Seminars—Fall 2008

Our regularly scheduled seminars are now 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.

September 2

Orientation Day
Knight Fellows Only

September 4

"Soundings"
Knight Fellows Only

September 9

"Soundings"
Knight Fellows Only

September 11

Welcome Reception for 2008–09 Knight Fellows,
remarks by Dean Deborah Fitzgerald

September 16

Nancy Kanwisher, MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Topic: brain imaging using functional MRI

September 18

Josh Winn, MIT assistant professor of physics,
Topic: exoplanets

September 23

Edward Lau, superintendent of The MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
Topic: introduction to the atom and tour of the reactor
(Knight Fellows only)

September 25

David Mindell, MIT deep sea archaeologist and author of Digital Apollo
Topic: Underwater rovers and archeology; Man and machine in space

September 30

Max Essex, Harvard AIDS Initiative
Topic: AIDS in Africa

October 2

Paul Schechter, MIT astrophysicist
Topic: An introduction to the universe

October 7

Boyce Rensberger former director of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships
Topic: Introduction to Genes and Cells

October 8–10

Field trip to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory
Knight Fellows only

October 14

No Seminar (Columbus Day)

October 16

Jeanne Guillemin, senior fellow at the MIT Security Studies Program
Topic: Biological Warfare

October 21

Robert Weinberg, Whitehead Institute member, and MIT professor of biology
Topic: New insights to how cancer works

October 23

No seminar

October 24–28

NASW annual meeting
no seminar October 28

October 30

Charles Marshall, Harvard professor of biology and geology
Topic: the nature and causes of evolutionary innovation and extinction

Note: Philip Sharp's seminar was previously scheduled for this day. We will try to reschedule him for the spring semester.

November 4

Elly Nedivi, MIT associate professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Science
Topic: How the brain remodels itself, despite dogma to the contrary

November 6

Note: This seminar will take place at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Knight Fellows only

John Holdren, director of Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
Topic: climate change

November 11

No seminar due to MIT holiday

November 13

Daniel Nocera, MIT's Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and Professor of Chemistry
Topic: Advances in solar power

November 18

Sallie "Penny" Chisholm, MIT professor of environmental studies
Topic: one hour on the world's most abundant organism and one hour on ocean fertilization to slow global warming

November 20

Note: This seminar will take place at Harvard's Institute for Health Care Improvement, Knight and Nieman Fellows only

Don Berwick, Harvard and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Topic: The quiet revolution in quality medical care; avoiding medical errors

November 25

No Seminar

November 27

No Seminar (Thanksgiving Day)

December 1–5

Medical Evidence Boot Camp

December 9

Victor McElheny, founding director of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships
Topic: The history of the human genome project

December 11

Farish Jenkins, Harvard paleontologist
Topic: Tiktaalik roseae and the origin of the tetrapod limb

December 16

Nuggets from the classrooms: Fellows present findings from their first semester at MIT

December 18

Holiday Party