From the President's Desk

Last week an overflow crowd of EPIC members and guests was treated to a fascinating talk by Columbia College alum and Arts and Sciences administrator Michael V. Susi, on the physical growth of Columbia, from its Kings College days in classrooms near Trinity Church in lower Manhattan to its current home on Morningside Heights. Susi used vintage postcards,drawn from his extensive 20-year card collection, and historic architectural maps to construct the presentation. It was interesting to view the University as an evolving physical complex. We use the term "silos" these days to characterize much academic discourse, but the truth is, growing a major university has little in common with constructing barns of knowledge next to one another on some empty field, especially in an urban setting where space is a scarce commodity. Susi's talk and book gave us a taste of the challenge.
 
I was also heartened to see such worthwhile output deriving from a "hobby" like Susi's card collecting. I find a challenge of emeritus status is learning to place sufficient value on things that I do that aren't my "real work." Last year when we were visiting our kids, we went to an open studio day at an art collective in Somerville, MA, and were impressed by some outstanding photography by a certain Wally Gilbert. My husband and I walked for about ten paces outside his studio, looked at each other and said, "You don't think that's Walter Gilbert?" the Nobel Prize winning father of DNA sequencing. That's indeed who it was, and he seemed to be extremely happy with his avocation--and also with talking about science with my 9-year old granddaughter. Gave me something to think about. You can click here to watch a video of Gilbert discussing how he first got interested in photography, his development as an artist, and how his time as a scientist influenced his artwork. 
 
If you have an interesting avocation that you would like to share with EPIC, either as a talk, display or performance, please do let us know. Incredibly, it's almost April - which will bring us to our final Graduate Scholar talk. Hope to see you then.

Have a good day!

Jeanne Mager Stellman, President, EPIC
Professor Emerita & Special Lecturer
Mailman School of Public Health

First Thursday Graduate Student Talks  are scheduled on the first Thursday of each month during the academic year. They provide advanced Ph.D. candidates and recent graduates 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.

The application deadline for the final round of the pilot Housing Mobility Program (HMP) is coming up on Thursday, April 6, 2017. This program offers tenants in Columbia housing financial support for moving out of Columbia housing or to a smaller apartment that may better fit their needs.
 
The program description, available here, outlines the Program’s parameters, describes eligibility requirements, and includes copies of the application. It also includes characteristics of typical “downsized” apartments and information about professional organizers who help people move to a new residence.

After the conclusion of the pilot, The Office of the Provost will conduct an evaluation and decide whether the program will be continued. If you have questions or wish to learn more, please reach out to Carrie Marlin, Assistant Provost for Administration and Planning, at 212-854-0218 or cm3509@columbia.edu.

Virginia Papaioannou, Professor of Genetics and Development and a registered yoga instructor, is offering yoga training to EPIC members in Faculty House (see signs in lobby for exact room location). The first class will be complimentary. After the first class, the fee will be $40 for four classes, one per week, through May 26, 2017 .  Please click here for more information about the classes, what to wear, and what to bring.  Spring sessions: 3/17, 3/24, 4/7 and 4/21; and 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, and 5/26. Please note that the April 7 session will take place at 6:00 p.m. in Faculty House.

April 25: Julia Doe, Assistant Professor of Historical Musicology: "The Pastoral Patronage of Marie Antoinette.”