Christopher F. Chabris, an assistant professor of psychology, reviewed "The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution," by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending for the Wall Street Journal.
Chabris joined Union in the fall of 2007. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University, where he was a research associate and lecturer. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Ig Nobel Prize in Psychology and the NARSAD Young Investigator Award. Research interests include individual differences in human cognition and their relationship to brain function and structure; visual cognition; and behavioral economics and cognitive biases.
To read his review, click here (registration may be required).
Mike Clarke ’11 spent two weeks in Africa last summer on a missionary trip, and the people he met there changed his life. Now, back at Union and half-a-world away, he’s trying to do the same for them.
His goal: Build a library for a small village outside Accra, Ghana, a place where the things we take for granted – shoes, eyeglasses, a good education – are luxuries.
“I learned from people in Ghana that education is one of the best means for overcoming the hardships so many of the people face there,” Clarke said.
The library would be part of the village’s Redemption Hour Christian School, where Clarke spent most of his time.
"I became really close with the teachers and the kids,” Clarke said. “They really touched me. Their enduring spirit of happiness and optimism is amazing.”
Clarke will speak about his experience in Ghana and his efforts to build the library Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in Golub House. Next Thursday and Friday, March 5 and 6, he will set up a table in Reamer Campus Center to collect monetary donations as well as books and eyeglasses.
“If there’s extra money, I’ll buy shoes for the kids. None of them have shoes that fit or are the same on each foot,” he said.
ThroughMarch 1 Mandeville Gallery Nott Memorial 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition
The 10th annual show will feature select works in all mediums from students in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and southern Saratoga counties. Curated by Mandeville Gallery Director Rachel Seligman, Visual Arts Prof. Fernando Orellana and Theater Prof. Charles Steckler. Closing reception Sunday, March 1, 1-3 p.m. Also, reception set for Friday,Feb. 20, 5-7 p.m., in conjunction with Art Night Schenectady.
Through March 2 Wikoff Student Gallery Nott Memorial Slow Motion
Images by Dan Phakos ’11, co-sponsored by the departments of Physics and Visual Arts.
Arts Atrium exhibit by James McGarrell, “Orbiana Oliveto,” a suite of monotype drawings by the Vermont artist with related poems by noted poet Rosanna Warren, as well as a selection of small paintings.
Through March 13 Arts Atrium Gallery
Visual Arts Department Works by James McGarrell
Features “Orbiana Oliveto,” a suite of monotype drawings by internationally prominent artist James McGarrell with related poems by noted poet Rosanna Warren, as well as a selection of small paintings. McGarrell will speak Thursday, March 5, 2 p.m., in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium, followed by an artists' reception in the Arts Atrium, 4:30-6 p.m. Warren will give a poetry reading 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Visual Arts Room 215. Events are co-sponsored by departments of Visual Arts and English.
John Bigelow (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress and dated between 1855-1865.) Union College magazine, spring 2008
Through March 24 Schaffer Library Atrium Union Notables
The third Union Notables exhibit, a rotating show of extraordinary people from the College, features John Bigelow, Class of 1835; Sue J. Goldie, ’84; and Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Union faculty member from 1902 to 1923.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson will deliver the keynote address, “Union College’s Role in the Abolitionist Movement,” at Founders Day Thursday, Feb. 26 at 12:45 p.m. in Memorial Chapel. The event commemorates the 214th anniversary of the granting of the College’s charter by the state.
During the ceremony, the College will unveil a portrait of Moses Viney, a runaway slave from Maryland who escaped to Schenectady on the Underground Railroad. Viney was a coachman, messenger and constant companion of Union President Eliphalet Nott, who eventually secured his freedom.
Viney’s portrait is by Simmie Knox, a renowned African-American artist who has painted the official White House portraits of former President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and other political and cultural figures.
Jared M. Gourrier ’10 will discuss Viney’s life and his role as a central figure on campus.
James McPherson Founders Day Moses Viney
McPherson, a Civil War historian, is the George Henry Davis ’86 Professor of American History Emeritus at Princeton University. He has authored 11 books, including “Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era," which received the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. His latest book, “Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief,” was recently awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize.
Also at Founders Day, Daniel Frio, a history teacher at Wayland High School in Massachusetts, will receive the Gideon Hawley Teacher Recognition Award. Frio was nominated by Priscilla Wright ’12. The award is named for the 1809 graduate of Union who was New York state’s first superintendent of public education.
Two students, seniors Adrienne B. Hart and Alexander H. Schlosberg, are to receive the Hollander Prize for Music, and will provide a musical interlude.
