Please join us for a film series entitled “Cinema for Cynics and Saints” at Trinity Presbyterian (1301 Osos St), this Fall. Hosted by Professor Paul Marchbanks, we’ll gather 6:20-6:30 p.m, offer some introductory comments 6:30-6:35 p.m., screen the film, and then follow up with discussion.
This fall, we’re looking at redemptive journeys galvanized by grief. In the winter we’ll engage films examining romance, in spring we’ll tackle three films by director Denis Villeneuve, and then in summer we’ll select some family friendly fare. Here’s our schedule for fall:
Many thanks for Cal Poly Professor Elizabeth Barrett for inviting Tim Muehlhoff for a follow up conversation to the May 1, 2024 Veritas Forum, continuing the conversation on her podcast “The Reluctant Therapist” on the topic:
Can you be Spiritual and not Religious? A Conversation with the Reluctant Therapist
“Tune in for a conversation with Dr.Tim Muehlhoff, communications professor and co-director of Biola Universities’ Winsome Conviction project—which seeks to reintroduce civility into our public disagreements.—and co-host of the Winsome Conviction Podcast. Listen to the program Tuesdays at 2pm on KCBX”
This past Spring, the Veritas Forum was back at Cal Poly. Many thanks to presenters Tim Muehlhof (Communication Studies, Biola University) and Elizabeth Barrett (Cal Poly, Psychology and Child Development) and our moderator Stephen Lloyd-Moffett (Cal Poly, Religious Studies), as well as everyone who worked to bring back this outstanding annual event.
Please join us Sunday afternoon Sept 22nd for our Faculty Commons welcome back BBQ and potluck. This is a chance for faculty and faculty families to get together, connect with other Christian faculty, build friendships, and work to support one another this upcoming year.
This year we’ll be back at Cuesta Canyon Park. There’s a beautiful creek running through the canyon with plenty of water this year, and we have reserved the “Arroyo” group site – immediately adjacent to the park’s play structure (great for kids and parents). We’ll provide a simple BBQ, and drinks. If you’re planning on attending, please bring a side, salad, or dessert.
Faculty Commons Welcome Back Picnic
Sunday afternoon Sept 22nd.
3:30pm-6:00pm
Cuesta Canyon Park, 2400 Loomis St, San Luis Obispo
Kindly reply either way by Thursday Sept 19th via this link.
G3’s are designed to build and support Christian community among faculty. Groups meet for 50 minutes every other week, starting 2nd week (the week of Monday Sept 30, 2024), and are scheduled around your and other faculty members’ availability.
Here’s an invitation to our Fall G3’s from our faculty leadership team:
“We are all teachers. We are also experts and mentors in our specific disciplines—business, engineering, math, English, Spanish, natural resources, chemistry, etc. This gives us a unique opportunity to both live out our Christian faith within our discipline and mentor Christian students to do the same. This Fall we will discuss how being a Christian influences our work in our particular field of study. We look forward to learning from each other, and hope to create opportunities to share what we learn from our discussion with students.”
We’re very excited about this opportunity and hope you can be a part.
If you’d like to be in a group, kindly let us know any available time slots you have in your regular Fall Quarter schedule here. As always, the more open time slot options you can select, the easier it is to find a time that works to meet with others.
Please join us for the 2024 Cal Poly Veritas Forum:
“Can I be Spiritual but not Religious?” Wednesday evening May 1st Chumash Auditorium 7:30pm-9:00pm
Tim Muehlhoff (Communications, Biola University) Elizabeth Barrett (Psychology, Cal Poly) moderated by Steven Lloyd-Moffett (Religious Studies, Cal Poly)
Founded at Harvard University in 1992, the Veritas Forum seeks to “engage students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life.”
Please join us for a special lunch discussion on February 15 at 11am-12pm in 10-206 centering around how faith speaks to setting priorities and achieving balance as academics. Our panel will feature:
Donna Templeston, Graphic Communication
Paul Marchbanks, English
There will be time for discussion and a complimentary lunch will be provided. This 2020 article in Nature Briefing considers this very topic from a work-life balance, mental health perspective.
Please respond to the calendar invite or email Chip Appel cappel@calpoly.edu by February 12th if you’re planing on joining us.
Please join us Friday night February 23rd 7:30pm as students and faculty from Cal Poly, plus Cuesta and Hancock, gather together for a time of worship, prayer, and reflection. Renovate Church 2075 Johnson Avenue, San Luis Obispo.
“Winds of Change” Conference Saturday, March 2, 2024 8:30 am-3:30 pm Seal Beach, CA
Artificial Intelligence and the Christian Professor. Two Christian computer science professors will inform us of the origins, limits, ethics and other facets of AI. Several professors from other disciplines will explain how they are using AI, and what they have learned.
Registration and more information for in person conference participation here.
If you are unable to attend in person, a free webinar option is available (9am-2pm PST). While online small group breakout sessions will not be offered, you’re welcome to watch and discuss with colleges . Please register by Feb. 29th here.
George Varghese (https://samueli.ucla.edu/people/george-varghese/) is the Jonathan B. Postel Professor of Networking in the Computer Science department at UCLA. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, to the National Academy of Inventors in 2020, to the Internet Hall of Fame in 2021, and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022. He has worked on algorithmic techniques for speeding up routers, on new formal methods to proactively prevent Internet errors, and most recently on using Large Language Models (that underlie ChatGPT for example) in networking. https://www.internethalloffame.org/2023/05/11/george-varghese-speeding-up-the-internet-finding-confluence/
After earning his PhD in machine learning from Carnegie Mellon University, George Montañez became a data scientist with Microsoft (AI+R), and is currently an assistant professor of Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA. He holds an M.S. in computer science from Baylor University and a B.S. in computer science from the University of California Riverside. A former NSF Graduate Research Fellow and Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, he served as an intern at Microsoft Research and Yahoo! Labs during graduate school. His research lies at the intersection of machine learning, algorithmic search, and information theory. His work has garnered five conference awards, including Best Paper at CIKM 2014 and ICAART 2020. He is passionate about mentoring and teaching, and has worked with roughly 90 undergraduate student researchers, being awarded a Diversity Mentoring Award by the Claremont Colleges Consortium and the Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professorship from 2019-2022 in recognition of his mentoring efforts inside and outside the classroom. https://www.hmc.edu/about/news/experts/george-montanez/https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgemontanez/
Please consider joining us as students, faculty, and campus ministry staff meet every Monday morning this quarter to pray for the campus, the larger community, and revival in our own own lives. Students, especially, are excited about the opportunity to pray alongside faculty and we hope you’ll consider this opportunity.
Faculty Commons SLO 