Dear Emeriti Colleagues,

The end of summer on campus is always ushered in by a full schedule of opening events, including opening convocations for incoming graduate and college students and the annual Aims of Education Address, that welcome the newest students to the community. This year Agnes Callard, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, spoke to the class of 2026 and joined a small group of College alumni who have gone on to deliver the address as faculty members. More on the history of the address, past speakers, and an archive of talks is available on the College’s website.

The start of Autumn Quarter also brings with it opportunities to enjoy the new 2022-23 seasons with performance groups, theater, film and more on campus including at the Court Theatre and UChicago Presents. Doc Films also will celebrate its 90th anniversary over the weekend of October 21-23 with a slate of film screenings! 

It’s also a busy start at the Emeriti Center! We’re excited to share updates on news and events below and are excited to welcome everyone back to campus and the Center! You can always find more information about events at the Center on the emeriti website.

Throughout the quarter the Center will be open and staffed from 9am-5pm for emeriti (and their guests) to visit. Please also consider joining us for events during October and November with campus partners at Information Technology, the Benefits Office, and Academic Technology Solutions. These sessions will be available on zoom for those away from campus or who prefer to attend virtually!

• Desktop Support and Emeriti Tech Bar: Desktop Support Specialist Gordon Dickson will be on hand to answer questions and provide technology support in October and November.
  • Thursday, October 20, from 1-2pm; or attend virtually through zoom
  • Thursday, November 17, from 1-2pm; or attend virtually through zoom
• Benefits Office Hours: UChicago’s Retiree Benefits Specialists Xaviera Espinoza and Estephany Arroyo will be on hand to meet with emeriti and answer questions.
  • Wednesday, October 12, from 11am-Noon; or on zoom.
  • Tuesday, November 8, from 11am-Noon; or on zoom.
• Academic Technology Office Hours: On alternating Tuesdays from 2:00-3:30pm starting on October 11, emeriti can bring any questions they may have about Canvas, Zoom, Panopto, or other tools for teaching with technology to the Center to meet with support specialists. Attend in person or virtually through zoom on 10/11, 10/25, 11/8, 11/22, and 12/6.

You will need your UChicago ID card to access the building and the Center, which is located in the Klowden Family Library (Room 106) to your left as you enter. For more information about the Emeriti Center and events, please visit the emeriti faculty website.

This one-hour workshop offered by Academic Technology Studios (ATS) will introduce emeriti faculty to the basics of Canvas and how they can use it effectively in their courses. Topics covered will include: Canvas site creation; uploading and organizing materials; communicating with students through Canvas; and more. ATS will also discuss how to set up and run Zoom meetings through Canvas in the event that a faculty member needs to hold his or her class remotely. Finally, ATS will share information about resources and explain how faculty can get help if they have questions in the future.

Attend in person on Tuesday, October 4, 1:00-2:00 pm at the Emeriti Center or online. To register please visit: https://events.uchicago.edu/event/169113-ats-workshop-for-emeriti-faculty

Torsten Reimer, University Librarian and Dean of the University Library, will offer the first Robert and Anne Gomer Lecture of the year.

"Turning the Inside Out: Does Digital Research Change the Library Paradigm?"

Join us on Thursday, October 27, at 4:30pm at the Emeriti Center at Alumni House (5555 S. Woodlawn Ave.). Reception to follow. 

Nine emeriti faculty members received grants in the first funding cycle for the new grants announced over the summer. With the new grant program, the Emeriti Center and the Office of the Provost intends to support emeriti engaged in any academic activities. Awards may be used to offset expenses including, but not limited to, attending professional conferences, field work, and other research. Winners and brief project and grant descriptions follow below:

• Fred Donner, Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern History in the Oriental Institute and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, attended and delivered the Presidential Address at the International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) in Palermo.
• Michael Fishbane, Nathan Cummings Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish Studies Emeritus in Divinity School, will use the award to support research on a new book with the working title Poetics of Tradition. Jewish Liturgical Poetry.             
• Victor Friedman, Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Humanities in the Department of Linguistics, will use the grant to support the final stages and manuscript preparation for The Balkan Languages (Cambridge University Press), co-authored with Brian D. Joseph (The Ohio State University).
• Takeshi Oka, Robert A. Millikan Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Chemistry, is giving presentations at two international workshops: “Cosmic Rays: The Salt of the Star Formation Recipe” in Florence and “Galactic Center Workshop 2023” in Granada with travel funded by the activities grant.
• Marta Ptaszynska, Helen B. and Frank L. Sulzberger Professor Emeritus of Composition in the Department of Music is working on two pieces: Imaginary Landscapes and Double Concerto for Saxophones, Piano, and large Symphonic Orchestra. Both will premier in Poland this Spring.
• Jerrold Sadock, Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics, will carry out field work in Greenland on Inuit and Yupik languages.
• Josef Stern, William H. Colvin Professor of Philosophy Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy, will use his award to assist with his current book project on Maimonides.
• Richard Strier, Frank L. Sulzberger Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Department of English, will participate in panels and roundtables at two upcoming conferences: The Sixteenth-Century Society Conference and the Shakespeare Association of America Conference.
• William Veeder, Professor Emeritus of English and American Literature in the Department of English, will use the award to support research and work on his current historical novel project titled Pierce.

Award recipients are expected to give a public lecture or presentation (in-person or virtual) as a part of Emeriti Center programming within 12 months of the award before being eligible to apply again. The next call for proposals will be in Winter of 2023.

