Midday Events
Midday Talks and More are scheduled during the academic year. Each semester one student concert is also included. EPIC members, faculty, and invited guests speak on topics that range across the academic spectrum and also address issues of particular importance to the retired academic community. Guests are welcome.
If you would like to give a talk, please let EPIC know.
Spring 2026 Midday Events
Wednesday, February 11, 2026 – 12–2 pm: “What’s New in Dementia?: From Diagnosis to Treatment” (webinar), Dr. James M. Noble, Professor of Neurology (in the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain and the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center) at the Columbia University Medical Center. Event Recording.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 – 11:30 am–1:30 pm: “The Uncertain Future of Higher Education,” Andrew Delbanco, Alexander Hamilton Professor of American Studies. Event Recording.
Encore Program: Uptown Film Center, Ira J. Deutchman. Event Recording.
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 – 12–2 pm: “Anti-Semitism at Columbia in the Nicholas Murray Butler Era: A Conversation with Michael Rosenthal,” Roberta and William Campbell Professor Emeritus in the Teaching of Literature Humanities and author of Nicholas Miraculous (2006). Event Recording.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 – 3–4:30 pm: “How to Invest Your Retirement Nest Egg” (webinar), Professor Emeritus Eli Noam and guests. Event Recording.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 – 12–2 pm: EPIC Conversation – Ronald Bayer, Professor Emeritus of Socio-Medical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, in dialogue with Jerry Oppenheimer, Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management, City University of New York. Event Recording.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 – 12–2 pm: Douglas Chalmers Graduate Scholars Lecture, Daniel Yonas, Ph.D. (Psychology), “Intent, Impact, and How We Understand Everyday Interracial Situations.” Event Recording.
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 – 12–2 pm: Spring Music Concert with students from the Music Performance Program.
Thursday, May 21, 2026 – 11–2 pm: Annual Meeting, Talk by Amy Hungerford, and Spring Reception.
Fall 2025 Midday Events
Thursday, September 18, 2025 – 12–2 pm: EPIC Conversation with Dr. Linda Lewis & Welcome Luncheon. Event Recording.
Tuesday, September 30, 2025 – 12–2 pm: “A Selective History of Political Polling and Election Forecasting,” Professor Andrew Gelman, Departments of Statistics and Political Science. Event Recording.
Tuesday, October 14, 2025 – 12–2 pm: Fall Music Concert with students from the Music Performance Program.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 – 12–2 pm: Retirement Finances Webinar, Tamara Telesko, Director of Wealth Planning Strategies, TIAA. Event Recording.
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 – 12–2 pm: Douglas Chalmers Graduate Student Lecture, Alexandra Birch, Mellon Teaching Fellow at the Harriman Institute and Lecturer in History. Event Recording.
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 – 12–2 pm: Artificial Intelligence, a Practical Introduction for Novices. Event Recording.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 – 11 am–2 pm: Screening of The Double Life of Veronique by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Discussion led by Professor Annette Insdorf begins at 1 pm.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 – 12–2 pm: “Cardiovascular Disease in the Aging Population: Treatment Strategies and Recent Advances,” Dr. Jennifer Haythe, Division of Cardiology. Event Recording.
Saturday, December 6, 2025 – 10 am–2 pm: “A Day of Chamber Music” with EPIC Chamber Music Players
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 – 3–5 pm: Winter Holiday Reception at Faculty House.
Spring 2025 Midday Events
Tuesday, January 28, 2025: How Retirees Should Manage Their Nest Egg. Event Recording.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025: EPIC Conversation with Eric Foner. Event Recording.
Thursday, February 27, 2025: Douglas Chalmers Graduate Scholars Lecture by Anna Hidalgo – “Surfing Desire: Romance, Identity, and Fantasy in a Transnational Context.” Event Recording.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025: Ethel Sheffer, screening of Art and Heart: The World of Isaiah Sheffer
Tuesday, March 25, 2025: Jeanne Stellman, Vietnam: A Never-Ending War for Many Veterans. Event Recording.
Monday, March 31, 2025: Spring Music Concert
Wednesday, April 16, 2025: Vidya J. Dehejia, India, a Story through 100 Objects. Event Recording.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025: Annual Meeting | President Emeritus George Rupp after Columbia | Spring Celebration. Event Recording.
Fall 2024 Midday Events
September 10, 2024: EPIC Conversation with Dirk Salomons. Event Recording.
