Columbia University News

Law School Study Suggests Wrongful Execution of Texas Man

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:03:40 -0400

The student editors of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review have devoted the spring 2012 issue of the journal to Los Tocayos Carlos, a book-length narrative by professor James Liebman and student co-authors that culminates with Texas’ December 7, 1989, execution of 26-year-old Carlos DeLuna.

Columbia Faculty Join Co-founder Brian Greene as Participants in the 2012 World Science Festival

cdt2131@columbia.edu — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:11:24 -0400

The World Science Festival, cofounded by Brian Greene, professor of mathematics and physics, returns to New York City May 30 – June 3 with an array of programs that bring cutting-edge science to a broader audience. The world’s leading scientific minds will be joined by renowned artists and influential thinkers, including several Columbia faculty, for a celebration of science through discourse and debate, dance and theater, film, music, and the visual arts.

Columbia Names El Museo del Barrio Chief Curator as Director of Wallach Art Gallery

cdt2131@columbia.edu — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:24:01 -0400

Nicholas B. Dirks, Columbia University’s executive vice president for arts and sciences and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, has announced the appointment of Deborah Cullen, a leading curator and specialist in modern and contemporary art, as the new director and chief curator of the University’s Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery.

Prof. Stuart Firestein Explains Why Ignorance Is Central to Scientific Discovery

maf2182@columbia.edu — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:43:04 -0400

Stuart Firestein, a professor and chair of the biological sciences department, is a connoisseur of ignorance. He teaches a popular course by that name to graduating seniors, and it is the title of his recently published book, Ignorance: How it Drives Science (Oxford University Press).

Firestein chose that title for his course, which he started teaching in 2006, to be provocative, figuring it would grab the attention of undergraduates paging through the College’s course guide. But he wasn’t being facetious.

Journalism School Celebrates 50 Great Stories From Trotsky to Tahrir Square

maf2182@columbia.edu — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:21:23 -0400

As it marks its centennial year, Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism is celebrating its 12,287 graduates—with 348 more accepting their degrees on May 16—and their impact on journalism, politics, art, social movements and international affairs. The school has published a collection, 50 Great Stories, written by alumni and spanning coverage of World War I through last year’s revolution in Egypt. The stories were selected by a group of judges from the journalism school faculty, board of visitors and alumni board.

Notable Speakers and Remarkable Graduates Highlight 2012 University Commencement

maf2182@columbia.edu — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:18:44 -0400

This year, approximately 13,423 degrees will be conferred on graduates from Columbia’s three undergraduate and 13 graduate schools, as well as two affiliated institutions. But nothing is made official until the University commencement ceremony, held on Wednesday, May 16, when President Lee C. Bollinger tells the graduates that they have been admitted “to the degree for which you have qualified.”

The Age of Insight: Nobel Laureate Explains How Our Brain Perceives Art

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:49:19 -0400

Many strands of Eric Kandel’s life come together in his latest work, The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present. The 82-year-old University Professor and co-director of the Mind Brain Behavior Initiative was born in Vienna, where, as a boy of 8, he witnessed the Nazis march into the Austrian capital. Decades later, he recalls how much his own intellectual interests were shaped not only by the Holocaust that followed, but by the cosmopolitan city that in the early 1900 served as an extraordinary incubator for creativity and thought that shaped the world we live in today.

From Laps at the Olympics to Rounds at Columbia Presbyterian

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:33:14 -0400

Two Graduate Students Blaze Education Trails Abroad and at Home

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:27:27 -0400

Creating a Healthier Harlem, One Block at a Time

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:14:46 -0400

Journalism School Graduate Brings Comedy to Politics and the News

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:04:55 -0400

In Travis Irvine’s application to Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, he wrote that he wanted his career to include travel, filmmaking, comedy, politics and, oh yes, journalism.

An eclectic list to be sure, but the 28-year-old polymath has managed to do all of the above.

