2009-2010 Contemporary Issues Lecture Series
The College of Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is once again offering the Contemporary Issues Lecture Series.
"We strive to bring in speakers that will discuss contemporary issues in a provocative way to create an academic discussion that begins before the speaker arrives and continues after he or she has left," said Susan Johnson, associate professor of political science and lecture series committee chairperson. Faculty across campus have embraced the series and students are encouraged to attend the lectures.
All lectures will be in the Young Auditorium at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Contact Susan Johnson (johnsons@uww.edu or 472-4766) for further information.
Fall 2009
ALMA GUILLERMOPRIETO
"How to Be Mexican"
Monday, October 12, 2009Alma Guillermoprieto is considered an authority on the cultural and political life of Mexico and South America, especially as they relate to the United States. For the last thirty years, she has traced the history of Latin America incorporating her personal experiences. Born in Mexico, and raised in Mexico and in the U.S., Guillermoprieto is a MacArthur Fellow, and a winner of the George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting. Two of her books, Looking for History and The Heart That Bleeds, are collections of her stories on Latin America, covering everything from the Colombian Civil War to the "Dirty War" in Argentina. Drawing from one of the most respected bodies of journalism of the past three decades, Guillermoprieto is now asking, what does it mean to be a Mexican today?
STEVEN PINKER
"The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature"
Monday, November 2, 2009Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists, is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was named among Newsweek's 100 Americans for the Next Century, one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World and one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy. His research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has received numerous awards, including the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences. His acclaimed "language" series included The Language Instinct, Words and Rules, and his most recent book, 2007's The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature.
CHRIS ABANI
CAMPUS/COMMUNITY READING INITIATIVE
"Inspirations for Song for Night and Other Writings"
Monday, November 30, 2009Chris Abani, imprisoned by the Nigerian government as a teenager for his writings, is currently a Professor at the University of California, Riverside and has been recognized as one of the best writers to emerge from Africa in half a century. He is the recipient of the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award and the PEN Hemingway Book Prize. His most recent recognition is as a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow in Fiction. Three of his books, The Virgin of Flames, Becoming Abigail, and Song for Night, were named a New York Times Editor's Choice. Song for Night is the book that has been selected for the Campus/Community Reading Initiative.
Spring 2010
CHARLES WHEELAN
"Naked Trends: What Can Basic Economics Tell Us About the Future"
Monday, February 15, 2010Charles Wheelan, a faculty member at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and a former Midwest correspondent for The Economist, writes Yahoo!'s popular "Naked Economics" column. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Chicago, Wheelan was Director of Policy and Communications for Chicago Metropolis 2020, a business-backed civic group promoting healthy regional growth in the Chicago area. He has written for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. His 2003 book, Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, seeks to make economics accessible, comprehensible and appealing.
JAMES FALLOWS
"Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China"
Monday, March 15, 2010James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic, has worked for the magazine for more than 25 years. Fallows also spent two years as chief White House speech writer for Jimmy Carter, two years as the editor of US News & World Report and six months as a program designer at Microsoft. Fallows has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award five times and has won once; he has also won the American Book Award for nonfiction. Since the creation of the New America Foundation in 1999 he has been chairman of its board. Currently based in Beijing, Fallows most recent book Postcards from Tomorrow Square, shares human stories, charts China's bumpy transition to democracy, and tries to make sense of both its economic explosion and its environmental impact.
JEAN BRENNAN
DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR LECTURE
"The Climate Change Challenge: Why Traditional Conservation Approaches Can't Work"
Tuesday, April 20, 2010Nobel Peace Prize winner Jean Brennan is the Senior Climate Change Scientist at Defenders of Wildlife. As a Science Officer for the U.S. Department of State she served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Brennan shares in the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 as recognized by the IPCC for her contributions leading to the award. Her work at Defenders of Wildlife focuses on the challenges facing species in adapting to climate changes. She is an experienced field biologist and has conducted research on primates and small carnivores in Kenya and Madagascar, Asian elephants and other endangered large mammals on Peninsula Malaysia, and orangutans and proboscis monkeys on Borneo, Indonesia.