"A Question of Life or Death: Renewing the Inquiry into the Shaft Tomb Figures of Western Mexico" Professor Chris Beekman, CU Denver

The ceramic effigies found in shaft tombs of West Mexico have been used as evidence of shamanistic obsession with the underworld, but Beekman will be discussing how recent excavations and analysis of museum collections have called this interpretation into question. 

This free, public lecture is presented in partnership with the Archaeological Institute of America. Seating is limited. 

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m.
CU Museum of Natural History, Paleontology Hall

Join the CU Museum of Natural History for a free lecture Nov. 29. 

Given the increasing prevalence of recreational and medicinal marijuana and changing legal policies, understanding the effects of different forms of cannabis is an increasingly important topic. 

Cinnamon Bidwell will provide an overview of the current state of human cannabis research and important barriers to conducting cannabis research due to federal regulations and propose a path forward for collecting data on the abuse liability and potential therapeutic effects of legal market cannabis products.

Bidwell’s primary research focus is translational studies investigating the effects of abused drugs and how these effects impact psychological and physical health acutely and chronically. Her research is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the state of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

This program is offered in conjunction with the exhibition Cannabis: A Visual Perspective, currently on display in the BioLounge. 

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m.
CU Museum of Natural History

If you are a CU Boulder junior or senior interested in an internship at History Colorado or The Nature Conservancy next semester, Center of the American West may be able to help you make that happen.  

Our current openings include working as a research assistant or a school groups tour guide at History Colorado; and assisting with conservation science projects at The Nature Conservancy. Most of your time will be spent working at these organizations, and there will also be some academic activities under the guidance of a faculty advisor. 

Please see our website for more details and application instructions.

McClanahan Lecture: "Classical Rhetoric in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar" by Tyler Lansford

Among Shakespeare’s Roman plays, Julius Caesar is arguably the most Roman in both substance and form: Not only is the title character Rome’s premier imperialist, the very language breathes a uniquely authentic Roman atmosphere. A characteristic aspect of this Romanitas or ‘Roman-ness’ is the central importance of public eloquence: In true Roman fashion, it is persuasive speech that carries the day ("Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!"). 

This talk explores the manner in which the ars rhetorica of Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian pervades and animates Shakespeare’s searching meditation on the justice of tyrannicide.

Lansford (PhD, University of Washington) is an instructor in the Department of Classics. Rhetorical demonstrations will be provided by Andy Walker, who played Decius Brutus/Pindarus in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s 2017 production of Julius Caesar.

Sponsored by Mary E.V. McClanahan and the Department of Classics. Parking is available just north of Eaton Humanities at 1610 Pleasant St.

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m.
Eaton Humanities, room 150

"A Question of Life or Death: Renewing the Inquiry into the Shaft Tomb Figures of Western Mexico" by Professor Chris Beekman, CU Denver

The ceramic effigies found in shaft tombs of West Mexico have been used as evidence of shamanistic obsession with the underworld, but Beekman will be discussing how recent excavations and analysis of museum collections have called this interpretation into question. 

This free, public lecture is presented in partnership with the Archaeological Institute of America. Seating is limited. 

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m.
CU Museum of Natural History, Paleontology Hall

The Cognitive Development Center in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience is looking for children age birth to 12 years old who are interested in playing games that will help teach us about self-control, language and cognitive strategies. 

A visit, scheduled at your convenience, lasts about 60 minutes. Babysitting is available for siblings. Parents are compensated for travel, and kids receive a fun prize.

To sign up, please visit our website; email cogdevctr@colorado.edu with your child’s name, gender, date of birth and parent contact information (address/phone number/email address); or call us at 303-492-6389.

For more information, feel free to check out our Facebook page.

Learn more about librarianship as a career. Become a Friends of the Libraries Fellow in the University Libraries. Applicants must have at least sophomore standing and be interested in attending a library and information science graduate program. Through generous support from the Friends of the Libraries, fellows are awarded $1,500 for 120 hours of participation in the program. The Friends of the Libraries Undergraduate Student Fellowship takes place during the spring semester. The Fellowship introduces undergraduates to careers in academic librarianship, a challenging and rewarding field filled with mobility and advancement potential. Undergraduate fellows will have the opportunity to work closely with a mentor team of library faculty and staff. Throughout the program, students are exposed to the various facets of librarianship.

If you suffer from chronic back pain, you may be eligible to participate in a paid research study on the benefits of a novel mind-body treatment for chronic pain. Participants will be compensated $200.

The research study consists of two MRI scan sessions 4–6 weeks apart on the CU Boulder campus, before and after treatment. MRI is safe and non-invasive technology for measuring brain function, and participants will be given a photo of their brain to take home.