This Year's Graduates Include Record Number of Veterans

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:42:17 -0400

Columbia has increasingly attracted students from the front lines as education benefits for veterans have expanded in recent years. Almost 500 veterans from every branch of the military were enrolled in Columbia’s undergraduate and graduate schools this year, and nearly 90 of them will graduate May 16.

Columbia’s School of General Studies was founded in 1947 to meet the educational needs of nontraditional students, particularly veterans of World War II. More than half of this year’s class of graduating veterans comes from General Studies—the largest number the school has turned out since the post-World War II era.

Food & Drink Boulevard, May 10

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:30:30 -0400

Critical Information for Campus Access on Monday, May 14

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:30:52 -0400

2012 Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival Showcases Historic Music Scene

cdt2131@columbia.edu — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:05:05 -0400

As it grew from a local sound to a worldwide movement, the jazz scene in Harlem was home to legendary music figures whose influence continues to haunt and ignite the local community. From May 7-13, these sounds of jazz will fill Harlem’s historic music venues for the second annual Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival, presented by The Apollo Theater, Harlem Stage, Jazzmobile, and Columbia University.

Core Curriculum Reaches Beyond Columbia to Local GED Students

cdt2131@columbia.edu — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:13:50 -0400

Columbia College’s Core Curriculum is widely renowned for its use of classic texts to challenge undergraduates into developing critical thinking skills that will enrich their lives. But College students aren’t the only ones benefitting from the academic rigors of the liberal arts and humanities. Now, through Columbia’s Community Impact, a group of adult students working toward their high school graduate equivalency diplomas (GEDs) has the opportunity to experience the Core first-hand.

Global Economic Governance Center Launches with Alan Krueger Keynote on Jobs, Higher Ed

cdt2131@columbia.edu — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:56:56 -0400

Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, spoke at the April 26 conference on the global economy and the European crisis, which launched the School of International and Public Affairs Center on Global Economic Governance in Low Library.

Columbia's Next Phase in Enhancing Faculty Diversity

cdt2131@columbia.edu — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:48:48 -0400

Columbia University has committed to investing $30 million to enhance the diversity of its faculty through the recruitment of outstanding female and underrepresented minority scholars.

Researchers Find Text Messages May Get More Parents to Vaccinate Kids Against Flu

maf2182@columbia.edu — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:16:47 -0400

Text message reminders to parents about flu vaccinations may help boost the number of children vaccinated, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Full study findings are reported in the April 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Searching for the Elusive Higgs Particle

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:12:08 -0400

On April 18 the World Leaders Forum co-hosted an event with Columbia Science Initiative to explore two fundamental physics questions regarding this so far intangible particle: “What if we find the Higgs boson? And what if we don’t?” The panelists were physics professor Michael Tuts, the ATLAS experiment program manager at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN; Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics; Dennis Overbye, New York Times science reporter; and Mariette DiChristina, Scientific American editor in chief.

Leon Cooperman Gives Business School $25 Million for New Buildings on Manhattanville Campus

maf2182@columbia.edu — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:36:53 -0400

Leon Cooperman (BUS’67), chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors and a member of Columbia Business School’s Board of Overseers, has pledged a gift of $25 million to support the construction of the school’s new home in Manhattanville.

The gift is the second largest donation in support of the cutting-edge facilities, which will be part of Columbia University’s expansion just north of its Morningside Heights Campus.

Medical Center Researchers Discover "Housekeeping" Mechanism for Brain Stem Cells

maf2182@columbia.edu — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:21:51 -0400

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have identified a molecular pathway that controls the retention and release of the brain’s stem cells. The discovery offers new insights into normal and abnormal neurologic development and could eventually lead to regenerative therapies for neurologic disease and injury. The findings, from a collaborative effort of the laboratories of Anna Lasorella and Antonio Iavarone, were published in the online edition of Nature Cell Biology.

