The Academic Minute for 2018.10.01-10.05

Academic Minute from 10.01 – 10.05

Monday, October 1st
Amy Whitaker – New York University
Rethinking Artists as Investors
Amy Whitaker is a devoted teacher, mentor, and researcher at the intersections of art and business. At NYU, Amy teaches economics, finance, and entrepreneurship in the arts, and advises graduate students on thesis projects and start-ups. She worked previously for the Guggenheim, MoMA, and Tate, and for the investment firm D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and the artist Jenny Holzer. She has also worked on the internet law team at Harvard Law School and as an expert witness in copyright litigation. Her current research models what would happen if artists retained fractional equity in their work using blockchain technology.

Tuesday, October 2nd
Susanna Ashton – Clemson University
Rediscovering an Enslaved Person’s Journey to Freedom Through Research
Susanna Ashton is a professor and chair of the English Department at Clemson University.  A scholar of fugitive authorship and slavery studies, she is working on a biography of a fugitive author from SC, John Andrew Jackson titled “A Plausible Man: the life of John Andrew Jackson” – research for which has been profiled by more than 200 outlets, including CNN, The New York Times and MSNBC. Recent publications include: The South Carolina Roots of African American Thought. A Reader, co-edited with Dr. Rhondda Thomas, and “I Belong to South Carolina” South Carolina Slave Narratives. She has held awards from Yale University, Emory University, Harvard University, the University of South Carolina and a Fulbright Award to Ireland.

Wednesday, October 3rd
Angela Dassow – Carthage College
Identifying Individual Grey Wolves Using Howls
Professor Angela Dassow received her B.S. degrees in wildlife ecology and entomology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003. After spending several years as the head preparator and assistant curator of herpetology at a natural history museum, she joined Prof. Michael Coen’s lab and earned her M.S. in zoology in 2010 and Ph.D. in zoology in 2014. She joined the Carthage faculty in 2015.

Thursday, October 4th
Madhavi Venkatesan – Northeastern University
Economics of Sustainability
Madhavi Venkatesan is a faculty member in the Economics Department of Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts and the executive director of Sustainable Practices, a nonprofit dedicated to sustainability education and operationalization, which she founded in 2016.  Madhavi earned a PhD, MA, and BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University, a Masters in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University, and a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. A recipient of a Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship (Philippines), she has contributed to numerous books and journal articles on the subject of sustainability and economics. Her present academic interests include the integration of sustainability into the economics curriculum.

Friday, October 5th
Marc Zimmerman – University of Michigan
Busy Streets Theory
Dr. Zimmerman’s research focuses on adolescent health and resiliency, and empowerment theory. His work on adolescent health examines how positive factors in adolescent’s lives help them overcome risks they face. His research includes analysis of adolescent resiliency for risks associated with alcohol and drug use, violent behavior, precocious sexual behavior, and school failure. He is also studying developmental transitions and longitudinal models of change. Dr. Zimmerman’s work on empowerment theory includes measurement and analysis of psychological and community empowerment. The research includes both longitudinal interview studies and community intervention research.