The Car and its Future — Family Weekend Symposium — Nov. 5-6, 2010
Creating a sustainable society is one of the key challenges of the 21st century. Bringing together many UVa schools and programs, this two-day symposium explores conceptions of a more sustainable society by focusing on one of its central everyday objects: the car. How does the automobile fit into our future transportation choices? Is there a life after the car?
Nationally and internationally prominent experts on sustainability will join UVa faculty to discuss alternative car technologies and fuels, as well as the effect of cars on our health, city planning, and culture. Panelists include bestselling authors Jeremy Rifkin, Daniel Sperling and Debbie Gordon, car company executives Chris Borroni-Bird (GM) and Frank Weith (VW), battery expert Michelle Buchanan from the Oakridge National Laboratory, cultural historian Wolfgang Schivelbusch, and Wulf Daseking (Director of City Planning in Freiburg, Germany).
On-site exhibits will feature the newest car technology and car-related projects by UVa students. In cooperation with the Virginia Film Festival, we will screen the The Nature of Cities by UVa’s Tim Beatley, followed by a discussion of the key challenges of urban mobility for the cities of the future. Last but not least, we will announce the winners of a University-wide prize competition that challenges UVa’s undergraduates to imagine the car of the future or a future without cars. All events are free and open to the public. UVa Today has coverage of the event as well.
The symposium is supported by the Center for German Studies, Center for Global Initiatives (Darden School of Business), School of Architecture, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Nursing, Batten School of Public Policy, College of Arts and Sciences, Office of Development and Public Affairs, Page-Barbour Fund, and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Please direct questions to Ms. Manuela Achilles, co-organizer, Symposium on the Future of the Car. Download a program (.pdf, 118KB) or poster of the conference (.pdf, 1.7MB). For more information, visit the Center for German Studies.
| Friday Nov. 5 |
The Car of the Future |
| 9:30-10:30 Harrison Institute |
Welcome, and Opening of On-Site ExhibitionWelcome: Volker Kaiser (Director, Center for German Studies, UVa) Milton Adams (Vice Provost for Academic Programs, UVa) Intro: Dana Elzey (Professor, School of Engineering and Applied Science, UVa) Frank Weith (Technical Strategy Manager, Volkswagen Group of America) Weith discusses how the diesel and hybrid cars exhibited on grounds fit into VW's long-term strategy. On-site exhibits include the VW Hybrid and Diesel, Sanyo e-bikes, and the bike-for-light initiative of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge – Possible exhibition site: front of Harrison Institute or Amphitheater. Exhibition site: Newcomb Hall Plaza |
| 10:45-12:00 Harrison Institute |
Reinventing the AutomobileIntro: Peter Debaere (Professor, Darden School of Business, UVa) Borroni-Bird's integrated vision of future personal mobility revolves around smart electric and hydrogen cars that function in constant communication with the smart grid, and dynamically priced markets for parking space and electricity. Reinventing the Automobile, co-authored with William J. Mitchell, and Lawrence D. Burns, is his recent book. |
| 12:15-1:30 Harrison Institute |
The Fuel of the Future: Hydrogen, Biomass or Electric?Intro: Dana Elzey (Professor, School of Engineering and Applied Science, UVa) Michelle Buchanan (Associate Laboratory Director, Oakridge National Laboratory) Bob Davis (Chair, Chemical Engineering, UVa) Brent Gunnoe (Director, Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization, UVa) This panel discusses low-emission sustainable fuel options. Michelle Buchanan is a battery expert from Oakridge National Laboratory. She joins UVa's Bob Davis, an expert in biomass fuels, and Brent Gunnoe whose new Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization studies ways to convert methane into liquids. |
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6:30-9:00 Garden Room |
Conference Dinner + Talk (by invitation)Wolfgang Schivelbusch: How much ingenuity can dance on the top of that pin? Welcome: Gordon Stewart (Associate Dean, College Arts and Sciences, UVa) Intro: Manuela Achilles (Program Director, Center for German Studies, UVa) Wolfgang Schivelbusch (Independent Scholar, Berlin and New York) Wolfgang Schivelbusch explores the car's broader cultural and historical context. He publishes on cultural history, technological change and the history of perception. His books include: Disenchanted Night: The Industrialization of Light in the Nineteenth Century, and The Railway Journey: The Industrialization and Perception of Time and Space. |
| Saturday Nov. 6 |
The Future of the Car |
| 11:15-12:45 Clark Auditorium 108 |
What Society? With Jeremy RifkinIntro: Timothy Beatley (Professor, School of Architecture, UVa) Jeremy Rifkin (President of Foundation On Economic Trends) Response: Mike Lenox (Director, Batten Institute; and Darden School of Business, UVa) Kim Tanzer (Dean, School of Architecture, UVa) Audrey Snyder (Professor, School of Nursing, UVa) Jeremy Rifkin is a bestselling author and sustainability expert who studies the impact of technological change on society. His most recent books include: The Empathic Civilization, The Hydrogen Economy, and The European Dream. UVa's Mike Lenox, Kim Tanzer, and Audrey Snyder discuss Rifkin's vision from the perspectives of Business, Architecture and Nursing. |
| 3:30-5:30 Clark Auditorium 108 |
Intro: Peter Debaere (Professor, Darden School of Business, UVa) Daniel Sperling (Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis) Deborah Gordon (Nonresident Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon are the co-authors of Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainablity, a multifaceted exploration of our love affair with the car. Their range of topics is wide, extending from the political economy of the oil and car industry to the psychology of hybrid vehicle purchasers. Free copies of Two Billion Cars will be distributed after the talk. Announcement of Student Prize Contest Winner Gordon Stewart (Associate Dean, College of Arts and Science, UVa) Manuela Achilles (Program Director, Center for German Studies, UVa) |
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5:30-7:00 Clark Lobby and Mural Room |
Reception / Hors d'OeuvresFree and open to the public |
| 7:30-9:00 Clark Auditorium 108 |
Film screening: The Nature of Cities (USA 2009)Followed by a conversation with Timothy Beatley, co-director of the film and Professor of Sustainable Communities at the UVa School of Architecture, and Wulf Daseking, Director of City Planning in Freiburg, Germany. "The Nature of Cities" is a one-hour documentary that explores the various ways in which nature and sustainable architecture are being incorporated into European and American cities. Subsequent to the film screening, Tim Beatley and Wulf Daseking elaborate on key challenges of sustainability and urban mobility for the cities of the future. |
Sponsored by the Center for German Studies, Page-Barbour Fund, Center for Global Initiatives (Darden School of Business), Batten School of Public Policy, School of Architecture, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Nursing, College of Arts and Sciences, Office of Development and Public Affairs, and Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.