Seminar News

Spring 2024

Seminars Community

On April 17, 2024, over 100 members of The University Seminars community gathered for the 77th Annual Dinner. The Tannenbaum Lecture “What Was Saddam Hussein Thinking?”A Case Study in Misunderstanding Dictators was delivered by Steve Coll, Professor and Dean Emeritus at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. The Tannenbaum-Warner Award for Extraordinary Service to The University Seminars was awarded to Alice Newton, retired Interim Director.

Alice Newton, 2024 Tannenbaum-Warner Awardee

Steve Coll presents the 2024 Tannenbaum Lecture

Photos by University photographer Barbara Alper

405 | Studies in Religion; 411 Contents and Methods of the Social Sciences; 557 | Brazil

In February and March of 2024, Sidney Greenfield (co-chair of 405, 411, and 557) examined religious sites of the Indigenous Pitaguary people in Brazil.

He used a unique effort of psychotherapy to empower them.

IMG_3183_ launching of Father Rino Bonvini_s book with him and several indigenous people.E

With Padre Rino Bonvini, a Pitaguary woman, Sidney Greenfield, Neto Pitaguary (in a gifted Lakota Sioux headdress), Natalia (a descen- dant of a North American tribal group), and Rute (a member of another indigenous group with a PhD from the University of Salamanca in Spain). Book launch of Padre Rino Bonvini's Abordagem Sistêmica Comunitária: Uma Socioterapia de Múltiplo Impacto. (Fortaleza: Umehara Parente, 2023). at a university in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.

497 | Slavic History and Culture

On April 11, 2024, The University Seminar on Slavic History and Culture co-sponsored Criminalized Again: Culture(S) Of LGBTQI+ In Search For Freedom.

This was first international and interdisciplinary conference that addresses culture(s) of LGBTQI+ in Russia and Soviet Union since the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1993 and until the official labeling of LGBTQI+ people as members of the “international extremist movement” The conference brought together scholars in Slavic humanities and social sciences along with artists and activists.

507 | Death

The University Seminar on Death co-chair and Columbia GSAPP DeathLAB director Karla Rothstein has been invited to lead an intensive workshop this summer at the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Austria, founded by Oskar Kokoschka. These workshops engage “with topical questions of art production and [are] directed by outstanding artists from all over the world.”

529 | Appetitive Behavior

GLP-1 Agonists: A New Frontier In The Treatment of Obesity
Thursday, May 30, 2024

There is considerable excitement about a new generation of anti-obesity medications (AOMs). These medications supply the body with analogues of hormones that are naturally produced in With Padre Rino Bonvini, a Pitaguary woman, Sidney Greenfield, Neto Pitaguary (in a gifted Lakota Sioux headdress), Natalia (a descendant of a North American tribal group), and Rute (a member of another indigenous group with a PhD from the University of Salamanca in Spain). Book launch of Padre Rino Bonvini’s Abordagem Sistêmica Comunitária: Uma Socioterapia de Múltiplo Impacto.

View Event Details

585 | Ethics, Moral Education, and Society

Elizabeth Cohn, co-chair of The University Seminar on Ethics, Moral Education, and Society, has been appointed the Iris and Saul Katz Professor in Women’s Health Research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health. “Elevating women’s health is not just about im- proving health care outcomes for women,” says Dr. Cohn. “It’s about advancing the well-being of entire communities and fostering a more equitable society.”

775 | The Future of Aging Research

Many members of The University Seminar on The Future of Aging Research participate as Steering Committee Members of the CUIMC Healthy Aging Initiative (CHAI). The committee is co-chaired by Linda P. Fried, Director of the Columbia Aging Center and Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health. As one of its first activities, CHAI launched with a CUIMC-wide symposium on April 19 featuring 13 scientific presentations and 70 posters. Seminar members Greg Alexander, Dan Belsky and Caitlin Hawke planned the symposium which attracted 300 members of the Columbia research community.

Symposium participants included members Allison Aiello, Gregory Alexander, Dan Belsky, Adam Brickman, Alan Cohen, Pam Factor-Litvak, Caitlin Hawke, Gerard Karsenty, José Luchsinger, Jennifer Manly, Thelma Mielenz, Emmanuelle Passegué, Thalia Porteny, Eric Schon, and Matt Yousefzadeh.

797 | Korean Studies

For Spring 2024, The University Seminar on Korean Studies organized two meetings, the first of which was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Eleanor Soo-ah Hyun, The Korea Foundation and Samsung Foundation of Culture Associate Curator of Korean Art, led a tour and discussion of the “Met Lineages” exhibition.

In Memoriam

791 | Science and Subjectivity

Peter Gruenberger, a New York-based attorney and co-chair of The University Seminar on Science and Subjectivity, passed away on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at age 86. A man of character, intelligence, and perseverance, he exemplified resilience, humility, and a deep love for his family.

Read Obituary

Seminars Workshop Spotlight

803W | Prison Education and Social Justice Curricula

Participants in the Prison Education and Social Justice Curricula working group have been teaching a range of Columbia courses in prisons. Jennifer Middleton, supported by Nick Ide, taught “Earth: Origin, Evolution, Processes, Future” at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in the fall semester. Alisa Solomon is teaching “Journalism & Public Life” at Sing Sing this spring. Samuel Kelton Roberts is teaching “Histories of Public Health in Communities of Color: The Built Environment in the 20th Century United States” at Taconic Correctional Facility spring.

Julie Crawford is teaching “Paradise Lost, Frankenstein, Paradise” at Taconic this spring. The working group also held an informational panel on March 4th at The Heyman Center introducing graduate students from across Arts & Sciences to the range of paid opportunities to teach in prison contexts and support justice-impacted students through Columbia’s Justice-in-Education (JIE) Initiative. Organized by Kate Suffern, who is currently Program Manager at JIE, the panel discussion among former graduate instructors (Mia Florin-Sefton and Nick Ide), students (Taylor Rae Almonte and Jennifer Berry), and JIE staff (Ivan Calaff) allowed prospective instructors to gain insight into prison education from those with first-hand experience.

With 40+ RSVPs, the event helped students from Biology, Physics, Astronomy, English, History, and more understand the nature of prison education and how they could get involved during their graduate careers.