Lecture

The Baltimore Hebrew Institute, the successor to Baltimore Hebrew University established this year at Towson University, is introducing itself to the greater community on Sunday with a lecture on the Dead Sea scrolls. Lawrence H. Schiffman, chairman of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, will present "Decoding Early Judaism: Reflections on the Contributions of Dr. Joseph Baumgarten" at 4 p.m. in Room 4110 of the new liberal arts building at Towson.

He pulled on a Terps visor, to the crowd's delight. He rubbed noses with Gov. Martin O'Malley. And the Dalai Lama was met Tuesday with rounds of applause from a crowd of 15,000 at the University of Maryland, College Park's Comcast Center. "Sit down," the 78-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader said in a firm but friendly voice when he approached the podium and the crowd rose to its feet. "No formality! We are [the] same. … The way we are born, the way we die: no formality. " Clad in red robes and his trademark spectacles, the Dalai Lama appeared at the university to give an address on peace, compassion and fellowship as part of the Anwar Sadat Lecture Series.

A monthly lecture on the Johns Hopkins University campus will focus Tuesday on novae, massive nuclear explosions that occur in stars known as white dwarves. They involve the interaction of a white dwarf with another star, with the white dwarf pulling in gases from its neighbor. The lecture is titled “Novae: Stars that Explode - Repeatedly” and will be at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive. #sigshell { float: left; width: 320px; height: 52px; margin: 20px 0px; display: block; }

A monthly astronomy lecture at Baltimore's Space Telescope Science Institute on Tuesday will delve into Saturn's active outermost ring, known as its F Ring. The institute's Bonnie Meinke will deliver a lecture titled, "Saturn's Intricate F Ring and the Small Moons that Perturb It. " Data from NASA's Cassini mission, which has been exploring Saturn since 2004, has shown the ring to be constantly changing. Scientists believe that may be because of what are known as "shepherd" moons that orbit within or around rings like Saturn's.

A monthly astronomy lecture at Baltimore's Space Telescope Science Institute on Tuesday will delve into Saturn's active outermost ring, known as its F Ring. The institute's Bonnie Meinke will deliver a lecture titled, "Saturn's Intricate F Ring and the Small Moons that Perturb It. " Data from NASA's Cassini mission, which has been exploring Saturn since 2004, has shown the ring to be constantly changing. Scientists believe that may be because of what are known as "shepherd" moons that orbit within or around rings like Saturn's.

As a recent graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, I was dismayed by recent news reports detailing the efforts of several major universities, including Johns Hopkins and the University System of Maryland, to revise or even eradicate the lecture model of teaching in certain disciplines. I am heartened to know that - as one would expect of such a high-caliber university - Hopkins is constantly seeking to improve the effectiveness of the excellent education it offers. However, I believe it is a fallacy to consider the lecture an ineffectual and obsolete teaching method.

On Sunday, in conjunction with its ongoing exhbition Chosen Food: Cuisine, Culture, and American Jewish Identity , the Jewish Museum will present " Knish History 101: Life and Times of the Knish" a lecture by Laura Siilver titled  Silver will tell everyone all about the knish, that lovable, humble stuffed hunk of dough. Guests are invited to show up with their knish memories, recipes and recollections and listen to knish tales from the Midwest, the Lower East SIde and the Polish town of Knyszyn, where Silver traces her roots.

In your editorial on the responses to the attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya, you say that the Obama administration's message should have focused on our belief in free speech for everyone ("Romney has a point," Sept. 13). I agree that it would be fine to say that one on one or at a meeting when everyone was calm. In the situation as it was, they just wanted to calm the atmosphere and calm down the people. If you were there, would you have said, "You have right to free speech, and here we are right over this wall.

Dr. Joaneath Spicer, a curator at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, will discuss the implications of terms used to describe the European Renaissance in a slide lecture at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at Western Maryland College in Westminster.The lecture will take place in McDaniel Lounge.Dr. Spicer, a graduate of Yale University, is the James A. Murnaghan Curator of Renaissance and Baroque Art at the Walters.She taught for many years at the University of Toronto and has contributed several articles and reviews to the Burlington Magazine, Master Drawings and the Journal of Jewish Art.Dr.

The place of sport in American life and society will be the theme of"Ethics and Athletics," the sixth lecture in the Great Issues Series, at 9 a.m. Jan. 25 at the Francis Scott Key Auditorium lobby, St. John's College, Annapolis.Two figures from the sports world will keynote the forum: prize-winning newspaper writer and editor Creed C. Black, president of the Knight Foundation, which sponsored the Knight Commission study of sports in higher education; and Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Arthur Ashe, who has used his continuing career to promote tennis at every level as well as for various philanthropies.

