Stanford Saturday University

This is an Archive of a Past Event

Stanford Continuing Studies is pleased to host our fifth annual Saturday University, and look forward to a day of shared intellectual stimulation featuring some of Stanford’s most engaging faculty. As in the past, we will start the day with coffee and muffins, followed by two morning “classes”—each featuring inspiring lectures by dynamic Stanford faculty members and open conversation with the audience. We will break for a box lunch, and return in the afternoon for three more sessions. In the past, Saturday University has drawn 200–300 participants each year, and everybody has gone away at the end of the day feeling intellectually invigorated. We’re confident that this year’s program will be as exhilarating. Please join us.

SCHEDULE:

Welcome, Refreshments, and Check-In: 8:45 am

Opening Remarks: 9:15 am

Charles Junkerman, Dean of Stanford Continuing Studies

Session 1: 9:30 – 10:40 am

“Strategizing Belief: The Origins of Authority in Ancient Peru,” with John Rick, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Stanford

Session 2 10:50 – 12:00 pm

“Getting Along Without a Manager: How Ant Colonies Work,” with Deborah Gordon, Professor of Biology, Stanford

Lunch: 12:00 – 1:10 pm

Session 3: 1:10 – 2:20 pm

“Universe or Multiverse?” with Andrei Linde, Harald Trap Friis Professor of Physics, Stanford

Session 4: 2:30 – 3:40 pm

“How Old Are We? Reflections on the Phenomenon of Age,” with Robert P. Harrison, Rosina Pierotti Professor in Italian Literature, Stanford

Refreshment Break: 3:40 – 4:00 pm


Session 5: 4:00 – 5:10 pm

“Seeing Absence, listening to Silence: The Challenge of Reconstructing Chinese Railroad Workers’ Lives,” with Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Joseph S. Atha Professor in Humanities, Stanford