Jeff Deskovic: 16 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment

Mark your calendar: Monday April 22nd at 6:30PM in Davis

Jeff Deskovic was wrongfully imprisoned at 17, despite a negative DNA test, based upon a coerced, false confession; prosecutorial misconduct; fraud by the medical examiner; and an inept public defender. Mr. Deskovic will address his: arrest and conviction; 16 years in prison; exoneration; wrongful convictions in general; difficulties reintegrating; becoming an advocate for reform, and the launch of The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, whose purpose is to clear others currently wrongfully imprisoned.

www.jeffreydeskovicspeaks.org

Zero Percent Film Screening and Discussion

Mark your calendar: Wednesday April 24th at 7:30PM in Davis

Zero Percent takes the audience inside Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison’s college program inside Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison. From the outset of the film, we learn that Hudson Link sponsored students are men who have come to appreciate the full impact of their life-altering crimes, on others and themselves. And while it may be years before they see life outside the prison walls, we see first-hand their insight that their only hope for a redemptive, productive life is through the dedication they have shown in transforming their lives.

The driving force behind Hudson Link’s creation and success is the men who were once incarcerated themselves; men who experienced first-hand the impact that mental and emotional rehabilitation can have on their lives, their families and their communities.

The film’s title, Zero Percent, refers to the fact that not one of Hudson Link’s graduates has been re-incarcerated for a new crime once released. Given the national recidivism rate of over 60%, Zero Percent provides real-life evidence of the far-reaching, positive effects of the Hudson Link Program.

The screening will be followed by a question and answer by former student and executive director of Hudson Link, Sean Pica.

John Todd: Healing the Planet: A Necessary Imperative?

Mark your calendar: Thursday April 11th at 8PM in Filene

John Todd, the famous ecologist, will be visiting Skidmore’s campus. He will be discussing his views and plans for ecological restoration. Todd is the real deal when it comes to applying ecological science to global problems of human excesses and human health such as sewage treatment, coal mining destruction and waste, urban planning, etc.

His website is http://toddecological.com/.

James W. Ceaser: The American Founding and the Choice of a Foundation

Mark your calendar: Friday April 12th at 8PM in Gannett

The Kuroda Symposium in Early American Politics and Culture was established to honor Professor Tadahisa Kuroda’s contribution to American history and pedagogy at Skidmore. It is a collaborative effort between the History, Government and American Studies departments.

James W. Ceaser is a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1976, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Ceaser is the author of several books on American politics and political thought, including Presidential Selection, Liberal Democracy and Political Science, Reconstructing America, Nature and History in American Political Development, and Designing a Polity. He has also coauthored a series on American national elections since 1992. Ceaser has held visiting professorships at Oxford University, the University of Bordeaux, Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Rennes. He currently serves as a presidential appointee to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and is a frequent contributor to the popular press.

Remembering Fictions – Our Own and Others’ Constructions

Mark your calendar: Wednesday April 10th at 5:30PM in Davis

This research colloquium includes presentations by Elizabeth Marsh and Alan Scoboria. Each expert’s presentation will be relatively brief (about 25 minutes) followed by an interactive discussion period.

Scoboria (clinical psychologist, Behavioral, Cognitive, & Neuroscience Program, Windsor University) will speak about his research that examines the ease with which people come to believe imagined scenarios of possible life events originated from experienced events.

Dr. Marsh (cognitive psychologist, Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Duke University) will speak about her research that examines the ease with which people can incorporate details they encountered while reading fiction (others’ fictional constructions) into their knowledge about the world.

How to Raise an Ox: Ways of Self-Realization in Yoga, Daoism, and Zen

Mark your calendar: Monday April 8th at 8PM in Gannett

How, through deepening awareness of ourselves, can we become fully and authentically ourselves?  The ox in the ox-herding pictures and practices is the self, or more pointedly, self-awareness.  This talk explores how Yoga, Daoist and Zen traditions come together in their attempt to answer this fundamental question.

Lecture by Dr. John Koller, Professor Emeritus of Asian and Comparative Philosophy, Department of Cognitive Sciences, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He is the author of five books, Including Asian Philosophies (6^th edition), The Indian Way (2^nd edition), and A Sourcebook in Asian Philosophy, as well as some 50 journal articles and book chapters.  Recipient of numerous awards for teaching and research, he has held fellowships at numerous prestigious universities, including the University of Madras and Columbia University.

 

Panel Discussion: The Mythic Figure

Mark your calendar: Tuesday April 9th at 6PM in Davis

In conjunction with “The Mythic Figure” exhibit at the Schick Gallery April 4– – May 19, artists Pamela Avril, Ed Smith, and William Tucker will discuss their work, and how mythology and literature are sources of inspiration.

Peer Instruction in Computing: the Role of the Instructor

 

Mark your calendar: Thursday April 11th at 6PM in Harder 201

Lecture by Daniel Zingano, University of Toronto. Flipping classrooms and active learning are the current focus of much of educational reform. With the instructor’s role shifting from “sage on a stage” to “guide by the side,” do instructors still matter?

Interactive Games, Art and Marketing: How We See the Future

 

Mark your calendar: Tuesday, April 9th at 7PM in Filene

Focusing on the technology of interaction design, four of Skidmore’s most accomplished alumni in the field of interaction design will examine powerful new forms of interaction that are emerging on the Web and on mobile devices, and discuss examples of interactions that they have personally produced or particularly admire. They also will discuss the strategic objectives and creative processes that generated them.

Speakers: Zach Gage, Jonathan Hills, Brian Kelley, and Charlie Whitney

Social Justice Month: Kick-Off

Come help us kick off April’s Social Justice Month at Skidmore! Live performances, information about various events going on throughout the month, and free Chipotle and Plum Dandy!

Friday the 29th in the SPA. 10pm.