effort to organize and win legal recognition for the United Farm Workers, the first major union of agricultural workers in the US. He has also designed innovative voter mobilization strategies for local, state and national electoral campaigns. Ganz advocates for building leadership on multiple levels in social & political movements. He teaches strategies and approaches for leadership. One recent book is Why David Sometimes Wins: leadership, organization and strategy in the California farm workers movement.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning, School of Architecture and Planning
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Wars Change Everything: World War II, Food, and Agriculture in America
Monday, April 10
12:30p–2:00p
MIT, Buildling 9-255, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Deborah Fitzgerald
The military demands of World War II had a profound effect on both farming and eating in America. The demands on the domestic supply of food for soldiers was unprecedented, with troops in 23 different climatic zones internationally dependent on American supplies. The U.S. was also supplying food to the Allies, another huge demand on domestic supplies.
The war created several surprising challenges to American food production and diet. First, in order to ensure that the military received the food it needed, the government created new ways of managing the country’s food supply, with lasting consequences for the farm sector. Second, war-time demands for farm products pushed farmers further away from diversified agricultural and toward mono-cropping. And third, the post-war glut of raw materials, particularly grains and dairy, set the stage for one of the most important 20th century innovations - the processing industry's creation and dominance of time-insensitive foods.
Environmental Policy and Planning Lunch Speaker Series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning, School of Architecture and Planning
For more information, contact: Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn at mit.edu
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Spiritual Activism: A Conversation with Ruby Sales
WHEN Monday, Apr. 10, 2017, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Religion, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Susan Shallcross Swartz Fund; the HDS Academic Dean’s Fund for Faculty Support; and The Memorial Church at Harvard
CONTACT INFO HDS Dean's Office: 617.495.4513
DETAILS Join us for a conversation with Ruby Sales, public theologian,
founder and director of the Spirit House Project, and icon of the civil
rights movement.
A conversation addressing the questions:
What are the spiritual dimensions of our current crisis?
What are the spiritual implications of police violence against people of color, voter suppression, the scapegoating of immigrants and refugees, the opioid crisis, and the rise of white nationalism?
What spiritual work will help us re-imagine our democracy, link multiple struggles, protect human dignity, and cultivate solidarity?
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MassRobotics Open House for Students
Monday, April 10
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
12 Channel Street, Suite 502, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/massrobotics-open-house-for-students-tickets-32387501890
Students (middle school and higher) are invited to come and be inspired! During National Robotics week, we are opening our doors for students to learn about robotics STEM related platforms. Demonstrations will be provided by robotics companies from our local robotics ecosystem. (must be registered to attend - space limited)
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The Populist Challenge
WHEN Monday, Apr. 10, 2017, 4:15 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
SPEAKER(S) Chantal Mouffe,
Professor of Political Theory, University of Westminster
DETAILS In this talk, Chantal Mouffe will examine the reasons for the rise of populist parties in Europe both in their right-wing and left-wing versions. She will argue that this 'populist moment' is the expression of resistances to the post-democratic condition which is the consequence of the hegemony of neo-liberalism.
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Income Inequality and Health in America: A Lancet Special Issue
Monday, April 10
4:30–6 p.m.
BU, Instructional Building, Hiebert Lounge, 72 East Concord Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.bu.edu/sph/news-events/signature-events/deans-seminar-series-on-contemporary-issues-in-public-health/deans-seminar-series-on-contemporary-issues-in-public-health-2016-2017/income-inequality-and-health-in-america-a-lancet-special-issue/
Income inequality in the United States has steadily increased over the last four decades. Although this inequality has been a part of the recent national public conversation, including during this last federal election cycle, the science regarding the relationship between income inequality and population health remains unresolved. This spring, The Lancet will publish a special issue featuring five papers that advance our understanding of this issue. Boston University School of Public Health welcomes several of the issue’s authors for a discussion.
Live-Streaming Available During Event
#SPHDSS17
Speakers
Zinzi Bailey, Director of Research and Evaluation, Center for Health Equity, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Jacob Bor, Assistant Professor, Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health
Samuel Dickman, Resident in Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Adam Gaffney, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Attending Physician, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Cambridge Health Alliance
Steffie Woolhandler, Distinguished Professor of Public Health, City University of New York at Hunter College
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How your smart phone will allow America to cut its carbon emissions in half
Monday, April 10
6:00 pm
BU, HAR-212, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, HAR-212, Boston
Guest Speaker: Tommy Vitolo, Ph.D., will present the lecture "How your smart phone will allow America to cut its carbon emissions in half." Dr. Vitolo Vitolo is a senior associate at Synapse. He earned his Ph.D. in systems engineering from Boston University, and has more than eight years of professional experience as a consultant, researcher, and analyst. This lecture is open to the public.
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Life Resurrected: Traveling Backwards in Evolutionary Time
Monday, April 10
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Avenue, Somerville
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Somerville-Public-Library-Programs-Events/events/238389030/
Come hear Harvard researcher and astrobiologist, Betul Kacar, talk about the origins of life on earth and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.
Only one history of life has been recorded on our planet, but can we reconstruct the contributing metabolic factors of this biological past? Is life the result of a fluke or an accident? What is the likelihood of life occurring elsewhere in the Universe?
To answer these questions, she combines computational and experimental tools and travels backwards in evolutionary time in the laboratory. She follows the evolutionary history of our DNA to unravel how the harsh conditions of our ancient planet shaped life to be the way it is today, and explores the varying roles of chance and necessity in life's evolution.
Betul Kacar is an astrobiologist who is interested in understanding life’s origins, evolution and possible existence elsewhere in the Universe. She earned her PhD in Biomolecular Chemistry from Emory University. She conducted her postdoctoral research as a NASA Astrobiology Institute Postdoctoral Fellow.
She is currently a Research Associate at Harvard University Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and a co-Principal Investigator with the ELSI Origins of Life Institute of Tokyo and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
Her work on reconstructing ancient genes has been widely featured in BBC News, NOVA PBS, Popular Science and New Scientist. In 2015, she received the John Templeton Foundation Big Questions in Life Sciences Research Grant. In 2016, she was named 'Way Cool Scientist' by the Science Club for Girls in Cambridge, MA.
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Water Innovation Prize : Final Pitch Night
Monday, April 10
6:00p–8:30p
MIT, Building E14-SS648, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
The MIT Water Innovation Prize takes place throughout the academic year launching with the Kick-off dinner in the Fall. The second stage of the prize involves team formation, idea development, targeted workshops and business plan development. The prize culminates in the Final Pitch Night where teams pitch their ideas to a diverse group of students, faculty, industry professionals and a panel of judges and are awarded innovation grants totaling $30,000.
Web site: http://www.mitwaterinnovation.org/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Water Club
For more information, contact: Krithika Ramchander
waterclub-officers at mit.edu
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Boston New Technology April 2017 Startup Showcase #BNT76
Monday, April 10
6:00 PM to 8:45 PM
Akamai Technologies, 150 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Boston_New_Technology/events/238298048/
Akamai staff will be escorting attendees from the lobby up the stairs to the first floor, where you'll find our check-in table. Type the first few letters of your name on the screen and tap your name to print your name tag.
Free event! Come learn about 7 innovative and exciting technology products and network with the Boston/Cambridge startup community!
Each presenter gets 5 minutes for product demonstration and 5 minutes for Q&A.
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Design + Future + Drinks + Food
Monday, April 10
6:15 PM
Za, 350 Third Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/boston-openide/events/238788236/
Cost: $7.00 /per person
We are now a community of almost 1000 Design Thinkers !!!! As a chapter, we participated in the Food Waste Challenge, Higher Education Challenge, MIT Solve Challenges and mostly recently, the water resilience challenge and Fall Prevention challenge. We also did a bunch of fun workshops on Future Thinking and Lego Serious Play. We are a unique meetup because we are focused on creating workshops style events to create actionable ideas. As a community we have come so far but we still have a long way to go . And we need your help to do that.
What's the future of OpenIDEO Boston Chapter? How can we turn the ideas we have into actions even if we don't win the OpenIDEO Challenges. Can we come up with a Boston specific challenge to focus on instead of upcoming OpenIDEO Challenges ? How do we make the events better so that we brainstorm and prototype better ? Do we keep on doing design thinking workshops ? Do we build a community space and turn into a design studio space for our community ? Do we buy a van and host Design thinking pop ups ? Or we do we have a magical tent that turns into a innovation lab ? Come and share your ideas and help us build the community of OpenIDEO Boston Chapter (Over food and drinks of course ) . If you are interested in community design or curious about design thinking and have ideas to make social impact, come and share your thoughts with us . If not, just come , hang out and meet fellow design thinkers from Boston.
Note : We pay for all the events out of our personal pockets since OpenIDEO doesn't help us financially yet. So if you CAN, bring $5-$10 in cash to the event. We would really appreciate it and maybe trade you an origami animal for it.
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Engineering Earth
Monday, April 10
8:00PM
Harvard, 113 Sever Hall, 25 Harvard Yard, Cambridge
The Environmental Action Committee hosts a discussion on the ethics of geoengineering with David Keith, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics.
Contact Name: Lexi Smith
alexandrasmith01 at college.harvard.edu
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Tuesday, April 11 - Wednesday, April 12
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Boston Harbor & Islands Science Symposium
Tuesday, April 11 - Wednesday, April 12
RSVP at https://commerce.cashnet.com/cashneti/selfserve/EditItem.aspx?PC=SFMSC-BHISS&ItemCount=1
Join us on April 11 and 12 to learn about the latest in research and monitoring on coastal and marine ecosystems found in the Boston Harbor and islands region. The featured keynote speakers are:
Dr. Anne Giblin, Senior Scientist, Marine Biological Laboratory Ecosystems Center
Rich Batiuk, Associate Director for Science, Analysis, and Implementation, Chesapeake Bay Program
The event will also include field trips and a science cafe (April 11), as well as panels, concurrent sessions, lightning talks, posters, and a public lecture in the evening (April 12).
What does the event focus on? As related to the estuarine and island ecosystems of the Boston Harbor region, the event focuses on what we study (water quality, species and habitat diversity, coastal processes, ecological resilience) and how we study (innovations in research methodlogy, connecting research to management, and public engagement).
Who should attend? Scientists, resource managers, planners, educators, environmental program administrators, citizen scientists, students, and the interested public.
What’s the cost to attend? The fee is $20 regular/$10 students & presenters for daytime sessions on April 12, this includes continental breakfast and lunch. Additionally, there is a fee for boat-based field trips on April 11. All other parts of the event are free, including the Science Café on April 11 as well as the afternoon reception and evening session on April 12.
Is registration required? Registration is required for field trips on April 11 and the daytime session on April 12. For catering purposes, it is requested but not required for the other event activities. Click here to register.
Where does the event take place? On April 11, the field trips have various locations, and the Science Cafe takes place at Meadhall in Cambridge. On April 12, all of the activities take place at Northeastern University in Boston with the daytime sessions in the Curry Student Center Ballroom and the late-afternoon/evening reception, keynote and panel in Raytheon Amphitheater in the Egan Research Center.
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Tuesday, April 11
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Toward Resilient Robot Autonomy through Learning, Interaction and Semantic Reasoning
Tuesday, April 11
11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
MIT, Building 32-G449 Patil/Kiva, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Sonia Chernova , Georgia Tech
Abstract: Robotics is undergoing an exciting transition from factory automation to the deployment of autonomous systems in less structured environments, such as warehouses, hospitals and homes. One of the critical barriers to the wider adoption of autonomous robotic systems in the wild is the challenge of achieving reliable autonomy in complex and changing human environments. In this talk, I will discuss ways in which innovations in learning from demonstration and remote access technologies can be used to develop and deploy autonomous robotic systems alongside and in collaboration with human partners. I will present applications of this research paradigm to robot learning, object manipulation and semantic reasoning, as well as explore some exciting avenues for future research in this area.
Bio: Sonia Chernova is the Catherine M. and James E. Allchin Early-Career Assistant Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, where she directs the Robot Autonomy and Interactive Learning research lab. She received B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and held positions as a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Media Lab and as Assistant Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute prior to joining Georgia Tech in August 2015. Prof. Chernova’s research focuses on developing robots that are able to effectively operate in human environments. Her work spans robotics and artificial intelligence, including semantic reasoning, adjustable autonomy, human computation and cloud robotics. She is the recipient of the NSF CAREER, ONR Young Investigator and NASA Early Career Faculty awards.
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Funding 101: Pathways to Funding Your Clean Tech Startup
Tuesday, April 11
11:45 am - 2:00 pm
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
RSVP at http://thecapitalnetwork.org/events/funding-101-pathways-funding-clean-tech-startup/
Cost: $0 - $35
While bootstrapping may be preferred, some businesses are almost impossible to launch and grow without capital. From angel & VC investments to crowdfunding, SBIR grants and debt financing, opportunities for funding seem endless… and confusing.
Join The Capital Network & Cleantech Open Northeast for lunch with a veteran panel of experts from the Angel, Venture Capital, Crowdfunding, SBIR and Banking worlds who will compare and contrast the many ways you can fund your Clean Tech startup. The discussion will address common questions including:
What are the best funding options for growing my business?
At what stage should I go after external funding?
How much money should I ask for?
What metrics do I need to show to ask for funding?
Does ‘NO’ mean ‘maybe later?’
If you are an entrepreneur or investor looking for early stage Clean Tech companies, then you do NOT want to miss this event! Food & Networking post-discussion.
Wanda Reindorf, Clean Energy Venture Group
Wanda Reindorf is the Managing Director of the Clean Energy Venture Group and is an experienced executive who has been a CFO and business consultant with VC backed start-ups through public companies. She has worked with energy companies in the areas of energy efficiency, utilities, renewable energy, smart grid, demand response and energy services, and was involved in developing early solar power plants. She brings 20 plus years of expertise in strategy, operations and finance with extensive global experience.
Wanda is actively involved in the clean energy field in addition to advisory and investment activities. She co-chairs the Workforce Development Committee for the New England Clean Energy Council, has been appointed by Governor Patrick to the Workforce Investment Board representing the Clean Energy sector, is on the Advisory Board of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness, and received the Clean Energy Leadership Award by the New England Clean Energy Council.
Russ Landon, North Capital Advisors & BML Securities
Russ Landon is the Managing Director and Co-Founder at North River Capital Advisors and BML Securities. North River Capital Advisors provides investment banking, financial advisory & strategic consulting services in the Energy and Resource Technologies industry. BML Securities is a FINRA-Licensed Broker/Dealer specializing in corporate financing and M&A advisory services to middle market companies. Russ is also a board member at the North East Clean Energy Council and was previously the Managing Director & Sector Head of the Clean Technology Group for Key Bank Capital Markets.
Teresa Nelson, The Impact Seat and Simmons College
Dr Teresa Nelson is a Founding Principal of The Impact Seat, a knowledge bank and consulting service working for inclusive innovation. Teresa is also a Council Member for the National Women’s Business Council , a 15 member policy and research Council advising the President, Congress and the Small Business Association (SBA) on issues of business in the U.S. Policy interests: high growth entrepreneurship, science and technology policy, under-represented groups, incubators and accelerators, commercialization of science, household entrepreneurship, and capital access including innovative vehicles. Teresa is also a member of the Scientific Committee, Women Equity Growth at Bryan, Garnier & Co.
Nate Raymond, Co-Founder & CEO at Solbid
Nate Raymond is the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer of SolBid, Inc. SolBid is a commercial solar energy design and procurement company that simplifies the ways business go solar. Nate comes from 15 yrs of professional business development and business management experience. In 2003 Nate created his first venture, an auto parts e-commerce store followed by his second venture, a Florida commercial & residential real estate financing company. After his success in the financing space, Nate spent 8 yrs as a Sr. Business Development Professional at a world-renowned corporate consulting firm where he developed c-level relationships across Fortune 1000 companies and assisted in initiating over $30mn in sales. Nate holds his PV system design and installation certificate from Solar Living Institute and holds his NABCEP associate certification. Nate is also an alum from the CleanTech NE TDP program.
Moderator: Nick Bliamptis, Business Strategy Mentor @ Cleantech Open NE & MIT Entreprise Forum
Nick Bliamptis is the President of Facet Executive Search, a boutique executive search firm specializing in the recruitment of senior level executives and key strategic technical personnel. In addition to being a serial entrepreneur himself, Nick has played a role in helping launch over 20 startups. Since 2008 he has been mentoring teams in the “Cleantech Open,” and more recently in the “MIT Enterprise Forum.” Previously he held product marketing and corporate marketing management positions at several firms which provided semiconductor design software and services including Cadence Design Systems.
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Power Shift: Networks, Politics, and the New Rules of Money and Fame
Tuesday, April 11
12:00 pm
Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East C (Room 2036, second floor)
RSVP required to attend in person at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2017/04/ItoRamo#RSVP
Event will be live webcast at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2017/04/ItoRamo at 12:00 pm
ISIS. Trump. Uber. The 1%. What if all these phenomena reflect the same forces? What if you could understand those forces? In this conversation two friends—Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab, and Joshua Cooper Ramo, Co-CEO and Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates—discuss and debate the ideas at the heart of their new books Whiplash and The Seventh Sense. They argue we're at the start of a power shift as promising and dangerous as the Enlightenment once was. In this discussion, they'll explain why—and what to do about it.
About Joi Ito
Joi Ito is the director of the MIT Media Lab, Professor of the Practice at MIT and the author, with Jeff Howe, of Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future (Grand Central Publishing, 2016).
Ito is chairman of the board of PureTech Health and serves on several other boards, including The New York Times Company, Sony Corporation, the MacArthur Foundation and the Knight Foundation. He is also the former chairman and CEO of Creative Commons, and a former board member of ICANN, The Open Source Initiative, and The Mozilla Foundation.
Ito is a serial entrepreneur who helped start and run numerous companies including one of the first web companies in Japan, Digital Garage, and the first commercial Internet service provider in Japan, PSINet Japan/IIKK. He has been an early-stage investor in many companies, including Formlabs, Flickr, Kickstarter, littleBits, and Twitter.
Ito has received numerous awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oxford Internet Institute and the Golden Plate Award from the Academy of Achievement, and he was inducted into the SXSW Interactive Festival Hall of Fame in 2014.
Ito has been awarded honorary doctorates from The New School and Tufts University.
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Speaker Series: Sarah Lewis – Politics, Art and Visual Culture
Tuesday, April 11
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Sarah Lewis is an Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture and African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard, an M.Phil from Oxford University, and her Ph.D. from Yale University in the History of Art. Before joining the faculty at Harvard, she held curatorial positions at The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Tate Modern, London and taught at Yale University School of Art.
Lewis is the guest editor of the landmark “Vision & Justice” issue of Aperture which has been made required reading for all incoming freshman at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Lewis’s research interests focus on representations of race in contemporary art and nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America culture and across the Black Atlantic world. Her scholarship been published in many academic journals as well as The New Yorker, the New York Times, Artforum, Art in America and in publications for the Smithsonian, The Museum of Modern Art, and Rizzoli. She is currently finishing her current book project on race and photography under contract with Harvard University Press. She is also the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller, The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, which has been reviewed widely, translated into 7 languages, and was the Provost’s reading selection at the University of Houston, making it required reading for all incoming freshman.
Her current book project, which lies at the intersection of African American Studies, Art History, and Slavic Studies, is under contract with Harvard University Press. Her scholarship has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the Hutchins Center at Harvard University, and the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance & Abolition.
Lewis has served on President Obama’s Arts Policy Committee and currently serves on the board of the Andy Warhol Foundation of the Visual Arts, Creative Time, and The CUNY Graduate Center.
Lewis is a frequent speaker and has lectured at many universities and conferences from TEDGlobal to the Aspen Ideas Festival. She has been profiled in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal.
She lives in Cambridge, MA.
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Multitasking: Why Your Brain Can't Do It and What You Should Do About It
Tuesday, April 11
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 66-144, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Earl Miller
Here is practical advice from a neuroscientist: Don't try to multitask. It ruins productivity, causes mistakes, and impedes creative thought. Many of you are probably thinking, "But, I'm good at it". Sadly, that is an illusion. As humans, we have a very limited capacity for simultaneous thought -- we can only hold a little bit of information in the mind at any single moment. You don't actually multitask, you task-switch. This wastes time, makes you error-prone and decreases your ability to be creative. I am going to tell you why and what you can do about that.
Earl Keith Miller is a systems/cognitive neuroscientist, whose research focuses on neural mechanisms of learning, memory, and cognition.
Web site: radius.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Radius/T&C
For more information, contact: Patricia-Maria Weinmann
617-253-0108
weinmann at mit.edu
Editorial Comment: In my readings, I’ve found references to “attentional shifts” causing momentary blindness or confusion. Task switching probably has the same effect.
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Phragmites australis: A Model Species for Plant Invasions
Tuesday, April 11
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Harvard, HUH Seminar Room, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Laura Meyerson, Professor, University of Rhode Island, Associate Editor-in-Chief, Biological Invasions, Associate Editor, NeoBiota
Herbaria Seminar Series
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Democracy against Domination: Power, Populism, and Resistance in the Era of Trump
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Suite 200N, 124 Mt Auburn Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
SPEAKER(S) Speaker
K. Sabeel Rahman, Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School and Author of, "Democracy Against Domination"
Moderator
Jane Mansbridge, Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values, Harvard Kenedy School
COST Free
DETAILS The election of Donald Trump has provoked high-stakes clashes over the future of our democracy. But many of the battles under way now were already driving American politics during and before the election: tensions about race, identity, and inclusion; about inequality and economic power; and about the very viability and efficacy of our democratic institutions themselves. How should we understand today's reemergence of an exclusionary, right-populism -- and the prospects for a more inclusive and egalitarian alternative? Why have conventional approaches to liberalism and governance failed to address these deeper structural challenges of inequality, exclusion, and accountability? How can American democracy address these deeper challenges going forward? What does a genuine bottom-up, participatory, inclusive, and equitable democracy look like in the aftermath of the inequality crisis and the rise of rightwing populism? Drawing on the arguments of his recent book, Democracy Against Domination, K. Sabeel Rahman addresses these topics and more.
Lunch will be provided.
LINK http://ash.harvard.edu/event/democracy-against-domination-power-populism-and-resistance-era-trump
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Starr Forum: Digital Innovation and Africa
Tuesday, April 11
12:00p–1:30p
MIT, Building E14-648, Silverman Skyline Room, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speakers: Claude Grunitzky, Stephan-Eloise Gras, Dk Osseo-Asare
Is it helping solve development challenges?
A new kind of African citizenry is consolidating itself right now, and it has a lot to do with the Internet. With each new mobile phone, with each new wireless connection, with each new social media interaction, the continent continues to embrace the most disruptive digital technologies. The growing accessibility of digital solutions, many of them homegrown, provides new models and opportunities for self-organized communities, political activism, and economic growth. It also raises new questions: who is providing the access: governments, local telcos, or American conglomerates?
This roundtable at MIT will explore and interrogate the socio-economic, cultural and geopolitical consequences of Africa's leapfrog into new technologies.
Free & open to the public | Refreshments served
Can't attend in person? Watch it on Facebook live or on-demand on YouTube.
For more information or accessibility accommodations please contact starrforum at mit.edu
CIS Starr Forum
A public events series on pressing issues in international affairs, sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies.
Web site: https://cis.mit.edu/events/starr-forum-digital-innovation-and-africa
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, True Africa, and Africa 4 Tech
For more information, contact:
617-253-8306
starrforum at mit.edu
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Science Communication Lecture: Dietram Scheufele
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Kresge G2, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Chan Office of the Dean
SPEAKER(S) Dietram Scheufele, Ph.D., John E. Ross Professor and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
DETAILS
The Harvard community is invited to the inaugural lecture in the Health Communication Series at Harvard Chan.
Lecture title: Is the U.S. Becoming More Anti-Science? Emerging Technologies in Polarized Media and Policy Environments Chan.
A light lunch will be served.
LINK https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/deans-office/science-communication-lecture-series/
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The 2010 Earthquake [in Haiti]: Its Impact, Dynamics, and Implications
Tuesday, April 11,
1:00pm to 2:00pm
MIT, Building 54-209, (the tallest building on campus), 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
Roby Douilly, Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside
The 2010 M7.0 Haiti earthquake was the first major earthquake in southern Haiti in 250 years. As this event could represent the beginning of a new period of active seismicity in the region, and in consideration of how vulnerable the population is to earthquake damage, it is important to understand the nature of this event and how it has influenced the estimation of seismic hazard in the region. Most significantly, aftershock relocations from temporary seismic station deployments have shown that the 2010 earthquake occurred on the secondary Leogane thrust fault (comprising two fault segments), not the Enriquillo Fault (the major strike-slip fault in the region), despite it being only a few kilometers away. To investigate the conditions that best explain observed surface deformations and to understand why the rupture did not jump to the nearby Enriquillo fault, we used a finite element model to simulate rupture dynamics along the Leogane fault. Our model successfully replicates rupture propagation along the two segments of the Leogane fault, and indicates that a significant stress increase occurred on the top and in the west of the Enriquillo fault. We also investigated the potential ground shaking level in this region if a future rupture, similar to the Mw 7.0 2010 Haiti earthquake, were to occur on the Enriquillo fault. We used a finite element method and assumptions on regional stress to simulate low frequency dynamic rupture propagation for the segment of t11e Enriquillo fault closest to the capital. The high-frequency ground motion components were calculated us:ing a stochastic method, and the hybrid synthetics were obtained by combining the low-frequency and high-frequency simulation results at a cross-over frequency of 1Hz. The average horizontal peak ground acceleration, computed at several sites of interest in Port-.au-Prince (the capital), has a value of 0.45g. We also investigated the 30 local tomography of this region using high-quality seismic records from the 2010 Haiti earthquake catalog and simultaneously inverted the travel times for hypocenter locations and 30 velocity structure in southern Haiti. Our results show a low velocity anomaly offshore consistent with layers of marine sediments and a NW-SE directed low velocity zone, which is consistent with a predefined fault structure in the morphology. These observations suggest that low velocity structures delineate fault structures and the sedimentary basins across the southern peninsula. These research projects emphasize the tectonic complexity of Southern Haiti, the importance of pursuing further crustal structure studies to investigate possible unknown active faults in this region, and the need to evaluate the seismic hazard that the people of Haiti face moving forward.
