Heavy drinking by teenagers was once considered just a rite of passage with no long-term effects, but modern biotechnology has changed that perspective. Dr. Sandra A. Brown of UC San Diego presents research showing how voluntary choices that are the hallmark of freedom become rigid and compulsory with frequent alcohol or drug use, especially among young people. Dr. Brown’s talk is part of the “Degrees of Freedom” public lecture series sponsored by the Division of Arts and Humanities at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 29104]

Philosophy scholar Monte Johnson explains how the early Greek concept of freedom -- a state opposite of slavery – evolved into notions of self-sufficiency, liberality, and independence in speech and action. Though the most influential philosophers of that time, Plato and Aristotle, were dubious of democracy, a government centered on the principle of freedom, they contrasted with other lesser-known Greek philosophers who accentuated the importance of freedom, including Democritus, Protagoras, and Archytas. Johnson is presented as part of the “Degrees of Freedom” series at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29103]

What is the best way to help the poor? Giving money to charities and non-governmental organizations that then determine how the money should be allocated? Or giving cash directly to those who need it most and letting them decide how to spend it? Economist Paul Niehaus offers evidence that suggests direct cash transfers are more effective in reducing poverty, and describes GiveDirectly, a program he co-founded that allows donors to select recipients and transfer cash through mobile phones. Niehaus is presented as part of the “Degrees of Freedom” series at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Business] [Show ID: 29102]

Anthropologist Nancy Postero describes the political rise of indigenous peoples in Latin America, as they called for more recognition from the state and more inclusive forms of citizenship. Where that was impossible, they sought international attention by demanding human rights, especially human rights to culture. Postero explores what kinds of freedom these two frameworks of rights offer and how the struggles of indigenous peoples demonstrate the contradictions and limitations of liberal notions of rights. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 29101]

UC San Diego astrophysicist Brian Keating presents cosmological observations that have revealed a mysterious universe, pointing to the startling possibility that our cosmos might be just the most insignificant speck of what is now called “the Multiverse.” New telescopes such as the BICEP based in Antarctica hint at an infinite universe with the possibility of unimaginable fecundity, yet devoid of life other than here on Earth. Keating explores what this implies about free will in an infinite universe, with infinite degrees of freedom and choices. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29100]

Eminent California historian Kevin Starr traces the emergence of San Diego’s role in the distinctly Southern California aesthetic of “Mediterranean-ism,” as seen in the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 28611]

Award-winning historian Wendy Lower discusses the lives and experience of German women in the Nazi killing fields. Her study chillingly debunks the age-old myth of the German woman as mother and breeder, removed from the big world of politics and war. The women Lower labels “furies” humiliated their victims, plundered their goods, and often killed them, and like many of their male counterparts, they got away with murder. Lower is the John K. Roth professor of history at Claremont McKenna College and has published widely on the Shoah in Eastern Europe. She is presented here as part of the Holocaust Living History Workshop at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 28811]

This extended version of “Sharing Julia Child’s Appetite for Life”

featuring biographer Noel Riley Fitch at the 2014 UC San Diego Dinner in the Library includes remarks from UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, University Librarian Brian E.C. Schottlaender and Dorothy D. Gregor, the 2014 Geisel Citation Recipient for Library Philanthropy. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 28726]

Internationally recognized biographer Noel Riley Fitch offers some food for thought in “Sharing Julia Child’s Appetite for Life,” the title of her keynote address to the annual Dinner at the Library at UC San Diego. Fitch gives a revealing look into how Child’s passion for French cuisine made her a culinary icon to generations of Americans. Fitch is the only biographer exclusively authorized by Julia Child; her other subjects include fellow expatriates to Paris Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Beach and Anais Nin. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 28563]

A love of learning and teaching about pirates inspired UC San Diego’s Mark Hanna to tap the world-renowned Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages, housed in Special Collections & Archives at the UC San Diego Library, to bring history to life in his mobile classroom. Hanna’s students discover the authentic Golden Age of Piracy by reading the Hill Collection log books and other original documents, touring the Real Pirates! exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum, and sailing on the Californian at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Here Be Pirates: The First Citizen Scientists is presented by the UC San Diego Library Channel. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 28213]