[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]Can creativity be cultivated? What does it take to conquer a disease? How does digital technology affect what it means to be human?<\/p>\n
Since last fall, members of the University community, from Chicago to Shanghai, have been taking part in conversations that explore such questions. Collectively titled \u201cThe Rochester Effect,\u201d the series brings together faculty, alumni, parents, and others to share their perspectives on some of the world\u2019s most challenging issues.<\/p>\n
The culminating event will come this October in Rochester, as part of Meliora Weekend. Here are some highlights from the series.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/boston-700x467.jpg\")
Valuing Academic Inquiry in a Democracy: Former Bucknell University president Brian Mitchell (left) and faculty members Carmala Garzione and Peter Lennie discuss the role of universities in helping preserve academic inquiry and freedom.<\/p><\/div>\n
Valuing Academic Inquiry in a Democracy<\/h3>\n
WGBH Studios, Boston PANELISTS<\/strong><\/p>\n Carmala Garzione<\/strong><\/span>, Helen and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences \u201cUniversities are creating the kind of productive citizens and the engaged workforce that, on a global scale, societies across the world need.\u201d\u2014Mitchell<\/p>\n \u201cReally, our effort is on training people to think, to ask questions, and to be able to solve problems they haven\u2019t seen in the classroom before.\u201d\u2014Garzione<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to engender in our students that risk taking is good. That\u2019s where the big payoffs are, that\u2019s where the big wins are.\u201d\u2014Williams[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”]See Highlights<\/a>[vc_empty_space height=”50px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Cultivating Creativity and Inspiring Innovation: Musician Alan Pierson \u201906E (DMA) (left), faculty poet Jennifer Grotz, and violist Phillip Ying \u201991E, \u201992E (MM) explored creativity with MAG\u2019s Jonathan Binstock.<\/p><\/div>\n Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago PANELISTS<\/strong><\/p>\n Alan Pierson <\/strong><\/span>\u201906E (DMA), artistic director for Alarm Will Sound \u201cOne of the great things I\u2019ve loved about being a musician is that it\u2019s an activity that engages every part of what it means to be a human being, and there aren\u2019t many activities that do that beyond the arts.\u201d\u2014Ying<\/p>\n \u201cThis is why we call these things the humanities. It\u2019s the history of trying to figure out what it means to be human and how to express it. It\u2019s our greatest wealth, and if we don\u2019t learn it and share it, we lose it and it\u2019s gone.\u201d\u2014Grotz<\/p>\n \u201cWe live in a time that I think we desperately need to cultivate more empathy, more of the kind of radical empathy that lets someone try to really understand what it\u2019s like to be leading a very different life from the one that they\u2019re living.\u201d\u2014Pierson<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”]See Highlights<\/a>[vc_empty_space height=”50px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Conquering Disease: Faculty member John Foxe (left) led a discussion about challenges in health care with faculty panelists Kerry O\u2019Banion and Catherine K. Kuo and endocrinologist Barry M. Goldstein \u201982M (MD\/PhD), \u201985M (Res).<\/p><\/div>\n WHYY Studios, Philadelphia PANELISTS<\/strong><\/p>\n John Foxe<\/strong><\/span>, Kilian J. and Caroline Schmitt Chair in Neuroscience and director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience \u201cNone of this happens in a single person\u2019s mind or a single laboratory; it often is the culmination of lots of efforts that lead to breakthroughs.\u201d\u2014O\u2019Banion<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a materials science engineer by training, but I\u2019m a professor in biomedical engineering and orthopaedics because I ask questions about biology and I approach them from an engineering perspective.\u201d\u2014Kuo<\/p>\n \u201c[C]onquering disease to cure patients\u2019 lives, alleviate pain and suffering, and to prolong life…it\u2019s really what keeps you going, [regardless of ] whatever stage you happen to be working in, in the complicated matrix [of the medical field].\u201d\u2014Goldstein[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”]See Highlights<\/a>[vc_empty_space height=”50px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Being Human in the Digital Age: In a discussion of ethical issues created by new technologies, panelists\u2014NPR associate producer Madeline K. Sofia \u201916M (PhD) and professors Ehsan Hoque and Randall Curren (on the stage) and faculty moderator David Williams\u2014explored how virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and data science are transforming aspects of the human experience.<\/p><\/div>\n NPR Headquarters, Washington, DC PANELISTS<\/strong><\/p>\n Randall Curren<\/strong><\/span>, professor and chair of philosophy \u201cWe\u2019re, at this very moment, looking at a reign of technological developments that are unprecedented in human history…what does this mean for being human?