Professor to discuss blight resistance in tomatoes
Majid Foolad, professor of plant genetics in the Department of Horticulture, will give a presentation from 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. Feb. 27 in 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, University Park.
The presentation is "Genetics and Breeding of Early Blight Resistance in Tomato." The Department of Crop and Soil Sciences sponsored the talk. For information, call (814) 863-1615.
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Lecture tackles reflections on identity, selfhood
Diana Tietjens Meyers, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, will present "Reflections on Identity, Selfhood and Autonomous Agents" at 4 p.m. Feb. 27 in 158 Willard Building, University Park.
The event is free to the public. Go to http://rockethics.psu.edu/bios/diana_meyers.htm for information about the lecture.
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Professor to focus on 'the arrow of time'
Joel Lebowitz, the George William Hill professor of mathematics and physics and director of the Center for Mathematical Sciences Research at Rutgers University, will give the final lecture in the "It's About Time" series from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in 100 Thomas Building, University Park.
Lebowitz will talk about "The Arrow of Time: Why Can We Remember the Past but Not the Future?" The free public lecture is part of the 2004 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, an annual series designed as a free minicourse for the enjoyment and education of residents in central Pennsylvania communities.
Lebowitz will discuss one of the most intriguing questions in science, the mysterious "arrow of time." While the basic laws of physics look the same whether time runs forward or backward, the world does not. Lebowitz also will discuss how the questions about the "arrow of time" relate to basic philosophical questions about the meaning and nature of the scientific method.
Click on the Web link at http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/frontiers
for more information about the lecture series.
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Art history professor explores image of the rose
The Comparative Literature Luncheon, a weekly, informal, lunchtime gathering of students, faculty and other members of the University community, has announced the next speaker in this semester's series.
Elizabeth Smith, associate professor of art history, will discuss "Interpreting Visual Culture in the 12th Century: The Name and Image of the Rose in an Italian Church" on Monday, March 1.
The events begin with lunch from 12:15 to 12:40 p.m. in 102 Kern Building on the University Park campus. Participants may bring their own lunch or buy something in Kern Cafeteria. Coffee and tea are provided. The speaker will begin at about 12:40 p.m.
The events are free to the public.
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Curator to discuss avant-garde video artist
John G. Hanhardt, senior curator of film and media arts at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, will present a lecture, "The Worlds of Nam June Paik," at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 2, in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium of the Palmer Museum of Art, University Park.
The lecture is part of the Anderson Lecture Series in the School of Visual Arts.
In 2000, Hanhardt curated the exhibition "The Worlds of Nam June Paik" for the Guggenheim, a retrospective of the avant-garde South Korean video artist's work. Hanhardt's lecture, illustrated with slides and video excerpts from the exhibition, will examine Paik's seminal role in the development of video as an artistic medium.
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Presentation looks at discoloration of bentgrass
Jeffrey A. Borger, research support technician in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, will give a presentation from 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. March 5 in 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, University Park. The topic is "Selective Post Emergence Control of Annual Bluegrass and the Discoloration of Creeping Bentgrass." The event is sponsored by the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. For information, call (814) 863-1615.
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Screenwriter/entrepreneur to be Forum speaker
Valerie Red-Horse, screenwriter and entrepreneur, will deliver the Penn State Forum lecture at noon Tuesday, March 16, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, University Park.
The topic of her presentation is "Native American Empowerment Through Control of Our Stories and Image in the Media and Financing Control and Literacy: 'One Entrepreneur's Story â¦'"
Red-Horse produced, wrote, co-directed and starred in the film "Naturally Native." In addition to her acting and screenwriting credits, Red-Horse is involved with outreach ministries and youth workshops at reservations nationwide. She also is founder and chairman of Native Nations Asset Management/Red-Horse Securities Inc., the first American Indian award securities brokerage/investment bank, with offices in New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles.
The Penn State Forum is a lunchtime speaker series offered by the Faculty Staff Club and is sponsored in part by the Penn State Bookstore. It is open to the public. Tickets are $10 for members and $12 for non-members and include lunch. Reservations can be made by mail or by stopping by the Faculty Staff Club office at 103 HUB-Robeson Center. Tickets will be on sale at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the speech and a question-and-answer session at noon. For information or for tickets, call (814) 865-7590.
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Art activists to discuss civil disobedience and art
Brian Holmes, Paris-based art critic and activist, and Gregory Sholette, artist, writer and founding member of Political Art Documentation/Distribution and REPOhistory, will give a public lecture at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 16, in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium of the Palmer Museum of Art on the University Park campus.
The lecture, "Public Subversions: Civil Disobedience as Art/Art as Civil Disobedience," is part of the School of Visual Arts Anderson Endowment Lecture Series, and is one of a new series of national conversations organized by Public Edge.
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Panel topic is using data to improve processes
Representatives from three academic units will share their experiences in attempting to move toward more data-based approaches for strategic planning and process improvement during a meeting of the Quality Advocates' Network from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Friday, March 19, in 404 Old Main, University Park.
Participants include: John Floros, head of the Department of Food Science; Lisa Squire, senior director of planning, administration and information technology in the Commonwealth College; and Hannah Kliger, associate dean of Academic Affairs, Abington.
The panelists will reflect upon the challenges and opportunities involved in identifying desired measures, finding and/or obtaining data; and taking action based on the information collected.
To attend, call (814) 863-8721 or e-mail psupia@psu.edu. Campuses interested in participation via PicTel should contact the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment.
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Mirzoeff is keynote speaker at arts conference
Nicholas Mirzoeff, editor of The Visual Culture Reader and faculty member at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, will give the keynote address at the "Objects in/and Visual Culture" conference, which will be held Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20, at the Palmer Museum of Art on the University Park campus.
A related exhibition by the same title is being displayed March 1 to 20 at the Zoller Museum on the University Park campus.
Conference registration will take place from 9 to 10 a.m. Friday, March 19, in Zoller Gallery. Pre-registration is not required. Panel discussions including scholars and artists from the University, the Parsons School of Art and Design, the Canadian Centre for Architecture and the Meertens Institute in the Netherlands, among other institutions, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Friday and Saturday in the Palmer Museum's Lipcon Auditorium.
The conference is free to the public.
For more information, visit http://www.sva.psu.edu/objects.html or contact Sallie McCorkle at smm11@psu.edu or (814) 865-9471.
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Tenure workshop for women will be March 23
The Faculty Issues and Development Committee for the Commission for Women is sponsoring a workshop for female faculty on the tenure track from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 23, in the Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, University Park.
The workshop is for tenured assistant or associate professors working toward a promotion to full professor or research associates working toward a promotion to senior research associate or senior scientist.
Participating in the workshop will be Robert Secord, vice provost; Sally Kalin, associate dean for University Park Libraries; and Linda Miller, professor of English at Penn State Abington.
The purpose of the workshop is to provide participants with an overview of the process and a chance to ask questions of the panelists who all have extensive experience with the promotion and tenure process at Penn State. The Faculty Issues and Development Committee will provide a continental breakfast for workshop participants starting at 8:30 a.m.
To attend, RSVP by e-mailing bab12@psu.edu no later than 5 p.m. March 15.
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Lecture looks at 'Estrogen and Cancer'
Yusuf J. Abul-Hajj, professor and head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, will give the 2004 Mylar Giri Lecture in Physical Sciences at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, in G-115 Graham Building, Hazleton campus.
The talk is titled "Estrogen and Cancer."
The event is free to the public.