Newsletter Volume 11 Issue 17 - May 28, 2025 | | Lunch Colloquium -- Brendon Murphy -- MONDAY -- June 2, 2025 | | |
Brendon Murphy
History Teacher, Marist School in Atlanta
MONDAY, June 2, 2025
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road -- Room 130
11:30am-1:00pm
"From Ancient Prejudices to Modern Challenges: Exploring
Historical and Contemporary Relations between Christian
and Jewish Communities"
In this lecture we will delve into the deep-rooted and sorrowful history of Christian antisemitism, tracing its origins from the first century to the Nostra Aetate declaration of 1965.
During this lecture, we will embark on a comprehensive journey through time, examining the various forms of Christian anti-Judaism that have plagued societies across centuries. From medieval pogroms to the horrors of the Holocaust, we will discuss pivotal events that have shaped the Jewish experience, emphasizing the resilience and strength demonstrated by Jewish communities in the face of adversity.
Only by examining the lessons of the past can we work together to create a future free from discrimination and bigotry.
About Brendon Murphy:
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Brendan Murphy earned a bachelor’s degree in education and history from the University of Notre Dame and holds a master’s degree in theology from Spring Hill College.
Murphy is a thought leader on religious solidarity and an advocate for combating hate and prejudice by drawing communities together. His contributions to education and interfaith dialogue are widely recognized and embody Pope Francis’ call to use discourse as a "privileged path to the growth of fraternity and peace in our world".
Murphy has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Educator Award from the Anne Frank Center in New York, and the Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Goldstein Human Relations and Unsung Hero Awards. His dedication to excellence in teaching has been acknowledged at Marist School with awards such as the Goizueta Chair of Excellence Award, and the Faber-McKinley-Stadler Award. Previously, Murphy was head coach of Marist’s varsity boys soccer team and led them to two state championships. He was given the Frank P. Hagan Memorial Coach’s Award.
On the state level, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Georgia Independent School Association and was twice awarded the Georgia Outstanding Educator of the Year by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He also has been recognized as Teacher of the Year by the University of Notre Dame.
In addition to serving as director of the Bearing Witness Institute and teaching his Holocaust seminar, Murphy moderates a Peace by Piece group, which brings students from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities together to foster friendship and understanding. In the coming years, he will replicate this Peace by Piece model in communities and schools across the nation.
| | Lunch Colloquium -- Vincent Marconi -- TUESDAY -- June 17, 2025 | | |
Vincent Marconi
Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
TUESDAY, June 17, 2025
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road -- Room 130
11:30am-1:00pm
"Holistic Approaches to Aging"
The Emeritus College welcomes Dr. Vincent Marconi who will speak about his work exploring holistic approaches to aging humans through multiple perspectives.
As reported last year by Emory News, Dr. Marconi “was always suspicious of the idea that healthy aging could be achieved through traditional doctoring alone. Over time he came to increasingly believe in maintaining a strong connection between mind, body, and spirit. A holistic approach to aging that considers aging humans through multiple perspectives at once, including the biomedical, behavioral and the social and physical environment.”
His work is breaking boundaries and transforming how we understand and treat various common age-related diseases, including diabetes, cancer, heart disease and dementia. Indeed, Dr. Marconi stands at the forefront of emerging science whose application of multiple perspectives is altering our abilities to age more successfully. “We can either treat diseases individually or use holistic approaches that target the key pathways which address the whole person and can prevent new conditions from occurring.”
About Vincent Marconi:
Dr. Marconi joined the Emory faculty in 2009. He is an Emory University Professor of Medicine, in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Professor of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health, Director of the Infectious Disease Research Program at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, staff physician at the VA Infectious Diseases Clinic and the Grady Ponce Clinic which together serve over 8000 people with HIV. In addition to his work at Emory, he maintains an ongoing research collaboration that began in 2004 with colleagues in Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Marconi received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Cell Science from the University of Florida and his MD degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. He completed his clinical and research training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Dr. Marconi served with the United States Air Force from 2005 to 2009 where he was Director of the HIV Medical Evaluation Unit and Research Program in San Antonio, TX.
| | Athens Pizza Meet / Greet / Eat! | | | | |
Please join us for this month's Athens Pizza Meet/Greet/Eat!
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Noon
Athens Pizza
1341 Clairmont Road
Decatur, GA 30033
As always, we will relax and enjoy talking and eating with old and new friends. This is an opportunity to get out of the house, buy yourself a nice lunch, meet other Emeritus members, and have a little fun. Significant others are welcome.