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Future of the Left Symposium — Panel 1: Perspectives from Political Leaders
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017, 2:15 – 4:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
Lower Level Conference Room
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Classes/Workshops, Conferences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR A Center-Periphery Europe? Perspectives from Southern Europe Study Group
EU Law and Government Study Group
Jean Monnet ad Personam Chair in European Union Law and Government
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Joaquín Almunia, Chairman of the Center for European Studies (CEPS), Visiting Professor at the European Institute-London School of Economics; Georgios Kaminis
Mayor of Athens (2010 - Present); Sławomir Sierakowski
Founder and Leader, Krytyka Polityczna (Political Critique); Director, Institute for Advanced Study, Warsaw
CONTACT INFO Sebastian Royo sroyo at suffolk.edu
LINK https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/panel-1-perspectives-from-political-leaders
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Afternoon talk with US Ambassador to Vietnam, Ted Osius and Chief of Staff & Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, Jon Finer
Tuesday, April 11
4:15pm to 5:30pm
Harvard, Wiener Auditorium, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Join US Ambassador to Vietnam, Ted Osius and Chief of Staff & Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, Jon Finer for a discussion.
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Environmental Justice and Citizen Science - How to Lift Communities that Have Been Left Behind and Broaden Citizen Engagement
Tuesday, April 11
4:15 – 5:45 p.m.
Harvard, Littauer 166, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Cynthia Giles, former EPA Assistant Administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance will join to help us understand what environmental justice really means, what we have done and can do to ensure that all communities benefit from EPA actions, and how new technologies are opening up opportunities for citizen scientists.
Guest Speaker
Cynthia Giles – former EPA Assistant Administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance
Moving EPA Forward in an “Unhealthy” Climate Study Group with Gina McCarthy, Former EPA Administrator
COST Free and Open to the Public
CONTACT INFO deisy_carrera at hks.harvard.edu
DETAILS
Can you get good things done in government these days?
We will discuss what it takes to make progress as a public servant working at the local, state and federal levels in today’s “unhealthy” climate. What skills, temperament and background are necessary to survive as a political appointee in the hot seat in an era of charged political rhetoric, fake news and alternative facts.
LINK http://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/gina-mccarthy
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Future of the Left Symposium — Panel 2: Perspectives from Scholars
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017, 4:15 – 6:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
Lower Level Conference Room
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR A Center-Periphery Europe? Perspectives from Southern Europe Study Group
EU Law and Government Study Group
Jean Monnet ad Personam Chair in European Union Law and Government
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Arthur Goldhammer
Translator; Local Affiliate & Study Group Chair, CES, Harvard University; Peter A. Hall
Krupp Foundation Professor of European Studies & CES Residents Faculty, Harvard University; Félix Krawatzek
British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Politics & International Relations, Oxford; Antonio Costa Pinto
Visiting Professor, New York University; Research Professor, Institute of Social Science, University of Lisbon
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Indivisible Film Screening
Tuesday, April 11
5:00p–7:30p
MIT, Building E51-115, Tang Center - Wong Auditorium, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Have you ever wondered what it is like to live, work, and go to school in the U.S. as an undocumented student? Want to learn how you can be an ally to immigrants and undocumented people living in the U.S.?
Come hear the stories of the people at the heart of our nation’s immigration debate. The event will kick off with a special screening of Indivisible, an award-winning documentary film about three undocumented students in the U.S.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with the Director and one of the protagonist of the film, Renata Teodoro. Renata is a Boston-based DREAMer who was brought to the U.S. from Brazil by her mother when she was six years old. She is now 29 and an immigration rights activist.
This event is free and open to the public, but we ask that you RSVP using the link above.
Schedule:
Film Screening: 5:00PM - 6:15PM
Discussion with Director and Renata: 6:15PM - 7:00PM
Refreshments: 7:00PM - 7:30PM
Event hosted by MIT Sloan HBC and Student Life Office.
Web site: RSVP: https://sloangroups.mit.edu/sol/rsvp?id=326502
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0
Tickets: RSVP: https://sloangroups.mit.edu/sol/rsvp?id=326502
Sponsor(s): MIT Sloan MBA Student Affairs, MIT Sloan Hispanic Business Club
For more information, contact: Katherine Curiel
Katherine Anabel Curiel
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When We Walked: Pilgrimage Across Tradition
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Religion
SPONSOR Center for the Study of World Religions
CONTACT CSWR: 617.495.4476
DETAILS
When We Walked: Pilgrimage Across Tradition
Pilgrimage in Hinduism
Come: explore pilgrimage through the lens of Hinduism.
Come: Diana L. Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Frederic Wertham Professor of Law & Psychiatry in Society, Harvard College Professor, Faculty Dean of Lowell House, Director, The Pluralism Project, will speak on—“Pilgrimage in Hindu India: Shiva in the Landscape of Pilgrimage”.
Come: Swami Tyagananda, Hindu Chaplain, Harvard University, will speak on—"Going Places to Find the Self”.
Come: Meghan Finn, Master of Divinity 2018, Harvard Divinity School, will respond.
Journey with us.
"Pilgrimage in Hindu India: Shiva in the Landscape of Pilgrimage"
"Going Places to Find the Self"
Going places and seeing them involves travel. But travel becomes a pilgrimage when we go some place, explore it, and discover our own hidden self. A Hindu pilgrimage site is typically a temple, but traveling to see sacred rivers such as Ganga and Yamuna—or hills (like Arunachala) or snow speaks (Mount Kailash) or lakes (Manas Sarovar)—is also popular and considered spiritually beneficial. These pilgrimages sometimes involve tremendous physical hardship and test the limits of one’s patience and forbearance. Done properly, they have the power to rejuvenate one's spiritual life. I shall briefly describe my visit to Mt. Kailash in 2002 and the lessons I learned from that pilgrimage. I'll conclude with insights that connect the external pilgrimage to the internal discovery of the true Self.
This event is part of the Junior Fellowship Series "When We Walked: Pilgrimage Across Tradition," organized by CSWR resident Melissa Coles.
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Producing the future of energy in developing countries: contested visions in Thailand
Tuesday, April 11
5:30pm
MIT, Building E19-319, 400 Main Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTdJawUxd_eNxpxhDO_aMigOCMwZu6crgRRGfWiLSspQm4zw/viewform?c=0&w=1
Dr. Laurence Delina, a Rachel Carson Fellow at LMU-Munich and also a postdoctoral associate at Boston University
Abstract:
The future of energy in developing countries need to be catalyzed, created, and nurtured in a process hinged towards achieving the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. In this talk, I look at how Thailand attempts at producing this normative future. Using the STS concept of sociotechnical imaginaries and empirical evidence gathered through interviews and document analysis, this paper critically engages, describes, and compares the dominant and resistant imaginaries in the ongoing contemporary production of what the future of energy in Thailand ought to be. I highlight three core imaginaries and observe that they intertwine with political economy, are determined by value sets and value systems, and present either visions of continuity or transformation. Key in this observation is that the dominance and/or marginalization of an imaginary are contingent upon issues of power and resources. This means that producing the future of energy in Thailand is a process intertwined in the heterogeneity of actors and institutions, their value systems, interests and politics. Understanding these tensions and allowing alternative imaginaries to permeate policy setting processes would be key in delivering coherent and effective public policy. This could ideally lead to a vision of a future that has the strongest public buy-in and support—a future of energy that sustains democratic, just, and inclusive societies, a key challenge that remains to be effectively addressed nonetheless.
Bio:
Laurence Delina is a Rachel Carson Fellow, a postdoctoral associate at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University, and an Earth System Governance Fellow. Delina has published on the governance and institutional arrangements in the politics and policy of sustainability, focusing on sustainable energy transitions, rapid climate mitigation, the climate action movement, climate finance, and sustainable energy in developing countries. His recent book Strategies for Rapid Climate Mitigation (Routledge 2016) investigates what can be learned from wartime mobilization to facilitate rapid deployment of sustainable energy technologies for effective climate action. He is currently working on two book projects: Sustainable Energy Transitions in Developing Countries (coming out from Routledge in 2017), and Stewarding the Earth. His research project at Boston University called ‘the future of energy in developing countries’ will be producing a special issue on ‘energy futures’ at Energy Research & Social Science, key chapters in a United Nations report on accelerated energy transitions, and papers on energy democracy, energy sociotechnical imaginaries, and polycentric governance. Delina has worked with Land Bank of the Philippines, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the United Nations. He was twice a visiting fellow at the Science, Technology and Society Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Delina received his degrees from universities in the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia.
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Cambridge Trees Advisory Committee meeting
Tuesday, April 11
6 PM
1 Brattle Square, Cambridge
Join us for a presentation by Chuck Hinds on trees at the Volpe site, an update on the Canopy survey, biochar and more. We meet on the second Tuesday of the month at the Eastern Bank Community Room in Harvard Square.
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A Conversation with Conductor Andris Nelsons
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017, 6:30 – 7:45 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, Music Building, 3 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Department of Music and Learning From Performers (Office for the Arts)
SPEAKER(S) Andris Nelsons, Mark Volpe, Anthony Fogg, Federico Cortese, Anne Shreffler (moderator)
COST Admission free and open to the public (tickets/RSVPs not required); seating first-come, first-served, subject to venue capacity.
CONTACT INFO 617-495-8676
DETAILS
Conductor Andris Nelsons, appointed in 2014 as the fifteenth Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), will participate in a panel discussion also featuring BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe and Artistic Administrator and Director of Tanglewood Anthony Fogg, as well as Federico Cortese, Music Director of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, and moderator Anne Shreffler, Professor of Music at Harvard. The panelists will engage in a far-ranging discussion of the BSO’s history and legacy, while considering the future of the institution and its influence on the world’s musical stage.
LINK http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/event/conversation-conductor-andris-nelsons
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Work and Leadership in An Age of AI and Robotics
Tuesday, April 11
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/work-and-leadership-in-an-age-of-ai-and-robotics-tickets-32955745522
In recent years, managers have been hearing more about Robotics, “Big Data” and AI, and their capabilities to transform business decision-making. At minimum, these technologies put enormous pressure on firms to keep innovating. But what are the wider implications for management?
This session will look at how these technologies are already being applied in fields like Retailing, Finance, Consulting, Law, Journalism and Medicine. It will then seek to answer questions like, “What have we learned about good management in this ‘Brave New World’? How do these technologies change optimal team structure and behavior? In other words, what do we already know about making best use of teams as the impact of Robotics, Big Data and AI spread?”
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Milo Jones is a Visiting Professor at IE Business School in Madrid. At IE, he teaches "Intelligence Tools for the Finance Professional", an advanced non-market strategy course, and a variety of Geopolitics-related courses in the MBA and Masters in Advanced Finance programs. Milo is also a staff member of Wal-Mart's Leadership Academy, where he works with the retailer’s senior leadership on questions surrounding strategy, geopolitics and technology. In addition to teaching, Milo is the Managing Director of Inveniam Strategy. He also serves on the board of a private American food company with over $200 million in annual sales. He is a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar, a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.
You can follow him on twitter @inveniam
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Wednesday April 12
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Inaugural Planetary Health/Geohealth Annual Meeting
April 28-30
Registration closes April 12
Cost: $50 -$200
RSVP at https://planetaryhealthannualmeeting.org/registration/
Planetary Health is the health of human civilization and the state of the natural systems on which it depends. Planetary Health and GeoHealth research focuses on quantifying both direct and indirect human health impacts of accelerating environmental change.
To catalyze this interdisciplinary field and raise awareness among funding agencies, publishers, and the broader research community, the Planetary Health Alliance along with the American Geophysical Union, the Ecological Society of America, and The Lancet are organizing this Inaugural Annual Meeting on Planetary Health and GeoHealth on April 29-30, 2017 in Boston, MA. The meeting is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation through a grant to the Planetary Health Alliance.
Space limited; Open to the public.
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MIT INSPIRE 2017 Closing Ceremony
Wednesday, April 12
10:00a–12:30p
MIT, W16-109
Speaker: Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, Ms. Lillian Chin
Join MIT INSPIRE for the third annual national research competition in the arts, humanities, and social sciences for high school students. Key speakers at the closing ceremony include Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and Ms. Lillian Chin, Jeopardy College Champion, MIT 2017. Awards will be presented to high school student winners.
Web site: Getinspired.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): MIT INSPIRE, MIT Libraries, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, MIT Community Service Fund; Council for the Arts at MIT
For more information, contact: Sravya Vishnubhatla
inspire-communications at mit.edu
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Approach & Impact Lunch
Wednesday, April 12
12:00 pm
Social Innovation Forum, One Congress Street, Suite 113, Boston
OUR APPROACH & IMPACT
The Social Innovation Forum (SIF) plays a critical role in the social impact community by educating, engaging, and connecting resource providers (funders, investors, and volunteers) and on-the-ground leaders of nonprofit organizations and social impact businesses. Our programs and services provide a unique combination of capacity building and network building as we actively connect supporters and practitioners to build productive relationships focused on growing social impact.
Since 2003, SIF has directed over $24 million in cash and in-kind support to 106 portfolio organizations. Our rigorous and intensive programs bring together more than 2,600 philanthropists, foundation staff, and business professionals who support innovative, effective approaches to address important social issues.
JOIN US FOR LUNCH ON APRIL 12 TO LEARN MORE
Join us at our offices on Wednesday, April 12 for lunch to learn more about the Social Innovation Forum (SIF), our approach to social change, and the impact that we've had over the last 14 years. You will have a chance to meet our team, hear from a past Social Innovator about their experience with SIF, and learn more about ways to get involved.
To RSVP or for questions, please email Carolyn Shaughnessy at cshaughnessy at socialinnovationforum.org.
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Is Slavery Being Rebranded?
WHEN Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017, 12 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) Al-Yasha Ilhaam
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Spelman College
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS A Q+A will follow the lecture
LINK http://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events-lectures/events/april-12-2017-1200pm/spring-colloquium-al-yasha-ilhaam
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Costly Conversations: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Interstate Conflicts
Wednesday, April 12
12:00p–1:30p
MIT, E40-496, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
SSP Wednesday Seminar
Web site: https://ssp.mit.edu/events/2017/costly-conversations
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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Layer Upon Layer: Experience, Ecology, Engineering, Heritage, and (Most of All) History in the Making of China's Agricultural Terraces
Wednesday, April 12
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Harvardm CGIS South Room S250, 1730 Cambridge Street Cambridge
The Environmental Humanities Initiative of the Fairbanks Center for Chinese Studies welcomes Sigrid Schmalzer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Schmalzer’s research focuses on social, cultural, and political aspects of the history of science in modern China. Her first book, The People’s Peking Man: Popular Science and Human Identity in Twentieth-Century China, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2008 and won the Sharlin Memorial Award from the Social Science History Association. Her second book, Red Revolution, Green Revolution: Scientific Farming in Socialist China, was released by University of Chicago Press in 2016 (a podcast interview with Schmalzer about the book is available from the New Books Network). She is also the co-editor of a volume intended for the undergraduate classroom titled Visualizing Modern China: Image, History, and Memory, 1750-Present. Her shorter writings have been published in numerous edited volumes and scholarly journals, including Isis, Journal of American-East Asian Relations, Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, East Asian History, and Geographical Review. She was also the lead organizer for a conference held at UMass 11-13 April 2014, “Science for the People: The 1970s and Today,” which brought together students, scholars in Science and Technology Studies, and former members of the 1970s-1980s group Science for the People and is archived here: http://science-for-the-people.org. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Fulbright, the Social Science Research Council, the American Philosophical Society, and the D. Kim Foundation.
Contact Name: Amy Zhang
amyzhang at fas.harvard.edu
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Nature's Present: Environmental Crossroads in 21st Century India
Wednesday, April 12
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Harvard, CGIS-S030, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Mahesh Rangarajan, Ashoka University
Contact: histecon at fas.harvard.edu
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Finance, Geography, & Sustainability Speaker Series: From Internal Colony to Subprime Haven to Circular Economy
Wednesday, April 12
12:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building 9-255, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Finance, Geography, & Sustainability Speaker Series
A prolonged 1960s-1970s debate about how to spur economic development in the US segregated areas of large cities in which racial ethnic minorities have historically been concentrated. This debate turned on two axes, the first concerned whether the labor force and capital assets located in the areas should be understood as integral to the structure of capital accumulation in the economy as a whole, or instead as structurally separate from mainstream capitalist processes and exploited primarily for their labor reserves. The second involved the extent to which cash flows in these communities were being drained and could, in turn, be recirculated by developing autonomous economic-development organizations inside their borders. This debate will be reprised and updated, as it contains profound insights for two current policy debates: first, how to renew the economies of communities disproportionately affected by the subprime and foreclosure crises of the past decade; second, how to localize city and regional economies so as to make them more sustainable, resilient, and independent of the broader, often coercive, dynamics of global capitalism.
Web site: https://www.facebook.com/events/615998721939240/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning, School of Architecture and Planning
For more information, contact: Janelle Knox-Hayes
jankh at mit.edu
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China: End of the Reform Era
WHEN Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017, 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, S020, Japan Friends of Harvard Concourse, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Co-sponsored by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and the Harvard University Asia Center
SPEAKER(S) Professor Carl Minzner, Fordham University School of Law
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MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS IN FINANCE, HEALTHCARE AND RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS
Wednesday, April 12
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
MIT, Building 46-3002, Singleton Auditorium, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: David Vogel, Trustee (Voloridge Investment Management, LLC)
Abstract: The introductory portion of this talk will review some state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. We will discuss concepts of ensembles and popular methodologies within this category. We’ll touch upon collaborative filtering techniques used for recommendation systems, and we’ll present certain algorithms published specifically for healthcare models.
We will later focus on application of the mentioned machine learning techniques covering healthcare, recommendation systems and portfolio construction in finance. We will refer to some past data modeling competitions such as Netflix (2007) and the Heritage Health Prize (2014) where thousands of algorithms were pitted against each other and evaluated impartially on a withheld data set. Within the financial application we will present risk management models that can be used to dictate/constrain positions within the portfolio construction process.
Biography: David S. Vogel is an award-winning predictive modeling scientist. In 2009, he founded the Voloridge Investment Management, LLC and also serves as its Chief Scientist, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Managing Member. He has earned international recognition for models ranging from medical applications to direct marketing and has won numerous modeling competitions. David has also been invited to speak at conferences and research institutes worldwide.
Organizer: Tomaso Poggio
tpoggio at mit.edu
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xTalk: Learning from Videos in Open Online Education
Wednesday, April 12
3:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building 66-144, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Tim Van Der Zee
In MOOCs, videos are generally the most used method of teaching and are central to the student learning experience. In this talk Van Der Zee will present his research and discuss new research opportunities. One of the questions in the field of instructional design is: How can we increase the educational value of videos? Do students learn more if you ask them to summarize the videos they watch, or should we just give them summaries? What are other effective strategies?
Given that many students of open online courses do not have English as their first language, how can we ensure educational videos are not only available, but also accessible to students around the world? In contrast with guidelines on accessibility, Van Der Zee found that providing subtitles does not help non-native English speakers learn more from videos. Another key question is how we should design videos to ensure that they are informative, but not overly complex. Van Der Zee??will discuss previous findings and guidelines on effective video design for online education.
Tim Van Der Zee is a PhD candidate at Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching in the Netherlands. He studies how people learn from educational videos in MOOCs and focuses on increasing their instructional design quality and educational value. Follow Tim on Twitter at @Research_Tim and read his blog timvanderzee.com.
xTalks: Digital Discourses
The xTalks 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/news-and-events/events/learning-videos-open-online-education
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): xTalks: Digital Discourses, Office of Digital Learning
For more information, contact: Molly Ruggles
617-324-9185
xtalks-info at mit.edu
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The Who and How of Microbial Control over Soil Carbon Dynamics
Wednesday, April 12
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 48-316, Parsons, 15 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Kristen DeAngelis, UMass Amherst
Microbial Systems Seminar
Web site: https://microbialsystems.wordpress.com/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact: Kathryn Kauffman
k6logc at mit.edu
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The Impact of Pollution on Planetary Health: Emergence of an Underappreciated Risk Factor
WHEN Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017, 4 – 5 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Haller Hall, Harvard Yard, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences, Lecture, Science, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Planetary Health Alliance, Harvard University Center for the Environment, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health NIEHS Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S) Dr. Philip J. Landrigan
CONTACT INFO erikaveidis at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS Pollution has quietly become the world’s largest health problem. Pollution-related disease causes nearly 10 million premature deaths annually, three times as many deaths as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Yet despite their great magnitude, pollution and pollution-related disease are largely overlooked in the global health and international development agendas.
Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., M.Sc., FAAP, DIH is Professor of Environmental Medicine/Public Health and Pediatrics and Dean for Global Health in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He served as the Ethel H. Wise Professor and Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai from 1990 to 2015.
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Environmental ice crystals: how ice clouds form and fish survive
Wednesday, April 12
4:00pm to 5:00pm
MIT, Builidng 54-915, 21 Ames Street, (the tallest building on campus), Cambridge
Thomas Koop, Universitat Bielefeld
The formation of ice crystals is a widespread environmental process with beneficial effects such as initiating atmospheric precipitation as well as adverse consequences such as biological frost damage. Nature has developed means to either promote or inhibit ice crystal formation, for example ice-nucleating proteins in bacteria or ice-binding antifreeze proteins in polar fish. This presentation will focus on different factors that influence the kinetics of ice crystal formation and growth. Such factors include the catalysis of ice nucleation by particles and molecules, and also ice growth inhibition through blocking of ice crystal surfaces by adsorbed antifreeze agents. Mechanistic and molecular aspects of the involved processes will be given special consideration.
About the Speaker
Thomas Koop is a professor of atmospheric and physical chemistry in the chemistry faculty at Bielefeld University (Germany). His research group studies the kinetics of phase transitions in aqueous systems, both theoretically and in laboratory experiments. These topics include ice nucleation processes with relevance to atmospheric cloud formation, and the vitrification behavior of aqueous glasses. Another line of research involves studies of the properties and mechanism of action of antifreeze proteins in cryobiology. For this purposes he and his group develop experimental methods, procedures for data analysis, as well as physicochemical parameterizations for use in more complex models.
About the Series
EAPS interdisciplinary Department Lecture Series (DLS) brings both national and international speakers into the department to share their work. In addition EAPS sponsors a number of annual flagship named lectures, among them the Brace Lecture, the Kendall Lecture, and the Carlson Lecture. All such lectures and seminars are free and open to the public. To be added to EAPS event listserve contact Brandon Milardo, bmilardo at mit.edu.
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Digital Transformation Summit 2017
Wednesday, April 12
4:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Harvard Business School, Allston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/digital-transformation-summit-2017-tickets-32334060044
The Digital Transformation Summit brings together unexpected groupings of experts from academia and industry for frank conversations on emerging technologies, trends, and challenges. The event will include:
Eight provocative panels helmed by pioneers from both academia and practice. Panels will include the future of product management, strategic challenges for digital marketplaces, and more.
A keynote from Julie Larson-Green, Chief Experience Officer for Microsoft Office, on "Reimagining the Platform for Intelligent Work."
A diverse crowd of over 400 engineers, scholars, entrepreneurs, and students from Harvard and beyond.
A lively reception to recap your learning over good food and drink.
The Digital Transformation Summit is organized by the Harvard Business School Digital Initiative and Professors Karim Lakhani and Feng Zhu. More info on programming can be found on the event website. For questions, contact Caroline Fay at cafay at hbs.edu.
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Asymmetric Information, Drilling Distortions, and Oil and Gas Leases (Evan Herrnstadt)
WHEN Wednesday, Wed, April 12, 2017, 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Littauer-382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
Harvard Environmental Economics Program
SPEAKER(S) Evan Herrnstadt
LINK https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/16492
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Book Talk with Jorrit de Jong, Author of "Dealing with Dysfunction: Innovative Problem Solving in the Public Sector"
Wednesday, April 12
4:15pm to 5:30pm
Harvard, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Suite 200N, 124 Mt Auburn Street, Cambridge
Join us for a discussion with Jorrit de Jong, Lecturer in Public Policy and Management at HKS, Faculty Director of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, and author, "Dealing with Dysfunction: Innovative Problem Solving in the Public Sector." Tony Saich, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, will moderate.
About Dealing with Dysfunction
How can we intervene in the systemic bureaucratic dysfunction that beleaguers the public sector? De Jong examines the roots of this dysfunction and presents a novel approach to solving it. Drawing from academic literature on bureaucracy and problem solving in the public sector, and the clinical work of the Kafka Brigade — a social enterprise based in the Netherlands dedicated to diagnosing and remedying bureaucratic dysfunction in practice, this study reveals the shortcomings of conventional approaches to bureaucratic reform. The usual methods have failed to diagnose problems, distinguish symptoms, or identify root causes in a comprehensive or satisfactory way. They have also failed to engage clients, professionals, and midlevel managers in understanding and addressing the dysfunction that plagues them. This book offers conceptual frameworks, theoretical insights, and practical lessons for dealing with the problem. It sets a course for rigorous public problem solving to create governments that can be more effective, efficient, equitable, and responsive to social concerns.
