Program Videos

The Emeritus College has an expanding series of videos and audio recordings that are all accessible from this page.

We offer a variety of programs for our members that we also record for later viewing including our Lunch Colloquiums, Sheth Lecture, and afternoon programs. We also have videos that document various activities hosted by EUEC. Click on the headers below to learn more and access our videos.

Find videos of Retirement Seminars and on Financial Planning on their respective pages.

Lunch Colloquiums

From early 2020–2022, the EUEC Lunch Colloquiums were held weekly via Zoom. In a hybrid format starting in 2023, these lively discussions feature a wide range of faculty and scholars from all parts of the university and beyond.

Navigating Difficult Conversations | June 10, 2024

Retired Baptist minister and professor Sharon Dowd and Barbara Brown, special education teacher, discuss their organization, Braver Angels Georgia, which works to help Americans listen to and converse with people whose political opinions are very different from their own.

Cuffs of Love: Punishment and Redemption in Crimesploitation Television | May 20, 2024

Daniel LaChance, associate professor and Winship Distinguished Research Professor in History and director of undergraduate students at Emory College discusses crime-focused reality television, which he calls “crimesploitation”—spectacles designed to entertain mass audiences.

Ambition Gone Awry? The Michael C. Carlos Museum and the Antiquities Market | March 18, 2024

Cynthia Patterson, Emory professor emerita of Greek history, examines previous practices of acquiring antiquities by Emory's own Carlos Museum and others and ways to restore trust in the process for the future.

Co-design for Health Equity: Building Safe+Natal through Community Partnership | February 27, 2024

Rachel Hall-Clifford, assistant professor of sociology and faculty member in the Emory Center for the Study of Human Health, discusses a community-centered, co-design model for global health.

College Admissions in a Post-Affirmative Action World | February 12, 2024

Emory Dean of Admission John Latting talks about the likely impact of the Supreme Court affirmative action decision on American higher education and Emory. 

From John Wesley to the Dalai Lama: Emory’s Religious Pilgrimage and What It Means for a Modern Research University | January 29, 2024

Emory University Historian Gary Hauk discusses the prominent role of religion in the university's history.

The Discovery of HIV: New Insights on the 40th Anniversary of the Breakthrough | December 4, 2023

Emory Infectious Disease Specialist and Professor of Medicine Emeritus Robert Gaynes discusses a 2021 interview he conducted with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, the French female scientist and 2008 Nobel laureate who discovered HIV.

The Breman: More than a Museum | November 20, 2023

Bremen Museum Director Leslie Gordon and museum staff give an overview of the museum's collection and its education, entertainment, and exhibition programming.

From Mummies to Swimming Pools: Ethics and Museum Collections in the 21st Century | July 25, 2023

Michael C. Carlos Museum provenance researcher Annie Shanley explains how the Carlos and Emory are navigating the shifting ethical culture of American museums.

BookFest 2023: Recommendations for Reading | July 10, 2023

Wondering what to read next? Emeritus College members recommend recent favorite books.

Emory’s Memory: Reflections of an Unlikely Alliance | June 29, 2023

Eugene Emory tells his journey from an abandoned Black boy in foster care who knew little of his ancestry to the Emory professor of psychology who discovered his familial links to John T. Emory, the Methodist bishop for whom Emory University is named.

The Line Chart and the Slave Ship: Rethinking the Origins of Data Visualization | May 30, 2023

Lauren Klein, Winship Distinguished Research Professor and associate professor of English and quantitative theory and methods uses historical examples to describe how data visualization tools such as pie charts, timelines, and other graphic representations of information can often reflect deep and unsettling bias. 

Quantum Entanglement and Other Strange Stories | May 15, 2023

Rosemary Magee, director emerita of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library discusses her short story collection, Family Impromptu, in which she explores the shifting tangle of emotions that accompany close relationships, often drawing upon terms from science and other disciplines. 

Microbusinesses Creating Social Vitality in Atlanta’s Underserved Communities | March 27, 2023

Peter Roberts, professor of organization and management, and Erin Ingleheart, director of the Start:ME Accelerator, both of Goizueta Business School, discuss Goizueta Business School's role in advancing microbusinesses through its Start MicroEnterprise Accelerator Program (Start:ME) program.

Artificial Intelligence and How It Shapes Our Lives | March 14, 2023

Paul Root Wolpe, director of the Emory Center for Ethics, presents new insights to help understand and navigate the ethics of artificial intelligence. He also will help recognize the challenges—some of them unforeseen—faced by those engaged in designing and managing AI systems, including universities.

Creating a World-Class African American Archive at Emory | February 28, 2023

Randall K. Burkett, retired curator of African American Collections at Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, and current curator Clint Fluker discuss the library's extensive archives of African American history and culture.

Implications of Dobbs on Reproductive Health Education | February 15, 2023

Annamarie Maples, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Emory School of Medicine, examines how state laws that ban abortions will change postgraduate medical education in women’s reproductive health in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

How to Choose a Winner | January 30, 2023

Vicki Powers, professor of mathematics in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, explores the following question: If we are choosing a winner from a set of candidates, how can we use the preferences of the individual voter to decide on the best choice for the winner?

Staying Alive in Little Five:  Confronting Stigma and Promoting Harm Reduction in a Graphic Novel Intervention | January 17, 2023

Emory University postdoctoral fellow Sarah Febres-Cordero discusses how the community of service industry workers—bartenders, servers, baristas, clerks, etc.—are on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic and uniquely positioned to intervene in opioid-related overdose.

