AYA Lectures and Tours

Tamar Gendler '87, Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy; Professor of Psychology; Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Join us for a guided tour of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library. Dedicated in 1941, the Library’s unique ‘Y’ shape juxtaposes the historical and modern wings of the library.  The tour includes stops at the beautiful Medical Historical Library as well as the Cushing Center, named for 1891 Yale College graduate Harvey Cushing, M.D., considered the father of modern neurosurgery. The Cushing Center houses nearly 400 jars of patients' brains and tumors, selections from Cushing’s rare book collection, dramatic black and white photographs of his patients, and more.  The tour also includes an in-depth look at the current exhibit, “New Lives for Old Specimens,” which features current medical research using historical specimens from Yale’s collections.  From tumors in the Cushing brain tumor registry and fetal skulls within the Kier/Conlogue collection to 1970s dissection videos featuring the late Yale Professor of Anatomy Edmund Crelin Jr., old specimens are finding new ways into current research and medical education. The tour will meet at the security desk at the entrance of 333 Cedar Street. 

A self-guided tour at the Mead Visitor Center for families with children ages 6-11, with clues to fascinating architectural and sculptural details on campus. Also available on Saturday & Sunday, 11 am - 4 pm.

Mark Saltzman, Goizueta Foundation Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering; Head of Jonathan Edwards College

The practice of medicine has changed dramatically in our lifetimes, and even greater changes are anticipated in the next 20 years. Drug delivery is one area of substantial progress, and engineering principles have played an essential role in this progress. Drugs have long been used to improve health and extend lives, but a number of new modes of drug delivery, which were made possible primarily through the work of engineers, have entered clinical practice recently. In addition, engineers have contributed substantially to our understanding of the physiological barriers to efficient drug delivery such as transport in the microcirculation and drug movement through cells and tissues. Still, with all of this progress, many drugs – even drugs discovered using the most advanced molecular biology strategies – have unacceptable side effects. Side effects limit our ability to design drug treatments for cancer, neurodegenerative, and infectious diseases. This lecture will discuss an alternate strategy for drug delivery, which is based on physical targeting, or placement of the delivery system at the target site. The effectiveness of this approach will be illustrated with examples of new treatments for cancer, cardiovascular, and infectious disease.

This is a fun self-guided family activity for learning about how artists use lines, shapes, and colors to create works of art. Included in the kit are felt, yarn, and instructions for four activities that families can do together while exploring the Gallery. Also available Saturday and Sunday, 11 am - 5 pm.

Families may pick up a "BAC Pack" at the Information Desk in the Entrance Court. Inside will be everything young visitors need to help them explore both the architecture and select objects in the Center. Available Friday and Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm and Sunday, 12 - 5 pm.

Learn all about student religious life at Yale ninety years after the founding of the Chaplaincy in 1927 and visit sites on and around Old Campus where many religious groups hold worship and meditation services. Included will be Battell Chapel, Dwight Chapel, Breathing Space, the Hindu students’ prayer room, the Muslim students’ musalla, and ending with the Buddhist shrine in the chapel at the base of Harkness Tower.  Representatives of the Yale Chaplain’s Office will lead.  There will be plenty of walking, some stairs, and removal of shoes will be necessary to enter some of the spaces. Meet at Battell Chapel.

Akhil Reed Amar '80, '84 Law, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science

In this lecture, based on his two most recent books, America's Constitution: A Biography and America's Unwritten Constitution, Professor Amar will offer his audience an overview of the grand project of American constitutionalism, past, present, and future, with particular emphasis on America's place in the world.

The Beinecke Library is Yale University’s principal repository for literary archives, early manuscripts, and rare books. A center for research by students, faculty, and scholars from around the world, it is one of the largest buildings in the world devoted entirely to rare books and manuscripts. It has just reopened after a fifteen-month renovation. Please come for a tour and hear about the myths and legends of a great research library and visit its exhibition spaces, which are always free and open to the public and currently feature a special exhibition, “Happiness: The Writer in the Garden." Oh, and the Gutenberg Bible and Audubon’s, Birds of America are always on display. Meet immediately outside the library’s revolving door entrance; limited to the first 50 participants. If you can’t make the tour, the Library’s hours will be: Friday 9 am - 5 pm; Saturday 12 pm - 5 pm; Sunday 12 pm - 4 pm.  

Edward P. Evans Hall is Yale’s newest landmark, with its soaring glass facade and blue classroom pods. The campus’s striking appearance is a reflection of its ambitious purpose: to enhance the effectiveness of Yale SOM’s programs and extend the reach and influence of the school’s mission. The building was designed around the distinctive, integrated Yale SOM approach to business education, from its first impression of transparency and unity down to such details as the placement of classroom desks to facilitate open discussion. The campus enables faculty, students, and other members of our community to bring the SOM mission to life. 

