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.–1:00 p.m., except as noted.
In-Person: 130 The Luce Center | 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta 30329 Monday, September 8 Stephen Crist will consider the relationship between the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and jazz. It might seem these two repertoires have little to do with each other, since Bach worked in Germany in the first half of the 18th century and the origins of jazz date to around the beginning of the 20th century in the US. But through a series of vignettes—including music by Dave Brubeck, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Oscar Peterson, and Nina Simone—he will unfold a taxonomy of the various ways in which jazz musicians have responded to the music of Bach and demonstrate they aren’t strange bedfellows at all. Monday, September 22 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, to bees, to bears, to cats and caterpillars—use various forms of medicine to treat their ailments and those of their relatives. There are 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, which can pave the way for healthier livestock, more sustainable habitats for wild pollinators, and a host of other benefits. Monday, October 6 The biblical storylines of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus reverberate throughout the Qur’an. These stories, retold by Muslims 500 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. This talk is presented with the support of a Heilbrunn Fellowship sponsored by Emeritus College and Emory College of Arts and Sciences. Monday, October 20, 2025 In this talk, Carla Freeman will describe the genesis of the Fox Center’s new directions and how it promises to further recognition of the humanities at Emory and beyond. With higher education facing potentially transformational change, there has never been a better time to intensify recognition of the humanities and their important role in scholarly and public life. In 2025–2026, Fox Center students and faculty are engaging in a yearlong exploration of “Life/Story,” following last year’s examination of “Democracy: Past, Present, and Future,” to ask questions such as “How do biography, oral history, and ethnography unearth particular renderings of a life? How does a single life story shed light upon central themes of the human condition?” The focus of Fox Center fellows’ research (from undergraduate honors students through tenured professors across diverse humanistic fields) includes individual subjects both “renowned and obscure.” What will tie these studies together is a collective examination of how a single life can provide an illuminating “entry point for understanding broad political, sociocultural, and historical phenomena.” Monday, November 3 In the widening spectrum of psychological and behavioral phenomena that have been deemed to have biological underpinnings, religion and faith seem the least likely. However, anthropology suggests they are universal not to all individuals but to all cultures, and that in turn suggests a search for such underpinnings might be rewarding. We'll consider the evidence that religion and faith are products of evolution and instantiated in the human brain. They also develop predictably in a large minority, if not a majority, of people, although for many of us these inclinations don't last. Religion-bashing is a pastime for many scientists and philosophers and a career for some, yet religious faith seems to have substantial staying power. Monday, November 17 Lois Overbeck will present a brief overview of the editorial project begun in 1985 by Samuel Beckett that became affiliated with Emory's graduate school in 1990. With the assistance of Emory graduate and undergraduate students from many disciplines, as well as the support of many faculty colleagues at Emory, four volumes of Beckett's selected letters were published by Cambridge University Press (2009–2016). While more than 16,000 letters were consulted and transcribed by the four editors, only about 2,500 were selected for publication. It seemed important to make more of these letters accessible for future scholarship. With the approval of the Beckett estate, the Beckett Project worked with the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship to develop an open-access website, a finding aid and index of letters that have been published or are in public archives around the world. Overbeck's talk will include a few stories from along the way, a glimpse of Chercher, recollections of students who were involved in the work, and an opportunity to meet some of the collaborators. Monday, December 1 Read any good books lately? Might you be willing to recommend one (or more) of those good books to those of us wondering what to read next? We are looking for volunteers to describe books they have enjoyed that others might enjoy as well. If you’ve got one to discuss, we’ll be happy to allot you five minutes of our BookFest time. If you’ve got two or three, we can schedule you for ten minutes. And of course, you can choose a book or books of any kind at all. Monday, December 15 Please join us for a special holiday version of our lunch colloquium. No lecturer, just food, music, and spending time with friends before the holiday break. Monday, January 12 We currently see articles and hear discussion about a new McCarthyism on university campuses. But the machinations of the actual McCarthy era were long ago, at a time when most of us were unaware of what was taking place behind the scenes at colleges. In