Profs. Andrew Delbanco and James Shapiro, two English Department all-stars, spoke about their recent experiences composing biographies of, respectively, Herman Melville and William Shakespeare. Yet both seemed to loathe to stick to discussion of the past. The Bwog’s Rob Wile was there. Wednesday evening marked the final talk in a series of lectures sponsored by […]

Anna Corke learns just what a birdbrain can do. A Fairchild conference room, containing mostly graduate students and professors, stroked its collective chin as Dr. Sarah Woolley, a relaxed brunette dressed in brown and green, began her surprisingly understandable lecture, Natural Sound Processing in the Song Bird Brain, by showing photographs of a Bengalese finch, […]

Wherein Andrea Gallardo observes a panel discussing “Beauty and Morals.” Plus, a Q&A session that turned adults into grade-grubbing Columbia students. “Sometimes we want to live the beauty we’ve been talking about,” said Marie Ponsot. “It is the tragic destiny of human beings not to understand and to be misunderstood.” What else could one say […]

Last night, in honor–or perhaps dishonor–of the third anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq, five respected pundits, representing a (mildly) broad swath of the political spectrum, came to Miller Theater to discuss what we did, where we are now, and what we ought to do. Our correspondent David Plotz Lecture Hops it. Three […]

B&W Fasionista Josie Swindler reports on the latest from the Lecture Hopping front: At Parsons, the audience of wannabe fashion editors was a whole lot more stylish than the five editors on a recent panel called “Fashion Magazines: Behind the Seams.” Lesson one: it takes more than nice hair to get a corner office at […]

Lionel Trilling Seminar series: Does History Teach Any Lessons? 23 February 2006 The Rotunda, Low Library As last stragglers filed into the Rotunda, a man in a suit informed some two-hundred fifty people, “This evening’s seminar opens vistas of thought.” Never trust man in a suit. Gordon Wood’s lecture was a reality check. He came […]

Bwog is proud to bring the third installment of “Lecture Hopping,” in which correspondents go to speeches, lectures, and public displays of erudition so you don’t have to. ID: The Politics of Intelligent Design February 27 Roone Arledge Cinema, Lerner Hall Few titles herald a more dismal evening than “The Politics of Intelligent Design,” a […]

Bwog is proud to bring the second installment of “Lecture Hopping,” in which correspondents go to speeches, lectures, and public displays of erudition so you don’t have to. Find the first installment here. Tuesday February 21 New Yorker Nights Series: Malcolm Gladwell Miller Theatre This lecture has been left untitled on purpose, says Malcolm Gladwell; […]

Bwog is proud to bring the first installment of “Lecture Hopping,” in which correspondents go to speeches, lectures, and public displays of erudition so you don’t have to. Monday February 13 Religion as a Natural Phenomenon: Daniel C Dennett in conversation with Robert Thurman Miller Theatre With his luxuriant white beard and paternal stature—minus the […]