Reconsidering Resilience: Response to Crisis or Responsible for Crisis? | December 12, 2022

Moving through a variety of case studies, Alix Olson, assistant professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Emory’s Oxford College and co-director of the Emory Studies in Sexuality Program, calls attention to the stakes of uncritically deploying resilience, particularly for those interested in a more just and emancipatory future.

Innovation AGEnts at Emory: Uncovering the Secrets to Health in Aging | November 28, 2022

Geriatrician Camille Vaughan, director of the Emory Woodruff Health Sciences Center for Health in Aging, discusses the first cohort of pilot projects funded through the center, projects that span disciplines from anthropology to ophthalmology.

The Transpacific Turn in American Religions: Religious ‘Nones,’ Evangelicalism, and the ‘Prosperity Gospel’ | November 14, 2022

How does employing a transpacific and Asian American lens change the understanding of American religions? In addressing this question, Helen Jin Kim, assistant professor of American religious history at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, examines the nonreligious, the history of evangelicalism, and the development of the so-called “prosperity gospel.”

The Outlook for the 2022 Midterm Election | October 31, 2022

National politics expert Alan Abramowitz, Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Emory, examines some of the ways in which the unusual circumstances of the 2022 midterm election may result in an unusual outcome.  

Exploring the Magic of Bach’s ’Well-Tempered Clavier’ | October 17, 2022

In Governors’ Hall of Emory University’s Miller-Ward Alumni House, Professor Emeritus of Music Timothy Albrecht illustrates Bach’s pedagogical genius by playing some ”Well-Tempered” selections.

The Courage to Build: Black Religion and the Development of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) | October 3, 2022

Marla Frederick, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture, Candler School of Theology, discusses the building of Black educational institutions by Black religious organizations (and White religious structures) and their ongoing struggle for their full and equitable funding. 

The Don Stein Story: When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It | September 19, 2022

Donald Stein, Asa Griggs Candler Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory, shares some of the outcomes of his research (ad)ventures—including a brief update on the preliminary results of the study his 2022 Heilbrun grant is helping him currently pursue.

Screening and Discussion of Common Good Atlanta: Breaking Down the Walls of Mass Incarceration | August 1, 2022

A discussion of the Hal Jacobs film, which looks at the Common Good Atlanta program founded by then Georgia State PhD student Sarah Higinbothamore, where more than 70 faculty volunteers from six universities bring access to higher education to incarcerated students.

Demystifying and Meeting the Affordable Housing Challenge | July 18, 2022

Terri Montague, McDonald Distinguished Senior Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Law, at the Emory Center for the Study of Law and Religion, discusses the leading factors and conditions that contribute to the worsening housing affordability challenges facing American families and communities. 

Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 . . . or Long COVID | July 7, 2022

Clinician-scientist Ighovwerha “Igho” Ofotokun talks about his work with the nationwide NIH–funded initiative Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER), which studies the phenomenon that has come to be known as long COVID.

Just Nothing: How King Lear Means | June 9, 2022

Bradd Shore, Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at Emory, shares insights about King Lear, focusing on Shakespeare’s craftsmanship and examining the relationship between the play’s language and its harrowing effect on its audience (and even its readers).

The Monster in the Library: Unearthing a Course from the Decidedly Undead Bram Stoker Archives | April 19, 2022

Emory English professor Sheila Cavanagh and Writing Center Director Joonna Trapp discuss the life of “Dracula” author Bram Stoker and the wide influence his novel has had on literary, cinematic, and popular culture since his day.

Innovative Treatments for PTSD: From Assessment to Virtual Reality to the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program | April 4, 2022

Barbara Rothbaum, director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program and the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, discusses the signs and symptoms of PTSD and reviews current treatments, including the virtual reality exposure therapy she invented and has applied so successfully to the combat veterans she works with.

The Eye as a Window to the Brain: From Candlelight to Artificial Intelligence | March 7, 2022

Emory ophthalmologists Nancy J. Newman and Valérie Biousse discuss the ocular fundus, or back of the eye, and its reintroduction into mainstream diagnostic practice to ascertain neurologic and systemic health.

Decoding Memory in Health and Alzheimer’s Disease: From Deficits in Neural Codes to Neural Stimulation that Boosts Immune Function | February 7, 2022

Annabelle Singer, McCamish Foundation Early Career Professor, Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, at Emory University and Georgia Tech discusses promising developments in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Cognitive Basis of Similarities in the Forms of Religious Representations and Mental Abnormalities | January 24, 2022

Emory philosopher Robert M. McCauley, founding director of Emory's Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture, discusses the similarities studied by byproduct theorists between religious devotion and mental abnormalities.

Depression in Women during Pregnancy and the Postpartum | January 10, 2022

Emory psychologist Sherryl Goodman discusses treating postpartum depression and research into the study of mechanisms by which mothers with depression transmit psychopathology to their children.

Racing for an Effective Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: One Person at a Time | December 13, 2021

Allan Levey, director of Emory’s Brain Health Personalized Medicine Institute provides a brief introduction to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias including the current state of knowledge, treatments, and accelerating progress in research.

Bridging Science and Public Health Policy to Control Urban Mosquito-Borne Diseases | November 29, 2021

Considered the world’s deadliest animal, mosquitoes inhabit virtually every corner of our planet. In this talk, Emory environmental scientist Gonzalo Vazquez Prokopec discusses new directions in mosquito control with potentially worldwide implications.

Biostatistical Collaboration for the Betterment of Society | November 15, 2021

Biostatistician Michael Kutner of Emory's Rollins School of Public Health talks about his work and training the next generation of biostatisticians to excel in this collaborative field.

