University Scholar Series

Spring 2023 University Scholar Series

Hosted by the Office of the Provost, this series provides a unique opportunity

for showcasing the important research and scholarly activities of SJSU faculty members.

This semester's University Scholar Series will be either hybrid or virtual. If hybrid, please indicate whether you will be attending the event virtually (Zoom) or in person (Room 225, SJSU King Library) when registering.

The Societal Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic and a Look Ahead to What’s Next

Wed., April 12, 2023 | 12-1 p.m. | via Zoom / Rm. 225, SJSU King Library

HYRBRID EVENT

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Presented by Dr. Marcelle Dougan, Department of Public Health and Recreation

The coronavirus pandemic has changed all of us in ways that may not be obvious until years from now. Marginalized populations, specifically communities of color and those economically disadvantaged, felt the brunt of this pandemic. Early on, it became clear that many Black and brown communities were more likely to contract and die from the coronavirus compared to other groups. Food shortages led to increased food insecurity especially among people of color and those economically disadvantaged. Anti-Asian sentiment reached crisis levels, with many in this community reporting physical attacks, largely due to the public rhetoric at that time. Dr. Dougan discusses her research on the experience of marginalized populations as a result of the pandemic, and highlights some bright spots on the horizon with respect to reducing health disparities.

Dr. Dougan’s approach to research and teaching has been interdisciplinary, aimed at providing practical solutions to improve health outcomes in the population. Her research focuses on breast cancer survivorship, health technology, and coronavirus impacts among marginalized populations in the United States. Dr. Dougan received postdoctoral training at Stanford University, where she examined circadian variation in relation to breast cancer progression. She holds a doctoral degree in epidemiology from Harvard University, a master’s in public health from Columbia University, a master’s in chemical engineering from University of London, and a graduate certificate in technology management from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Dr. Dougan's ScholarWorks Profile

The Power of Dance: The Viennese Ballroom and European Monarchy after the French Revolution

This event has already passed. Stay tuned for the recording!

Presented by Dr. Erica Buurman, School of Music and Dance & Director of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies

Today’s ballroom dance culture has its origins in Vienna in the decades around 1800, when the ballrooms of the aristocracy were opened to the public. For the first time, members of all social classes could waltz together in the city’s glittering ballrooms, and composers like Beethoven and Mozart provided music for the latest fashionable dances. The world of the public ball ostensibly removed the rigid hierarchy associated with courtly dancing before the upheavals of the French Revolution, where dance was used primarily as an opportunity to display aristocratic manners. Yet as European monarchies sought to retain their relevance in nineteenth-century society, they found ways of reinventing their public image in ways that harnessed the new dance culture — ways which have left their trace in the dance and music of the period.

Erica Buurman is Director of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies and Assistant Professor in the School of Music and Dance at San José State University. Her research centers on music and culture in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Vienna, particularly Beethoven and music for social dancing. Her publications include chapters in Cambridge Companion to the Eroica Symphony and the forthcoming Beethoven in Context, and a monograph, The Viennese Ballroom in the Age of Beethoven (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Dr. Buurman's ScholarWorks Profile

“Forever or Five Years”: Recordkeeping and Human Thriving

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Presented by Dr. Darra Hofman, School of Information

Jeff Rothenberg wrote that, “[d]igital objects last forever – or five years, whichever comes first.” Rothenberg gives as his example a CD that contains the secrets to his fortune, and the challenges his grandchildren would face in even finding an appropriate disk-drive in 2045. Since Rothenberg’s article was first published in the mid-90s, digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become ever more entrenched, and the cycles of change and development ever faster. Archivists, specialists in recordkeeping, race to ensure the long-term trustworthiness, accessibility, and useability of data, records, and other digital objects that are designed with the expectation of obsolescence and ever-faster cycles. Doing so is critically important. Without trustworthy records, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to prove our rights, to hold bad actors accountable, to build on past research, and to maintain cultural heritage. In this talk, Dr. Hofman will explain how archival science’s ancient principles can improve our digital future, providing ways to examine new technologies and answer questions about trust, decision making, and power through the perspective of not just years, but centuries.

Darra Hofman is an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator (Master of Archives and Records Administration) in the School of Information at San José State University, San José California, USA. Dr. Hofman received her Ph.D. in library, archival, and information science from The University of British Columbia in 2020. She completed her M.L.I.S. from the University of Kentucky and her J.D. and B.A. (honors) from Arizona State University. Her research examines the intersection of archives, technology, and law, exploring how records can support human rights and human thriving.

Questions?

Email Project and Communication Manager Lesley Seacrist at lesley.seacrist@sjsu.edu.

SJSU students, faculty, and staff, as well as community members, are invited to attend.

Co-Sponsored By: