OFFICE OF THE PROVOST AND
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
TO: University Senate
FROM: Eric W. Kaler, Provost and Senior Vice President
DATE: March 7, 2011
REPORT TO THE UNIVERSITY SENATE
MARCH 2011 PROVOST LECTURE SERIES
The Provost's Lecture Series was pleased to present a panel discussion entitled "Human Solidarity, Polish Solidarnosc" on Monday, March 7, 2011 at 2:30 p.m. in the Charles B. Wang Theater. This panel discussion opened with an exhibit of photographs and eyewitness testimonies that document the story of the rise of the Polish Solidarnosc—the non-violent social movement that began the end of Communism in Europe. This lecture provided a fresh look at Polish events through the lens of American social movements—labor, civil rights, and peace. Stony Brook Professor Izabela Kalinowska-Blackwood of European Languages, Literatures, and Cultures moderated the discussion. The panel participants included Stony Brook University Lecturer, Richard Hornik of the School of Journalism and Associate Professor of Sociology, Timothy Moran. Also joining the panel discussion was the Director of International Programs, American Council of Learned Societies; the co-author of the "Human Solidarity, Polish Solidarnosc" exhibit, Andrzej Tymowski; and Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York, Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka.
On March 24, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. in the Charles B. Wang Theater, we are pleased to host a talk by Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and Chief Executive Officer of Women’s World Banking (WWB), the world’s largest network of micro-finance institutions and banks. In her talk, entitled “Microfinance: Empowering Women, Transforming Lives,” Iskenderian will discuss how micro- finance can help women from developing countries build successful businesses, protect assets, and improve their lives and the lives of their families. Iskenderian has spoken widely on micro-finance at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Wharton and at forums such as the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting and the Council on Foreign Relations. Her awards include the 2009-2010 NYU Stern’s Distinguished Citi Fellowship in Leader ship and Ethics and the 2009 Isabel Benham Award from the Women’s Bond Club.
On March 29, 2011, at 3:30 p.m. in the Charles B. Wang Theater, we will be hosting a panel discussion by Put This on The {MAP} entitled “Reteaching Gender & Sexuality.” Put This on The {MAP} is an inter-generational group of educators and artists whose national campaign is aimed to steer the conversation beyond the symptom of bullying to address the systemic issues and deeper beliefs about gender and sexuality. This event will include a screening of the group’s pilot documentary, an award-winning 34-minute film that invites you into the lives of 26 young people in Seattle’s eastside suburbs. The film is a bold way of looking at their stories of isolation, violence, fearlessness, and liberation and provides an outlet for these youth to speak candidly about their schools, families, and communities. The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker, Megan Kennedy, youth activist, Kyle Rapiñan, and others from this Seattle-based group.
15TH ANNUAL SWARTZ FOUNDATION MIND/BRAIN LECTURER
We are hosting the 15th Annual Swartz Lecture at Stony Brook University on Monday, April 11, 2011 at 4:30 p.m. in the Staller Center, Main Stage, followed by a reception. Dr. Doupe, Professor of Psychiatry and Physiology at the Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco, will present what is sure to be a fascinating talk on "What Songbirds Can Teach Us About Learning and the Brain." Dr. Doupe received a B.Sc. from McGill University in 1975 and simultaneously received an M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1984. Dr. Doupe is the recipient of a Klingenstein Fellowship, a McKnight Investigator Award, a Searle Scholarship, an EJLB Scholar Award, and a Merck Fellowship. She is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and serves on the editorial board of several leading journals, including the Journal of Neuroscience and the Journal of Neurobiology.
2011 STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY SERVICE AWARDS CEREMONY
On February 8, 2011, we held our annual Service Awards Ceremony to recognize the over 400 Stony Brook staff who have dedicated 20 or more years of service to Stony Brook. At this event, we paid tribute to these individuals, who devoted the intellect, talent, time, and demonstrated the dedication and resilience, needed to help form the building blocks upon which we have built the great Research I University that we are all a part of today.
GENERAL EDUCATION AND ASSESSMENT INSTITUTE
The University Education Assessment & Enhancement Committee, in partnership with AAC&U, will host a one-day general education institute on Friday, March, 18, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Javits Room on the 2nd Floor of the Melville Library. This institute will provide participants with background on the national and international contexts for assessment and learning, as well as models and strategies for assessing general education learning outcomes. It will also provide examples of how to assess learning in a manner that delivers information: faculty members and other educators can use in their own courses; students can use to improve the quality of their performance and learning; and the institution can use for accountability reporting. Presenters are Dr. Terrel Rhodes, Vice President for Quality, Curriculum and Assessment at AAC&U and Dr. Ashley Finley, Director of Assessment and Research at AAC&U.