Tag Archive for 'lectures'

Distinguished Scholar talk 4/7

Kwame Anthony Appiah will receive the Distinguished Scholar Award and speak on “Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers” on Tues., April 7, at 7pm in the Young Auditorium.

Cosmopolitanism coverKwame Anthony Appiah is the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. His book, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (3rd-floor Main Collection BJ1031 .A635 2006), was the 2007 winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award. Other books of his include Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race (3rd-Floor Main Collection, E185.615 .A77 1996, or online via NetLibrary) and The Ethics of Identity (available to UWW students & staff from other UW System libraries by using the free Universal Borrowing service). He has published widely in African and African-American literary and cultural studies. Search the Library’s article databases for examples, including “Cosmopolitan patriots” in Critical Inquiry (Spring 1997, vol.23, no.3, pp.617-639). Appiah has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and also is a trustee of Ashesi University College in Accra, Ghana.

Milky Way lecture 3/20

Next in the UWW Observatory Lecture Series is “Mapping the Milky Way” by UWW Physics Professor Robert Benjamin at 8 p.m. on Fri., March 20, in Upham Hall 141, followed by (weather permitting) a public viewing session at the Whitewater Observatory. Both events are free and open to the public.

Interested in more information? A search of the Library’s article databases such as Academic Search Premier and MasterFILE Premier (both available via EBSCOhost) would find articles such as “How astronomers glimpse the naked galaxy” (Astronomy, Feb. 2007, vol.35, no.2, pp.58-63). Also see “The Milky Way Remapped” (Sky & Telescope, June 6, 2008).

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The International Astronomical Union has declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy, dedicated to bringing the universe down to Earth through lectures, exhibits and observing sessions for people of all ages.

Southeast Asian Heritage Lecture Series

The Southeast Asian Heritage Lecture Series, sponsored by the UWW Southeast Asian Organization and Southeast Asian Support Services, has the theme “We are the voices that break boundaries.” There are two presentations, both at 4:30pm:

  • March 17: “Southeast Asians in the Media” by Mai Hlee Xiong, Editor-in-Chief of 18XEEM Magazine and a community activist (University Center, room 259A)
  • The Latehomecomer coverApril 7: “What it Means to Write” by Kao Kalia Yang, author of the novel The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir (Upham Hall, room 140). A copy of the novel is available from the Library’s 2nd-floor New Book Island, E184.H55 Y36 2008.

Relevant resources are available in the University’s Library. Search the Library Catalog to find titles such as Bamboo among the oaks: contemporary writing by Hmong Americans (2nd-floor New Book Island, PS508.H63 B36 2002)

Minnijean Brown Trickey @UWW 3/9

Minnijean Brown Trickey will present “Return to Little Rock: Minnijean Brown Trickey of the Little Rock Nine” on Mon., Mar. 9th, at 7 pm in the Young Auditorium (part of the College of Letters and Sciences’ Contemporary Issues Lecture Series).

On September 25th 1957, under the gaze of 1,200 armed soldiers and a worldwide audience, Minnijean Brown Trickey (one of the “Little Rock Nine”) faced down an angry mob and helped to desegregate Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. During the Clinton Administration she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior responsible for diversity. She has spent her life fighting for the rights of minority groups and the dispossessed. For her work, she has received the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, the Wolf Award, the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal, and many other citations and awards.

Turn Away Thy Son coverYou can read more about her in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Read more about the Little Rock Nine in Turn away thy son: Little Rock, the crisis that shocked the nation (3rd-floor Main Collection, LC214.23.L56 J33 2007).

Barns of Walworth County (3/5)

Frank Landi will give a PowerPoint presentation on “The Barns of Walworth County” on Thursday, March 5th, at 7 pm at Whitewater’s public library (Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, 431 W Center St). The program is free, and the library is within walking distance of campus.

Barns of the Midwest coverThe Old barn Book coverInterested in barns? Search Andersen Library’s catalog to find titles including Barns of the Midwest (3rd-floor Main Coll. NA8230 .B27 1995), The old barn book: a field guide to North American barns and other farm structures (3rd-floor Main Coll. NA8230 .N63 1995), and Barns of Wisconsin (3rd-floor Main Coll. TH4930 .A66).Barns of Wisconsin cover

Native Pride lectures (2/26 & 3/12)

The Native pride lecture series includes

  • Feb. 26, 4 pm: Robert Warrior, professor of American Indian studies and English at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, “American Indian Intellectual Health” (UC Old Main Ballroom)
  • Mar. 12, 4 pm: Felicia Carpenter, social worker and case manager at Managed Health Services in Milwaukee, “A Native Perspective on Social Services Delivery” (3005 Carlson Hall)

Reasoning Together coverAnyone interested in these and related topics could find additional information in the University’s Library. A search of the Library Catalog would find titles such as Counseling with Native American Indians and Alaska Natives: strategies for helping professionals (3rd-floor Main Collection, E98.S46 H47 1999), Reasoning together: the native critics collective (3rd-floor Main Collection, PS153.I52 R33 2008), and The Cambridge companion to Native American literature (3rd-floor Main Collection, PS153.I52 C36 2005).

