Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented the keynote lecture on “Chiral Interactions at Mineral Surfaces” at the American Vacuum Society meeting in Baltimore, Md. He also lectured on “Mineral Ecology” at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.
Carma Hinton, Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies, presented her film, “Morning Sun,” and lectured on historical memory and censorship in China at Northeastern University. She also presented the film at exhibitions at both the China Institute in New York and the University of New York, Stony Brook. Hinton presented a paper titled “Vaisravana Commands Yakshas in China,” at the conference Animals, Marginality, and the Early Culture of South Asia. She gave a film presentation and lecture, “History in Images,” at Wake Forest University, and was a commentator and speaker at the Model United Nations in Shanghai, China.
John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, briefed the United Nations Department of Political Affairs in November on humanitarian and security challenges in northern Nigeria. He participated in a U.S. Institute of Peace roundtable on the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast Nigeria, and in a U.S. Department of State discussion of upcoming political elections in Nigeria. Paden briefed Chatham House (London) on the Nigerian political situation, and worked with Nigerian colleagues at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto and Mason’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in setting up a graduate teaching and research program in peace studies at northern Nigerian universities. He also worked with senior officials from Nigeria on issues of stability and security in upcoming elections.
Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, moderated a panel discussion at the Aspen Institute in Washington on “The Business Case for Investing in Front Line Workers.” He spoke to the Mason Retired Faculty Association on the moral contradictions of capitalism, and spoke about government regulation of consumer finance at a forum hosted by the Mercatus Center in Arlington.
Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, participated in a November program at the U.S. Department of Justice with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Community Oriented Policing Services Office. She chaired a panel with current and former office directors to examine the past, present and future of community policing, and she was invited to a summit in October organized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to fashion constructive steps that might be taken in the wake of recent events in Ferguson, Mo.