Note: Tour is limited to 50 participants. Bus transportation provided in front of Sheffield-Sterling Strathcona Hall, 1 Prospect St., across from Woolsey Hall.

Melissa DelVecchio '98 M.Arch, Partner, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP

Yale's system of residential colleges, established in the late 1930s and today the cornerstone of its undergraduate experience, was given physical form by architect James Gamble Rogers (B.A 1889), who designed eight of the first ten to be built. Four are red-brick Georgian; the other six, as well as very many other Yale buildings of the period including the Sterling Memorial Library and the Law School, are Gothic buildings of stone and brick, as such contributing to the dominant visual language of the University. Two additional colleges, Stiles and Morse, built in the 1960s to the design of Eero Saarinen (B.Arch. '34), acknowledge Rogers's Gothic but in a Modernist style. Robert A.M. Stern Architects’ Partner Melissa DelVecchio (M.Arch. '98) will discuss how the firm approached the design of Franklin and Murray Colleges, the first two new residential colleges to be built in over fifty years. Designed as fraternal twins, similar in size and palette but each enjoying its own identity and organization, the new colleges will carry forward the legacy of Gothic Yale. Since 2008 the firm has been working with the University to realize this important project.  As we approach the opening this coming fall, Melissa will present the design process and also give a virtual tour of the construction site as the building nears completion.

Ayaska Fernando, Associate Director of  Undergraduate Admissions and Director of STEM Recruitment, will discuss the admissions and financial aid process at selective colleges and universities. Students and parents are welcome. Bring your questions!

Organ students at Yale have a rich variety of genuine pipe organs on campus to discover and play. This year the "crown jewel" in Woolsey Hall, the Newberry Organ, is not available, as its 88 year-old console is out for its first truly comprehensive restoration, the final phase (nearly) of a multi-year master plan for the restoration of this world-renowned instrument. The Ellen Battell Stoeckel Organ in Battell Chapel, built in 1951, is an organ of interest in its own right, and will be featured in this talk by Thomas Murray, University Organist, and Yale Organ Curators Nicholas Thompson-Allen and Joseph Dzeda.

Stephen C. Stearns '67, Edward P. Bass Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Evolutionary biology has explained why we must age and die. Our recent cultural history – the Industrial Revolution and the accompanying Epidemiological Transition – have changed the way we do it. Understanding why that is the case should help to extend our healthspan, if not our lifespan.

Daniel Egan, Lecturer in the Department of Music and Theater Studies; Coordinator, Shen Curriculum in Musical Theater

Why do we love musical theater songs so much?  What is it about their construction, melodies and lyrics that move us?  In this interactive session, Professor Egan will explore great songs of the American theater as contexted statements of the American ethos, but also as great examples of taut construction and expressive wonder.  From Showboat to Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, all the way to Hamilton, the American Musical Theater mirrors a changing America, while expressing our collective dreams and desires.

Marsh Botanic Gardens is eight acres of plantings on Science Hill with six greenhouses for teaching and research.  Enjoy a stroll with Manager Eric Larson and staff through the naturalistically designed beds, full of rare plants and plants of historical interest, and explore the glass houses with their special collections of desert plants, carnivorous plants, and edible tropical plants like chocolate, coffee and cinnamon.

Please note: This tour is limited to 25 people and will last approximately one hour and forty-five minutes. Bus transportation provided in front of Sheffield-Sterling Strathcona Hall, 1 Prospect St., across from Woolsey Hall.

Judith Schiff, Chief Research Archivist

A fascinating talk featuring the highlights of public art ornamenting the Yale campus, including works by Beatrix Farand, Lee Lawrie, Roy Lichtenstein, Maya Lin, Isamu Noguchi, Claes Oldenberg and Louis C. Tiffany.

Paul Sabin '92, Professor of History and American Studies

Why has protecting the environment become such a partisan political flashpoint? In this lecture, Professor Sabin will discuss the bipartisan origins of environmental law in the 1960s and 1970s, and the subsequent stalemate that has emerged over regulation. He will examine the difficulties of advancing beyond clean air and water to safeguarding the climate and seeking environmental justice. What lessons can we learn from this history to meet the serious environmental challenges of today, and the future?

Marc Brackett, Director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence; Professor in the Child Study Center

Emotions matter. What we do with our emotions is especially important. When perceived accurately and regulated effectively, emotions help us to focus on important tasks, make effective decisions, enjoy healthy relationships, and manage life’s ups and downs. In this presentation, Professor Brackett will describe the theory of emotional intelligence developed at Yale under President Salovey’s direction and share his decades of research on the relationship between emotional intelligence and important life outcomes. He also will discuss “RULER,” the Center’s evidence-based approach to teaching emotional intelligence in school systems, which has been shown to increase academic performance, decrease bullying, and enhance school climates. Finally, he’ll discuss how creating emotionally intelligent communities can help us to build a more happy, healthy, productive, and compassionate society.

