- See Also
- BAA Quick Links
Back to Class with Brown Faculty | Podcasts & Videos
Subscribe via RSS
Find Brown University
podcasts on iTunes U
Learn about upcoming Back to Class events
The Brown Alumni Association offers faculty programs that take you back into the classroom with active scholars on the cutting edge of fascinating topics. Selected Back to Class with Brown Faculty presentations are made available here for you to enjoy at your convenience.
Chcek back here in the coming months for more videos, like Professor Emeritus Barrett Hazeltine on entrepreneurship.
The BAA would like to thank our colleagues in Advancement Information Services for capturing these events.
Faculty Podcast Topics:
- The Next Leap in Mars Exploration — Professor Jack Mustard
- What Made The Founders Different? — Professor emeritus Gordon Wood
- Sectarian Conflict in the Middle East: Myths and Realities — Associate Professor Melani Cammett ’91
- A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides — David Rohde ’90 and Kristen Mulvihill ’91
- Why Literature-and-Medicine? — Professor Arnold Weinstein
- The Hip Hop Wars — Professor Tricia Rose ’93 PhD
- Old Things Everywhere: The Ancient World at Brown University — Professor Susan Alcock
- Building Brown: Brown’s Campus Master Plan — Assistant Vice President Michael McCormick
- Brain-Computer Interfaces and Restorative Neurotechnology — Associate Professor Leigh Hochberg ’90
- Connecting with Arts and Culture: The Public Humanities Program at Brown — Professor Steven Lubar
- Dirty Rotten Secrets of Health Reform — Professor James Morone
- America’s Continuing Problem with Evolution — Professor Kenneth Miller ’70
- The Quantum Mechanics of Global Warming — Professor Brad Marston
- The Story of Global Health at Brown — Dean Edward J. Wing
- The Continuing, Growing Financial Crisis — Professor Ross Levine
- Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape of College Admissions — Dean James Miller ’73
- Recounting and Forecasting Election 2008 — Assistant Professor Jennifer Lawless
- Democratic Rights — Associate Professor Corey Brettschneider
- Saints and Sinners in American Politics — Professor James Morone
- Election 2008 — Former Professor Darrell West
- Race, Immigration Reform and the 2008 Election — Associate Professor Matthew Garcia
- Brown’s Impact on the HIV/AIDS Crisis in Kenya — Assistant Professor E. Jane Carter
- Children At Play: An American History — Professor Howard Chudacoff
- How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President — Visiting Fellow Lincoln D. Chafee ’75
- Architecture of the Night — Professor Dietrich Neumann
- Reflections on Brown's Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice — Former Associate Professor James Campbell
These lectures are presented as part of the intellectual discourse that characterizes Brown's commitment to learning through an open dialogue of diverse opinions. The opinions of the speaker are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Brown University or the Brown Alumni Association.
The Next Leap in Mars Exploration
Jack Mustard, geology professor
NASA has successfully landed the Curiosity rover. What science will it pursue, and why? How is Brown involved? Geology professor Jack Mustard will bring you up to date and share the most recent results from Curiosity.
What Made The Founders Different?
Gordon Wood, professor emeritus of history
Wood deliveres a compelling and insightful talk on what made the founders of America different. He spoke to the Brown Club of Rhode Island on March 13, 2012.
Sectarian Conflict in the Middle East: Myths and Realities
Melani Cammett ’91, Associate Professor of Political Science; Director, Middle East Studies Program
Cammett speaks about the situation in Iraq, sectarian organizations in Lebanon, and the complex relationships between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims in the region.
Watch the full presentation |
Watch an excerpt from the presentation
A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides
David Rohde ’90 and Kristen Mulvihill ’91
Journalist David Rohde ’90 and his wife Kristen Mulvihill ’91 describe his abduction and seven months of captivity by the Taliban and her efforts to free him.
Watch the full presentation
Watch an excerpt from the presentation
Why Literature-and-Medicine?
Arnold Weinstein, Professor of Comparative Literature
Professor Weinstein discusses how literature can be used to diagnose, explore, and treat diseases rather than traditional biology, and his desire to view medicine from a narrative perspective.
Watch the full presentation | Watch an excerpt from the presentation
The Hip Hop Wars
Tricia Rose ’93 PhD, Professor of Africana Studies
Professor Rose ’93 PhD describes the evolution and innovation of hip hop, and calls for a return to the creativity of the genre.
Watch the full presentation | Watch an excerpt from the presentation
Old Things Everywhere: The Ancient World at Brown University
Susan Alcock, Director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Professor Alcock discusses archaeology on College Hill and beyond.
Watch the full presentation | Watch highlights from the presentation
Building Brown: Brown’s Campus Master Plan
Michael McCormick, Assistant Vice President for Planning, Design, and Construction
Michael McCormick describes the vision for and progress of Brown’s new and improved campus buildings and walkways, and its expansion into the city.
Watch the full presentation | Watch highlights from the presentation
Brain-Computer Interfaces and Restorative Neurotechnology
Leigh Hochberg ’90, Associate Professor of Engineering
Professor Hochberg discusses Brown's collaborative research towards developing assistive technology for people with paralysis and limb trauma.
