What’s the Big Idea?
For many years, the Friday Center has offered this highly popular lecture series twice a year. It is a component of the public engagement mission of the University and affords faculty an opportunity to share their scholarship on topics of interest to the greater community. Eminent scholars present lectures that illuminate their expertise and research related to an overarching theme. Topics are timely and related to current discourse in the public sphere that could affect public policy or advances in cutting edge research.
Join us for an expert assessment
of a very compelling topic:
Exploring the Human Brain
The Structure and Function of the Human Brain
Thursday, April 5, 7–9 pm
Recent developments in neuroscience have shed interesting light on how the human brain works. Join us for a discussion of these developments and learn how these advances have translated—and will continue to translate—into practical impacts on our lives.
Richard Murrow is a clinical associate professor of neurology, and the director of the Neuromodulation Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interest is in deep brain stimulation and his clinical interests include movement disorders and disorders of higher cognitive functioning and mood. He is board certified in neurology and clinical neurophysiology.
The Science and Technology of Sport Concussion: Translating Data Collection into Concussion Prevention
Thursday, April 12, 6–7:30 pm (Note: This lecture begins one hour earlier than the rest of the series)
Sport-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) is now recognized as a major public health concern, and deciding when an athlete can safely return to participation following a concussion is the most challenging task of any sports-medicine clinician. Recent practice guidelines by the NCAA, NFL, various medical associations, and in some cases mandates by statutory law call for concussion policies that include concussion education, evaluation and management protocols, and strict return-to-play release by a healthcare provider with the appropriate training in concussion management. This presentation will cover the spectrum of sport-related TBI, including the pathophysiology and acute recovery curves on various clinical measures; and will address the chronic neurological impairment believed to be associated with concussive and sub-concussive impacts to the head.
Kevin Guskiewicz is the Kenan Distinguished Professor and founding director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center and the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Over the past seventeen years, his clinical research program has focused on sport-related concussion. In September 2011, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant,” given annually to individuals who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.”
Is Consciousness Merely Neurological?
Thursday, April 19, 7–9 pm
What is consciousness? Both in philosophy and in psychology, “the problem of consciousness” is by nature as special as it is difficult to solve. The past fifteen years have seen an explosion of work on consciousness by philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists. Cognitive scientists speak of “neural correlates of consciousness.” But if we look at some of the research, we are struck by an astonishing diversity of topics that have gone under the heading of “consciousness.” This presentation will isolate the fascinating issues that have made some philosophers insist that consciousness cannot simply be a matter of what happens in the brain.
William Lycan is William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor of Philosophy. He specializes in philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. He is the author of seven books, including Consciousness (MIT, 1987) and Consciousness and Experience (MIT, 1996), and approximately 160 articles on assorted topics including ethics and aesthetics.
Reaching the Brain through Music
Thursday, April 26, 7–9 pm
Whether you can barely sing “Happy Birthday” or can transpose a score from C major to F-sharp major, music is an everyday part of your life. From commercial jingles to classical elevator music, everybody can stop and say, “I’ve heard that before,” or “That reminds me of. . .” But why do some of us prefer John Coltrane and others of us like Lady Gaga? Why do we listen to classical music when we study and hard rock when we run? Why are people who suffer from Alzheimer’s unable to carry on a conversation, but able to sing along to every word to “Tennessee Waltz”? Why can those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury sing before they can speak? This presentation will discuss the universal power of music and its effect on the wonderful and extremely mysterious brain.
Elizabeth Fawcett, MT-BC received her bachelor’s of music therapy from East Carolina University. She has provided music therapy services for children and adults with autism and developmental disabilities while working at Cadenza Music Therapy, Inc. in Hollywood, Florida. She is currently working full-time at NC Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with pediatric patients suffering from cancer, cystic fibrosis, and other medical conditions as well as geriatric patients in the Neurosciences Hospital. She also runs her private practice, Tar Heel Music Therapy, which provides music therapy services to different assisted-living, nursing, and rehabilitation centers in the Triangle area of North Carolina.
Making Memories
Thursday, May 3, 7–9 pm
Memory is not a unitary faculty. Rather, it consists of several functional systems, each contributing in unique ways to the encoding, storage, and subsequent retrieval of information. In this talk, Dr. Kelly Giovanello will discuss the cognitive processes and brain mechanisms that give rise to multiple memory systems in young adults, as well as specify how these processes change with healthy aging and neurodegenerative disease (particularly Alzheimer’s disease).
Kelly Giovanello is an assistant professor in UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of Psychology and a research scientist with the Biomedical Research Imaging Center. Her research combines behavioral, patient-based, and functional neuroimaging approaches to investigate the cognitive neuroscience of human learning, memory, and aging. Dr. Giovanello obtained her PhD in neuroscience from Boston University School of Medicine where she received the Carol A. Biber Award of Boston University for excellence in dissertation research and the Henry I. Russek Student Achievement Award. She has completed several training fellowships including a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Registration
Each lecture is $10, or you can attend the entire five-lecture series for $30. Payment must accompany registration. Make checks payable to the Friday Center for Continuing Education. Present student ID for free admission. Students should preregister by phone or e-mail.
There are four ways to register:
Online: Register online
Mail: Print out the registration form and mail it to
What’s the Big Idea?
Campus Box 1020, The Friday Center
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill NC 27599-1020.
Fax: Print out the registration form and fax it to 919-962-5549.
Phone: Call 800-845-8640 or 919-962-2643.
If you have special needs to accommodate a motor or sensory impairment, please indicate your needs on the registration form.
UNC-Chapel Hill uses an alternative to the Social Security number called the Personal ID (PID) to aid in keeping records for students and participants. If you do not have a PID, you will be required to enter your birthdate, gender, and e-mail address so that we can assign you a PID. We appreciate your cooperation.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is committed to equality of educational opportunity. The University does not discriminate in offering access to its educational programs and activities on the basis of race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
Cancellation and Refunds
Cancellations received by March 29, 2012, will receive full refunds—this applies only to those who registered for the entire series of four lectures. No refunds will be made after March 29, 2012. Refunds cannot be given for individual lectures.
Location
Courses are held at the Friday Center, which offers ample free parking. The Friday Center is located approximately three miles east of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, just off Highway 54 East (Raleigh Road). The Center is a short distance from Interstate 40 (from Raleigh, I-40 exit 273A; from Greensboro, I-40 exit 273). See Map and Directions to the Friday Center.
Contact
For information, contact:
Jill Conrad (conradj@email.unc.edu), Program FacilitatorProfessional Development and Enrichment Programs
The Friday Center
800-845-8640 or 919-962-2643
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- Energy and the Environment
- The Human Being in 2050
- The Science of Evolution
- Genetics, Ethics, and Human Health
- We the People: Democracy in America
- Pandemics, Infectious Diseases, and Public Policy
- Global Climate Change: Challenges and Options in North Carolina and Beyond
- Here Today...Here Tomorrow? Sustaining Precious Resources for Our Future
- Extreme Space Above and Below
- Nanotechnology: Big Ideas About Tiny Matter