Please join us Friday, April 20th, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our eleventh Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Yan Liang, Associate Professor of Economics

Title: “Minsky in Beijing: Shadow Banking, Credit Expansion and Debt Accumulation in China”

Abstract: China has undergone two salient developments in its financial landscape since the 2007 Global Financial Crisis. First, there has been a repaid and massive growth of “shadow banks” that played an increasingly weighty role in credit creation. And second, debt level, especially in the corporate sector, has risen significantly to reach an alarming level. The two changes have led some commentators to claim that China is soon to experience a “Minsky Moment”, where a sudden unwinding of debt would trigger destructive debt deflation. This paper analyzes China’s debt issue – the causes, patterns and possible consequences. Based on the analysis, the paper provides a critical assessment of the current policy measures in dealing with rebalancing and deleveraging and proposes some alternative policy actions. Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us Friday, April 13th, at 3 p.m. in Fine Arts West 145 for our ninth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Hector Aguero, Assistant Professor of Music

Title: “Kaizen: Japanese Musical Resources for the American Band Classroom”

Abstract: In recent decades, Japan has become a world leader in the production and consumption of band music and pedagogical resources. Prof. Agüero explores the pedagogical similarities and differences between the American and Japanese band classrooms and shares first-hand observations, experiences, and insight into systems, techniques, and strategies pioneered by Japanese school bands to perfect balance, intonation, and overall sound. He will also explain how some of these Japanese techniques can be implemented in our American band rehearsals.
Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us Friday, April 6th, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our eighth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Tabitha Knight, Assistant Professor of Economics

Title: “Gender and Public Spending: A Conceptual Model of Employment, an Empirical Application, and Paths for Future Work”

Abstract: Women and men face largely differing opportunities and constraints in society, especially as they relate to the fundamental notion of one’s livelihood. With a focus on the distinct roles, options, and limitations women and men are faced with in today’s society, I explore a conceptual model of employment incorporating both supply and demand-side factors, apply the main tenets to U.S. data, and provide paths for future work incorporating gender dynamics into discussions of the impacts of public policy options on women’s and men’s employment. The focus of this paper is on public spending on healthcare and education in particular as such spending is likely to affect both women’s and men’s employment outcomes and opportunities though the magnitudes of the effects may differ strongly by gender due to social norms and occupational segregation.

Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us Friday, March 16th, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our seventh Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Rebecca Dobkins, Professor of Anthropology

Title: Using Digication for Student Research Projects

Abstract:

For many years, I have structured one of the upper division anthropology courses I teach, Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights and the Environment, around student research projects. Students engage in an individual research project on a topic of their choosing, but do so within a learning community of fellow students with intersecting interests. In the final few class sessions, students present their work and I found that Powerpoint did not allow the flexibility the students needed to convey what they had learned, either individually or as a group. With the help of Cheryl Cramer at WITS, I began using Digication as a learning platform for students to build and present their group project. Digication is an e-portfolio tool that Willamette, along with many other universities, has as part of the Google Education suite of tools. In this presentation, I will discuss how my students have used Digication to facilitate both individual and group learning, to teach fellow students (and me) about their research, and to conduct classroom sessions. We’ll take a look at several of the Digication e-portfolios that students have produced and discuss the challenges as well as the successes we have all had in using this tool.

Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us Friday, March 9th, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our sixth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Susan Kephart, Professor of Biology

Title: Stalking the Wild Camas “Lily”

Abstract: Camassia, “qém’es” or camas lily, includes spectacular, spring-flowering bulbs that still enrich diverse indigenous cultures, and provided a staple food for Willamette Valley Kalapuyans. Camas plants also sustain ecological complexes of pollinators, gophers, and unusual “parasitic” flies. First described in 1813 from specimens collected by Lewis & Clark, they remain challenging scientifically due to extensive variation in form and genetic makeup.

How do we decipher the puzzling variability of this culturally and ecologically significant genus? I will share recent discoveries based on diverse data sets gathered with students, colleagues, and local volunteers. These include new findings with deep historical roots in environments ranging from the Columbia River drainage to the base of Mt. Adams. I will also highlight the field and lab experiments.

Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us Friday, March 2nd, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our fifth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Stephen Patterson, George H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies

Title: “Here Come the Androgynes! A Forgotten Episode In Ancient Christianity.”

Abstract: Before early Christians said anything new about God, Jesus, death, resurrection, eternal life or sin, they said something new about gender: There is no male and female. Yes, the followers of Jesus dabbled in strategic androgyny. And I’ve got pictures!

Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us Friday, February 23rd, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our fourth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Anne DeLessio-Parson, Visiting Instructor Sociology

Title: “Conceptualizing Eating for Liberation: A Participatory Action Project”

Abstract: Structures of power and oppression impede collective responses to the unfolding climate crisis. When we want to take action as individuals, it can be challenging to determine where to focus our efforts. Food as a medium for motivating action holds enormous potential to drive social change: food is a universal human need, and the act of eating invites us into a conversation when we sit down to share the table. In this talk, I will present the framework for Eating for Liberation 2018, a food-focused participatory action project. This project invites participants to develop their food philosophies and consider how individual choices relate to collective patterns of consumption, thought, and movement. By bringing together readings from across disciplines, it also provides a space for synthesis and the cultivation of critical consciousness. I will also reflect on the ways that social network theory informs project concept and study design. We are also still seeking participants, you may go to http://www.eatingforliberation.com/ to learn more.

Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us on Friday, February 9th, at 3:30 p.m. in Collins 318 for our third Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: David Altman, Associate Professor of Physics

Title: Regulation of the Motor Protein Myosin in a Cell

The inside of a cell is both incredibly crowded and extremely organized. It is the organization within a cell that allows it to be an exciting environment capable of the functions associated with life. Important players in a cell’s ability to stay ordered are motor proteins. These microscopic engines allow a cell to transport, compartmentalize, and arrange its components by generating force and creating motion. In this talk, I will discuss work both conducted in my lab and with collaborating labs to understand how the motor protein myosin is regulated in a cell. I will highlight studies that span many scales of size and complexity, from single motor studies of purified proteins to investigations of the mechanical properties of muscle fibers.

To account for other science lectures on campus please note the special start time and location. Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us next Friday, February 2nd, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our second Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Patricia Varas, Professor of Spanish

Title: “Ramón Díaz Eterovic: Dealing with the Trauma of the Pinochet Years through Detective Fiction”

The new detective novel in Latin America or neopoliciaco has become the new social novel for many critics. In Chile, it has developed into one of the preferred genres to rescue the past and recollect the years of the dictatorship and its consequences. I will briefly discuss three novels by Ramón Díaz Eterovic in his Heredia series and analyze how they explain “the relationship between the configuration of the historical memory and the description of society during the dictatorship and its following years” (Díaz Eterovic 664).

Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators

Please join us next Friday, January 26, at 3 p.m. in the Hatfield Room for our first Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Presenter: Karen Holman, Professor of Chemistry

Title: “Hijab in the lab: Teaching STEM to girls in Saudi Arabia”

The Research Science Institute (RSI), founded over 30 years ago, is one of the most prestigious international summer research programs in the world for high school students. In 2015, RSI founded a new program for girls at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. As part of the inaugural team of all-female college professors, I traveled to Dammam to teach chemistry in 2015 and again in 2016. I will describe my experiences: (1) in the classroom where the Saudi students embarked on a study of renewable and non-renewable fuels and determined which fuels are “best”, and (2) as a relatively ignorant Western woman seeking to learn more about Saudi culture from the perspective of females in an academic setting.

Students are welcome and coffee and treats will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ellen Eisenberg and Bill Kelm
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators