Susan Mayer, Dean of the Harris School of Public Policy, discusses the sources of inequality in the United States, differing definitions of equality, and how to make equality a reality. She emphasizes the need for equality of opportunity in education, the work force and family life.

Robert Townsend, co-director of the Thai Family Research Project, discusses the importance of individual entrepreneurs in shaping local and regional economies and reducing poverty. His findings draw on over 10 years of data collected from nearly 3,000 households throughout Thailand. This research contributed to the creation of The Enterprise Initiative, a new project funded by the John Templeton Foundation which focuses on wealth creation and poverty reduction in developing countries.

Olaf Schneewind, M.D., Ph.D, Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, and Joe Kanabrocki, Ph.D, Biosafety Officer for the Ricketts Biocontainment Laboratory, talk about a new state-of-the-art facility designed to develop new treatments, diagnostic tests and vaccines for emerging infectious diseases. The Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory (HTRL) will house research on microbial agents that are considered either Risk Group 2 (agents that cause mild to moderate symptoms in humans, but are not life threatening) or Risk Group 3 (agents that have the potential to cause lethal human infections, but have at least one effective treatment). The HTRL has been designed and built according to the strictest federal standards and incorporates multiple layers of safety and security to protect laboratory workers and the surrounding environment.

Martha Roth, Ph.D., Professor of Assyriology, discusses the final volume of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, a comprehensive lexicon of ancient Akkadian dialects 86 years in the making. Roth has served as Editor-in-Charge of the project for the past 11 years.

Jean Decety, Professor, Psychology and Psychiatry, explains his research into pain responses and how physicians learn to turn off the part of the brain that activates feelings of empathy. Decety co-authored Expertise Modulates the Perception of Pain in Others, published in October 2007, which discusses the necessary ability of a doctor to regulate pain perception in order to better treat patients.

Maria Woltjen, Director of the Immigrant Children's Advocacy Project, describes how she founded a program to provide unaccompanied immigrant children with guardians ad litem. In 2005, nearly 8,000 unaccompanied immigrant children were taken into federal custody and many of these children had to face immigration judges without any legal aid. By working with multilingual law students, The Center pairs advocates with immigrant and refugee children to ensure the child's welfare is represented, not the interests of traffickers or smugglers.

Margaret Gardel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Physics, is a 2007 recipient of the NIH Director's Pioneer award, along with four others from The University of Chicago. Fundamentally interdisciplinary, Gardel's research straddles both the physical and biological sciences by exploring disease on a molecular level. Gardel explains how the physical structure of cells may yield clues to advanced treatments for cancer and other diseases.

Dr. Bruce Lahn discusses newly discovered variants in two genes, one of which affects brain-size in humans. Because these variants have arisen very recently, studying them may help researchers understand the ongoing evolution of the human brain.

Clemens Reichel, Research Associate at the Oriental Institute, explains the importance of the groundbreaking archaeological expedition he co-directed at Hamoukar in Northern Syria. Until recently, archaeologists believed that urban civilization first arose in Southern Mesopotamia, or modern day Iraq. Work at Hamoukar has revealed a separate and equally ancient urban movement to the north of the area that has been traditionally regarded as the birthplace of the city.

Martin E. Marty, Professor Emeritus of the History of Modern Christianity in the Divinity, discusses his new book, The Mystery of the Child, and the origins of his interest in the subject of children. Departing from literature on children that regards the child as a problem to be controlled, Marty's new work--emanating from his involvement in Emory University's three-year study of The Child in Law, Religion and Society --calls for us to foster wonder in children, asking that we rediscover what it means to be a child as well as to care for one.