Diva dissected

For those who live conveniently in the upper Upper West Side and neighboring hoods, there will be a two-day interdisciplinary conference on opera at Columbia, free and open to the public, entitled "Technologies of the Diva". The conference will feature academic papers with provocative titles, such as: "Of the Properties of Gems and Voice," "Why Look Down a Diva's Throat?", "Sex and the Sound Test," and "Cathy Berberian: or, the Absent Diva". I'm near certain there will be pastries and lots and lots of coffee. But bring your own jargon.