De Jong argues that successfully remedying bureaucratic dysfunction depends on employing diagnostics capable of distinguishing and dissecting various kinds of dysfunction. The “Anna Karenina principle” applies here: all well-functioning bureaucracies are alike; every dysfunctional bureaucracy is dysfunctional in its own way. The author also asserts that the worst dysfunction occurs when multiple organizations share responsibility for a problem, but no single organization is primarily responsible for solving it. This points to a need for creating and reinforcing distributed problem-solving capacity focused on deep (cross-)organizational learning and revised accountability structures. Our best approach to dealing with dysfunction may therefore not be top-down regulatory reform, but rather relentless bottom-up and cross-boundary leadership and innovation. Using fourteen clinical cases of bureaucratic dysfunction investigated by the Kafka Brigade, the author demonstrates how a proper process for identifying, defining, diagnosing, and remedying the problem can produce better outcomes.
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Numbered: Mapping Cancer onto Artistic Algorithms of Art, Dance and Music
Wednesday, April 12
6:00 PM
Lesley, University Hall Room 2-150 (Amphitheater), Porter Campus, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/numbered-mapping-cancer-onto-artistic-algorithms-of-art-dance-and-music-tickets-32274867999
Presenters: Professor Xueli Tan, PhD, MT-BC, Bradford Else, and an Expressive Therapies Graduate Student Panel
**Event is free and open to the public; optional two (2) CE Hours* for LMHC’s and NCC’s are available for $10 (to be paid that day)
Medically, patterns of cancer markers can help determine whether an individual is susceptible to developing a specific form of cancer and may also predict the progression of the disease. Tumor markers such as CA125 and CEA capture a cellular portrait of the most miniscule denominators in the human body. Yet, our being is more than the summation of these deconstructed denominators. While science offers data, often in the form of numbers, to classify our bodies’ health status, how can we capture the humanity and dignity of ill bodies? Aesthetically, can artistic representations offer a portal to reclaim the humanistic self? This presentation documents the collaborative work between a leukemia patient and a group of art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and music therapy students. With 372 numbers gathered from the results of the patient’s blood tests over the last 4 years, the students mapped out the biopsychosocial phases of his diagnosis, transplant, blood transfusions, and admissions and discharges from the hospital. A panel of students will discuss their reflections and experiences in creating the algorithms to map out those numbers. We will present the final art, music, and dance representations emanating from these algorithms. Together with the owner of the 372 numbers, we will witness how reclaiming humanity via empowerment comes from being heard, embodied, validated, and represented in the most beautiful art forms.
About the Presenter:
Dr. Tan is Assistant Professor (music therapy) in the Graduate School of Arts & Social Sciences, Division of Expressive Therapies. Prior to Lesley, she was the Presidential Research Fellow at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. Dr. Tan’s clinical experiences and research interests focus on the medical population, especially in pain perception and management in ICU settings. She has published and presented in both medical and music therapy journals and conferences respectively.
Learning Goals:
1) Participants will be able to articulate the differences between the benefits of art versus the therapeutic application of art forms.
2) Participants will be able to evaluate the importance of addressing psychosocial needs of individuals’ living with life-threatening diseases.
3) Participants will be able to appreciate the synergistic collaborations between patients and expressive therapies students to create artistic representations of autonomy and human dignity.
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Climate Change Preparedness & Resilience Planning for the Alewife/Fresh Pond Area
Wednesday, April 12
6:00-8:00 pm
West Cambridge Youth Center, 680 Huron Avenue, Cambridge
The City will present findings from the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Alewife/Fresh Pond area and discuss strategies to increase preparedness and resilience. Alewife/Fresh Pond is an initial focus for the Climate Change Preparedness & Resilience (CCPR) Plan that is in development. The Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment - Part 2 summary report, which focuses on the risks from sea level rise and storm surges, has been posted on the CCPR project webpage:
http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Climate/climatechangeresilianceandadaptation.aspx
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Mass Innovation Nights 97
Wednesday, April 12
6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
25 Drydock, 25 Drydock Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://mass.innovationnights.com/events/mass-innovation-nights-97
So many things to look forward to in April -- no snow AND an all ROBOTICS Mass Innovation Nights to name a few -- this is Boston afterall! Amazon Robotics and Mass TLC's Mass Robotics are the sponsors of this month's #MIN97. We will have 10 super cool products. Do not miss this event on Wednesday
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#Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media
Wednesday, April 12
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store and Mass Humanities welcome Harvard Law School's CASS R. SUNSTEIN, the New York Times–bestselling author of Republic.com and The World According to Star Wars, for a discussion of his latest book, #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media.
About #Republic
As the Internet grows more sophisticated, it is creating new threats to democracy. Social media companies such as Facebook can sort us ever more efficiently into groups of the like-minded, creating echo chambers that amplify our views. It's no accident that on some occasions, people of different political views cannot even understand each other. It's also no surprise that terrorist groups have been able to exploit social media to deadly effect.
Welcome to the age of #Republic.
In this revealing book, Cass Sunstein shows how today's Internet is driving political fragmentation, polarization, and even extremism—and what can be done about it.
Thoroughly rethinking the critical relationship between democracy and the Internet, Sunstein describes how the online world creates "cybercascades," exploits "confirmation bias," and assists "polarization entrepreneurs." And he explains why online fragmentation endangers the shared conversations, experiences, and understandings that are the lifeblood of democracy.
In response, Sunstein proposes practical and legal changes to make the Internet friendlier to democratic deliberation. These changes would get us out of our information cocoons by increasing the frequency of unchosen, unplanned encounters and exposing us to people, places, things, and ideas that we would never have picked for our Twitter feed.
#Republic need not be an ironic term. As Sunstein shows, it can be a rallying cry for the kind of democracy that citizens of diverse societies most need.
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The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors
Wednesday, April 12
7:00PM
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain
In this program, teacher and writer David George Haskell will expand his focus from one square meter (The Forest Unseen) to the expansive networked communities of life as observed in the presence of trees around the world. A keen observer of all living things, Haskell brings together ecological understanding with poetic narrative as he describes discoveries from root to branch tip, from one specimen to a forest of collaborators. He will expound upon webs of connections that weave through the environment, human nature, science, and ethics. His book, The Songs of Trees, will be available for purchase and signing.
Registration required. Please register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.
More information at http://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/songs-trees-stories-nature’s-great-connectors-sponsored-arnold-arboretum-harvard
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Thursday, April 13
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Cybersecurity - Avoiding and Reacting to Data Breaches
Thursday, April 13
8:30 AM-10:30 AM
CIC Cambridge, Havana Room, 5th Floor, One Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at http://info.withum.com/LP-Boston-Cyber-3-30-17.html
PANEL DISCUSSION:
Anurag Sharma, Principal with WithumSmith+Brown (Withum), will cover the impact of breaches on SMBs, statistics and hidden costs, the NIST Cybersecurity framework.
April F. Doss, Partner with Saul Ewing, will discuss the key elements of an incident response plan for businesses of all sizes.
Andrew Ostashen, Co-Founder & Principal Security Engineer of Vulsec, will provide you with real examples from his user trainings and simple ways to help ensure you remain safe and protect your information.
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RISE:2017
Thursday, April 13
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Northeastern, Cabot Physical Education Center, 400 Huntington Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.northeastern.edu/rise/
RISE, Northeastern University’s premier Research, Innovation and Scholarship Expo. Where industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and technology enthusiasts from diverse sectors engage Northeastern’s solution-focused innovations. Where industry, capital, and academia converge -- creating a dynamic feedback loop translating into game-changing technological advancement, lucrative commercial pathways, and pioneering joint research projects. This is RISE.
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Cost-Benefit Analysis and Environmental Regulation in the New Era
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017, 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Bell Hall (5th Floor Belfer), 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Regulatory Policy Program (RPP) at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) Richard Revesz, Lawrence King Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, NYU Law School, and Director, Institute for Policy Integrity, NYU
TICKET INFO Please RSVP to MRCBG at hks.harvard.edu
CONTACT INFO mrcbg at hks.harvard.edu
DETAILS
Lunch will be served.
LINK https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/news-events/event-calendar#nextevent
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Sustainability at the municipal level in Somerville
Thursday, April 13
12:00-1:00pm
Tufts, Rabb Room, Lincoln Filene Center, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Oliver Sellers-Garcia, Director of the Office of Sustainability and Environment, City of Somerville
As the densest City in New England, Somerville faces unusual challenges in climate change mitigation and adaptation. But as the first city in Massachusetts with a community-wide carbon neutrality goal, the City and its residents are working to develop a model for medium-sized cities to successfully address climate change. The Director of Somerville's Office of Sustainability and Environment will discuss some of the City's sustainability initiatives.
As Director of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability and Environment, Oliver Sellers-Garcia leads initiatives on climate change mitigation and adaption, resource conservation, and environmental innovation in Somerville. Recent and ongoing initiatives include municipal and residential energy efficiency, greenhouse gas accounting, solid waste reduction and diversion, green procurement, green technology piloting, and regional resilience planning. Prior to joining the City of Somerville, he worked for eight years at the environmental consulting firm CDM Smith, helping clients around the country and the world integrate sustainability and climate change into physical and organizational planning. Sellers-Garcia holds a Bachelor's degree in Urban Studies from Columbia University and a Master's in City Planning from MIT.
Watch it live from your computer or smart phone:
Webex: http://bit.ly/TuftsLunchLearn
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STEX Workshop - Killer Apps in the Internet of Things
Thursday, April 13
1:30p–4:30p
MIT, Building E14-6th floor, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://startupexchange.mit.edu/startupexchange/html/index.html#viewOpportunity/150
STEX Workshop
Web site: https://startupexchange.mit.edu/startupexchange/html/index.html#events
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Office of Corporate Relations/ILP
For more information, contact: Trond Undheim
617-253-8983
Undheim at ilp.mit.edu
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Books at Baker presents "Democracy: A Case Study" with David Moss
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Business School Baker Library, the de Gaspé Beaubien Reading Room (off the North Lobby on the ground floor), 25 Harvard Way, Allston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Books at Baker
SPEAKER(S) David Moss, Paul Whiton Cherington Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
COST Free
DETAILS
"Democracy: A Case Study" adapts the case method of teaching to revitalize conversations about governance and democracy and show how the United States has often thrived on political conflict. "Democracy" is both a guide to America’s democratic history and an immediate, practical exercise for anyone looking for a way to strengthen our common civic commitments. (Q&A with author, books available for sale and signing)
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Refugees And Migrants: A Comparative Study Of Response--The UN, Government And Civil Society
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS Knafel 262, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar
SPEAKER(S) Karen AbuZayd, Commissioner, UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry on Syria; and former Special Adviser to the Secretary General for the Global Summit on Refugees and Migrants, 2016
CONTACT INFO elizabethflanagan at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS
Unless otherwise noted in the event description, CMES events are open to the public (no registration required), and off the record. Please note that events may be filmed and photographed by CMES for record-keeping and for use on the CMES website and publications.
LINK http://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/event/karen-abuzayd-title-be-announced
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A Woman’s Place at the Harvard Observatory: A Lecture by Dava Sobel
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017, 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Dava Sobel, Science Writer
COST Free
CONTACT INFO events at radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS In this lecture, acclaimed author Dava Sobel will speak about her forthcoming book, “The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars,” which tells the story of the women who worked at the Harvard College Observatory from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. To learn more and to register, visit the event webpage.
LINK https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2017-dava-sobel-lecture
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The Annual Zaleski Lecture in Modern Polish History — Dismantling Democracy on the EU's Watch: Poland and Its Constitutional Tribunal
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017, 4:15 – 6:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
Lower Level Conference Room
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History
SPEAKER(S) Andrzej Rzeplinski
Professor of Jurisprudence, Warsaw University; President of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (2010-2016); Noah Feldman
Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Director, Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law; Kim L. Scheppele
Visiting Professor of Law, John Harvey Gregory Lecturer on World Organization Spring 2017;
CONTACT INFO Anna Popiel apopiel at fas.harvard.edu
LINK https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/the-annual-zaleski-lecture-in-modern-polish-history
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Rebecca Henderson - "Reimagining Capitalism: Business, Purpose and the Big Problems”
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Emerson Hall, Room 210, Harvard Yard, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
SPEAKER(S) Rebecca Henderson
CONTACT INFO Susan Cox
e: susan at ethics.harvard.edu
p: 617-495-1336
f: 617-496-6104
DETAILS
As a world we face a number of “big problems” including accelerating environmental degradation and rising inequality. The private sector has traditionally treated these problems as externalities and relied on the public sector to address them. But governments around the world are finding it increasingly difficult to address them with any success. Could the private sector play a major role in addressing them? Would it make a difference if firms were “purpose driven”? What would purpose driven firms look like, in a world in which many managers believe that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits? Would they be legal? Could they survive? Could they change the world?
Rebecca M. Henderson is the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University, where she has a joint appointment at the Harvard Business School in the General Management and Strategy units and is the Co-Director of the Business and Environment Initiative. Professor Henderson is also a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her work explores how organizations respond to large-scale technological shifts, most recently in regard to energy and the environment. She teaches Reimagining Capitalism in the MBA Program.
LINK http://ethics.harvard.edu/event/public-lecture-2
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Green Building Advocacy Roundtable
Thursday, April 13
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
USGBC MA 18th Floor, Hemingway Room, 50 Milk Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advocacy-roundtable-tickets-31098504464
Legislation and policy drives our industry, but who drives changes in legislation and law?
Join our Advocacy committee as they interpret, suggest updates to, and advocate for advances in laws and policy related to green buildings. All are welcome to join in this high level discussion.
General Questions: How can this committee reach out and build value for practitioners and
the larger community? How can we accommodate both detailed issue-based discussions as
well as more inviting, general discussions for new members?
We look forward to seeing you there!
Here is some background on what the Chapter has been working on recently:
We are still tracking our current priorites::
PACE Clean Energy Financing - we were victorious in attaining PACE for Massachusetts in 2016! Now: how can we bring this new tool to bear on green building projects throughout the Commonwealth?
Net Zero Energy building code - how can we shift the conversation on codes? How can we support municipalities who are leading - like Cambridge with their Net Zero Action Plan?
Net Metering Improvements - we were able to engineer reform of net metering in 2016, but we know it was a temporary fix. How do we position our advocacy efforts to ensure we see progress in early 2017?
Also, we are tracking other initiatives including:
Building Energy Benchmarking (BERDO & BEUDO)
The MA "Stretch Code" for energy efficiency
The greening of the MLS and the residential market transformation
Energy efficiency education
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authors at mit - Adam Gazzaley - The Distracted Mind
Thursday, April 13
6:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building N50, The MIT Press Bookstore, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Adam Gazzaley
The MIT Press Bookstore presents Adam Gazzaley, Director of the Gazzaley Lab at the University of California, San Francisco, discussing his new book, "The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World," at 6:00 pm, Thursday April 13, at the Bookstore.
We pride ourselves on our ability to multitask--read work email, reply to a text, check Facebook, watch a video clip. Talk on the phone, send a text, drive a car. Enjoy family dinner with glowing smartphones next to our plates. We can do it all, 24/7! Never mind the errors in the email, the near-miss on the road, and the unheard conversation at the table. In "The Distracted Mind," Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen--a neuroscientist and a psychologist--explain why our brains aren't built for multitasking, and suggest better ways to live in a high-tech world without giving up our modern technology.
This event includes a book signing. Books will be on sale at the event for 20% off, or you can purchase an event ticket that includes a discounted book.
Web site: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adam-gazzaley-the-distracted-mind-tickets-32131200285
Open to: the general public
Cost: FREE
Sponsor(s): The MIT Press Bookstore
For more information, contact: The MIT Press Bookstore
253-5249
authors at mit.edu
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Passage at St. Augustine: Film Screening and Discussion with filmmaker Clennon L. King, Civil Rights Veteran Mimi Jones who is featured in the film
Thursday, April 13
6 - 7:30 P.M.
Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library, 65 Warren Street, Boston
Long before there was a Black Lives Matter Movement in places like Cleveland, Ferguson and Baltimore, there were black activists in the tourist town of St. Augustine, Florida.
The award-winning documentary Passage at St. Augustine tells their story, and establishes St. Augustine as the most violent Civil Rights campaign of the entire Movement. Viewers enter a time machine and are transported to the 'Nation's Oldest City' to hear first-hand from those who fought the 18-month battle that led directly to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.
With brief introductory remarks, documentary filmmaker Clennon L. King segues into facilitating a larger conversation on race and history in America, rounding out the program with a spirited question and answer session with Civil Rights veteran Mimi Jones, featured in the film.
Learn more about the award-winning film 'Passage at St. Augustine,’ the documentary screening & discussion program on race at http://passageatstaugustine.com
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The U.S. and the International Climate Change Agreement
Thursday, April 13
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Workbar Cambridge, 45 Prospect Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-us-and-the-international-climate-change-agreement-tickets-31285630162
Join us for an update and discussion about the United States and its role in addressing climate change.
In 2016, 125 countries ratified the Paris Agreement, an international commitment to take action on climate change. President Barack Obama was a huge proponent of the plan, but it’s unclear what will happen under President Donald Trump: he has stated that he may pull out of the Agreement, and more recently told the New York Times that he’s “looking at it very closely” and has “an open mind to it,” adding that he is planning to consider “how much it will cost [U.S.] companies” and affect U.S. competitiveness worldwide.
What is the Paris Agreement, and what do advocates and critics say about it?
What are the United States’ obligations? And if the U.S. doesn’t fulfull them, what will happen?
What’s the relationship between the Paris Agreement and U.S. competitiveness in the global market?
Our speaker will give a 20-30 minute overview, followed by extensive Q & A and discussion. Get all your questions answered, and have real conversations with people curious about the same things you are.
Hang out after the event for drinks, snacks, and good convo.
Please note that this event will not cover the science of climate change.
Prof. Henrik Selin is an Associate Professor in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University where he conducts research and teaches classes on global and regional politics and policy making on environment and sustainable development. He is the author of Global Governance of Hazardous Chemicals: Challenges of Multilevel Management(MIT Press), co-author of European Union and Environmental Governance (Routledge), and co-editor of Changing Climates in North American Politics: Institutions, Policymaking and Multilevel Governance (MIT Press) and Transatlantic Environment and Energy Politics: Comparative and International Perspectives (Ashgate). He is also the author and co-author of more than four dozen peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters, as well as numerous reports, reviews, and commentaries.
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Toward an Artificial Brain
Thursday, April 13
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Harvard Ed Portal, 224 Western Avenue, Allston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/faculty-talk-toward-an-artificial-brain-registration-32133091943
The brain is a powerful biological computer--capable of taking in a flood of information from our senses, and transforming it into thought and action. Could computer algorithms be programmed to work the same way?
David Cox, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Computer Science, will explore this idea during the upcoming "Faculty Speaker: Toward an Artificial Brain."
Cox will talk about the ARIADNE project--a multi-university effort to study a living animal brain like never before to figure out how it learns. This project will create some of the largest neuroscience datasets ever collected, and could give computers new abilities to learn and perceive the way our brains do.
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Bumble Bees & Orchard Bees; Understanding & Rearing Native Pollinators
Thursday, April 13
6:30 to 8:45pm,
The Urbano Project, 29 Germania Street, Jamaica Plain
(Three blocks from the Stony Brook stop on the Orange Line.)
RS P at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2926604
Cost: $25 cost (includes mason bee nesting material -- but bring that can!)
During this talk and workshop you will have a chance to learn about native bees, especially bumblebees (tomatoes' only pollinator), and to build your own mason bee house.
Many native bee species such as sweat, mason and bumble bees are in decline despite efforts to augment landscapes with flowers. The direct causes of these declines are unclear, making conservation efforts difficult.
In this two-part workshop, Tufts PhD biology candidate and bumble bee researcher, Nick Dorian, will first explain why native bees are important pollinators, what threatens bees, and how you can help stem their declines.
In the second part of this workshop, we will dive into the world of bumble bees. We will talk about what makes bumble bees especially good pollinators relative to honeybees and how you can establish your own bumble bee colony in spring. Nick will demonstrate all the steps of rearing a bumble bee colony, from collecting queens in spring to preparing bumble bee food to ensuring that your colony thrives once placed outdoors in summer. This workshop will equip you with knowledge essential to rearing bumble bee colonies as well as help to support your interest in native bee conservation.
Finally, everyone will have a chance to construct a simple mason bee house just in time for their early spring arrival. Please bring an empty tin can from 5-7 inches deep. (Why? You'll find out...)
Questions? Call Bill at Agricultural Hall; 617-388-7378.
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PREVENTING TERRORISM AT HOME & ABROAD: ASSESSING U.S. COUNTERTERRORISM POLICY
Thursday, April 13
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
WeWork, 745 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://splashthat.com/sites/view/preventingterrorismathomeabroadassessinguscountert.splashthat.com
The United States has been in conflict with international terrorist organizations and those inspired by them for over fifteen years. These organizations have continued to execute devastating attacks abroad and have inspired acts of terrorism inside the United States, including the bombing of the Boston Marathon exactly four years ago. Join David Schanzer, associate professor at the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy and director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, for a discussion about the state of the conflict against al Qaeda, ISIS and like-minded groups and the status of U.S. counterterrorism policy. Do we have the right strategy? What are the prospects for success? How will the Trump Administration change our approach and are these changes likely to succeed? Professor Schanzer will speak for about 25 minutes and then take questions from the audience.
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An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back
Thursday, April 13
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store welcomes editor in chief of Kaiser Health News and former New York Times senior writer ELISABETH ROSENTHAL for a discussion of her book, An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back.
About An American Sickness
Award-winning New York Times reporter Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal reveals the dangerous, expensive, and dysfunctional American healthcare system, and tells us exactly what we can do to solve its myriad of problems.
It is well documented that our healthcare system has grave problems, but how, in only a matter of decades, did things get this bad? Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal doesn't just explain the symptoms; she diagnoses and treats the disease itself. Rosenthal spells out in clear and practical terms exactly how to decode medical doublespeak, avoid the pitfalls of the pharmaceuticals racket, and get the care you and your family deserve. She takes you inside the doctor-patient relationship, explaining step by step the workings of a profession sorely lacking transparency. This is about what we can do, as individual patients, both to navigate a byzantine system and also to demand far-reaching reform.
Breaking down the monolithic business into its individual industries—the hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, drug manufacturers—that together constitute our healthcare system, Rosenthal tells the story of the history of American medicine as never before. The situation is far worse than we think, and it has become like that much more recently than we realize. Hospitals, which are managed by business executives, behave like predatory lenders, hounding patients and seizing their homes. Research charities are in bed with big pharmaceutical companies, which surreptitiously profit from the donations made by working people. Americans are dying from routine medical conditions when affordable and straightforward solutions exist.
Dr. Rosenthal explains for the first time how various social and financial incentives have encouraged a disastrous and immoral system to spring up organically in a shockingly short span of time. The system is in tatters, but we can fight back. An American Sickness is the frontline defense against a healthcare system that no longer has our well-being at heart.
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Sharks in Danger: Silver Fins and a Silver Lining?
Thursday, April 13
7pm
NE Aquarium, Simons IMAX Theatre, One Aquarium Wharf, Boston
RSVP at http://www.neaq.org/learn/lectures/upcoming-lectures/
Mark Smith, Vice President of Animal Care, New England Aquarium
John Mandelman, Ph.D, Vice President, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, New England Aquarium
Shark! We hear the word, and our senses heighten with fear-inducing images of scything fins and serrated teeth. But what is the truth about these frequently vilified denizens of the deep? Join New England Aquarium scientists Mark Smith and John Mandelman for a deeper look at the shark: their cultural impact, their diversity and biology, and, in the context of marine conservation and human interactions, how we should be terming it “shark attacked” rather than “shark attack.”
Finally, learn more about some of the amazing scientific and tireless advocacy work fighting to counteract the mounting conservation threats facing these majestic animals around the globe, as well as a preview of shark-related offerings in the spring lecture series, and work out of the Aquarium’s new Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
More information at http://www.neaq.org/learn/lectures/upcoming-lectures/
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Lake Erie's Death, Resurrection, Re-Death, and the Role of Models in Guiding a Re-Resurrection
Thursday, April 13
7:00p–8:30p
MIT, Building E51-115, 6:00 p.m. Reception (Ting Foyer), 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Don Scavia, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, University of Michigan
Reducing phosphorus (P) loading is a key management tool for controlling
Lake Erie eutrophication. During the 1960s and 1970s, increased phosphorus inputs degraded water quality, stimulated algal blooms, and
reduced central basin hypolimnetic oxygen to levels that eliminated
thermal habitat vital to cold-water organisms and contributed to the extirpation of important benthic macro invertebrate prey species. In
response to load reductions initiated in 1972 under the US/Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), Lake Erie responded quickly
with reduced phytoplankton biomass and bottom-water hypoxia.
However, since the mid-1990s, cyanobacteria blooms and hypoxia returned to conditions of the 1970s. In response, a renegotiated GLWQA
required the governments to revise P load targets once again. Using multiple models, we recommended new loading targets to avoid
severe cyanobacteria blooms and reduce hypoxia, and those recommendations guided the new binational agreement of an additional
40% P load reduction. Subsequently, we assembled five additional modeling groups to assess load reduction strategies for the agriculturally dominated Maumee River watershed, the single largest P contributor to
Lake Erie toxic algal blooms. While several potential pathways are available to achieve the new target loads, results show that any successful pathway will require significant large-scale implementation of multiple practices.