The Memoir Kit: Your Good Life | October 19, 2021

The Memoir Kit class OLLI at Emory instructor Susan Soper teaches is an accessible approach to capturing life’s stories motivated by more than 250 prompts.

Unmaking the Masked Man: The Real Lone Ranger | October 4, 2021

Emory psychology professor Denise Raynor tells the story of the real Lone Ranger, the first Black US deputy marshal west of the Mississippi, Bass Reeves, who rose from slavery to become one of the most effective lawmen in history.

In Search of the Elusive Swing Voter? | September 20, 2021

Alan Abramowitz, Allen W. Barkley Professor of Political Science at Emory College, discusses the characteristics of swing voters and the factors that influence their candidate choices.

How Should We Think about Environmental Crises? | September 9, 2021

Patrick Allitt, Cahoon Family Professor of American History at Emory College, reviews the history of environmental alarms to show their continuity with the jeremiad tradition and older forms of American catastrophism.

Chairman Mao’s Children: Generation and the Politics of Memory in China | July 26, 2021

Bin Xu, Emory associate professor of sociology, tells the story of the 17 million Chinese youth moved by the state to rural villages and China’s frontiers in the 1960s and 1970s—the “sent-down” generation and their past and present.

Emory’s Engagement at the Intersection of Climate Change, Health, and Equity | July 19, 2021

Ciannet Howett, associate vice president for sustainability, resilience, and economic inclusion at Emory, discusses the Resilience and Sustainability Collaboratory (RSC), a “think-and-do tank” of faculty, community leaders, and corporate partners, and other sustainability initiatives at Emory.

The Liberal Arts Revisited: The Uses of the Humanities in Medical and Health Education | July 12, 2021

Andrew Furman, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory School of Medicine, discusses humanities-based epistemology and how it enriches and enlivens medical training and is foundational to medical decision-making and praxis.

A 35-Year History of HIV Research in Africa: Epidemiology, Transmission, Co-Factors and Vaccine Development | July 6, 2021

Married researchers Susan Allen and Eric Hunter discuss their longtime professional collaboration on HIV and other infectious diseases in Africa, she as an epidemiologist and he as a virologist and immunologist.

Looking Under the Tinfoil Hat: The Psychological Correlates of Conspiratorial Ideation | June 29, 2021

Doctoral candidate Shauna Bowes worked closely with Emory psychologist Scott Lilienfeld until his death last fall and describes two studies focused on the psychology of conspiratorial ideation, exploring the implications of their results and offer insights for future research as well.

It All Started with Yak Dung: The Quest for Environmental Justice in Atlanta and Beyond | June 21, 2021

Emory environmental sciences professor Eri Saikawa began her research work in emissions linked to air pollution long ago and far away in Tibet and now works in urban Atlanta and rural Georgia to study links between poverty and environmental harms.

The Porcupine of Time: Managing Multiple Temporalities in Exhibitions | June 14, 2021

Corinne Kratz, Emory professor of anthropology emerita, discusses the decidedly prickly subject of time management in museum exhibitions as featured in the book Museum Temporalities: Time, History, and the Future of the Ethnographic Museum.

Are Police Racially Biased in the Decision to Shoot? | June 7, 2021

In this talk, Tom Clark, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Political Science at Emory University, reports on the results of the study of racial bias in policing undertaken by the Politics of Policing Lab (PoPL) he co-directs at Emory.

Historical Decisions: Monuments Gone with the Winds of Change | June 1, 2021

Professor Emerita of Dermatology Marilynne McKay talks about what tactics have been most successful in achieving a peaceful resolution to the complex issues and strong feelings that arise when symbols so laden with significance are the subject of debate—and action.

“The Nia Project: Culturally Responsive Care for Suicidal African American Women” | May 25, 2021

The Nia Project began in the early 1990s shortly after psychology professor Nadine Kaslow came to Emory (and Grady Hospital) and garnered grants to support studies of suicide among African American women. Some of these women wanted to know, “Why do you just ask us these questions? When are you going to give us help?” Kaslow shares stories of their struggles and of their amazing resilience as well as her hopes for further expansion of the Nia Project.

Climate Change—It’s Real. So, What Can the Law Do About It? | May 17, 2021

Mindy Goldstein, director of Emory’s Turner Environmental Law Clinic, explains the various approaches to addressing climate change suggested by the president, Congress, and federal agencies.

An Archive of Taste: Race and Eating in the Early United States | May 10, 2021

This talk, based on Associate Professor of English and Quantitative Theory and Methods Lauren Klein’s recent book of the same name, reveals how eating emerged as an aesthetic activity over the course of the 18th century and how it subsequently transformed into a means of expressing both allegiance and resistance to the dominant Enlightenment worldview.

The Songbird and the Mouse: The Neuroscience of Skilled Behavior | May 4, 2021

Samuel Sober, associate professor of biology and co-director of the Simons-Emory International Consortium on Motor Control, discusses the work he and his fellow researchers are doing combining neurobiology, mathematics, and technology development to understand how the brain controls skilled behaviors all across all forms of life.

Shifting the Locus of Power in Immigration Narratives | April 12, 2021

Rosayra Pablo Cruzan, an asylum seeker of Indigenous descent, and Julie Schwietert Collazo, a white, US-born and Emory-educated writer, co-authors of The Book of Rosy (named one of the best nonfiction books of 2020) discuss the experiences that yielded that book.

Transatlantic Lives: Slavery and Freedom in West Africa and Brazil | April 5, 2021

Emory Professor of History Emerita Kristin Mann's new book tells the stories of the individual enslaved people to bring to life and make real the history of an ignoble commerce that can too often be presented only in aggregated, impersonal terms.

