The Course
Episodes
Episode 45 - Tiffany Shaw: "The applicability of physics can go beyond just one instance."
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor Tiffany Shaw, from the Department of the Geophysical Sciences, explains how her high school teacher inspired her to pursue maths a...
Episode 44 - Philip V. Bohlman: "To think through music, to listen in different ways."
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Philip V. Bohlman discusses how his childhood as a young musician in his town led him to become the first ethnomusicologist at UChicago and ...
Episode 43 - Lin Bian: "If you enjoy 80% of the job, then the job is a great one."
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Lin Bian describes how her mother's work as a teacher influenced her interest in teaching and finding out she achieved her ch...
Episode 42 - Ada Palmer: "Selfcare is one of your highest teaching or study's scholarly duties."
13 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor Ada Palmer has multiple careers as a University of Chicago professor, an accomplished historian, and a science fiction author. In ...
Episode 41 - Malte Willer: "Nothing beats hard work."
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor Malte Willer looks at how his training in Germany and in the States prepared him for a career in academia to understand the logic ...
Episode 40 - Miwa Yasui: "The beauty of differences amongst people."
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Associate Professor Miwa Yasui grew up in various countries throughout her childhood, she developed a strong sense of curiosity about the different...
Episode 39 - Kirill Ponomarev: "Econometric is a very special field."
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Kirill Ponomarev once trained and dreamt of becoming a professional soccer player but also found his love of math, which brought h...
Episode 38 - Darryl Li : "The additional virtue of not being untrue."
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Darryl Li describes how his experiences growing up as a first-generation Asian American, working in NGOs, and working in Gaza in...
Episode 37 - Aimee Hilado: "We needed evidence of what works."
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Aimee Hilado draws from her background as the daughter of immigrants and finds her interest in working with immigrants, refugees, ...
Episode 36 - Alex Imas : "Can we as economists make better predictions?"
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics Alex Imas, from the Booth School of Business, once worked two jobs, pursued music and built a ...
Episode 35 - Milena Almagro: "How I started doing urban economics."
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Milena Almagro talks about her initial passion for mathematics and how it extended to facilitating her research in urban economics...
Episode 34 - Janelle Goodwill: "So much to learn from people outside of our traditional academic spaces."
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Janelle Goodwill explains how her childhood aspiration of becoming a clinical psychologist has led her to a career researching suicide preve...
Episode 33 - Ariel Kalil: "Define yourself by the problems you want to solve."
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Ariel Kalil describes how she pivoted from being a francophile to an interest in childhood development and parenting. The search for finding...
Episode 32 - Daniel Holz: "How does the universe make black holes?"
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Daniel Holz from the Department of Physics, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute, and Kavli Institute for Cosm...
Episode 31 - Linwei Xin: "Best practice can drive best theory."
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From a boy in China to now an Associate Professor at the Booth School of Business, Professor Linwei Xin researches supply chain management and e-comme...
Episode 30 - Luis Martinez: "I am not the conventional economist."
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Luis Martinez from the Harris School of Public Policy talks about how he finds himself studying the interaction between economics ...
Episode 29 - Damon Jones: "It was a perfect storm for me..."
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor Damon Jones from the Harris School of Public Policy conducts research in economics on inequality, tax policy, and household financ...
Episode 28 - Matthew Briones: "How Do People Get Along?"
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew Briones is an associate professor of American History and the College from the Department of History. He talked about how his childhood in boa...
Episode 27 - Royce Lee: "When a person's desire for trust is fulfilled..."
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor Royce Lee from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience joins us in this episode to talk about his initial interes...
Episode 26 - Jessica Swanston Baker: "Everyone listens, has heard of or are connected by music."
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor of Music and the Humanities Jessica Swanston Baker, from the Department of Music, is an ethnomusicologist, and she researches m...
Episode 25 - Alan Yu: "Language is everywhere."
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Yu is the Professor of Linguistics and the College from the Department of Linguistics. Professor Yu also directs the UChicago Phonology Laborator...
Episode 24 - Doron Ravid: "I want to understand the world."
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Doron Ravid is an Assistant Professor of Economics and the College, from the Department of Economics. His research focuses on mathematical models that...
Episode 23 - Yuehaw Khoo: "My religious path has vividly led me on this path."
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Yuehaw Khoo is from the Department of Statistics, and he is also a member of the Committee on Computational and Applied Mathematic...
