Wednesday Community Luncheons
For decades, Wednesday has been a day of community gathering at the Divinity School. Ecumenical services are held at Bond Chapel at 11:30 a.m. that draw on the contributions of students, staff, faculty, and a variety of preachers from Chicago's religious communities, followed at 12:00 noon by a community luncheon in Swift Common Room. The lunches always feature a guest speaker, invited from the University, the local community, or beyond. Lunch topics have addressed everything from particle physics and the search for a fifth dimension to the history of Klezmer music. (Click here for an archive of Wednesday lunches since Autumn 2005.) The programs provide a unique opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to engage one another in informal conversation.
Special Wednesday Lunch events include the Dean's Forum, which invites a faculty member to discuss one of his or her recent works, with formal response from several Divinity School colleagues, and our quarterly Musical Offerings.
Lunch itself (a vegetarian meal; a vegan option is available by request) is prepared and served by our creative and energetic student staff. Wednesday lunches take place from 12:00 noon to 1:15 p.m. in Swift Common Room (1025 East 58th Street), and cost $5 ($4 for all students with ID) at the door. Those interested in attending should reserve a lunch in advance by emailing divinitylunch@gmail.com.
Our student crew prepares Wednesday Lunch meals from scratch. Their recipes are now available online.
Winter 2012
February 15Dr. Stephanie Levi, speaking on "Sex and Attraction." Dr. Levi is the founder of Night Labs, a free presentation series which take everyday topics, like sex, and explain the science behind them. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Chicago in 2009, where she studied the structure and function of the Golgi, and is currently the Coordinator for the Student Center for Science Engagement at Northeastern Illinois University, an initiative aimed at providing students with the support and opportunities they need to pursue and complete a science degree and move into lifetime careers in the sciences. Read more at "Science is Sexy": http://science-is-sexy.com/.
February 22
February 29
Spring 2012
April 4
April 11
Michael Coates, speaking, on a topic TBA. Coates is Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and Chair of the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University at Chicago. His research focuses on early vertebrate diversity and evolution, the reconstruction of evolutionary pattern and process, and uses of fossils and systematic methods in evolutionary developmental biology.
April 18
Peggy Mason, Professor in Neorobiology and Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal, a graduate student in psychology, on "Rats Helping Rats: Lessons for Humans." Mason and Bartal, along with Jean Decety, the Irving B. Harris Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, recently published a new study observing the first evidence of empathy-driven helping behavior in rodents The observation, published in Science, places the origin of pro-social helping behavior earlier in the evolutionary tree than previously thought. Prof. Mason's laboratory examines the physiological context within which the medullary raphe influences multiple homeostatic functions including eating, micturition, sleep/wake, and thermoregulation. Ms. Bartal comes to the UC from Tel Aviv University, where she earned an MS in biopsychology. She investigares the neural and cognitive mechanisms underpinning prosocial behavior, empathic concern and personal distress with an animal model.
Read more about the study here:
http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2011/12/08/helping-your-fellow-rat-rodents-show-empathy-driven-behavior.
April 25
May 2
May 9
May 16
May 23
