Artificial Intimacy: Who Do We Become When We Talk to Machines?
MIT Alumni Association
MIT Alumni Association
Club of Cape Cod
Thursday, May 15, 11:30am - 2:30pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
Prescription For Bankruptcy:
America's Failing Health Care "non-system"
Why do Americans pay more than citizens of any other country for health care and yet have, at best, mediocre health outcomes? Dr. Edward Hoffer will discuss this topic, and suggest both global solutions and practical things you can do to pay less and get better care.
Our speaker, Edward Hoffer MD
Edward Hoffer MD is a graduate of MIT and Harvard Medical School and did his residency and fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Hoffer has held faculty academic appointments at Harvard, the University of Massachusetts, and Boston University. He has also held appointments at several Boston hospitals (Peter Bent Brigham, Beth Israel, Boston Hospital for Women), at many Boston metro-west hospitals (in Worcestor, Natick, and Framingham), and at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington. He has either authored or co-authored over 80 publications, including 8 books and dozens of refereed journal articles, many of which deal with the application of computers to various aspects of medicine and with issues within the American healthcare system (insurance, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, etc.).
For 45 years he combined clinical practice of Internal Medicine and Cardiology with research on the applications of computers and AI to medical care, and continues to work half-time at the MGH Lab of Computer Science.
He has written and lectured extensively on the problems of the American healthcare "non-system."
Lunch at Alberto's Ristorante
We will be returning to Alberto's Ristorante in Hyannis because of the many rave reviews we received for the food and service in the past.
There will be a cash bar and we will be offering the same entrees as before (gluten-free is available upon request). All meals include a house salad and Tartuffo dessert.
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Saturday, May 17, 3:00pm - 5:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
Come geek out with local MIT alumni at a different brewery each month. MIT alumna, Nadia Eichfeld Lundy '99, has solicited the advice of her husband, John, a certified beer judge and homebrewer of 30+ years, to select a respected and well-tested establishment in the Austin area. ICover your own tab. Look for the Tim the Beaver cardboard cutout to find us.
Paid members of MITCASA get their first drink free!
This month, we will be meeting at Lazarus Brewing Co. Their urban taproom resides at the heart of their brewery, providing an insider's view of the brewing process from grain to glass. They have a wide range of beer on tap, as well as wines and cider. Food is available from Austin Chronicles 2023 Best Food Truck, Spicy Boys Chicken which does have vegetarian options.
Be sure to RSVP so we know what size table to grab.
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Learn MoreClub of Central Ohio
Saturday, May 17, 5:45pm - 10:00pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
Join fellow MIT alumni and friends for dinner and an evening Columbus Symphony concert on Saturday, May 17. As part of its annual Russian composer festival, the Symphony will perform both the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (“Pathetique”). Maestro Rossen Milanov will conduct, and Aubree Oliverson is the soloist. Discounted tickets with loge seating are just $80 through us for this event.
We will meet for dinner prior to the performance at 5:45 at the Spaghetti Warehouse, 150 S. High St, a short three minute walk from the Ohio Theatre. A Symphony member or senior staff person will brief us about the program, soloist, and composer. Dinner is not included in the price. We will order from the menu, and it is a Dutch treat. (You can join us for dinner if you already have purchased tickets separately; register for the “Dinner only” option or email Dave so we can give the restaurant the correct count.) Paid parking is available at the nearby Statehouse Underground Parking Garage and the Columbus Commons Underground Parking Garage.
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Monday, May 19, 6:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
MITCASA has a book club in San Antonio. We focus on popular STEM non-fiction or hard-science science fiction (not hard to read, but science-oriented) that will fit into our busy lives (no textbooks, Ph.D. theses, or thousand-page novels). We can choose other subjects, too. Each month, we’ll choose books for the following month by consensus.
The thirteenth meeting will be on Monday, May 19, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. We’ll meet at Rome’s Pizza at 5999 De Zavala Road, San Antonio, TX 78249. Rome’s Pizza has counter service featuring salad’s, pasta, sandwiches, desserts, and ... wait for it … pizza.
This month’s book is The Wood Age: How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History by biology professor Roland Ennos. It is available from Amazon in paperback and hardcover form. It is also available from the San Antonio Public Library under a different title, The Age of Wood, in book, eBook, and audiobook form.
From the Amazon description:
Roland Ennos’ The Wood Age is a love-letter to the world’s most vital and yet most threatened material. It is the story of how wood has shaped our human experience from the earliest foragers to the modern four poster bed.
‘A stunning book on the incalculable debt humanity owes wood…’ John Carey, The Sunday Times
In a journey to appreciate how much wood matters – and has done since prehistory – Roland Ennos takes the reader chronologically through four key phases: the impact of wooded habits on the lives of primates; human emergence and the discoveries of fire and woodwork; wood’s role in an environment both pre- and post-industrialisation; and lastly, the possible future of wood in an
increasingly technologized world.
In an original and essential investigation, The Wood Age challenges the traditional model of
historical development – stone, bronze, iron – and instead guide readers through a revealing and
innovative wooded history of the world.
