CAS interdisciplinary research talk series starts

Dear colleagues,

I am delighted to invite you to the next in the CAS Interdisciplinary Research Talks series:

During last year’s discussions about a potential reorganization of the College of Arts and Sciences (in the CAS Task Force), we heard from faculty members across all CAS divisions who expressed the desire for more opportunities for interdisciplinary dialogue and potential collaborations. They wanted support for interdisciplinary teaching and research and also said they’d simply like informal opportunities to get to know faculty in other disciplines.

In response, among other things, CAS is organizing a series of monthly Interdisciplinary Research Talks (CAS IR Talks) for the current academic year. The winter term CAS IR talks will be held in the EMU Crater Lake Room South and will be 35-40 minutes in length, followed by a Q&A. We have asked faculty presenters to speak to a general audience of faculty from across the College.

Vera Keller, Associate Professor of History, researches the history of science and of knowledge more broadly in Europe of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Her talk will look at the long history of universities and major shifts they have faced in the past, and how interdisciplinarity offered a means to regroup and face those challenges. In particular, she will explore the emergence of the research model and the modern scientific disciplines at the turn of the eighteenth century in Northern Europe. There, new research practices and disciplines were forged from a deliberately diverse blend of activities, including the study of global cultures, collecting art and nature, archaeology, mechanical invention, gardening, history, poetry, and opera.

I hope you will come out to hear Vera and enjoy the discussion on January 9th at 3:30 in the EMU Crater Lake Room South. Please support our CAS IR Talks and help us ignite interdisciplinary conversations. Light refreshments will be served.

Best regards,
Bruce

Bruce Blonigen
Tykeson Dean
College of Arts and Sciences
541-346-3902