Upcoming Speakers:
"What is alternative energy, and what is its future?" (January 31, 2012)
Kryzstof Kobus, Ph.D.
OU Associate Professor of Engineering
Perhaps nothing else quantifies our standard of living than our per capita energy consumption. Abundant, cheap energy heralded us into previously unimaginable technological progress in the last century, most of it derived from fossil fuels. The history of fossil fuel utilization will be discussed, and its use in Michigan, the United States, and worldwide. Where are the resources and are we reaching a tipping point where there will not be enough to power us into the future? What is alternative energy and is it the solution? Several alternative technologies, past, present and future, will be presented. Environmental, economic and socio-political implications of these and other technologies will be discussed.
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"Exploring the connection between physics and the arts" (February 8, 2012)
An exposition of the convergences between the Arts and Physics, aiming
at refuting the idea that the arts and the sciences are antagonistic
options in the search for truth. I will discuss an assortment of
examples from literature, music and painting, from Dante´s anticipation
of curved space, to Jorge Luis Borges´s priority on the idea of multiple
universes of quantum mechanics, with intermediate stops in the
numerical grammar of music and the role of symmetry in painting and in
modern physics.
Alberto Rojo, Ph.D.
OU Associate Professor of Physics
Rojo got his Ph.D. in Physics in Argentina in 1990. Before coming to Oakland in 2003 he was a postdoctoral at the University of Chicago and Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan. He is the author of more than 70 papers in quantum properties of matter, and has published in collaboration with Anthony Leggett (Physics Nobel Laureate in 2003). His work on pattern formation has been featured in the Science Section of The New York Times and his research was supported by the Research Corporation and the National Science Foundation. He is also actively involved in the popularization of science, mostly in Latin America. In 2007 he published the book entitled The Physics of Everyday Life (in Spanish) that sold over 40,000 copies in Argentina and Spain. In 2011 he published Borges and Quantum Physics (in Portuguese). In 2010 he created and hosted the four episode TV series Artistas de la Ciencia (Scientific Artists) that aired in Argentina in national TV and won the 2011 ATVC award for best Argentinean cable television cultural series. In addition he is an accomplished musician, has recorded three solo albums and also recorded duos with the legendary Mercedes Sosa in two of her albums, Corazon Libre, winner of the Latin Grammy in 2006, and Cantora 2, double platinum in Argentina. He is a frequent collaborator in major Argentine newspapers and his columns revolve mostly around the reconciliation of the arts with the sciences.
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"Blue Gold: World Wars" (March 15, 2012)
A gripping film on the world’s rapidly approaching water crisis and the
future wars that will be fought over water, as they are today over oil;
as the source of all life enters the global marketplace and political
arena. Screening to be followed by a discussion by Lily Mendoza &
Jim Perkinson.
Lily Mendoza, Ph.D.
OU Associate Professor of Communication
S. Lily Mendoza is a Filipina intercultural communication scholar and is currently an Associate Professor at the Communication and Journalism Department at Oakland University. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from Arizona State University. She is the author of Between the Homeland and the Diaspora: The Politics of Theorizing Filipino and Filipino American Identities (Routledge, 2002) and has published in various communication and cultural studies journals and anthologies. Her research and teaching interests include multicultural communication, indigenization movements, culture and ecology, identity politics, colonial and post-colonial studies, and critical race theory.
James Perkinson, Ph.D.
OU Journalism and Communication Lecturer
James W. Perkinson is a long-time activist and educator from inner city Detroit, currently teaching as Professor of Social Ethics at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary and lecturing in Intercultural Communication Studies at the University of Oakland (Michigan). He holds a Ph.D. in theology/history of religions from the University of Chicago, is the author of White Theology: Outing Supremacy in Modernity and Shamanism, Racism, and Hip-Hop Culture: Essays on White Supremacy and Black Subversion, and has written extensively in both academic and popular journals on questions of race, class and colonialism in connection with religion and urban culture. He is in demand as a speaker on a wide variety of topics related to his interests and a recognized artist on the spoken-word poetry scene in the inner city.
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"Complimentary and alternative health care" (March 20, 2012)
Once considered rarely used, most Americans now include some form of
complementary or integrative medicine along with their traditional
health care. Together we will discuss some of the most frequently used
modalities, and look at the science that examines how moods, beliefs and
attitudes affect states of health and disease.
Robert Jarski, Ph.D., P.A
OU Associate Professor of Health Science
Robert Jarski is a professor in the Oakland University School of Health Sciences and The OU William Beaumont School of Medicine. He founded and currently directs the Complementary Medicine and Wellness Graduate Certificate Program at OU and has been named a Fellow and Diplomat of the American Association of Integrative Medicine. As a certified physician assistant, he has taken post-graduate training in general surgery and has extensive clinical experience dealing with patients having life-threatening illnesses such as multiple trauma and cancer. He completed specialized training in behavioral medicine at the Mind-Body Medical Institute of the Harvard Medical School; and completed sabbatical work with Dr. Dean Ornish's Heart Disease Reversal Program. Dr. Jarski was named Favorite OU Faculty and nominated for the Teacher-of-the-Year Award. He is quoted regularly in professional publications concerning complementary and alternative medicine use, research and legislation. As a hospice volunteer, he was the recipient of the Beaumont Hospice Outstanding Achievement Award in 2008. Along with Beaumont Hospital cancer specialists, Dr. Ruth Lerman and Dr. Frank Vicini, he was awarded funding to investigate integrative modalities to reduce symptoms in women with cancer, which received the first-place research award at the 2010 National Wellness Conference; the full manuscript will appear in the Annals of Surgical Oncology. His expertise is education for wellness and healing, from the curricular level--where students consciously learn, to the cellular level--where the body learns to heal itself.
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Past Events & Speakers:
'How the Modern Electric Grid Came to Be: What Does the Future Look Like?' (November 15, 2011)
This discussion covered the history of how the electric grid came to be, from the time before Edison to today. The battle between ac and dc power, the increasing demand over the decades and the inability to store electricity has led us down a road to where we have a grid overburdened with demand. Topics covered included how electricity is generated in power plants (coal, nuclear, alternative, etc.) and future areas including smart grid technology, government policy and societal impacts.
Kryzstof Kobus, Ph.D.
OU Associate Professor of Engineering
Chris Kobus received his Ph.D. from Oakland University in 1998. His
specialty is in energy and utilizing energy from different sources. In
particular, Dr. Kobus has taken an interest in alternative energy and
started teaching classes in that area in 2005 with a grant from Next
Energy in Detroit. That curriculum has expanded, and now engineering
students can get a concentration in alternative energy systems. In
addition, a non-credit certificate in alternative energy systems can be
obtained, and he was recently involved in launching an energy management
certificate program for business and engineering professionals that is
making its way into the curriculum as well. In 2010, Dr. Kobus obtained a
grant from the Department of Energy to start the Clean Energy Research
Center (CERC), for which he was the founding director, and now serves as
director of Engineering and Energy Education. The CERC has a
symbiotically interlinked scope in academics, research, campus
facilities and local business incubation. In addition to his research,
Dr. Kobus has taught 17 different courses so far, ranging from the
thermal and fluid sciences to solid mechanics and dynamics, to
alternative energy and nuclear systems.
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'September 11: Time Passes Quickly' (October 25, 2011)
Time passes quickly. It is now more than 10 years since 9/11, suggesting an opportunity to consider the events on that day and their downstream effects. Although not well known, a 2002 project of that name,
September 11, is an anthology of short films from across the globe: 11 international directors each got 11 minutes to tell the story of that day from their vantage point. In this session a selection of these films were used towards discussing various meanings of what happened, then and now.
J.P. (Pat) Piskulich, Ph.D.
OU Associate Professor of Political Science
J.P. (Pat) Piskulich, Ph.D., regularly teaches an OU summer course called
Politics Through Film and is at work on a book tentatively titled
Classics of Political Film: The Grand Debates in Motion Pictures.