Contact
steven.j.alexander@alum.mit.edu
Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, May 27, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at East Side King.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
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Learn MoreClub of Cape Cod
Wednesday, June 11, 5:00pm - 8:30pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project</strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Wôpanâak was the language spoken by the indiginous people living in this region when the Pilgrims arrived in 1620.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">After a couple hundred years of colonial laws, wars, and diseases, hundreds of Wôpanâak tribes were reduced to four small fragmented communities, and the </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">last people for whom Wôpanâak was their first language passed away in the mid 1850's. It took only a few more generations for all traces of spoken Wôpanâak to completely fade away, with the decendants speaking only English after that.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>OUR SPEAKERS:</strong></span></p>
<p><img src="https://d21hwc2yj2s6ok.cloudfront.net/shrine_store/uploads/networks/143…; alt="" width="150" height="150"><br>Jessie (Little Doe) Baird</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>Jessie (Little Doe) Baird</strong> is the Director of Linguistics, Lead Linguist, and a co-founder of the <a href="https://www.wlrp.org/"><strong>Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project</strong></a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">In the early 1990's she had dreams in which people were speaking in an unfamiliar language, and soon after that she thought that the language might be Wôpanâak, the language spoken by her ancestors.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">This inspired her to start researching everything she could find out about the original Wôpanâak language, and in 1993 she co-founded the<strong> </strong>Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project with the long-term goal of revitalizing the language, which had not be spoken for seven generations, for the people now living within the remaining anoag tribes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Because something like that had never been done before, there were many who thought that it was not even possible. But Jessie was undeterred. In her quest, she gained admission to MIT where she learned how to apply modern linguistic techniques coupled with historical records in order to understand original Wôpanâak grammar and to create a dictionary of 10,000 Wôpanâak words. (And she did all this while commuting between her home on Cape Cod and Cambridge while also raising four children).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">For this seminal work, Jessie was granted a <strong>Masters in Linguistic Science from MIT</strong> in 2000.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>In recognition of this and other brilliant achievements</strong> ...</span></p>
<ul>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">In 2010, Jessie was honored with a <strong>MacArthur Fellowship</strong> (a.k.a MacArthur Genius Award).</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">In 2017, Jessie received and <strong>Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences from Yale University</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">In 2020, Jessie was named one of <strong>USA Today's "Woman of the Century."</strong></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Jessie and her work on Wôpanâak language reconstruction are the subject of a PBS documentary: <a href="https://www.makepeaceproductions.com/video-wamp-trailer.html"><em>We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân</em></a>, directed by Anne Makepeace.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Jessie also serves as the vice-chairwoman of the <a title="Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashpee_Wampanoag_Tribe">Mashpee Wôpanâak Indian Tribal Council</a>. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img src="https://d21hwc2yj2s6ok.cloudfront.net/shrine_store/uploads/networks/143… Kelley</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Tracy Kelly</strong> is the Director of Programming for the <span style="font-size: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.wlrp.org/"><strong>Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project</strong></a>. She was granted a <strong>Master in LInguistic Science from MIT</strong> in 2020.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Our Annual Education Event</strong></span></p>
<p>Prior to our presentation, <strong>Carol Bogin</strong>, our club's VP for Education Programs, will briefly report about all the education activities and awards for this year, highlighting the many ways we support the MIT Club of Cape Cod's primary missions to promote STEM education on the Cape and the Islands, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Lynn Bruneau Scholarship, which is awarded to all Cape Cod high school seniors matriculating into MIT.<br> </li>
<li>$600 mini grants, primarily awarded to Cape Cod secondary schools, for STEM-related projects.<br> </li>
<li>STEM Book Awards for the top STEM juniors at 17 Cape Cod schools, consisting of a commendation letter, a certificate suitable for framing, the book "Nightwork" (an illustrated collection of memorable MIT Hacks) and a $100 Amazon gift card with which the awardee can use to purchase a number of STEM-related books from Amazon.<br> </li>
<li>Full sponsorship for all Cape Cod teacher accepted into MIT's SEPT (<a href="https://sept.mit.edu/">Science and Engineering Program for Teachers</a>) summer program.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Lunch at Alberto's Ristorante</strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">We will be returning to Alberto's Ristorante in Hyannis because of the many rave reviews we received for the food and service in the past.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">There will be a <strong>cash bar</strong> and we will be offering the same entrees as before (gluten-free is available upon request). All meals include a <strong>house salad</strong> and <strong>Tartuffo dessert</strong>.</span></p>
<ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>Chicken Parmagian</strong> - Breaded chicken cutlet topped with tomato sauce and melted cheese. Served with penne pasta.<br><br></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>Pork Osso Bucco</strong> - Pork shank cooked with celery, carrots, and onions in a Barolo wine sauce. Served with mashed potatoes broccoli.<br><br></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>Baked Scrod</strong> - Fresh baked scrod with seasoned breadcrumbs, white wine, and lemon touch of butter. Served with pasta and vegetables.<br><br></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>Farcite Napoletana</strong> (<span style="text-decoration: underline;">vegetarian</span>) - Eggplant rolled &amp; stuffed with ricotta cheese, baked with San Marzano plum tomato sauce &amp; three cheeses. Served with penne pasta.</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal link-bold"> </p>
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, June 24, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at Tacodeli.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, July 29, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at Veracruz All Natural (at Radio).
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, August 26, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at Cosmic Coffee + Beer Garden.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, September 30, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at Meanwhile Brewing. Please note that this instance of Taco Tuesday will be combined with the Harvard Welcome to Your City event.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, October 28, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at Salsa Limón.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
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Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, November 18, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at Taco Pegaso @ Fareground.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
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Learn More