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Distributed October 17, 2005
Contact Mark Nickel

On Saturday, Oct. 22, 2005, Brown University will launch its comprehensive Campaign for Academic Enrichment, which will raise more than $1 billion in support of the University’s academic priorities. The day will include 10 faculty colloquia, from research on spinal cord regeneration to Darwin to presentations by Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwrights. All sessions are open to the public without charge.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University will launch its new comprehensive Campaign for Academic Enrichment Saturday, Oct. 22, 2005, with a day-long series of presentations by faculty, recent graduates and students. Ten faculty colloquia will be presented in three 90-minute periods: 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 1:30 p.m. All sessions are open to the public without charge.

The exact goal of the campaign, which will be in excess of $1 billion, and the amount of support raised to date during the “silent phase” of the campaign will be announced Saturday evening at a private dinner.

Faculty Colloquia

9 a.m. – The Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 001
Hoofbeats in Africa: The Brown-Moi Medical Exchange Program

Cancer is an emerging problem in developing nations, yet limited medical training, poor diagnostic tools, and inadequate therapies compromise its treatment. Alan Rosmarin recently served as the first oncologist in the Assante Coalition, an exchange program between Brown and other American universities with medical colleagues in Eldoret, Kenya.

• Alan Rosmarin, associate professor of medicine
• Introduction: Eli Y. Adashi, Frank L. Day Professor of Biology, dean of biology and medical sciences

9 a.m. – MacMillan Hall, Room 115
The Ancient World: What It Can Teach Us

If history indeed speaks to us, how do we have this conversation? Susan Alcock, director of the newly formed Institute for Archeology and the Ancient World at Brown, will create context for this conversation by discussing how the ancient civilizations continually inform our lives today.

• Susan Alcock, professor of classics, director of the Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
• Stephen Houston, professor of anthropology
• Steven Lubar, professor of American civilization, director of the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization
• Introduction: Martha S. Joukowsky, professor emerita of Old World archaeology and art and anthropology

9 a.m. – The Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101
Economic Justice

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have revealed the other America that has languished invisibly in our nation. Hundreds of thousands were innocent victims of the storms, but in reality most of this same population had been victims for generations. There is now an opportunity to examine American social policy in a manner that has not been done since Franklin Roosevelt’s time.

• Glenn Loury, professor of economics
• Hilary Silver, associate professor of sociology
• Introduction: John Logan, professor of sociology

10:30 a.m. – MacMillan Hall, Room 115
Brown’s Pulitzer Prize Playwrights Speak

• Paula Vogel, Adele Kellenberg Seaver ’49 Professor of Creative Writing
• Nilo Cruz, playwright (Anna in the Tropics) and a 1994 Master of Fine Arts recipient at Brown
• Introduction: Lowry Marshall, professor of theatre, speech and dance

10:30 a.m. – MacMillan Hall, C.V. Starr Auditorium
Nerve Cell Olympics – Gymnastics, Weightlifting, and Regeneration in the Spinal Cord

What makes nerves regenerate after a debilitating injury? Panel members will describe their approach to understanding how nerve cells grow and bridge gaps.

• Diane Hoffman-Kim, assistant professor of medical science
• Elke Bremus-Koebberling, postdoctoral research associate
• Joshua Goldner, a 2005 Brown graduate
• Jan Bruder, a 2003 Brown graduate
• Introduction: Leon Cooper, Thomas J. Watson Sr. Professor of Science and professor of physics

10:30 a.m. – The Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 001
Innocents Disenfranchised

Panelists discuss coming of age experiences that frequently mark adolescence, the nation’s social and legal efforts to confront the abuse of children, and the fight against international trafficking, where human beings are virtually enslaved.

• Kenneth Wong ’88, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Professor for Education Policy and professor of education
• Ross Cheit, associate professor of political science and public policy
• Kay B. Warren, Charles C. Tillinghast Jr. ’32, Professor in International Studies and professor of anthropology
• Katherine Chon, co-founder and co-director of the Polaris Project, a 2002 Brown graduate
• Introduction: Lewis Lipsitt, professor emeritus of psychology

10:30 a.m. – The Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101
“God, Darwin, and Design: America’s New Battle Over Evolution”

What’s behind America’s new anti-evolutionism, and why is the battle happening now? Kenneth Miller, the first witness to testify in the ongoing federal trial of “intelligent design,” will offer some answers and analysis.

• Kenneth Miller ’70, professor of biology
• Introduction: Janet Cooper-Nelson, chaplain of the University

1:30 p.m. – MacMillan Hall, Room 115
The Distinguished Graduate School Alumna Lecture
Landing on Mars: Where Do We Go and How Do We Get There?

The discovery of evidence for a watery past at the Meridiani Planum site visited by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was not entirely accidental.  Deciding where to land on Mars requires careful consideration of where one wants to go and what needs to be done to get there safely.  This talk summarizes how scientific and engineering information is used to land robotic explorers on the surface of Mars.

• Maria Zuber, E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and professor of atmospheric and planetary sciences at MIT, and the 2005 Horace Mann Medal Winner from the Brown University Graduate School
• Introduction: Sheila Bonde, Royce Family Professor in Teaching Excellence and dean of the Graduate School

1:30 p.m. – The Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 001
Overconfidence and the Financial Markets

Behavioral finance, the application of sociological and psychological biases to investing, is a hot topic today. Ivo Welch, professor of economics and finance and director of Brown’s new Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship (COE) program, will discuss how investors’ behavioral biases are likely to manifest themselves in the financial markets.

• Ivo Welch, professor of economics
• Introduction: George H. Borts, George S. and Nancy B. Parker Professor of Economics

1:30 p.m. – The Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101
Politics and the Islamic World

• Pauline Luong, associate professor of political science
• Melani Cammett, Kutayba Alghanim Assistant Professor of Political Science and Economics
• Elliott Colla, assistant professor of comparative literature
• Introduction: William Beeman, professor of anthropology

Campaign Kickoff Presentations

Throughout the day, Steven Lubar, director of the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization, and students from the Program in Public Humanities will host an open house at the Nightingale-Brown House, 357 Benefit Street (corner of Williams Street). Several rooms of the 1792 house, a National Historic Landmark, are furnished as they were when the Brown family lived there. The new Carriage House Gallery, currently showing “New Art for a New Age,” provides space for faculty and student exhibition projects.

4 p.m. – Sayles Hall, The College Green
A University Convocation: Stories of Brown

Actress Kate Burton, a 1979 Brown graduate, narrates a video that honors eight members of the Brown community and their particular contributions to Plan for Academic Enrichment. The eight subjects, representing all parts of the Brown community, were nominated by Brown faculty, staff and students.

• Barrymore A. Bogues, professor of Africana studies
• Kristina M. Davitt, a 2004 Master of Science recipient
• Maria D’Onofrio, University Library – Gateway Services
• Nicholas J. Hartigan, Class of 2006
• Peiling A. Li, Class of 2006
• Jyothi Nagraj Marbin, Class of 1996, M.D. Class of 2006
• Enis B. Taner, Class of 2006, M.D. Class of 2010
• Jan Tullis, professor of geological sciences

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