Campus event highlights, March 19-28

(All events are free unless otherwise noted.)

Friday, March 19: “Outrageous Building Designs”
Monday, March 22: “Truth is stranger than fiction: A look at some improbabilities”
Monday, March 22: “Beyond Beats and Rhymes”
Wednesday, March 24: “The Cholesterol-Alzheimer’s Disease Relationship”
Thursday, March 25: “A Confident Jump Towards Excellence”
Thursday, March 25: “After the Fall: International Politics in an Age of American Decline”

Friday, March 19: “Outrageous Building Designs”

The Fazlur Rahman Khan Lecture Series features Ron Klemencic, president of Magnusson Klemencic Associates in Seattle, Washington. Klemencic will discuss the advances in design and construction technology, in materials and in communication capabilities that enable structural engineers to realize what he calls the “outrageous, wacky and wild” building designs proposed by modern architects.

The event begins at 4:10 p.m. in Sinclair Auditorium. It is sponsored by the department of civil and environmental engineering and the department of art and architecture.

Monday, March 22: “Truth is stranger than fiction: A look at some improbabilities”

The A. Everett Pitcher Lecture Series of the department of mathematics features Richard Durrett, professor of mathematics at Cornell University, who will discuss situations in which people misunderstand probabilities, including examples such as the Monty Hall problem, the birthday problem, and lottery double winners. Durrett’s research and books apply mathematical probability theory and stochastic processes to mathematical ecology and population genetics.

The event begins at 7 p.m. in Lewis Lab 270.

Durrett will also discuss ”Life on a random graph” on Wednesday, March 23, and “Cancer models” on Friday, March 25, both at 4:10 p.m. in Sinclair Auditorium.

Monday, March 22: “Beyond Beats and Rhymes”

The dean of students office presents Bryan Hurt, who will discuss masculinity and manhood in rap and hip-hop music. The event begins at 7 p.m. in Packard Auditorium.

Wednesday, March 24: “The Cholesterol-Alzheimer’s Disease Relationship: A Biophysically-Derived Unifying Hypothesis”

The seminar series of the department of chemistry presents Charles Sanders, professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt University. The event begins at 4:10 p.m. in Neville Auditorium 3.

Thursday, March 25: “A Confident Jump Towards Excellence: Educational Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”

The Comparative and International Education Program presents a lecture by Naif H. Alromi, deputy minister of educational planning and development in the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia. Alromi will discuss the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Public Education Development Project, also known as the Tatweer Project, and its goal of achieving comprehensive educational development in Saudi Arabia’s public schools. The event begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Governor’s Suite of Iacocca Hall.

Thursday, March 25: “After the Fall: International Politics in an Age of American Decline”

The Donald F. Textor Lecture Series in the department of international relations features Christopher Layne, the Robert M. Gates Professor of intelligence and national security at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, and the author of The Peace of Illusions: American Grand Strategy from 1940 to the Present. The event begins at 4:10 p.m. in Room 102 of Maginnes Hall.