The Charles J. Busta III lecture series at Notre Dame presents " Cindy Wolf : Mixing Business with Culinary Pleasure" on April 23. Wolf, two-time finalist for the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef in the mid-Atlantic region, is a partner in Foreman Wolf, which owns and operates Charleston , Petit Louis , Pazo , Cinghiale and Johnny's . The Cindy Wolf lecture is 7 p.m. on April 23 at Notre Dame of Maryland University's...

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a Baltimore audience Tuesday night that the world's challenges have never been greater, nor come with such speed, and he advocated intervention in struggling countries by powers such as Great Britain and the United States. "I don't think there's been a more difficult time to be a political leader than now," Blair, who left office in 2007, told an audience of 2,800 at Loyola University Maryland. He described challenges posed by globalization and ever-evolving technology and said that "often the best short-term politics is in collision with the best long-term policy.

A monthly lecture on the Johns Hopkins University campus will focus Tuesday on novae, massive nuclear explosions that occur in stars known as white dwarves. They involve the interaction of a white dwarf with another star, with the white dwarf pulling in gases from its neighbor. The lecture is titled “Novae: Stars that Explode - Repeatedly” and will be at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive. #sigshell { float: left; width: 320px; height: 52px; margin: 20px 0px; display: block; }

Coppin State University is unable to pay its adjunct professors on time this month, the latest in a string of problems for the embattled college. In an email obtained by The Baltimore Sun, Habtu Braha, the interim associate vice president for academic affairs, wrote to adjunct faculty members on Monday that their first paychecks of the semester would be late. "This delay in the processing of contracts was caused by a confluence of many issues ... due to budgetary constraints, extended registration processes, low course enrollments and subsequent cancellation of classes," he wrote.

Years ago, I accompanied James Cardinal Hickey, then the archbishop of Washington, to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, where then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was to give a lecture. After his lecture and after fielding questions from his audience, Cardinal Ratzinger boarded a small plane that would take him and five other passengers to Washington, where he would attend a dinner and then give another lecture. Even though he was suffering from a bad cold and the flight was quite turbulent, Cardinal Ratzinger remained calm and serene.

When some University of Maryland, College Park students return to class for the spring semester, they could be attending lectures, taking quizzes and completing group projects without leaving their dorm rooms. The university is participating in a pilot program that combines massive open online courses with traditional classroom instruction. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded $1.4 million to nonprofit research group Ithaka S+R to study how the state's university system could incorporate the increasingly popular online courses "There are two things we're seeking: new strategies that will improve learning outcomes and lower costs," said University System of Maryland Chancellor William E. Kirwan.

A lecture by poet Maya Angelou that had been scheduled for tomorrow night at Loyola College has been postponed because of illness.Loyola officials said they hope to reschedule the lecture for mid-April.For information on the new date, call 410-617-5151 beginning Wednesday. Those who bought tickets can use them for the rescheduled date or call TicketMaster for a refund.

Photographer Marion E. Warren and his daughter, archivist Mame Warren, will present a slide lecture based on their new book, "Bringing Back the Bay," Friday at the Captain Salem Avery House Museum.Sponsored by the Shady Side Rural Heritage Society, the lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5.Information: 867-2866.Zeta Tau Alpha event benefits breast cancerThe Annapolis chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha will celebrate Zeta Day Saturday at the Governor Calvert House on State Circle.Registration is from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. The event will include lunch and the announcement of the Anne Arundel County Women of the Year.

Lecture Neurobiologist Therissa Libby, co-author of "Heroin: Its History, Pharmacology, & Treatment," gives a talk on recovery at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, 333 Dubois Road. A Q&A session follows her presentation. Information: 410-268-9639 or mpg@uuca-md.org .

Maggi Uhland was happy on Tuesday that she decided to pursue German at South Carroll High School. "It is a lot easier than Spanish and a lot more fun," the 14-year-old freshman said, of the language. "And we can choose to come here. " Uhland was one of more than 1,000 students from around the county, state, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., to participate in German-American Day at McDaniel College in Westminster on Oct. 16. Now in its 18th year, the day focuses on German culture and history through workshops and lectures that discuss everything from German fairy tales and music to chilling survivors' tales of the Holocaust and anti-Hitler resistance movements during World War II. Among those was Rubin Sztajer, of Baltimore, a Polish Jew who told students of his experiences as a Holocaust survivor who endured the Warsaw Ghetto and Nazi concentration camps.