January Lunch & Learn: Painting and Photostability

Join us for our ​​​​​January Lunch & Learn featuring talks by graduate students in ​​Chemistry and ​​Fine Arts! Lunch & Learn is co-sponsored by the Graduate Division, the Graduate Student Association, and the UCSB Library. ​Feed your mind and your stomach while socializing with grad students from across the campus! RSVP here.

​Friday, January 17
Noon-1 p.m.
Library, Room 1312 (map)
*To ensure we have enough food, ​please RSVP*

Shining a Light on the Primordial Soup

Michael Haggmark
Graduate Student in ​​​Chemistry and Biochemistry

Life is believed to have emerged from a complex mixture of molecules. However, only a small subset of these molecules is represented in life as we know it. The nucleobases chosen for DNA and RNA all display remarkable photostability, yet simple variations on the structure can remove this photostability. The mechanisms for photostability and implications regarding the origin of life will be discussed.

Skeletons in My Family's Closet

​Marshall Sharpe
Graduate Student in ​Fine Arts

In this 15-minute artist talk, painter and Masters of Fine Art candidate Marshall Sharpe will present his recent artwork and research exposing his family's role in enslaving African people in the American South. After uncovering this dark family secret at the age of 30, Sharpe realized that his own silence around this issue would only perpetuate the system of racism and privilege that chattel slavery produced. Instead, Sharpe uses his paintings to break the cycle of White silence by publicly acknowledging the true source of the United State's hegemonic wealth, starting with his own ancestry.

This event will be moderated by​ ​Shawn Warner-Garcia, the Director of Professional Development for the UCSB Graduate Division.

Interested in being a presenter at an upcoming Lunch & Learn? Click here to find out more! If you have any questions about this event or Lunch & Learn in general, please email Daina Tagavi.