Harmony Busker
If, as some say, they are only two kinds of people in this world, namely realists and dreamers, International Relations Prof. Daniel Kselman would be the quintessential dreamer. Mind you, he’s a dreamer who still believes in sincere and effective political action!!!
He says that as a musical species we are inspired by harmony, by the joining together of individual notes and lines into something that is more graceful and complete. And, as you’ll see, he has no problem busking in his search for harmony!
P.S. Prof. Kselman holds a PhD in political science from Duke University, where he also did a Masters degree in Economics. His research focuses on the consequences of political parties’ organizational structures for a variety of important phenomena, including the incidence of political extremism…
Beijing Opera
Although this video runs for just three minutes, it actually took six months to shoot from the moment Operations Management professor Cui Zhijian and I first talked about it. It wasn’t because I thought it was necessary for Prof. Cui Zhijian to go to Beijing to do it, or that we needed support of other actors or an orchestra…It was because I knew that he was going to need the right make-up artist. As you know, the masks they use in Chinese opera add a great deal of drama and meaning to the proceedings, but finding a make-up artist that could do the job properly was no easy task. He asked among his connections in the Chinese community in Madrid, and I did the same with my Chinese professor and friends, but to no avail.
It was only by chance that I met make-up artist Eli Serrano García, who appears briefly in the video. A colleague of hers came to IE to do the make-up for another video, and when asked if she would be able to do it she replied that she couldn’t but that she knew someone that might. Mission accomplished!!!
On another note, the images of Beijing you’ll see were shot when I went to Beijing this April with IE Dean, Santiago Iñiguez. Unfortunately there was no way Prof. Cui Zhijian could join us. You can’t have it all.
P.S. Prof. Cui Zhijian is a Beijinger who has also lived in Paris and Canada. Ich bin auch ein Beijinger!!! It’s a real pleasure to listen to him talk about operations and the Beijing Opera. By the way, the second opera he sings is Ba Wang Bie Ji, which was turned into the film “Farewell My Concubine”. The film won the Cannes Palme d´Or. Excellent!!!
Floydcounting
Hey, you! As the song goes…
You don’t expect an accountancy professor to be much fun, do you? Well, the beauty of life consists of expecting the unexpected. It was an absolute pleasure to listen to Prof. Trombetta talking not only about the dark side of numbers and financial literacy, but also about one of his favorite bands, namely Pink Floyd.
Basically what happened was that I was given a crash course on the band, in Cambridge of all places, as well as brushing up on music in general. This guy loves to go around buying LPs. He bought six, and none of them was by Pink Floyd for the simple reason that he already has all of theirs.
Check out Prof. Trobetta playing the piano!!! And remember, if you need to balance your books, or just fancy a chat about music and life in general, you know who to go to…!
P.S.: Here is a recommendation: Don´t miss Searching for Sugar Man, Documentary Oscar 2013.
Photo Professor Marco Trombetta in theotherphoto.blogs.ie.edu
Just in Time
Prof.of Management, Daniel Corsten explains operations systems while singing Just in Time.
Just as Just in Time could be either a very popular song or a production strategy designed to maximize business return on investment, Prof. Daniel Corsten could be either the most knowledgeable management professor around or the most enthusiastic person on earth doing what he loves to do, which happens to be singing for you. Knowledge and enthusiasm is certainly a powerful combination.
Don’t miss what he has to say about how we make decisions when we’re shopping, why supermarket shelves are organized the way they are, and why just in time is so important both in business and in life.
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