Please let us know if you are planning to attend by clicking this link.
| | 2023 Bianchi-Bugge Award Winner Update | | |
2023 Bianchi-Bugge award winner, Corinne (Cory) Kratz, Professor Emerita of Anthropology has a new book out entitled, "Rhetorics of Value: Exhibition Design and Communication in Museums and Beyond." According to Cory, the award provided a tremendous amount of help with the image reproduction quality of the book.
In Rhetorics of Value, Corinne A. Kratz explores how exhibition design creates and conveys values
that have the potential to touch, educate, and engage visitors. Drawing on case studies from the
Victoria and Albert Museum, museums in South Africa and Kenya, a Hawaiian resort hotel, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, among others, Kratz shows how exhibits help shape and narrate cultural categories, values, and histories while provoking questions and evoking memories and experiences. She crosses contexts to consider ethnographic, history, and art exhibits in national and community museums and other display settings. Through these examples, Kratz traces how exhibition designers combine objects, texts, images, lighting, audio, space, and narratives to craft a complex, multilayered communicative form that visitors experience as they move through museums. By investigating the relationship between audience reception and exhibition design strategies, Kratz contends that through design, exhibits can shape the ways we know, the stories we tell, and our contours of meaning and engagement.
“Rhetorics of Value makes a major contribution to the theory of museum exhibitions by focusing on
the relationship between the design of exhibitions and the way they are open to interpretation and
their impact. Covering a diverse set of exhibitions, this important book will engage with a wide
audience and will influence discourse in museum studies, cultural studies, African studies, and
anthropology more generally.”
- Howard Morphy, author of Museums, Infinity, and the Culture of Protocols: Ethnographic
Collections and Source Communities
Book Orders:
Special offer: Use coupon code E25CKRTZ to save 30% when you order from https://www.dukeupress.edu/.
dukeupress.edu/rhetorics-of-value
May 2025 | 400 pages, 107 illustrations, including 12 in color
978-1-4780-3065-2 | paperback $28.00 with discount
| | Emeritus College Retirement Reception | | |
On Friday, the Emeritus College hosted a warm and low-key reception at the Luce Center to honor the 67 faculty members who retired during the 2024–2025 academic year. The event brought together colleagues, friends, and family to celebrate the remarkable careers and contributions of our newest faculty retirees.
Speakers included Lanny Liebeskind, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs; Pearl Dowe, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; and Ron Gould, Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of Mathematics. Professor Emerita Brenda Bynum reading Gene Bianchi’s reflective and humorous poem, "Cage-Free Aging," was a highlight of the afternoon.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the retirees and thank them for their years of dedication and service.
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A Special Thanks to Jagdish Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing
The Emeritus College extends its heartfelt thanks to Dr. Jagdish Sheth for his generous donation last fall. His support has enabled us to integrate our membership list with the university’s Salesforce database system. This transition from an Excel-based system to Salesforce will greatly streamline our operations. It reduces the need for manual data entry and enhances our ability to communicate more effectively with members. For example, we can now send targeted announcements-such as invitations to our monthly lunches at Athens Pizza-specifically to those residing in the Atlanta Metropolitan area.
We are deeply appreciative of Dr. Sheth’s continued commitment to the mission and community of the Emeritus College.
| | Upcoming MedShare Volunteer Opportunity | | |
If you’d like to join this group, we are doing this the second Thursday afternoon of each month. Upcoming sessions:June 12, July 10, August 14 and September 11. Registration on the MedShare web site is required.
To register:
Visit the MedShare event registration page at: https://www.cervistech.com/acts/console.php?console_id=0319&console_type=event&ht=1&res_code=EmoryEmeritus
Click the "Sign Up" button for your event and enter your email and first name. If you don't have a MedShare volunteer account, you'll be prompted to create one.
Select the listed event and click “Register."
For registration issues, questions or information about carpooling, please contact Marianne Skeen, marskeen@comcast.net.
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Many of you attended our January 28 Lunch Colloquium featuring Sasikala Penumarthi from the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance Atlanta. Sasikla has recently informed us of an upcoming free/fundraiser event you may also be interested in. It is an Indian Classical Dance Drama, directed by Sasikala and performed with a live orchestra, scheduled for June 28, 2025, 4pm, at the Clayton County Schools Performing Arts Center, 2530 Mt. Zion Parkway in Jonesboro.