The Body Poetic: Julius Caesar and Legacy of ‘The King’s Two Bodies’ | March 29, 2021

Bradd Shore, Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, discusses Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar,’ long a staple of American high-school English classes, which has found new and disturbing relevance in contemporary American politics.

Considerations for a Post-COVID Economy | March 22, 2021

Raymond Hill, senior lecturer in finance at Emory’s Goizueta Business School, discusses how we might think about the path to the post-COVID-19 economy, despite the vast uncertainty around the pandemic.

Binge-Fest 2020–2021: Seen Any Good Shows Lately? | March 8, 2021

Recommended shows by Emeritus College members through which they've sought to escape the realities of the pandemic’s trying times hosted by member Gretchen Schulz.

Dave Brubeck’s Time Out: An Insider’s View of an Iconic Jazz Album | March 2, 2021

Stephen Crist, Emory music professor and music department chair, draws on nearly 15 years of archival research to offer the most thorough examination to date of this seminal jazz album.

“Sennacherib in Judah: The Archaeology of Destruction” | February 22, 2021

Oded Borowski, professor emeritus of biblical archeology and Hebrew, discusses his recent archaeological research at Tell Halif, one of the sites destroyed by King Sennacherib of Assyria when he attacked Judah, an event recorded in the Bible, besieged the city of Jerusalem, and pillaged and laid waste to 46 towns and villages in the kingdom. 

"Brain Circuits and Their Disorders: My Life and Times in Neuroscience" | February 15, 2021

Professor Emeritus of Neurology Mahlon DeLong discusses how the fields of neurology and psychiatry have undergone rapid growth over recent decades, fueled by advances in neuroscience including his own pathbreaking research in the suspected role of the basal ganglia in Parkinson's and other movement disorders.

“Water, Water Everywhere: Numerical Modeling to Simulate the Impact of Climate Change on Hurricane Storm Surge” | February 8, 2021

Talea May, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at Emory, discusses using numerical modeling to simulate the impact of climate change on hurricane storm surge risk.

“What is Climate Fiction Saying? And Should We Listen?” | February 1, 2021 

John Sitter, Charles Howard Candler Professor of English Emeritus at Emory talks about novels on climate and environmental change, which have emerged in our century as a major part of literary fiction.

German Family Memory and the Nazi Past: A Reckoning across Generations | January 25, 2021

Emory Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Angelika Bammer explores the relationship between history and memory in the wake of a traumatic past and considers the ways in which history is transmitted through family memories—the stories we tell and the silences we carry—drawing on her own family history.

Tracking the Golden Isles: What Traces Tells Us about the Natural and Human Histories of the Georgia Coast | January 11, 2021

Anthony J. Martin, professor of practice, in the Emory Department of Environmental Sciences discusses the Georgia coast, world-famous for its natural and human histories, based on his book Tracking the Golden Isles.

The Armchair Traveler | December 14, 2020

An online Lunchtime Colloquium presentation by George Brown, retired president and CEO of Friendship Force International and organizer and guide, GBT Travel

COVID-19 and Sports: Epidemiological and Ethical Issues | December 7, 2020

Emory epidemiology Zach Binney offers an overview of the practical and moral problems of the pandemic in the world of sports and the implications for broader American society of some of the solutions that have been proposed and enacted.

Biophilosophies of Becoming | November 30, 2020

Deboleena Roy, professor of neuroscience and behavioral biology and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Emory University discusses a feminist rethinking of scientific research methods and techniques.

Mathematics and Imaging | November 23, 2020

Jim Nagy, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics, at Emory University, discusses how math problems contribute to being able to obtain, read, and understand the products of medical imaging devices.

Slavevoyages.org and Slavery in the Atlantic World: IBM Punch Cards to Virtual Reality | November 17, 2020

Beginning in 1971, Emory University Robert W. Woodruff Professor of History Emeritus David Eltis, became, as one colleague said, “the driving force behind a great international investigation” into the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which he tells about here.

What Is the Next Chapter in US-China Relations? | November 10, 2020

Yawei Liu, director of the Carter Center’s China Program and adjunct professor of political science at Emory University offers a quick review of the history of engagement between China and the US and where it is headed.

Heart-Healthy Dietary Patterns: A Recipe for Life | November 2, 2020

Emory cardiologist Laurence Sperling provides an overview of various dietary approaches and highlights a scientific, evidence-based approach to the issues involved in making choices that will promote heart health.

Pandemic Ethics and Difficult Choices in the Time of COVID-19 | October 26, 2020

Kathy Kinlaw, associate director, Emory Center for Ethics and assistant professor of pediatrics, discusses the challenge of making ethical decisions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Déjà vu All Over Again: Let’s Read Another Story Together | October 19, 2020

Gretchen Schulz, professor emerita of English at Oxford College, leads a discussion of one of Joyce Carol Oates’s first published short stories, “Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?”

A Conversation about Family Storytelling | October 12, 2020

Psychologists and Emory University colleagues Robin Fivish and Marshall Duke discuss their decades-long research on the critical importance of family storytelling across generations as a way to form a sense of identity and bolster psychological well-being.

Getting Our ZZZZZZs: Understanding Sleep and Common Sleep Disorders | October 5, 2020

Nancy Collop, MD, past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and director of the Emory Sleep Center, discusses what happens when humans sleep and why sleep can prove so elusive for some.

The Global and US Economic Outlook at a Time of Massive Uncertainty | September 30, 2020

Goizueta Business School professor Jeff Rosensweig talks about an economic future with an unprecedented level of uncertainty and clouded by a global pandemic and geopolitical factors.