Web site: Host: E. Eric Adams, Senior Research Engineer
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Freeman2017
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0
Sponsor(s): Parsons Lab, Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section
For more information, contact: Brenda Pepe
6172536077
pepebe at mit.edu
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U.S. Never-Ending War in the Time of Trump and How to Stop It
Thursday, April 13
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Friends Meeting House, 5 Longfellow Park,Cambridge
(Suggested donation $5.00)
Presentation by David Swanson followed by discussion and book signing.
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of <http://worldbeyondwar.org/> WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for <http://rootsaction.org/> RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include <http://warisalie.org/> War Is A Lie. He blogs at <http://davidswanson.org/> DavidSwanson.org and <http://warisacrime.org/> WarIsACrime.org. He hosts <http://davidswanson.org/taxonomy/term/41> Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
Sponsor: United for Justice with Peace
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Boston Area Solar Energy Association Forum: The Regenerative Soil Solution
Thursday, April 13
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
There's hope in the earth, that is, the soil. Soil4Climate affirms the myriad ways improving soil rewards us in our fight against climate change. Regenerative land use:
heals land
boosts soil fertility
prevents flooding
enhances drought resilience
increases the nutritional content of food
restores wildlife habitat
sequesters carbon
Soil4Climate's recent article, cowritten with 350.org's Bill McKibben
and Tweeted about by the author Michael Pollan, is at:
http://www.rutlandherald.com/articles/using-soil-to-fight-climate-change/
Karl Thidemann, co-founder of the group, will be our guest at the April BASEA Forum to discuss this tremendously hopeful topic, which integrates with climate movement goals and is beginning to take root in state-level agricultural policy.
Karl Thidemann is co-founder of Soil4Climate and Somerville Climate Action. He serves on the board of the Somerville Community Growing Center, a quarter-acre urban oasis offering organic gardening experiences, artistic and cultural programs. Karl's focus is climate communications, including poetry. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Wesleyan University.
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Friday, April 14 - Sunday, April 23
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Cambridge Science Festival – April 14-23, across the city. This the annual celebration of science and technology. Many climate change events and activities are part of the program. For more information http://www.cambridgesciencefestival.org
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Friday, April 14
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Clinical Research Across the Color Line: A Dialogue on Racial Disparities
Friday, April 14
9:00 AM – 1:00 PM EDT
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Auditorium, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clinical-research-across-the-color-line-a-dialogue-on-racial-disparities-tickets-33257377712
A symposium on racial disparities in clinical research participation and the implications for public health.
In almost every major area of disease research — including cancer, psychiatric disease, and metabolic disease — deep racial disparities persist in patient participation rates. Join us for a Broad-wide dialogue with scientists, researchers, cancer patients, and patient advocates to examine the historical context of medical and scientific mistrust in African-American communities and the ongoing public health implications of these disparities. The symposium will conclude with a panel of patients and experts discussing strategies to overcome barriers and increase community participation in clinical research.
Keynote Speaker
Evelyn Hammonds, Harvard University, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science, Professor of African and African American Studies
Limited seating available. Free and open to the public.
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EXPLAINING ASIA: Three Professional Journalists And 2017 Nieman Fellows at Harvard on Reporting and Telling Stories About Their Richly Divergent Cultures -- Japan, Nepal And South Korea
WHEN Friday, Apr. 14, 2017, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, S250, 2nd Floor, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Asia Center Seminar Series; co-sponsored with the Nieman Foundation, the Korea Institute and the Reischauer Institute, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Roland Nozomu Kelts, author, journalist and lecturer, U.S. and Japan
Kyoungtae Kim, editor, prime-time news program, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Seoul, Korea
Subina Shrestha, filmmaker and correspondent, Kathmandu, Nepal
Chair: Professor Andrew Gordon, Acting Director, Harvard Asia Center; Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor, Harvard University
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Friday Lunch Seminar: Responses to Distress Migration with Dr. Jennifer Leaning
WHEN Friday, Apr. 14, 2017, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, HCPDS, Harvard Square, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
SPEAKER(S) Facilitated by Sissela Bok, Ph.D. and
presented by Jennifer Leaning, M.D.
CONTACT INFO Nicole Goguen
ngoguen at hsph.harvard.edu
DETAILS
Jennifer Leaning, M.D. is the François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, and Director, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She was recently named by the medical journal The Lancet as one of three co-chairs to lead a 15-month study dedicated to examining the health and societal consequences of Syria’s civil war.
LINK https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/population-development/events/work-in-progress-lunch-series/
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IACS Seminar: Exascale and Extreme Data Science at NERSC
WHEN Friday, Apr. 14, 2017, 1 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Northwest B103, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Information Technology, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Institute for Applied Computational Science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
SPEAKER(S) Sudip Dosanjh, Director of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
COST Free and open to the public; No registration required.
CONTACT INFO Email: iacs-info at seas.harvard.edu
Phone: 617-496-2623
DETAILS
Dr. Dosanjh's talk will explore the extreme data science occuring at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center. NERSC’s primary mission is to accelerate scientific discovery at the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science through high performance computing and data analysis. NERSC supports the largest and most diverse research community of any computing facility within the DOE complex, providing large-scale, state-of-the-art computing for DOE’S unclassified research programs in alternative energy sources, environmental science, materials research, astrophysics and other science areas related to DOE’s science mission.
NERSC’s new supercomputer, Cori, is deployed in Berkeley Laboratory’s new Computational Research and Theory (CRT) Facility. Cori has over 9300 manycore Intel Knight’s Landing processors, which introduce several technological advances, including higher intra-node parallelism; high-bandwidth, on-package memory; and longer hardware vector lengths. These enhanced features are expected to yield significant performance improvements for applications running on Cori. In order to take advantage of the new features, however, application developers will need to make code modifications because many of today’s applications are not optimized to take advantage of the manycore architecture and on-package memory.
LINK http://www.seas.harvard.edu/calendar/event/94231
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Transforming the Planet Atom by Atom - Computation Design of Materials
Friday, April 14
4:00pm to 5:00pm
Harvard, Pierce 209, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Aleksandra Vojvodic, Penn
Fueling the planet with energy, chemicals and food are central challenges of the 21st century. In our chemical
industry, the majority of materials we see in our everyday life have seen at one point or another a catalyst. I will demonstrate how we can use a quantitative theory of heterogeneous catalysis to predict new catalyst materials through a careful analysis of the surface chemistry at the atomic scale level enabled by access to advanced computational approaches.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Aleksandra Vojvodic is the Skirkanich Assistant Professor of Innovation at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania since September 2016. Her research focuses on theoretical and computational-driven materials design. The lab uses computational frameworks to obtain fundamental understanding of surface and interface properties of complex materials that can be used to develop theoretical models for chemical transformations and energy conversion and storage.
In 2016, she was recognized for her work and innovative approaches by obtaining the MIT TR35 Award 2016 which identified her as a “A computation whiz speeds up the search for catalysts that will make green chemistry possible”. She was also recently selected as a CIFAR Bio-Inspired Solar Energy program fellow, which consists of a world-leading group of researchers including Alan Aspuru-Guzik (Harvard U). She has published 56 papers in journals including Science, Nature Materials, Nature Energy, Nature Communications and Physical Review Letters.
Before joining U Penn she was a staff scientist at the SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where she lead a group conducting research on oxide surface reactivity. She was the Swedish Research Council postdoctoral scholar at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University and at the Center for Atomic-scale Materials Design at Technical University of Denmark. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from the Department of Applied Physics at Chalmers University of Technology and her Master of Science in Physics from Lund University in Sweden.
Applied Physics Colloquia
Host: Cynthia Friend
Contact: Deni Peric
Email: dperic at seas.harvard.edu
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Aponte's Vision: Towards a Hemispheric History of Black Antislavery
Friday, April 14
4:30p–6:00p
MIT, Building E51-275, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Ada Ferrer, Julius Silver Professor of History and Latin American Caribbean Studies
While most colonial societies of the western hemisphere emerged from the Age of Revolution with independence, Cuba, among the oldest of Spanish colonies, did not. This paper takes us to the Atlantic port city of Havana to explore the history of one would-be revolutionary: Jose Antonio Aponte. A free black carpenter, artist, and military veteran, Aponte allegedly masterminded an ambitious plot against the colonial state and slavery in Cuba. Among his tools for recruitment to the movement was a book of paintings (made by his own hand) in which he reimagined a history of the world in order to make a radical black and antislavery future.
Ada Ferrer is Julius Silver Professor of History and Latin American Caribbean Studies at New York University. She is the author of Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898 (UNC Press, 1999) and Freedom's Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution (Cambridge UP, 2014) which won the multiple book prizes, including the Frederick Douglass Prize awarded by the Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale for the best book on slavery, abolition, and resistance. and awards from the American Historical Association in Latin American, Atlantic, and African Diaspora History. She is currently completing a trade book tentatively titled: Cuba: An American History for Scribner.
Web site: http://history.mit.edu/sites/default/files/images/Ada%20Ferrer%202_0.jpg
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): History Office
For more information, contact: Margo Collett
617- 253-4965
history-info at mit.edu
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Architecture Symposium: Politics of the Image: Lamia Joreige, Keith Krumweide, Michael Webb
Friday, April 14
5:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building 7-429
Part of the Spring 2017 MIT Architecture Lecture Series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture
For more information, contact: Maria Moran
617.253.4412
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American Socialist: Eugene Victor Debs - Film
Friday, April 14
6pm
Broadway Picture, Entertainment Theatre, 9A Hamilton Place, Boston
Biopic about labor organizer and co-founder of the Socialist Party of America, Eugene Victor Debs. The film is narrated by Amy Madigan.
My film, American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs will screen at the Boston International Film Festival
This film was a true labor of love, morals and conscience. I have a very limited budget for PR, so if you can post this on Facebook and other social media, I would greatly appreciate the effort.
American Socialist: Eugene Victor Debs Film Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2r9BUIVlk
Yale Strom director/writer and Elizabeth Schwartz ex. producer/writer will be attending the April 14 screening.
More information at http://www.bostoniff.org
Editorial Comment: EV Debs spent more time in prison for speaking against WWI than the USA spent fighting WWI. He ran for President from the Atlanta Federal Prison in the 1920 election and received nearly 1 million votes, over 3% of those cast. A remarkable man and important American historical figure who should be studied.
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Film Screening + Discussion | 'Rumba Clave Blen Blen Blen’
WHEN Friday, Apr. 14, 2017, 7 – 9 p.m.
WHERE The Harvard Ed Portal, 224 Western Avenue, Allston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Film, Special Events
COST Free and open to the public
TICKET WEB LINK http://rumbaclave.eventbrite.com
DETAILS
Join the Harvard Ed Portal for a free screening of Rumba Clave Blen Blen Blen, a compelling, fast-moving film about an exciting genre of music and dance! Highlighting the musical styling of rumba in New York City, the film follows ordinary people and famous musicians through the dances, drums, and clave rhythm of the genre. Learn more about the vibrant Afro-Cuban culture of the city and rumba's African and Andalusian origins. The screening will be followed by a conversation with its director Aristides Falcon-Paradi.
LINK http://edportal.harvard.edu/event/rumba-clave-blen-blen-blen-film-screening-discussion
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Cinematheque: An Evening with Thorsten Trimpop
Friday, April 14
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
BU, COM 101, 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Cambridge
A filmmaker from Germany who teaches at both Boston University and at the Open Documentary Lab at MIT, Trimpop will screen his acclaimed documentary, Furusato, winner of the Golden Dove Prize at the Leipzig Film Festival. Trimpop as a one-person crew shot this frightening, also contemplative, look at a Japanese town half-abandoned after a nuclear disaster, something that could happen to all of us living near nuclear plants.
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Are We Alone? Exploring the Possibility of Other Intelligent Life in the Universe
Friday, April 14
7:30-9:30pm
Harvard, Sanders Theater at Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Please join us for Sidewalk Astronomy after the event.
What are our chances of making contact with intelligent aliens? In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake wrote his eponymous equation to help answer this question. Today, with the help of new discoveries of earth-like planets and a wealth of other scientific findings, we re-visit one of the most basic questions humanity has ever asked itself: Are We Alone?
Guest of Honor: Frank Drake, Emeritus Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, and President, Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the SETI Institute.
Co-Chairs: John Durant, Director of The MIT Museum and Founder of the Cambridge Science Festival
Chris Impey, Associate Dean, College of Science, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona
Key Speakers:
Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science and Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dimitar Sasselov, Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University, and Director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative
Jack Szostak, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, and Alex. A. Rich Distinguished Investigator, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital. 2009 Nobel Laureate.
Lori Marino, Founder and Executive Director of The Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, and former Senior Lecturer at Emory University and Faculty Affiliate at the Emory Center for Ethics
Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer for the SETI Institute, and former Director of Center for SETI Research
Martine Rothblatt, CEO of United Therapeutics. She previously created and led Sirius XM as its Chairman & CEO. Her most recent books are on xenotransplantation (Your Life or Mine) and cyberethics (Virtually Human).
Cost: Free.
Don’t miss Sidewalk Astronomy on the Science Center Plaza after the event!
A Cambridge Science Festival Event
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Energy Mixer Series: Smart Homes
Friday, April 14
7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Northeastern, 360 Huntington Avenue, Curry Student Center West Addition (Mezzanine), Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/energy-mixer-series-smart-homes-tickets-33018405941
Is your home smarter than a 5th grader?
Join us at Northeastern University for an informative presentation of a variety of newly available gadgets and Smart Home technologies. We will discuss how these devices innovate our ever-changing lifestyle and offer a wide range of convenience. Light snacks and beverages will be served at the beginning of the event. Participants are encouraged to share their thoughts and enjoy a group activity after the presentation as we finish up the night.
Smart Homes: Gadgets and Technologies, in collaboration with the Northeastern University Energy Systems Society, is part of an ongoing Energy Mixer networking event series that brings together emerging professionals and students across multidisciplinary sectors including architecture, engineering, and sustainability. Each event will highlight emerging topics of focus, with a goal to explore, examine, and rethink new technologies that enhance our daily lives.
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Saturday, April 15
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Hacking Harvard Open Data to Fight Crime, Save Energy and Improve Student Life
Saturday, April 15
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Harvard, Fong Auditorium, Boylston Hall, 5 Harvard Yard, Cambridge
Pre-registration required at http://bit.ly/HarvardOpenData
The Harvard Open Data Project is a student-faculty team dedicated to opening and analyzing Harvard data by mapping police logs, tracking food waste, logging Harvard building energy consumption and more.
We will discuss our journey in gathering data, analyzing it, and producing apps, visualizations and policies to improve our community and student life.
Cost: Free.
Website: http://bit.ly/HarvardOpenDa
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Science Carnival & Robot Zoo
Saturday, April 15
Noon – 4:00pm
Cambridge Public Library and Rindge & Latin High School, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
Join us at the FREE Science Carnival & Robot Zoo! Drop-in, no registration required.
The Science Carnival and Robot Zoo is a family-friendly expo with more than 100 ways to explore, build, learn and — most importantly — have fun!
Have you ever driven an underwater robot? You can at the Science Carnival and Robot Zoo! Play catch with a robot or play mind games with your friends. Launch rockets, taste a fresh batch of liquid nitrogen ice cream, hold a brain in your hands (really!), and chat with scientists. Come early and explore everything!!
More information at https://www.cambridgesciencefestival.org/current-festival/science-carnival-robot-zoo-2/
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Carbon Pricing Awareness Launch Party (and Tesla Raffle)
Saturday, April 15
12 - 4 PM
Aeronaut Brewing Company in Somerville, Massachusetts
RSVP at http://climate-xchange.org/rsvp-carbon-pricing-awareness-tesla-raffle-launch-party/
Yes, you really can win a Tesla while helping Climate XChange and CABA go for the win on bills that will reward Massachusetts residents and businesses for reducing their carbon footprint.
Come to the Tesla raffle kickoff party in Somerville to find out more.
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Sunday, April 16
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SWAPFEST
Sunday, April 16
9:00a–2:00p
MIT, Albany Street Garage and Lots, Cambridge
MIT's monthly Hi Tech, Computer, Electronics and Ham Radio Fleamarket.
Buy Sell or Swap all things nerdly.
Held the third Sunday of each month April thru October.
Rain or Shine covered space is available for all sellers.
In the Albany St Garage and adjacent lot.
On Albany St between Mass Ave and Main St, Cambridge.
$6 Buyers admission from 9AM to 2PM.
Free for MIT and Harvard Undergraduates with current ID
Web site: www.swapfest.us
Open to: the general public
Cost: $6
This event occurs on the 3rd Sunday of every month through October 15, 2017.
Sponsor(s): Electronic Research Society, MIT, UHF Repeater Assn. W1XM, MIT, MIT Radio Society
For more information, contact: Mitchell Berger
617-253-3776
w1mx-officers at mit.edu
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MITxMake Maker Festival
Sunday, April 16
9:00a–6:00p
MIT, Building W-35, Zesiger Center, 120 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Join us for a day of makers and movers!
Check out more than 40 maker projects from all over MIT and Boston
Keynote speech by Jeff Lieberman, host of the Time Warp on the Discovery Channel
Listen to our amazing panelists to learn about the maker community
Join any of our four product-building workshops or do an MIT Solvathon!
Tour MIT's coolest makerspaces
Make a battle bot with MITERS and battle it out at a combat robotics tournament
Web site: mitxmake.com
Open to: the general public
Cost: $5-$15
Tickets: https://www.mitxmake.com/copy-of-buy-tickets
Sponsor(s): MITxMake
For more information, contact: Dhivya Ravikumar
6177559620
mitxmake at mit.edu
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Reality Show: Stalking the Musical Brain
Sunday, April 16
7:30p–9:00p
MIT, Building N-51, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Cambridge Science Festival
Every April the MIT Museum presents the Cambridge Science Festival in collaboration with the City of Cambridge, community organizations, schools, universities, and businesses. Come to the Museum and enjoy a week filled with workshops, hands-on activities, demonstrations, tours and more.
MIT neuroscientists, musicians, and composers explore what happens to our brains in the presence of music. Free event.
Web site: http://mitmuseum.mit.edu/csf
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free Event
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact: MIT Museum
617-253-5927
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Monday, April 17
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American Socialist: Eugene Victor Debs - Film
Monday, April 17
11:30am
Broadway Picture, Entertainment Theatre, 9A Hamilton Place, Boston
Biopic about labor organizer and co-founder of the Socialist Party of America, Eugene Victor Debs. The film is narrated by Amy Madigan.
My film, American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs will screen at the Boston International Film Festival
This film was a true labor of love, morals and conscience. I have a very limited budget for PR, so if you can post this on Facebook and other social media, I would greatly appreciate the effort.
American Socialist: Eugene Victor Debs Film Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2r9BUIVlk
Yale Strom director/writer and Elizabeth Schwartz ex. producer/writer will be attending the April 14 screening.
More information at http://www.bostoniff.org
Editorial Comment: EV Debs spent more time in prison for speaking against WWI than the USA spent fighting WWI. He ran for President from the Atlanta Federal Prison in the 1920 election and received nearly 1 million votes, over 3% of those cast. A remarkable man and important American historical figure who should be studied.
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Stratospheric Variability and Tropospheric Climate Change
Monday, April 17
12:00PM
Harvard, Haller Hall (102), Geological Museum, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Aditi Sheshadri, Post-Doctoral Research Scientist, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Math/Lamont, Columbia University
Variability of the polar stratospheric vortex impacts weather and climate patterns at the Earth’s surface on timescales from weeks to decades. In this talk, I will discuss the processes that set polar vortex variability on interannual, seasonal, and decadal timescales, as well as the dynamics of tropospheric mid-latitude jet stream and storm track responses to perturbations from the stratosphere (and, indeed, to external forcing in general, such as rising concentrations of greenhouse gases).
I will introduce an idealized, dynamically comprehensive atmospheric model that captures the observed behavior of the Arctic and Antarctic polar vortices, and demonstrate seasonal effects of stratospheric variability on surface wind and precipitation patterns. I will then use the dynamics of tropospheric responses to this variability as a demonstration of a more general principle – that of the link between natural variability of the climate system on the one hand and its response to forcing on the other. I will use a fluctuation-dissipation theorem formulation to show the existence of propagating eigenmodes of the atmosphere, describing systematic poleward migration of wind anomalies, and discuss some of the implications of these propagating modes in climate prediction.
EPS & ESE Colloquium
http://eps.harvard.edu/event/department-colloquium-series-31
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Transitioning China's Energy System Towards Decarbonization
Monday, April 17
12:00PM TO 1:30PM
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
with Wei Peng and Zhimin Mao, Giorgio Ruffolo Postdoctoral Research Fellows in Sustainability Science, Environment and Natural Resources Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, HKS. Lunch is provided.
Energy Policy Seminar
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/cepr/seminar.html
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
louisa_lund at harvard.edu
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Making a Martyr: Emotions and Social Media in the Egyptian Uprising
WHEN Monday, Apr. 17, 2017, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvardm Nye A, Taubman Building, Fifth Floor, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Middle East Initiative
SPEAKER(S) Yasmeen Mekawy: MEI Research Fellow, PhD Candidate, Political Science, University of Chicago
Moderator: Tarek Masoud, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations, HKS
COST Free and Open to the Public
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Film screening of Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective
Monday, April 17
12–1:30 pm
Harvard, Braun Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
“Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective”, a feature-length documentary introducing permaculture: a design method that offers an ecological lens for solving issues related to agriculture, economics, and governance. For the unfamiliar, it will be an introduction to a new way of being and relating to the Earth. For everyone, it will be a reminder that humans are capable of being planetary healing forces.
Sponsored by the Harvard Divinity School Green Team
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Assessing and Mitigating Synthetic Biology Risks: Exemplary Cases and Cautionary Tales
Monday, April 17
12:15 pm to 2:00 pm
Harvard, K262, Bowie-Vernon Room, CGIS, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
with Kenneth Oye, MIT, Political Science
STS Circle at Harvard
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Book Launch & Discussion — Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy
WHEN Monday, Apr. 17, 2017, 2:15 – 4:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
Lower Level Conference Room
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Poetry/Prose
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR CES Special Events
SPEAKER(S) Daniel Ziblatt, Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, CES, Harvard University; Discussants:
Amel Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Tarek Masoud, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Yascha Mounk, Lecturer in the Government Department, Harvard University
CONTACT INFO Roumiana Theunissen: rtheunissen at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS
How do democracies form and what makes them die? In his new book, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, Daniel Ziblatt revisits this timely and classic question in a wide-ranging historical narrative that traces the evolution of modern political democracy in Europe from its modest beginnings in 1830s Britain to Adolf Hitler’s 1933 seizure of power in Weimar Germany. Based on rich historical and quantitative evidence, the book offers a major reinterpretation of European history and the question of how stable political democracy is achieved. The barriers to inclusive political rule, Ziblatt finds, were not inevitably overcome by unstoppable tides of socioeconomic change, a simple triumph of a growing middle class, or even by working class collective action. Instead, political democracy’s fate surprisingly hinged on how conservative political parties—the historical defenders of power, wealth, and privilege—recast themselves and coped with the rise of their own radical right. With striking modern parallels, the book has vital implications for today’s new and old democracies under siege.
LINK https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/daniel-ziblatt-book-launch-birth-of-democracy
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New Perspectives: Lightning, Climate Change & Other Exciting Scientific Challenges
Monday, April 17
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
MIT, Building E51-315, 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Come and learn about thundercloud electrification, huge natural accelerators operated just above our heads, global electrical circuits, terrestrial climate, atmosphere and its changes, weather in outer space, and sun flares and how they drive weather. This panel discussion will feature world-renowned cosmic ray scientist Ashot Chilingarian from Armenia along with local experts.
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Tuesday, April 18
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MIT April 18: Day of Engagement, Day of Action
Tuesday, April 18
9:30a–9:00p
MIT, Building 32, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: MIT faculty, students, staff, and members of the broader local community
A coordinated set of on-campus activities, including lectures, workshops, film screenings, and more, devoted to open, respectful dialogue and the exchange of ideas from the widest variety of intellectual, religious, class, cultural, and political perspectives.
Web site: http://dayofaction.mit.edu/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Day of Action Organizing Team
For more information, contact:
dayofaction-org at mit.edu
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Dreams and Nightmares of Urban Restoration Ecology
Tuesday, April 18
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Harvard, HUH Seminar Room, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Steven N. Handel, Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, & Natural Resources, Rutgers University
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Speaker Series: Sarah Smarsh – Examining the Class Divide
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Sarah Smarsh has reported on socioeconomic class, politics and public policy for The New Yorker and Harper’s online, The Guardian, Guernica, Longreads and many others.
Her book In the Red, on the American working poor and her own upbringing in rural Kansas, is forthcoming from Scribner. New essays will appear in Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living (Simon & Schuster, January 2017) and Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation (OR Books, February 2017). In 2017, she will write at length about intersections among socioeconomic class, feminism and the music and career of Dolly Parton for No Depression, the eminent publication on American country music.
Sarah has filed more than a thousand news stories, and her essays and criticism on cultural boundaries have been published by The Texas Observer, Creative Nonfiction, McSweeney’s, The Morning News and more; her essays “Poor Teeth” (Aeon) and “The First Person on Mars” (Vela) were both listed as notables in Best American Essays. She was a columnist for On Being, a public-media enterprise examining meaning in the 21st century, in 2016.