Watch the full presentation | Watch highlights from the presentation
Connecting with Arts and Culture: The Public Humanities Program at Brown
Steven Lubar, Professor of American Civilization
Professor Lubar describes how The John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage is building connections between communities, organizations, scholars and students.
Watch the full presentation | Watch highlights from the presentation
Dirty Rotten Secrets of Health Reform
James Morone, Professor of Political Science
In this talk, Professor James Morone offers both historical and current perspectives on health reform.
Darwin, God, and Design - America's Continuing Problem with Evolution
Kenneth Miller '70, Professor of Biology
Is it time to replace “Darwinism” with ideas like “intelligent design” or, at the very least, to introduce criticisms of evolution into our educational system? In this presentation Professor Miller assesses the state of this conflict in America today.
The Quantum Mechanics of Global Warming
Brad Marston, Professor of Physics
Quantum mechanics plays a crucial, albeit often overlooked, role in determining the Earth’s climate. Professor Marston presents a simple physical picture of what will happen to the Earth as the concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide continue to increase.
Changing the World: The Story of Global Health at Brown
Edward J. Wing, Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences
Dean Wing describes how Brown faculty and students are changing the world, and his vision of the future of global health at Brown. He discusses programs in Kenya, the Dominican Republic, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Russia that provide direct care to patients while offering educational opportunities.
The End of the Beginning: The Continuing, Growing Financial Crisis
Ross Levine, Professor of Economics
The financial crisis has affected world financial markets and is likely to have enduring implications. Professor Levine describes the current state of affairs, offers thoughts about where things are headed, and discusses options available to the Obama Administration.
On the Inside Track: Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape of College Admissions
James Miller ’73, Dean of Admission
Dean Miller addresses many of the recent changes in the college admissions process. Gender balance, shifts in geographic representation, the elimination of early admissions at select institutions, the role of alumni volunteers, and changes to financial aid are some of the topics covered.
Fourteen Months Down, 72 Days to Go: Recounting and Forecasting Election 2008
Jennifer Lawless, Assistant Professor, Political Science and Public Policy
In this presentation, Assistant Professor Lawless examined the dynamics of the 2008 election, highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly, while assessing the prospects for victory and governing for each candidate.
Democratic Rights
Corey Brettschneider, Associate Professor of Political Science
Associate Professor Brettschneider offers an alternative to the traditional divide between procedural theories of democracy and substantive theories of justice. He argues that democracy is fundamentally about a core set of values: political autonomy, equality of interests, and reciprocity with implications.
Hellfire Nation: Saints and Sinners in American Politics
James Morone, Professor of Political Science
How did America become a nation with the soul of a church? Professor Morone shows how religious and moral fervor ignites our fiercest social conflicts -- and how it moves dreamers to fight for social justice.
Election 2008
Darrell West, Former Professor of Political Science
In this talk, and subsequent conversation, Darrel West describes Election 2008 as an important turning point in American history and shares his prediction of the election results. West is now vice president and director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.
Race, Immigration Reform and the 2008 Election
Matthew Garcia, Associate Professor of American Civilization, Ethnic Studies and History
Associate Professor Garcia has worked with the Smithsonian to create a web-based oral history archive and traveling exhibition about the Bracero program, a temporary guest worker program for Mexican workers from 1942-1964. He also reflects on proposals for immigration reformleading up to the 2008 Elections.
Many Hands, One Dream: Brown's Impact on the HIV/AIDS Crisis in Kenya
E. Jane Carter, Assistant Professor of Medicine
The Brown/Kenya Program began in 1996 and Brown has been an integral part of the ASSANTE Consortium. In this presentation, E. Jane Carter describes in vivid and captivating detail the efforts of this program, and its impact on the HIV/AIDS Crisis.
Children At Play: An American History
Howard Chudacoff, Professor of American History and Urban Studies
Professor Chudacoff’s book, Children At Play: An American History, traces the history of how children have played and raises questions about how much freedom children have had, and should have, in their play.
Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President
Lincoln D. Chafee ’75, Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies
Former
Senator Lincoln D. Chafee ’75 delivers his perspective on
the following major political occurrences during his seven-year
period in the Senate; the vote to go to war in Iraq, Bush’s
tax cut program, the 2004 election and the return of Congress to
a Democratic majority.
Architecture of the Night
Dietrich Neumann, Professor of History of Art and Architecture
Professor Neumann explores the history of architectural illumination since the introduction of electric light as a "new building material," showing historic and contemporary examples and discussing the debates that accompanied this development.
A Long Time Ago: Reflections on Brown's Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice
James Campbell, Former Associate Professor of American Civilization, Africana Studies and History
James Campbell, who chaired Brown's Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, discusses the committee’s findings and entertains questions, comments, criticisms, and suggestions about its work. In 2009, Campbell returned to his alma mater, Stanford University, as the Edgar E. Robinson Professor in United States History.
About the BAA Podcasts
The BAA would like to thank our colleagues Bandith Vorasane, Assistant Director, and Stephen Crocker, Video & Web Content Editor in Advancement Information Services for capturing these events.
Also of Interest: