Religion, Media, and Culture: Islam and the Media
Sponsored by the Paley Center for Media
Wednesday, November 4th
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: 25 West 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212.621.6600
Speakers: Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub, Faculty Associate in Shi‘ite Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary; Maria Ebrahimji, Executive Editorial Producer, CNN; Daisy Khan, Executive Director, American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA); Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Assistant Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, University of Florida
Moderator: Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey, Director of Human Rights Division, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
Is violence in the name of religion a central tenet of, or unique to, Islam? The religion of Islam, and Muslims throughout the world, is often portrayed by the media as intolerant and incapable of peaceful coexistence with Christians, Jews, and other faith communities. Many Muslims believe, despite the clear evidence of sectarian violence done in the name of their religion, that this is an unbalanced, even biased mischaracterization of a global community of over a billion people.
On the thirtieth anniversary of the taking of American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, a panel of Muslim and non-Muslim media professionals and scholars will examine the complex issues of both religious extremism and the Islamic quest for social justice..
Free admission with Columbia ID, $20 regular admission.
CU Arts weblink and ticket purchase

Darwin and the End of Evolution
A Seminar from Columbia Connection's "Café Science" Series
Monday, November 9th
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Picnic Market & Café at 2665 Broadway (between 101st and 102nd streets)
Speaker: Shahid Naeem, Ecologist
For three and a half billion years, species have originated and subsequently suffered extinction, yielding as many as one hundred-million different kinds of plants, animals, and microorganisms. With every origination, each species, no matter how small or short lived, contributed to the transformation of Earth’s sterile surface to the life-sustaining Biosphere we live in today. While Darwin’s evolutionary theory provided tremendous insight into origination and extinction, it saw no direction or end to the process, suggesting that although every species influences the environment, the habitability of Biosphere is just an accident and not shaped by evolution. The evolution of our species and the mass extinction we are causing, however, suggests to some that perhaps humans were the direction and end of evolution–the production of a single species that would come to dominate the Earth. If this is true, what happens to the habitability of the biosphere? We will consider Darwin, the end of evolution, and the future of humanity over drinks at the café.
Space is limited; $10 cover (cash only) includes one drink. First Come, First Served. No Reservations, No Saving Seats .

A Blight on the Nation: A Look at Modern-Day Slavery in the United States
A Columbia University Slavery and Memory Seminar
Wednesday, November 18th
Time: noon to 2pm
Location: Faculty House, 64 Morningside Drive, between 116th and 117th Street
Speaker: Ron Soodalter
In this seminar we will discuss the various types of slavery - agricultural bondage, domestic servitude, sexual coercion, etc. - plaguing our country, as well as looking at what is - and isn't - being done to eradicate it.
Ron Soodalter is a writer, a passionate educator, and a respected historian. He holds a B.A. in American History from Boston University, an M.A. in Education from New York University, and an M.A. in American Folk Culture from the State University of New York. A lifelong student of American History, he has taught extensively, and has worked as curator of a history museum. Ron was retained as a consultant by the New York State Historical Association, and was named to the Board of Directors of the 10-state Mountain-Plains Museum Conference. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute. Soodalter recently saw the publication of his book, Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader (Atria), the non-fiction account of the only man in U.S. history to be executed for the crime of slave trading. He is also the co-author, with Free the Slaves president Kevin Bales, of The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (UC Press, 2009), and teaches classes and seminars to various age groups on the historic and modern-day slave trade. He has written articles for such magazines as Smithsonian, New York Archives, and Civil War Times, and is a featured columnist for America’s Civil War. His next book - Annex Cuba! - will examine the United States’ nation-long obsession with owning or controlling its Caribbean neighbor.
Seminars are open to Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary faculty. To register please contact Pilar Jennings at pj38@columbia.edu.

December 2009

Will The World End in 2012?
Part of the 2009 Public Lecture Series and Star-Gazing presented by Columbia Astronomy Public Outreach
Friday, December 4
Time: lecture at 7:00pm - 7:30pm, star-gazing follows and lasts for two hours
Location: Pupin Hall, Columbia University (Morningside Campus)
Speaker: Cameron Hummels
These are free lectures at a public level followed by guided star-gazing with telescopes. No reservations are needed. Lectures are wheelchair accessible, star-gazing on the roof is not. For directions and other information visit http://outreach.astro.columbia.edu.

Spirituality and Americans
A Seminar from Columbia Connection's "Café Humanities" Series
Monday, December 21
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Picnic Market & Café at 2665 Broadway (between 101st and 102nd streets)
Speaker: Courtney Bender, Sociologist of Religion
National polls report that growing numbers of Americans consider themselves “spiritual not religious” or “religiously non-affiliated” yet spiritual. What do they mean by this? When did it become possible for Americans to self-identify in this way? What are the implications for American society and politics? By presenting ways to think historically about spirituality in America, this talk will reveal a tangled, interesting story, complete with perplexing implications.
Space is limited; $10 cover (cash only) includes one drink. First Come, First Served. No Reservations, No Saving Seats .

Unnatural Selection: Population Control and the Struggle to Remake Humanity
A Seminar from Columbia Connection's "Café Social Science" Series
Monday, December 28th
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Picnic Market & Café at 2665 Broadway (between 101st and 102nd streets)
Speaker: Matthew Connelly, Historian
In the past century, the world’s population has grown more than four times as much as in the previous 2,000 centuries. By controlling migration, manipulating birthrates and sterilizing the “unfit,” scientists and activists struggled to prevent the meek from inheriting the earth. The talk will describe how these opposing forms of population control developed, how they diverged and how the cause of reproductive rights was finally redeemed.
Space is limited; $10 cover (cash only) includes one drink. First Come, First Served. No Reservations, No Saving Seats .