October 2, 2017: University Senate Report
Office of the Provost
2018 Summer Online Teaching Initiatives
In order to provide more flexible and accessible instruction for our students and
to facilitate faculty efforts to explore new teaching modes, the Office of the Provost
introduces the 2018 Summer Online Teaching Initiative. This program encourages faculty
to offer online versions of existing courses, especially ones that have strong demand,
support timely degree completion, and can serve a large number of students.
Details on the application process, faculty resources, and online course conversion
options can be found at http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/onlineed/faculty/summer.html.
At any point, faculty are invited to consult with Associate Provost for Online Education
Wendy Tang (wendy.tang@stonybrook.edu) or Assistant Provost for Enrollment Management
Stefan Hyman (stefan.hyman@stonybrook.edu).
The deadline to apply is November 13, 2017.
SoMAS 50th Anniversary Celebration
SoMAS is holding a variety of events in celebration of its 50th anniversary. On Friday,
October 13, SoMAS will host “The Risk of Saying Nothing,” an environmental media conference.
Activities include an art exhibit, a poster session, a panel, a presentation from
former SoMAS Dean Jerry Schubel, and a reception. On Saturday, October 14, events
include a dockside breakfast, a tour of the Seawolf vessel, and a Wolfstock Faculty
Lecture from Carl Safina.
For more information, please visit www.somas.stonybrook.edu/.
October Provost’s Lecture Series
Taking Ethics Seriously: Why Ethics is an Essential Tool for the Modern Workplace
Monday, October 2, 2:30 PM, Wang Center Lecture Hall 1
John Hooker is T. Jerome Holleran Professor of Business Ethics and Social Responsibility,
and Professor of Operations Research, at Carnegie Mellon University. He has also held
visiting posts at numerous universities, most recently at the London School of Economics
and the State University of Campinas, Brazil. He holds doctoral degrees in philosophy
and management science. He brings his extensive background in philosophy, mathematics
and logic to the rigorous analysis of ethical dilemmas, and his background in management
to making sure the dilemmas are realistic. He has published more than 170 research
articles, eight books, and five edited volumes on ethics, operations research, and
cross-cultural issues, including Business Ethics as Rational Choice, Taking Ethics
Seriously, and Working across Cultures. Hooker is the founding editor-in-chief of
the world’s only academic journal dedicated to teaching business ethics and has organized
international ethics conferences in China, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
He also has a strong interest in cross-cultural ethics and has lived and worked in
10 countries on 6 continents. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research
and Management Sciences and has served on numerous program committees and editorial
boards. At Carnegie Mellon, he developed the ethics program in the Tepper School of
Business and received a Distinguished Academic Leadership Award, an Award for Sustained
Teaching Excellence (one of only two awarded), and the Gerald Thompson Award for Excellence
in the Classroom.
Abstract: Ethics is no less important to an organization than technology or finance. We need
ethics not to decide who is good or bad, but to build social infrastructure that,
like physical infrastructure, is indispensable to getting anything done. Simplistic
platitudes cannot accomplish this. Only a sophisticated intellectual framework can
guide us through the complexities of today’s world. This talk illustrates why failures
to think analytically about ethics, not bad people, lie behind many ethical lapses
in organizations. It presents examples of how ethical dilemmas can be resolved, and
sound organizational policies developed, on the basis of rigorous ethical analysis.
This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Integration of Business Education & Humanities
and the College of Business.
Science Reporting in the Age of Fake News (AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award Lecture)
Thursday, October 12, 4:00 PM, Wang Center Theater
Carl Zimmer is a columnist for The New York Times, national correspondent for STAT,
and three-time winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Kavli Science Journalism Award. He has written 13 books about biology and medicine
and hundreds of features for magazines such as The Atlantic, National Geographic and
Scientific American. As one interviewer wrote of Zimmer, “Unlike his literary icon,
Herman Melville, he doesn't adorn his writing with ornate flourishes or complicated
scaffolding. His approach is simple, elegant, and potent, much like the microscopic
lifeforms he so often examines. And, like these microorganisms, he is a marvel of
adaptability and innovation.” The AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award lecture series
brings winners of the distinguished journalism award to campuses for public lectures
and workshops with journalism students. Zimmer won the AAAS Kavli Award twice in the
large newspaper category (2012 and 2009) and once in the online category (2004).
Abstract: Are humans causing the planet to get hotter? Do vaccines cause autism? Did
our species evolve 300,000 years ago? Scientists have answered these questions (yes,
no, yes), yet these subjects and many others are now fiercely contested, in some cases
by government officials. This talk will explore the current state of science reporting,
including some hopeful innovations that may bring more understanding to the public
about how the world works. This event is co-sponsored by the School of Journalism,
the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, and the Kavli Foundation
An Unexpected Journey: A Curious Career in Shape Analysis
Tuesday, October 24, 4:00 PM, Wang Center Lecture Hall 1
Dennis E. Slice is a professor in the Department of Scientific Computing at Florida
State University and Honorarprofessor in the Department of Anthropology at the University
of Vienna, Austria. He received his doctorate in the Department of Ecology and Evolution
at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston, SC. His work focuses on the
development of theoretical and methodological issues in shape analysis, morphometrics,
and on their application to real-world problems such as the fit and function of protective
equipment and the development of tools and methods for forensic science. He has produced
over one hundred scholarly works and is the manager and moderator for MORPHMET, the
international mailing list for morphometrics. He has released in excess of twenty
computer programs for use by the
morphometrics community and has lectured and taught courses and workshops on shape
analysis in fourteen countries.
Abstract: The field of modern morphometrics grew up around me while in graduate school,
and I was most fortunate during this period to be closely associated with the founders
and leaders of the field. In this talk, I will indulge myself a bit and summarize
some of the people and events that led me to the unlikely position of being in the
right place at a propitious time to be part of this growing and increasingly important
field. I will discuss some of the developments in shape analysis during my graduate
career and the people who were involved and who influenced me. I will conclude with
a summary of my post-graduate work in software and methodological development and
applications, my outstanding students who are now making important contributions of
their own, and speculate just a bit on the short-term advances of which I hope to
be a part. Application areas to be visited include ecology and evolution, the analysis
of clothing and protective apparel, and computational forensics.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Ecology and Evolution, and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Undergraduate College Commons Day: A Conversation with the Author
The annual Undergraduate College Commons Day is an opportunity for students to hear from or meet with the writers of their first-year reading assignments. This year, the Undergraduate Colleges will be hosting Joshua Davis on Wednesday, October 11. Davis is a writer, film producer, and co-founder of Epic Magazine, an online magazine devoted to extraordinary true stories. His writing has been featured in The New Yorker, GQ, Wired, and Maxim. His book, Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, chronicles the real-life triumphs of a small robotics team that overcame staggering odds. A Conversation with the Author will be held at 4:00 PM in the Sidney Gelber Auditorium in the Student Activities Center. A book signing will follow. This event is free and open to the public. To learn more about Joshua Davis, please visit epicmagazine.com or joshuadavis.net.