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The Core Connections Lecture Series in spring 2006 will explore the theme of "The Art of Science/The Science of Art."
Speakers include Yale University scholar Jim Sleeper, MIT political scientist Melissa Nobles, Shroud of Turin scholar Sr. Mary Virginia Orna, economist Jonathan Harris, and best-selling writer Dava Sobel, author of Galileo's Daughter.
For more information, contact Elizabeth De Wolfe, chair, Department of History, associate professor of American studies and Eleanor DeWolfe Ludcke ‘26 Honorary Chair of Liberal Studies, at 207 283-0170 extension 2322. Core Connections website.
February 14
Jim Sleeper, Yale University
St. Francis Room, UC, noon; Ludcke Auditorium, WCC, 7 p.m.
Mr. Sleeper is a former journalist and is now instructor of political science at Yale University. Author of The Closest of Strangers, an account of racial politics in New York City and, more recently, Liberal Racism, Mr. Sleeper will subject some of the well-intentioned efforts at racial amelioration to critical analysis.
March 7
Melissa Nobles, MIT
Room TBA, noon UC|
Melissa Nobles is associate professor of political science. Her book Shades of Citizenship: Race and the Census in Modern Politics (Stanford University Press, 2000) examines the political origins and consequences of racial categorization in demographic censuses in the United States and Brazil. Professor Nobles is currently completing a book-length manuscript that examines the political uses of official apologies in comparative perspective, focusing on Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Currently titled, “The Past is Present: Official Apologies and Multicultural Citizenship,” the book explores why minority groups demand such apologies and why governments give them (or not). She argues that official apologies are tactics used in larger political strategies to alter the terms and meanings of political membership. As tactics, official apologies are employed by groups and states, for shared and competing purposes.
April 6
Sr. Mary Virginia Orna, College of New Rochelle
"The Shroud of Turin and Other Mysteries: Uncoververing Traces of the Past through Science."
Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, UC, noon
Applications of the methods of archaeological chemistry can help scientists and non-scientist alike to appreciate our recent and ancient past. This talk will examine several laboratory techniques in the case of the Shroud of Turin, which is said by many to be the winding sheet of Christ. The present theories regarding the Shroud - their pros and cons-will be discussed.
April 19
Jonathan Harris
Ecological and Economic Perspectives on Global Issues: Resolving the Contradictions
St Francis Room, noon UC
Ecologists and economists often seem to be in disagreement about the nature of global environmental problems, and the appropriate response to them. These different perspectives arise from differing conceptual models and methodological approaches. But to resolve problems which threaten the global future, elements of both ecological and economic paradigms are needed. Dr. Harris will discuss how the emerging field of ecological economics attempts to combine insights from different disciplines to repond to issues such as global climate change, population growth, and energy use in the twenty-first century.
April 20
Dava Sobel, science writer
"The Art of Writing Science" (tentative title)
St. Francis Room, noon UC
Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and the recently published collection of essays, The Planets, will discuss the art and challenges of writing about science and the history of science for a general audience. A booksigning will precede the lecture.
(Press release issued Jan. 19, 2006)
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