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Apr
3
Ritual and Anxiety: Evidence from the Lab and the Field 1:15pm
Ritual and Anxiety: Evidence from the Lab and the Field
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
Ritual behavior is a ubiquitous aspect of human behavior and although commonly associated with religion, it extends to a variety of other contexts. Anthropologists have long argued that rituals may function to reduce anxiety but empirical evidence has been scarce. The speaker’s research uses an interdisciplinary approach by combining ethnographic and experimental methods in both laboratory and real- life settings. Presented by Dimitris Xygalatas, Associate Professor, Depts. of Anthropology and Psychology Science, UConn
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Apr
4
What Happens when Dollar Stores Come to Town? Impacts on Local Grocery Stores 1:15pm
What Happens when Dollar Stores Come to Town? Impacts on Local Grocery Stores
Thursday, April 4th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
Dollar stores are the fastest growing grocery retailers, becoming dominant in rural and low- income communities. This class focuses on their impacts on sales, employment, and viability of independent grocery stores in those communities, and also discusses implications for nutritional quality and other forces shaping evolving grocery retailing. Taught by Rigoberto Lopez, Professor Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UConn
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Apr
9
Making the World Better by Rethinking What Kindness Is, Who Should Receive It, and How 1:15pm
Making the World Better by Rethinking What Kindness Is, Who Should Receive It, and How
Tuesday, April 9th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
The speaker shares some of his thoughts about what is needed for us to rethink the who, what, and how of kindness necessary to build a kinder world. To that end he offers a large, robust, and politically engaged reconceptualization of kindness to its rightful place at the center of the big and important Enlightenment- era intellectual and political debates. Taught by Noel Cazenave, Professor of Sociology, UConn
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Apr
11
Sinjar 1:15pm
Sinjar
Thursday, April 11th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
In her book the author relates the tragic events of August 2014 that compelled U.S. President Barack Obama to redeploy the US military to Iraq. Confronted with the potential collapse of the country as well as the unfolding genocide of the Yazidi people, the US military undertook operations to rout the Islamic State, simultaneously commencing a humanitarian operation airdropping aid to 50,000 starving Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar. Taught by Susan Shand, journalist and author
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Apr
17
“The Couriers” Usher in the Age of Enchantment 1:15pm
“The Couriers” Usher in the Age of Enchantment
Wednesday, April 17th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
For 30 years the speaker has worked professionally in Site- Specific Theatre as an actor, director, and playwright. Her most recent play, “The Couriers,” is set in the Southwest during the late 1920s and is representative of her unique process of site script construction. Taught by Jennifer Cobb, Professor of Acting, ECSU
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Apr
18
Helping Injured Veterans to Succeed 1:15pm
Helping Injured Veterans to Succeed
Thursday, April 18th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
Work Vessels for Veterans is a nonprofit charitable organization with the mission to award critical equipment and direct services to America’s injured veterans to they may start a business or pursue career education. Since 2008 more than 3,000 vets in all 50 states have received $4.2 million in tools for success. Work Vessels for Vets in recognized with the highest national ratings. Taught by Cathy Cook, Executive Director, and John Niekrash, Founder
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Apr
24
Documenting the 1974 Black Student Sit-In at Wilbur Cross Library 1:15pm
Documenting the 1974 Black Student Sit-In at Wilbur Cross Library
Wednesday, April 24th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
On its 50th anniversary the speaker focuses on archival documentation to recount the Black student sit- in at UConn when students of color made their demands for change by placing their bodies on the line. This action by roughly 400 students across three days in what was the main library located at the Wilbur Cross building on the Storss Campus was among the most significant of the decade. Presented by Graham Stinnett, Archivist, Human Rights and Alternative Press Collection, Archives and Special Collections, UConn
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Apr
25
Neo- Liberal School Choice Policies: An Existential Threat to Public Schooling? 1:15pm
Neo- Liberal School Choice Policies: An Existential Threat to Public Schooling?
