UVA Speaks

This talk will examine the daily experience of students, faculty, and enslaved people at the University. Daily life included a complex and volatile mix of domination, intimacy, and violence, the contours of which reveal sometimes surprising stories about life and learning at UVA. SPEAKER: Kirt von Daacke https://alumni.virginia.edu/learn/program/rum-rummy-rampaging-and-research-life-at-early-uva-f...

Alzheimer’s disease has been the most expensive disease in the U.S. since 2013. It cost American society approximately $260 billion in 2017, a sum that will rise to more than $1 trillion by 2050 unless methods to prevent Alzheimer’s disease or significantly slow its progression can be developed soon. To that end, the Bloom lab recently obtained evidence that memantine (Namenda®), an FDA-approved d...

Research indicates that most of us could save an average of more than $1,000 annually by choosing a different health plan, yet many individuals continue to enroll in more expensive, traditional insurance plans. Find out how much you can save by breaking with tradition, switching health plans, and building assets tax-free. SPEAKER: Dot Kelly https://alumni.virginia.edu/learn/program/hoo-smart-about...

A. D. Carson, UVA’s professor of Hip-Hop, will discuss the implications of rap and hip-hop as conceptual frameworks for critical analysis and engagement as demonstrated through his art and research and the ways this influences his approach to teaching. SPEAKER: A. D. Carson https://alumni.virginia.edu/learn/program/hip-hop-and-the-global-south-owning-my-masters/

For most Americans, Gettysburg stands as the great turning point of the Civil War. Ken Burns’s influential documentary, The Civil War, reinforced this viewpoint, devoting far more time to Gettysburg than to any other military event of the conflict. This lecture will challenge the idea of Gettysburg as an important turning point and explain why so many people hold on to a mistaken impression. SPEAK...

Nuclear weapons are front and center in today’s international news. As North Korea, Russia, and China build larger and more capable nuclear arsenals, other countries are weighing whether to join the nuclear club. How should the United States confront this dangerous world? Professor Todd Sechser will discuss the nuclear challenges facing the United States today and will provide an up-to-date assess...

Housing and Residence Life presents the 2019 edition of the Last Lecture Series! Ed Murphy, UVA Professor of Astronomy, answers the question "What if this were the last lecture you could ever give?"

Housing and Residence Life presents the 2019 edition of the Last Lecture Series! Michael Levenson, UVA Professor of English, answers the question "What if this were the last lecture you could ever give?"

Siva Vaidhyanathan, Robertson Family Professor of Media Studies, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences If you wanted to build a machine that would distribute propaganda to millions of people, distract them from important issues, energize hatred and bigotry, erode social trust, undermine respectable journalism, foster doubts about science, and engage in massive surveillance all at once...

Carla Williams, Director of Athletics, will examine the current landscape of intercollegiate athletics. She will share her experiences as a student-athlete, coach and administrator and provide insight into a variety of important topics relating to intercollegiate athletics. With over 1,200 NCAA member institutions supporting over 460,000 student-athletes each year, intercollegiate athletics play a...

Speaker: Jim Tucker, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, School of Medicine Researchers at the University of Virginia, beginning with Ian Stevenson, have investigated children’s reports of memories of previous lives for the past fifty years, studying more than 2,500 cases from around the world. Common features in the cases include a child talking about a past life at a very early...

Speakers: Benton H. Calhoun, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering John Lach, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Director, Cross-Cutting Initiatives John (Jack) Stankovic (moderator), BP America Professor in the Computer Science Department, School of Engineering Faculty from UVA’s School of Engineering will share how they are using technology and innovation to change the worl...

Speakers: Mary Molly Schwartzburg, Curator, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library John Unsworth, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian, Professor of English In Spring 2018 the UVA Library announced the acquisition of the papers of the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and fine artist Patrick Oliphant. Learn how the collection came to UVA, see some of its richest conte...

Social media in general and Twitter in particular have taken on new importance during the Trump Presidency. How does Donald Trump use Twitter? What role did Twitter play in the 2016 presidential election? How does President Trump’s approach to the media compare to that of recent presidents’? Speaker: Paul Freedman Associate Professor of Politics; Associate Department Chair, Department of Politics,...

What do we know about the origins of war and war prevention? Ambassador John Norton Moore, the former Chairman of the Board of the United States Institute of Peace, will share with you the state of contemporary knowledge about this important subject. Q&A will then address the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs. Speaker: John Norton Moore Professor, School of Law, University of Virginia;...

A presentation by the curators of “The University of Virginia in 100 Objects,” an exhibition at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. Over the course of the 2017-2018 academic year, the University’s history has been reshaped by monumental events. Wolfe and Schwartzburg will look at how these recent events have shaped our own understanding of the 100 Objects exhibition and our t...

‘You are so articulate. Those stripes really make you look thin. Your hair looks so pretty and straight, not kinky like those other kids.’ By and large these statements are meant to be complimentary; however, oftentimes, they are perceived by the recipients to be offensive. Professor Beverly Colwell Adams will discuss these and other microaggressions, or unintentional offenses, and how we can unde...

From novel medical imaging to the Internet of Things, from the artificial pancreas to improved water purification, faculty, staff and students at the University of Virginia are innovating every day. Michael Straightiff, Executive Director, UVA Licensing & Ventures Group, will discuss how innovation at UVA enriches the student experience, provides opportunities for researchers and alumni, catal...

Two current approaches to autonomous driving are as follows: the “Google Car Paradigm” involves ensuring that each vehicle can sense and perceive the world, and then act accordingly, while the “V2X Paradigm” involves vehicles that communicate with one another, as well as the infrastructure, to act in a coordinated way. The latter approach promises improved safety, mobility, and environmental susta...

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and University of Virginia historian Alan Taylor will discuss how a war nearly destroyed the United States but ultimately helped to consolidate a divisive North America into a more stable United States and an enduring Canada. Speaker: Alan Taylor Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences https://alumn...

The Civil War created a complex tradition of remembering the most disruptive event in United States history. Different memories played out in various ways, including the creation of a memorial landscape that in time generated controversy. The Lost Cause memorial landscape in Charlottesville occupied a central position in recent debates and controversies regarding the memory of the war. Gary W. Gal...

Angela Orebaugh (moderator, Assistant Professor, Director of Cybersecurity and IT Programs, School of Continuing and Professional Studies Jason Belford, Chief Information Security Officer, UVA Ryan Wright, Associate Professor, McIntire School of Commerce This panel addresses the impact of cybersecurity on everyone’s daily life. Cybersecurity attacks such as phishing, ransomware, and other malware...

Risa Goluboff, Dean, School of Law; Arnold H. Leon Professor, School of Law; Professor, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, History. Two months ago, the world watched in horror as white supremacists and neo-Nazis brought violence and intimidation to Charlottesville and the University. Risa Goluboff, Dean of the School of Law and Chair of the Deans Working Group, will reflect on Aug...

Alan Taylor, Professor, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, History -Thomas Jefferson's Education Pulitzer prize-winning author and University of Virginia historian, Alan Taylor will present an informative talk covering Thomas Jefferson’s experiences as a college student at the College of William & Mary and how this first-hand knowledge informed his p...

David Cattell-Gordon, Director, Telemedicine Micah Mazurek, Associate Professor, Curry School of Education William Therrien, Professor of Special Education, Curry School of Education Catherine Bradshaw (Moderator), Professor and the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, Curry School of Education Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can cause significant...