Daniel Dennett spoke at the inaugural Hopkins Natural Philosophy Forum on Feb. 6. The talk, titled “How, when and why can we trust our brains?” explored the philosophy of consciousness.
The Johns Hopkins Entertainers Club (JHU Entertainers) delights audiences with the act of fire-spinning. With approximately 50 members, the group practices on campus twice a week and performs in major events throughout the school year.
The spring semester’s Student Involvement Fair (SIF) was hosted by Leadership Engagement and Experiential Development (LEED) on Feb. 3 in the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation Center. The event provided students with the opportunity to explore and meet hundreds of student groups on campus, ranging from dance teams to volunteer and advocacy groups.
The Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS) announced that the theme of its 2023 spring speaker series will be “Paradigm Shift” on Feb. 4. The lineup features activist Heather Booth, retired U.S. Army General Lieutenant Mark Hertling, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Professor Narges Bajoghli, climate change experts Amali Tower and Patrick Brown, former U.S. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal and CEO of the National Constitution Center Jeffrey A. Rosen.
The Student Government Association (SGA) held its first general body meeting of the spring semester on Jan. 31. At the meeting, Chief of Staff for the Vice Provost of Student Affairs Lee Hawthorne presented the Office of Student Affairs’ new strategic plan. Representatives provided executive, class and committee reports along with information on supporting the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in the U.S. Supreme Court, the liaison programming bill and Meat the Future Movie Night funding bill.
The Hopkins Symphony Orchestra hosted “Canons Away! — A Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon,” an event designed to bring experienced and first-time Wikipedia editors together to expand the canon of historically underrepresented composers and performers. The event was held at the Arthur Friedheim Library at the Peabody Institute on Jan. 28.
QuestBridge announced its partnership with the University in a press release on Jan. 19. QuestBridge is a national nonprofit that connects high-achieving, low-income students with leading colleges and opportunities. In Fall 2023, the University will participate in the QuestBridge National College Match, a program that connects low-income students with admission and full four-year scholarships to QuestBridge college partners.
Graduate students across three Hopkins campuses voted in a union representation election, facilitated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), on Jan. 30 and 31. The election was organized by Teachers and Researchers United (TRU), which is affiliated with United Electrical Radio, and Machine Workers (UE).
Kimberly Kay Hoang discussed her book, Spiderweb Capitalism: How Global Elites Exploit Frontier Markets, in an event held by the Department of Sociology on Jan. 25.
Vid Smooke is a professor of Music Theory at the Peabody Institute. In an interview with The News-Letter, they describe their experience in academia, their educational philosophy and the arts scene in Baltimore.
The University is mourning the death of Sharleen Argamaso-Hernan, assistant director of academic support, who passed away on Dec. 25, 2022. Argamaso-Hernan was assistant director for the Study Consulting Program and oversaw the first-year course Introduction to Hopkins: Arrive & Thrive.
The University is mourning the death of Saeeda Osei Frimpong, who passed away on Jan. 11. Frimpong was a sophomore majoring in Neuroscience in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. She was a member of the African Students Association, the American Red Cross Corps and the Black Student Union.
The University announced plans to hire 13 new faculty members in three areas of study as part of the Fannie Gaston-Johansson Faculty of Excellence Program (FGJFEP) on Nov. 16. Named after the University’s first Black woman to become a tenured professor at Hopkins, Fannie Gaston-Johansson, the FGJFEP has resulted in the recruitment of 35 tenure-track professors over a six-year period. The program is part of the Faculty Diversity Initiative (FDI), recently revived under the University’s Second Roadmap on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
In an interview with The News-Letter on Dec. 12, University President Ronald J. Daniels discussed the function of higher education in American democracy, the importance of accountability in the University’s decision making and the creation of democratic spaces on campus.
CurveAssure, a student startup creating a spine monitor device to identify the best treatment and pathways for the patient, won the grand prize at the FastForward U (FFU) Fall 2022 Fuel Demo Day. The Fuel Accelerator track is a non-dilutive, extracurricular accelerator that runs each semester to fund Hopkins student startups. This fall, nine student startups were selected through a written application and an interview.
Hopkins alumnus James Anderson and his spouse, Morag Anderson, donated $100 million to the University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Europe. In recognition of the donation, which is the largest private contribution to a university in Italy, the Bologna Center campus will now bear the name “The Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe Bologna Center James and Morag Anderson Campus.”
Andrea Jenkins and Myrl Beam shared their work with The Tretter Transgender Oral History Project (TTOHP) and the ways storytelling can foster trans justice and empowerment on Dec. 6 at Bird in Hand cafe. The Winston Tabb Special Collections Research Center organized the event as part of a project that will create a group to record and spread trans oral histories in Baltimore.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2021 report on household food security in the U.S., 13.5 million households are food insecure. Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future conducted a study in 2018, which reported that one in four Baltimore residents live in areas that lack accessible options for healthy and affordable food.
Steven David is a tenured professor of International Relations at Hopkins. During his 40 years at the University, he has taught classes on nuclear weapons and political violence as well as on peace and war. He is currently writing two books, the first focused on Sino-American competition in developing countries and the second on threats to Israel's existence. In an interview with The News-Letter, David discussed his journey into academia, his current projects and advice for students.
Vice President for Public Safety Branville Bard sent an email to the Hopkins community on Dec. 2 announcing the final draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) and the University for the implementation of the Johns Hopkins Police Department (JHPD).
