Campus event highlights, Nov. 25 to Dec. 6

(All events are free unless otherwise noted.)

Monday, Nov. 30: “The Chinese Bridge Project Celebrates”
Tuesday, Dec. 1: “Does Familiarity Breed Content?”
Tuesday, Dec. 1: “Islam, Islamism and Post-Islamism in Africa”
Wednesday, Dec. 2: “Surfactant-laden Interfaces in Microfluidic Devices”
Wednesday, Dec. 2: “How Race and Ethnicity Influence (My) Art”
Thursday, Dec. 3: “Crystal-Melt Interfaces, Rotator Phases, and Nucleation in Polyethylene”
Thursday, Dec. 3: “The Evolution of Bacterial Genome Complexity”
Friday, Dec. 4: “An Overview of the Role of Northern Wetlands in Carbon Cycling and Climate”

Sunday, Dec. 6: “The Best of Lehigh’s Christmas Vespers”

Monday, Nov. 30: “The Chinese Bridge Project Celebrates”

More than 2,000 Chinese undergraduate and graduate students have studied at Lehigh since 1879. The Chinese Bridge Project at Lehigh draws attention to Lehigh’s historical relationship with China and to the contributions made by Lehigh’s Chinese alumni. Dong-Ning Wang ‘98 Ph.D., a visiting scholar and principal investigator with the Bridge Project, will discuss Lehigh’s history of educational exchange with China. A library display will highlight 130 years of Chinese students at Lehigh and the 100th anniversary of the first Chinese student club at Lehigh.

The event begins at 4:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Fairchild-Martindale Library. It is sponsored by the Chinese Bridge Project, the Asian Studies program and the office of international affairs.

Tuesday, Dec. 1: “Does Familiarity Breed Content?”

The College of Business and Economics Research Presentation series features an address by Deepa Chandrasekaran, assistant professor of marketing, titled “Does Familiarity Breed Content?” Impact of Past Choices on Network Formation in Open Source Software Development Communities.”

The event will begin at 12:15 p.m. in Room 111 of the Rauch Business Center.

Tuesday, Dec. 1: “Islam, Islamism and Post-Islamism in Africa”

The Center for Global Islamic Studies presents a lecture by Benjamin Soares on the interaction between Islam and politics. Soares, an anthropologist who has spent 20 years studying the West African nation of Mali, is senior research fellow at the African Studies Center in Leiden in The Netherlands. He is author Islam and the Prayer Economy (2005) and coeditor of Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa (2007) and Islam, Etat et Societe en Afrique.

The event will begin at 4:15 p.m. in Room 200 of Linderman Library. It is cosponsored by the Africana Studies program, the department of religion studies and the department of anthropology and sociology.

Wednesday, Dec. 2: “Surfactant-laden Interfaces in Microfluidic Devices”

The colloquium series of the department of chemical engineering presents an address by Shelley Anna, associate professor of chemical engineering and of mechanical engineering at Carnegie-Mellon University. The event will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Room B-013 of Iacocca Hall.

Wednesday, Dec. 2: “How Race and Ethnicity Influence (My) Art”

Notations: Free Lectures and Other Presentations, a series of the Zoellner Arts Center, presents a lecture by Carl Hancock Rux, who combines poetry, theater, music and fiction to achieve what one critic has described as a “dizzying oral artistry.” Rux's books include the novel Asphalt and a poetry collection, Pagan Operetta, for which he won the Village Voice Literary Prize. He heads the Writing for Performance program at the California Institute of the Arts.

The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Zoellner Arts Center’s Diamond Theatre. It is also made possible by an anonymous donor in collaboration with the Visiting Lecturers Committee and the LU Creative Writing Program.

Thursday, Dec. 3: “Crystal-Melt Interfaces, Rotator Phases, and Nucleation in Polyethylene”

The colloquium series of the department of physics presents an address by Scott Milner, the Joyce Professor of chemical engineering at Penn State University. The event will begin at 4:10 p.m. in Room 316 of Lewis Lab.

Thursday, Dec. 3: “The Evolution of Bacterial Genome Complexity”

The colloquium series of the department of biological sciences presents an address by Chih-Horng Kuo, a research scientist at the University of Arizona. The event will begin at 4:10 p.m. in Room B-023 of Iacocca Hall.

Friday, Dec. 4: “An Overview of the Role of Northern Wetlands in Carbon Cycling and Climate”

The seminar series of the department of earth and environmental sciences presents an address by Nigel Roulet, the James McGill Professor of geography and director of the McGill School of Environment at  McGill University. The event will begin at noon in Room 270 of Lewis Lab.

Sunday, Dec. 6: “The Best of Lehigh’s Christmas Vespers”

Lehigh University Choral Arts, directed by Steven Sametz, presents its “traditional holiday present to the Lehigh Valley.” The community group, celebrating its 25th anniversary season, will perform favorites from years past, including Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria, a medley of African-American spirituals arranged by Chanticleer musical director Joe Jennings, and Russian Christmas music.

The two Christmas Vespers concerts will be held in Packer Memorial Church at 4 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. No tickets are required but seating is limited.