On April 11, 2008, the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society at the University of Virginia hosted Dr. James H. Jones, Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, and Author of Kinsey: A Public/Private Life and Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
Charlottesville Podcasting Network
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Human Genome expert Collins addresses Jefferson Society
On March 14, 2008, the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society met to hear Dr. Francis Collins, author, University of Virginia alumnus, head of the Human Genome Project, and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Dr. Collins earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Virginia in 1970, a PhD in physical chemistry from Yale in 1974, and an M.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1977. In the 1990s he led the Human Genome Project. This international effort to decode the entire human genome was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
Dr. Collins is also the author of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.
During his presentation, titled, “Genomics, Medicine, and Society,” Dr. Collins discussed the revolution in medicine that has resulted from our knowledge of human genetics. Dr. Collins also raised questions about the ethical, legal, and social implications of our newfound knowledge, including issues involving patents, health insurance, disparities in treatment, and genetic discrimination. Dr. Collins also spoke to the implications of genetic research for human spirituality and the need to find harmony between religious beliefs and scientific discovery. He then took questions from the audience.
Timeline for the podcast:
- 00:00 Introduction by Edward Ridgely, Vice President, Jefferson Literary and Debating Society
- 02:00 Dr. Collins: “Genomics, Medicine, and Society”
- 06:00 The Human Genome
- 12:00 A revolution in medicine
- 20:00 Ethical, legal, and social implications
- 35:00 Dr. James Watson’s controversial remarks on genetics and race
- 39:00 Genetic determinism vs. the human spirit and the need for God
- 42:00 A glimpse of the future
- 49:00 Questions from the audience (most questions were repeated by Collins)
- 54:00 (This question was not repeated by the speaker) Why don’t we skip RNA, DNA, and study the expression of genes, i.e., proteins, directly? (”proteomics”)
- 1:14:00 (This question was not repeated by the speaker) Can you cite examples of human evolution in action?
- 1:25:00 End of presentation
This event was recorded by Elizabeth McCullough of cvillewords.com
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Penn State English Professor speaks “In Defense of Plagiarism”
Dr. Nicholas Joukovsky is currently a Professor of English at Penn State University. He received his A.B. from Princeton, then went on to receive his M.A from Berkeley and Doctoral in Philosophy at Oxford University. In 2001, he published the literary collection Letters of Thomas Love Peacock. His literary expertise lies in 19th century Romantic and Victorian literature, particularly Thomas Love Peacock and the Shelly circle. He is also Chair of the Academic Committee for the College of the Liberal Arts, which is appropriate given the title of his speech, “In Defense of Plagiarism.” His speech will attack the fundamentalist, societal notions that ALL plagiarism is wrong, underscoring some of its literary merits with academic communities. He wanted to emphasize that he will not be defending all forms of plagiarism
Dr. Joukovsky answered questions on plagiarism as it stands today, the Honor Code and its effectiveness at watch-guarding plagiarism, basic ethics, and literary tradition.
MIT’s aeronautics chair addresses Jefferson Society
On February 1st, 2008, the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society began its spring season of lectures with a presentation from Dr. Wesley Harris, the Chair of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. Harris was the first African-American to finish the Engineering Honors program at the University of Virginia. Over four decades later, Harris is currently working on a new algorithm to help unlock the genetics of sickle cell anemia. But his talk at the Jefferson Society covered Harris’s efforts to encourage young people, especially minorities, to pursue career in science and math.
Dr. Harris answers questions on whether we should be sending to astronauts to Mars, the future of NASA, his thoughts on private space enterprises, and how experience at UVa shaped his life. While a student, Harris was one of the people responsible for bringing Martin Luther King Jr. to Grounds in the spring of 1963.
Slavery expert John Miller addresses Jefferson Society
On November 2, 2007, the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society heard from John Miller, a former U.S. Congressman who is an expert on the issue of contemporary human slavery. From 2002 to 2006, Miller served as the director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. He left that position to become Research Professor in International Studies at the Elliott School, George Washington University.
Jefferson Society: Renewable energy expert discusses ethanol
On November 16, 2007, the Society hosted Larry Peck, formerly the Vice President for Global Fuels Technology for BP, and the current Chief Operating Officer of Cilion, a new biofuels company. Peck talked about efforts to develop renewable energy sources. His experience spans agricultural and fuel markets as well as ethanol technology.
Wikipedia co-founder talks about his new project
Larry Sanger, one of the co-founders of Wikipedia, recently addressed the Jefferson Society about his efforts to create a successor called Citizendium. The Virginia Sentinel has a write-up on the event.
Sundays with Vlad: Paul Bibeau takes us on a trip to Transylvania
Paul Bibeau is the author of Sundays with Vlad: From Pennsylvania to Transylvania, One Man’s Quest to Live in the World of the Undead. And if those aren’t enough subtitles, Paul’s blog has this caption: “Paul Bibeau’s funny book about vampires, Dracula, globalization, bad Romanian roads, ruined honeymoons, and the horrors of funnel cake.” He recently spoke about his book to the Jefferson Society at the University of Virginia, and was introduced by local author Jonathan Coleman.
Harvard tropical ecologist addresses Jefferson Society
Dr. Stuart Davies specializes in tropical ecology and plant taxonomy at Harvard University. An Australian by birth, he has spent much of his time in Southeast Asia studying the long-term effects of environmental stresses on rain forests.
While conducting field research, he spent several years teaching at universities in Malaysia and Brunei. He has published articles on the effectiveness of managed forest regeneration, on the impact of soil properties on biodiversity, and the evolutionary history of the paleotropical genus Macaranga.
For more information, visit the Jefferson Society’s website.
NASA expert charts the orbital debris in our atmosphere and beyond
Nicholas Johnson, NASA’s chief scientist for orbital debris, spoke on the
history and present state of orbital debris policy. Orbital debris are
objects in space unintentionally left behind by human space exploration.
They are one of the key obstacles to the future of space endeavors because
of the risk they pose. Most are no bigger than a finger nail and by
travelling at speeds up to 5 miles/second they are a potent danger to any
man or man made object in space. Mr. Johnson recounts the history of orbital
debris policy and acknowledges that very little can be done about them with
present day technology. The militarization of space, most recently evidenced
by the Chinese destruction of a weather satellite, only exacerbate the
problem for future space travel and Mr. Johnson concludes his presentation
by highlighting the efforts of international organizations to better monitor
and prevent the spread of this phenomenon.