Center for Advanced Study - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign : events : chancellor's special lectures

The Fifth Chancellor’s
CAS Special Lecture

Making Sense of Others' Actions: Pychological Reasoning in Infancy

		Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. March 5, 2008 Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum 600 South Gregory Street, Urbana University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Renee Baillargeon UI Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Director of the Infant Cognition Laboratory Beginning in the first year of life, infants attempt to make sense of others' intentional actions. For example, when watching their mother act on objects, infants take into account her goals, dispositions, perceptions, and beliefs to interpret and predict her actions. Although the nature and development of early psychological reasoning remain the subjects of intense controversy, the notion that infants already possess some understanding of intentional action is becoming widely accepted.

The Fourth Chancellor’s CAS Special Lecture The First Indian Lawyer and the Birth of Federal Indian Law
		Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. October 16, 2007 Ballroom, Alice Campbell Alumni Center 601 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Frederick Hoxie Swanlund Professor of History and Professor of Law James McDonald (Choctaw, 1801-1833?), the first American Indian to practice law in the United States, was born in Mississippi. At the start of his legal career, McDonald was enlisted to assist his chief, Pushmataha, in defending the Choctaws’ homeland from the advances of a rising generation of frontier politicians, a group led by soon to be president Andrew Jackson. The legal arguments McDonald devised during this crisis failed to prevent his tribe's removal to the West, but they formed the basis for articulating a doctrine of indigenous rights within American law.

The Third Chancellor’s CAS Special Lecture Bones of Contention: The Making and Meaning of a National Hero

		Monday, 7:30 p.m. March 26, 2007 Ballroom, Alice Campbell Alumni Center 601 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Maria Todorova Professor of History What can a quarrel over missing bones tell us about the great fight over who owns history, about life under communism and about the various responses to the challenges of globalization? A focus on the activities, death, and especially posthumous fate of Bulgaria’s national hero Vasil Levski (1835-1873) provides a singular view into the mechanisms of hero worship, the symbology of nationalism, the links between religion and politics, and the meanings of memory and commemoration.


The Second Chancellor’s CAS Special Lecture Serendipity in Practice: Breakthroughs in Nutrition of Animals and Humans

		Thursday, 7:30 p.m. March 16, 2006 Auditorium, Room 1404, Siebel Center 201 North Goodwin, Urbana University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign David H. Baker Professor Emeritus of Nutrition, Department of Animal Sciences and Division of Nutritional Sciences Many great discoveries in science have been made by carefully pursuing unintended and ancillary findings. Examples will be given from UIUC comparative nutrition research to illustrate how serendipity can (and does) work. Research on copper, niacin, and vitamin D-3 will be covered in the lecture. Sponsored by: Office of the Chancellor Center for Advanced Study

The Inaugural Chancellor’s
CAS Special Lecture

Overachievers: What Honey Bees Teach Us about Genes, Brain, and Social Behavior

		Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. November 2, 2005 Auditorium, Beckman Institute 405 North Mathews, Urbana University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Gene E. Robinson Professor of Entomology and Institute for Genomic Biology: Director of Neuroscience Program Honey bees have a brain the size of a grass seed, yet live together in societies that rival our own in complexity and internal cohesion. How do they do it? By drawing on the latest studies from behavioral biology, neuroscience, molecular biology and genomics, this lecture will explore the secrets of their success. Sponsored by: Office of the Chancellor Center for Advanced Study
This icon represents that streaming video is available for this lecture. Real Player is required This icon represents that streaming audio is available for this lecture. Real Player is required.