Tag Archives: lecture

Featured Events Archive

Lecture: A Philosopher’s Stance on Miracles

The Comparison Project is hosting its first event Thursday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center. A lecture by Karen Zwier, visiting assistant professor of philosophy/religion, on the philosophy of miracles will be the first in the new series on miracles. The event is free and open to the public.

Miracle stories are a phenomenon shared by all major religious traditions. What is a rational person to think in the face of this phenomenon? In this lecture, Professor Zwier will survey some of the ways in which philosophers have analyzed the concept of miracles and grappled with the question of the proper epistemic stance toward miracle reports.

Professor Zwier’s research deals with philosophical and scientific methodology as well as metaphysics of science. She concerns herself with questions about how—and if—metaphysical claims are engaged by empirical scientific methods. Her areas of specialty include philosophy of causation, history and philosophy of physics, and science and religion.

Upcoming events in the series:

Oct. 5, 7 p.m.: Miracles as Transforming Invitations to Wonder & Gratitude: An Islamic Perspective
By Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu, associate professor of Islamic studies, St. Joseph’s University

Oct. 26, 7 p.m.: Does ‘the Biblical God who acts’ really act? Special divine action via quantum mechanics that is objective but not miraculous
By Robert J. Russell, founder and director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, and Ian G. Barbour, professor of theology and science, graduate theological union, Berkeley

Nov. 16, 7 p.m.: On the Role of Miracles in the Vimalakirti Sutra in the Early Medieval China
By Shi Jingpeng, Minzu, University of China, Beijing

—Kayla Jenkins, College of Arts & Sciences

Featured Events Archive

Constitution Day Lecture: Free Speech on Campus

Can free speech coexist with an inclusive campus environment? Erwin Chemerinsky, dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law, will discuss this issue at the 2017 Constitution Day Lecture on Thursday, Sept. 14, from 3 to 4 p.m. in Cartwright Hall, Room 213. Sponsored by the Drake Constitutional Law Center, the Constitution Day Lecture is held each year to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. The event is free and open to all.

In the lecture, Chemerinsky will discuss the importance of providing a supportive learning environment for a diverse student body, while respecting the free expression of ideas.

Chemerinsky, who was recently named the most influential person in legal education by National Jurist magazine, is the author of more than 200 law review articles and 10 books. In addition, he writes a weekly column for the Sacramento Bee, monthly columns for the ABA Journal and the Daily Journal, and opinion-editorials in newspapers across the country. He frequently argues appellate cases, including in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read more information here.

—Kayla Choate, Law School

Featured Events Archive

Art and chemistry

What: Art and Chemistry, by Mark Vitha, Department of Chemistry, and Maura Lyons, Department of Art and Design
When: Friday, Feb. 26, 12–12:50 p.m.
Where: Harvey Ingham 134

From the minute an artist completes a painting, the materials such as the paint, varnish, and substrate on which it is painted begin changing. Some of these changes are slow enough to be imperceptible even after hundreds of years. Other changes, however, are significant and alter the way we see the painting, even after just a few decades. By combining knowledge of art history and chemical analysis techniques, it is possible to assess the changes that have occurred in a painting. With this knowledge, restoration projects are undertaken to try to restore the painting to its original ‘look’, or conservation methods are applied to try to decrease the rate of degradation. In some examples, technological approaches are used to reproduce how the painting would have looked in its original state, while preserving the work in its present state.

In this presentation, we will describe case studies in which art historical and chemical analyses were combined to gain a better understanding of the current state of paintings by Christen Købke, Mark Rothko, and Vincent van Gogh. We will also demonstrate that art historical questions have motivated research into new areas of chemistry, and conversely, chemical analyses have motivated new art historical investigations.

—John Gitua, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Director of DUSCI

Featured Events Archive

Chemistry lecture on “Interactions of MG132 with Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes” 

February 12, 2016
Harvey Ingham Room 134: 12–12:50 p.m.
Taylor A. Harville and Matthew Zwier Ph.D. (Mentor), both of the Department of Chemistry, Drake University

Title: “Interactions of MG132 with Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes”

Abstract: MG132 is a drug used to prevent the breakdown of bone density caused by overactive osteoclastic bone resorption. The drug exhibits a burst release mechanism when delivered via a calcium phosphate based cement. It has since been shown that when multiwalled carbon nanotubes are present in the calcium phosphate based cement the release of MG132 is slowed to a more sustained release. The proposed mechanism of interaction between the drug and the multiwalled carbon nanotubes were based on the hydrophobic effect or on the π-stacking of the phenyl group of MG132 with the delocalized electrons of the nanotubes. The basis of this research is to determine more exactly the interactions between MG132 and the multiwalled carbon nanotubes using molecular dynamics simulations. The results to date show that the diffusion of MG132 along the multiwalled carbon nanotubes are mostly dominated by the drugs interactions with water. The non-solvent interactions were shown to be a combination of the hydrophobic effect, the van Der Waals interactions, and the π-stacking interactions.

