From the President's Desk
Hold steady – 2018 is upon us! In olden days, of course, say a decade ago, we were regularly reminded of the new year by writing the wrong date on checks and papers. Ink and paper-based bookkeeping and communication seems so archaic now.
We have an exciting and relevant calendar of activities planned for the Spring semester. (I guess it is the Faculty House schedule and old habits that keeps us thinking in terms of semesters.) On January 23, Professor Emerita Lynne Sagalyn will open our Tuesday Talks series with her book that was hailed in
The New York
Times with the headline
“A Major New Book Takes on the Power Struggle at Ground Zero.”
We will have five copies of
Power at Ground Zero for door prizes, and will continue discussion in the Faculty House Dining Room after the lecture.
EPIC is hosting a Chamber Music Play-In, Saturday, Jan 27, at Frank Wolf's Claremont Avenue apartment, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you can play an instrument and join in, be in touch
now with Frank,
fw5@columbia.edu. There is still room for some strings, flutes and woodwinds.
Yoga continues on Thursdays, and we thank our inspiring instructor, Professor Emerita of Genetics Ginny Papaioannou, both for leading us and for her generous donation to EPIC of “profits” from the weekly session fees. While the engineers are devising ways in which to recharge cellphones by capturing energy from body motions, Ginny has turned our twisting, turning, and balancing on yoga mats into cold cash for EPIC! Won’t you join us in either the “gentle yoga” or regular session on Thursdays?
I hope you all appreciate my restraint in not making a single comment on the state of politics or in concocting metaphors based on the epoch weather-related catastrophes.
Have a good day.
Jeanne Mager Stellman, President, EPIC
Professor Emerita & Special Lecturer
Mailman School of Public Health
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Tuesday, January 23
"Power at Ground Zero:
Politics, Money, and the Remaking of Lower Manhattan"
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Lynne Sagalyn, Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Shore Professor Emerita of Real Estate, will discuss her book
Power at Ground Zero
(Oxford), the culmination of over a decade of research and writing, which analyzes the full scope of the lower Manhattan rebuilding effort and places the emphasis on the true drivers: real estate money and political power.
From the publisher: "Both epic in scope and granular in detail, this is at base a classic New York story. Sagalyn has an extraordinary command over all of the actors and moving parts involved in the drama: the long parade of New York and New Jersey governors involved in the project, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, various Port Authority leaders, the ubiquitous real estate magnate Larry Silverstein, and architectural superstars like Santiago Calatrava and Daniel Libeskind. As she shows, political competition at the local, state, regional, and federal level along with vast sums of money drove every aspect of the planning process. But the reconstruction project was always about more than complex real estate deals and jockeying among local politicians.
"The symbolism of the reconstruction extended far beyond New York and was freighted with the twin tasks of symbolizing American resilience and projecting American power. As a result, every aspect was contested. As Sagalyn points out, while modern city building is often dismissed as cold-hearted and detached from meaning, the
opposite was true at Ground Zero. Virtually every action was infused with symbolic significance and needed to be debated. The emotional dimension of 9/11 made this large-scale rebuilding effort unique; it supercharged the complexity of the rebuilding process with both sanctity and a truly unique politics."
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This is the first EPIC Alternate Tuesday Talk of the Spring 2018 semester.
Tuesday Talks are scheduled in Faculty House on the Morningside campus on alternate Tuesdays during the academic year. EPIC members, faculty, and invited guests speak on topics that range across the academic spectrum and also address issues of particular importance to the retired academic community.
Participants can continue their discussion at lunch in the Faculty House Dining Room at a special reduced rate for EPIC members. RSVP's help us ensure seating for all who would like to join.
12:00
- 1:30 p.m.
Faculty House, Seminar Room 1
Guests welcome!
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Thursday, February 1
"The Magnetic Milky Way"
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Join us for the first in the spring series of First Thursday Graduate Scholar Talks.
Susan E. Clark
, Ph.D., Astrophysics, Columbia University 2017; Hubble Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study will discuss her research.
Dr. Clark
studies magnetic fields, magnetohydrodynamic processes, and the interstellar medium. She tackles these complex systems with a combination of observation, simulation, and analytic theory.
First Thursday Graduate Scholar Talks take place the first Thursday of each month during the academic year. The talks provide young scholars an opportunity to make a generalist presentation on their research to a cross-disciplinary audience ready to listen carefully and ask good questions. EPIC members help give the Ph.D. students a useful learning experience and at the same time learn about something that may be well beyond their own scholarly interests.
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12:15 - 2:00 p.m.
Ward H. Dennis Room
602 Lewisohn Hall
Guests welcome!
A sandwich lunch is provided. RSVP to insure an appropriate catering order.
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EPIC Yoga Spring Schedule
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Professor Emerita Virginia Papaioannou, a registered teacher with the Yoga Alliance, continues to lead EPIC Yoga Thursdays in Faculty House in the Spring 2018 semester.
No prior experience is required to join. Yoga can benefit people at all levels of physical training and health, but it is always wise to consult with a physician before undertaking any new exercise regime. Modifications will be offered to any participants with specific limitations arising from recovery from injury, arthritis, limited movement, or other causes.
Two one-hour classes are offered each week.
The 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. class practices breathing techniques and moves through some basic yoga poses, concentrating on alignment, balance, and flexibility. Those with experience move more deeply into the poses.
From 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., we practice gentle/chair yoga, which is ideal for those of more limited mobility or flexibility. Classes include breathing, stretching, and yoga poses, done either seated in a chair or standing. No yoga mats are required for this class.
Please see the EPIC events calendar for schedule details.
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Tuesday Talks
January 23
February 6
February 20
March 6
March 20
April 10
April 24
First Thursday Graduate Scholar Talks
February 1
March 1
April 5
Social Media Workshop
March 27
Annual Reception
May 8
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