April 23,  2017
EPIC News and Events

From the President's Desk

It is both heartening and disconcerting that next Tuesday is our last biweekly presentation of the Spring semester: heartening in that we've had an interesting and well attended year of EPIC events and our organization continues to grow and diversify; disconcerting in that another year has already whizzed by! On campus, graduation preparations are springing up and eager young people are touring the campus. One of our yoga classes was ending at Faculty House just as students of the newly admitted class of 2022 (yes, 2022 – not a typo) were arriving for a meet-and-greet event. As with all Faculty House events, a prominent sign in the lobby announced our event: “EPIC Yoga  -- Garden Room 1.” Almost every one of those excited people looked at the sign and said “Wow, epic yoga!! What’s that?” I had to chuckle and agree that EPIC running a yoga class is, indeed, pretty epic, yet another example of the smashing through stereotypes about aging. I personally feel like I'm living through a second social revolution. First, we had to show that we girls can actually be scientists, managers and leaders and that the ivy walls wouldn't crumble were we to be allowed through the gates.  Now we have to establish that older brains can continue to be brilliant and productive and that a 94-year old filing for a patent needn't be a New York Times-worthy item. Excelsior.
 
Mischa Schwartz's talk in the SPS-EPIC Speaker Series at Morningside Gardens was a great success. The best part for me was not the fascinating information on the political side of Albert Einstein but the fact that not a single cell phone or laptop was in use--the packed room just listened attentively and interacted. EPIC members are welcome to attend the series.

Please do join us for our next Tuesday talk, April 25, by Julia Doe. It is sure to be another excellent contribution from the Department of Music. Think about staying for lunch at reduced EPIC rates. And, of course, our May 9 Provost-EPIC reception is coming soon.   

Have a good day!

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

Tuesday, April 25
"The Pastoral Patronage
of Marie Antoinette”
Julia Doe, Assistant Professor of Music, specializes in historical musicology. Her talk will address the queen’s active musical life, and the ways that her private preferences impacted the broader, public entertainments at Versailles at the end of the  ancien régime.  
Tuesday Talks  address topics across the academic spectrum as well as issues of particular importance to the retired academic community. Attendees can continue their discussions in the Faculty Club, at a special EPIC reduced rate.

1 1:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Faculty House, Seminar Room 2
Guests welcome!

E PIC’s Tuesday Talks are generally streamed online at 

If you need help getting connected, click here for a useful guide or send us an email.
EPIC Launches Morningside Garden Speaker Series
On April 5, Professor Mischa Schwartz presented the first talk, "The Political Einstein," in a new series EPIC launched in collaboration with  Columbia’s School of Professional Studies. Coordinated by Morningside Retirement and Health Services, the series is free and open to the public. Talks take place at 100 LaSalle Street, Room #MC. ( Please click here for map.) For more information, please call Ron Bruno at 212-666-4000 or email him at  ronb@mrhsny.org.

Morningside Gardens Speaker Series Schedule

April 26, 7:00 p.m.

Tom Ference (soon to be an Emeritus) holds Joint Professorships in Management at Columbia’s Graduate School of Business and Mailman School of Public Health and will speak on “The Police and Community: To Protect and Serve.”

May 3, 7:00 p.m.

Jeanne Stellman, Professor Emerita, Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, will speak on “Agent Orange: The Toxin That Keeps on Giving.”


  May 17, 7:00 p.m.

Frances Pritchett, Professor Emerita of Modern Indic Languages in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, will speak on “The Powers of Small Poems: From Ogden Nash to the Ghazal.”

June 14, 7:00 p.m.

Margaret Jo Shepherd, Professor Emerita of Education, and Ghazala Mehmood, who earned an M.A. in International Education at Teachers College, will speak on “Seeing Muslim Women Through Western Eyes.”

Please click here for map.
Join EPIC Yoga Fridays at 10:00 a.m.
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 session: 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, and 5/26.

Annual Reception is May 9
Please come to the annual reception for retired faculty hosted by Provost John Coatsworth and EPIC.

In addition to food and fellowship, you'll be treated to a preview of the EPIC Oral History Project, which highlights the careers and active retirements of Columbia emeriti.

The reception will be held in Faculty House from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 
Follow Columbia Events & Video
It's easy to participate in Columbia events, whether in person or online. Learn about events from the university's online calendar. Search for events by type, discipline, location, sponsor, and so on. The Columbia University You Tube channel gives faculty, students, and the public access to Columbia-produced videos of lectures and events.
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