Spring 2010 Research Dinners

I am pleased to announce the program for Fall 2009 Research Dinners.  Each dinner is an opportunity for a faculty member to present his/her research and discuss it with faculty colleagues from all areas of the university in an informal context.  The event begins at 6:00 p.m. with wine and light snacks, followed by dinner and a brief presentation accompanied by questions and discussion.  The event usually ends by 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 23

Patrick Keating (Communication)

Hollywood Neorealism: Lighting and Camerawork in Indiscretion of an American Wife

Vittorio De Sica's Indiscretion of an American Wife (1954) was one of the strangest collaborations in the history of film, pairing the director of Bicycle Thieves with the producer of Gone with the Wind.  Although the film is generally regarded as a failure, it can provide a useful case study illustrating the similarities and differences between two important cinematic styles: the glamorous style of Hollywood and the more austere approach of Italian Neorealism.  This presentation will take a close look at the film's cinematography, showing how director of photography Aldo Graziati attempted to reconcile the competing demands of the director and the producer.

Thursday, March 25

Kim Phillips (Psychology)

Capuchin cognition: Exploring an Animal Mind with Modern Tools

Traditionally, studies investigating primate cognition have used behavioral and evolutionary approaches.  However, the application of advanced, non-invasive imaging techniques has enabled researchers to explore the neural correlates underlying motor and cognitive processing in primates.  In my laboratory, we apply techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), typically used to study human neuroanatomy, to capuchin monkeys. Capuchins are New World primates with a relatively large brain size as adults and are noted for their high degree of skilled motor and extractive foraging habits, complex social behavior, and cognitive abilities.  My research team and I combine ecologically-valid experiments with non-invasive brain imaging to explore primate cognition.  In this talk I will discuss our study of tasks designed to simulate tool use and prey capture, and how these behaviors relate to the organization of the capuchin brain.

Tuesday, April 20

Jenny Browne (English)

Misdirection: Magic as Metaphor and Method in Creative Writing

In a commencement speech delivered at Smith College in 1955, acclaimed novelist William Maxwell said that all good writers are illusionists.  By this he meant that writers, like magicians, manipulate human attention, shaping notions of time, of causality, and of belief.  In stage magic, Misdirection is when an audience is led to pay attention to one thing when they should be paying attention to something else.  My new manuscript, part travel narrative, part plane crash investigation, and part lyrical meditation on marriage and grief, examines the ways we also misdirect ourselves, focusing on the details, actions and words we want to believe, the ones that make our own lives seem possible, preferable, even magical.