October 1, 2024: Annual Meeting and New Member Luncheon.
October 8, 2024: “Blood, Politics, and Death: Stories from an Epidemic,” a conversation with Connie Nathanson. Event Recording.
October 22, 2024: Fall Music Concert.
November 8, 2024: Retirement Finances Overview with Tamara Telesko of TIAA. Event Recording.
November 22, 2024: “Faded Glory: Early African-American Filmmaking, 1912–1952,” discussion and film screening with Richard Peña.
December 5, 2024: Dr. Magdalena Sobieszczyk on the COVID-19 Pandemic. Event Recording.
December 17, 2024: Winter Party.
Spring 2024 Midday Events
February 9, 2024: “Preserving Academic Freedom at Columbia,” by Eli Noam. Event Recording.
February 27, 2024: “The End of Family Court,” by Jane Spinak. Event Recording.
March 5, 2024: “The Caravan Era,” a talk by historian Richard Bulliet. Event Recording.
March 19, 2024: “How the Dutch Famine Shaped My Thinking about Life-Course Epidemiology,” by Dr. L. H. Lumey. Event Recording.
April 2, 2024: “A New Age: Update on Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis and Treatment,” by Lawrence Honig. Event Recording.
Fall 2023 Midday Events
September 19, 2023: Annual Meeting and New Member Luncheon
October 10, 2023: Retirement Finances Overview with Tamara Telesko of TIAA. Event Recording.
October 17, 2023: Times Square Remade: The Dynamics of Urban Change, a book talk by Lynne Sagalyn. Event Recording.
October 31, 2023: Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations, a book talk by Simon Schama. Event recording.
November 14, 2023: Autumn Music Concert. Event Recording.
November 28, 2023: Writing with Scissors: American Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance, a book talk by Ellen Gruber Garvey. Event Recording.
December 12, 2023: EPIC Conversation with Ginny Papaioannou & Winter Party. Event Recording.
Spring 2023 Midday Events
February 15, 2023: “The Relationship Between Hearing and the Mind,” Justin S. Golub, MD, MS, otologist/neurotologist, a specialist of the ear and surrounding skull base. Event Recording.
April 18, 2023: “Making It: How Immigration, Diversity, and Tolerance Have Kept New York City on Top of the World Since 1945,” Kenneth T. Jackson, historian. Event Recording.
April 25, 2023: University Archives Tour by Jocelyn Wilk at Butler Hall
May 11, 2023: Reception at Faculty House with Provost Mary Boyce. Event Recording.
Fall 2022 Midday Events
September 28, 2022: “When Columbia University Went to Manhattanville: A Long West Side Story,” Elliott Sclar, Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and the Columbia University Earth Institute. Event Recording.
November 1, 2022: “The Course of Nature: Natural Selection and Its Consequences,” Amy and Robert Pollack. Event Recording.
Spring 2022 Midday Events
February 1, 2022: “Biden’s China Policy,” Andrew J. Nathan, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. Event Recording.
February 15, 2022: “The Role of Prosecutors and State Authorities in Police Oversight,” Daniel Richman, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School. Event Recording.
March 8, 2022: “The Wall and the Bridge,” Glenn Hubbard, Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School. Event Recording.
April 5, 2022: “50 Years Pursuing Oral Health for All: Views of a Clinician, Hill Staffer, Advocate, and Academic,” Burton L. Edelstein, Professor of Dental Medicine and Health Policy at Columbia University. Event Recording.
April 19,2022: “Retirement Finances,” Tamara Telesko, Director, Wealth Planning Strategies, TIAA. Event Recording.
Fall 2021 Midday Events
October 12, 2021: Elizabeth Holtzman, four-term member U.S. House of Representatives (NY 16th CD). Event Recording.
November 9, 2021: “Floods from Above, Floods from Below,” Klaus H. Jacob, geophysicist and rebuilder who has worked at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for over 50 years. Event Recording.
Spring 2021 Midday Events
January 12, 2021: “Retirement Finances: 2021 Updates to the Tax Laws and a Review of the SECURE ACT,” Tamara Telesko, Director of Wealth Planning Strategies, TIAA
February 2, 2021: “The Alchemy of Air Rights: How Tall, Skinny Buildings Began to Appear Out of Thin Air across Manhattan,” Elliott Sclar, Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning. Event Recording.