In honor of the 90^th Anniversary of Chaplaincy at Yale we are collecting and archiving oral stories from alumni, past chaplains, current students, faculty and staff. This is your opportunity to be a permanent part of the history of the chaplaincy. We are hosting a listening sessions on Saturday from 9 am to 11 am. You must sign up in advance for a 5-minute time slot. Come ready to share a memory or a brief story that speaks to the impact the chaplaincy had in your life. Please contact University Chaplain Sharon M.K. Kugler (sharon.kugler@yale.edu) to make arrangements by May 15, 2017. There are limited timeslots available, therefore early sign ups are recommended.

The highly anticipated opening of the new colleges next fall is just around the corner. Be sure to be among the first alumni to have a look at three of the brand new courtyards at Benjamin Franklin College. Enter through the first gate on Prospect St., north of Trumbull St.; note that there will be no facilities available.

Richard Burger '72, Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of Anthropology

For over a decade the Peruvian government and Yale University were engaged in a dispute over the collections from Machu Picchu excavated by Hiram Bingham III during the 1912 Yale-Peruvian Expedition. The conflict reached the federal courts in Hartford and the public squares in Lima and Cuzco. This talk will trace the origins and development of the dispute and reveal how it was resolved. The unprecedented solution suggests a new approach to resolving cultural patrimony disputes. The talk will conclude with an epilogue describing the implementation of the agreement since the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding. 

For years the Wright Laboratory housed a landmark nuclear accelerator. Now that the accelerator is gone, Wright has been transformed into a state-of-the-art facility to study neutrinos, dark matter, and the evolution of the Universe . Come for a tour, led by Karsten Heeger, Professor of Physics, and enjoy a short but fascinating film about the removal of Yale’s “atom smasher” and the research at the new Yale Wright Laboratory.

Note: Walk through Lot 22 behind the Peabody Museum; look for the big blue sculpture in front of the lab on your right. Bus transportation provided in front of Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall, 1 Prospect St., across from Woolsey Hall. Bus transportation provided in front of Sheffield-Sterling Strathcona Hall, 1 Prospect St., across from Woolsey Hall.

Families may pick up a "BAC Pack" at the Information Desk in the Entrance Court. Inside will be everything young visitors need to help them explore both the architecture and select objects in the Center. Available Friday and Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm and Sunday, 12 - 5 pm.

The Peabody Museum invites you to a morning of activities for families with school-aged children. Activities include a scavenger hunt in the Great Hall of Dinosaurs (with prizes!), and an opportunity to see the Museum’s current exhibits, including the new and dramatic display of minerals in David Friend Hall.

Note: Bus transportation provided in front of Sheffield-Sterling Strathcona Hall, 1 Prospect St., across from Woolsey Hall.

Join Tom Beckett, Director of Athletics, for a discussion of varsity athletics at Yale in general and specifically the varsity basketball programs. Hear about Yale's recent exploits on the playing fields, on the courts, and at the rink, and about plans for upcoming seasons.

As construction on Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin Colleges continues apace, the two new Heads of College have been working since last September to build communities within those brand new walls. Tina Lu, Head of  Pauli Murray College, will tell us what progress has been made on the college insignia; how the transfer of students from other colleges has been organized; and what those students are already doing to build college spirit.

In this creative, hands-on program, Professor Honan will educate young participants on the marvels of the human body.  Children will be able to touch lung tissue and see the consequences of smoking and air pollution, hold a human skull and learn why bicycle helmets are so important, and handle bones and examine x-rays. Appropriate for all ages, but children must be accompanied by an adult.

Jonathan Holloway '95 PhD, Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American Studies, History, and American Studies; Dean of Yale College

Dean Holloway will offer his perspective on his time at Yale.

Brad Warren​, Director of Access Services for Sterling Memorial Library and Bass Library

Mr. Warren will present an overview (with before-and-after slides) of the Sterling Memorial Library nave, restored in 2013-2014 thanks to a generous gift in honor of President Emeritus Richard C. Levin and Jane Levin from Richard Gilder '54 and Lois Chiles. Highlights of the nave's transformation include cleaned and repaired stained glass windows, new lighting showcasing the restored paint work on the ceilings, attention to upper-level architectural details, the emergence of patterning on the cleaned sandstone and limestone walls, and a fully repaired Alma Mater mural. The restoration also involved repurposing several spaces in the nave, adding new resources for students, and creating a better layout for users. Immediately following the presentation, Mr. Warren will lead a brief walk-through to point out additional details. Meet in the International Room located to the left just inside the Library's main entrance (120 High Street).  

