Lunch Colloquiums
Lunch Colloquiums are generally held twice monthly at the Luce Center and feature a wide range of faculty from all parts of the university.
Colloquiums usually take place every first and third Monday or Tuesday, unless otherwise noted.
Many of our colloquiums are recorded. Click on a title link to view the session.
All meetings are hybrid and take place from 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., except as noted.
In-Person: 130 The Luce Center | 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta 30329
ZOOM: Information will be emailed to all registrants before the meeting.
Tuesday, September 10 Patrick Allitt explains why American railroads faced a bankruptcy crisis in the 1970s that led many observers to believe that they no longer served any useful purpose and should be abandoned. He'll discuss how the railroads reinvented themselves between 1980 and 2010, enabling them to revive, becoming more profitable, powerful, and useful than ever before. Monday, September 23 Tuesday, October 8 The three tenets of Jainism are: Ahimsa (absolute nonviolence), Aparigraha (minimal possession and consumption), and, most importantly, Anekadwad (tolerance for alternative perceptions). These three tenets are more relevant today than ever before as we struggle with environmental sustainability, growing violence, the rise of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and stress, a crisis of multicultural values, and the search for a purpose-driven life. Jainism has no concept of God. Instead, it encourages self-understanding, self-control, and self-actualization through the right vision, the right path, and the right conduct to liberate the soul from the recurring cycle of birth and death (reincarnation). It is the journey of longevity and personal well-being (both physical and mental) through intermittent fasting, detoxification, and seven-day fasting. Monday, October 21 The time-for-change forecasting model provides a tool for predicting the outcomes of US presidential elections with a high degree of accuracy several months before Election Day based on three key factors—the incumbent president’s popularity, economic conditions, and the number of terms that the president’s party has held the White House. I will explore the implications of the model for the 2024 presidential election, the relationship between the model’s prediction and the results of recent public opinion polls, and the outlook for the all-important electoral vote. Monday, November 4 This talk will consider the relationship between the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and jazz. It might seem that these two repertoires would have nothing to do with each other, since Bach worked in Germany in the first half of the eighteenth century, and the origins of jazz date to around the beginning of the twentieth century in the US. But through a series of vignettes—including music by Dave Brubeck, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Oscar Peterson, and Nina Simone—Crist will unfold a taxonomy of the various ways in which jazz musicians have responded to the music of Bach and demonstrate that they aren’t strange bedfellows at all. Monday, November 18 | 2:00–4:00 p.m. Climate-induced hazards have been increasing in frequency and intensity and are projected to worsen in the next decades, even under stringent climate mitigation policies. However, understanding of climate responses globally and in conflict-affected countries in particular is limited. Much of the attention from academics and practitioners focuses on government responses at the national level or on the implementation of climate agreements and treaties. The roles of many other actors, from traditional authorities and community leaders to armed groups and criminal organizations, are still poorly understood. Despite a large literature on rebel governance, there is currently little recognition of the fact that rebel groups engage in environmental governance and how their actions are impacted by climate change. Danielle Jung builds on existing knowledge of alternative governance to introduce, theorize, and empirically examine climate governance by rebel groups using novel data on rebel environmental governance. Monday, December 2 Seeking speakers/readers among our members to suggest titles and authors they have enjoyed and think others might enjoy too. We’ll be recruiting people willing to offer brief presentations on favorite books (or perhaps book series). Monday, January 13 |Alumni Halll, Miller-Ward Alumni House | 815 Houston Mill Road Emeritus College and Timothy Albrecht “ride ‘em cowboy” together in this lecture and recital. Tuesday, January 28 Showcasing the ways in which dance creates and transforms narrative and emotion in Indian dance forms, Sasikala Penumarthi will introduce the basic hand gestures and foot movements of the South Indian style of dance called Kuchipudi and then perform a short dance called “Bhavakeli” (a play of emotions). There will be time for plenty of questions. See a performance of Penumarthi the Carlos Museum website “Odyssey Online.” Monday, February 10 The coastal city of Brunswick, Georgia, has a vibrant cultural heritage but also a toxic legacy that includes situating toxic waste sites in communities of color. Four of those sites are on the US EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL)—the most of any city in Georgia—and three are located directly adjacent to (or on top of) the coastal marsh. Despite decades of evidence of environmental contamination in and around the NPL sites, until recently there had never been a study of possible human exposure. Noah Scovronick will discuss a recent exposure study conducted at the request of Brunswick residents and local environmental organizations, the community response to the results, and what comes next. Monday, February 24 Since 2011, when he joined the interdisciplinary faculty group, the Emory Center for the Study of Myth and Ritual in American Life (MARIAL), Marshall Duke (along with his psychology colleague, Robyn Fivush) has explored the power family stories possess in building and maintaining psychological resilience in children and young adults. Duke and Fivush found that the more children know about their family histories, the more resilient they are. This finding made its way into the public domain through an article in the New York Times in 2013. While the relationship between knowledge of family history and adjustment/ resilience has taken