Episode 22 - Paul Sereno: "This is the age of exploration"
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Paul Sereno discusses how he's made a career of digging up bones and shares a few pivotal moments in his journey. From playing Tom Sawy...
Episode 21 - Julian Go: "…that's how imperialism has shaped policing."
25 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Julian Go discusses how his interest in historical sociology brought him to grad school and eventually became a professor at The University ...
Episode 20 - John Rappaport: "There's still a lot of problems to solve."
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor John Rappaport discusses how he pivoted from mathematics to law, finding ways to change the world bit by bit, and shares some of the advic...
Episode 19 - Hajin Kim: "I used to get into these arguments…"
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Hajin Kim discusses how her interest in trade and her experiences with Korean cuisine led her to focus on the environment and explains how s...
Episode 18 - Peggy Mason: "This is anti-cynical science."
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Peggy Mason from the Department of Neurobiology, researches pain modulation, empathy, and pro-social behavior through the lens of neurobiolo...
Episode 17 - Kimberly Kay Hoang: "Learn to trust your gut, instinct and intuition"
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kimberly Kay Hoang from the Department of Sociology talks about her background coming from a Vietnamese refugee family, her choice of pursui...
Episode 15 - Tara Zahra: "Keep it fresh, do new things and challenge yourself."
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Tara Zahra talks about her childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer, the person who inspired her to become a history professor and the mo...
Episode 16 - Amir Jina: "It's not the science that's the holdup."
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Amir Jina takes us through his journey from theoretical physics to his current position at the intersection of economics and climate researc...
Episode 14 - Anjali Adukia: "Find a common ground, embrace and learn."
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Anjali Adukia is from the Harris School of Public Policy and the College, and the director of the MiiE Lab. In this episode she ta...
Episode 13 - Yau W. Wah: "Research in physics is a very personal journey."
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Yau W. Wah talks about how a teacher in junior high sparked his passion for physics, and what he's learned in his long career at The Un...
Episode 12 - Alireza Doostdar: "I have experienced a lot of culture shocks."
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and the anthropology of religion, Alireza Doostdar from the Divinity School, talks about moving from electrical...
Episode 11 - Jiwoong Park: "Pursue regardless of the conventional label..."
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Jiwoong Park from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering shares his experience of filling an empty lab with ideas, dreams, challenges,...
Episode 10 - Caterina Fugazzola: "Teaching is the thing that keeps me alive."
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a child, Professor Caterina Fugazzola wanted to be a math teacher. In this episode, she explains how international travel and the guidance of some ...
Episode 9 - Lee Wei Wei: "Let go the idea of perfectionism."
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Wei Wei Lee describes her journey through the medical field, the value of her experiences studying medicine in China and Hong Kong, and what...
Episode 8 - Adom Getachew: "Opening them to new perspectives."
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Adom Getachew discusses how her interest in international politics led her toward her current research, discusses the slough of archival res...
Episode 7 - Mark Templeton: "Serendipity is staying in touch with people."
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Mark Templeton talks about his circuitous journey to environmental law, how his travel experience and government work inform how he teaches ...
Episode 6 - Brodwyn Fischer: "That's really the best gifts you can give someone."
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Brodwyn Fischer describes her many research trips to South America, explains how her early interest in theater has translated into her curre...
Episode 5 - Mark Sheffield: "I've always been attracted to mystery…"
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor Mark Sheffield from the Department of Neurobiology talks about his career path and how he became a University of Chicago professor...
Episode 2 - Hae Kyung (Haky) Im: "You have to enjoy what you're doing."
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, Hae Kyung (Haky) Im, works within the Department of Medicine. She discusses her career path and ho...
Episode 4 - Nicole Hallett: "I see myself as a storyteller now, even though I'm not writing novels."
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Nicole Hallett, a clinical professor of law, discusses what drew her to clinical work, how her experiences outside academia shaped her caree...
Episode 3 - Salikoko Mufwene: "Play the best way you can, with the hand of cards that you have. "
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Salikoko Mufwene describes his globe-trotting path from Congo to UChicago, describing how his interests have evolved along with his field, a...
Episode 1 - Kenneth Pomeranz: "You find it so interesting, maybe this is what you should be studying."
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kenneth Pomeranz discusses his upbringing in Queens as the child of refugees to pursuing a career studying the history of China.