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Class Notes

Can creativity be cultivated? What does it take to conquer a disease? How does digital technology affect what it means to be human?

Since last fall, members of the University community, from Chicago to Shanghai, have been taking part in conversations that explore such questions. Collectively titled 鈥淭he Rochester Effect,鈥� the series brings together faculty, alumni, parents, and others to share their perspectives on some of the world鈥檚 most challenging issues.

The culminating event will come this October in Rochester, as part of Meliora Weekend.

Here are some highlights from the series.

Valuing Academic Inquiry in a Democracy

WGBH Studios, Boston

November 2018

Panelists

Carmala Garzione, Helen and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Peter Lennie, Jay Last Distinguished University Professor

Brian Mitchell 鈥�81 (PhD), president of Academic Innovators and former president of Bucknell University

David Williams, William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics and dean for research in Arts, Sciences & Engineering

鈥淯niversities are creating the kind of productive citizens and the engaged workforce that, on a global scale, societies across the world need.鈥濃�擬itchell

鈥淩eally, our effort is on training people to think, to ask questions, and to be able to solve problems they haven鈥檛 seen in the classroom before.鈥濃�擥arzione

鈥淎cademic freedom doesn鈥檛 mean you are free to do anything you want or to do nothing . . . it means you are free from capricious interference with your work鈥攖hat鈥檚 the key protection of a decent university.鈥濃�擫ennie

鈥淲e have to engender in our students that risk taking is good. That鈥檚 where the big payoffs are, that鈥檚 where the big wins are.鈥濃�擶illiams

Cultivating Creativity and Inspiring Innovation

Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago

November 2018

Panelists

Alan Pierson 鈥�06E (DMA), artistic director for Alarm Will Sound

Jennifer Grotz, poet and professor of English

Phillip Ying 鈥�91E, 鈥�92E (MM), associate professor of viola and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music and a founding member of the Ying Quartet

Jonathan Binstock, Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery

鈥淥ne of the great things I鈥檝e loved about being a musician is that it鈥檚 an activity that engages every part of what it means to be a human being, and there aren鈥檛 many activities that do that beyond the arts.鈥濃�擸ing

鈥淭his is why we call these things the humanities. It鈥檚 the history of trying to figure out what it means to be human and how to express it. It鈥檚 our greatest wealth, and if we don鈥檛 learn it and share it, we lose it and it鈥檚 gone.鈥濃�擥rotz

鈥淲e 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鈥檚 like to be leading a very different life from the one that they鈥檙e living.鈥濃�擯ierson

鈥淚鈥檓 thinking of the University鈥檚 motto Meliora鈥攅ver better. The concept of process, of becoming. I mean, that embodies this idea of creativity in a sense.鈥濃�擝instock

Conquering Disease

WHYY Studios, Philadelphia

February 2019

Panelists

John Foxe, Kilian J. and Caroline Schmitt Chair in Neuroscience and director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience

Barry M. Goldstein 鈥�82M (MD/PhD), 鈥�85M (Res), vice president of Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinical Development Services at Covance Inc.

Catherine K. Kuo, associate professor of biomedical engineering

Kerry O鈥橞anion, professor of neuroscience and neurology

鈥淧eople 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.鈥濃�擣oxe

鈥淣one of this happens in a single person鈥檚 mind or a single laboratory; it often is the culmination of lots of efforts that lead to breakthroughs.鈥濃�擮鈥橞anion

鈥淚鈥檓 a materials science engineer by training, but I鈥檓 a professor in biomedical engineering and orthopaedics because I ask questions about biology and I approach them from an engineering perspective.鈥濃�擪uo

鈥淸C]onquering disease to cure patients鈥� lives, alleviate pain and suffering, and to prolong life . . . it鈥檚 really what keeps you going, [regardless of] whatever stage you happen to be working in, in the complicated matrix [of the medical field].鈥濃�擥oldstein

Being Human in the Digital Age

NPR Headquarters, Washington, DC

February 2019

Panelists

Randall Curren, professor and chair of philosophy

Ehsan Hoque, Asaro Biggar Family Fellow in Data Science and interim director of the Goergen Institute for Data Science

Madeline K. Sofia 鈥�16M (PhD), associate producer on NPR鈥檚 Science Desk

David Williams, William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics and dean for research in Arts, Sciences & Engineering

鈥淲e鈥檙e, at this very moment, looking at a reign of technological developments that are unprecedented in human history . . . what does this mean for being human?鈥濃�擶illiams

鈥淚n 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鈥攁ll of these people need to come together if this will be effective.鈥濃�擲ofia

鈥淲hat 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.鈥濃�擧oque

鈥淭he 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.鈥濃�擟urren

For More Rochester Effect

The Rochester Effect series travels to San Francisco on May 29 and to Denver on May 30 before concluding in Rochester during Meliora Weekend. For details, visit the website