hold in the public consciousness, there are two groups for which the connection presents some anomalies. Combat veterans are less likely to pass on their stories because they are painful and disquieting to tell and hear. Similarly, a majority of Holocaust survivors were loathe to speak of their experiences as well. Duke will discuss his work (supported in part by an Emeritus College Heilbrun Grant) with the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and his efforts to explore the anomalous finding that, despite not knowing their family history, the majority of them appear to be psychologically resilient and well-functioning. Tuesday, March 18 Because the Supreme Court ruled in 1915 that movies were not entitled to First Amendment protections, state and city censors sprung up all over the country. Atlanta’s two most consequential censors, Mrs. Alonzo Richardson and Mrs. Christine Smith Gilliam, held this position from 1924 through 1962, when the city’s censorship law was invalidated. Richardson and Smith Gillam held significantly different views of their job and the Hollywood industry. In this talk, Bernstein discusses the work of both women, with reference to Hollywood’s own content regulation agencies. Not surprisingly, one of their highest priorities, like that of all former Confederate states, was to prevent the screening of films that showed social equality between the races. Monday, March 31 The Promise is a new musical by Laura Jernigan that reimagines the ancient story of the family of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac. Drawing from Bible stories found in Genesis and from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, The Promise explores God’s promises to this particular family tree, including the expanding promise to “bless all the families of the earth.” Weaving together narration and songs, this presentation encourages us to journey toward the promise and seek the blessings of reconciliation for our global family tree. Tuesday, April 15 In 2024, the editors of a new book of essays published in John Witte’s honor commented on his far-reaching impact, especially since his arrival at Emory in 1985: “For several decades, the work of John Witte Jr. as scholar, teacher, public lecturer, and project leader has been among the most influential in the English-speaking world in the field of law and religion in general, and in the study of law and Christianity in particular.” For the Sheth Distinguished Lecture, Witte will describe his personal evolution as a scholar and the role of law and religion as it has shaped legal systems and religious practices worldwide. He also will offer perspective on Emory’s own growth since the founding of its program in law and religion in 1982, at the time a novel and daring institutional direction not only for Emory but also for US legal education in general. The Sheth Lecture is made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Jagdish and Mrs. Madhu Sheth. Monday, April 28 Pearl K. Dowe, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs The talk will discuss how Black women sought to impact the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election and how they will continue to engage in political work to advance their needs and communities’ concerns. Monday, May 5 In a series of studies empirically examining 60 years, Tonja Jacobi has demonstrated there are distinct patterns that can be discerned in Supreme Court oral arguments. These patterns reveal the prejudices and predilections of the justices and can be used to predict ultimate case outcomes. Using text data mining techniques, Jacobi has shown how Supreme Court oral argument has changed dramatically since the mid-1990s in response to increasing political polarization; gender affects interactions between the justices and advocates at oral argument, with women disproportionately interrupted by men; justices are increasingly strategic in advocating for particular positions; humor at oral argument is part of that advocacy strategy; and alterations to the structure of oral arguments can change these patterns but notably gender differences persist. Jacobi has also conducted similar research on the Australian High Court and demonstrated that many of the same behaviors can be identified in this fellow apex court, despite highly divergent institutional arrangements. This comparative research calls into question some of the orthodoxies about the Supreme Court.2024–2025 Programs
Patrick Allitt, Cahoon Family Professor of American History
“The Resurrection of American Railroads”
Ron Gould, Goodrich C. White Professor of Mathematics Emeritus
“Discussing Student Protests”
Jagdish Sheth
Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing
“Jainism: The Most Contemporary Ancient Religion”
Alan Abramowitz, Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science
“What to Expect on November 5th: Lessons from the Time-for-Change Forecasting Model”
Stephen Crist, Professor of Music History and Chair of the Department of Music
"Bach and Jazz: Strange Bedfellows?"
Danielle Jung, Associate Professor, Political Science
“Rebel Governance in the Age of Climate Change”
BookFest: "Recommendations for Fall Reading"
Timothy Albrecht, Professor Emeritus of Music
“Bach’s Keyboard Partitas, Not His First Rodeo”
Sasikala Penumarthi, Dancer, Choreographer and Instructor of Kuchipudi; Dance Affiliate, Emory University; Founder and Director of Academy of Kuchipudi Dance (Atlanta)
“A Play of Emotions through South Indian Kuchipudi Dance”
Noah Scovronick, Assistant Professor, Rollins School of Public Health
“Industrial Contamination and Environmental (In)justice in Coastal Georgia”
Marshall Duke, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Emeritus
“Family Stories That Were Never Told: What Grandchildren of Survivors Know about What Happened to Their Grandparents during the Holocaust”
Matthew Bernstein, Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media
“Movie Censorship in Atlanta, 1914–1962”
Laura Jernigan, Presbyterian Minister, Educator and Musician
“The Promise: A New Musical”Sheth Lecture
John Witte, Jr., Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, McDonald Distinguished Professor of Religion, Emory School of Law
“Mapping the Field of Law and Religion”
“Black Women and Politics in the Era of Trump, Part II”
Tonja Jacobi, Professor of law and Sam Nunn Chair in Ethics and Professionalism
"Supreme Court Oral Arguments: Patterns, Predictions, Prejudices, and Predilections"