Join us for the 2013-2014 lecture series and explore this year's theme Growing Babies: Maternal Heath, Fetal Brain Development, and Birthing

CBD Thematic Lecture Series:
Each year CBD lectures and events focus on a different theme to demonstrate to students and faculty how CBD and its perspectives can address not only a particular set of questions, but also enrich multiple fields of study. Past themes include Happiness and Well-Being (2012-2013), Neuroscience and Society (2011-2012), Stress and Resilience (2010-2011), and Art on the Brain (2009-2010). Visit our archives for more information on past events.

Fall Events:

September 25, 2013
"Borges' Ficciones and Zeno's Paradoxes Intersect at Infinity," by William Goldbloom Bloch, Ph.D., PUBLIC LECTURE
4:00-5:30 p.m. in Franklin Patterson Hall, West Lecture Hall
Dr. William Goldbloom Bloch is professor of mathematics at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. At various times, he's been smitten by the Big Questions, Mathematics, the (conjectural) Platonic form of Elegance, Aristotleian aporia, and the limits of Logic. Prior to coming to Wheaton, he pursued these topics with maniacal abandon at Reed College, the University of California at Berkeley, and as a postdoc at the University of Texas at Austin. His book The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel (Oxford University Press, 2008) was the runner-up for the 2008 PROSE award in mathematical writing.
ABSTRACT: Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine poet, essayist, and writer of short fiction. His works are headwaters to the literary streams of magical realism and metafiction. Zeno of Elea composed a short tract of paradoxes focusing on infinity and the impossibility of motion. His paradoxes were designed to confuse those who dismissed the ideas of his master, Parmenides. Simple to state, they are imbued with an enduring irksome appeal. Because they are "obviously wrong," most generations believe them conclusively resolved, but Borges rightly worried about them. We'll discuss two of Zeno's paradoxes and a few of the ways Borges embodied those ideas in his stories. Finally, hoping to sow confusion anew, we'll update one of Zeno's paradoxes by using an idea from the mathematical analysis of infinite series.

October 19, 2013
"What I Did This Summer": CBD Student Presentations
Join us over Family, Alumni, and Friends Weekend for a series of presentations by students who received funding from CBD to complete research projects or internships over the summer. Students will present their work and talk about how it fits within the context of a Hampshire education. The program also will include a student-led panel discussion on "What I Did This Summer." Here, CBD funded students will share their experiences, as well as what to expect (and what they never expected they would do) as a summer intern. Questions from the audience are strongly encouraged!

November 19, 2013  in the Growing Babies: Maternal Heath, Fetal Brain Development, and Birthing series:
Public Lecture with Dr. Catherine Monk, 5:30-7:00 p.m. Main Lecture Hall, Franklin Patterson Hall (title and abstract forthcoming)
Catherine Monk, Ph.D. is associate professor of clinical psychology (in psychiatry, obstetrics, and gynecology) and director of research, The Women’s Program, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University; Research Scientist IV, Division of Behavioral Medicine, New York State Psychiatric Institute; Senior Sackler Scientist, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; and co-director, Sackler Parent Infant Project, the Sackler Institute, Columbia University. Her research areas and specialties include perinatal psychology, psychobiological development, and developmental neuroscience.

Spring Events:

March 27, 2014 in the Growing Babies: Maternal Heath, Fetal Brain Development, and Birthing series:
Public Lecture with Dr. Robbie Davis-Floyd, 5:30-7:00 p.m. Main Lecture Hall, Frankin Patterson Hall (title and abstract forthcoming)
Robbie Davis-Floyd Ph.D., senior research fellow, dept. of anthropology, University of Texas Austin and fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology, is a medical anthropologist specializing in the anthropology of reproduction. An international speaker and researcher, she is the author of over 80 articles and  Birth as an American Rite of Passage (1992, 2004), coauthor of From Doctor to Healer: The Transformative Journey (1998) and The Power of Ritual (forthcoming), and lead editor of 10 collections, the latest of which is Birth Models That Work (2009), which highlights optimal models of birth care around the world. Birth Models That Work Volume II: Birth on the Global Edge, coedited with Betty-Anne Daviss, will be forthcoming in 2014. Her current research project studies the paradigm shifts of holistic obstetricians in Brazil. Dr. Davis-Floyd serves as Editor for the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI): 10 Steps to Optimal Maternity Care, Board Member of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO), and Senior Advisor to the Council on Anthropology and Reproduction. Most of her published articles are freely available on her website.

Planning for this year is still underway. We have more exciting events to come. Check in regularly for updates!