University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Humanities Institute to launch book

The Humanities Institute will celebrate the publication of its first book, “A Time for the Humanities: Futurity and the Limits of Autonomy,” with a reception and panel discussion to be held at 4 p.m. Nov. 20 in the Special Collections Library, 420 Capen Hall, North Campus.

The book, which was published by Fordham University Press, is the product of the institute's first annual conference in 2005. It includes essays from such notable scholars as N. Katherine Hayles, Martin Jay, Ernesto Laclau and Steve McCaffery, the David Gray Chair of Poetry and Letters in the UB Department of English. The book was edited by James Bono, associate professor of history; Tim Dean, professor of English and director of the Humanities Institute; and Ewa Ziarek, professor of comparative literature.

The panel discussion, “On The Future of the Humanities,” will feature the three editors of the book, as well as Jorge V. José, vice president for research and professor of physics.

The forum is free and open to the public.

Global warning topic of lecture

Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, will discuss “Global Warming: What’s it all About?” during a Department of Physics Colloquium, to be held at 3:30 p.m. today in 222 Natural Sciences Complex, North Campus.

Lindzen will discuss three issues regarding global warming that lecture organizers say are frequently tied together but are, in fact, largely disconnected: global warming itself, the alleged catastrophic consequences of global warming and proposed mitigation policies.

For more information, contact the Department of Physics at 645-2017.

Lecture to assess the Mao years

Historical assessment of the Mao Zedong years has been a highly contentious matter in China, calling into question assumptions about Cold War politics, socialist mass culture, gender roles and historical inquiry.

Weili Ye, a noted specialist in the social, cultural and intellectual history of 20th-century China, will tackle these issues in a lecture at 3 p.m. Nov. 21 in 532 Park Hall, North Campus.

Ye’s talk, “Walking a Fine Line: Telling Our Life Stories in the Mao Years,” will be presented by the Asian Studies Program. Co-sponsors are the departments of History and Global Gender Studies, and the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender. It is free and open to the public.

Visual Studies concludes lecture series

Installation artist Miriam Dym and figurative painter Colleen McCubbin Stephanic will be the final two speakers in the Department of Visual Studies Fall 2008 Speaker Series.

Dym will speak at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 24 and Stephanic will lecture at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 1. Both talks will take place in the Screening Room, 112 Center for the Arts, North Campus.

Dym’s work focuses on the interactions of humans and the things they make, particularly functional things but also fetish objects. For the past two years, she has worked only with materials she already owns or with garbage produced by her family.

Stephanic’s work explores the nature of vulnerability and the boundaries between revelation and concealment. Recent paintings deal directly with failures of the body.

The Department of Visual Studies sponsors the lecture series with support from the UB Art Galleries, the Department of Media Study, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Margaret Fox Naughton Endowment.

UUP president to attend meeting

Phil Smith, statewide president of United University Professions, the union representing UB faculty and professional staff, will discuss the state budget crisis at the winter membership meeting of the Buffalo Center chapter of UUP, to be held on Dec. 3 in Classics V restaurant, 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst.

A cash bar will be open from 5-6:30 p.m., with a buffet dinner and presentation following from 6:15 -8 p.m.

Those wishing to attend should make a reservation no later than Dec. 1 with Chris Black at 645-2013 or cmblack@buffalo.edu.

Women’s Club to hold luncheon

The UB Women’s Club will hold its annual “Soups On” luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 4 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus. Eggnog and punch will be served, along with three soups and desserts.

The club also will sell ornaments made by members of its Craft Club, and poinsettias that were ordered as part of the club’s annual sale will be available for pickup.

The proceeds from these sales, as well as the luncheon, will benefit the fund for the Grace Capen Academic Awards.

The club also is sponsoring a Holiday Shopping Extravaganza from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 5 in the lobby of the Student Union, North Campus. A wide variety of vendors and crafters will sell their wares.

The new Women’s Club cookbook, “Here’s What’s Cookin’,” may be purchased for $15. Additional supplements are available for $6. Profits benefit the Capen awards.

For more information about membership in the UB Women’s Club or any of these activities, call Joan Ryan at 626-9332.