\u201d\u2014Williams<\/p>\n \u201cIn the same way that we are designing studies, we should develop technologies with diverse participants, diverse mind-sets, different people in the room. For instance, when developing artificial intelligence, we need sociologists, philosophers, technologists, engineers, and lawyers\u2014all of these people need to come together if this will be effective.\u201d\u2014Sofia<\/p>\n \u201cWhat can artificial intelligence do to make us more human? And the next question you can ask is, what does it mean to be more human? What do you want to do? Be a good storyteller perhaps, show empathy, connect with people? Technology can help you do all of that.\u201d\u2014Hoque<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”]See Highlights<\/a>[vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n The Rochester Effect series concludes in Rochester during Meliora Weekend. For details, visit the website Everbetter.rochester.edu\/events<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1560977419979{border-top-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;border-top-color: #999999 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”]<\/p>\n \u2014 Kristine Thompson<\/a>, May 2019 [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since last fall, members of the University community, from Chicago to Shanghai, have been taking part in conversations that explore such questions. Collectively titled \u201cThe Rochester Effect,\u201d the series brings together faculty, alumni, parents, and others to share their perspectives on some of the world\u2019s most challenging issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":7222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[32,722],"class_list":["post-7152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-global","tag-rochester"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nNovember 2018<\/em><\/p>\n
\nPeter Lennie<\/strong><\/span>, Jay Last Distinguished University Professor
\nBrian Mitchell <\/strong><\/span>\u201981 (PhD), president of Academic Innovators and former president of Bucknell University
\nDavid Williams<\/strong><\/span>, William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics and dean for research in Arts, Sciences & Engineering<\/p>\n\u201cAcademic freedom doesn\u2019t mean you are free to do anything you want or to do nothing…it means you are free from capricious interference with your work\u2014 that\u2019s the key protection of a decent university.\u201d\u2014Lennie<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/chicago-700x467.jpg\")
Cultivating Creativity and Inspiring Innovation<\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>November 2018<\/em><\/p>\n
\nJennifer Grotz<\/strong><\/span>, poet and professor of English
\nPhillip Ying <\/strong><\/span>\u201991E, \u201992E (MM), associate professor of viola and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music and a founding member of the Ying Quartet
\nJonathan Binstock<\/strong><\/span>, Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m thinking of the University\u2019s motto Meliora\u2014ever better. The concept of process, of becoming. I mean, that embodies this idea of creativity in a sense.\u201d\u2014Binstock<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/phillie-700x467.jpg\")
Conquering Disease<\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>February 2019<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
\nBarry M. Goldstein <\/strong><\/span>\u201982M (MD\/PhD), \u201985M (Res), vice president of Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinical Develop- ment Services at Covance Inc.
\nCatherine K. Kuo<\/strong><\/span>, associate professor of biomedical engineering
\nKerry O\u2019Banion<\/strong><\/span>, professor of neuroscience and neurology<\/p>\n\u201cPeople who are trained in multiple disciplines cross boundaries, they are building teams, and they are breaking old ways of thinking about how to solve problems.\u201d\u2014Foxe<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/dc-700x467.jpg\")
Being Human in the Digital Age<\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>February 2019<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
\nEhsan Hoque<\/strong><\/span>, Asaro Biggar Family Fellow in Data Science and interim director of the Goergen Institute for Data Science
\nMadeline K. Sofia <\/strong><\/span>\u201916M (PhD), associate producer on NPR\u2019s Science Desk
\nDavid Williams<\/strong><\/span>, William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics and dean for research in Arts, Sciences & Engineering<\/p>\n\u201cThe technologies we are creating and the rising levels of expertise that go with them go hand in hand, and with that we are creating an incredibly complex world…we have to have some vision of how we can all live well together.\u201d\u2014Curren<\/h3>\n
For More Rochester Effect<\/h3>\n
\nThis article originally appeared in the spring 2019 issue of Rochester Review<\/em><\/a> magazine.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n