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Disobedience and its Reward by Joi Ito
Tuesday, April 18
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 26-100, 60 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Joi Ito
A lecture by Media lab Director Joi Ito, describing https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/disobedience-award/
MIT Day of Action
Web site: dayofaction.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): School of Architecture and Planning, Media Lab, Day of Action Organizing Team, School
For more information, contact: Roger Levy
dayofaction at mit.edu
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Internet Access as a Basic Service: Inspiration from our Canadian Neighbors
featuring Mr. Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Tuesday, April 18
12:00 pm
Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East C (Room 2036, second floor)
RSVP required to attend in person at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2017/04/Blais#RSVP
Event will be live webcast at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2017/04/Blais at 12:00 pm
This event is being sponsored by the HLS Canadian Law Student Association and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Deemed the modern equivalent of building roads or railways, connecting every person and business to high-speed internet is on the minds of policymakers, advocates, and industry players. Under the leadership of Mr. Jean-Pierre Blais, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) ruled in December 2016 that broadband internet access is a basic and vital service, thus ensuring that broadband internet joins the ranks of local phone service. The CRTC’s announced reforms will impact over 2 million Canadian households, especially those in remote and isolated areas. The policy aims to ensure that internet download speeds of 50mbps and upload speeds of 10mbps are available to 90% of Canadian homes and business by 2021.
Join the Berkman Klein Center and the HLS Canadian Law Student Association as Mr. Blais speaks about broadband, internet, and the future of connectivity in Canada and around the world.
About Jean-Pierre Blais
Before joining the CRTC, Mr. Blais was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Government Operations Sector. In this capacity, he provided advice on the management oversight and corporate governance of various federal departments, agencies and crown corporations.
From 2004 to 2011, he was Assistant Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs at the Department of Canadian Heritage. While there, he created the Task Force on New Technologies to study the impact of the Internet and digital technologies on Canada’s cultural policies. In addition, he served as Director of the Canadian Television Fund. His responsibilities also included cultural trade policy and international policies and treaties, such as the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression. As the Director of Investment from 2004 to 2011, he reviewed transactions in the cultural sector under the Investment Canada Act and provided advice to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Mr. Blais also served as Assistant Deputy Minister of International and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Canadian Heritage. He played a pivotal role in the rapid adoption of the UNESCO Anti-Doping Convention and in garnering international support for the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Anti-Doping Code. Moreover, he represented the Government of Canada on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Bid Corporation.
As the CRTC’s Executive Director of Broadcasting from 1999 to 2002, he notably oversaw the development of a licensing framework for new digital pay and specialty services and led reviews of major ownership transactions. He previously was a member of the Legal Directorate, serving as General Counsel, Broadcasting and Senior Counsel. From 1985 to 1991, Mr. Blais was an attorney with the Montreal-based firm Martineau Walker.
Mr. Blais holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne in Australia, as well as a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University. He is a member of the Barreau du Québec and the Law Society of Upper Canada.
His term ends on June 17, 2017.
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GSD Talks: Mia Lehrer, “Advocacy by Design”
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2017, 12 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Gund Hall, 112 Stubbins, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design
DETAILS As founder and president of Mia Lehrer + Associates (MLA), Mia Lehrer (MLA ’79) leads the studio on a wide range of projects that include urban revitalization developments, urban parks and greenways, streetscapes and mobility planning, and watershed masterplanning. Internationally recognized for her design excellence and environmental leadership, Mia is passionate about bringing nature to the city and seeks opportunities to improve the relationship between the built environment, urban ecology, and the community. She is especially known for her work with complex natural systems in collaboration with diverse consultant teams and public stakeholders. Mia serves as a board member for a wide range of agencies and non-profits. In 2014, President Obama appointed Mia to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which is tasked with advising the President, the Congress, and District of Columbia governments on matters of design and aesthetics, as they affect the federal interest. She was also awarded the 2016 LaGasse Medal for her notable contributions to public landscapes.
Focusing on Los Angeles and the greater southern California region as a case study, this lecture will explore the challenges and strategies for design advocacy in the urban landscape. The lecture will first provide an overview of the environmental, climactic, infrastructural and political context of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. The lecture will then share several built and conceptual projects that exemplify the MLA studio’s focus on using advocacy as a design tool in recalibrating the city.
Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events at gsd.harvard.edu.
LINK http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/event/mia-lehrer-advocacy-by-design/
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Climate Change and Global Health Seminar featuring Joel Schwartz, PhD
Tuesday, April 18
1 pm
Harvard Global Health Institute, 42 Church Street, Cambridge
RSVP at
More information at http://globalhealth.harvard.edu
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Statistical Pitfalls & Challenges: Communicating Scientific Research to the Public
Tuesday, April 18
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge
This two-part session for early career researchers will address some of the difficulties of communicating statistics in research to the public. First, Professor Rebecca Goldin will share common misconceptions that journalists have about statistics and numbers. Next, a panel of experts will share examples of the best and worst of what they see, and top tips for getting it right from bench to broadcast.
More information at http://www.cambridgesciencefestival.org/event/statistical-pitfalls-challenges-communicating-scientific-research-to-the-public/
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Healing in the Wake of Community Violence: Lessons from Newtown and Beyond: Panel discussion and screening of the documentary Newtown (2016)
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2017, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East ABC, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Film
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Part of the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Cosponsored by William James College and the Science, Religion, and Culture Program at Harvard Divinity School.
COST Free and open to the public
TICKET INFO Registration is required
DETAILS Join us for a film screening and panel discussion on challenges that arise from tragic acts of community violence. The event will begin with a screening of Newtown, a documentary examining the impact of the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. The screening will be followed by a panel of experts in health law policy, the neurobiology of trauma, and community approaches to violence in a discussion of public health, gun violence, and responses to community trauma. Discussion will highlight the issue of “healing the helpers”—the first responders, medical staff, clergy, mental health providers, and others who respond to the needs of victims, families, and communities in the wake of community violence.
This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is required. Register online.
LINK http://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/events/details/healing-in-the-wake-of-community-violence-lessons-from-newtown-and-beyond
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The Economic Status of African Americans
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2017, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
SPEAKER(S) Julianne Malveaux, President, Bennett College
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS
A lecture in three parts.
April 18
The Economic Status of African Americans – How Will It Change Under the 45th President?
This lecture will look at the basic data defining the economic status of African Americans (unemployment, income, wealth, educational status) and ways it may change given this administrations priorities (deregulation, altered health care, shrinking government).
April 19
The Wealth Gap and the Case for Reparations
This lecture will do a “deep dive” into wealth disparities, and also look at them over time. It will also look at key periods in our nation’s history when African American exclusion contributed to the contemporary wealth gap, and why, then, we must make a case for reparations. Finally, this lecture will consider the forms reparations might take.
April 20
Race, Class, and Predatory Capitalism
Predatory capitalism is the primary contributor to economic inequality. This lecture will explore the intersection of race, class, gender and predatory capitalism and look at the ways that some groups experience economic challenges because of predatory capitalism.
A Q&A and reception will follow each talk.
LINK http://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events-lectures/events/april-18-2017-400pm/julianne-malveaux-w-e-b-du-bois-lectures-1-3
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ObamaCare: Repeal and Replace It, or Keep It and Fix It?
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2017, 4:15 – 5:45 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Institute of Politics - Littauer FDR, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Classes/Workshops
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Institute of Politics
SPEAKER(S) Congressman Christopher Shays and John McDonough
COST Free and Open to the Public
CONTACT INFO Deisy_Carrera at hks.harvard.edu
DETAILS
AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE – The inconvenient truth: Health care costs are rising at an unsustainable rate, and Americans are clearly divided on what to do about it. We will examine… the difficulty Republicans now have repealing the Affordable Care Act, given a large number of citizens feel it benefits them.
LINK iop.harvard.edu
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16th Annual Kendall Lecture with Thomas R. Karl on Climate Data: Mysteries, Wonders, and Reality
Tuesday, April 18
5:00pm to 6:30pm
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://alumic.mit.edu/s/1314/03-alumni/wide.aspx?sid=1314&gid=13&pgid=37014&content_id=40194
Speaker: Thomas R. Karl
Climate data comes in a rich variety of quality with varying time and space resolutions. Although increasing volumes of climate data are now generated by computer models, scientists are totally dependent on active and passive methods to reconstruct the state and changing state of the climate. Such measurements are directly linked to our ability to simulate and predict climate. Active measurements come from modern-day observing systems of varying quality, while passive measurements from proxy data, such as paleoclimate tree-rings, ice-cores, ocean and lake sediments and many others are used to extend our understanding of long-past climates.
The mystery behind climate observations stem from the fact they require careful understanding of their limitations and usefulness. This stems from a variety of reasons including: international sharing of data, calibration history, power outages and constraints, changes in observing protocols by the system operators, varying amounts of metadata describing the operation of the observing system, time and space sampling size and averaging times, the environment affecting the measurements, among other factors.
The wonder of all this data is being able to deduce changes and variations in the Earth’s climate from a surprisingly robust set of independent methods to reconstruct past and present climate from an exponentially growing set of data (approaching exabyte size --- 1018 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes). This includes thousands of climate variables and diverse methods of processing these data. Scientists working in these areas have sometimes been the harbinger of improved international relationships, sent as ambassadors of data exchanges between countries to warm-up relationships, in addition to building the collective knowledge of climate variability and change. Such collaboration is an essential part of intergovernmental organizations which have responsibilities to help coordinate global climate observations, e.g., the World Meteorological Organization.
The mystery and wonder often come together as a not so glamorous nity-gritty reality of trying to make sense of all the observations. Considerable scientific discourse is often necessary to develop and interpret data sets and models that help us understand the state and changing state of the climate system. A few examples of how this has evolved will be presented. This will include the data and methods used to deduce changes and variations in the Earth’s temperature and precipitation during the Anthropocene.
If you plan to attend this lecture registration is encouraged.
About the Speaker
Karl received his B.S. from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and his M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from North Carolina State University. After a brief TV/Radio weather forecasting position at the beginning of his career Tom joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1975. He has had a variety of assignments in NOAA including Senior Scientist (1992-1998), Director of the National Climatic Data Center (1998-2015) and Director of the National Centers for Environmental Information (2015-2016). In 2010 he was asked by the President’s Science Advisor to Chair the $2.5b US Global Change Research Program’s Subcommittee on Global Change Research. He has continued in that position 2010-2016. There he was responsible for ensuring the delivery to Congress of an interagency Global Change Research Plan, Assessments, and annual Progress Reports for all agencies engaged in global change research. In August of 2016 he retired from federal service after a 41-year career. He is now an Independent Scholar.
Karl has been fortunate to receive many awards including the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) Suomi Award, a Presidential Rank Award, six Department of Commerce Gold Medals and two Bronze Medals. Tom has also received three NOAA Administrator's Award, the Helmut Landsberg Award from the American Association of State Climatologists, and the Climate Institute’s Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award.
Karl was part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007. Tom served as Lead author, Convening Lead Author, and Editor of each of the major IPCC assessments 1990-2009. For the 2014 Fifth Assessment Report on the Physical Basis for Climate Change he led the US delegation which approved the Fifth Assessment Report. He was also Chair or Lead Author of the first three US National Climate Assessments coordinated across government, academia, and the private sectors.
Karl has served as Associate Editor (1989-95) and Editor (1998-2000) of the Journal of Climate and received an AMS Editors Award in 1988. He was chairman of both the AMS Applied Climatology Committee (1989-91) and the AMS Global Change Symposia (1997-2000). Karl served as AMS Councilor from 2003 to 2006, and as President and a member of the Executive Committee of the AMS from 2009 to 2012.
Karl is also a National Associate of the National Research Council (NRC). He has served on numerous NRC Committees as both a member and a Chair. He has testified several times before Congress and has provided numerous briefings on various climate-related issues. Tom is a fellow of both the AMS and the American Geophysical Union. He has authored or co-authored over 200 scientific articles and scientific books.
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Book Event: The Market as God
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2017, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Room TBA, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Religion
SPONSOR Center for the Study of World Religions
CONTACT CSWR: 617.495.4495
DETAILS Please join us as Harvey Cox, HDS Hollis Professor of Divinity Emeritus, discusses his recent publication, The Market as God.
Stephanie Paulsell (HDS), Rebecca Henderson (HBS), and Bryan Hehir (HKS) will serve as respondents.
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Gentrification Beyond Displacement
Tuesday, April 18
5:30p–7:00p
MIT, Building 9-255, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
CDD Forum Spring 2007
Moderators: Jessica Myers, MCP2; Sonny Oram
Panelists: Aatmaja Pandya; Kenneth Reeves; Leopold Lambert
This interdisciplinary panel will engage what has traditionally been a planning issue on a broader scale of the humanities. We will discuss gentrification from key angles that have emerged in issues in these past few months. These themes will include the impact of gentrification on immigrant enclaves (especially in sanctuary cities), the commodification of neighborhood identity, hierarchies of citizen value, as well as interactions between incoming and legacy residents.
We greatly appreciate our sponsors:
City Design and Development Group (CDD)
The DUSP Students of Color Committee (SCC)
The Displacement Research & Action Network (DRAN)
Housing Community & Economic Development (HCED)
Web site: https://www.facebook.com/events/1341082425934517/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): School of Architecture and Planning, City Design and Development, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Housing, Community, and Economic Development (DUSP), The DUSP Students of Color Committee (SCC), The Displacement Research & Action Network (DRAN)
For more information, contact: Sonny Oram
617-253-5115
sonnyo at mit.edu
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Numbers in the news
Tuesday, April 18
6:00 – 7:30 EDT
The Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/numbers-in-the-news-registration-32851735425
Does being overweight increase the risk of dementia?
Are kids doing more drugs?
Do video games cause violence?
Statistics play a big role in helping us understand the world and are present in contexts as diverse as criminal justice, education, politics and health. Understanding them is vital.
With more than a decade of experience helping journalists to make sense of statistics, Dr Rebecca Goldin, Director of STATS and Professor of Mathematics at George Mason University, will cite statistical bloopers in the media, and share insights about how we can ask the right questions and demand numerical accuracy in the news.
A Sense About Science USA and Sense about Science free event, in collaboration with Cell Press.
We're also running Getting the stats across, from bench to broadcast, two interactive session for early career researchers in the afternoon at the same venue.
http://www.cambridgesciencefestival.org/
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“Before the Trees Was Strange”
Tuesday, April 18
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Modern Theatre - Suffolk University, 525 Washington Street, Boston
The City of Boston’s Office of Arts & Culture presents the film “Before the Trees Was Strange” at Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre. Artist Derek Burrows created this riveting documentary as an exploration of race and identity through a desire to unlock a mystery within his family.
After the film, there will be a discussion on race and Q&A with audience members as part of as part of our Racial Equity Learning Series. Dr. S. Atyia Martin leads this portion of the event as Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Boston (part of the 100 Resilient Cities pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation). Filmmaker Derek Burrows will be in attendance!
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NOVA’s CaféSci Boston presents “Science Storytelling 101”
Tuesday, April 18
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Le Laboratoire Cambridge, 650 East Kendall Street, Cambridge
Pre-registration required at bit.ly/SciStory101
Are you an aspiring science communicator? A storyteller? Or are you just a huge fan of NOVA?
Join us for a conversation with the hosts of two of NOVA’s YouTube series! Hear from GROSS SCIENCE’s Anna Rothschild and WHAT THE PHSYICS?!’s Dr. Gregory Kestin as they discuss the ingredients for making weird and strange stories about science into engaging, educational and accurate videos.
Cost: Free.
Website: http://bit.ly/SciStory101
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Is It Real or Fake?
Tuesday, April 18
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Do you, too, struggle to tell fact from fiction? Or are you reveling in the humorous side of the fake news “epidemic”?
Join WBUR reporter Jack Lepiarz in a conversation with Ethan Zuckerman, Director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, Melissa Zimdars, Assistant Professor of Communication at Merrimack College, and Rob May, CEO of Talla, who will discuss where fake news comes from, how it spreads and how to identify it.
Find out if our panelists can bluff you in an on-site fake news game show!
Cost: Free. Doors open at 6:30. Seating for 125 and limited standing room available on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, April 19
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Boston Sustainability Breakfast
Wednesday, April 19
7:30am
Pret A Manger, 101 Arch Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-sustainability-breakfast-tickets-30734221885
Join us every month for Net Impact Boston's informal breakfast meetup of sustainability professionals 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! Feel free to drop by any time between 7:30 and 8:30 am.
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SolarSPELL: The Solar Powered Educational Learning Library - Experiential Learning and Iterative Development a Brown Bag with Laura Hosman
Wednesday, April 19
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building E25-202, 45 Carleton, Cambridge
Speaker: Laura Hosman
Access to high-quality, relevant information is absolutely foundational for a quality education. Yet, so many schools across the developing world lack fundamental resources, like textbooks, libraries, electricity and Internet connectivity. The SolarSPELL (Solar Powered Educational Learning Library) is designed specifically to address these infrastructural challenges, by bringing relevant, digital educational content to offline, off-grid locations. SolarSPELL is a portable, ruggedized, solar-powered digital library that broadcasts a webpage with open-access educational content over an offline WiFi hotspot, content that is curated for a particular audience in a specified locality???in this case, for schoolchildren and teachers in remote locations.
Information Science Brown Bag talks, hosted by the Program on Information Science, consists of regular discussions and brainstorming sessions on all aspects of information science and uses of information science and technology to assess and solve institutional, social and research problems. These are informal talks. Discussions are often inspired by real-world problems being faced by the lead discussant.
We will provide lunch, please bring your own drink and your questions.
Web site: http://informatics.mit.edu/event/brown-bag-laura-hosman
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries
For more information, contact: Kelly Hopkins
6172533044
khopkins at mit.edu
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Sites of Sanctuary and the Negro Motorist Green Book
WHEN Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2017, 12 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) Candacy Taylor, Writer
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS
A Q+A will follow the lecture
LINK http://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events-lectures/events/april-19-2017-1200pm/spring-colloquium-candacy-taylor
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Technology and the Assault on Solitude
Wednesday, April 19
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 66-144, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Sherry Turkle
Join us for a discussion on technology and human connectedness with Professor Sherry Turkle, author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Reclaiming Conversation investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity and productivity.
Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauz?? Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT, and the founder (2001) and current director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Radius/T&C
For more information, contact: Patricia-Maria Weinmann
617-253-0108
weinmann at mit.edu
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A More Perfect Internet: Promoting Digital Civility and Combating Cyber-Violence
Wednesday, April 19
12:00 pm
Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East C (Room 2036, second floor)
RSVP required to attend in person at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/Carrillo#RSVP
Event will be live webcast at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/Carrillo at 12:00 pm
Arturo J. Carrillo is Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School
This talk will address a range of issues relating to digital incivility with en emphasis on cyber-violence. What are the most common negative behaviors online? How are these perceived and experienced by users? What is cyber-violence? Who does it target? What steps can be taken to prevent such behaviors? How should they be addressed once they've occurred? What challenges does the legal system face when dealing with cyber-violence related offenses? Professor Carrillo will draw from the Cyber-Violence Project he co-directs at GW Law School to offer responses to these and related questions.
About Arturo
Arturo J. Carrillo is Professor of Law, Director of the International Human Rights Clinic, and Co-Director of the Global Internet Freedom & Human Rights Project at The George Washington University Law School. Before joining the faculty, Professor Carrillo served as the acting director of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, where he was also Lecturer in Law and the Henkin Senior Fellow with Columbia’s Human Rights Institute. Prior to entering the academy in 2000, he worked as a legal advisor in the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Observer Mission to El Salvador (ONUSAL), as well as for non-governmental organizations in his native Colombia, where he also taught international law and human rights. From 2005 to 2010, Professor Carrillo was a senior advisor on human rights to the U.S. Agency on International Development (USAID) in Colombia.
Professor Carrillo’s expertise is in public international law; Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and human rights, especially Internet freedom; transitional justice; human rights and humanitarian law; and comparative clinical legal education. He is the author of a number of publications in English and Spanish on these topics. His recent article, "Having Your Cake and Eating It Too? Zero-rating, Net Neutrality and International Law," was published by the Stanford Technology Law Review (Fall 2016). As part of his clinical practice, Professor Carrillo has litigated extensively in U.S. courts and before regional human rights tribunals. Professor Carrillo received a BA from Princeton University, a JD from The George Washington University, and an LLM from Columbia University.
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Finance, Geography, & Sustainability Speaker Series: Conspiracy Capital
Wednesday, April 19
12:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building 9-255, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Finance, Geography, & Sustainability Speaker Series
We are now a decade into a new coalescence of capital, information, and socionature. As the speculative leverage built on U.S. predatory real estate capital collapsed into what Ben Bernanke called the worst global financial crisis in the history of capitalism, Silicon Valley visionaries were rediscovering and engineering an obscure but powerful concept developed in the 1920s by the Russian geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky: the no??sphere.
Web site: https://www.facebook.com/events/141973669645842/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning, School of Architecture and Planning
For more information, contact: Janelle Knox-Hayes
jankh at mit.edu
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Interactive Design Tools for the Maker Movement
Wednesday, April 19
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Refreshments: 1:45 PM
MIT, Building 32, Seminar Room G449 (Patil/Kiva), 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Bjoern Hartmann , University of California, Berkeley
Abstract:
My group's research in Human-Computer Interaction focuses on design, prototyping and implementation tools for the era of ubiquitous embedded computing and digital fabrication. We focus especially on supporting the growing ranks of amateur designers and engineers in the Maker Movement. Over the past decade, a resurgence in interest how the artifacts in our world are designed, engineered and fabricated has led to new approaches for teaching art and engineering; new methods for creating artifacts for personal use; and new models for launching hardware products. The Maker Movement is enabled by a confluence of new technologies like digital fabrication and a sharing ethos built around online tutorials and open source design files. A crucial missing building block are appropriate design tools that enable Makers to translate their intent into appropriate machine instructions - whether code or 3D prints. Makers’ expertise and work practices differ significantly from those of professional engineers - a reality that design tools have to reflect.
I will present research that enables Makers and designers to rapidly prototype, fabricate and program interactive products. Making headway in this area involves working in both hardware and software. Our group creates new physical fabrication hardware such as augmented power tools and custom CNC machines; new design software to make existing digital fabrication tools more useful; software platforms for the type of connected IoT devices many Makers are creating; and debugging tools for working at the intersection of hardware and software. We also create expertise sharing tools that lower the cost and increase the quality of online tutorials and videos through which knowledge is disseminated in this community.
Our work on these tools is motivated by the daily experience of teaching and building in the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation - a 24,000 sq ft space for 21st-century design education that opened in 2015. I will give an overview of institute activities and projects, and how they inform our research agenda.
Bio:
Bjoern Hartmann is an Associate Professor in EECS at UC Berkeley. He is the faculty director of the new Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. He previously co-founded the CITRIS Invention Lab and also co-directs the Berkeley Institute of Design. His research has received numerous Best Paper Awards at top Human-Computer Interaction conferences, a Sloan Fellowship, an Okawa Research Award and an NSF CAREER Award. He received both the Diane S. McEntyre Award and the Jim and Donna Gray Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. He completed his PhD in Computer Science at Stanford University in 2009, and received degrees in Digital Media Design, Communication, and Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. Before academia, he had a previous career as the owner of an independent record label and as a traveling DJ.
Contact: Amy Xian Zhang, axz at csail.mit.edu
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Mary Powell, Chair and CEO of Green Mountain Power
Wednesday, April 19
4pm
Harvard, Mossavar-Rahmani Center's conference room, 5th floor, Belfer Hall, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Our guest, Mary Powell, the dynamic Chair and CEO of Green Mountain Power, will discuss the noteworthy efforts she has led to "reinvent" Vermont's largest utility.
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Imprecise Computational Science: Closing Gaps, Forming Alloys
WHEN Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2017, 4 – 5 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Information Technology, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Petros Koumoutsakos, 2016–2017 William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Fellow, Radcliffe Institute; Professor of Computational Science, ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
COST Free
CONTACT INFO events at radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS
Computing is revolutionizing our intellectual capacity to tackle complex problems. At the same time, the energy demands of computers are soaring while vast amounts of data are challenging the classical methods of computational model building. In this lecture, Koumoutsakos will explain how to address these challenges by focusing on fundamental computing patterns: multiscale modeling, uncertainty quantification, and their interfaces. Through his research, Koumoutsakos is exploring how these interfaces can be translated into algorithms for computers equipped with a range of processor accuracies.
LINK https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2017-petros-koumoutsakos-fellow-presentation
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The Economic Status of African Americans
WHEN Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2017, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
SPEAKER(S) Julianne Malveaux, President, Bennett College
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS
A lecture in three parts.
April 18
The Economic Status of African Americans – How Will It Change Under the 45th President?
This lecture will look at the basic data defining the economic status of African Americans (unemployment, income, wealth, educational status) and ways it may change given this administrations priorities (deregulation, altered health care, shrinking government).
April 19
The Wealth Gap and the Case for Reparations
This lecture will do a “deep dive” into wealth disparities, and also look at them over time. It will also look at key periods in our nation’s history when African American exclusion contributed to the contemporary wealth gap, and why, then, we must make a case for reparations. Finally, this lecture will consider the forms reparations might take.
April 20
Race, Class, and Predatory Capitalism
Predatory capitalism is the primary contributor to economic inequality. This lecture will explore the intersection of race, class, gender and predatory capitalism and look at the ways that some groups experience economic challenges because of predatory capitalism.
A Q&A and reception will follow each talk.
LINK http://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events-lectures/events/april-18-2017-400pm/julianne-malveaux-w-e-b-du-bois-lectures-1-3
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This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate with Naomi Klein
Wednesday, April 19
4:00pm to 5:30pm
The First Parish in Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist, 1446 Massachusetts Avenuer, Cambridge
This event will be ticketed. Details are forthcoming.