Sasikala founded the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance in Atlanta in 1997, where she teaches and choreographs solo pieces and dance dramas that have been performed in Atlanta and around the United States. Sasikala also teaches Kuchipudi as an Artist Affiliate in Emory’s Dance Program and co-taught many times with Joyce Flueckiger “Dance & Embodied Knowledge in the Indian Context.” Sasikala is the recipient of the Master Artist award from the George Arts Council and is on the Council’s Touring and Teaching Artists Roster.
To view an informational flyer for the event, please click here, and for information about the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance Atlanta, please click here.
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John Bonner
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
We recently received notification of John's death on January 4, 2025.
To view an obituary, please click here.
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Caregiver Conversations
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Virtual Only
12:00-1:00pm EST
Are you caring for an older adult or disabled loved one? Join a virtual caregiver meet-up to discuss care-giving strategies, and stressors involved with caring for loved ones. This will also be an opportunity to learn about resources within Emory/local community and beyond.
Meetings take place the second Tuesday of every month from 12pm-1pm.
Email mary.ellen.eady@emory.edu to receive calendar invitation.
If you have questions about this group please contact Mary Ellen Eady, 404-727-4177.
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Miscellaneous Monthly: Rose Library's Open House Series - Food History
Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 1-3:00pm EST
Woodruff Library - Rose Library 10th Floor
Have you ever wanted to see items from Rose Library's collections but not known how? Or maybe you don't even know what you'd like to see, just that you would like to see something cool and old!
If this describes you, you're in luck! This summer, Rose Library is continuing "Miscellaneous Monthly", our monthly open house series. Every third Tuesday of the month, you can stop by the 10th floor of Woodruff Library between 1pm and 3pm to view a selection of archival items. No appointment needed! Each month will have a different theme, so be sure to come by every month to see it all! Join us on June 17th to view archival materials related to food, including recipe cards, cookbooks, and activism surrounding food security.
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International Euphonium and Tuba Festival Concert
Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 7:30pm EST
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts: Emerson Concert Hall | 1700 North Decatur Rd.
2025 Emory Department of Music | Summer Camp Programs
Free Event/No Ticket Required
The evening's concert features International Euphonium Tuba (IET) Festival Participant Ensembles and the Georgia Brass Band.
For the past 22 years, the International Euphonium Tuba Festival has hosted more than 150 performers from around the globe at Emory University for a week of concerts, master classes, lessons, camaraderie, and workshops! Experience a different kind of heavy metal music with performers from Norway, England, Switzerland, the US, South America, and more. Audiences are invited to enjoy a tour-de-force of sound with free public concerts at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18— featuring the Georgia Brass Band—and 7:30 p.m on Saturday, June 21—the closing gala concert featuring more than 150 participant performers partnering with the beautiful Jaeckel Organ.
These free concerts bring an amazing variety of music to the Schwartz Center stage through the virtuosity of the tuba and euphonium.
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Details and other information, as well as additional campus events, can be found on the Emory Events Calendar.
If you'd like to share an event/program of interest before the next newsletter
please contact Dianne Becht Dianne.becht@emory.edu
| | Walking the Campus with Dianne | |
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The piece of campus art from our previous walk can be found on the quad side of White Hall. It's probably not noticed as much as other art on campus because it almost seems as though it is part of White Hall.
“Tower One” by minimalist artist Sol LeWitt was installed in 2004 and was the first significant piece of contemporary sculpture on campus. Funds from an anonymous donor who wanted to place a public sculpture on campus allowed Emory to purchase the piece, which at the time was only the third LeWitt on view in Atlanta.
A group of Emory art history professors collaborated to select “Tower One” from LeWitt’s 2002 series “Concrete Blocks.” The artist walked Emory’s campus with an art history professor to select the site for the sculpture.
To view “Tower One,” head to the southern façade of Goodrich C. White Hall that faces the Quadrangle on North Kilgo Circle.
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It's been hot outside for the past few days, so let's go inside for a cooler environment to view more campus art. This next piece can be found in a fairly new(er) building on campus that is probably one of the busiest in the general Emory community.
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Where will you find this on the Emory campus?
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Emory University Emeritus College
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road NE Room 206
Atlanta, GA 30329
http://www.emory.edu/emeritus
Emory is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by state or federal law. Inquiries should be directed to the Department of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance, 201 Dowman Drive, Administration Bldg, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Telephone: 404-727-9867 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD).
Should you need this document in an alternate format, or require a reasonable accommodation, please contact the Department of Accessibility Services at 404-727-9877 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD).
Please note that one week's advance notice is preferred.
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