February 11, 2010
Richard C. J. Somerville
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
University of California, San Diego
"Climate Change: What Do We Know and What Should We Do?"
4:00 p.m., UCSD Social Sciences Building Room 107

Richard C. J. Somerville, a theoretical meteorologist, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. He holds a Ph.D. from New York University in 1966 and has been a professor at Scripps since 1979. Somerville has received awards for both his research and his popular book, The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change, a new edition of which was published in 2008. He was a Coordinating Lead Author for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize equally with Al Gore. 

March 30, 2010
Jennifer M. Green
Associate Professor of Clinical Law
University of Minnesota Law School
"Gender Justice: Bringing Human Rights Claims for Sexual Violence in U.S. Courts and International Tribunals"
12:10 p.m., California Western Lecture Hall 1

Jennifer Green received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and served as clinical project supervisor and administrative director of the law school’s Human Rights Program. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota Law School to start a clinic on human rights litigation and advocacy, she worked as a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and was a Staff Attorney and Adjunct Professor at the International Women’s Human Rights Law Clinic at the City University of New York School of Law. In 2009, Green co-authored International Human Rights Litigation in U.S. Courts. She is also the author of other publications on gender violence and accountability. 

May 6, 2010
Charles Thorpe
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology
University of California, San Diego
"Capitalism and 'Science as a Vocation'"
4:00 p.m., UCSD Social Sciences Building Room 107

Charles Thorpe received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He taught Sociology at Cardiff University, Wales, and Science and Technology Studies at University College London before returning to UCSD. Thorpe currently serves as an Associate Professor in Sociology and an active participant in the Science Studies Program. He teaches about the sociology of technology and social theory, and leads an advanced undergraduate course on “Science and War.” His book, Oppenheimer: the Tragic Intellect, is a sociological biography of the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.