Speaker: Naomi Klein, journalist, syndicated columnist, and author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate.
Chair: Michèle Lamont, Center Director; Executive Committee; Steering Committee; Faculty Associate. Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies; Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies, Departments of Sociology and African and African American Studies, Harvard University.
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Writing and Risk: Six Writers in Conversation
WHEN Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2017, 5 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Forum Room, Lamont Library
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Ethics, Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Cosponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard's Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Series on Violence and Non-Violence and the Scholars at Risk Program.
SPEAKER(S)
Beekan Guluma Erena
Sreang Heng
Amanda Hopkinson
Jorge Olivera Castillo
Mahmoud Nowara
Kanchana Ugbabe
Jane Unrue
TICKET INFO Members of the Harvard community will need to show their HUID for admission. If you do not hold an HUID, please RSVP to Jane Unrue at unrue at fas.harvard.edu to be placed on our guest list.
CONTACT INFO humcentr at fas.harvard.edu, 617-495-0739
DETAILS
See "ticket information" section for admission details.
LINK http://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/content/writing-and-risk-six-writers-conversation
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Good Science for Good Politics: Scientific advice and policy-making in the European Union
Wednesday, April 19
5–7 pm
Harvard, Science Center Hall A, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Featuring: Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation; Former Secretary of State to Portugal
With Panelists: John Holdren, Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy; Former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama on Science and Technology
Rush D. Holt, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Venky Narayanamurti, Benjamin Peirce Research Professor of Technology and Public Policy; Professor of Physics
Moderated by:
Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies
Over a year ago, Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Science and Innovation, launched SAM - the Scientific Advice Mechanism, a new model to incorporate in a structured way the inputs of the scientific community in the decisions taken by the European Commission. In this talk, Mr. Moedas will address the rising importance of scientific advice in policy making, the need to build partnerships of trust between scientists and politicians, and the vital place of science in our contentious political environment.
Carols Moedas is a member of the European Commission, and is Commissioner in charge of the portfolio on Research, Science and Innovation. Born in Portugal, he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon in 1993, and studied at École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris. He worked as an engineer in France until 1998. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2000, and afterwards worked at the London branch of Goldman Sachs. In 2004, he returned to Portugal to work at Aguirre Newman as Managing Director, and in 2008 founded his own investment company, Crimson Investment Management. In 2011 he was elected to the National Parliament of Portugal, and was appointed Secretary of State to the Prime Minister. In 2014, he was nominated as European Commissioner.
This event is organized by the Program on Science, Technology & Society at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-sponsored by the Harvard University Center for the Environment, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. The lecture and discussion are free and open to the public.
More information at http://sts.hks.harvard.edu/events/lectures/good-science-for-good-politics/
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Jason Sanford: Material Dialogues
Wednesday, April 19
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Le Laboratoire Cambridge, 650 East Kendall Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artscience-talks-le-lab-jason-sanford-tickets-33476393795
Musician and artist Jason Sanford will discuss the importance of listening to the materials with which one works, and how attending to the voices of objects and situations has affected his work over the years.
Jason Sidney Sanford is an artist working to synthesize the realms of the sonic and the somatic. Trained in sculpture and performance art, for more than twenty years he has been innovating and inventing new musical instruments and using them to perform with his band, Neptune. In early 2017, he toured ten countries in Europe, playing 35 shows in 40 days, with his newer band project, E, to support their recently released and critically acclaimed debut album (available on Thrill Jockey Records.) He also appears frequently with the sound and dance collaborative ensemble, Sliver Foxes, which he co-founded. Sliver Foxes works to dissolve the distinction between musician and dancer by engaging movement-participants with Sanford’s sound-scupture instruments and installations. Sanford has performed in museums and galleries, in music venues, in loft spaces, in squats, on boats, and even in a moving bus. He has also taught sound and electronics for artists at the Massachusetts College of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. After releasing eleven albums, and years of touring the U.S. and Europe, he continues to question what music is, and what it is for.
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Celebrate Earth Day with Mayor Walsh and the Greenovate community!
Wednesday, April 19
6pm - 9pm
TBA
RSVP at http://www.greenovateboston.org/earthday-2017
Mayor Walsh invites you to join the Greenovate community for a night of recognition and celebration of Boston's progress on our Climate Action Plan. We will honor this year's Greenovate Award winners, as well as come together as a community to connect across sectors and issues for our common goals to make Boston a greener City.
Location and more detail to be announced shortly.
Mayor Marty Walsh, Environment Commissioner Carl Spector, and Environment, Energy and Open Space Chief Austin Blackmon at last year's Greenovate Awards ceremony.
CONTACT Jessica Feldish · greenovate at boston.gov
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Alternative Facts & Fake News
Wednesday, April 19
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Modern Theatre - Suffolk University, 525 Washington Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alternative-facts-fake-news-tickets-32333845402
Ford Hall Forum is sounding the alarm for threats to the First Amendment, particularly regarding attempts from the federal government to invalidate and restrict journalism. We’ve seen American reporters and photographers covering demonstrations reprimanded as participating dissenters, not to mention entire network dubbed “fake news” by the current administration. How can journalists play their role in a democracy when those like Evan Engel are charged with a felony when doing so?
Suffolk University Associate Professor of Communication & Journalism Deborah Geisler interviews Matt Viser (Boston Globe), Joe Mathieu (WBZ), and Evan Engel (Vocativ) on recent disturbing trends in the treatment of reporters and the Fourth Estate as a whole.
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University of Geneva Presents: The Superconductivity Show!
Wednesday, April 19
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
swissnex Boston, 420 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/university-of-geneva-presents-the-superconductivity-show-tickets-33431094303
On April 19, Arnaud Dubreuil and Jean Etesse from the University of Geneva’s Physiscope team will be at swissnex Boston to show two very impressive properties of superconductors: levitation and pinning effect. The hour-long show will be followed by a networking reception.
Nowadays superconductivity is a very active research field, with applications in medicine, energy, transportation and telecommunication. Despite the fact that superconductor materials have to be cooled down to very low temperatures, superconductivity is present in everyday life and its applications are increasing. The University of Geneva is highly involved in research on superconductors and quantum materials, with a very strong orientation to industry and knowledge and technology transfer.
Participants will test and experience superconductivity’s properties, using small magnetic levitation kits and will feel how strong they are. These effects allow many applications, such as transportation without friction, which is very energy efficient; and energy storage. The flywheel presented during the show demonstrates that we’re already able to store mechanical energy and convert it into electricity during consumption peaks. This kind of set up is already used in everyday life.
This event is open to participants of all ages.
More information at http://www.swissnexboston.org/event/university-of-geneva-presents-the-superconductivity-show/#sthash.22YIelCI.dpuf
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Dialogue & Collaborative Exploration
Wednesday, April 19
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
MIT, Building 56-154, Access Via 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
Go online to experience a reflection, writing and dialogue process in which you address your current concerns about scientific and social change. It is always interesting to see how thinking evolves during an hour using the five-phase format.
Two sessions: second session from 8pm to 9pm, same place. More information and session topics: bit.ly/DialogueProcess
Cost: Free. Technical Preparation: bit.ly/hangoutbrief
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Thursday, April 20
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Earth Day Festival
Thursday, April 20
11:00 am to 2:30 pm
BU, GSU Plaza, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Join us in celebrating Earth Day 2017 this spring! The 7th Annual Earth Day Festival will be held at the BU Charles River Campus on the GSU Plaza. The Earth Day Festival is an educational and dynamic event that brings together local businesses, nonprofits, BU departments, student organizations, and more to share interactive and fun activities outdoors. The event draws a large crowd of community members to celebrate sustainability together. Open to all BUCPUA faculty, students, alumni + friends
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Boston to Bukoba and back: Building the honeymoney chain
Thursday, April 20
12:00-1:00pm
Tufts, Rabb Room, Lincoln Filene Center, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Brian Woerner, Follow The Honey Inc, COO and Co-Founder
Brian S. Woerner will chat about his journey from the villages of West Africa and back, in his search for avenues that unleash human and ecological value. Learn how Follow The Honey is working to create honey value chains connecting the platform of honeybees and their tenders to markets, while retaining the integrity of the liquid gold we consume and the ecosystems from which it flows. This informal discussion will touch upon the journey towards the creation of a Tanz-American entity, including some of the challenges and delights of engaging the environmental and the international business climate in Africa and the Americas. Don't miss a chance to get some Tanzania Asali (honey) on those taste buds!
Brian Woerner's foray into the honey world began in Guinea and later Mali as an ag-econ volunteer (RPCV, 2012 - 2015) where he worked on cashew fruit juice extraction and fermentation and later implementing sustainable community beekeeping in Guinea - a project which he continues with from the periphery. In October 2015, upon his return to the US and while matriculating the IR/MBA at Boston University, Brian wandered into a honey shop in Cambridge, which he soon discovered was a hub to provide a market for marginalized beekeepers globally. Since then, he has helped facilitate Follow The Honey's first Tanz-American honey shipments, and is focused on enhancing the company's strategic and logistical flow.
Watch it live from your computer or smart phone:
Webex: http://bit.ly/TuftsLunchLearn
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The EU and the Ukraine/Russia Crisis
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 20, 2017, 12 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street,
Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR European Union Study Group;
Program on Transatlantic Relations, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Richard Youngs – Senior Fellow, Democracy and Rule of Law Program, Carnegie Europe
CONTACT INFO Anna Popiel, apopiel at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS In recent years a series of crises have erupted on the European Union’s eastern borders. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the subsequent conflict in eastern Ukraine presented the EU with a major foreign policy challenge, in both Ukraine and across the other countries of the so-called Eastern Partnership. In response, the EU has begun to map its own form of ‘liberal-redux geopolitics’ that combines various strategic logic. Richard Youngs traces the effect of these crises on the foreign policy of the EU, examining the changes in policies towards the countries on its eastern borders, the EU’s review of the Eastern Partnership, as well as the EU’s relations with Russia overall.
LINK https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/the-eu-and-the-ukraine-russia-crisis
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The Economic Status of African Americans
WHEN Thurssday, Apr. 20, 2017, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
SPEAKER(S) Julianne Malveaux, President, Bennett College
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS
A lecture in three parts.
April 18
The Economic Status of African Americans – How Will It Change Under the 45th President?
This lecture will look at the basic data defining the economic status of African Americans (unemployment, income, wealth, educational status) and ways it may change given this administrations priorities (deregulation, altered health care, shrinking government).
April 19
The Wealth Gap and the Case for Reparations
This lecture will do a “deep dive” into wealth disparities, and also look at them over time. It will also look at key periods in our nation’s history when African American exclusion contributed to the contemporary wealth gap, and why, then, we must make a case for reparations. Finally, this lecture will consider the forms reparations might take.
April 20
Race, Class, and Predatory Capitalism
Predatory capitalism is the primary contributor to economic inequality. This lecture will explore the intersection of race, class, gender and predatory capitalism and look at the ways that some groups experience economic challenges because of predatory capitalism.
A Q&A and reception will follow each talk.
LINK http://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events-lectures/events/april-18-2017-400pm/julianne-malveaux-w-e-b-du-bois-lectures-1-3
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Daisy Drive Systems for Local Ecological Engineering
April 20
4:00 PM EDT
MIT, Building 32-141, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker Name: Kevin M. Esvelt, MIT
More information at http://be.mit.edu/news-events/events/daisy-drive-systems-local-ecological-engineering
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Living in Media: Psychological Implications of the Fragmentation and Mediatization of Life
Thursday, April 20
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
BU Photonics Center, 6-8 St. Mary’s Street, Colloquium Room (Rm 906), Boston
Distinguished Lecture provided by Dr. Byron Reeves (Paul C. Edwards Professor of Communication, Stanford University)Much of life is now experienced digitally on just a few ubiquitous devices, via interfaces that enable lightning fast switches between radically different content, and with affordances that make it simple for anyone – individuals, social groups, companies, governments – to aggregate, archive, search, analyze, and publish everything. One device can be used for email and texting, shopping and finances, business and social relationships, work spreadsheets and writing, entertainment TV, news, movies and games, and monitoring personal information about health, exercise, energy, appliances, driving and even home irrigation. The variety of human experiences available digitally will continue to grow as more and more items – from refrigerators to shoes to food to car parts – get their own IP addresses that link them to the so-called “internet of things.” We will explore several different psychological implications of living in media including the fragmentation of experience, quick task switching between different experiences, and new interdependency between domains of life typically viewed as separate experiences.
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Comparative Democracy Seminar: Communism's Shadow: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Political Attitudes
Thursday, April 20
4:15pm to 5:30pm
Harvard, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Suite 200N, 124 Mt Auburn Street, Cambridge
About the Speaker
Joshua A. Tucker is Professor of Politics and affiliated Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies and Data Science at New York University, the Director of the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, a co-Director of the NYU Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) laboratory, and a co-author of the award winning Monkey Cage blog at The Washington Post. He serves on the Editorial Board of multiple academic journals as well the Advisory Board of the American National Election Study and was a founding co-editor of the Journal of Experimental Political Science. Professor Tucker specializes in the study of mass political behavior, including elections and voting, the development of partisan attachment, public opinion formation, mass protest, and the relationship between social media and political participation. He is the author of Regional Economic Voting: Russia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, 1990-99 (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and the co-author of the forthcoming Communism’s Shadow: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Political Attitudes (Princeton University Press, 2017).
His work has appeared in numerous academic journals, including the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Politics, and the Annual Review of Political Science, and his opinions have been published in The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera English, Time, and the International Herald Tribune. In 2006, he was awarded the Emerging Scholar Award for the top scholar in the field of Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior within 10 years of the doctorate. In 2012 he was part of an interdisciplinary four-person team of NYU faculty to win one the National Science Foundation's inaugural INSPIRE - CREATIV grants.
About Communism's Shadow
Scholars have long assumed that “legacies” from prior regimes have an important impact on what follows, and perhaps no more so than in the case of the post-communist successor states following the 45-70 year history of Soviet Communism. Prior research, however, has focused largely on the effect of legacies on political and economic institutions. Communism’s Shadow represents the first systematic attempt to assess the effect of legacies in a rigorous, comparative, and falsifiable framework on the attitudes of post-communist citizens towards fundamental questions of politics, economic, and social relations.
The authors introduce two distinct frameworks for explaining attitudinal differences between post-communist citizens and those in the rest of the world. Drawing on large-scale cross-national survey research projects encompassing both the post-communist world and countries around the globe, supplemented by new collections of aggregate level data, the authors demonstrate that despite the many characteristics that differentiate life in a post-communist country from life elsewhere, actually living through communism has a clear and consistent effect on explaining why citizens in post-communist countries are, on average, less supportive of democracy, less support of markets, and more supportive of state provided social welfare. Utilizing sophisticated – yet transparent – statistical modeling techniques, the authors illustrate that additional years of exposure to communism correspond with greater support for attitudes associated with communist ideology. The one exception, attitudes towards gender equality, is itself revealing: in the area where the reality of communist rule was farthest from the rhetoric of the ideology, the legacy effect appears to be weakest.
Written in a modular manner, the book is designed to be accessible to readers interested in its four core areas – attitudes towards democracy, markets, social-welfare, and gender equality – as well as readers interested in the overarching substantive question regarding the determinants of legacy effect, the study of comparative public opinion, and methodological approaches to analyzing the effects of legacies on political behavior.
Communism’s Shadow represents the first systematic attempt to assess the effect of Communist legacies on public opinion in a rigorous, comparative, and falsifiable framework. Written in a modular manner, the book is designed to be accessible to readers interested in its four core areas – attitudes towards democracy, markets, social-welfare, and gender equality – as well as readers interested in the overarching substantive question regarding the determinants of legacy effects, the study of comparative public opinion, and methodological approaches to analyzing the effects of legacies on political behavior.
About the Comparative Democracy Seminar Series
The Ash Center’s Comparative Democracy Seminar Series, run by Candelaria Garay, Associate Professor of Public Policy, and Quinton Mayne, Associate Professor of Public Policy, brings innovative scholars in the field of comparative democracy to the Kennedy School to present their research. Seminars have focused on topics as diverse as compulsory voting, the influence of Christian churches on public policy, the crisis of representation in Latin America, and the oil curse in the Middle East.
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More Oceans, Less Plastic
WHEN Thursday, Apr. 20, 2017, 5 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Anna Cummins, The 5 Gyres Institute
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS The problem of plastic pollution in the oceans is now a recognized threat to the health of our global marine ecosystems. More complex, however, is coming up with solutions to this ubiquitous plague. 5 Gyres has been surveying plastic pollution across the world’s subtropical gyres, oceanic systems with the hope of leveraging science to drive upstream solutions to plastic pollution. In this lecture, Cummins will describe the recent science on microplastics and share some of the current solutions in policy, innovations, and citizen engagement.
LINK https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2017-anna-cummins-lecture
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Research Rumble: Battle of the Science Stars
Thursday, April 20
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Cambridge Public Library Lecture Hall, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
Pre-registration required at bit.ly/ResearchRumble
One of the biggest challenges that researchers and scientists face is communicating their research and its potential impact to audiences like donors, investors, the media and the public.
Join us at an interactive competition hosted by the Mass General and Brigham Research Institutes giving six Boston biomedical researchers a chance to present their work and receive feedback from a panel of expert communicators. Hear first hand about some of the latest cutting-edge science and learn from the best at this lively competition.
Cost: Free.
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Climate Cafe
Wednesday, April 20
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Lesley, University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Pre-registration recommended at bit.ly/ClimateCafe
Families are invited to learn more about climate change through a panel presentation by children in grades 1-6 enrolled in the Lesley WonderLab STEAM program, followed by an open discussion with Massachusetts Audubon Society and Lesley University climate scientists and educators.
Cost: Free.
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Ocean Evolution Today: The Impact of Human Activities on the Ecology and Evolution of Marine Organisms
Thursday, April 20
6:00 pm
Harvard, Science Center Hall D, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
a panel discussion featuring Samantha B. Joye, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia; Bruce H. Robison, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Randi Dawn Rotjan, Department of Biology, Boston University Marine Program; and moderated by Peter R. Girguis, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University; Adjunct Research Engineer, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
Human activities are causing changes in the ocean that could influence the evolution of its organisms. In this panel discussion, three marine scientists with expertise in chemistry, microbiology, geology, marine conservation, and the use of remotely operated vehicles to study deep-sea organisms will discuss the impact of human activity on ocean and coastal ecosystems and answer questions about actions that individuals and organizations can take to support the health of the ocean.
Presented in collaboration with the Cambridge Science Festival.
Contact Name: hmnh at hmsc.harvard.edu
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Emerson Launch Spring Creative Enterprises Showcase
Thursday, April 20
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
We Work South Station, 745 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/emerson-launch-spring-creative-enterprises-showcase-tickets-31765646905
Join Emerson Launch for appetizers and networking on Thursday, April 20th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM to discover what creative entrepreneurs at Emerson College are working on. Meet and connect with Emerson’s start-up founders and their teams, as well as established entrepreneurs, mentoring them. Members of the Emerson Launch incubator will be joined by students working on creative concepts in publishing, theater, filmmaking, communications and more over. Register to get inspired and enjoy an evening of networking over refreshments.
About Emerson Launch
Emerson Launch is a free program that provides funding, mentoring, and office space at WeWork to Emerson College undergraduate and graduate students who convert creative concepts into real-world ventures. Emerson College is the nation’s only four-year college devoted exclusively to the study of communication and performing arts. Forbes listed Emerson as #13 among the Most Entrepreneurial Colleges in 2015.
Phone: 347-324-4827
Website: http://www.startupcmo.io
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Science by the Pint Presents: A Panel Discussion on Genetic Engineering
Thursday, April 20
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler Street, Somerville
The advent of genetic engineering marks one of the most powerful advances in biological science of the last century. How are researchers implementing genetic tools to answer fundamental biological questions? What medical applications of gene editing are on the horizon?
Spend an evening with Science by the Pint to hear a panel of Boston-area scientists discuss these topics and more. Following the panel, grab a beer and chat with graduate students and post docs who are conducting cutting edge research.
Cost: Free, Cash Bar. Ages 21+
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Tipping the Scales on Climate Change: Covering and Communicating an Unthinkably Big Problem
Thursday, April 20
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
The Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge
In its physical, political, and ethical dimensions, the climate change problem is mind-boggling — and perhaps more complex than any other humanity has ever faced.
Join the Knight Science Journalism Program and Undark Magazine for a short film and panel discussion aimed at bringing the problem down to size.
Panelists include Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Ian Cheney; Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; climate activist Nicole Hernandez Hammer; and former Obama climate policy adviser Bina Venkataraman. Moderated by climate journalist Andrew C. Revkin.
Cost: Free
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Tech and Healthcare Innovation
Thursday, April 20
6:30 – 8:30 pm EDT
GA Boston, 125 Summer Street 13th Floor, Boston
RSVP at https://generalassemb.ly/education/tech-and-healthcare-innovation/boston/36351
Bev Hardy
Innovation Strategy Manager, Brigham and Women’s Hospital – Brigham Digital Innovation Hub
TECH AND...is a monthly event series where we host thought-leaders from a specific industry and explore new intersections between their field and technology. Together, we discuss how they’ve been impacted by the rise of tech, ways they’ve adapted and innovated along the way, and what they expect to see in the future.
Healthcare Innovation in Boston
In April we are exploring the healthcare space in Boston and how the city's top hospitals, healthcare companies, and bio-tech startups are joining forces to improve our health.
What You’ll Take Away:
Gain insight and inspiration from experts working in the healthcare industry in Boston and hear first-hand how technology is transforming their work. Expand your understanding of today’s tech-based world, and fuel your own ideas for the future.
Why It Matters:
The omnipresence of technology has rapidly transformed lives over the last decade (remember, the iPhone was only released in 2007). Now, it’s rare to go about a regular day without interacting with tech — whether it’s an alarm app that wakes you up, your Nest Thermostat-regulated apartment, or the software you use at work. Staying ahead of the innovation curve and being able to predict the future of tech in various industries has never been more important — both at work and at play.
About the Speaker
Bev Hardy, Innovation Strategy Manager, Brigham and Women’s Hospital – Brigham Digital Innovation Hub
Bev Hardy is an Innovation Strategy Manager at Brigham Digital Innovation Hub focused on bridging the gap between strategic hospital challenges and high-potential startups. A product manager by training, she has a passion for bringing together diverse people and needs to create innovative solutions. Prior to iHub she worked at athenahealth, Rue La La and Corporate Executive Board. Based on her experiences with process improvement and digital solutions outside healthcare, her interests are around strategizing what principles and processes can be adapted to our industry. She received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a secondary concentration in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University.
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London Punk Eyewitness
Thursday, April 20
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Trident Booksellers & Cafe, 338 Newbury Street, Boston
British rock journalist John Ingham talks about the moment in 1976 when punk music broke in the UK, recounting memories of pioneering punk bands in their earliest days, including the Damned, the Clash, Subway Sect, the Sex Pistols and more. He will be in conversation with Sean L. Maloney.
About the Book:
When punk first broke in the UK in 1976, music journalist John Ingham was on hand to document the very heart of the scene. Struck by the music, fashion and sheer iconoclasm of a little-known outfit called the Sex Pistols, Ingham conducted the first interview with the band, partied with its members and even bailed Sid Vicious out of jail; he also witnessed and documented the group’s evolution at legendary gigs shared with other pioneering punk bands in their earliest days, including the Damned, the Clash, Subway Sect and more.
The result is Spirit of 76: London Punk Eyewitness, a revelatory collection of photography and fly-on-the-wall reportage showcasing the punk movement from its most raucous, bewildering beginnings. Containing the only color photos from British punk’s first wave alongside Ingham’s inimitable prose, this volume constitutes a rare from-the-trenches report on the UK punk explosion from one of its original participants. Here is the story of a year made up as it happened, lived with excitement and the belief that you could make the future whatever you wanted it to be.
About the author:
John Ingham is one of the pioneers who championed Punk and helped change music forever. Writing under the nom-de-typewriter “Jonh Ingham” for the weekly music paper Sounds, he saw and famously conducted the first-ever interview with the Sex Pistols in April 1976. Convinced he had witnessed the future of music he followed them throughout the year, seeing at close range their evolution at historic gigs, including the first time they played “Anarchy in The UK,” and even bailed Sid Vicious out of jail. He also saw and wrote the first reviews of the Damned, the Buzzcocks, the Clash and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Noticing that hardly anyone was photographing these new groups, he picked up a camera and started documenting what he saw, shooting some of the only color images of these bands at the beginning of their careers.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren: This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class
Thursday, April 20
7:00 PM
Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/elizabeth-warren-at-old-south-church-tickets-32629905927
Cost: $5 - $28.75
Harvard Book Store welcomes Massachusetts senior U.S. Senator ELIZABETH WARREN for a discussion of her latest book, This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class.
Please Note: This event does not include a book signing. Books included with tickets are pre-signed editions of This Fight Is Our Fight, specially bound by the publisher. (Additional pre-signed copies will be available for purchase at the event, while supplies last.)
Learn more at http://www.harvard.com/event/elizabeth_warren1.
Tickets will also be available at Harvard Book Store and over the phone at 617-661-1515. Unless the event is sold out, any remaining tickets will be on sale at the door of the venue when doors open. Tickets are non-refundable and non-returnable.
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Thomas Shapiro on Toxic Inequality
Thursday, April 20
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
First Church JP, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain
Since the Great Recession, most Americans’ standard of living has stagnated or declined. Economic inequality is at historic highs. But inequality’s impact differs by race; African Americans’ net wealth is just a tenth that of white Americans, and over recent decades, white families have accumulated wealth at three times the rate of black families. In our increasingly diverse nation, long-time LP resident and sociologist Thomas M. Shapiro argues, wealth disparities must be understood in tandem with racial inequities-a dangerous combination he terms “toxic inequality.”
