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 Pathways to Knowledge: A Lecture Series for Undergraduates
Spring 2001
March 6, 2001
Gifford Auditorium
Quiet Detectors for Listening to the Cosmos
Andri M. Gretarsson
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Physics
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The universe contains a lot of sound that no one has heard. These sounds are emitted in the form of gravitational waves from catastrophic events in the universe like colliding black holes or exploding stars (supernovas). Yet, once they reach Earth, these gravitational waves are so weak that to be able to detect them we need a detector that is extremely sensitive and very quiet. For the first time, America and a number of other countries are building gravitational wave detectors expected to be quiet enough to discern the sounds emitted by the cosmos. The invention of the telescope brought sight to astronomers, and these gravitational wave detectors will allow us to listen to the universe as well. But first we need to make the detectors as quiet as possible, which means getting rid of all sources of noise.
I'll discuss gravitational waves and the gravitational wave detection project in general and then talk about some of the sources of noise present in such a sensitive instrument.
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March 27, 2001
Grant Auditorium
Hawking Your Wares:
Determining the extent of market exchange in eighteenth century Jamaica through the analysis of low-fired earthenware
Mark W. Hauser
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Anthropology
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The goal of this research was to determine the extent of local pottery's flow though the street markets of eighteenth century Jamaica. I wanted to understand the scale of the informal economic sector in which enslaved and free African Jamaicans operated and show how these systems compared and intersected with other economies in operation.
This research was accomplished by examining the distribution of locally produced coarse earthenwares and creating a system of analysis that would be sensitive to variation in the pottery over space and time. What I have found, so far, is that while there were many sites of pottery manufacture in Jamaica, pottery was traded across the island, indicating an island-wide scale of economy of the planters.
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April 10, 2001
Grant Auditorium
Implementing an Innovation Strategy: The effects of strategic leadership structure and compensation
Kathleen Keir Wheatley
Ph.D. Candidate
School of Management
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This research investigates the implication of strategic leadership structure and compensation on the innovation strategy-firm performance relationship. The top management team (TMT) and board of directors (BOD) share the leadership responsibilities of an organization. Thus, both teams are important decision-makers. Innovation strategy is becoming a more common vehicle through which firms gain competitive advantage. Innovation strategies, along with leadership issues, have been examined independently in strategy research. In doing so, research has focused only on the direct relationship between innovation and performance or leadership and performance.
The present research study attempts to bridge the gap between these two viewpoints and to integrate these research areas by exploring the role of strategic leadership in implementing an innovation strategy.
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