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.
| 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. |
|
|
DEPARTMENT OF ART THEORY AND PRACTICE |
Wednesday, |
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. |
|
|
|
Wednesday, |
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. |
|
|
|
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY |
Thursday, November 11, 2021 |
|
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:
- Sandra Siepka - Molecular Biosciences
- Sarah Muir Ferrer - Chicago Field Studies
- Beth Clifford Smith – Weinberg Administration
- Jennie Woodring – Psychology
- Nancy Hickey – Anthropology
- Pam Beck – Chemistry
- Christy Anderson - Economics
For information contact: Nancy Hickey