Is There a Mental Health Equivalent of Clean Water? | September 21, 2020

The last 150 years have brought tremendous gains in public health and biomedicine, yet mental health has lagged behind. Emory professor emerita Carol Worthman unpacks the rationale and options for processes to transform policy, practice, and values regarding mental health.

Monumental Decisions: The Origins and Messages of Confederate Memorials—Part 1, Presentation and Part 2, Q&A/Discussion | August 31, 2020

Emory University School of Medicine Professor of Dermatology Emerita Marilynne McKay discusses the Confederate monuments and statues that populate the US landscape.

When Bugs Outsmart Drugs: The Effects of America’s Antibiotic Obsession | August 24, 2020

Bill Wuest, Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Investigator and Associate Professor in the Emory University Department of Chemistry, discusses potential chemical and biological solutions for both combating and better understanding Earth’s most numerous living organisms.

Teaching in the Oddhouse: What the Prison Classroom Has Taught Me about Compassionate Pedagogy | August 17, 2020

Oxford faculty member Stacy Bell discusses the special topics course in memoir she has been teaching since 2010, a collaborative classroom that includes Oxford College students and students incarcerated in Arrendale State Prison for women in Alto, Georgia. 

‘Speak the Speech’: Performing Hamlet | July 13, 2020

Sarah Higinbotham, Shakespearean scholar and assistant professor of English at Emory University’s Oxford College, directs Emeritus College volunteers in a Zoom-based dramatic reading of the first two scenes in Hamlet.

Screening and Discussion of Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence | July 8, 2020

Hal Jacobs talks about the 50-minute documentary he made with his son, Henry, about Georgia author and activist Lillian Smith, an early anti-racist advocate who spoke out on the subject of racism well before the Civil Rights Movement took off in the late 1950s and who offered programs intended to address that racism too.

Settler Societies after Colonialism: South Africa and the USA | June 29, 2020

Pamela Scully, professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and of African studies, discusses the concept of the Settler Society as it has been applied historically and in the contemporary era using her expertise in South African and transnational history as well as her experiences growing up in South Africa under apartheid.

The Oddball’s Oddball: The Unusual Life of a Mathematical Genius | June 22, 2020

Ron Gould, Goodrich C. White Professor of Mathematics Emeritus, describes the life and work of the brilliant and eccentric Paul Erdös, one of the most important mathematicians of the 20th century and its most prolific.

Mrs. Miller’s Constitution: Civil Liberties and the Radical Right in Cold War America | June 15, 2020

Emory historian Daniel LaChance tells the story of far-right grassroots activists who, in the early years of the Cold War, waged a campaign against government bureaucracies they believed were quietly ushering in an age of despotism, and who grew especially alarmed at the growing power given to psychiatrists to oversee the psychological well-being of Americans.

The Birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary in the Infancy Gospel of James (Protevangelium Jacobi) | June 1, 2020

Professor of Religion Emeritus Vernon K. Robbins discusses the Protevangelium Jacobi (Infancy Gospel of James), written ca. 180 CE, that presents Mary, the mother of Jesus, growing up in the holy environment of the Jerusalem temple.

The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul: A History of Emory Commencement | May 11, 2020

A virtual commencement on the day that would have witnessed Emory’s 175th graduation exercises, retired Emory University Historian Gary Hauk tells how the university has celebrated the achievements of its students and faculty through the generations.

“Ah, You’re a Doctor?” Exploring the Experiences of African Americans in Medicine | May 4, 2020

Denise Raynor, who retired from her position as director of the OB/GYN residency program at Grady’s Perinatal Center in 2009, talks about racial bias in medical education and its impact on disparities in health outcomes.

Can US Health Care Be Made Affordable? | April 27, 2020

Physician Henry Kahn discusses the overall state of the US health care system, the financing of which is unique among developed countries, and whether the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic may present opportunities for major reform.

Howard Thurman: Tutor to the World | April 20, 2020

Morehouse College Associate Professor of Philosophy Kipton Jensen discusses theologian Howard Thurman (1899–1981), an adherent of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence, mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., and one of the unsung heroes of the American civil rights movement.

Building Resilience through Contemplative Practice | April 13, 2020

Bobbi Patterson, professor of pedagogy in the Department of Religion at Emory, offers present, relevant exercises for cultivating resilience through tough times as found in her book of the same name.

Bringing ‘Remote Learning’ Closer to Home | April 6, 2020

Oxford College Professor of English Emerita Gretchen Schulz gives a tutorial in online learning by teaching the James Joyce short story “Araby” from Dubliners.

BookFest 2020: Recommendations for Summer Reading | March 30, 2020

Assorted members of EUEC gave short presentations on their favorite books for reading now that there is likely more time to read.

The Chaos the DNC Created | March 2, 2020

Emory political scientist Pearl Dowe discusses what steps the Democratic Party should take to ensure it is seen as a viable party option for the millions of voters it needs to attract if it is to succeed in defeating Donald Trump in November.

The Goddess and the Dreadful Practice: An Ancient Hindu Cautionary Tale | February 18, 2020

Paul Courtright, professor of religion emeritus, tells a tale that might be compared with Greek or Shakespearean tragedies, but is deeply Indian and resonates with shared universal themes of power, loyalty, violence, love, and the “ultimate order of things.”

Artificial Intelligence and the Western Workforce: Will AI Take Our Jobs? | February 3, 2020

John Banja, Emory medical professor and medical ethicist, discusses the ways artificial intelligence is likely to alter the workforce in the not-so-distant future (and beyond) and the ways in which we might prepare for its doing so.

