The Leading Edge

Events

Monday, April 20

Change Comes from Within: Coming of Age in Prison— Michelle Inderbitzin, Center for the Humanities Research Fellow and Sociology faculty in OSU’s School of Public Policy, was the first in Oregon to teach in a maximum-security prison through the program Inside-Out, which takes university students behind prison walls to learn about issues of crime, justice, and policy in collaboration with inmates. In this lecture, she relates the experiences of inmates convicted of violent crimes as teens, and highlights how those who have grown up behind bars make meaning of their lives. 4 p.m., Autzen House, 811 SW Jefferson Avenue.

Larry Groupé – Emmy Award Winning Film Composer – 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. An in depth look and discussion on the current state of composing in Hollywood today. OSU Benton Hall Room 303, Free (limited seating) For more information, or to attend contact Mike Gamble mike.gamble@oregonstate.edu

Religious Rights and Human Rights — How has the promotion of religious rights figured into the larger effort to protect and advance human rights? Today’s distinguished panel explores this complicated question. Our panel, which includes Holocaust survivor Judge Thomas Buergenthal, as well as CLA professors Rena Lauer, Amy Koehlinger, Stuart Sarbacker, and Paul Kopperman, will explore the historical, philosophical, legal, and experiential dimensions of this question. Join the event on Facebook. 7 p.m. at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol, Portland, Ore.

Tuesday, April 21

Kalilah Hyman, Kelsey Fieldman, and David Kerr of the School of Psychological Science will be presenting a paper entitled, “Understanding Mood Changes in Young Women of Color,” at the OSU Health Inequities Symposium today, from 11 to 11:30 a.m., in MU 206.

Dr. Patti Watkins in the School of Psychological Science and her research assistant, Madison Gerber, will share information from their work in the Women, Weight, & Body Image lab, as well as Dr. Watkins’ Fat Studies course regarding weight bias, in college populations and weight bias as a barrier to accessing physical activity settings. The talk will be part of the OSU Health Inequities Symposium today, from 11 a.m. to noon in the MU Journey Room.

From a World of Fear to a World of Hope — Auschwitz survivor Thomas Buergenthal will speak to us about his experiences during the Holocaust, which are chronicled in his highly acclaimed memoir, A Lucky Child; as well as his legal career, during which he has labored to make international law an ever-more-effective tool in combating human rights abuses. Buergenthal has held a series of chairs in distinguished schools of law and is currently the Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at the George Washington University School of Law. He has also served as a judge on several international tribunals that deal heavily in human rights cases, including the International Court of Justice (a.k.a. “The World Court”). Sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Program at Oregon State University.  Join event on Facebook. 7:30 p.m., The LaSells Stewart Center, Austin Auditorium.

Thursday, April 23

Nuclear Environments — What are the key challenges when thinking about nuclear energy, nuclear energy, and nuclear waste? Join us for an interdisciplinary discussion with four scholars whose work explores the multifaceted dimensions of the nuclear industry at 4 p.m., or come early at 3 p.m. for refreshments and a special display of nuclear related artifacts and documents created by the Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Sponsored by the Environmental Arts and Humanities Initiative at Oregon State University. 3:00 p.m., Valley Library, 5th Floor – SCARC.

Friday, April 24

Music à la Carte: Con Grazia Wind Quintet — Rebecca Olson, flute; Victoria Racz, oboe; Jill Coykendall, clarinet; Wendy Peebles, French horn; Ann Crandall, bassoon Noon, OSU Memorial Union Lounge, Free. www.oregonchamberplayers.org/congrazia/congrazia.html.

Fifth Annual Editorial Festival — This gathering aims to engage students and community members in a discussion about contemporary writing, publishing, and media studies. This year’s theme is writing and publishing a first book. An author round table, open to all students and faculty, will take place at 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union Journey Room. At 7:30 p.m. the participating authors will give a reading in the Journey Room, open to the public, and present from their noted first books.

Upcoming Events

Visiting Artists & Lecture Series: Friending Big Brother — Artist Hasan Elahi will discuss the new normal of post 9/11 privacy and describe his experience with FBI interrogations and his subsequent creative projects. Elahi has presented his work in numerous exhibitions at venues worldwide, and has spoken at the Tate Modern, the Einstein Forum, and the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, to name a few. He is currently an associate professor of art at the University of Maryland. Wednesday, April 29, 7 p.m., The LaSells Stewart Center. A reception precedes the talk at 6 p.m.

Food Chains Film Screening & Dialogue: Feeding the Nation at Any Cost — Come join us on Tuesday April 28 at 6 p.m. in the MU Horizon Room (Room 49) for a Food Chains film screening and dialogue on food justice and farmworker’s rights. One of the producers, Smriti Keshari, will be joining us along with representatives from community organizations (PCUN, First Alternative Co-op, and more) working for a more equitable food system and farmworkers’ rights. Admission is free and the event is open to the public so bring your friends! Join the Facebook event! In this exposé, an intrepid group of Florida farmworkers battle to defeat the $4 trillion global supermarket industry through their ingenious Fair Food program, which partners with growers and retailers to improve working conditions for farm laborers in the United States.

Awards and Honors

The 2015 Roger D. Bridges Distinguished Service Award was conferred to assistant professor of history Christopher McKnight Nichols at the Organization of American Historians annual meeting in St. Louis, MO on Friday April 17, 2015.

Current Research, Publications and Creative Activity

Associate professor of philosophy Sharyn Clough presented a paper, co-authored with HDFS doctoral candidate Pamela Allen, on barriers to collaborations between scientists and philosophers: “The conflation of the philosophical with the non-empirical” at a recent meeting of theSocially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering society, in Detroit, March 27-28. Their paper was just published as “Philosophical Commitments, empirical evidence, and theoretical psychology” in the journal Theory and Psychology (2015 vol. 25[1]: 3-24).

• Clough also commented on a paper at the American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division in Vancouver Canada this last weekend. OSU Philosophy Faculty were well-represented on the conference program, with Allen Thompson and Joseph Orosco also presenting their work.
• Finally, on Tuesday Mar 31/15 the premiere on-line resource for philosophy, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, revealed a newly updated entry on Feminist Perspectives on Science where Clough’s work on values and science receives prominent attention.

Assistant professor of photography, Kerry Skarbakka’s work is currently exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Art. “Directors’ Cut: Recent Photography Gifts to the NCMA”, represents a significant addition to the Museum’s photography collection and feature iconic images by many ground-breaking photographers of the 20th century, along with innovative works by contemporary photographers. April 4, 2015- September 13, 2015. For more info, please go to: http://ncartmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/12623.

Nana Osei-Kofi (Associate Professor, Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies) recently delivered a talk based on her book project, Cultural Production and the Construction of an Afroswedish Identity, at a meeting of the Afroswedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden.