William Falls, Chair and Professor of Psychology, will present his Full Professor Lecture,
"Running from Anxiety: How Exercise Changes the Emotional Brain," on Tuesday, December 7, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Lounge, Waterman. Robert Dostis, Green Mountain Power and member of the E-Vermont Smart Grid Communications Workgroup, will be speaking on the topic, "Smart Grid 101: What Does It Mean for Vermont?" on Tuesday, November 30 at 7:30 p.m. in Billings North Lounge.
Smart Grid is coming to Vermont. Do you know what it is and how it will impact our state? Potentially, Smart Grid will mean better electric service and will provide customers with opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint and their electric bills. The addition of high-speed information and communication technology to the electric grid will change the way utilities operate and how customers interact with them. Greater reliability, operational efficiency and customer choice are the cornerstones of Smart Grid. This seminar is intended to provide an introduction to the Smart Grid system and a forum to answer audience questions.
William Falls, Chair and Professor of Psychology, will present his Full Professor Lecture,
"Running from Anxiety: How Exercise Changes the Emotional Brain," on Tuesday, December 7, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Lounge, Waterman.
It is well known that exercise improves cardiovascular fitness, promotes a stable and healthy body weight and strengthens the immune system. However, there is now growing evidence that exercise also improves emotional health. Studies in humans and other animals have shown that voluntary exercise reduces many of the signs and symptoms of anxiety and promotes stress resilience. Professor Falls will review this literature and share some recent experiments that he and his colleagues have carried out examining how exercise changes emotional circuits of the brain and how these changes may serve to reduce anxiety and promote stress resilience.
Professor Falls has been a faculty member at the University of Vermont since 1998. His research interests are in the areas of learning and emotion with particular interest in understanding the brain mechanisms responsible for the inhibition of fear and anxiety. Falls has published over 40 journal articles and has received funding from the National Institute of Health for his research. He has taught courses in behavioral neuroscience, psychopharmacology and neurobehavioral genetics. He is currently serving as department chair in Psychology and Chair of the UVM Institution Animal Care and Use Committee.
Jane Knodell, Provost, Senior Vice President, and Professor of Economics, will deliver her Full Professor Lecture,
"Central Banking before the Federal Reserve," on Tuesday, January 18, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Lounge, Waterman.
Dr. Knodell's research and teaching interests are in the fields of money and banking, macroeconomics, and economics history. Her research applies the tools of economic history, institutional analysis, and monetary economics to understanding the evolution and performance of monetary institutions over time. Her current research centers on the monetary history of the U.S. between the demise of the Second Bank of the United States in the mid-1830s and the creation of the national banking system in the mid-1860s. One new paper uses a network approach to compare the payments services provided by chartered and private (unincorporated) banks. A second paper seeks to explain the reasons for the resurgence of metallic currency (and decline of paper money) between 1840 and 1860, contrary to expected patterns of monetary development.
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Please note: All lecture speakers, topics, start times, and locations are subject to change.