Moderator: Emily Kern
First Censor: Cris Willis
Second Censor: Laura Lee
Scriba: Jarred Spear
Recorder: Jennie Shapira
Treasurer: Yingnan Xu
Librarian: Alex Savoy-Knitter
Archivist: Lorena Nicol
AO Director: MD Mangini

A Talk by Dr. Jared Diamond

Washed Up: The Role of Water in the Collapse of Civilizations

Date:  April 6, 2011
Time:  7:00PM
Location:  Irvine Auditorium, 3400 Spruce Street

There are absolutely no more tickets remaining for the talk; there may be some open seats owing to no-shows on the night, but we cannot guarantee non-ticketed persons seats.

Information about Dr. Diamond and the talk, as well as our co-sponsors, after the jump.

Jared Diamond is a major American public intellectual and leading scholar of physiology, ecology, conservation biology, and history. A recipient of the National Medal of Science, he is also the author of numerous widely-acclaimed books, including Guns, Germs, and Steel (recipient of the Pulitzer Prize), Collapse, The Third Chimpanzee, and Why is Sex Fun?. This talk promises to be an exciting and valuable opportunity to engage with a figure of international renown and interest.

After the talk, a public reception for Jared Diamond will be held in the Hall of Flags (Houston Hall, 1st Floor), to which all are invited.

Abstract: The ruined cities, temples, and statues of history’s great, vanished societies (Easter Island, Anasazi, the Lowland Maya, Angkor Wat, Great Zimbabwe and many more) offer more than idle conjecture: the social collapses were due in part to the types of environmental problems that beset us today. Yet many societies facing similar problems do not collapse. What makes certain societies especially vulnerable? Why didn’t their leaders perceive and solve their environmental problems? What can we learn from their fates?

Co-Sponsors: The Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC) Fully Planned Fund, SPEC Connaissance, The Undergraduate Assembly, The Student Activities Council, The Department of Earth and Environmental Science, The Department of Chemistry, The Nursing School, The Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, The Law Program in the Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Department of Political Science, The Roy and Diana Vagelos Program of Life Sciences and Management, The Department of Classical Studies, Harrison College House, Center for Ancient Studies, The Department of Psychology, The Department of African Studies, The Department of History, The Green Campus Partnership, The College of Arts and Sciences, The Department of History and Sociology of Science, Penn Professional Staff Assembly, The Department of English, Center for East Asian Studies

Feel free to contact Alec Webley (moderator@philomathean.org) with any questions.

For more information about the Philomathean Society, please visit http://www.philomathean.org.

For more information about the Provost’s Year of Water, please visit https://secure.www.upenn.edu/themeyear/water/.

For more information about Dr. Diamond, check out his TED talk at http://www.ted.com/speakers/jared_diamond.html.

Join the Penn Israel Coalition (PIC), Penn for Palestine (PfP), and the Philomathean Society for a student panel discussion that seeks to present bold, innovative ideas to address the Israel-Palestine conflict. Six presenters, three from PIC and three from PFP will present on their ideas in pairs around three central themes of the conflict: Settlements, Gaza, and Jerusalem. The presentations will be followed by an open Q&A session, after which there will be a reception to continue the discussion. All members of the Penn community are warmly welcome.

Moderated by Murad Idris, PhD candidate in Political Science.

FORMAT
The evening will center around six presentations, divided into three themes presented by two speakers, one from PIC and one from PfP. The three topics, in order, are:

1. Settlements
2. Gaza
3. Jerusalem

Each of these topics will be prefaced by a brief introduction by a member of Philo from a prepared text approved by all three groups.

After the presentations there will be a Q&A session between the panelists and the audience, followed by delicious snacks.

PARTICIPANTS
From Penn Israel Coalition:
- Seth Bluestein
- Susan Finch
- Rebeca Lieberbaum

From Penn for Palestine:
- Sarah Salwen
- Madeline Noteware
- Omar Kalouti

QUESTIONS?
Please see the Facebook event page.

Full details can be found at the Beer Class Website.

Please direct any questions to Sam Beiler, the Beer Class Chair, at beer@philomathean.org.

Come visit us on Locust Walk at the Student Activities Fair this Monday!

In the meantime, please take a look around Philo’s new home on the internet. We have uploaded descriptions of past events to flesh out the new blog categories, not to mention some fabulous historical tidbits. If you have any concerns or questions concerning website content, please let me know!

My sincere thanks, and the thanks of the Society, go to Mr. Miller (Recorder), Ms. Kern (First Censor), Mr. Robert Hass (Technojoy), Ms. Savoy-Knitter, and Mr. Kincaid for working immensely hard to bring this website to fruition. Especial thanks are due to Ms. Yilu Zhang, who while not being a member of the Society nonetheless spent a huge amount of her free time helping us with the design of the new website.

Sic itur ad astra,

Alec Webley
Moderator of the Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania