New Date!

December 11, 2012
Tuesday
5:00 - 7:00 pm

The Program in Human Biology at 40 years: What made this start-up so successful?

• Sandy Dornbusch, Reed-Hodgson Professor in Human Biology and Professor of Sociology, Emeritus
• Paul Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for
  the Environment
• Shirley Feldman, Former Associate Director, Program in Human Biology, Senior Research Scientist, Division of Child Psychiatry
• Herant Katchadourian, Professor of Human Biology, Emeritus
• Don Kennedy, President, Emeritus, and Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Emeritus
• Carol Boggs, Bing Director in Human Biology (moderator)

Early faculty from the Program in Human Biology will discuss the idea behind the founding of Stanford's largest interdisciplinary, inter-school program, the process that led up to the founding and their view of the reasons why HumBio has been so successful over the past 40 plus years. Come join Profs. Sandy Dornbusch, Paul Ehrlich, Shirley Feldman, Herant Katchadourian and Don Kennedy in a panel discussion moderated by Prof. Carol Boggs. The evening will also feature clips from a video about the history of the program, including other faculty founders. There will be time for audience questions and discussion.

Location: Oak West Lounge, Tresidder Union

New Date!

January 10, 2013
5:30 - 7:00 pm

"No proven communist should hold a position on our faculty" (Wallace Sterling): Victor Arnautoff, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and Stanford

•  Robert Cherny, Professor of History, San Francisco State University

Victor Arnautoff rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the White armies opposing Bolshevisim during the Russian Civil War. He later studied art in San Francisco, created spectacular public murals during the 1930s, joined the Communist Party in 1937, and joined the Stanford art faculty in 1938. He was brought before HUAC in 1956 and took the 5th Amendment. Given President Wallace Sterling's dictum that "No proven communist should hold a position on our faculty," a special committee was appointed to make a recommendation regarding Arnautoff's continued employment at Stanford. This talk will explore, through Arnautoff's fascinating story, a little known aspect of Stanford's history, and how the University handled the volatile situation.

February 11, 2013
Monday
7:00 - 8:30 pm

Stanford Women in Space

• Eileen Collins, MS ’86, the first woman to serve as a Shuttle commander
• Barbara Morgan, AB ’73, one of the few Teacher Astronauts
• Ellen Ochoa, MS ’81, PHD ’85, the first Hispanic woman in space
• Scott Hubbard, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Former Director, NASA Ames
  Research Center (moderator)

The term "astronaut" derives from the Greek words meaning "space sailor," and refers to all who have been launched as crew-members aboard NASA spacecraft bound for orbit and beyond. In the 50-year history of the NASA space program, only 45 of the 525 astronauts have been women. Seven of these women have degrees from Stanford – a truly impressive record from a single school.  

The first US woman in space, the late Sally Ride, took all of her degrees at Stanford, from B.S. to PhD. Eileen Collins, the first woman to serve as a Shuttle commander, is a Stanford graduate. The first African-American woman in space, Mae Jemison; and the first Hispanic woman, Ellen Ochoa, are both from Stanford. Barbara Morgan, a Stanford alumna, was one of the very few Teacher Astronauts -- successfully completing her Shuttle journey after the ill-fated Challenger disaster that took the life of the initial Teacher Astronaut Christa McAuliffe.  

Please join us for a truly extraordinary evening with Eileen Collins, Barbara Morgan, and Ellen Ochoa as they discuss their experiences in space with Stanford professor Scott Hubbard, former Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center.

This program is cosponsored by the Stanford Historical Society, the Stanford Alumni Association, and Stanford Continuing Studies.

Location: Cemex Auditorium, Knight Management Center

New Date!

April 2, 2013
Tuesday
7:30 pm

Creative Writing at Stanford: A History
With Eavan Boland, Nancy Packer, Philip Levine, and Scott Turow

The celebrated writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner founded the Stanford Creative Writing Program in 1946 with the aim of providing young, talented writers the guidance, encouragement, and funding to further their writing knowledge and craft. “Minds grow by contact with other minds,” Stegner wrote. “The bigger the better, as clouds grow toward thunder by rubbing together.”

Over the past sixty years the creative writing program has grown in stature so that it is widely recognized, alongside the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, as one of the two best programs in the country. It has trained thousands of undergraduates and hundreds of Stegner Fellows including Wendell Berry, Tillie Olsen, Ernest Gaines, Scott Momaday, Ken Kesey, Larry McMurtry, Raymond Carver, Robert Pinsky, ZZ Packer, and Tobias Wolff. The directors and instructors in the program have been equally distinguished, among them: Wallace Stegner, Yvor Winters, John L’Heureux, Ken Fields, Nancy Packer, Simone DiPiero, Elizabeth Tallent, Tobias Wolff, and Eavan Boland.

This evening’s extraordinary program will bring together in conversation:

• EAVAN BOLAND, Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing, Stanford, author of a dozen volumes of poetry and prose, most recently, the PEN Award-winning A Journey with Two Maps: Becoming a Woman Poet
• PHILIP LEVINE, Former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and former Poet Laureate of the United States, author most recently of the collection, News of the World
• SCOTT TUROW, Former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, practicing lawyer, and author of nine novels and two non-fiction books about the law that have sold over 30 million copies.  Four of  his novels have been filmed, including the successful movie Presumed Innocent.
• NANCY HUDDLRESTON PACKER (Moderator): Professor of English (Emerita) and former Director of the Creative Writing Program (also a former Stegner Fellow), author of four collections of short stories, most recently Old Ladies

This program is cosponsored by the Stanford Historical Society and Stanford Continuing Studies and the Stanford Creative Writing Program.

Location: Cubberley Auditorium, School of Education
FREE: Open to the public. No registration required

April 8, 2013
Monday
Deadline

2013 Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing

April 28, 2013
Sunday

Ninth Annual Historic House & Garden Tour

May 15, 2013
Wednesday
4:00 - 6:00 pm
Reception to Follow

SHS 37th Annual Meeting and Reception: History of the Music Department

• Albert Cohen, William H. Bonsall Professor of Music, Emeritus
• Stephen Hinton, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities and Professor, by courtesy of German Studies
• Steve Sano, Professor Harold C. Schmidt Director in Choral Studies and Professor of Music

Location: Bing Concert Hall Studio