Brian DiNatale of Yale Athletics will be on hand to show you some of Yale's most impressive renovation projects, including the Lanman Center, the Brady Squash Center, and the Adrian C. "Ace" Israel Fitness Center.

Amy Meyers, '85 PhD, Director, Yale Center for British Art

The Yale Center for British Art has recently completed a major project to conserve its iconic building designed by Louis I. Kahn. Within the Center’s refurbished spaces, the Center’s renowned collections have been reinstalled and reimagined to present the complex story of the development of British art from the time of the Protestant Reformation to the present seen within a wider global context. Amy Meyers will present an overview of the project, leaving time to explore the galleries during non-public hours.

Evan Yionoulis '82, Professor Adjunct of Acting and Directing; Resident Director, Yale Repertory Theater

With the help of Drama School actors, Professor Yionoulis will rehearse a scene from a short play and demonstrate how various techniques employed by theater directors can help improve real-life communication and collaboration at home, at work, or in any group setting.

Daphne Brooks, Professor of African American Studies and Theater Studies

This lecture traces the evolution of the long freedom struggle in African American culture as it's manifested itself in sound. The lecture will explore both literary representations of musical resistance in works by Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and others, as well as the various modes of protest discourse in the works of blues, jazz, rock, soul, hip hop and global pop musicians.

Alan Kazdin, Sterling Professor of Psychology & Professor of Child Psychiatry

Severe aggressive and antisocial behavior (frequent fighting, stealing, destroying property, fire setting) in children is one of the most expensive mental health problems in the United States.  The presentation will highlight the nature of the problem and what we know about risk factors, causes, and life-long outcomes.  The immediate clinical challenges are to reduce these behaviors and markedly improve child functioning at home, at school, and in the community.  At Yale, we have developed effective treatments for these children.  Yet, many contextual features, both in family life and society at large, contribute to the very problems we are trying to change.

David A.D. Evans '92, Professor of Geology & Geophysics; Head of Berkeley College

"Terra firma" is far from rigid. Two hundred million years ago, before the Atlantic Ocean was born, dinosaurs could stroll between Connecticut and Morocco, near the center of the Pangea supercontinent. But Pangea is merely the latest of a succession of supercontinents, perhaps three or four in number, which aggregated and dispersed in patterns that we are only now beginning to decipher. This talk will introduce my laboratory’s methods of measuring magnetism in rocks to map ancient geographies across billions of years. The journey will continue toward speculations on the eventual amalgamation of Amasia, the future supercontinent that is anticipated to rejoin the Americas with Eurasia. These landmasses are of more than academic interest; our planet’s mineral and energy resources, on which industrial society is primarily based, derive from geological deposits that are intricately linked to the supercontinental cycle.

Paul Freedman, Chester D. Tripp Professor of History

Paul Freedman, a historian of the Middle Ages, also teaches the history of food. He will discuss his recent book, Ten Restaurants That Changed America, a look at American tastes, from elegant French restaurants to farm-to-table via international (Chinese and Italian), African-American and such influential icons as Howard Johnson's.

Anyone who loves singing (spouses and guests warmly invited) is invited to a choral workshop in the beautifully renovated Rossi Glee Club Room. You needn't have been a Yale Glee Club member to enjoy this rehearsal, led by Glee Club Director, Jeffrey Douma. Repertoire prepared during the workshop will be performed (by you!) at the "Celebration of Yale Singing" at Woolsey Hall on Saturday afternoon. Enter through the new entrance to the Adams Center at the rear of the building.

This is a fun self-guided family activity for learning about how artists use lines, shapes, and colors to create works of art. Included in the kit are felt, yarn, and instructions for four activities that families can do together while exploring the Gallery. Also available Sunday, 11 am - 5 pm.

A self-guided tour at the Mead Visitor Center for families with children ages 6-11, with clues to fascinating architectural and sculptural details on campus. Also available on Friday, 9 am - 4:30 pm, and Sunday, 11 am - 4 pm.

This is a fun self-guided family activity for learning about how artists use lines, shapes, and colors to create works of art. Included in the kit are felt, yarn, and instructions for four activities that families can do together while exploring the Gallery. Also available Sunday, 11 am - 5 pm.

A self-guided tour at the Mead Visitor Center for families with children ages 6-11, with clues to fascinating architectural and sculptural details on campus. Also available on Friday, 9 am - 4:30 pm, and Saturday, 11 am - 4 pm.

Families may pick up a "BAC Pack" at the Information Desk in the Entrance Court. Inside will be everything young visitors need to help them explore both the architecture and select objects in the Center. Available Friday and Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm and Sunday, 12 - 5 pm.