Weekly Bulletin

Science and Mathematics in the Renaissance conference is March 9

A conference on "Science and Mathematics in the Renaissance," chaired by Brian Ogilivie, associate professor of History, is being held Saturday, March 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.at the Renaissance Center, 650 East Pleasant St.

Ogilivie will present "Beasts, Birds, and Insects; or, How Renaissance Europeans Thought About Bugs." He will be joined by Surekha Davies, Western Connecticut State University, who will speak on "Making Knowledge About Giants," and Marjorie Senechal of Smith College, who will discuss "The New Math and Why it Mattered." Mark Peterson of Mount Holyoke College will present

Speaker tackles how to avoid 'Drowning in Data'

Scott Long of Indiana University will give a lecture about the workflow of data analysis on Thursday, March 7 at 4 p.m. in 904-08 Campus Center.

“Drowning in Data? The Workflow of Data Analysis” is about the workflow of data analysis, which encompasses the entire process of scientific research: planning, documenting and organizing work; creating, labeling, naming and verifying variables; performing and presenting statistical analyses; preserving work; and (perhaps, most importantly) producing replicable results. Most work in statistics classes focuses on estimating and interpreting models.

Gordon lectures on cult of violence in Western political thought

Daniel Gordon, professor of History and associate dean of Commonwealth Honors College, will speak on "The Fatal Truth: The Cult of Violence in Western Political Thought" on Tuesday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.

After the Newtown school shooting, the status of violence continues to be widely discussed and examined. Some disavow "an eye for an eye" and all forms of violence completely, while others accept violence as a necessary means to be kept in proportion to its ends. The history of ideas about violence shows a tradition that idealizes violence as a good in itself.

Panel discusses local food systems

The Food Access Research and Engagement (FARE) Partnership is hosting a panel discussion, “Local Foods: Cultivating an Economy, an Industry or a Movement?,” on Wednesday, March 6 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in 165-69 Campus Center.

Each panelist comes from a different department on campus, bringing a unique and valuable perspective on local food systems. The panelists are:

  • Nancy Cohen, professor and head of the Nutrition Department
  • Eric Decker, professor of Food Science
  • John Gerber, professor of Sustainable Food and Farming

M.V.

Brabec explores land-use culture, policies in Gullah communities

Professor Elizabeth Brabec, Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, will present a talk titled “Commonage in Private Holdings: Land Use and Land Ownership in the Gullah Communities of South Carolina” on Monday, March 4 at noon in 620 Thompson.
 
Brabec’s research focuses on land conservation and the design and planning of sustainable open space, complemented with a strong interest in culture and the historical basis of landscape form. She studies minority community planning and also teaches a real estate law course.
 
This lecture is part of the Center for Public Policy and

Historian to lecture on rise and decline of American democracy

Historian Robin D.G. Kelley, award-winning African-American scholar and History Department writer-in-residence, will speak Tuesday, March 5 in the Student Union’s Cape Cod Lounge beginning at 4 p.m.
 
Kelley’s talk is titled “The Long Rise and Short Decline of American Democracy.”
 
The author of seven books on urban American culture, including “Yo Mama’s Disfunktional: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America,” “Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of An American Original” and “Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class,” Kelley is Gary B.

Researcher speaks on challenges to secular feminist activism in Pakistan

Afiya S. Zia, a feminist researcher and activist based in Karachi, Pakistan, speaks on "Challenges to Secular Feminist Activism: The 'War on Terror' and Islamic Politics in Pakistan" on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 5-7 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge of the Student Union.

Zia will trace the backlash against the liberal and secular women's movement as betrayers of the Muslim (male) cause. She will also discuss the misguided prescription of academic and developmental projects that advocate the instrumentalization of Islam as an appropriate and "authentic" approach in Muslim contexts.

Story lectures on Jonathan Edwards at Renaissance Center

Ronald Story will deliver a lecture concerning Jonathan Edwards as part of the Renaissance Wednesday Lecture Series on March 6 at 4 p.m. at the Renaissance Center.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

View a conversation with Ronald Story, author of  "Jonathan Edwards and the Gospel of Love"
 
The Renaissance Center is located at 650 East Pleasant St. and can be reached at 577-3600.

Campus employees eligible for discount at Juniper Summer Writing Institute

The MFA Program for Poets and Writers, one of the nation's oldest and finest creative writing programs, will host its 10th annual Juniper Summer Writing Institute and eighth annual Institute for Young Writers from June 23-29. UMass employees and campus community members are invited to apply and receive a special discount.

The Juniper Summer Writing Institute offers a week of workshops in poetry, fiction, and memoir, craft sessions, readings, and manuscript consultations with world-renowned faculty and writers in residence including Mark Doty, Joy Williams, Dara Wier, Anthony Doerr, D.A.

Brady discuses contemplative pedagogy in STEM talk

Richard Brady, founder and director of Minding Your Life; Mindfulness in Teaching and Learning, will speak on “Learning to Stop, Stopping to Learn: Discovering the Contemplative Dimension" at a Tuesday STEM Talk on Tuesday, March 5 at 4 p.m. in 138 Hasbrouck.

Contemplative pedagogy is a young and growing approach in American education. It invites new possibilities for the emergence of creativity and promotes depth of understanding and a more personal relationship with course content. The path to contemplative learning is different for each educator who travels it.

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