The University Library has shared an update about a collaboration with Rich Kron, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, to preserve and reinvigorate the use of historical glass plates collection at Yerkes Observatory, which contains over 175,000 astronomical images taken between 1897 and the 1990s of historical and scientific vale, along with their associated logbooks. More details in the story shared below:

"The NSF-funded partnership is bringing together Library and disciplinary expertise to explore how best to manage the collection so that it can be used for contemporary scientific research while also delving into the historic context of its creation, including the often-hidden role that women played in the scientific life of the Observatory and the history of the University of Chicago Astronomy and Astrophysics Department.

A highlight of the collaboration has been an active engagement with undergraduate students, some of whom continue to contribute after having graduated. They have learned about how the Observatory operated, using the telescope, the darkroom, and the plate vault, and have put their astronomy and computing skills to work analyzing the effectiveness of scanning equipment to digitize the slides at a quality necessary for scientific use. This information is being used to help shape the Library’s plans for future digitization of the collection. Under the guidance of Professor Kron, the students have also transformed their research into academic articles, poster presentations, and even an Astronomy Picture of the Day entry. Professor Kron and the students have also produced a catalog of the location and brightness of more than 66,000 stars, which is available through the Library-managed Knowledge@UChicago repository. A recent Women’s Board grant is supporting another area of research in preparation for an Autumn 2023 Library exhibition, Capturing the Stars: The Untold History of Women at the Yerkes Observatory. Library staff, Professor Kron, and students have been working together to research the many women who played an integral role in the scientific output of the Observatory, as computers, measurers, and astronomers. More information on this collaboration is available on the Yerkes Glass Plates Collections web site."

Sheila Fitzpatrick, Bernadotte E. Schmitt Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of Russian History, has authored The Shortest History of the Soviet Union (Columbia University Press, 2022).

From the Press: “Moving seamlessly from Lenin to Stalin to Gorbachev to Putin, The Shortest History of the Soviet Union provides an indispensable guide to one of the twentieth century’s great powers and the enduring fascination it still exerts.”

Josef Stern, William H. Colvin Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, has authored “Two Moments in the Biography of Qedushah (aka Holiness),” Harvard Theological Review 1:115 (July 2022): 387-415. In addition, he also contributed a chapter on “Maimonides’ Modalities,” in the Cambridge Critical Guide to Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed, edited by D. Frank and A. Segal (Cambridge University Press, 2021), 184-205. 

A new book by Stephen Stigler, Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Department of Statistics, has just been published by the University of Chicago Press: Casanova’s Lottery. The History of a Revolutionary Game of Chance.

From the Press: “Drawing from an extensive collection of rare ephemera, Stigler pieces together the Loterie’s remarkable inner workings, as well as its implications for the nature of risk and the role of lotteries in social life over the period 1700–1950. ”

The Summer Session Office is now accepting course proposals for Summer Quarter and September Term 2023, and encourages emeriti to consider their potential courses in one of two categories:

• Undergraduate courses (Summer Quarter and September Term offerings for UChicago and visiting undergraduates, drawn from the existing College curriculum; proposed courses should fulfil a major or Core requirement)
• Pre-college courses (especially designed for academically advanced high school students from around the world who are ready to tackle undergraduate-level material; these courses serve as an important pipeline for the College)

For more information, including how to submit a proposal, please visit the College’s Summer Session website. Those interested in teaching may also contact Stephanie Friedman, Director of Academic Programs in the Summer Session Office, to discuss course ideas. The deadline to submit a proposal is October 17, 2022.

The Summer Session Office will seek final approval for all course offerings and candidates from the appropriate home department(s)/academic unit(s). Appointments must also be approved by the Offices of the Dean of the College and the Provost.

The Humanities Division
This year the Humanities Division will host Humanities Day, its annual celebration of the Humanities, on Saturday, October 15 with options to attend in person or virtually. An annual tradition since 1980, the day features a variety of lectures, presentations, guided tours, discussions, and more from faculty around the Division. Kenneth Warren, the Fairfax Cone Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature and the College, will deliver the keynote address “Wealth, Inequality, and the Novel,” at 11am. Profiles of speakers, details for in person and hybrid lectures and events, and registration information are available on the Humanities Day website.

OI Museum
The OI Museum’s latest special exhibition, Making Sense of Marbles: Roman Sculpture at the OI, will run from September 15, 2022 to March 12, 2023. Making Sense of Marbles, co-curated by OI Museum interim chief curator Kiersten Neumann and Roko Rumora, PhD candidate, Department of Art History, University of Chicago, is the first exhibition to include the OI’s entire collection of Roman sculpture. Neumann and Rumora will deliver the opening lecture, “Revisiting Roman Sculpture at the OI: Ptolemais and Beyond,” on Saturday, October 15, at 4pm at Breasted Hall; registration information for talk is available online. The talk will also be livestreamed on the OI’s YouTube channel. 

The Divinity School
Tahera Qutbuddin, Professor of Arabic literature and Islamic studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, will deliver the annual John Nuveen Lecture titled: “Early Islamic Oration: Rhetoric, Religion, and Ritual.” The lecture will take place on Thursday October, 20 at 4:30pm in the Swift Lecture Hall. Since 1972, the Divinity School has invited a prominent member of the University’s faculty to deliver the lecture; more information about this year’s lecture and a list of past lecturers is available on the Divinity School’s website.