 

Featured Events Archive

The Changing Politics of U.S. Latin American Policy

What: The Changing Politics of U.S. Latin American Policy: Immigration, Cuba, Presidential Power, and the Latino Vote by David R. Ayón
When: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 7–8:30 p.m.
Where: Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center

Sponsored by The Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship. Free and open to the public.

David R. Ayón is senior strategist and advisor to the research firm Latino Decisions, senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Los Angeles of Loyola Marymount University, a member of the editorial board of Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica and a director of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation. His current work focuses on how Latino political development interacts with national U.S. politics and U.S.-Latin America relations. Educated at Princeton, Stanford, and El Colegio de Mexico, Ayón also writes a column for the Univision News website and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Check out all the events planned by the Center for Global Citizenship in spring 2016.

—Submitted by David Skidmore, Director, Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship

Featured Events Archive

“Healthy Aging and Brain Wellness”

Dr. Robert Bender, a geriatric physician at Broadlawns Medical Center, will present “Healthy Aging and Brain Wellness” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, in Drake University’s Sussman Theater, 2875 University Ave. The free lecture is open to public and will open the Calvin Community Panels on Aging series, co-sponsored by Calvin Community and The Comparison Project at Drake University. Mary Mincer Hansen, co-chair of Age Friendly Greater Des Moines Health Committee, will moderate a Q&A session with Bender following the lecture. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Featured Events Archive

Human Rights in Cultural Context

The Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship invites all faculty, staff, students, and community members to attend the first event of the semester, “Human Rights in Cultural Context,” featuring Deslie Billich, a global expert on human rights, anti-corruption, human trafficking, victim protection, and gender assessments. The lecture will take place on Thursday, Jan. 28,  at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center.

Billich’s talk will highlight how cultural norms play a role in human trafficking on an international level, both in developing networks and victims, and in hindering prosecution through corruption.

Billich is a scholar and attorney in South Australia who is widely recognized as an authority in international rule of law. She provides training to judiciary officials and attorneys, law enforcement, and victim service providers in legal aspects of human rights, trafficking in persons, and criminal justice. She has served as a consultant and presenter for national and international forums including the United Nations, Amnesty International, Red Cross, and the U.S. Department of State, and she is a member of the International Association of Prosecutors and the International Law Association.

The Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship hosts a number of free and open to the public events each semester—see what’s planned for Spring 2016 here.

—Submitted by David Skidmore, Director, The Principal Financial Center for Global Citizenship

Featured Events Archive

Law School events this week

Professor Mark Kende will present “Amending the U.S. Constitution: Modernization or Foolhardiness?” on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 7–8:30 p.m., in Cartwright Hall, Room 201. Free and open to the public, this event is hosted by the Drake Constitutional Law Center and the League of Women Voters.

Iowa Supreme Court Justice Edward M. Mansfield will serve as the featured speaker at the annual Judge James Grant Iowa Constitution Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 3 p.m. in Cartwright Hall, Room 213. The title of his speech is “Exploring the Original Meaning of Article I, Section 6 of the Iowa Constitution.”

—Submitted by Kayla Choate, Law School Alumni Affairs and Communications Coordinator

Featured Events Archive

“Freedom to Grieve”

Luther W. Stalnaker Lecture
“Freedom to Grieve”
Nancy Berns, Professor of Sociology
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m.
Jordan Stage, Sheslow Auditorium

When someone we love dies, we have to make sense of a new world. Nancy explores the challenges people face when learning to live with loss in a culture that pushes the idea of “closure.” People grieving face not only the pain of a loss, but social expectations about how they should grieve.

Consequences follow when we force people to use a universal roadmap for grieving and then judge those who do not follow it as wrong or sick. Nancy will explain how people need freedom to grieve because it is through grieving that we give visibility to the pain felt, the world shattered, the person lost, the joy remembered, and the love continued. She argues that rather than needing “closure,” people can learn to carry joy and grief together.

Reception to follow in the Madelyn M. Levitt Hall of Honor.