Princeton Research Forum
CALENDAR AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR OCTOBER 2026
DON’T FORGET – on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, at 6:00 pm, Shelley Frisch will be introducing her latest translation, that of Thomas Meyers’ new biography, Hannah Arendt: A Life of the Mind. Shelley will be in conversation with Michael Wood, emeritus professor at Princeton. It will be held at Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau Street, in Princeton. Details at: https://www.labyrinthbooks.com/events/2026-frisch-wood.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 at 3 pm: The SHORT STORY group will meet to celebrate the publication of PRF member Linda Arntzenius’ new book of poems, Should Have Known. at Ellen Gilbert’s house in Princeton. Linda will have copies of her book available to be signed; it can also be ordered from Amazon. Please RSVP to info@princetonresearchforum.org.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, at 7 pm: The POETRY group will meet via Zoom as usual. For more information, contact Winnie Hughes, poetry@princetonresearchforum.org.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, at 12:30 pm: The SCIENCE/SCIENCE HISTORY group will meet via Zoom to discuss This Explains Everything: Deep, Beautiful, and Elegant Theories of How the World Works, edited by John Brockman (recommended by Boris). For information, contact science@princetonnresearchforum.org.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, at 12:30 pm: The PRF Monthly Luncheon will be held in Mackay Hall at Princeton Theological Seminary, 64 Mercer Street, Princeton. Cost is $15 via card; no cash. For information, write info@princetonresearchforum.org.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19 at 7 pm: Regular meeting time for the POETRY group. For more information, contact Winnie Hughes, poetry@princetonresearchforum.org.
WEDNESDAY, October 21, at 7:00 pm: The HUMANITIES group Zoom meeting will discuss Jill Lepore’s article from the 09/18 New Yorker: “Is AI Above the Law” and Jeffrey Spear’s essay on the INET website “Does Nature Have Rights?” Links will be sent to the group. Contact Jeff Spear via humanities@princetonresearchforum.org.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 4 to 6 pm. The PRF FALL WINE AND CHEESE gathering will be held at the home of Winifred Hughes, 50 Wheatsheaf Lane, Princeton. Park on either side of Wheatsheaf Lane. To donate crackers, cheese, and white wine, to help with set-up and clearing up, and to RSVP, email Terri McNichol, tmcnichol@princetonresearchforum.org.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, from 3 to 5 pm: New PRF member Olga Ast will do a WORK-IN-PROGRESS. For more information, see News and Notes below. For Zoom link and more information, contact info@princetonresearchforum.org.
NEWS AND NOTES
Olga Ast’s WIP will be about her ArcheTime project, which is dedicated to the subject of time. Olga has been curating and developing this since 2009, when it began as a conference and exhibition in NYC. She will also introduce members to her cross-disciplinary conceptual artwork; she began creating this body of work in the 1980s-90s in the former Soviet Union and has continued since moving to the United States. The presentation will briefly address her participation in art-science programs, including Leonardo LASER and DASER meetings, as well as her involvement in the contemporary art scene and poetry events in NYC. Websites that describe her work include: archetime.net, infiniteinstances.com, fleeingfromabsence.com, partast.com.
An article by Joyce Irwin, titled “Lutheran Differences with the Reformed on Church Music,” appeared in the Autumn 2026 issue of Lutheran Quarterly (40/3). It shows how the animosity between Lutherans and Calvinists moderated over the course of the seventeenth century as Calvinists became more open to the use of organs in worship.
At 5 pm on Friday, November 6, Joyce will give a talk at Scheide Hall of Princeton Theological Seminary. She’ll be speaking before a combined meeting of the Central New Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and a class on hymnody at the seminary. Her talk, titled “Reasonable Worship and Spirit-rich Hymns: Themes in 18th Century Hymnology,” will address such topics as the introduction of new hymns, controversies about new hymnals, textual changes in older hymns, and different approaches to music in worship by Pietist, Orthodox, and Enlightenment theologians and poets. All are welcome to attend.
PRF president Deborah Greenhut had a busy spring and summer. She spoke at several conferences on mental health about identity reinvention through the reinterpretation of personal stories: Voices of Women in celebration of International Women’s Day (March); London Organisation for Skills Development at Oxford (April); Harvard University (August); other presentations for interdisciplinary colleagues in Paris, St. Lucia, and online.
Deborah will also present a workshop on Identity Development and Reinvention for First Year Students at the High Impact and Innovative Teaching Conference at the University of Texas-El Paso in November. She explains: “My presentations reflect my field experience in teaching writing from experience and researching the topic and its applications to education and leadership during my five decades of teaching, managing, and writing.”
Donn Mitchell will be giving a course based on his new book, Eleanor Roosevelt’s Nightly Prayer, for the Princeton Adult School on Tuesday evenings, November. 3, 10, and 17. To register, contact princetonadultschool.org.
Donn will also be speaking on Eleanor Roosevelt’s Nightly Prayer at St. Bartholmew’s in New York City at 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 11. He expects it to be live streamed and possibly posted to their website for later viewing.
On Thursday, September 24, Donn began teaching his new course at Fordham University, “Imagined Communities: Christian Nationalism and Its Soulmates.” One of his students told Donn that he had seen his FDR Library presentation, held in the spring, on C-Span. And on Sunday, November 8, Donn will be presenting “Frances Perkins: The Philadelphia Years” at St. Mark’s Church, Locust Street, in Philadelphia.
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