Seminars—Fall 2009
Our regularly scheduled seminars are on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 4:00–6:00 pm in MIT E19-623, unless otherwise noted. With the exception of those marked "Fellows Only," our seminars are open to guests.
If you'd like to receive email reminders about upcoming seminars, please fill out our online form.
November 12
Note: This seminar will take place at Beth Israel conference room Frank talk from a Hospital CEO
Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and author of the "Running a Hospital" blog
November 17
Planets not ours
Josh Winn, MIT professor of physics, and researcher of "extrasolar planets"
November 19
Why and how do cancer cells invade others?
Robert Weinberg, member of the Whitehead Institute and professor of biology at MIT
November 24
Edward Lau, superintendent of The MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
Topic: Introduction to the atom and tour of the reactor
(Knight Fellows only)
November 26
No Seminar (Thanksgiving Holiday)
December 1 – 4
No Seminars
Fellows attend Medical Evidence Boot Camp
December 8
Our emergence from the sea
Farish Jenkins, Harvard professor of biology and zoology; Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and professor of anatomy in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
December 10
Knight Fellows present "Nuggets from the classroom"
Previous Seminars—Fall 2009
September 8
"Soundings"
Each Fellow will give a 10 minute overview of his or her professional background.
September 10
"Soundings" continued.
Each Fellow will give a 10 minute overview of his or her professional background.
September 15
The earth’s energy draws from the sun; Is there good news from solar-in, solar-out?
Daniel Nocera, Professor of Energy in MIT's Chemistry department
September 17
Welcoming Reception for Knight Fellows
At MIT Faculty Club, 4-6pm
September 22
Overcoming public complacency about climate change.
John Sterman, Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Director of MIT's System Dynamics Group
September 24
Note: This seminar will begin at 3pm
Watching brains work in real time; The difficulties of seeing behavior in scans, and the opportunities when done right. Nancy Kanwisher, Investigator at the McGovern Institute and Professor in MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
September 29
Blind children see, and teach us neuroscience
Pawan Sinha, Associate Professor of Vision and Computational Neoroscience at MIT.
October 1
Inventing technology that forces a way for developing countries; Making markets with social sense, and products to exploit it.
William Rodriguez, infectious disease specialist, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School
October 6
How brains understand minds.
Rebecca Saxe,
Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences department
October 8
No Seminar
Fellows' field trip to MBL and WHOI in Woods Hole
October 13
Science and the danger of Denialism
Michael Specter, science and technology journalist for The New Yorker, and author of the 2009 book Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives
October 15
Robot cars compete!
Seth Teller, professor and co-head of the Robotics, Vision, and Sensor Networks group (RVSN) in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
Note: Knight Fellows only. This seminar will take place at CSAIL
Friday October 16, 12–2pm
The Uncle of the Atom Bomb: Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up
K.C. Cole, long-time science writer for the L.A. Times, and the author of several books, the most recent a memoir/biography of her late mentor, Frank Oppenheimer, the “uncle” of the atom bomb and the founder of San Francisco’s well-known “museum of awareness”—the Exploratorium. She will talk about the book, and the nature of science in the public mind.
October 22
Evolution as a dinner-table debate; Real understanding emerges from humor and dialog
Charles Marshall, Harvard Professor of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology and
Curator of the Department of Invertebrate Paleontology in Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology
October 27
Astrophysics: The hot heart of the universe
Paul Schechter, MIT professor of Astrophysics
October 29
On book writing
Robert Kanigel and Phil Hilts
November 3
Preventing medical errors, reforming medicine
Don Berwick, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and professor at the Harvard School of Public Health
Note: This seminar will take place at Harvard's Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
November 5
Epidemics: How do they work?
Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at Harvard's School of Public Health.
November 10
Linguistics to politics—the one and only: Noam Chomsky
MIT Professor emeritus of linguistics, political activist and prolific book author
Note: This seminar will end at 5:15
