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Northwestern University

past-events-2021-2022

Lectures at Lunch for Staff

There is remarkable research and scholarship that surrounds us every day at Northwestern University. Weinberg College staff members host an ongoing series of faculty talks given especially for staff where there is plenty of opportunity to ask questions, discuss, and learn about what the scholars we work with do, and the new knowledge that they create.

We are excited to present this year's schedule below.  All talks are from Noon-1:00pm unless otherwise stated. More events are forthcoming.  

2021-2022 Schedule

Faculty Department or Field Date  Room Title of Talk
Aaron Greicius

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

Thursday, May 5, 2022
Noon - 1pm
Recording for Northwestern Authorized Users Rigid Motions in Mathematics and Music: Preserving Shape in Sound

A rigid motion is an operation that preserves the distance between points. Usually introduced in the context of planar geometry, the notion is quite general and can be applied to any set with a decent notion of distance defined on it. After investigating some interesting general properties of rigid motions, we will look at how they show up in musical composition and analysis. Musical examples will abound. 

Pamela Bannos

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF ART THEORY AND PRACTICE

Wednesday,
March 2, 2022 
Noon - 1 pm

Recording for Northwestern Authorized Users

On Seeing and Believing

My students generally don’t believe photographs, blaming digital imaging and Photoshop software for their skepticism. But since its inception, photography has deceived and photographers have explored ideas of ‘truth.’ From the work of 19th century daguerreotypists to today’s conceptual artists; and from optical lens distortion to Internet hoaxes, photography has always been confounding. This presentation will introduce five themes that explore photography’s troubled relationship with truth and the gap between seeing and believing.

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Michelle Driscoll

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

Wednesday,
January 19, 2022 
Noon - 1 pm

 not recorded

 

Complex fluids: a liquid, a solid, and everything in-between

Complex fluids are all around us - toothpaste, peanut butter, makeup, and shaving cream are all common examples. These materials are called 'complex fluids' because they can behave both like solids or like liquids, depending on what kind of forces are applied to them.  My work involves subjecting these materials to extremely high forces and using high-speed photography to look at the results. I will show that this leads to these materials breaking apart, flopping around, and in general behaving in beautiful and surprising ways.

Kate Masur

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DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Thursday, November 11, 2021
Noon – 1:00 PM

Watch recording

Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction

Kate Masur will discuss her recent scholarship on the struggle over racial equality in the North in the decades between the American Revolution and the Civil War, and how it shaped federal policy during Reconstruction.

Science Salon & Humanities Hour committee members: 

For information contact: Nancy Hickey

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