From Hogwarts to Columbia: Daniel Radcliffe Plays Young Allen Ginsberg

maf2182@columbia.edu — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:50:01 -0400

Daniel Radcliffe strode up the steps of Low Library, dressed in a tweed jacket, sweater vest and a tie. With a rucksack slung over his shoulder and horn-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, he was the very picture of a first-year Columbia College student—circa 1943.

The actor was on campus for several days this month to film scenes for the independent movie Kill Your Darlings, written and directed by John Krokidas, in which he plays the Beat poet and Columbia legend Allen Ginsberg (CC ’47) as a young man.

Faculty Q&A With Susan Sturm

maf2182@columbia.edu — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:36:41 -0400

As the George M. Jaffin Professor of Law and Social Responsibility and the founding director of the law school’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, Susan Sturm is tackling public problems with a variety of tools that go beyond traditional legal approaches. Her yearlong seminar for upper-level law and graduate students, “Diversity and Innovation,” explores how to advance institutional and social change at a time of growing inequality and shrinking confidence in public institutions’ capacity for effective action.

A Green Roof With Roots in Morningside Heights

maf2182@columbia.edu — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:24:53 -0400

Marni Baker Stein, a mother of three children who attend the Lillian Weber School for the Arts (P.S. 84) on the Upper West Side, had discussed the best use of the school’s rooftop courtyard with other parents before. But one day, sitting with another mother near a small garden in the schoolyard on West 92nd Street, the senior associate dean for curriculum and instruction at the School of Continuing Education decided to toss the question over to the people who know best—students in Columbia’s master’s program in landscape design.

History Professor Uses Lillian Hellman as Lens to Study 20th Century

maf2182@columbia.edu — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:00:07 -0400

In writing about playwright Lillian Hellman, Alice Kessler-Harris, the R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History in Honor of Dwight D. Eisenhower, looks beyond the boundaries of Hellman’s life. She presents Hellman as a fascinating and flawed woman who was also “a lens through which we can study a whole series of events and trends of the 20th century.”

Paul LeClerc Named Director of Columbia's Europe Global Center in Paris

maf2182@columbia.edu — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:02:40 -0400

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger has named Paul LeClerc, former president of the New York Public Library and a noted scholar of French literature, to be director of Columbia’s Europe Global Center in Paris, one of a network of regional centers the University has established around the world over the past three years.

Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution Linked to Childhood Obesity

maf2182@columbia.edu — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:36:15 -0400

A study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health finds that pregnant women in New York City exposed to higher concentrations of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, were more than twice as likely to have children who were obese by age 7 compared with women with lower levels of exposure. PAHs, a common urban pollutant, are released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco.

Six Professors Named 2012 Fellows of American Academy of Arts and Sciences

maf2182@columbia.edu — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:18:06 -0400

Six Columbia professors—with expertise ranging from neuroscience and mathematics to journalism and visual arts—were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious and oldest honorary societies.

Founded during the Revolutionary War by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock and other leaders of the new nation, the purpose of the society “is to provide a forum for scholars, professionals, and government and business leaders to work together on behalf of the democratic interests of the republic.”

2012 Pulitzer Prize Winners Include the Late Professor Manning Marable for Malcolm X Biography

maf2182@columbia.edu — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:48:33 -0400

On April 16, Columbia University announced the 2012 Pulitzer Prizes, awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board. The prizes will be awarded at a luncheon in May at Columbia’s Low Memorial Library.

Among the winners is the late Manning Marable, for his book Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.

Ten Columbia Faculty Members Receive Guggenheim Fellowships

maf2182@columbia.edu — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:04:44 -0400

Ten Columbia faculty members have won 2012 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships in recognition of their “exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.”

Columbia’s new Guggenheim Fellows are among 181 selected from a pool of nearly 3,000 applicants. The John Simon Memorial Guggenheim Foundation was established in 1925 to “add to the educational, literary, artistic and scientific power” of the United States, “and also to provide for the cause of better international understanding.”