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Pepperdine University's Seaver College Presents 2009-2010 Dean's Lecture Series
The Dean of Seaver College W. David Baird Distinguished Lecture Series lineup for the 2009-2010 academic year is made up of engaging speakers on topics ranging from racial justice to creation science.
Established 10 years ago, this series of lectures has drawn scholars and public figures from many disciplines. "Each brings a unique perspective on an intellectually stimulating topic," says Seaver College dean Rick Marrs. "This year's lecture series promises to continue this rich tradition as premier scholars engage the pressing issues of the day in their fields of expertise."
The Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible through the support of the Seaver College Board of Visitors, the Seaver Parents Association, and other special friends of the college. All events are free, open to the public, and held in the Elkins Auditorium on the Malibu campus. Visit seaver.pepperdine.edu/dean/lectureseries for more information.
Thursday, November 19, 2009, 7 p.m.
Ronald Numbers
"Antievolutionism in America"
Ronald Numbers is an eminent figure in the history of science and religion and an authority on the historical significance of creationism and creation science. Numbers received his Ph.D. in history of science from University of California, Berkeley, and is currently the Hilldale and William Coleman Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has held two of the highest offices in the History of Science Society: president and editor of Isis. Other Numbers presidencies held include the Society of Church History, the American Association for the History of Medicine, and the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science/Division of History of Science and Technology. Numbers has been the recipient of many awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Sarton Medal. He was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of American Association for the Advancement of Science. Numbers is author or editor of numerous books including Galileo Goes to Jail, and Other Myths about Science and Religion (ed.); Darwinism Comes to America; The Creationists; and Science and Christianity in Pupit and Pew.
Thursday, February 11, 2010, 7 p.m.
John Paul Lederach
"The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace"
John Paul Lederach is professor of international peacebuilding at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is involved in conciliation work in Colombia, the Philippines, Nepal and Tajikistan, plus countries in East and West Africa. He has helped design and conduct training programs in 25 countries across five continents. Professor Lederach is the author or editor of 16 books and manuals, numerous academic articles and monographs on peace education, conflict transformation, international peacebuilding, and conciliation training, including The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Buildling Peace, published by Oxford University Press. His work has been widely published in English and Spanish. Ledarach holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 7 p.m.
Lester Holt
"The Democratization of Journalism"
Lester Holt is the weekend anchor for the flagship broadcast NBC Nightly News, and is the co-anchor of the weekend edition of TODAY. Holt also served as a primary anchor for MSNBC's coverage for the biggest news events of the last several years, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war in Afghanistan, and he was the lead daytime anchor for MSNBC's coverage of Decision 2000. He served as anchor of "Countdown: Iraq", a nightly news telecast concentrating on the latest developments surrounding the war with Iraq, from October 2002 through March 2003. The award-winning boradcast journalist came to MSNBC from WBBM-TV in Chicago. Holt not only worked at the anchor desk in Chicago, but he also reported extensively from trouble spots around the world including Iraq, Northern Ireland, Somalia, El Salvador, and Haiti. He has contributed to the CBS News broadcast "48 Hours," earning a 1990 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award for his work on 48 Hours: No Place Like Home. Mr. Holt resides in New York City with his wife and family.
Past speakers:
Thursday, October 8, 2009, 7 p.m.
Dr. Cornel West
"An Evening with Dr. Cornel West"
One of America’s most provocative public intellectuals, Cornel West has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz. West earned two bachelor’s degrees from Harvard in three years, magna cum laude. After earning his Ph.D. at Princeton, he became a professor religion and director of the Afro-American Studies program there. West has also taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris. West burst on to the national scene in 1993 with his bestselling book, Race Matters, a searing analysis of racism in American democracy. In his book, Democracy Matters, West analyzes the arrested development of democracy both in American and in the crisis-ridden Middle East. In his book, Hope on a Tightrope, he offers courageous commentary on issues that affect the lives of all Americans. Themes include race, leadership, faith, family, philosophy, and love and service.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 7 p.m.
W.S. Merwin
"An Evening of Poetry with Pulitzer Prize-winner W.S. Merwin"
In a career spanning five decades, W.S. Merwin, poet, translator, and environmental activist, has become one of the most widely read poets in America. The son of Presbyterian minister, for whom he began writing hymns at the age of 5, Merwin went to Europe as a young man and developed a love of languages that led to work as a literary translator. Over the course of his career, Merwin has published over 20 books of poetry and nearly 20 books of translation. His writings include A Mask for Janus, The Lice, and The Carrier of Ladders, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize. His recent collections include Present Company; Migration: New & Selected Poems, which won the 2006 National Book Award; The Pupil; The River Sound, which was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; Flower and Hand: Poems 1977-1983; The Vixen; and Travels, which received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Merwin is a former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and has served as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress. He currently lives and works in Hawaii.
