The Faculty Convivium is a luncheon lecture series featuring SUNY Oneonta faculty who present their research and creative activity projects, accessible to the non-specialist, in a collegial atmosphere.
Seating is limited. To reserve a seat please call 607-436-2517 at least several days before a scheduled Convivium talk. Vegetarian meals are available.
Questions? Comments? Email a member of the Faculty Convivium committee.
Fall 2024 Lecture Series
Presented in Otsego Grille, Morris Conference Center, at noon
(unless otherwise noted)
What Does Our Biosafety System Really Protect?:
Evaluating Compliance with Professional Self-Regulation Requirements in Research Involving Recombinant DNA and Synthetic Biology
Wednesday, November 6, 12 - 1 p.m., at the Morris Grille
Daniel Patrone
Adjunct Faculty Philosophy
Research involving recombinant DNA and synthetic biology has tremendous social value. But this research also carries risks to workers, the public health, and the environment. In the United States, the biosafety system meant to identity and minimize such risks, and to ensure the responsible conduct of this type of research, was developed with the deliberate policy goal of promoting researcher autonomy and professional self-regulation. But how effective is a regulatory system that relies on researcher and their funding institutions to ensure that their own work is safe and socially responsible?
Drawing on a year and a half long study in which I pursued and reviewed tens of thousands of pages of internal documents from U.S. research institutions and Federal funding agencies to understand better the answer to this question, this talk identifies and discusses numerous particular and systematic problems with the current biosafety system for research involving recombinant and synthetic nucleic acid molecules. Understanding the extent to which researchers and their sponsors systematically fail to comply with the principles of safe and effective regulation of science is crucial for improving the safety of research, for thinking about the future culture and practice of r/sNA research, and for public deliberations regarding the growing calls for statutory regulation of the field.
Transforming the power of therapy dogs’ presence into a new approach to educating children
Wednesday, September 25, 12 - 1 p.m., at the Morris Grille
Barbara Vokatis, Ph.D. (she/her)
Professor | Coordinator of Literacy Programs & Clinics
Nowadays, schools need to handle growing anxiety among all children, including the youngest children. High levels of anxiety often hinder children’s learning. How do we help children in lowering their anxiety and boosting their engagement and motivation to learn at the same time? In my presentation, I will tell the audience about the background for an innovative literacy/animal-assisted education lab I created in a local school, together with an elementary school teacher, to try to address this question. I will detail how we created a community in which children interacted with my therapy dog and how we incorporated this experience creatively and innovatively into activities in literacy and math, as well as how this experience impacted children’s literacy growth. I will also discuss tips for spreading the awareness about the power of animal-assisted education and how to bring therapy dogs into schools.