Thursday, April 25th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
This class helps participants understand market- based and school choice policies, including charter schools, school vouchers, and tuition tax credits, and their potential to diminish support for public education. Presented by Casey Cobb, Neag Professor of Education Policy, Neag School of Education, UConn
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May
1
Appreciating the Bones of Connecticut’s Landscape 1:15pm
Appreciating the Bones of Connecticut’s Landscape
Wednesday, May 1st, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
This talk takes its title from a UConn Today article featuring ten short essays published for a special edition of Connecticut Magazine. A series of short readings from the essays in the speaker’s slide- show presentation will likely lead the audience to see the landscape in a new way. Presented by Robert Thorson, Professor of Earth Sciences, UConn
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May
2
The Baloney Detection in the Era of Misinformation 1:15pm
The Baloney Detection in the Era of Misinformation
Thursday, May 2nd, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
Arm yourself to ward off sketchy sales pitches and fake news. Critical thinking and skepticism are under- appreciated skills. 2024 marks the 28th anniversary of Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit. This talk discusses how to use the kit to analyze news stories, scientific claims, and advertising. Buckle up for an interesting year. Presented by Elizabeth Cowles, Professor and Chair, Biology Dept., ECSU
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May
8
OK Boomer: Misconceptions about Generational Differences 1:15pm
OK Boomer: Misconceptions about Generational Differences
Wednesday, May 8th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
First there were baby boomers, then Gen X and Millennials and now there is Generation Alpha! This talk discusses some of the research that debunks the mythology behind generational differences, the problems with how generations are defined and labeled, and why “what’s wrong with these kids today” is probably the wrong question. Presented by Peter Bachiochi, Professor of Psychological Science, ECSU
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May
15
The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic 1:15pm
The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic
Wednesday, May 15th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
The speaker’s new book is a groundbreaking, expansive new account of Reconstruction that fundamentally alters our view of this formative period in American history, 1860- 1920. Presented by Manisha Sinha, Draper Chair in American History, UConn
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May
16
Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mas Killing 1:15pm
Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mas Killing
Thursday, May 16th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
Who are the killers on the frontlines of genocide and how do they come to such extraordinary evil? Based on interviews with over 225 rank- and- file perpetrators, this talk focuses on the ordinary origins of these killers and the processes by which they become capable of such atrocities. Understanding these processes is vial to preventing the future occurrence of genocide. Presented by James Waller, Director, Dodd Human Rights Impact Program, UConn
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May
21
Tales from the Sea: Labor Market Explanations for the Decline of New England Whaling 1:15pm
Tales from the Sea: Labor Market Explanations for the Decline of New England Whaling
Tuesday, May 21st, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
The New England whaling industry dominated global whaling for the first half of the 19th century and then saw sustained decline, coming to an end in the 1920s even as global demand for the products of whaling remained high. This research examines the history of New England whaling and the labor market factors that led to its death. Presented by Niti Pandey, Professional Studies, ECSU
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May
22
Towards Plant- Based Plastics 1:15pm
Towards Plant- Based Plastics
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
This talk, tailored for general audiences, briefly introduces the chemistry behind plastics, discusses approaches for making protein- based plastics, and presents recent research on plant- derived proteins for making plastics. Presented by Chilalla Kumar, Chemistry Dept., UConn
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May
30
An Indigenous Scientist’s Journey to Studying Fish and Gut Microbes 1:15pm
An Indigenous Scientist’s Journey to Studying Fish and Gut Microbes
Thursday, May 30th, 2024
01:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
An Inupiaq microbiologist, evolutionary biologist, and ecotoxicologist shares her journey from a small Alaskan Arctic town to a professorship at UConn. She also discusses how her research interests changed from bacterial toxins to parasites to how microbes in the gut stimulate growth and what happens when those microbes encounter ecotoxicants like crude oil and plastics. Presented by Kat Milligan- McClellan, Professor of Microbiology, UConn
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Jun
6
The Question of Utopia 10:15am
The Question of Utopia
Thursday, June 6th, 2024
10:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Vernon Cottage, UConn Depot Campus
Throughout the history of human thought artists, philosophers and political theorists have envisioned Utopian societies. The concept of an ideal intentional society that represents the best in human possibility may be an aspirational goal but can also serve as a form of social criticism without having to be achievable reality. A second meaning of utopia is the perfect society that nowhere exists and never could. This course traces the origins of the utopian concept and follows its career in seminal moments of human history, and also considers notion that we may well have reached the end of history. Taught by Jerry Phillips, Dept. of English, UConn