Farewell frost!
October 30, 2024
Northwestern University Provost Jonathan Holloway will deliver the opening keynote in this year’s “A Day With Northwestern” on Saturday, April 28, kicking off a full day of lectures, sessions and activities at Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive on the Evanston campus.
The keynotes will be streamed live.
The day will be capped by a lecture by Muhammad Ali’s biographer and University alumnus, Jonathan Eig ’86, who will discuss the life of the boxing legend.
A full description of the sessions and the speakers can be found here.
In his keynote address, Holloway will discuss his study of the modern black identity and what he learned about his own past while writing “Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America Since 1940,” which won the 2014 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.
Before joining Northwestern in July 2017, Holloway served as dean of Yale College and Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American studies, History and American Studies.
Eig will tell how he dug beneath the surface of Ali’s mythology to gain a deep understanding of America’s strange relationship with the man known as “The Greatest.” Eig’s latest book “Ali: A Life” is based on more than 500 interviews which include most of the key figures in Ali’s life. He is currently working as a consulting producer with Ken Burns on a Muhammad Ali documentary for PBS.
Other speakers include Ravi Allada, whose research on fruit flies led to insights about our sleeping patterns. Allada, the associate director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology at Northwestern, will show how the functioning of the 24-hour clock in our brain can impact performance and memory.
Juliet Sorensen, Harry R. Horrow professor in International Law and the founder of the Northwestern Access to Health Project, will talk about whether the courtroom is a viable response to America’s opioids crisis.
Billy Banks, associate director of The Garage, will explain why focusing on the student-not the venture-is the key to success. Kevin Lynch, professor of Mechanical Engineering, will illustrate how the study of robotics inspires research in animal behavior and vice versa.
For more than 45 years, “A Day With Northwestern” has drawn hundreds of alumni, students, parents and friends for presentations and lectures on timely topics from prominent Northwestern faculty and alumni.