The Founders Day convocation is the first in a series of events to commemorate Union’s role in the abolitionist movement.
The College will host “The Underground Railroad, Its Legacies and Our Communities,” the eighth annual Underground Railroad History Conference, at College Park Hall Feb. 27-29.
In addition, a Schaffer Library exhibit, “Abolitionism and the Struggle for African-American Freedom: The Union College Experience,” chronicles the College’s involvement in the struggle for African-American freedom. It will include an 18th century sermon against the keeping of “negros” by Union College President Jonathan Edwards the Younger, photographs of Moses Viney, and copies of Union’s African-American student newspapers from the 1970s.
Thursday, Feb. 19- Sunday, March 1 / Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial / 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition; 10th annual show featuring select works from students in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and southern Saratoga counties
Thursday, Feb. 19, 12:50-1:50 p.m. / Hale House, Everest Lounge / Rapaport Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative workshop lunch featuring Prof. Anastasia Pease on "Delight and Instruct with the World Wide Web: Teaching Ethics Across the Curriculum Using Online Resources”; discussion to follow. All faculty, administrators and staff invited, with lunch served. RSVP: peasea@union.edu
Thursday, Feb. 19, 4:30 p.m. / Shaffer Library, Phi Beta Kappa Room / Philosophy Speaker Series presents: Cristina LaFont of Northwestern University on “Religion and the Public Sphere: What are the Deliberative Obligations of Democratic Citizenship?” LaFont specializes in German philosophy, particularly hermeneutics and critical theory. She is author of “The Linguistic Turn in Hermeneutic Philosophy (MIT Press, 1999) and Heidegger, Language, and World-disclosure (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
Art Night Schenectady
Friday, Feb. 20, 5 p.m –9 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery and downtown Schenectady establishments / Art Night Schenectady
Friday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s hockey vs. Colgate (ECAC contest); with "Pink at the Rink" fundraiser
Friday, Feb. 20 – Monday, Feb. 23, 10 p.m. / Reamer Auditorium / Film Series: "Quantum of Solace"
Saturday, Feb. 21, 4 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s hockey vs. Cornell (ECAC contest); with "Pink at the Rink" fundraiser
Thursday, Feb. 26, 12:45 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Founders Day ceremonies commemorate the 214th anniversary of the granting of the College's charter and celebrate Union's role in the 19th-century abolitionist movement. To include unveiling of a portrait of Moses Viney, escaped slave whose freedom was secured by Union President Eliphalet Nott
Thursday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. / Nott Memorial / Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary, speaks on “Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Journey to the Common Good,” a consideration of how the "master narrative" of the Hebrew Bible serves as a guide and summons toward the common good. From 1986 to his retirement in 2000, Brueggeman was the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at the theological seminary. Co-sponsored by the Campus Protestant Ministry, Capital Region Theological Center, Office of Campus Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Lamont Funds, UNITAS, Hillel, Religious Studies and the Minervas. For more information, contact Victoria Brooks at brooksmv@union.edu
Friday, Feb. 27- Sunday, March 1 / College Park Hall / The Office of the President and the History Department present: “The Underground Railroad: Its Legacies and Our Communities”; organized by the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region Inc. Workshops will be held during the event and are open to students, faculty and staff. Student cost $10 for Saturday workshops, $25 includes lunch. Faculty/staff cost: $35 for Saturday workshops, $50 includes lunch. Registration deadline Friday, Feb. 20. Visit www.ugrworkshop.com or e-mail info@ugrworkshop.com
Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. St. Lawrence (ECAC contest)
Saturday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Clarkson (ECAC contest)
Sunday, March 1, 1-3 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial / 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition closing reception
Sunday, March 1, 3 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Union College and the Community Orchestra with conductor Victor Klimash in “Winter 2009…The Big Chill.”
“Theatre of Worlds: The Voyage”
winter dance concert 2009
Monday, March 2, 5:30 p.m. / Nott Memorial / 2009 Wold Lecture on Religion and Conflict presents "Religion and International Relations in the Obama Administration" The Aftermath and the Anticipation," with Jack Miles, the Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies, University of California at Irvine, and Senior Fellow of Religious Affairs with the Pacific Council on International Policy. Reception at 5 p.m.
Thursday, March 5 through Saturday, March 7, 8 p.m.; also, March 7-8, 2 p.m. / The Yulman Theater / Winter Dance Concert, “The Theatre of Worlds: The Voyage”; tickets on sale now; call 388-6545