When Emory Doctors Went to War: Honoring the Centennial of the Emory Medical Unit's Service in the First World War | January 21, 2020

Retired administrator and health care consultant Ren Davis discusses the Emory Medical Unit's role in WWI following the United States’ entry into the Great War in April 1917 to provide care to the soldiers deploying for combat in France.

The Millionaire Was a Soviet Mole: The Twisted Life of David Karr | January 6, 2020

Harvey Klehr, Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emeritus of Politics and History of Emory, tells the fascinating story of David Karr, who lived a number of lives: newsman, government bureaucrat, public relations flack, CEO, Hollywood and Broadway producer, hotel magnate, international banker, and Soviet and Israeli source.

Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan | December 10, 2019

Ruby Lal, professor of South Asian studies in the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, presents her book on Nur Jahan, the young widow who became the 20th and favorite wife of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1611—the only woman ever recognized as empress in her male-dominated world.

From Justice Kennedy to Justice Kavanaugh: The United States Supreme Court in a Time of Transition | November 4, 2019

Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law Robert Shapiro gives an overview of the 2019 Supreme Court session in which justices grapple with topics including immigration, LGBT rights, and gun control, among others.

The Unintended Consequences of the Internet Age | Monday, September 23


Jagdish Sheth discusses the side effects of the digital age including the shift to the sharing economy over the private ownership of property and the challenge to existing jurisdictions organized around countries, markets, and currencies.

Bookfest 2019: Recommendations for Rest of Summer Reading | June 22, 2019

Assorted members of EUEC give short presentations on their favorite summertime books.

And the Flesh Was Made Word: Romeo and Juliet in the Kingdom of Cratylus | June 11, 2019

Tracing Romeo and Juliet’s links to Plato’s Cratylus, Bradd Shore considers Juliet’s famous question, “What’s in a name,” as the heart of Shakespeare’s dazzling reflection on the relations between love and language. 

Taking Your Skin Outdoors: Sun, Bugs, and Poison Ivy | May 28, 2019

Marilynne McKay shares what she—and your dermatologist—would like you to know about keeping your skin healthy and protected in the summer months.

How Does Your Garden Grow? | March 25, 2019

Emeriti husband and wife professors Helen O'Shea (Emory School of Nursing) and Don O'Shea (Georgia Tech) discuss the forested garden that they've cultivated over the past 15 years close to Emory’s gate.

The Poetry of Natasha Trethewey | March 12, 2019

Liza Davis, director emerita of the University Honors program at Kennesaw State, discusses the poetry of former Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize recipient Natasha Trethewey in her book Thrall.

How I Gained an International Reputation as a Gambler | February 25, 2019

Ronald Gould, Goodrich C. White Professor of Mathematics Emeritus, tells the tale of his freshman seminar on gambling, which led to lots of interest from high rollers around the world.

The Opioid Crisis in 2019 | February 12, 2019

Carl Hug, MD, professor of anesthesiology emeritus at Emory School of Medicine and an ethics consultant for Emory University Hospital, discusses the current state of the opioid crisis.

Choice or Chance: Locus of Control | January 28, 2019

Stephen Nowicki reports on the results of a three-year grant from the Templeton Foundation that has allowed him to pursue his long-time interest in the impact of “locus of control”—the role of our ideas of choice or chance in our lives. 

Changing Courses, or A 72-Year-Old Undergraduate Speaks | January 15, 2019

Librarian Emeritus Shelden Deemer shares the joys of new starts in retirement as he chronicles his return to undergraduate student life and is joined by Marilynne McKay and Holly York, who have stories of their own. 

Samothrace and Beyond: Excavating the Secrets of the Ancient World | December 3, 2018

Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Art History Bonna Wescoat has been pursuing her work in archaeology on Samothrace since she was a student and is now director of excavations there. Hear what she and her interdisciplinary team of scholars and students have done to uncover the history and legacy of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods.

Biology and Buddhism: What I've Learned about Life during a Decade Teaching Science to the Dalai Lama’s Monks and Nuns | November 19, 2018

Arri Eisen, professor of pedagogy and Nat C. Robertson Distinguished Teaching Chair in Science and Society discusses the transformative relationship between the 14th Dalai Lama and Emory University.

Crowd-sourcing ‘Return to The Wasteland’: Margate and Coventry in 2018 | October 22, 2018

Sheila Cavanagh, Emory professor of English and director of the World Shakespeare Project, discusses concepts of public scholarship surrounding Mike Tooby’s “crowd-sourced” exhibition related to Eliot’s composition of The Wasteland in Margate in 1922.

The Ecology of Infection: Zoonotic Transmission at the Human-Livestock-Wildlife Interface | October 1, 2018

Thomas Gillespie, associate professor of environmental sciences and environmental health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health, discusses how and why human disturbance of tropical forests alters disease dynamics in resident wildlife and places people and animals in these ecosystems at increased risk of pathogen exchange. 

Genes, Climate, and Consumption Culture: Connecting the Dots | September 17, 2018

Jagdish Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Goizueta Business School, discusses his book Genes, Climate, and Consumption Culture: Connecting the Dots, which looks at how climate dictates culture and consumption.

Why Montaigne Matters: Recovering the Lost Virtue of Civility | September 4, 2018

Ann Hartle, professor of philosophy emerita and author of several books on Michel de Montaigne, shares what the French Renaissance philosopher had to say about civility, first given expression in his Essays.

Developing Faculties: The Power of Contemplative Pedagogy | July 23, 2018

Carnegie scholar Patti Owen-Smith, professor of psychology and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Oxford College, shares insights from her recent book, The Contemplative Mind in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 

Kein Geld, Kein Schweizer:  No Money, No Swiss | July 10, 2018

Associate Professor of Political Science Emeritus Larry Taulbee, winner of a Heilbrun Fellowship for research on the topic of mercenary forces, talks about the French Foreign Legion and its contributions to allied forces during the 1991 Gulf War. 

