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The University of Michigan
Free Seminars (9)
Biodiversity: Threats and Protective Measures From: University of Michigan Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. In this seminar, biologist J. David Allan of the University of Michigan provides an overview of biodiversity and its threats--such as habitat loss, over-hunting, invasion of non-native species, pollution, and climate change--and the ways in which biologists and other scientists hope to protect species and ecosystems from disappearing. He reviews different science-based management strategies for sustainability, and in particular focuses on adding new protected areas as a restorative measure to manage populations and ecosystems for future generations. more...
Building Capitalism and Ending Communism in East European Business Culture From: University of Michigan In this seminar, Michael D. Kennedy--vice provost for international affairs, director of the International Institute, and associate professor of sociology at the University of Michigan--looks at the encounters between American business advisors and East European managers within a culture in transition from a socialist past to a capitalist future. Kennedy asks: How do Western business practices fuse with local cultures? How do managers on both sides negotiate claims to competence in these newly emerged transition firms? Who "owns" this transition culture? more...
Chinese Business Culture for Business Travelers From: University of Michigan No matter how much you read about China before your first business trip there, the experience of traveling in China as a non-native speaker will provide you with a much more vivid, realistic and balanced understanding of what it takes to do business in that country. In this seminar, Bradley Farnsworth, director of the Center for International Business Education (CIBE) at the University of Michigan, teaches learners how to approach Chinese business practice with the benefit of a general understanding of the Chinese culture. more...
DNA Fingerprinting, Genetics and Crime: DNA Testing and the Courtroom From: University of Michigan One area that has been revolutionized by scientific and technological advances in biology has been in the identification of individuals from biological samples. In this seminar, geneticist and evolutionary biologist Julian Adams of the University of Michigan explains the principles, procedures and issues involved with the use of DNA as a tool in the identification of individuals. more...
Resistant Microbes, Antibiotic Abuse, and the Threat to Public Health From: University of Michigan The emergence of microbes resistant to antibiotics ranks with AIDS as a worldwide public health threat. In this seminar, Dr. Randolph E. Regal addresses the interacting processes that put us in this predicament, and offers some practical solutions for both health care professionals and lay people. more...
The Five Ages of the Universe From: University of Michigan Travel through time with Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin from the moment of the "Big Bang," before time and space separated, to a dark, starless universe in the distant future when individual atoms can be larger than our galaxy. more...
The Past and Future of Rocket Engine Propulsion From: University of Michigan Marking 100 years of powered flight (2003), this seminar focuses on advances in propulsion science, taking us from the entertainment origins of Chinese rocketry, through the early days of Konstantin Ziolkovsky and Robert Goddard and chemical propulsion, and finally through more recent developments in electric propulsion. While chemical propulsion requires large amounts of propellant, which it burns completely over the course of several hours or even minutes, to create greater thrust, electric propulsion demands far less propellant and over weeks, months or even years can surpass chemical propulsion speeds by a factor of 10 or more. Currently more than 100 spacecraft (most are communication satellites) use some form of electric propulsion. The reduction of propellant cost, the potential to reach greater speeds and the ability to more carefully position spacecraft in orbits are just some of the advantages of electric propulsion. more...
When Jews Were GIs: World War II and the Remaking of American Jewry From: University of Michigan World War II marked a turning point for American Jews in many ways. In this free seminar, Deborah Dash Moore explores the American Jewish experience during the war and after. Moore gives voice to the American Jews on the home front and in military service during the war who experienced anti-Semitism and witnessed the transformation of American sentiment firsthand. As Moore demonstrates, this generation, who fought anti-Semitism to go to war, returned home ready and able to transform American Jewry. more...
Women Who Ruled: Queens, Goddesses, Amazons 1500-1650 From: University of Michigan This seminar explores the ways powerful women were depicted in the visual arts of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. During the years 1500 to 1650, complex political circumstances resulted in unprecedented numbers of women ruling European states, a phenomenon that added fuel to the long-simmering controversy about the proper role of women in society. As artists responded to the heightened profile of women in public life, many of the paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and decorative art objects created at this time took powerful women as their theme. This seminar also documents the degree to which artists and public figures of the Renaissance and Baroque periods understood that visual culture not only reflects social attitudes and values but can be a potent force in shaping them as well. more...