Nassau notes
Majora Carter (photo: Courtesy of MacArthur Foundation)
Carter to speak on environmental justice
Environmental justice advocate Majora Carter will speak about the work of her community organization, Sustainable South Bronx, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, in 302 Frist Campus Center. The talk is part of a new collaboration between the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) and the Center for African American Studies focusing on environmental justice issues.
A lifelong resident of the South Bronx, Carter founded the organization in 2001 to promote innovative projects related to land use, energy, transportation, water, waste and education — seeking to advance the environmental and economic growth of the South Bronx and to inspire similar solutions across the nation and around the world.
Carter, who serves as executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2005 for her work in urban revitalization. After her lecture, she will engage in a discussion with Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor of politics and African American studies. The lecture is cosponsored by the University Center for Human Values.
Carter’s talk is part of an effort launched this year by PEI and the Center for African American Studies to raise awareness of how environmental issues disproportionately affect poor communities and to take an interdisciplinary approach to exploring solutions.
Upcoming events scheduled as part of the initiative include a screening of the final two parts of Spike Lee’s documentary on Hurricane Katrina, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov.16, in 10 East Pyne. A conference planned for April will bring together leading scholars and community-based activists to examine a broad range of issues relating to environmental justice.
Also as part of the collaboration, political scientist Kim Smith of Carleton College is spending this year at Princeton as a visiting professor in PEI and the Center for African American Studies. She and Harris-Lacewell will teach a seminar on environmental justice this spring.
Salzburg Marionette Theatre (courtesy of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre)
Salzburg Marionette Theatre coming to McCarter
The famed Salzburg Marionette Theatre will bring its new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” to the McCarter Theatre Center at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12.
Since its founding in 1913, the group has toured the world with performances of Mozart operas and fairy tales such as “Hansel and Gretel.” Its production of “The Sound of Music” is set to a new recording of the full score and is voiced by a cast of Tony Award-nominated Broadway performers. Ticket information can be obtained by calling the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or visiting www.mccarter.org.
Symposium presents array of research
Graduate students and research staff members representing a broad array of disciplines will present their work in the Princeton Research Symposium from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, in the Friend Center.
The event will include opening remarks by Kerry Walk, director of the Princeton Writing Program, at 9 a.m. and a keynote address on “Electronic Voting: Danger and Opportunity” by Edward Felten, professor of computer science and public affairs and director of the Center of Information Technology Policy, at 4 p.m. The talks will be held in 4 Friend.
Posters explaining various research projects will be displayed in the Friend Center Convocation Room during the symposium, and researchers will talk with attendees about their work. Research topics will include: secrets about a centuries-old shipwreck; valuation of employee stock options; bribery in classical Athens; the social life of bacteria; and a new type of laser.
The symposium is designed to provide local community members with access to research at Princeton and to promote dialogue across disciplines among academics at the University. Advance registration is encouraged. To register, visit www.princeton.edu/~prs.
The event is sponsored by the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni, the Graduate School, the Graduate Student Government, the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, the Pace Center and the Princeton Writing Program.
Talk examines mediocrity in medicine
Noted surgeon and author Atul Gawande will examine the causes of medical error and discuss ways to improve medical care in a lecture scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, in McCosh 10. His talk is titled “Mediocrity and Its Causes: A Surgeon’s Notes on Medical Performance.”
Gawande is the author of “Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science,” which was a National Book Award finalist, and “Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance,” which focuses on the intersection of surgery and public health. He is a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and a general surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. A recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2006, he also is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a columnist for the New England Journal of Medicine.
Gawande is the principal investigator of a study on the causes of medical error and, in collaboration with other physicians, is formulating policies that would improve surgical care both in the United States and developing countries. As life expectancy increases within poorer nations, he is particularly interested in the policy transition from infectious disease prevention to the treatment of noncommunicable illness such as heart disease and cancer.
The talk, designated as the Walter E. Edge Lecture, is part of the University Public Lectures Series.
Ansel Adams, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941”
Four versions of Ansel Adams’ “Moonrise” on view at the Art Museum
Four markedly different versions of Ansel Adams’ iconic photograph, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941” are on view at the Princeton University Art Museum.
The variety of prints reflects Adams’ aesthetic development and the changing appearance of his most widely known work within the context of photography’s rise to fine-art status in the postwar era. The exhibition, “Ansel Adams, ‘Moonrise’: Print the Legend,” runs through Jan. 13.
U.S.-Pakistan relationship is lecture topic
The U.S. and Pakistan: Building Trust When It Matters” is the subject of a lecture by international security analyst Frederick Barton at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, in 16 Robertson Hall.
Barton is co-director of the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project and senior adviser of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He previously was the Frederick H. Schultz Professor of Economic Policy and a lecturer of public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Barton also has served as United Nations deputy high commissioner for refugees in Geneva and as the first director of the Office of Transition Initiatives at the U.S. Agency for International Development, managing humanitarian and development assistance for the Philippines, Rwanda, Bosnia and Haiti.
The Wilson School is sponsoring the lecture.
Experimental musician Bithell to discuss work
Experimental musician David Bithell will speak about his work and perform some of his compositions at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, in Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall.
Bithell’s work focuses on the intersection between experimental music and theater. His genre-bending performances and compositions reflect a commitment to exposing audiences to new media.
Bithell has performed throughout the United States and in Europe in both academic and public settings. His composition “The President Has His Photograph Taken” — which features a solo trumpet, electronics and video projection — recently premiered at the Is Arts Festival in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Bithell is the trumpet player for and co-organizer of the sfSoundGroup, a West Coast experimental music collective, and co-organizer of the sfSoundSeries, an innovative series of new music and improvisation. He is an assistant professor of composition studies at the University of North Texas.
The event is sponsored by the /@rts (“slash arts”) lecture series.
Xerox technology chief to discuss innovation
Renowned engineer and innovator Sophie Vandebroek, chief technology officer for the Xerox Corp., will discuss “Xerox Innovation” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, in the Friend Center Convocation Room.
Vandebroek, who also serves as president of the Xerox Innovation Group, is responsible for overseeing the company’s worldwide research centers and maximizing its multimillion-dollar investment in research and technology.
The event is the second lecture in this year’s “Leadership in a Technological World” series, which is sponsored by Princeton’s Center for Innovation in Engineering Education and underwritten by the William Pierson Field Lectureship Fund.