Keeping Up with the Latest on Big Pharma, Drug Costs, and the Salutary Story of Cialis | June 18, 2018

Al Padwa, William P. Timme Professor of Chemistry Emeritus was called as an “expert witness” when Vanderbilt University and Lilly Pharmaceuticals argued about the rights underlying the use of Cialis for erectile dysfunction. He shares the nitty-gritty on that and places it in the context of larger issues surrounding pharmaceutical pricing.

Pursuing Law in the Public Interest: Fighting the Good Fight | May 21, 2018

Monica Modi Khant, Executive Director of the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN) discusses the horrors of human trafficking, the subject of a course she teaches at Georgia State University.

Contemporary Challenges to Christianity in India | May 7, 2018

Thomas Thangaraj, D. W. and Ruth Brooks Professor Emeritus of World Christianity at Candler School of Theology, addresses four questions with regard to Christianity in India, the country of his birth and upbringing (as a Christian).

Black and Blue: Exploring Racial Bias and Law Enforcement in the Killings of Unarmed Black Male Civilians | March 19, 2018

Erika V. Hall discusses how racial bias affects interactions between the police and members of the public whom they’re charged to “protect and serve.”

Hearing the Trees: Works from an Exhibition | March 5, 2018

Katherine Mitchell discusses works from her recent exhibition at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University, an exhibition funded in part by one of the Bianchi grants awarded by Emeritus College.

Frankenstein: How a Monster Became an Icon | February 5, 2018

Two longtime Emory University professors, physicist Sidney Perkowitz and film historian Eddy von Mueller, celebrate the bicentenary of Mary Shelley’s marvelous creation and its indelible impact on art and culture.

“The Vanished People of Northern Malawi: Ancient DNA and Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways in Prehistoric Africa” | January 22, 2018 

Anthropology professor Jessica Thompson and PhD candidate Kendra Ann Sirak discuss how archaeological evidence, linguistic data, and DNA from living people clearly show that between 4,000 and 2,000 years ago there was a massive migration of early farmers and herders across sub-Saharan Africa. 

Life, Luck, Language, and How I Became a Historian | December 4, 2017 

Susan Socolow, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor Emerita of Latin American History, discusses linguistic competence, which has helped her greatly in her scholarly endeavors. As experience has shown her, linguistic competence can open professional (and social) doors well worth walking through—all over the world.

An EUEC Poetry Slam: Members Share Their Own Poetry (Plus) | November 6

Gene Bianchi (founding director of the Emeritus College and continuing contributor to its success) shares poetry from his most recent collection, “The Hum of It All,” and other works. Fellow Emeriti poets Don Saliers and Holly York join him. 

A Question of Manhood: African Americans and WWI | October 23, 2017

African American Collections curator at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Pellom McDaniels III discusses his exhibition inspired by the memoir of an African American soldier who served as a valet in WWI, when African American men gravitated towards the image of the black soldier as a beacon of hope and dignity.

‘Regardless, you are not the first woman’: An Illustrative Case Study of Missed Opportunities to Protect Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | September 25, 2017

A mixed-methods researcher at the Rollins School of Public Health, Dabney Evans shares insight into her current research into sexual and reproductive health and rights, focusing on the particularly sensitive topics of rape, unintended pregnancy, and abortion.

Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World | September 19, 2017

Sleep is a biological necessity for all living creatures, yet among humans, it is practiced in an astonishing variety of ways. Benjamin Reiss talks about his book, Wild Nights, which looks at the historical and economic causes and consequences of our peculiar manner of sleeping.

Why the 2016 US Presidential Polls Were ‘Wrong’: Implications for Future Polling | July 24, 2017

Donna Brogan, professor of biostatistics emerita at the Rollins School of Public Health discusses post-mortems among professionals who work in sample survey methodology in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election.

Artificial Photosynthesis: Tackling both Global Energy Needs and Climate Change  |  July 10, 2017

As the use of fossil fuels increasingly impact the well-being of the planet, says Craig Hill, Goodrich C. White Professor of Chemistry, sunlight will be the only energy source that can come close to sustainably powering our long-term needs.

Heart Attack and Stroke: The Role of Genes and Drugs  | June 5, 2017

W. Virgil Brown, Charles Howard Candler Professor Emeritus, Emory University School of Medicine, discusses new understandings and therapies regarding the role of genes and drugs in vascular disease.

Violence and Crime: The Health Care Response  |  May 15, 2017

Angela F. Amar, associate professor at Emory’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, discusses the victims of violence and the first-line nurses who are often the first to interact with them. The book on the subject she recently co-authored received not one but two Book of the Year Awards from the American Journal of Nursing in 2016.


“Something wicked this way comes”: The Problem of Evil in Shakespeare’s Plays  |  May 1, 2017

Gretchen Schulz, Oxford College professor of English emerita, discusses how Shakespeare “anatomizes” the “hard hearts” of his villains in Richard III, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear—positing (and portraying) causes (possible causes) for their behaviors.

Re-Inventing The Canterbury Tales: Hypertext and ‘The General Prologue’  |  April 3, 2017

Professor of English Emeritus John Bugge says that The Canterbury Tales, written in Middle English, need not be as daunting to read as people think.

Beautiful and Smart? The Use of Medicinal Plants by Monarch Butterflies  |  March 6, 2017

Associate Professor of Biology Jaap de Roode’s work with monarch butterflies has revealed how the insects act to counter the virulence of the protozoan parasite that threatens them when they use milkweeds as their larval food plants. 