Eligibility criteria:

• Ages 21–70
• Back pain for the last 3 months or more
• No metal in the body (for MRI safety)
• Not pregnant

For more information about the study and to help determine your eligibility, please complete the screening survey. You may also email canlab@colorado.edu or call 303-492-4299 for further information.

"Oppidum cadavera: Assessing the Impact of Ancient Urbanism on Modern Europe and Beyond" by John W. Hanson, CU Boulder Research Associate

We know that cities were a hallmark of the ancient world and had a fundamental impact on the development of urbanism in Europe and beyond, but it is still not clear the exact nature of the relationship between ancient and modern urban systems. 

In this talk, Hanson will use new data and innovative methods to explore to what extent ancient urbanism acted as a template for the modern world and what this can tell us about the survival, destruction or resilience of urban systems. 

This lecture is presented by the CU Museum of Natural History in partnership with the Archaeological Institute of America. 

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m. 
CU Museum of Natural History

Learning in Informal Settings: "Learning on the Move & Interaction Geography In and Out of Museums," Rogers Hall and Ben Rydal Shapiro

How do people use movement to engage and learn in spaces designed to support informal learning? On Nov. 9, learn the latest in design research in and out of library and museum spaces that develops and uses new research approaches to understand how movement provides both the means and the content to learn.

Learning in Informal Settings is an innovative seminar series covering a variety of topics, including learning through making, interactional studies and contemplative studies of the natural world.  All lectures are free and open to faculty, alumni, students, educators and the public. Seating is limited.

The CU Museum of Natural History is located at 15th Street and Broadway in the Henderson Building. For information about parking and program updates visit the website or email cumuseum@colorado.edu.
 
Thursday, Nov. 9, 3:30–4:30 p.m.
CU Museum of Natural History, Paleontology Hall

The Cognitive Development Center in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience is looking for children age birth to 12 years old who are interested in playing games that will help teach us about self-control, language and cognitive strategies. 

A visit, scheduled at your convenience, lasts about 60 minutes. Babysitting is available for siblings. Parents are compensated for travel, and kids receive a fun prize.

To sign up, please visit our website; email cogdevctr@colorado.edu with your child’s name, gender, date of birth and parent contact information (address/phone number/email address); or call us at 303-492-6389.

For more information, feel free to check out our Facebook page.

Join Colorado Law for the 43rd annual Austin W. Scott Lecture "Essentially a Mother," featuring Professor Jennifer S. Hendricks. The lecture will provide insight on how the law and feminist legal theory have struggled to reconcile biological sex differences with principles of equality.

Please register to attend by Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom

LASP public lecture: "LASP Contributions to Monitoring Earth’s Energy Balance from Space," Odele Coddington

LASP has a long history of measuring the Sun’s radiant energy from high-altitude balloons, sounding rockets and from satellite platforms in order to understand its influences on Earth’s environment. In the very near term, LASP will measure the Sun’s energy output from a new frontier, the International Space Station, with the launch of the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) at the end of November 2017. 

By using the Sun as a direct calibration source, the Reflected Solar (RS) spectrometer currently being built by LASP engineers for NASA’s CLARREO Pathfinder mission will reduce the uncertainties in measured solar reflectance to improve the quality of other NASA sensors and for the attribution, testing and validation of climate change predictions.

Come learn how LASP is contributing to space measurements of Earth’s energy balance with the TSIS and CLARREO Pathfinder missions. Along the way, see fun videos of the TSIS platform during testing as it is prepared for launch.

Admission and parking are free. Doors open at 7 p.m. Please see the event page for complete details.

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.
LASP Space Technology Building, room 299

An all-day conference in Aurora, Perspectives in Cannabis Research and Education features a keynote by Robert Sievers, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at CU Boulder, former CU regent and former director of CU Boulder's largest research institute, CIRES. Sievers and other leading cannabis researchers will discus methods, results and future directions.

Saturday, Nov. 11, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Anschutz Medical Campus

Learning in Informal Settings: "Understanding people's 'learning on the move' in a museum"
 
Learning in Informal Settings is an innovative seminar series covering a variety of topics, including learning through making, interactional studies and contemplative studies of the natural world. The Nov. 9 lecture will feature Vanderbilt University's Rogers Hall, professor and chair for the Department of Teaching and Learning, and Ben Rydal Shapiro, PhD candidate.

All lectures are free and open to faculty, alumni, students, educators and the public. Seating is limited.
 
The CU Museum of Natural History is located in the Henderson Building, open every day. For more information and upcoming seminars programs visit the museum online or call 303-492-6892.

Thursday, Nov. 9, 3:30–4:30 p.m.
CU Museum of Natural History, Paleontology Hall