Hilldale Lecture in the Arts & Humanities, 2018-2019
Professor Thomas Mullaney
Associate Professor of Chinese History at Standford University
“Asymmetries in Global Information and Language Technology, 1800 to the Present”
Thursday, November 15, 4:30 p.m.
Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street
One could never simply “install” an Arabic typewriter, or “turn on” a Chinese word processor. Each required engineers, language reformers, and everyday practitioners to engage in long, often anxiety-ridden, and always asymmetric engagements with Latin alphabet-centric technologies, with the result often being the dramatic transformations of the Non-Western script in question (but, quite often, often with the subtle transformation of the technology as well). Prof. Mullaney will argue that it is time that the historiography, archives, and theorization of “information” reflects this history, its global dimensions, and the asymmetries that continue to be embedded therein.
Hilldale Lecture in the Biological Sciences in 2018-2019
Professor Alim Louis Benabid, MD, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Biophysics at Joseph Fourier University
“Is there a future for Brain Computer Interface and Artificial Intelligence in Neurosurgery during the next decade? Yes, of course!”
Thursday, October 4, 2018, 2:30 p.m.
1335 Health Science Learning Center
750 Highland Ave
Dr. Benabid is the inventor of stimulation of brain nuclei for functional disorders such as Parkinson’s and movement disorders. This work is gradually being extended to other areas of functional decline of the brain. In Dr. Benabid’s lecture he will expand the future of the brain computer interface and artificial intelligence for its potential for treatment of congenital and neurodegenerative disorders with implications for such other issues as stroke and trauma. As the 2014 Lasker Award winner, he is one of the most highly honored people in applied neuroscience.
Hilldale Lecture in the Physical Sciences, 2018-2019
CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS
Professor John Sutherland,
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge University:
Origins of Life Systems Chemistry
Thursday, September 27, 2018, 4:30 p.m.
Department of Chemistry,
Seminar Hall #1315, 1101 University Avenue
We don’t see life starting in any of the diverse environments now found on Earth, so the chances are that it was a different environment on early Earth that was conducive to life. One could guess at the environment and then use laboratory simulation to investigate its chemistry. An alternative approach is to explore chemistry in an unconstrained way to try and find out if all the molecules needed to kick-start biology can be made under similar conditions. If these conditions correspond to an environment on early Earth then that environment is strongly implicated and can further guide chemical investigations. I will demonstrate how conditions on Hadean-Archean Earth could have set the stage for the transition from chemistry to biology.
Hilldale Lecture in the Social Sciences, 2018-2019
information to follow soon.