A Spirit of Charity: Restoring the Bond between America and Its Public Hospitals  | January 23, 2017

Journalist Mike King discusses his book, which examines the challenges facing and achievements of the country’s public hospitals including Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital. 

Reconciling History: The Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project at Emory  | January 9, 2017

Hank Klibanoff, professor of practice in the Creative Writing Program discusses his work with Emory undergraduates examining Georgia history in the classroom and in the field through the prism of unsolved or unpunished racially motivated murders of the modern civil rights era.

Doctors in the Sherlockian Canon | November 26, 2016 

Marilynne McKay, professor of dermatology emerita, discusses several of the most interesting doctors found in the writings of Arthur Conan Doyle, particularly those based on newsworthy Victorian physicians.

The Making of the Pre-modern World: Archaeological Research Digs up Old Artifacts and New Ideas | November 7, 2016 

Aaron Jonas Stutz, associate professor of anthropology, and Liv Nilsson Stutz, senior lecturer in anthropology, Emory College, talk about their work at the Mughr el-Hamamah site in the Jordan Valley, the corridor linking our African evolutionary ancestral home with the rest of the world.

The Strange Life and Death of the Good White Southerners | October 17, 2016 

Joseph Crespino, Jimmy Carter Professor and Chair in History at Emory University, talks at an Emory Emeritus College Lunch Colloquium about his upcoming book on the political and cultural history of white Southern liberalism from the Great Depression through the end of the 20th century.

Mary Hutchinson Observed: From Bloomsbury to Beckett  | October 24, 2016 

While working on the correspondence of Samuel Beckett, Emory University Theater Professor Emeritus Brenda Bynum read letters that he had written to his friend Mary Hutchinson. "I wanted to know more about her, but discovered that there were no biographies, autobiographies or memoirs to read,” says Bynum. This is what she found.

The Science of Mountaineering: A Quest for the Seven Summits | September 26, 2016 

Professor and Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Emory University, Stefan Lutz has had a lifetime goal to hike the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the continents. Here he shares scientific insights he has derived from these adventures.

Divided America and the 2016 Elections | July 25, 2016 

Emory University political science professor Alan Abramowitz spoke about the 2016 election in July. Watch and see how prescient his predictions were. Note: the sound is uneven for the first five minutes or so. 

Sheth Distinguished Lecture

The Sheth Lecture is our annual lecture featuring speakers of outstanding quality and is named in honor of Dr. Jagdish and Mrs. Madhuri Sheth, whose generous donation made this annual event possible.

Additional Programs

The Living History playlist chronicles the contributions (discussion, lectures, service projects, etc.) emeriti make to the university, its community, and the world.

EUEC Players Medieval Christmas Play | December 2019

For our holiday party, three EUEC Members, Don Saliers, Clark Lemons, and Brenda Bynum, presented the 600-year-old York Tile-Thatcher’s play, "The Birth of Christ,"  with an introduction by Liza Davis.

Understanding the Journey: The Past, Present, and Future of Cardiovascular Disease in Women | October 28, 2019

Nanette Wenger, professor of medicine emeritus at Emory School of Medicine, talks about women's heart health in an Emory Emeritus College Afternoon Seminar.

Creativity, Disability, and the Left Hand | February 28, 2018

Howard I. Kushner, Nat C. Robertson Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at the Rollins School of Public Health, talks about his new book, On the Other Hand: Left Hand, Right Brain, Mental Disorder, and History, which examines various historical, conceptual, societal, and medical aspects of left-handedness.

Tracking, Spying, and Customizing: Political Communication in the New Media Age | November 2, 2016 

Amelia Arsenault is sought after for her analysis of the use of media by marketing and political groups to learn more about your preferences, needs, and opinions. Every time you access your phone or computer, some group is tracking where you go, what you order, or what questions you ask Siri.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream: Sleeping Well at Any Age | July 21, 2016 

Ann Rogers, a nationally renowned sleep expert, shares information from her research, first providing ¿sleep basics¿ and then discussing sleep changes over the life span as well as common sleep problems associated with aging and sleep disorders.

Financial Check-up for Seniors: Things to Think About | October 28, 2015 

Marcia Mayoue of Buckhead Investment Partners has 27 years of experience in the financial services industry, working in the areas of financial and estate planning, strategy development, and implementation of investment plans.

Where to Next? | July 15, 2015 

Representatives from four local retirement communities speak about what they have to offer including a description of financial arrangements, living quarters, dining, social activities, health care, transportation, security, and other amenities. 

Videos documenting various activities of EUEC:

Emeritus College 20th Anniversary Celebration (2022)

“Gretchen’s Questions”

Oxford College Professor of English Emerita Gretchen Schulz was memorialized at a September 22, 2022 ”Memory Party.” She was the longtime chair of the Mind Matters Committee, responsible for producing the Lunch Colloquium series. “Gretchen’s Questions” is a tribute video that celebrates her sly wit and boundless intellectual curiosity.

Awards and New Members Reception

This annual program was held on May 20, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. via Zoom. There was recognition of the Heilbrun Fellowship winner, our EUEC Distinguished Faculty Awards, and our many new members and donors.

Awards and New Members Reception

This annual program was held on April 16, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. via Zoom. There was recognition of two Heilbrun Fellowship winners, our EUEC Distinguished Faculty and Service Awards, and our many new members and donors. 

Emeritus College 10-Year Celebration

Emory Senior Mentor Program

MedShare: One Person's Trash, Another Person's Treasure (2014)