March 2, 2021: “Sleep and Aging: What We Know and What We Can Change,” Lynn Tepper, Clinical Professor of Behavioral Science, College of Dental Medicine and the School of Public Health, and Director of the Behavioral Science Department at CDM. Event Recording.
March 23, 2021: “COVID-19 – Past, Present, Future,” Steven Shea, Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology; Senior Vice Dean, College of Physicians and Surgeons
April 20, 2021: “The Book Smugglers of the Vilna Ghetto: A Story of Moral Resistance to the Nazis,” David Fishman, Jewish Theological Seminary
Fall 2020 Midday Events
October 6, 2020: Annual Membership Meeting
October 27, 2020: “The Romantics in Our Own Time,” Simon Schama, University Professor of Art History and History
November 10, 2020: “Shakespeare in a Divided America,” James Shapiro, Larry Miller Professor of English and Comparative Literature
December 1, 2020: “A Visual Journey into AI and Its Application in Finance and Beyond,” Ali Hirsa, Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Spring 2020 Midday Events
January 14, 2020: “Biafra at 50: A War Remembered,” James F. Phillips, Professor Emeritus, Population and Family Health, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health. Event Recording.
January 28, 2020: “Cholesterol and Heart Disease: Should the Statin Drugs Be Added to the Drinking Water?,” Henry N. Ginsberg, Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Medicine. Event Recording.
February 11, 2020: “Mother of Exiles: Refugees in American History and Myth,” Mae Ngai, Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History; Co-Director Center for Study of Race and Ethnicity, Department of History. Event Recording.
February 25, 2020: “Taxing Matters: A Review of Estate Planning Matters and How the SECURE ACT May Impact Your Retirement and Estate Plan,” Tamara Telesko, Director of Wealth Planning Strategies, expert on legal and tax issues. Event Recording.
May 12, 2020: “Columbia and the Development of Morningside Heights,” Andrew Dolkart, Professor of Historic Preservation Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Fall 2019 Midday Events
October 22, 2019: “Presidential Authority and Our Constitution,” Peter Strauss, Betts Professor Emeritus of Law; Special Lecturer in Law. Event Recording.
November 12, 2019: “Rewriting the Code of Life with CRISPR Technology,” Samuel H. Sternberg, Assistant Professor at Columbia University in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. Event Recording.
December 10, 2019: “Coming-of-Age: My Journey to the Eighties,” The Honorable Madeleine Kunin in conversation with Dean Emeritus Frank Wolf, followed by Book Signing and Winter Reception. Event Recording.
Spring 2019 Midday Events
January 29, 2019: “Bitcoin, Blockchains, and the Nature of Money,” David Beim, Professor Emeritus in Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School
February 12, 2019: “Emerging End of Life Ethical Issues in Clinical Practice,” Kenneth Prager, Professor of Medicine, Director, Medical Ethics, Chair, Medical Ethics Committee, CUIMC
February 26, 2019: “When the Emperor of Japan Becomes Emeritus,” Barbara Ruch, Professor Emerita, Japanese Literature and Cultural History (GSAS), Ongoing Director, IMJS: Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives, Columbia University. Event Recording.
March 26, 2019: “The Great Indian Epic that You’ve Never Heard Of,” Fran Pritchett, Professor Emerita of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Special Lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
April 9, 2019: “Legal and Financial Risks and Choices for Aging Professionals,” Jermaine Guthrie, certified financial planner at TIAA and Tamara Telesko, Director of Wealth Planning Strategies, expert on legal and tax issues
April 23, 2019: “United Nations, Multilateralism and the Challenges of International Peace and Security and Development,” Ambassador Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR. Event Recording.
Fall 2018 Midday Events
October 9, 2018: “Uprooting, Exile, Anchoring in My New York Poems,” Anna Frajlich, Senior Lecturer Emerita, Department of Slavic Languages
October 23, 2018: “Building a Healthcare System on Idjwi Island in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” David Evans, Professor Emeritus and Special Lecturer of Sociomedical Sciences
November 13, 2018: “Developing Prophylactics against Stress-induced Depression,” Christine Ann Denny, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
November 27, 2018: Screening of “Cooler Bandits,” followed by Q&A with Richard Roderick, Program Coordinator, Justice-in-Education
December 18, 2018: “Marian Anderson’s Performance of African American Spirituals,” Ellie M. Hisama, Professor of Music and Winter Reception