Lectures will focus on responsible conduct of research

Linda Wilcox, the ombudsperson for the Harvard Medical and Dental Schools and the Harvard School of Public Health, will present the first in a three-part lecture series titled "Guidelines for the Responsible Conduct of Research." Her talk, "Managing Authorship Issues," will take place noon-1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in the amphitheater of the Jane Ellen Hope Building, 315 Cedar St. It is free and open to members of the Yale community.

As the ombudsperson at Harvard, Wilcox informally assists parties to conflict by helping people organize their thoughts, acquire relevant information and create options from which to choose. When appropriate, she also mediates disputes between parties. Wilcox earned a master's degree in administration, planning and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and she completed the Harvard Law School's certificate program on negotiation.

The remaining seminars on the responsible conduct of research will be presented by Dr. Lawrence S. Cohen, special advisor to the dean of the Yale School of Medicine and the Ebenezer K. Hunt Professor of Medicine. He has offered the seminars for the past three years with the goal of reiterating basic principles by which innovative research can be maintained in a responsible manner. Details on the other talks in the series will appear in future issues of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar. In addition to Cohen, other sponsors of the series are the offices of Academic Development and Scientific Affairs at the medical school.

'Digital War on Poverty' is topic of PONPO seminar

Craig Smith, an analyst and management consultant who works with international corporations, will discuss "The Digital War on Poverty" on Tuesday, Nov. 17, as the next speaker in a biweekly seminar series sponsored by the Program on Non-Profit Organizations (PONPO). His talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place noon-1:30 p.m. at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, 88 Trumbull St. To reserve a free sandwich lunch, call 432-6297 no later than the Friday preceding the seminar.

In his talk, Smith will explore the ways in which emerging alliances between business, government and nonprofit organizations to employ the Internet and other kinds of networked communications are giving rise to innovative paradigms of social change in the Information Age.

Smith is senior fellow of The Conference Board and director of its Digital Partnership Program. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the program helps computer, telecommunications and media companies create partnerships with governments and nonprofit organizations. A leading commentator on corporate citizenship, Smith was founder of the newsletter "Corporate Philanthropy Report." His articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Historian of Africa to be next speaker in lecture series

David Newbury, an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will present a lecture titled "Contradictions at the Heart of the Canon: The Debate over Jan Vansina's Role in Defining 'Oral Tradition'" on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m. in Rm. 203 of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. His talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of a lecture series on "Loose Canons and the Culture Wars in Africa," sponsored by the Council on African Studies.

Newbury's research interests have focused on a variety of topics dealing with the histories and cultures of east and central Africa, from precolonial times to the present. His books include "Kings and Clans: A Social History of the Lake Kivu Rift Valley," "African Historiographies: What History for Which Africa?" and "Paths to the Past: Essays in Honor of Jan Vansina." In addition, he has published numerous articles on the current crises in central Africa. He teaches courses dealing with such themes as the apartheid years in South Africa, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, ecology and history in Africa, imperialism and the Third World, African resistance movements and nationalism, and Christianity in Africa.

Art gallery talk will feature artist/cultural historian

Artist and cultural historian Fred Wilson will give a lecture titled "The Silent Message of the Museum" on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m. in the lecture hall of the Yale University Art Gallery (enter on High St.). The event, which is free and open to the public, is offered in conjunction with the gallery's current exhibition "The Unmapped Body: Three Black British Artists," on view through Jan. 3, 1999.

Wilson's installation pieces have been shown nationally and internationally in major group and solo exhibitions. He is also well-known for his exploration of the way museums present and interpret culture and history. "I found they ignored the history and culture of under-represented groups," he has said, "not only for the sake of expediency, but also due to fear, obstinacy and ignorance tutored by unconscious racial bias." From this work came the exhibition "Mining the Museum" at the Maryland Historical Society, for which Wilson received the Best Exhibition of 1992 award from the American Association of Museums. Wilson lives and works in New York City and has studied art, dance and cultural history at the University of Ghana and the University of Ife, Nigeria.

Environmental values during times of war is focus of forum

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Arthur H. Westing, professor at the European Peace University and consultant in environmental security, will present two talks on campus exploring the subject "Environmental Values in Peace and War." His first lecture, which is open to members of the Yale community, will be at noon at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS), 77 Prospect St. Later, at 7:30 p.m., he will discuss the same topic as part of a free public forum at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, 80 Wall St. A reception will follow the evening lecture. Both events are part of the fourth annual Forum on Bioethical Issues in Society presented by ISPS and Yale Hillel.

Westing trained as a forest ecologist at Yale, earning a M.F. in 1954 and a Ph.D. in 1959. He has been a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service and has taught forest ecology and conservation at various colleges and universities. For eight years, Westing directed the United Nations (U.N.) Environment Programme on Peace, Security and the Environment. He was named a "Peace Messenger" by the U.N. Secretary-General and is one of 500 individuals worldwide to have been appointed to the U.N. Environment Programme Global 500 Roll of Honour. He is currently a consultant to the U.N., the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Bank, as well as other multinational organizations and governments worldwide.

Noted surgeon to speak about country blues piano

Yale School of Medicine alumnus Dr. M. David Tilson, a vascular surgeon who is also noted for his expertise on country blues, will present a lecture titled "Call for the Doctor: A History of Country Blues Piano" on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. in the Beaumont Room at the School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St. His talk, part of a series sponsored by the Program for Humanities in Medicine, is free and open to the public.

Tilson, a 1967 graduate of the Yale School of Medicine, taught at the University 1971-89 and was chief of the division of vascular surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital 1983-89. He left the University to become the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, where he is also affiliated with St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center. In addition to achieving national prominence as a surgeon, Tilson has developed a reputation for his scholarship on piano blues music. In his talk, he will address how physicians and illness are treated in the folk blues tradition, as well as explore the origins of early piano and guitar blues and recent trends in the preservation and conservation of piano blues music, among other topics.