Humanities (Audio)

In this talk, Carol Ember (Yale Univ) describes the results from decades-long research that tested a variety of theories about warfare and other forms of violence in a sample of 186 societies. Many of the theories of warfare assumed to be plausible fell short, such as the idea that war becomes more likely with agriculture and political complexity. On the other hand, resource scarcity, particularly unpredictable scarcity such as drought, is a particularly strong predictor of more warfare. Warfare is, however, not an isolated form of violence; indeed warfare is correlated with many other types of violence. Ember concludes with a discussion about the relevance of these research findings to the world today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28352]

John Witt explores the subject of how American constitutional law was “reinvented,” as he proposes, during the early twentieth century. Taking up a small cast of characters who self-consciously aimed to disrupt the ideological structures of American law, Witt tells a story of social experiment and constitutional transformation that explains our constitutional past and offers powerful, if sometimes troubling, implications for our constitutional future. Witt is the Allen H Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law at the Yale Law School. Professor Witt’s work has ranged widely over the history of American law from the founding era to the Cold War. His most recent book Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History (2012) was awarded the 2013 Bancroft Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30083]

This extended version of “Back to the Future with the Brave New Library Featuring Sarah Thomas, Vice President for the Harvard University Library - Dinner in the Library 2015” includes remarks from UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, University Librarian Brian E.C. Schottlaender and Jonathan Hill, son of Ken and Dorothy Hill who curated the Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages. Series: "The Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 30107]

Sarah Thomas draws from her years in the stacks at Oxford, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and now, as the Vice President of the Harvard Library, to describe her vision for the future of libraries at the 2015 Dinner in the Library celebration hosted by the Library at UC San Diego. Series: "The Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 28725]

Glenn Kurtz discusses his book, “Three Minutes in Poland,“ inspired by a three minute film that his grandfather had made in a predominantly Jewish town in Poland one year before WWII broke out. The book consists of interviews, photographs, documents, and artifacts that tell the stories of seven survivors that lived in this town. Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29614]

As one of the leading family studies scholars in the country, Stephanie Coontz has over the years published a wide range of provocative Op-Ed pieces in such publications as The New York Times and the Washington Post. She's also the author of several books, including The Way We Never Were; The Social Origins of Family Life; and How Love Conquered Marriage, which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy cited twice in the landmark opinion that he wrote this year on same-sex marriage. In this edition of Up Next, Coontz talks about the changing nature of marriage and how well the institution is likely to fare in the decades ahead. Series: "Up Next: Perspectives on the Future of Everything" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 29841]

Leon Wieseltier discusses the remarks he made at an international conference on “Zionism in the 21st Century: Contemporary Perspectives From and About Israel” that had brought together many scholars to discuss the topic. Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30024]

Established in 1982, the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego is a unique assembly of commissioned works by leading contemporary artists, including Niki de Saint Phalle, Robert Irwin, Bruce Nauman, and William Wegman. Each project is tailored for a specific site on the 1200-acre campus, and the diversity of forms, materials, and scale reflect and enhance the topographical and architectural distinctiveness of UC San Diego. Many of the artists who have designed works for the Collection are seldom represented in public sculpture collections and a significant number of the artists were better known for work in other media before creating their first permanent outdoor sculpture for the Stuart Collection. Series: "Stuart Collection" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27754]

Joshua Weiner is the author of three books of poetry, most recently, The Figure of a Man Being Swallowed by a Fish (2013). Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29937]

After being summoned to the Vatican to advise on climate change, Dan Kammen of UC Berkeley shares an insider’s view on what inspired Pope Francis to issue such a passionate plea to protect the earth in Laudato Si, his 2015 encyclical on the environment. As a practicing Catholic, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm praises the Pope for presenting “human ecology” as a moral issue in this lively exchange with Kammen and Henry E. Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Series: "The UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29853]