This Week at UBC: The “talk at me” edition
Each week, the Terry team will highlight events in and around campus that we happen to be interested in. As usual, the focus will be on global issues with an interdisciplinary angle. Be sure to check out events.ubc.ca for more.
There are some amazing lectures occurring at UBC this week. Usually, it’s good to supplement lectures with some hands-on experiences, maybe a workshop or an artsy film to broaden your horizons… but this week, I suggest you sit back and just let these people talk at you.
Jan 30
8-9 pm @ Coach House, Green College: Jonathan Lanman is a coordinator at the Oxford Centre for Anthropology of Mind, and he is a Visiting Post-doctoral Research Fellow at UBC for the 2011-2012 year. (Distinguished and temporary… get it while it’s hot!) He’ll be giving a talk entitled “Ritual, Community, and Conflict,” which will address a research project that is being conducted by both UBC and Oxford. This project, and Lanman’s lecture, explores the mechanisms of ritual that underpin child development, social behaviour, and the evolution of political systems.
Jan 31
8-9 pm, UBC Campus (just walk around campus and you’ll run into it… kidding. This is part of the St. John’s College Junior Fellow Speaker Series… exact location to be announced? The Magic School Bus fiend within me couldn’t resist posting about this other-worldly lecture, though at this point, I can’t tell you how to find it. But I can direct you to the Magic School Bus’s Outerspace Episode…): Mike Alexandersen will be speaking about the unknown objects in our solar system. Recently, the team he is working with has just discovered two more of Jupiter’s moons!
Feb 1
5-7 pm, Coach House, Green College: Fabio Rossi, the Canadian Research Chair in Regenerative Medicine, Bill Milsom of the UBC Zoology department, Nelly Auersperg of UBC Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Dan Weary of the UBC Animal Welfare Program will be giving a four-pronged lecture and discussion. The topic is “Who Benefits from Animal Research?”, and this series of lectures will examine various sides of the debate: What is the value for humans of animal research? What is the value for non-human animals? What role do culture and corporate interests play in the discourses on human disease and security?
Feb 2
5-7 pm: C.K. Choi Building, Room 120: The UBC Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program presents a seminar by Dr. Jan Walls: “Corporate Craving and Buddhist Compassion: Is there a Middle Ground for Buddhism in Business?” A fascinating lecture about maintaining Buddhist mindfulness amongst corporate greed. Especially since every person and their cat is now trying to embrace yoga practice, the compatibility of Buddhism with contemporary Western society is particularly pertinent. And if you go to yoga, and this doesn’t interest you, then your commitment is shallow at best…
