Newsletter Volume 12 Issue 2 - September 17, 2025 | | Office of Faculty Affairs Fall Newsletter | | |
Web links are included for the Interim President Leah Spears, the list of 248 new faculty members, Emory Fall events, and more.
To view a copy of the Faculty Affairs newsletter please click here.
| | Lunch Colloquium with Jacobus de Roode -- September 22, 2025 | | |
Jacobus de Roode
Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Biology
MONDAY, September 22, 2025
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road -- Room 130
11:30am-1:00pm
“Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and
Other Animals Heal Themselves”
Drawing on illuminating interviews with leading scientists from around the globe as well as his own pioneering research on monarch butterflies, de Roode demonstrates how animals of all kinds—from ants to apes, from bees to bears, and from cats to caterpillars—use various forms of medicine to treat their own ailments and those of their relatives. We meet apes that swallow leaves to dislodge worms, sparrows that use cigarette butts to repel parasites, and bees that incorporate sticky resin into their hives to combat pathogens. De Roode asks whether these astonishing behaviors are learned or innate and explains why, now more than ever, we need to apply the lessons from medicating animals—it can pave the way for healthier livestock, more sustainable habitats for wild pollinators, and a host of other benefits.
NOTE: Jaap will have books for purchase and signing at the Lunch Colloquium.
About Jacobus de Roode:
Jaap de Roode studied biology at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and obtained his PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Edinburgh. He is currently the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he studies parasites of monarch butterflies and honey bees. He teaches introductory biology to undergraduate students, and directs the Infectious Diseases Across Scales Training Program. He is also on the board of directors of the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail, a non-profit organization that focuses on recreating native habitat for pollinators.
| | Lunch Colloquium with Vernon Robbins -- October 6, 2025 | | |
Vernon Robbins
Professor Emeritus of Religion
Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities
MONDAY, October 6, 2025
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road -- Room 130
11:30am-1:00pm
“Bible People in the Qur’an”
The storylines of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus in the Bible reverberate throughout the Qur’an. These storylines, retold by Muslims five hundred years after the advent of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, give Islamic belief and practice a deep, rich relationship to both Jewish and Christian belief and practice. This presentation will explain the overall presence of biblical people in the Qur’an and give major glimpses of special aspects of the Qur’anic presentation of people like Noah, Abraham, Jacob and his son Joseph, and Jesus and Mary. It is Vernon Robbins’ pleasure to present this with support of a Heilbrunn Fellowship sponsored by Emory Emeritus College and Emory College of the Liberal Arts.
About Vernon Robbins:
Vernon K. Robbins is Emeritus Professor of Religion and Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities, Emory University. He earned a BA with Honors at Westmar College, LeMars, Iowa; a Master of Divinity with honors at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio; and an MA and PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He taught Greek and Biblical Studies in the Classics Department at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and started its Department of Religion in 1968. After teaching fifteen years there, he was a Fulbright Professor at the University of Trondheim in Norway 1983-84, during which he accepted an appointment in the Department and Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University in 1984, from which he retired in 2019. During this time he also served as Professor Extraordinary at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa between 1996 and 2002.
In 1984, his book Jesus the Teacher launched Sociorhetorical Interpretation (SRI) in New Testament studies. Then his The Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse and Exploring the Texture of Texts present programmatic strategies for the approach in 1996. In 2015 he was featured in the book Genealogies of New Testament Rhetorical Criticism as one of “five pioneers” of New Testament rhetorical criticism on the cusp of the 20th and 21st century.
He has published sixteen scholarly books, more than one hundred scholarly articles, and edited more than thirty books in the Emory Studies in Early Christianity and Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity monograph series he launched in the 1990s. An international Festschrift titled Fabrics of Discourse was published in his honor with a special program of lectures in his honor at the annual Society of Biblical Literature meeting in 2004.
The most recent exciting development is the use of his Sociorhetorical Interpretation approach in Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, and Fiji, which led to his presentation of a special guest lecture over Zoom at the Second Oceania Biblical Studies Conference in Apia, Samoa in 2023.
| | Athens Pizza Meet / Greet / Eat! | | |
Please join us for this month's Athens Pizza Meet/Greet/Eat!
Saturday, September 20, 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.
| | MedShare Volunteer Opportunity | | |
If you’d like to join this group, we are volunteering the second Thursday afternoon of each month. Upcoming sessions: October 9 and November 13 . 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.
| | |
New members are the lifeblood of any organization.
Please make a special effort to welcome them to the EUEC!
| | | | |
Sally Wolff King
Woodruff Health Sciences Center Historian Emerita
| | |
An Evening with Sancho...and Me?
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Emerson Concert Hall
Thursday, September 18, 2025, 7 – 8:30pm EDT
Join the Fox Center for our inaugural Life/Story theme year event— a keynote with beloved British actor Paterson Joseph as he brings his debut novel to life!
"The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho: A Novel," named one of NPR's Books We Love, is a lush and immersive tale of adventure, artistry, romance, and freedom set in eighteenth-century England and based on a true story. How does a man born on a slave ship go on to meet the king, write highly acclaimed music, become the first Black person to vote in Britain, and lead the fight to end slavery?
In this dynamic presentation, Joseph gives voice to Ignatius Sancho's interior life, bringing this important historical figure into view while reflecting on his own upbringing in London and the many ways in which we render life as art.
This event is open to all and free, tickets required.
Free tickets are available through the Schwartz Center Box Office online, by phone at (404) 727-5050, or in person.
Recommended parking for Schwartz Center events is the Fishburne Parking Deck (free for events after 6 p.m. and on weekends).
Please see additional Emory Visitor Parking Information here: transportation.emory.edu…
| |
Celebrating 250 Years of Jane Austen
Rose Library
540 Asbury Circle
Atlanta, GA 30322
Saturday, September 20, 2025, 9am – 4pm EDT
Rose Library is teaming up with the Jane Austen Society of North America (Georgia Region) this September to celebrate the life and times of beloved British author, Jane Austen. “Celebrating 250 years of Jane Austen” is an all-day seminar that will include talks from well-known Austen and Regency scholars, a viewing of rare Austen editions, crafting, and a live taping of JASNA’s Austen Chat podcast. There will also be Austen novels and the speakers’ books for sale.
The seminar will take place in Emory University’s Rose Library on Saturday, September 20, 2025 from 9am to 4pm. Tickets will be $50 for JASNA members, $25 for student JASNA members, and $70 for non-members. Anyone can join JASNA, including students. In fact, this year, in honor of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, students can join for free!
Register for “Celebrating 250 Years of Jane Austen” at jane250.square.site
| |
Sunday Public Tours at the Michael C. Carlos Museum
Rotunda
Sunday, September 21, 2025, 2 – 3pm EDT
Explore the Carlos Museum with a drop-in docent-led tour! Sunday Public Tours are free with museum admission and no prior registration is required. Public Tours do have a limited capacity, and are first come, first served.
To join, simply meet your docent in the Rotunda on Level One at 2 p.m.
| | |
Arts of Attention
Performing Arts Studio, 1804 N Decatur Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322
Friday, September 26, 2025, 7 – 9pm EDT
Free – Open to the Public
An Evening of Carnatic Music with Carnatic vocalist Shiv Subramaniam, violinist Sruti Sarathy, and mridangist Akshay Anantapadmanabhan
| | |
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
| | Exploring the Campus with Dianne | |
| |
The unusual chairs viewed on our previous exploration can be found on the main campus at the Student Center, 605 Asbury Circle. The chairs are located on the upper deck overlooking the courtyard area between the Student Center and the Woodruff Physical Education Center (Woodpec). As I mentioned, the chairs are made of plastic and look more like toys than a place to sit, but believe it or not, they are actually comfortable!
If you get a chance to visit the campus, try these chairs and enjoy the view from their vantage point.
| | |
Let's next explore a very pleasant-looking structure. This place looks like it would be tucked away in a quiet wooded area or a building in a quaint little village, but it is actually located in a very busy part of campus.
| | |
Where will you find this on the Emory Campus?
| | |
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.
| | | | |
