University Times

A human cyborg, a mystery novelist and a singing law professor joined epidemiology professor Ronald LaPorte in a recent seminar aimed at helping Pitt faculty members break out and mingle with others outside their own fields.

The Sept. 7 “Pitt Professor Day” was modeled after the popular TED (technology, entertainment, design) talks (www.ted.com) designed to share “ideas worth spreading” from a broad range of disciplines.

LaPorte developed the idea as a way to encourage faculty to escape their professional silos and share ideas across disciplines. (See March 4, 2010, University Times letter to the editor.)

Approximately 70 people — including deans, faculty members and retired faculty  — attended the presentations, with most staying to mingle over drinks and chicken wings at the reception that followed, LaPorte said, crediting staffers Mary Kastner, Apryl Eshelman and Meredith Hennon and Department of Medicine faculty member Faina Linkov with organizing the event.

In TED style, the seminar featured a series of 15-minute talks:

• LaPorte discussed the globalization of education, describing the Supercourse lecture library network and how the online tool is being used to share health information worldwide.

• University of Reading (England) cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick, who bills himself as a human cyborg, discussed his work. His research has included the surgical implantation of a microelectrode array into the nerves of his arm to link his nervous system to a computer.

• Pitt  law  faculty  member Harry Flechtner, the self-described pioneer of the “2 minute 45 second, three-chord song that requires 17 academic footnotes” shared his songwriting talent and legal expertise by performing “The Ballad of International Commercial Law” (“The CISG Song”) and “The Acquisition Blues” on acoustic guitar.

• Author and Pitt theatre arts faculty member Kathleen George shared her experiences and tips on researching and writing crime and mystery stories in her presentation, “So you want to write a mystery novel?”

The presentations can be viewed at http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu by clicking on the Graduate School of Public Health folder to select a talk. In addition to the four presentations, the site includes video of GSPH Dean Donald S. Burke’s introduction to the event.

The Pitt event marked the first time the TED talk model was used at a university, LaPorte said, adding that he believes it has potential to enable people in the community and worldwide to see what is being done at Pitt. “It’s potentially a great starting point for bringing information about the University through its top teaching professors,” LaPorte said.

A date for another session has not been set.

—Kimberly K. Barlow