Events

CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
New York City

PHOTOS:  Click here for photos from CAm Day.

VIDEOS:  Click here for videos from CAm Day.

On Saturday, March 20, 2010, 130 Cambridge alumni and friends gathered at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City for the return of Cambridge in America Day, a thought-provoking forum featuring notable Cambridge academics and alumni from both sides of the Atlantic.  Guests were welcomed by Marc Feigen (St John's), Executive Vice-Chairman of the Cambridge in America Board of Trustees.

Professor Charles Melville (Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge; Fellow of Pembroke College) spoke about his work on the Shahnama digitization project, an international on-line register of manuscripts of the Shahnama (the Persian national epic, written a thousand years ago by Ferdowsi) and a display of the miniature paintings in each collection, now accessible with a few clicks of a mouse. To read more about the project, click here.

After a brief coffee break, Professor Andy Parker (Professor of High Energy Physics, University of Cambridge; Professorial Fellow of Peterhouse) talked about new physics and his work on the Large Hadron Collider. He spoke about searches for new particles and exotic physics like extra space dimensions and black holes. Using simple bunson burner tubing and a strong volunteer from the audience, Parker provided a visual demonstration of the movement on energy.

After both professors spoke, Catharine R. Stimpson (Dean of NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Science & Newnham alumna) led an engaging panel discussion ranging from new methods of inquiry into ancient and deep questions to academic integrity and life at Cambridge today.

Attendees then gathered for a drinks reception and enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni and friends.

Professor Charles Melville Persian Miniature Painting, Epic Poetry and the Internet Professor Charles Melville read Arabic & Persian at Pembroke College, Cambridge (1969-72). He later worked as a research assistant on a project investigating historical earthquakes in Iran (1974-82) which became the subject of his PhD dissertation (Cambridge, 1978). He was appointed lecturer in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge in 1984 and a Fellow of Pembroke College the following year.

Professor Andy Parker To Infinity and Beyond: the Search for New Physics at the Large Hadron Collider Professor Andy Parker is the leader of the Cambridge High Energy Physics Group at the Cavendish Laboratory. He came to Cambridge in 1989 after a time at CERN in Geneva. He holds a PhD from the University of London, and an MA from Oxford. He is a Professor of High Energy Physics and a Professorial Fellow at Peterhouse.

Professor Catharine R. Stimpson

Moderator

Professor Stimpson became Dean of New York University's Graduate School of Arts and Science in January 1998 after directing the MacArthur Foundation Fellows program for four years. She has authored a novel, books on feminism and the work of Gertrude Stein, and over 150 monographs, essays, stories and reviews in publications like The Nation and The New York Times Book Review. Stimpson has won Fulbright and Rockefeller Humanities Fellowships and was educated at Bryn Mawr College; Newnham College, Cambridge; and Columbia University.