this talk, I will use archival records to reveal how the University of Michigan served as an enforcer for McCarthyism, sabotaging the careers of its far-left faculty and students. Tuesday, January 20 Ellen Idler studies the influence of social connections on health, especially in the context of faith communities. Her research on religion and health began with the study of individual religious practices and beliefs and their influence on later health outcomes, especially in older populations. Attendance at religious services is strongly associated with better health, including lower hazards of all-cause mortality, so there is a generally protective effect of religious involvement at the individual level. However, a broader view of religion and health at the institutional level provides a more complicated picture of both cooperative partnerships between public health agencies and faith-based organizations as well as religious opposition to public health measures, as witnessed during the COVID pandemic, themes Idler has explored in her work. Monday, February 9 Galerie Living, the Atlanta-based senior living developer and operator behind Corso Atlanta and Village Park Senior Living, is hosting a presentation on the development of Corso Residences, Druid Hills, a luxury senior living community to be located on Emory University’s historic Briarcliff Campus. Galerie Living’s Corso Residences offer a luxury residential model including retail, restaurants, modern personal care services, and lifestyle amenities spanning academics, philanthropy, wellness, and leisure. In this presentation, Galerie’s representatives discuss their business's more than 30-year history in senior living, the partnership with Emory, the Corso Residences model, the experiences to be offered to residents and guests, and the development, renovation, and revitalization of the Candler Mansion and how it will complement and honor the storied Druid Hills neighborhood. Monday, February 23 Panelists: Frank Lechner, Professor of Sociology; Ilya Nemenman, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Physics; Noëlle McAfee, Professor of Philosophy and Emory University Senate President; Juliette Stapanian Apkarian, Associate Professor Emerita of Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures; Thomas Walker, Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of Political Science; Matthew C. Woodruff, Assistant Professor of Medicine This faculty forum is predicated on the assumption that current complexities and challenges for the university—from multiple partisan perspectives—have intensified dissatisfaction and disaffection on campus. In this context, what do we mean by a “One Emory” ideal? To help address this question, the forum seeks to promote constructive discussion that lays out key challenges and provides some basis for navigating, if not resolving them. To this end, the six-member panel will provide a range of disciplinary, political, ethnic, gender, and generational perspectives, all in the hope of moving toward a more forward-looking vision of the university that both recognizes and strives to productively reconcile tensions. In so doing, we seek to make Emory an even more compelling place to work and learn and to strengthen the university’s broader constituency. Panelists will address challenges including but not limited to facts vs. values distinctions; students as citizens vs. students as labor market participants; safety vs. debate and free expression; faculty governance; and authentic learning vs. AI-new technology. Panelists will provide initial comments of five to six minutes, followed by discussion, and then Q&A with the audience. Monday, March 16 Do you garden? Are you a gourmet cook? Do you collect stamps? Are you an avid photographer? No matter what your hobby might be, it is likely others among the EUEC members have the same interest or might be looking for ideas. We are going to share our interests and hobbies in a session similar to BookFest. Please contact Ron Gould if you would like to speak. Time limits will be set based on the number of people who respond. Monday, April 13 Our planet faces dual and existential challenges: having sufficient energy to power our civilization and saving the planet’s environment. One of the largest technological foci at present, AI notwithstanding, is to find green sources of energy that are economically viable on a global scale. The main sources of green energy now—wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal, hydroelectric, and variations of these—all have promise. None except solar has the capacity to “power the planet.” There are two forms of solar energy (conversion of sunlight into stored energy): solar electricity from solar panels and the like and solar fuel. In his talk, Craig Hill will discuss approaches to solar fuel, including his multi-institution team’s long-time research efforts in this area. Monday, April 27 One thing in our careers that many of us have experienced is the need and/or desire to travel. Travel is also a favorite of many once they retire. The adventures of travel can be wonderful, and sometimes frustrating. This lunch colloquium session is your chance to share your favorite—or least favorite—travel story. Speakers are encouraged to share a story of some special trip, and if you have photos, we would love to see them. The amount of time allotted for each will be determined by the number of volunteers we receive for the program. Monday, May 18 William Faulkner in Holly Springs describes places and people in a small