Toxic Inequality reveals how these forces combine to trap families in place. Following nearly two hundred families of different races and income levels over a period of twelve years, Shapiro’s research vividly documents the recession’s toll on parents and children, the ways families use assets to manage crises and create opportunities, and the real reasons some families build wealth while others struggle in poverty. The structure of our neighborhoods, workplaces, and tax code-much more than individual choices-push some forward and hold others back. A lack of assets, far more common in families of color, can often ruin parents’ careful plans for themselves and their children.
Racialized pandering in the current political climate mobilizes support for racist policies and detracts from fundamental causes.
Toxic inequality may seem inexorable, but it is not inevitable. America’s growing wealth gap and its yawning racial divide have been forged by history and preserved by policy, and only bold, race-conscious reforms can move us toward a more just society.
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Friday, April 21, 7:00 PM – Saturday, April 22, 9:00 PM EDT
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We the People / Hack for Democracy
Friday, April 21, 7:00 PM – Saturday, April 22, 9:00 PM EDT
MIT, Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/we-the-people-hack-for-democracy-tickets-32896580558
MIT GOV/LAB is organizing We the People/Hack for Democracyto demonstrate MIT’s deep commitment to core American (and human) values of fairness, equality, and openness. In this one day hackathon, creative and compassionate people from across MIT and the Boston area will come together to tackle the immediate challenges U.S. organizations are now facing to safeguard these values.
Sign up to help organizations like the ACLU and Let America Vote solve some of their technical challenges.
More information at https://hackfordemocracy.org
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Friday, April 21
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The View from the Military Academies: A Conversation with the Superintendents About Values, Ethics, & the Military Profession
WHEN Friday, Apr. 21, 2017, 9 – 10:30 a.m.
WHERE Harvard, Taubman Building, NYE A&B (5th Floor), 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Ethics, Research study
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) LGEN Michelle Johnson (USAFA), LGEN Robert Caslen (USMA), VADM Ted Carter (USNA)
COST Free
TICKET WEB LINK http://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/event/view-military-academies-conversation-superintendents-about-values-ethics-military
CONTACT INFO Sarah Peck (sarah_peck at hks.harvard.edu)
DETAILS
Gen. Michelle D. Johnson is Superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. She directs a four-year regimen of military training, academics, athletic and character development programs leading to a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as a second lieutenant. A distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1981, General Johnson completed graduate studies as a Rhodes Scholar before earning her pilot wings in 1984. She has served in various assignments in air mobility, airlift and tanker flying operations and training, academic instruction and personnel.
Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen, Jr. became the 59th Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on July 17, 2013. Lieutenant General Caslen graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1975. He earned master’s degrees from Long Island University and Kansas State University. Previous to this assignment, Lt. Gen. Caslen served as the Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq.
Vice Adm. Walter E. “Ted” Carter became the 62nd superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy July 23, 2014. He is a native of Burrillville, Rhode Island. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981, was designated a naval flight officer in 1982, and graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School (NFWS) Top Gun in 1985. He completed the Air Command and Staff College course and the Armed Forces Staff College.
LINK http://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/event/view-military-academies-conversation-superintendents-about-values-ethics-military
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Celebrating the Earth
Friday, April 21
10:00a–2:00p
MIT, Building N-51, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Cambridge Science Festival
Every April the MIT Museum presents the Cambridge Science Festival in collaboration with the City of Cambridge, community organizations, schools, universities, and businesses. Come to the Museum and enjoy a week filled with workshops, hands-on activities, demonstrations, tours and more.
Hear about the latest advances in oceanographic research and alternative energy options from experts working in the field.
Web site: http://mitmuseum.mit.edu/csf
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free with Museum Admission
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact: MIT Museum
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Actionable Sustainability: Technology, Policy and the City
Friday, April 21
10:00 am to 4:00 pm
BU, 75 Bay State Road, First Floor, Boston
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeD5zgW8J43kNYLHCQDtCptP3SVOsASM-zAaFO3m7oGY5nIyA/viewform
Co-sponsored by The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Long-Range Future and Initiative on Cities, Boston UniversityMorning Session: 10am-12pmWorkshop and LectureJoin the Urban Planning Association and Dr. Ramon Sanchez, ScD, in assessing how vulnerable is the built environment in our communities given the threats entailed by sea level rise and climate change. Dr. Sanchez is the Director of the Sustainable Technologies and Health Program in the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.Lunch and Networking Session: 12-1:30pmAfternoon Session: 1:30-3:30pmPanel Discussion and Q+AJoin Dr. Madhu Dutta-Koehler and other eminent sustainability experts for a panel discussion on bridging the gap between people, policies, and technology to create prosperous and competitive cities in the 21st century. Open to all faculty, students, alumni + friends
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Being Material: A Symposium Sponsored by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology
Friday, April 21
11:00a–6:30p
MIT, Building E52, Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
In 1995, MIT's Nicholas Negroponte predicted that "being digital" would have us entering a realm increasingly unconstrained by the materiality of the world. Two decades later, our everyday lives are indeed ever more suffused by computation and calculation. But unwieldy materiality persists and even reasserts itself. Programmable matter, self-assembling structures, 3D/4D printing, wearable technologies and bio-inspired design today capture the attention of engineers, scientists and artists. "BEING MATERIAL" will showcase recent developments in materials systems and design, placing this work in dialogue with kindred and contrasting philosophy, art practice and critique. Panels on the PROGRAMMABLE, WEARABLE, LIVABLE and INVISIBLE-along with a concert, AUDIBLE-will explore new and unexpected meetings of the digital and material worlds.
Web site: http://arts.mit.edu/events-visit/symposia/being-material/
Open to: the general public
Cost: $10-$75
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/being-material-2017-cast-symposium-tickets-28429874520
This event occurs daily at 11:00a - 6:30p through April 21, 2017, and also on April 22, 2017 at 9:00a - 1:30p.
Sponsor(s): MIT CAST (Center for Art, Science & Technology), Arts at MIT, School of Architecture and Planning, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Department of Architecture
For more information, contact: Leah Talatinian
cast-symposium at mit.edu
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Monitoring and Forecasting Long-Range Transport of Wildfire Emissions in the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
Friday, April 21
12:00PM TO 1:00PM
Harvard, 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Mark Parrington, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
Atmospheric & Environmental Chemistry Seminar
https://www.seas.harvard.edu/calendar/event/92496
Contact Name: Brenda Mathieu
bmathieu at seas.harvard.edu
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Harvard Celebrates Earth Day
Friday, April 21
12–2 pm
Harvard, Science Center Plaza, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Celebrate Earth Day at Harvard’s Sustainability Fair on the Science Center Plaza. From 12-2 pm on April 21, explore how the University and our community partners can help green your scene while enjoying activities such as a Freecycle, LED Lighting Fair, a compost tea demonstration, games, live music, samplings, and giveaways. You can also learn more about food and food systems, health and wellness, sustainable transportation options, organic landscaping and gardening, green cleaning, recycling, and more!
The event is sponsored by the Office for Sustainability and Common Spaces. Shine only, no rain date.
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Advocate for Science!
Friday, April 21
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
MIT, Building 10-105, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Science thrives when people’s voices are heard. The more people that tell Congress that they support science, the better. You may find yourself thinking: I want to help but what should I do to advocate? Is it really going to make a difference?
Join us to understand why we need to stand up for research, learn the ways you can get involved and make a difference to the future of science.
Cost: Free
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VR EcoHack: Earth Day Weekend 2017
Friday, April 21
5:30 PM
Brookline Interactive Group (formerly BATV), 46 Tappan Street, Brookline
Third floor of the Unified Arts Building-enter main doors, turn right after first door, take the elevator up to third floor! Right next to the Brookline Hills T!
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/PublicVRLab/events/237007914/
SAVE the Date!
Earth Day Weekend: VR EcoHack
Sustainable Realities: Hacking the Future in VR, AR and 360
The Public VR Lab and Brookline Interactive Group are organizing the inaugural year of a three-day hackathon to create educational content that focuses on environmental sustainability lessons in VR, AR and 360 on April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, 2017 at the Public VR Lab, 46 Tappan St, Brookline, MA.
Hack the future at the Lab, and create a more sustainable planet! Learn VR, AR and 360, and test your theories on the latest headsets.
Participants from around the region are invited to sign up and join the fun! The idea is for hack participants to use a science-based, climate change focused-lesson plan from an educator to create a sample lesson or app in VR, AR, and/or 360 video with their team over the weekend.
Prizes of cash and equipment in each category (VR, AR and 360 video), free coffee and snacks all weekend and lots of opportunities to learn, share, grow and CREATE!
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Music and the Bilingual Brain
WHEN Friday, Apr. 21, 2017, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Fitzgerald Theatre, Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, 459 Broadway, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education, Lecture, Music, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Presented by Harvard Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the Cambridge Science Festival
SPEAKER(S) Ariel Mitnick, Rainer Crosett, and Alan Toda-Ambaras, Project LENS, Gigi Luk, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
COST Free and open to the public.
CONTACT INFO hmnh at hmsc.harvard.edu, (617) 495-3045
DETAILS
Project LENS is a Boston-based performance collaborative that seeks to reveal connections between music and other topics. The group’s diverse studies and passion for classical music have inspired them to start a conversation about the way music relates to topics as eclectic as evolution, law, and birdsong. For this event, Project LENS will join HGSE professor Gigi Luk to explore how the cognitive effects of bilingualism might relate to the benefits of learning music “as another language,” studying multiple instruments, or developing multiple musical styles.
Please enter through the side door (Cambridge Street).
LINK http://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/music-and-bilingual-brain
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Saturday, April 22
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MIT ESI Earth Day Celebration
Saturday, April 22
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
MIT, Kresge Oval, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Get outside and celebrate Earth Day with MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative! Learn about the environment and how we impact our planet through hands-on, interactive activities for all ages.
Experience climate change through virtual reality, make and take a terrarium, build a material-efficient tower or a plant-monitoring app, make a smoothie on a blender bike, erode a landscape, touch marine critters, and much more!
Drop by, have some fun, and appreciate the earth!
MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
Website: https://environmentalsolutions.mit.edu/
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Sustainable Cambridge
Saturday, April 22
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
How much bicycle power does it take to turn on a light bulb? How knowledgeable are YOU on how to get around town without taking a car?
Stop by our sustainability event to learn all about sustainability and what YOU can do to make Cambridge an even more sustainable community. Jump on a bike to power light bulbs, take our quizzes about getting around town and energy efficiency, and leave with lots of information for actions you can take at home.
Please note, this event is in Joan Lorenz Park outside of the Main Library. Library location below is for ease of finding the event.
Cambridge Community Development Department
Website: http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD
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Being Material: A Symposium Sponsored by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology
Saturday, April 22
9:00a–1:30p
MIT, Buidling E52, Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
In 1995, MIT's Nicholas Negroponte predicted that "being digital" would have us entering a realm increasingly unconstrained by the materiality of the world. Two decades later, our everyday lives are indeed ever more suffused by computation and calculation. But unwieldy materiality persists and even reasserts itself. Programmable matter, self-assembling structures, 3D/4D printing, wearable technologies and bio-inspired design today capture the attention of engineers, scientists and artists. "BEING MATERIAL" will showcase recent developments in materials systems and design, placing this work in dialogue with kindred and contrasting philosophy, art practice and critique. Panels on the PROGRAMMABLE, WEARABLE, LIVABLE and INVISIBLE-along with a concert, AUDIBLE-will explore new and unexpected meetings of the digital and material worlds.
Web site: http://arts.mit.edu/events-visit/symposia/being-material/
Open to: the general public
Cost: $10-$75
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/being-material-2017-cast-symposium-tickets-28429874520
This event occurs daily at 11:00a - 6:30p through April 21, 2017, and also on April 22, 2017 at 9:00a - 1:30p.
Sponsor(s): MIT CAST (Center for Art, Science & Technology), Arts at MIT, School of Architecture and Planning, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Department of Architecture
For more information, contact: Leah Talatinian
cast-symposium at mit.edu
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Science Talk: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Climate Change and Air Quality Research
Saturday, April 22
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy Street, Boston
Join AMC staff and the Boston Chapter Young Members Committee (ages 20s to 30s) to celebrate Earth Day at Joy Street!
The open house will begin at 10am, with a gear swap, sign-making for the Science March and light refreshments.
At 11am Georgia Murray, an AMC staff scientist, will deliver her talk “AMC’s Climate Change and Air Quality Research” followed by audience Q&A.
Please register online at bit.ly/2mYWUfZ The event is limited to 100 people.
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Harvard, EAC Earth Day Festival
Saturday, April 22,
11 am–2 pm
Harvard, Science Center Plaza, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Come celebrate Earth Day with free food, live music, and awesome giveaways on April 22 on the Science Center Plaza.
From 11AM to 2PM, the Environmental Action Committee will be hosting the celebration promoting environmental justice: we are seeking to raise awareness for the ways that environmental issues and policies, especially under the new administration, can infringe upon human rights and negatively impact already marginalized groups.
At the end of the event, we will be organizing for those interested to go to the March for Science happening in Boston that afternoon. Join us in the fight for the planet, for the people!
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March For Science
Saturday, April 22
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Boston Common, Tremont Street, Boston
The March for Science champions publicly-funded and publicly-communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, non-partisan group to call for science that upholds the common good, and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. This group is inclusive of all individuals and types of science!
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Backyard Chickens for the City Dweller
Saturday, April 22
1PM-2:30AM
Starr Lane Park, 17 Starr Lane, Jamaica Plain
Cost: $9 - $15
Looking for more cool stuff to do?
We've got tons more fun events and programs in your area – sign up for our monthly enews here!
Love growing your own food? Ever thought you might like to try adding chickens to your garden? Come join “The Chickeness," Khrysti Smyth, of Yardbirds Backyard Chickens and some of her feathered friends for a brief overview of basics like breeds, housing needs and design, health, laws and zoning, and pest management, and a discussion on the logistics of effectively managing a coop in your community garden. Course materials will be provided, and each attendee will receive a signed Certificate of Course Completion. Come find out whether keeping chickens might be a good addition to your garden, your kitchen, and your family's overall health and wellbeing.
Kids are welcome to join and meet the hens!
Contact Information
617.542.7696 x2115
mdelima at thetrustees.org
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Sunday, April 23
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Peru, Marrakech and Monsanto! Potluck/Discussion with Frederique Apffel-Marglin
Sunday, April 23
6-9 p.m.
One Fayette Park, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Biodiversity-for-a-Livable-Climate/events/238961751/
Potuck 6:00-7:00 p.m. followed by discussion 7:00-9:00 p.m. with Frederique Apffel-Marglin at Helen Snively's place near Central Square.
Frederique returns to us after participating in COP 22 in Marrakech where she presented her organization's new project of local implementation of the 4 per 1000 Regenerative Agriculture approach proposed by the French Ministry, briefly at COP 21 in Paris. I'll show a power point on the local on-the-ground progress at her center in the Peruvian Upper Amazon.
Finally, Frederique will discuss a recent presentation at Harvard sponsored by the Harvard Center for the Environment on "Food, Climate, and Sustainability" by Michael Stern, a Monsanto scientist. She will explore the implications of these two totally opposite approaches to food and climate.
This promises to be a lively discussion!
Professor Apffel-Marglin is founder of the Sachamama Center for Biocultural Regeneration, and is the author of five books, the editor or co-editor of an additional eight books and the author of more than fifty five articles and book chapters. Her interests cover ritual, gender, political ecology, critiques of development, science studies and Andean-Amazonian shamanism. Her areas of specialization are South Asia and the Amazonian Andes. You may view an excellent video on her work here.
Biodiversity for a LIvable Climate is a small non-profit so a $10 donation is requested, but no one will be turned away based on ability to pay.
Helen Snively's house is about halfway between Central Square and Inman Square. Take the MBTA red line to Central Square, exit the station walking down Massachusetts Avenue in the direction of Harvard Square (away from Boston). Walk five blocks and make a right on Lee Street, then walk two blocks past Harvard Street and Broadway. Cross Broadway onto Fayette Street (which will be in front of you), walk down Fayette and make your first left onto Fayette Park (a private way). If you're coming by car, there's ample free parking on Sundays in Cambridge.
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Monday, April 24, 8:45 AM – Tuesday, April 25, 5:00 PM
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Journalism and the Search for Truth in an Age of Social Media Conference
Monday, April 24, 8:45 AM – Tuesday, April 25, 5:00 PM EDT
The Castle, 225 Bay State Road, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/journalism-and-the-search-for-truth-in-an-age-of-social-media-conference-tickets-33129392906
As the journalism profession struggles to respond to social media’s proliferating role, fresh social scientific and philosophical perspectives are required to comprehend news in relationship to the pursuit of truth. social media’s interaction with journalism and democracy will be analyzed from philosophical, ethical, practical and political perspectives. Experts from these fields will examine the current situation and consider likely future trajectories. Drawing on such an array of specialties, and by taking a cross-cutting approach, the event co-sponsors anticipate that new insights will be gained into the high-pressure world of journalism and its responsibilities. Discussions will be aimed at laying the conceptual groundwork for recommendations and action at the professional, procedural and policy levels
Tentative Schedule:
DAY ONE, Monday, April 24, 2017
8:45 AM Registration & coffee
9:15 AM Welcome and introduction
9:30 AM The journalistic crisis: the fourth estate, social media, and communicating the truth
11:00 AM Social responses to fake news: fears, trust, and knowledge
12:30 PM Lunch and poster session
1:30 PM Trolling, computer algorithms, and moderation
3:00 PM Short Break
3:15 PM Global perspectives: similarities and novelties
4:45 PM Reception and informal discussion
DAY TWO, Tuesday, April 25
9:00 AM Registration & coffee
9:30 AM Fake news in a historical and contemporary perspective
11:00 PM Philosophy of truth, knowing, and communication
12:30 PM Lunch
1:15 PM Keynote Speaker
2:15 Short Break
2:30 PM PANEL— Reflections and paths forward
4:00 PM Tour of research facilities
4:30 PM Reception and informal discussion
Symposium format:
Brief papers and in-depth discussion, built on research and scholarly perspectives.
Advocating political or partisan viewpoints is discouraged.
The event will have an in-person audience and also be live-streamed. (Papers and live-stream will be archived on our website.)
You can read more about the conference and the tentative schedule here: https://demsatbu.wixsite.com/conference
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Monday, April 24
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Intelligence in a Volatile World, 9/11 to the Present
Monday, April 24
12:00 pm
BU, 121 Bay State Road, Conference Room, Boston
The Pardee School hosts Mary Margaret Graham, Chief ofCIA Office, NYC on 9/11.
Ms. Graham was the United States Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection (DNI) from 2005–2008. She previously served as the Associate Deputy Director for Operations for Counterintelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency. In her 29 years with the CIA she has had numerous field and headquarters assignments. From 1999 to 2001, Mrs. Graham served as Chief of the Directorate of Operation’s National Resources Division; from 1998 to 1999, she served as the Deputy Chief of the Directorate of Operations Europe Division. Ms. Graham also served as the Executive Assistant to William Crowell, then Deputy Director of the National Security Agency in the mid-1990’s.</p><p>Register by email: eventsps at bu.edu
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Climate Week: Valuing Climate Damages: Updating Estimation of the Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide
Monday, April 24
12:00 pm
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Richard Newell, President and CEO, Resources for the Future (RFF), an independent, nonprofit research organization that improves environmental, energy, and natural resource decisionmaking through rigorous economic analysis. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the administrator of the US Energy Information Administration, the agency responsible for official US government energy statistics and analysis. Dr. Newell is an adjunct professor at Duke University, where he was previously the Gendell Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics and Founding Director of its Energy Initiative and Energy Data Analytics Lab. He has also served as the senior economist for energy and environment on the President's Council of Economic Advisers and was a senior fellow, and later a board member, at RFF.
Dr. Newell has published widely on the economics of markets and policies for energy and the environment, including issues surrounding global climate change, energy efficiency, and energy innovation. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the National Petroleum Council. He has provided expert advice to many institutions, such as the National Academy of Sciences, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the International Energy Forum.
Note: Space is limited
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
louisa_lund at hks.harvard.edu
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Atmospheric Deposition and Soil Nutrient Cycling in Boston: Urban Effects on Biogeochemical Cycles
Monday, April 24
12:10 pm
Arnold Arboretum, Weld Hill Lecture Hall, 1300 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain
Stephen Decina, Boston University; Deland Award recipient
Contact: arbweb at arnarb.harvard.edu
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Wrong Way After Nuremberg: Misconceiving Research Ethics
Monday, April 24
12:15 pm to 2:00 pm
K262, Bowie-Vernon Room, CGIS, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Daniel Wikler (HSPH, Ethics and Population Health)
Contact Name: Shana Ashar
sts at hks.harvard.edu
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Brexit: From Fantasy/Nightmare to Hard Bargaining | A Discussion with Ed Balls
WHEN Monday, Apr. 24, 2017, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
Lower Level Conference Room
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Contemporary Europe Study Group
SPEAKER(S) Ed Balls, UK Shadow Chancellor (2011-2015), Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Senior Fellow; Peter Sands, Senior Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; James Cronin, Professor of History, Boston College; Local Affiliate, CES, Harvard University
CONTACT INFO James Cronin
james.cronin at bc.edu
DETAILS
When the UK government triggered Article 50 on March 29, months of anxiety, debate and speculation gave way to serious negotiations. These will also lead to debate, of course, but it will be more concrete. This discussion will focus on some of the economic issues at play in the negotiations and their political implications.
LINK https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/brexit-from-fantasy-nightmare-to-hard-bargaining-a-discussion-with-ed-balls
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Climate Week: "Climate Ready Boston: Planning for the Challenges Ahead"
Monday, April 24
2:00 pm
Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, GSD, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Bud Ris, Co-Chair, Climate Preparedness Working Group, Boston Green Ribbon Commission, and Senior Climate Advisor, Barr Foundation
He also advises and serves on Boston’s Green Ribbon Commission, a consortium of business and non-profit leaders working with the city to mitigate and prepare for the impacts of climate change. From 2005 to 2014, Bud was President and CEO of the New England Aquarium. Under his leadership, NEAq completed a $43 million campaign to renovate its major exhibits, expand its educational programming, and strengthen its conservation work. During his tenure, the Aquarium launched a nationwide educational consortium of aquaria and zoos on climate change, helped create one of the world’s largest marine protected areas in the Pacific, and partnered with several major food companies to promote sustainable seafood. Bud oversaw a staff of 250 and annual budget in excess of $40 million. From 2004 to 2005, Bud was a Senior Fellow at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, where he led the Forum’s G-8 program on climate change for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. From 1996 to 2003, Bud chaired a coalition of sixteen national environmental organizations founded to support domestic and international action on climate change. In 1997, he led the delegation of US NGO’s to the international negotiations that culminated in the Kyoto Protocol. From 1984 through 2003, Bud served as the chief executive officer of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). During his tenure, UCS successfully led a number of national and state initiatives to improve the efficiency of automobiles, accelerate the introduction of renewable energy, improve the safety of nuclear power, and restrain the nuclear arms race. In 2014, Bud received a Life Time Achievement Award from the US Environmental Protection Agency. He is also a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Contact Name: Jeff Fitton
jfitton at gsd.harvard.edu
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The Network Architecture of Human Thought
Monday, April 24
3:00 pm
Notheastern, 177 Huntington Avenue, 11th floor, Boston
DANIELLE BASSETT
Associate Professor, U Penn Engineering, Complex Systems Group
Human thought is predicated on a complex architecture of inter connections that enable information transmission between distinct areas of the brain. Yet gaining a fundamental understanding of this architecture has remained challenging, largely due to insufficiencies in traditional imaging techniques and analytical tools. In concerted efforts to address these challenges, neuroscientists have begun to combine recent breakthroughs in non-invasive brain imaging techniques with the conceptual notions and mathematical tools of network science– leading to the emerging field of network neuroscience. I will highlight early successes in this field leading to fundamental understanding of healthy human thought, its development over childhood, and its alteration in psychiatric disease and neurological disorders. I will close by commenting on current frontiers and future potential in health care, business, and education sectors.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Danielle S. Bassett is the Eduardo D. Glandt Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She is most well-known for her work blending neural and systems engineering to identify fundamental mechanisms of cognition and disease in human brain networks. She received a B.S. in physics from the Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cambridge, UK. Following a postdoctoral position at UC Santa Barbara, she was a Junior Research Fellow at the Sage Center for the Study of the Mind. In 2012, she was named American Psychological Association's `Rising Star' and given an Alumni Achievement Award from the Schreyer Honors College at Pennsylvania State University for extraordinary achievement under the age of 35. In 2014, she was named an Alfred P Sloan Research Fellow and received the MacArthur Fellow Genius Grant. In 2015, she received the IEEE EMBS Early Academic Achievement Award, and was named an ONR Young Investigator. In 2016, she received an NSF CAREER award and was named one of Popular Science’s Brilliant 10. She is the founding director of the Penn Network Visualization Program, a combined undergraduate art internship and K-12 outreach program bridging network science and the visual arts. Her work -- which has resulted in 112 published articles -- has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Army Research Office, the Army Research Laboratory, the Alfred P Sloan Foundation, the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research.
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Climate Week: A Conversation with Colin Butterfield
Monday, April 24
3:30PM
Harvard Business School, Gallatin Lounge, 24 Harvard Rosd, Allston
The Business and Environment Initiative at the Harvard Business School presents a conversation with Colin Butterfield, Managing Director, Head of Natural Resources, Harvard Management Company, on the impact of climate change on investment selections and portfolio management decisions.
