| June 5, 2009 |
Please join alumni and faculty in the Atrium of the Diamond Building at 5:15 p.m. for a reception and the presentation of the Charles W. Bassett Faculty Award to Joseph R. Reisert, the Harriet S. Wiswell and George C. Wiswell Jr. Associate Professor of American Constitutional Law.
For those bringing children, drop-off childcare will be available in the Diamond Building free of charge. Parents must check in to the childcare room and remain in the building at all times while their children are in childcare. Free childcare will be available through the end of the alumni and faculty reception. |
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 Let us know which presentations you plan to attend |
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G. Calvin Mackenzie, Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government
Robert S. Weisbrot, Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Teaching Professor of History
The 1960s: Then and Now
Two senior members of the Colby faculty, co-authors of the new book The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s, explore the conditions that produced one of the great outpourings of legislative activity in that decade of prosperity and probe the possibilities for similar bold action in this decade of financial distress.
Room 142, Diamond Building
Kevin P. Rice ’96, assistant professor of chemistry
Student-Driven Research on the Anticancer Properties of an Experimental Chemotherapy Drug
Students in the Chemistry Department are actively engaged in faculty-mentored research projects that cover a wide range of important chemical and biochemical disciplines. Students study how anticancer drugs function in tumor cells and, in particular, how these molecules affect certain enzymes, which are proteins that facilitate the chemistry necessary for cells to live and grow. Students grow cultured leukemia cells in the laboratory and use a variety of biochemical tools to address these questions. This lecture will profile a group of students in the Rice Laboratory and their remarkable progress in the field of cancer research.
Room 141, Diamond Building
Susan Conant Cook ’75, director of planned giving, with special guest speakers Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, J.D., C.T.F.A., senior consultant, Planning for Good, and Douglas C. Terp ’84, M.B.A., Colby's vice president for administration and treasurer
Financial and Philanthropic Planning in Turbulent Economic Times
In the current challenging economic conditions, there is good news that doesn’t make the front page headlines. This seminar will offer
- an analysis of the 2009 market conditions and their impact on Colby and on individuals;
- a discussion about balancing and achieving various individual goals and needs for self, loved ones, and creating a legacy;
- strategies for addressing these goals within this economic climate.
Room 153, Diamond Building
| | Sarah Ruef-Lindquist practiced law for 11 years prior to her work at the Maine Community Foundation and then as a trust officer at Union Trust Company. As a senior consultant with Planning for Good, Sarah works with nonprofits and individuals in the development of creative philanthropy including trusts, gift annuities, and other complex charitable gifts. She is a certified trust and financial advisor.
Doug Terp ’84 returned to Colby in 1987 in the Office of Human Resources and now overseers the financial and administrative departments of the College, including operating expenses, the endowment and financial investments, and the physical plant. There is no one better than Doug to offer an easy-to-understand overview and explanation of how and why your gifts to Colby matter now more than ever. |
Eric B. Thomas, director of jazz and wind ensembles
History of the Virtuoso, Part One: My Story (A Humorous Trek)
Borrowing freely from mentors and colleagues, Eric Thomas will track the making of a musical virtuoso. When on tour with Julliard String Quartet member Robert Koff, Eric was introduced as a virtuoso, which began a process of fielding questions that, to this day, the author is still struggling to answer. This talk will focus on musings about what defines a virtuoso, how one is manufactured, what inspires one, and how you can tell one when you hear one. This lighthearted look at the learning process of a diehard conservatory student will mix live performance with lively lecture. You’ll also come away with the basic ability to play the clarinet and improvise against a blues chord progression.
Room 145, Diamond Building
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Joseph R. Reisert, Harriet S. Wiswell and George C. Wiswell Jr. Associate Professor of American Constitutional Law
What Is Law, and Are We Bound in Conscience To Obey It?
The answers to both questions in the title may seem obvious: the law is in the statute books, and yes, we should do what the law says. But the obvious answers aren't sufficient: What makes these books authoritative, and those books not? Should we always do what the law says, even if it commands something we think is deeply immoral? Political philosophy has grappled with these questions since Socrates explained to his friends why he wouldn't offend the laws of Athens by running away to escape the death sentence. This session will introduce some of the main arguments about the nature and authority of law.
Room 122, Diamond Building
Elizabeth D. Leonard, John J. and Cornelia V. Gibson Professor of History
Ally on the Team of Rivals: Lincoln and his Point Man for Military Justice, Joseph Holt
This talk will focus on the relationship between Lincoln and the chief of his War Department's Bureau of Military Justice, Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt. Holt was a native of Kentucky and former slaveholder who, at great personal cost, chose to stand by Lincoln and the Union during the Civil War. This talk explores the reasons.
Room 141, Diamond Building
Paul R. Josephson, professor and chair, History Department
From the Amazon Rain Forest to the Russian Arctic: The Technology of Human Suffering
Modern governments and industries seek to develop resources wherever they may be, and more and more they find oil and gas, bauxite and molybdenum, gold and diamonds far from urban centers and often in harsh, unforgiving environments. Whether in the bitterly cold Arctic or the steamy Amazonia—and both with their lovely blood-sucking insects—scientists and engineers have decided there can be no obstacles to tapping that wealth. Applying technologies of communication, power generation, and ore processing, they push aside nature and the indigenous people. What are the lessons of the attempted conquest of unforgiving nature?
Room 145, Diamond Building
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Nikky-Guninder K. Singh, Crawford Family Professor of Religion
Sitting Still but Still Moving: Scholarly Ventures at Colby
Students arrive at Colby, immerse themselves for four years, graduate, and enter exciting new worlds. Whereas we professors stay still, still teaching our courses and doing our writing. And yet there is perpetual intellectual motion and emotional growth taking place on the Colby landscape. The alums returning to campus for reunion festivities send me down the waters of memory. When I look at my teaching and writing from the past I see how they have changed. So I especially want to share my most recent scholarly venture—a pluralist response to our global reality.
Room 141, Diamond Building
L. Sandy Maisel, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Government
The Obama Administration: Early Assessments
Professor Sandy Maisel will talk about successes and failures in the first five months of the Obama administration. Has Obama brought the fundamental change to our system that he promised during the campaign? What should we be looking for in the months ahead? How should we judge presidential performance in a complex, globalized, and highly partisan political and governing environment?
Room 122, Diamond Building
Jennifer Finney Boylan, professor of English
A Reading by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Professor Boylan will read from old and new work, fiction and memoir, as well as from her new young adult project, Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror.
Room 145, Diamond Building | |