Mississippi town and defines how newly identified individuals and locales affected Faulkner’s writings. This new information about Faulkner’s sources helps elucidate how he often created: by absorbing and drawing from the history of places, people, and the surrounding culture. Wolff sees evidence of Faulkner in Holly Springs and shows how he transformed what he found there into some of his greatest works, including The Sound and the Fury; Absalom, Absalom; Intruder in the Dust; and Requiem for a Nun. Monday, June 1 In this talk, Ron Gould will outline several situations in which knowing the mathematics involved would probably prevent a person from participating, including stock swindles and several carnival games. The mathematics involved will be at a high school level, and that is not a con. Monday, June 15 Please join us (in person or via Zoom) for our annual celebration of EUEC members who will be honored with a Faculty Award of Distinction and Distinguished Service Awards for contributions they have made through scholarly work and service in the years since their retirement. This year’s recipients of the Bianchi-Bugge Award administered by the Emeritus College and Heilbrun Fellowships in support of emeriti who are continuing research and scholarship in retirement will also be presented. Administered by the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, the grants are funded by a generous contribution from the family of Professor of Psychology Alfred B. Heilbrun Jr. Monday, June 29 In this presentation, Matthew Sag will explain the fundamentals of generative AI and how to apply that understanding to using modern AI tools effectively and knowing when not to use them. The talk lays out six practical principles for being a “good cyborg,” starting with the right mental model, moving through what these systems reliably do well and where they predictably fail, and culminating in concrete strategies for getting more interesting, more honest, and more original results. Along the way, Sag will tackle the ethics of AI-assisted writing, the implicit representations we make when we put words on a page, and why reading widely matters more than ever in an age when polished prose has become a commodity. Whether you are an enthusiastic adopter or a skeptic, Sag’s talk will give you a clearer framework for working with AI without surrendering the critical thinking that makes your work worth reading. Monday, July 13 Lisa Loveall will share an overview of open expression at Emory, including the framework and application of the Open Expression Policy (policy 8.14). The session will engage faculty emeriti in a discussion of the university’s approach to open expression, highlighting its core principles and how Emory supports the free exchange of ideas while preserving its academic mission. Monday, July 27 Share your dish with other EUEC members in this fun, unusual meeting. We will supply the coffee, tea, water (and maybe some lemonade), along with a fruit and cheese platter and cookies, and hope our members will surprise us all with something special. 2025–2026 Programs
ZOOM: Information will be emailed to all registrants before the meeting.
Stephen Crist, Professor of Music History and Chair of the Department of Music
“Bach and Jazz: Strange Bedfellows”
Jacobus de Roode, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Biology
“Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves”
Vernon Robbins, Professor of Religion Emeritus, Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities
“Bible People in the Qur’an”
Carla Freeman, Director of the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry and Goodrich C. White Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
“Fox Center—New Directions”
Mel Konner, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor Emeritus
“Believers: Faith in Human Nature”
Lois Overbeck, Director, Letters of Samuel Beckett Project, Department of English, and Curator of the open-access website Chercher
“‘The End Is in the Beginning. And Yet You Go On’"
BookFest
Emeritus College Holiday Party—In-person only
Steven L. Batterson, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Computer Science
“The Enabling of McCarthyism by the University of Michigan”
Ellen Idler, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Sociology, and Director of Emory’s Religion and Public Health Collaborative
“From Oddity to Controversy: The Evolution of Research on Religion and Health”
Kelly Panter, Vice President of Construction, Galerie Living; Rolf Reynolds, Senior Developer, Galerie Living; and Joshua Peterson, President of Galerie Management
“Galerie Living: Corso Druid Hills Update”
Faculty Forum: “Defining Emory’s Mission: Navigating Tensions, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities.”
Richard Doner, Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of Political Science, panel moderator
HobbyFest
Craig Hill, Goodrich C. White Professor of Science
“Solar Fuel: The Ideal Energy Source to Power our Civilization?"
TravelFest
Sally Wolff King, Woodruff Health Sciences Center Historian Emerita
“William Faulkner in Holly Springs” (University Press of Mississippi, 2025)
Ron Gould, Goodrich C. White Professor of Mathematics Emeritus
“Smart Math or Smart Con Game—You Decide”
“EUEC Distinguished Emeritus and Service Awards”
Matthew Sag, Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science
“Being Human in the Loop: Understanding and Using Generative AI”
Lisa Loveall, Director, Emory Open Expression Programs
“Open Expression at Emory University”
“EUEC Potluck”