2021-2022 Professorial Lectures
From Light to Color: A Scientific Explanation of Poetry
Carlos Miguel-Pueyo, Ph.D.
(Department of World Languages & Cultures)
Since the origins of civilization, humans have viewed the concept of “light” as paving the way to a higher dimension, whether spiritual or artistic. Ever since we became conscious of our own existence, our brains have experienced multisensorial experiences, and we have tried to identify what happens in our brain when we perceive an artistic stimulus.
Not only painters, but also poets and architects have identified “light” as a higher element. This lecture will examine the presence and meaning of “light” as creator of “color” in the history of Spanish literature and painting, with some examples from music and architecture. I hope to show how a purely scientific experience, such as our vision of color through light, is a founding element of the artistic experience of reading a poem.
German Cultural Memory and Gender in the Work of Günter Grass”
Timothy Malchow, Ph.D.
(Department of World Languages & Cultures)
The Nobel laureate Günter Grass (1927-2015) was at once an authoritative figure at the heart of German cultural life and the object of valid feminist criticism, largely due to his acclaimed novel Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum, 1959). This lecture explores Grass’s appropriation of gendered cultural constructs—including the Heimat (homeland), the Bildungsroman (novel of education), the Kulturnation (cultural nation), and discourse on wartime victims and perpetrators—to represent national trauma. He shared assumptions about gender with his conservative cultural-political rivals, weakening his efforts to inscribe authentic cultural memory of Nazism while bolstering his representative status in Germany. And yet his 2006 memoir, Beim Häuten der Zwiebel (Peeling the Onion), undermined that status, revealing his long suppression of his Nazi Waffen-SS service and voicing his personal mourning for his mother, a rape victim who died within a decade of World War II.
The Law of Unintended Consequences in Epidemiology”
Daniel Maxin, Ph.D.
(Department of Mathematics & Statistics)
One goal of mathematical modeling of infectious diseases is to predict the outcome of an epidemic and to simulate the effect of various intervention measures: vaccination, treatment or quarantine. In some cases, these measures can cause detrimental side effects that diminish or even counteract their intended purpose: the reduction and/or the eradication of the disease.
In this presentation I will describe the basic concepts of epidemic modeling followed by several scenarios in which vaccination and treatment lead to risk compensation with detrimental effects in the evolution of the epidemic.
It’s All About Optimization
Aysegul Yayimli, Ph.D.
(Department of Computing & Information Sciences)
The Internet. We all use it, but very few of us ask what it takes to keep it all together, what makes it so robust, and what is the science behind it. At the front end, we are connected to this fuzzy cloud with our smartphones, smart TVs, computers, tablets, cars. Behind the scenes, an army of engineers and scientists work to connect people and machines whenever, wherever, however they want, and to make it faster! Preferably, in the blink of an eye. We have the technology to move information at the speed of light, immense capacity to store it, and immense bandwidth to move data around. So why is this page still not loading? This talk will shine a light on some of the complexities in the system. What are they, how do we solve them – or, can we solve them?
Reconstructing Sacred Space in the Post-Soviet Milieu: New Churches, New Ideologies?
Nicholas Denysenko, Ph.D.
(Department of Philosophy & Theology)
During the most vicious periods of Soviet persecution of religion, relics were vandalized, icons were destroyed, and significant church buildings were demolished in the republics of the Soviet Union. In the post-Sovet period, the state contributed to the reconstruction of select edifices and granted permission to religious groups to use them. This lecture explores the dynamics of sacred space, place, and ideology in the post-Soviet milieu, with particular attention to Ukraine’s multi-confessional religious context. Select examples of reconstruction projects will be discussed, along with the narratives communicating the mission of the particular churches developed in dialogue with the space. The lecture will also attend to the political controversy surrounding new laws on parish confessional affiliation and the significance of property in these contexts, especially given the conflicting claims to property ownership by the state, the Church, and the people.
My Wintry Random Walk with Students: Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
Craig Clark, Ph.D.
(Department of Geography & Meteorology)
During the halcyon childhood days of 1976, a foot of snow in early November cancelled school, brightened my day, and fostered a lifetime fascination with Great Lakes snowfall and its remarkable variability. Over the last decade, I’ve had the pleasure of working with students on projects related to snowfall in the Lake Michigan region; this work includes spatiotemporal variability, the impact of regional temperature and large-scale patterns, identification of lake-effect snow (LES) events within historical data, and the sensitivity of LES events to the meteorological environment.
This talk will highlight the most interesting things we’ve learned, as well as fundamental aspects of snowfall climatology in good ol’ Valpo and the broader Lake Michigan basin.
“Connecting the Dots…Finding the Patterns…Revealing the Science
Teresa Bals-Elsholz, Ph.D.
(Department of Geography & Meteorology)
Atmospheric science, as for many sciences, often relies on patterns for many kinds of data analysis especially when using weather maps for forecasting and research. Historically, maps are filled with as much information as possible for each location over a broad area, i.e., temperature, pressure, wind speed and direction, current weather, cloud cover, and more for each reporting station. The data are coded and the result can seem truly chaotic for an inexperienced scientist while the patterns jumps out to others. Engineering, geology, chemistry and biology are some of the fields that have tackled teaching pattern recognition. Atmospheric science, being a slightly younger and smaller field, is relatively new to this pedagogical research. My newest research interest is in working to help students develop the skills to see meteorological patterns in maps and equations and to discover the underlying science they reveal.
Supply Chain Evolution: from 9/11 to Covid-19
Sanjay Kumar, Ph.D.
(College of Business)
We are amid the Great Supply Chain Disruption. What caused the disruption? Surprisingly, Covid-19 may not be the primary contributor. The culprit or not, Covid-19 did demonstrate the importance of Supply Chain Management (SCM). SCM is evolving and is becoming ever so crucial for businesses. Most companies succeed in the marketplace because of effective SCM. Others, who neglect SCM, perish. The talk will focus on the evolution of SCM practices during the last two decades. Knowing about SCM will help us understand the mystery behind the toilet paper shortage, chip shortage, car prices, and lumber prices, to name a few.
TBD? How My Research Agenda Evolves Based on Politics at Home and Abroad
Gregg Johnson, Ph.D.
(Department of Political Science)
What is it that connects neoliberal economic policies, congressional committee structures, presidential approval, legislative elections, state ballot propositions, Latin American views of China, and the effect of race and ethnicity on partisanship? Not much! However, find out how Gregg “Bagel” Johnson’s belief that democracy, while the worst form of government except for all the others, motivates his research and keeps him awake late at night.
What Really Counts: The Joy of Enumeration
Lara Pudwell, Ph.D.
(Department of Mathematics & Statistics)
At a first glance, counting seems like a skill relegated to elementary school, and yet it forms an entire active area of research-level mathematics. Rather than counting by listing “one, two, three,…” research in counting answers questions of “how many?” by making clever use of structure. What do I count? And why and how? I will share some of my favorite counting problems and the surprising connections they have with other subjects.
Robotic Swarms: Are Robots Taking over the World?”
Sami Khorbotly, Ph.D.
(Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering)
Inspired by ant colonies, bird flocks, and fish schools, robotic swarms are collections of simple inexpensive robots that, when working collectively, can complete complex assignments. I will share the work I have done to improve the robots’ collaboration capabilities and empower them to efficiently complete tasks. But with machines becoming smarter, is it really a good idea to empower robots?