Annual Book Club

The Society of Postdoctoral Scholars (SOPS) is pleased to announce the fourth edition (pun intended) of the annual book club. For 2024, the book club will discuss Shankar Vedantam's and Bill Mesler's 'Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain'. This book is filled with powerful personal stories and draws on new insights in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, to offer a fascinating tour of what it really means to be human.

The book club met every 2 weeks on Wednesdays at 4:00 PM and SOPS provided participants with a copy of the book. 

Membership

The book club is open to graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. Membership is limited to 20 people and will be given on a first-come first-serve basis (with priority being given to postdocs). Members were expected to attend all 4 sessions.

Schedule

• 03/27/2024: Meet & Greet, book pick up, and start of the Book Club (in the Gillis Building, conference room 104)
• 04/10/2024: Part I
• 04/24/2024: Part II
• 05/08/2024: Part III
• 05/22/2024: Conclusion and book club social

Location

The Book Club met in person in the Gillis Building, conference room 104.

The Society of Postdoctoral Scholars (SOPS) is pleased to announce the third edition (pun intended) of the annual book club. For 2023, the book club will discuss Walter Isaacson's 'The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race'. This book explores how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.

The book club met every 2 weeks on Wednesdays at 4:00 PM and SOPS provided participants with a copy of the book. 

Membership

The book club is open to graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. Membership is limited to 20 people and will be on a first-come first-serve basis (with priority being given to postdocs). Members were expected to attend all 7 sessions.

Schedule

• 03/08/2023: Meet & Greet, book pick up, and start of the Book Club (in the Gillis Building, conference room 104)
• 03/22/2023: Part 1
• 04/05/2023: Part 2
• 04/19/2023: Part 3
• 05/03/2023: Parts 4, 5, and 6
• 05/17/2023: Parts 7 and 8
• 05/31/2023: Part 9

Location

The Book Club was divided into an in person group (in the Gillis Building, conference room 104) and a Zoom group.  

The Society of Postdoctoral Scholars (SOPS) is pleased to announce the second edition (pun intended) of the annual book club. The 2022 theme for SOPS is GROW – Giving back, Realizing research goals, Opening your network, and Working with postdoc peers. Keeping with the aim of cultivating community and collaboration to enrich the postdoc experience at the University of Kentucky, we are going to read and discuss Safi Bahcall’s bestseller 'Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries'. This book explores group dynamics, collaboration, innovation, and how small changes in structure affect the spread of breakthrough ideas. 

The book club met every 2 weeks on Thursdays at 12:00 PM online and SOPS provided participants with a copy of the book. 

Membership

The book club is open to graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. Membership is limited to 20 people and will be on a first-come first-serve basis (with priority being given to postdocs). Members were expected to attend all 6 sessions.

Schedule

• 02/24/2022: Introductions and start of the book club
• 03/10/2022: Chapters 1-2
• 03/24/2022: Chapters 3-4
• 04/07/2022: Chapters 5-6
• 04/21/2022: Chapters 7-8
• 05/05/2022: Chapter 9, afterword, and end of the book club

The Society of Postdoctoral Scholars (SOPS) coordinated their first ever book club during Spring 2021. We discussed questions and issues around science communication as we read through 'If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?: My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating.' by Alan Alda. 

The book club met every 3 weeks on Tuesdays at 12:00 PM and SOPS provided participants with a copy of the book.

Book Club Launch

As an official launch to the book club, Dr. Morris Grubbs, an alumnus of the Alda Center for Communicating Science Summer Program at Stony Brook University, lead a discussion on this topic. For more detailed information for the launch, follow the link below: 

Science, Humanity, Alan Alda, and the Quest for Story

Membership

The book club is open to graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. Membership is limited to 20 people and will be on a first-come first-serve basis (with priority being given to postdocs). Members were expected to attend all 7 sessions.

Schedule

• 1/26/2021: Science, Humanity, Alan Alda, and the Quest for Story with Dr. Morris Grubbs
• 2/16/2021: Chapters 1-3
• 3/9/2021: Chapters 4-7
• 3/30/2021: Chapters 8-11
• 4/20/2021: Chapters 12-15
• 5/11/2021: Chapters 16-19
• 6/1/2021: Closing, Chapters 20-21