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'Cold-Blooded Kindness--Insights Into Pathological Altruism' (October 6, 2011)
Many humans feel empathy and altruism for others. But not everyone is empathetic or altruistic, and not every situation is one that empathetic caring can heal. In fact, our own feelings of empathy and caring can be turned against us--used as tools to further another's self-serving tendencies, or drawing us inextricably into another's pain. This can result in depression, codependency and burnout. On a societal level, however, the effects can be far worse. This discussion used engineering concepts of root cause analysis and optimization, as well as insights from neuroscience, to examine the dark side of empathy and altruism, a side we ignore at our peril if we truly want to help others.
Barbara Oakley, Ph.D.
OU Associate Professor of Engineering
Barbara Oakley, Ph.D., PE, FAIMBE, is a professor at Oakland University and the editor of Cold-Blooded Kindness and Pathological Altruism.
Dr. Oakley is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and
Biological Engineers and a recent vice president of the IEEE Engineering
in Medicine and Biology Society.
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'Excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, Israel, and Evidence for the Kingdom of David' (March 16, 2011)
Khirbet Qeiyafa, or biblical Sha'arayim, figures in the story of David and Goliath, yet the archaeological evidence from this small site tells more about the early kingdom of the united monarch, probably under King David. For the first time, we may have evidence of the beginnings of the Israelite monarch in the Iron Age II, about 1000 B.C.E. Oakland University researchers have dug at the site in 2009 and 2010, and will return in 2011. The site was first dug in 2008 and has captured much attention due to the discovery of the oldest Hebrew inscription, and the site's association with the kingdom of David. Special lecturer Michael Pytlik and Professor Richard Stamps shared the exciting finds of the dig and explained methods used in biblical archaeology. The event explored how the site was found, and how it was declared a biblical site.
Richard Stamps
OU associate professor of anthropology
Richard Stamps' archaeological studies has taken him to the American Southwest, the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, the Neolithic cultures of central Taiwan, and the Silk Road of Central Asia, as well as China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines. He has also spent the last two summers digging in Israel. In addition he carried out local excavations in Oakland County and serves on boards of numerous local historical societies and commissions. Professor Stamps has authored or co-authored 35 research reports on his projects.
Michael Pytlik
OU special lecturer, Judaic studies and anthropology
Michael Pytlik is working on a doctorate in Jewish Studies from Spertus Institute in Chicago. His research focused on how archaeology can engage biblical studies and enhance our understanding of the early Israelite monarchy. He has excavated at several sites in Israel, including biblical Gerar and a medieval site near Haifa. Pytlik has dug two seasons at Khirbet Qeiyafa, where he has established an archaeological field school for students at Oakland University in conjunction with Dr. Richard Stamps.
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'The Mahabharata' (February 9-11, 2011)
"The Mahabharata" is one of two ancient epics from India. With more than 1.8 million words crafted in 18 volumes comprising 74,00 distinct verses, it is one of the longest epic poems in the world. Participants in this three-part lecture enjoyed interactive discussions to fully appreciate this ancient saga about power, greed, jealousy, love, sacrifice and war, with reference to our world today. These three sessions will provide insights into India's cultural tradition, philosophy, lifestyle and history in contemporary context.
Tushar Oza
OU special lecturer
Tushar Raman Oza is a special lecturer in the Department of Communication and Journalism as well as the Center for International Programs at Oakland University. He has served as a president of Michigan Association of Speech Communication (MASC). Oza has presented at both international and regional conferences.
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'Development of Capital Markets in India-The Past and the Future' (January 27, 2011)
Rajeev Singhal took the audience through the journey of capital markets development in India with an emphasis on learning how developing (and developed) economies need vibrant capital markets. He also covered a few 'scandals' that rocked the Indian markets over the years to illustrate that such occurrences are a universal phenomenon.
Rajeev Singhal
OU associate professor of finance
Professor Singhal's research interests include financial distress, bankruptcy and corporate governance. He also has examined whether or not the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process is costly for firms seeking bankruptcy protection. Results of his study are published in
The Journal of Financial Economics. He also has been published in accounting journals including
Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory and
International Journal of Accounting. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program at Oakland University, Professor Singhal worked as a fund manager, equity dealer and equity analyst for a large mutual fund in India.