Colin Butterfield is currently the head of natural resources at Harvard Management Company. Butterfield was most recently the CEO of Radar S.A., a $2.2 billion Brazilian farmland investment management joint venture between TIAA and Cosan S.A. In this role, Butterfield expanded Radar’s portfolio of investments, improved the company’s risk profile, and increased profitability. He was also a member of TIAA’s Global Agriculture Fund investment committee. Butterfield was president of Cosan Alimentos from 2010 to 2013 and served as COO and CIO at Bracor SA from 2007 to 2010. He was a director at Cargill from 2004 to 2007, where he established business development and merger and acquisition plans to enter the Brazilian sugar and ethanol market. Butterfield holds an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and a BS in manufacturing engineering from Boston University.
Contact Name: Jennifer Nash
jnash at hbs.edu
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Climate Week: "The War on Science: Reports from the Battlefield"
Monday, April 24
4:00 pm
TBD
Lauren Kurtz, Executive Director, Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, and Naomi Oreskes, Professor, History of Science; Affiliated Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University.
Contact Name: Kate Konschnik
kkonschnik at law.harvard.edu
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John DeVillars Study Group Reports
Monday April 24
4:30pm
Harvard, Littauer 332, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
The Research Assistants with whom John has been working on Electric Vehicle Adoption (Jeffrey Bryant, Benjamin Luxenberg, and Jennifer Hatch), Low-Income Access to Clean Energy (Elizabeth Hanson); and Performance Based Incentives (Elise Harrington and Ali Nadeem) will report on their work. The students leading each of these projects will make 15 minute presentations on their work to date; the remainder of the time will be devoted to discussing the students' work while consuming pizza, soda and other delicacies. We hope you will be able to make this session. It has been a fun and informative series of study groups and it will be good to celebrate the end of the semester - and some terrific work by the students - with all of you.
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Lecture: Food Security
Monday, April 24
6:00 pm on
BU, Hat-212, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Guest Speaker: Ellen Messer, Ph.D., will give a lecture on food security. Dr. Messer is a biocultural anthropologist specializing in food, security, religion, and human rights. She has taught anthropology of food, health, religion, human rights, and international development at George Washington University, Brandeis University, Tufts University, Brown University, Wheaton College, and Yale University. This lecture is open to the public.
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Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power
Monday, April 24
7:00 pm
First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
COST: Sold out but there will be a standby line at the door
Noam Chomsky at First Parish Church in conversation with AMY GOODMAN
This event includes a book signing. Out of respect for Professor Chomsky’s limited time tonight, the book signing will be limited to copies of Requiem for the American Dream. No other books or memorabilia, and no photography or video during the signing. Thank you! Amy Goodman will join for the book signing portion of the evening and will be signing copies of Democracy Now!, also available for purchase.
Harvard Book Store welcomes MIT Institute Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy NOAM CHOMSKY—bestselling author of numerous political works, including What Kind of Creatures Are We? and Who Rules the World?—for a discussion of Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power. Mr. Chomsky will be joined in conversation by AMY GOODMAN, host and producer of award-winning independent news program Democracy Now!, the largest public media collaboration in the US today.
All pre-sales tickets include a copy of Requiem for the American Dream, admission into the event, and a $5 coupon for use in the bookstore. Pre-sales tickets (online only) are available for two weeks, after which a $5 ticket option will also go on sale. Books bundled with pre-sale tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand.
$5 tickets will also be available at Harvard Book Store and over the phone at 617-661-1515. Unless the event is sold out, any remaining tickets will be on sale at the door of the venue when doors open.
Tickets are non-refundable and non-returnable.
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Climate Week: Film Screening & Discussion: BEHEMOTH
Monday, April 24
7:00 pm
The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge
The Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy and Environment and the Environment in Asia Series, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies present a DocYard screening of the film 'Behemoth,' followed by a discussion with director Zhao Liang
About the Film:
Beginning with a mining explosion in Mongolia and ending in a ghost city west of Beijing, political documentarian Zhao Liang’s visionary new film Behemoth details, in one breath taking sequence after another, the social and environmental devastation behind an economic miracle that may yet prove illusory.
Drawing inspiration from The Divine Comedy, Zhao offers intoxicating and terrifying images of the ravages wrought by his country’s coal and iron industries on both the land and its people. Beautiful grasslands covered in soot and dust. Mountains shredded in half. Herdsmen and their families forced to leave their lands, to escape poisonous air. Miners descending deeper into pitch black mine shafts. Scorching ironworks that resemble hellish infernos. And in hospitals, ill-equipped to handle the deluge, workers suffering critical illnesses.
Building upon his previous acclaimed exposés (2009’s Petition, 2007’s Crime and Punishment), Zhao combines muck-racking journalistic techniques with stunning visuals to capture an unfolding nightmare. It’s a film replete with haunting imagery. But none more so than Zhao’s tour through a barren metropolis, a gleaming, newly constructed city, intended as a workers’ paradise, that now stands empty, desolate of life; waiting, perhaps, for that economic miracle.
About the Filmmaker:
With his unique vision and acute reflections on social issues and conditions, Zhao has been extending the frontiers of documentary filmmaking in China today. His award-winning Crime and Punishment (Best Film – Festival des 3 Continents – Nantes, France; also screened in Locarno) was an eye-opening exploration of military law enforcement in China. His Petition (aka The Court of the Complaints) followed a group of disgruntled citizens from 1996 to 2008, and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival (Special Screenings). The film has won several awards at festivals, including Hong Kong, DocLisboa, Hawaii, DocNZ Auckland and Tiburon. His documentary Together revealed the situation of HIV and AIDS in China, and was screened at the Berlinale Panorama.
Born in Northeastern China (Dandong, Liaoning Province), Zhao Liang graduated from Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. Based in Beijing since 1993, Zhao has been working as an independent documentary filmmaker as well as a multimedia artist in photography and video art. His works have been exhibited in the International Center of Photography (New York), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Museo Reina So a (Madrid) and numerous other art galleries and museums around the world.
Short Film Program:
Prior to this feature screening, The DocYard will present a short film directed by local filmmaker Eric Gulliver for American Experience. PBS’s flagship history series American Experience examines the infamous publication The Turner Diaries; a dangerous book with a unique legacy of directly inspiring acts of terror and violence since its publication in the late 70s.
Contact Name: Tiffany Chan
tiffanychan at seas.harvard.edu
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Hidden Figures
Monday, April 24
7pm
Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline
Evelynn Hammonds will discuss the role of African American women in the space program
A Coolidge Corner Science on Screen event.
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Tuesday, April 25
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Digital Expungement: Rehabilitation in the Digital Age
Tuesday, April 25
12:00 pm
Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East C (Room 2036, second floor)
RSVP required to attend in person at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2017/04/Haber#RSVP
Event will be live webcast at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2017/04/Haber at 12:00 pm
with Berkman Klein Faculty Associate, Eldar Haber
The concept of criminal rehabilitation in the digital age is intriguing. How can we ensure proper reintegration into society of individuals with a criminal history that was expunged by the state when their wrongdoings remain widely available through commercial vendors (data brokers) and online sources like mugshot websites, legal research websites, social media platforms, and media archives? What are constitutional and pragmatic challenges to ensure digital rehabilitation? Is there a viable solution to solve this conundrum?
About Eldar
Eldar Haber is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) at the Faculty of Law, Haifa University and a Faculty Associate at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. He earned his Ph.D. from Tel-Aviv University and completed his postdoctoral studies as a fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center. His main research interests consist of various facets of law and technology including cyber law, intellectual property law (focusing mainly on copyright), privacy, civil rights and liberties, and criminal law. His works were published in various flagship law reviews worldwide, including top-specialized law and technology journals of U.S. universities such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford. His works were presented in various workshops and conferences around the globe, and were cited in academic papers, governmental reports, the media, and U.S. Federal courts.
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The European Union's Security Policy and the Middle East
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2017, 12 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR European Union Study Group
Program on Transatlantic Relations, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Miguel Angel Moratinos --
Former Foreign Minister, Spain; Former Special Representative of the EU, Middle East
CONTACT INFO Anna Popiel, apopiel at fas.harvard.edu
LINK https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/the-european-unions-security-policy-and-the-middle-east
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Trump and Asia: Business as Usual? Business and Trade Between the U.S. and Asia
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2017, 12 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Tsai Auditorium S010, CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Law, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Asia-related Centers at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) William Kirby
T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies; Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration; Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor; Director of the Harvard China Fund; former Director of the Fairbank Center
Mireya Solis
Senior Fellow – Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, and Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies at the Brookings Institute
Mark Wu
Assistant Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Moderated by Tarun Khana
Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School, Director of Harvard University South Asia Institute
Chaired by Andrew Gordon
Victor and William Fung Acting Director of the Harvard University Asia Center; Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History
COST Free
CONTACT INFO James Evans, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies jamesevans at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS
The Asia-related centers at Harvard University continue our new “Trump and Asia” series on the Asia-Pacific during Trump's presidency. This discussion examines the changes in international business and trade between the U.S. and Asia in the Trump era.
LINK http://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/trump-and-asia-business-as-usual-u-s-asia-business-and-trade-in-the-trump-era/
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Climate Week: "Daily Monitoring of the Land Surface of the Earth"
Tuesday, April 25
3pm
Harvard, HUCE Seminar Room 440, 26 Oxford Street, 4th Floor, Cambridge
with Joseph Mascaro and Andrew Zolli, Planet Labs, Inc.
Abstract: Planet is an integrated aerospace and data analytics company that operates the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites. With more than 140 cube-sats now in orbit, Planet is collecting approximately 50 million square kilometers of imagery per day, or 1/3 of the land surface of the Earth (3-5m per pixel, in red, green, blue and near infrared spectral bands). Later in 2017, Planet’s constellation will image the entire land surface of the Earth on a daily basis. Due to investments in cloud storage and computing, approximately 75% of imagery collected is available to Planet’s partners within 24 hours of capture through an Application Program Interface. This unique dataset has enormous applications for monitoring the status of Earth’s ecosystems and human activity. Through our Ambassadors Program, Planet has made data available for researchers in areas as disparate as human rights monitoring in refugee camps, to assessments of the impact of hydroelectric installations, to tracking illegal gold mining in Amazon forests, to assessing the status of the cryosphere. We will share early results from Planet’s research partner network, including enhanced spatial and temporal resolution of NDVI data for agricultural health in Saudi Arabia, computation of rates of illegal deforestation in Southern Peru, estimates of tropical forest carbon stocks based on data integration with active sensors, and estimates of glacial flow rates. We synthesize the potentially enormous research and scientific value of Planet’s persistent monitoring capability, and discuss methods by which the data will be disseminated into the scientific community.
Contact Name: James Clem
james_clem at harvard.edu
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The International State of Digital Rights, a Conversation with the UN Special Rapporteur
Tuesday, April 25
4:00 pm
Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, Room 2012 (second floor)
Reception immediately following at HLS Pub
RSVP required to attend in person at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/DavidKaye#RSVP
Event will be live webcast on this page at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2017/04/DavidKaye at 4:00 pm
David Kaye in conversation with Nani Jansen Reventlow
On 25 April, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye, will visit the Berkman Klein Center. He will be hosted in conversation by Nani Jansen Reventlow, a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center and Adviser to the Cyberlaw Clinic, about his upcoming thematic report on digital access and human rights, as well as the most burning issues regarding free speech online and digital rights including encryption, fake news, online gender-based abuse and the global epidemic of internet censorship.
The Special Rapporteur will also speak about his work in both national and international free speech cases, after which the audience will have the opportunity to address any further issues they would like to discuss.
Following the event, please join us for a reception in the Harvard Law School Pub located on the first floor of Wasserstein Hall.
About David Kaye
David Kaye, a clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2014. His rapporteurship has addressed, among other topics, encryption and anonymity as promoters of freedom of expression, the protection of whistleblowers and journalistic sources, and the roles and responsibilities of private Internet companies. Early in his career he was a lawyer in the U.S. State Department, handling issues such as the applicability of the Geneva Conventions in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001. His academic research and writing have focused on accountability for serious human rights abuses, international humanitarian law, and the international law governing use of force. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law, he has also published essays in such publications as Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, JustSecurity and The Los Angeles Times.
About Nani Jansen Reventlow
Nani Jansen Reventlow is an Associate Tenant at Doughty Street Chambers and a 2016-2017 Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She is a recognised international lawyer and expert in human rights litigation responsible for groundbreaking freedom of expression cases across several national and international jurisdictions.
Between 2011 and 2016, Nani has overseen the litigation practice of the Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI) globally, leading or advising on cases before various national and international courts. At the Berkman Klein Center, Nani's work focuses on cross-disciplinary collaboration in litigation that challenges barriers to free speech online. She also acts as an Advisor to the Cyberlaw Clinic.
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Race Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation
Tuesday, April 25
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT
Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harvard-coop-author-series-eric-deggans-race-baiter-how-the-media-wields-dangerous-words-to-divide-tickets-32738357308
Gone is the era of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, when news programs fought to gain the trust and respect of a wide spectrum of American viewers. Today, the fastest-growing news programs and media platforms are fighting hard for increasingly narrow segments of the public and playing on old prejudices and deep-rooted fears, coloring the conversation in the blogosphere and the cable news chatter to distract from the true issues at stake. Using the same tactics once used to mobilize political parties and committed voters, they send their fans coded messages and demonize opposing groups, in the process securing valuable audience share and website traffic. Race-baiter is a term born out of this tumultuous climate, coined by the conservative media to describe a person who uses racial tensions to arouse the passion and ire of a particular demographic.
About the Author - Eric Deggans is TV and Media Critic for National Public Radio and formerly for the Tampa Bay Times, Florida's largest newspaper. He also contributes to CNN.com and the Huffington Post. Deggans regularly appears as a pundit/expert on MSNBC's "Countdown"; CNN's "Reliable Sources"; Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends" morning show and "Hannity and Colmes"; PBS's "The NewsHour"; CNN Headline News' "Showbiz Tonight"; "The Tavis Smiley Show" on Black Entertainment Television; and the PBS shows "Livelyhood" and "The Calling." His work has also appeared in a host of newspapers and magazines ranging from the conservative Newsmax magazine to the Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Detroit News and Miami Herald, VIBEmagazine, Hispanic magazine and Ebony magazine.
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How free enterprise can solve climate change
Tuesday, April 25
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
MIT, Building E14-633, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Bob Inglis
Former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC) traveled to Antarctica and Greenland as a member of the House Science Committee during his second, three-year term in Congress (2005-10) and became convinced climate change was a problem and needed action. In July 2012, he founded and launched republicEn.org, which is centered on conservative principles and a free-enterprise solution to climate change. Inglis will talk about how free enterprise and a "tax swap" can deliver the innovation to solve our climate change issues and lead the rest of the world.
ESI People & the Planet Lecture Series
Web site: https://environmentalsolutions.mit.edu/events/
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Environmental Solutions Initiative
For more information, contact: Hannah Loomis
esi at mit.edu
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"Resolve: Negotiating Life’s Conflicts with Greater Confidence;" A Book Talk with author Hal Movius
WHEN Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2017, 5 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, 1st floor, Room 1010, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
SPEAKER(S) Hal Movius, author
COST Free and open to the public.
CONTACT INFO Polly Hamlen, mhamlen at law.harvard.edu
DETAILS
If you dread conflict, you’re not alone. Research suggests that interpersonal conflict is the biggest daily stressor we face, and that most of us go through life avoiding potential conflicts at work and at home, or giving in when we feel pressured. In Resolve, Hal Movius shows you how you can handle life’s negotiations more effectively and with less stress by developing three distinct types of confidence: mastery, awareness, and poise.
Drawing on decades of research in negotiation and psychology, along with more recent advances in social neuroscience, this book delivers science-backed insights and effective tools to boost your confidence in all three critical areas, so you can be more effective in resolving conflicts—from spontaneous flare-ups at home to planned business negotiations.
Refreshments will be provided.
LINK http://www.pon.harvard.edu/events/resolve-negotiating-lifes-conflicts-with-greater-confidence/
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Starr Forum: Solving America's and China's North Korea Problem?
Tuesday, April 25
5:00p–6:30p
MIT, Building E25-111, 45 Carleton, Cambridge
Speaker: Professor Victor Cha, Georgetown University and CSIS
Discussant: Professor Terrence Roehrig, Professor, US Naval War College
Free & open to the public | Refreshments served
Can't attend in person? Watch it on Facebook live or on-demand on YouTube.
For more information or accessibility accommodations please contact starrforum at mit.edu.
CIS Starr Forum
A public events series on pressing issues in international affairs, sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies.
Web site: https://cis.mit.edu/events/starr-forum-solving-americas-and-chinas-north-korea-problem
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact:
617-253-8306
starrforum at mit.edu
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The Future of Work in a Tech-Driven Economy
Tuesday, April 25
6:30 – 8:30 pm EDT
GA Boston, 125 Summer Street 13th Floor, Boston
RSVP at https://generalassemb.ly/education/the-future-of-work-in-a-tech-driven-economy/boston/36239
INTRODUCTION
With the rapid pace of technological progress, work in the future will look very different than today. Presented with the Inclusive Innovation Challenge at MIT's Initiative on the Digital Economy, this event will explore how working people can anticipate the challenges and pursue the professional and economic opportunities in the future of work.
WHY IT MATTERS?
We live in perhaps the greatest age of technological innovation in human history. Yet many people are not experiencing the benefits of this progress. Wage growth is at a standstill, and jobs that were once pathways to guaranteed prosperity have dramatically changed or disappeared. To thrive in the rapidly advancing digital economy, working people will need to be prepared.
WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY
How work is changing?
What jobs will be relevant in the future?
What skills will be required?
How will we maintain our personal financial security?
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Communicating Climate Change Through Science and Technology
Tuesday, April 25
7:30PM (follows brief 7PM meeting of the Friends of the Robbins Library)
Robbins Library, 700 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington MA (Community Room)
Brian Helmuth, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences and School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University Helmuth Lab
Climate change is a global phenomenon, but its impacts play out on very local scales. Specifically, impacts are the result of weather events, which are in turn “trained” by climate. Moreover, the ways in which nonhuman organisms experience their world is radically different from how we humans perceive it, making it difficult for us to comprehend how we are affecting the natural world, and in turn how it affects society.
Dr. Helmuth is very active in outreach. Among other outreach activities the Helmuth Lab provides opportunities for teachers and students to assist with research.
-The presentation will follow a brief Annual Meeting of the Friends of Robbins Library at 7pm_
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Opportunity
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Discounted Solar for Somerville
As part of the State’s Solarize Mass program, local volunteers and the City of Somerville recently launched the Solarize Somerville campaign to make it easier and cheaper for residents and small businesses to install solar panels.
The program, which is offering information and guidance, free site consultations, and solar panel discounts through November, has set an ambitious goal to inspire at least 200 property owners to sign up for solar —and each of those private solar installations will also benefit the community directly. For every 400 kW in signed private contracts through the program, the program’s solar vendor SolarFlair will donate a system of up to 5 kW for a public or community purpose. All are invited to the program kickoff at a Meet the Installer event on Tuesday, July 26 at 6-7:30 p.m., 167 Holland St. Additional events on topics such as solar basics, financing, and solar for multifamily homes will be announced.
Unique to the program is its neighbor-to-neighbor approach: trained resident volunteers and a designated volunteer Solar Coach are available essentially as mentors. They can, for example, walk anyone through the process, provide general loan program and tax incentive information, and share their own solar experiences. The campaign’s webpage and blog offers useful information, tips, and a link to websites where you can estimate the solar potential of your home and roughly calculate how much solar could save you on your energy bills at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize.
Somerville is one of the most urban communities ever to participate in Solarize Mass, which makes the neighbor-to-neighbor approach especially helpful due to some of the unique challenges here such as multi-family houses with more than one owner. Winter Hill resident Mary Mangan, the program’s volunteer Solar Coach, went through that process and is ready to share helpful tips.
"I'm excited to work with our eager volunteers to help our neighbors understand the benefits of solar power. As a co-owner of a two-family home with solar, I can also offer some insights about how that process went for us," said Mangan.
Also key to the program is the selection of a designated vendor, which allows the program to offer reduced cost installation through bulk purchasing. Through a competitive process, SolarFlair, based in Ashland, MA, was selected. They were also the selected installer for the communities of Arlington, Hopkinton, Mendon, Brookline, Carlisle-Chelmsford, Newton, and Quincy.
"We're excited to be the selected installer for Solarize Somerville, and look forward to speaking with any home or business owners that are interested in reducing their electric bills while also making a great investment," said Matt Arner, the owner and President of SolarFlair.
Quick facts:
Solar systems can be purchased outright (with a payback of about 4-5 years). The Mass Solar Loan program offers rates of 3.25% or less.
Or, for no money down owners can choose a power purchase agreement (PPA), where the system is owned and maintained by a third party, and residents buy back the electricity at a discounted price.
More on-site renewable energy is critical to reducing carbon emissions. It also saves money for residents.
Tax incentives for solar installations include:
Federal Tax Credit: A 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is available for qualified residential and commercial projects
Massachusetts Personal Income Tax Credit: The lesser of 15% of the total cost of the solar electric system or $1,000, for qualified clean energy projects
Five-year Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS): Business owners can depreciate solar electric systems over a five-year schedule
For more information or to sign up for a free site consultation:
Visit the Solarize Somerville webpage at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize for
Helpful information and FAQs
To contact a volunteer or Solar Coach Mary Mangan to discuss solar options and incentives
To set up an appointment for a free site consultation directly with SolarFlair
To find out about events
To volunteer for Solarize Somerville
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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. 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://somervilleyogurtmakingcoop.wordpress.com
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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
Solar map of Cambridge, MA
http://www.mapdwell.com/en/cambridge
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Hey Cambridge residents!
Did you know the City of Cambridge is trying to win the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize? It was created to develop a cleaner and more efficient energy future. Energy efficiency and conservation are the best ways to save energy and minimize environmental impact. In that effort, Cambridge is hoping all residents will get a no-cost energy assessment in order to make their homes more efficient and comfortable. Let us know you're interested here: http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/sign-up-for-an-assessment
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
Again, let us know you're interested here: http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/sign-up-for-an-assessment and someone will be in contact with you shortly to give you personally tailored contact information on how you can get your no-cost home energy assessment. Renters are also eligible!
Any action to save energy in the home will help Cambridge win this competition while protecting the environment. For additional ideas on how to save energy, please see the Cambridge Energy Alliance website at http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/interactivehome
Please share with your Cambridge friends and family and ask them to get a free energy assessment!
Want to be more involved? Become a neighborhood Block Captain! Block Captains help their community members sign up for and complete no-cost home energy assessments through the MassSave program. Our team will give you the tools and guidance needed to recruit neighbors to get an assessment and improve the efficiency of their homes. Participation is welcome at whatever level you are able to commit to.
If you are interested in becoming a Block Captain, please fill out the form at http://tinyurl.com/blockcaptainsurvey and someone from the Cambridge Energy Alliance will be in contact with you shortly. If you know someone who might be interested, please let them know about this opportunity!
Questions? Contact jnahigian at cambridgema.gov
Cambridge Energy Alliance
http://www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org/winit
@cambenergy
http://facebook.com/cambridgeenergyalliance
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Sunny Cambridge has just launched! Sunny Cambridge is the city-wide initiative that makes it easy for all types of residents to get solar power for their homes. Cambridge has lined up local solar installers through the EnergySage Solar Marketplace, which helps you request, receive, and compare solar quotes 100% online with support available every step of the way.
The City of Cambridge is working on many levels to reduce energy use and GHG emissions to make the city more sustainable. As a semifinalist in the nationwide competition for the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize, Cambridge Energy Alliance is encouraging residents to take actions to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Get involved by signing up for a no-cost home energy assessment at the Cambridge Energy Alliance home page (www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org/winit)
and going solar at http://www.sunnycambridge.org
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Cambridge Coalition Solar Access Campaign is part of the DOE SunShot Solar in Your Community Challenge with a goal of 40 new solar electric systems installed in Cambridge, with a focus on serving low-to-moderate income communities.
Coalition partners include Green Cambridge, which works to create a more sustainable city and to protect the environment for the health and safety of all, Resonant Energy, a community-based solar developer, Solstice, helping every single household in America go solar, and Sunwealth, a solar investment firm.
More information at http://www.resonant.energy/sap-overview/
hat tip Cambridge Civic Journal
http://www.rwinters.com
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Resource
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Cambridge Climate Change Game
Extending our work on face-to-face games, the MIT Science Impact Collaborative has developed a digital game on the health impacts of climate change that you can play alone on your computer or on your mobile phone. The game should take about 10-20 minutes. We would appreciate it if you could play the game at your convenience.
Play the game at http://www.doublecoconut.com/climate/
Any and all feedback on the game should be directed to Ella Kim at ella at mit.edu.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
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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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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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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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Boston Maker Spaces - 41 (up from 27 in 2016) and counting: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zGHnt9r2pQx8.kfw9evrHsKjA&hl=en
Solidarity Network Economy: https://ussolidarityeconomy.wordpress.com
Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston: http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
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Links to events at over 50 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/
Harvard Events: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/
Harvard Environment: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
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
Cambridge Community Calendar: https://www.cctvcambridge.org/calendar
Take Action MA: http://takeactionma.com
If you have an event you would like to see here, the submission deadline is 12 PM on Sundays, as Energy (and Other) Events is sent out Sunday afternoons.
More information about the Act-MA
mailing list