UCALL
Fall 2024
REGISTER FOR MEMBERSHIP AND COURSES
Race and Economics
Tuesdays, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
In-person (remote viewing option available via Zoom)
Even a casual look at the way resources are allocated in the United States economy reveals that a person’s race has a great deal of influence on that person’s economic status, including their education, employment, housing, health care, standard of living and general prospects in life. Stephen Schmidt, Kenneth B. Sharpe Professor of Economics at Union College, explores the ways that our ideas about race interact with conventional economic explanations of allocations of goods, and how economic, historical, social, and political forces produce the economic patterns we observe. He also considers how the economy might be changed in order to produce a more just economic outcome and what forces make it difficult to make such changes.
Week 1: Will examine what race is and various ways in which it can affect economic outcomes
Week 2: Will consider race’s effects in employment and labor markets
Week 3: Will look at the role of race in education, including affirmative action
Week 4: Will investigate race, banking and finance, including the role of race in the subprime mortgage crisis
Week 5: Will explore the effects of race on public goods provision, including housing support, police protection and health care
Science and Society
Tuesdays, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
In-person (remote viewing option available via Zoom)
Four speakers will discuss various aspects of the influence of science on society.
Week 1: Peter Willis, Schenectady County Counsel to the District Attorney, will discuss the legal impact of a new way of determining DNA on evidence.
Week 2: Anastasia Pease, Union College Senior Lecturer in English and Russian, will highlight some examples of the influence of science on literature, from Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe to the present day.
Week 3: Anastasia Pease will focus on works of speculative fiction about human nature and ways to bring out our "better angels."
Week 4: Peter Tu, GE Chief Scientist for AI, will examine how artificial intelligence affects “everything.”
Week 5: Bill Levering, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Valatie, NY, will discuss the realities and impact of AI on religion and the morality of rhetoric in general.
But Is It “Real?” CANCELED
Wednesdays, October 9, 16, 23, 30, & November 6 (note schedule change)
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
College Park Hall, room M107
In-person (limited enrollment)
Harry Marten, Edward E. Hale, Jr. Professor of English Emeritus, will lead a discussion of the nature of “realism” and its alternatives and transformations in selected fiction by modern and contemporary writers. The class will explore such questions as the nature and importance of “facts” in fiction; the role of symbolism; the relationship of realism to romance, myth, or fairy tale; the place of known (and unknown) “history” in tale-telling; the commonplace and the extravagant or unusual in fiction; trusting the tale or the teller - both or neither; the ways imagination reveals and alters our sense of place, character, action and inaction; the effect of detail and dialogue in the creation of character; the place of philosophy and psychology in creating our understanding of a well told story. In short, how is it that we come to believe that a short story, novella, or novel is “true” to experience? Participants should read and be prepared to discuss selected works by Joseph Conrad (short stories), James Joyce (short stories), Andrea Barrett (short stories), Norman Maclean (novella), Tove Jansson (interconnected short stories), Toni Morrison (novel), and Kate Atkinson (interconnected short stories), as specified on the UCALL registration website. To allow for an active discussion, registration will be limited to 25 UCALL members.
Election 2024
Wednesdays, October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, & November 13
3 to 5 p.m.
Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
In-person (remote viewing option available via Zoom)
The upcoming 2024 U.S. election is undeniably pivotal in American history. With significant political, moral and policy disparities between the major presidential candidates and crucial congressional races on the line, this election is arguably one of the most consequential ever. Democracy itself may be hanging in the balance.
Throughout numerous past presidential elections, Cliff Brown, the Robert Porter Patterson Professor of Government at Union College, has captivated UCALL audiences with his perceptive commentary. Renowned for his extensive experience in political polling, campaign analysis and election analytics, Dr. Brown will once again share his keen insights. Delving beyond the headlines, utilizing his profound understanding of the political landscape, he eloquently articulates his thoughtful and often witty perspectives. A lively Q&A session will follow each class. Don't miss this opportunity to enrich your understanding of national issues, trends and choices.
Topics in History
Thursdays, October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
In-person (remote viewing option available via Zoom)
Five speakers will cover a range of historical topics.
Week 1: Andrew Morris, Associate Professor of History at Union College, will discuss his new book, “When Natural Disasters Became National Disasters: Hurricane Camille, Civil Rights, and the Southern Strategy.”
Week 2: Julia Rabig, Associate Professor of History at Dartmouth College, will examine the Black Power movement's impact on urban community development efforts in Newark, N.J.
Week 3: John Delano, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, SUNY Albany, reveals the little-known stories of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon.
Week 4: Maeve Kane, Associate Professor of History, SUNY Albany, will describe how women's labor in colonial America created and defined communities.
Week 5: Greg Sauer, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, retired, will relate the surprising story of Sir William Johnson, King George's Commissioner for Indian affairs in the Northern Colonies.
Language and Culture
Thursdays, October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
In-person (remote viewing option available via Zoom)
This course will explore language as a social and cultural phenomenon that is continually developing and evolving, and translation as communication across languages and cultures.
Week 1: Karen Brison (Union College, Anthropology) will explore linguistic relativism as studied by anthropologists, including the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis on how the grammar of our language influences basic concepts of time and space, and the ways that language influences perception and the experience of emotion, with contemporary examples from the U.S. and Micronesia.
Week 2: Daniel Mosquera (Union College, Professor Emeritus of Spanish and Latin American and Caribbean Studies) will explore political metaphors and the politics of language, including the use of metaphoric language as a communicative strategy, and as a tool related to power relations and arousal of emotions, with examples from Spanish, Portuguese and English in the context of politics.
Week 3: Junko Ueno (Union College, Modern Languages and Literatures) will introduce how Japanese cultural traits are reflected in Japanese people’s linguistic behaviors; language variations based on social attributes and their manipulation for identity and power purposes; and linguistic stereotyping and discrimination often associated with minorities.
Week 4: Kristin Bidoshi (Union College, Modern Languages and Literatures) will explore fundamental principles of translation theory and the contributions of prominent Russian translation theorists, and will lead the group in a comparison of two translations of a Russian short story.
Week 5: Maritza Osuna (Union College, Modern Languages and Literatures) will address the main issues found when translating documents from English to Spanish, illustrated with real-life examples translated by Union students.
Schedule is subject to change.