Comets: Multimedia Event 2/20

The UW-W Physics Dept.’s first 2009 Observatory Public Lecture will be Dr. Paul Rybski’s one-hour multimedia presentation “Comets and the International Year of Astronomy” (Fri., Feb. 20th, 8 pm, Upham 141), followed by (weather permitting) a public viewing session at Whitewater Observatory at about 9:15 pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

Anyone interested in additional information about comets, Galilei, or astronomy in general will find a wealth of material in the University’s Library. A search of the Library Catalog would find books such as Comet by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (3rd-floor Main Collection, QB721 .S34 1985) or Galileo: his science and his significance for the future of man (3rd-floor Main Collection, QB36.G2 D48 1996). More about comets may be found online, e.g., the blog “The transient sky – comets, asteroids, meteors” or NASA’s web site (“Green comet approaches Earth”).

Galileo Galilei imageLECTURE ABSTRACT: “Four hundred years ago this spring, a feisty Italian physics professor Galileo Galilei heard about the invention of the telescope in what today is Holland and set about building his own. By Summer 1609, he was showing it to important people; and by Fall 1609, he was making the first recorded astronomical observations with this telescope. These observations obtained the first real evidence that astronomical objects were not perfect and unchangeable and that the Earth probably revolved around the Sun.

In celebration of this important event, the International Astronomical Union has declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy, dedicated to bringing the universe down to Earth through lectures, exhibits and observing sessions for people of all ages. Whitewater Observatory begins its participation in the IYA with a lecture about the significance of Galileo’s first observations and about the most recent observations of Comets Lulin and Kushida, both visible in the night sky this month.”

Government Printing Office logo

The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!

Kevin Sites @UWW 2/16

Journalist Kevin Sites will present a lecture “One Man. One Year. A World of Conflict” at 7 p.m. on Mon., Feb. 16th in the Irvin Young Auditorium as part of the Contemporary Issues Lecture Series.

Time magazine called Mr. Sites “the web’s best war correspondent.”  In November 2004, as an NBC News correspondent, he filmed and reported on the Iraqi war, including an incident where a U.S. Marine shot a wounded Iraqi insurgent in a Fallujah mosque. For that he was honored with the Payne Award for ethics in journalism.  As Yahoo!’s first news correspondent, he spent an entire year covering every major global conflict for the award-winning documentary “Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone”.  His website won a 2007 Webby for Best News/Documentary/Public Affairs site for coverage of the Israeli-Hezbollah War.

In The Hot Zone coverYour University Library has a copy of his book, In the hot zone: one man, one year, twenty wars (3rd-floor Main Collection, PN4874.S5177 A3 2007), which includes his DVD documentary “A World of Conflict.”

Darwin Day lecture 2/12

The 2009 Darwin Day lectureNeandertals, Darwin, and the Sicilian Mafia; what do they have in common?” will be given by Dr. John Hawks, a UW-Madison anthropologist, on Thurs., Feb. 12th, at 7 p.m. in the Young Auditorium (free!).

Reflections of the past coverYou may have heard Dr. Hawks on NPR (National Public Radio) discussing Darwin and human evolution, and he is featured in an article “Are we still evolving?” (photo online at “They don’t make homo sapiens like they used to”) in Discover magazine’s March 2009 issue honoring 150 years of evolution (available in the Browsing area just inside the Library entrance). You can also learn more about Dr. Hawks and neandertals from his weblog.

Darwin's ghost coverSearch the Library Catalog for books in the University Library about neandertals, human evolution, and Darwin, such as Reflections of our past: how human history is revealed in our genes (3rd-floor Main Collection, GN289 .R45 2003) or Darwin’s ghost: The origin of species updated (3rd-floor Main Collection, QH375 .J66 2000).

2009 is a special year for Darwin enthusiasts because it marks two major anniversaries: 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin (February 12, 1809) and 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species.

Award-winning faculty give their favorite lectures

Most of us remember our favorite teachers, and those times in class when we learned something that really affected us in some way. UWW has a number of faculty that have won awards for their teaching…don’t you wish you could sample their lectures? Well, now you can!

The spring 2009 Fairhaven Lecture Series theme is “My Favorite Lecture.” The series gives you a chance to hear some of UWW’s award-winning instructors deliver their favorite lectures:

  • Jan. 26: What the Heck is Passacaglia? (Christian Ellenwood, Music Dept.)
  • Feb. 2: The Bible of Amiens: The Sculpture of the Great Cathedral (Chris Henige, Art Dept.)
  • Feb. 9: Listen Up! Strategies for Being a Better Listener (Barb Penington, Communication Dept.)
  • Feb. 16: Generations Theory: Looking Across Generations To Create Understanding (Brenda O’Beirne, Counselor Education Dept.)
  • Feb. 23: Advertiser Use of Psychology: Behavioral Conditioning (Lois Smith, Marketing Dept.)
  • Mar. 2: Wisconsin’s New Final Rights Act (Linda Reid, Finance & Business Law Dept.)
  • Mar. 9: Enron: What Really Happened and How Did They Do It? (Robert Gruber, Accounting Dept.)
  • Mar. 16: The Myth of Narcissus and Echo (Rebecca Hogan, Languages & Literatures Dept.)
  • Mar. 30: “Is Seeing Believing?”: The Psychology of Visual Illusions (Greg Cook, Psychology Dept.)
  • Apr. 6: Where Does Knowledge Come From? The Role of Science & Research in Teaching (Greg Valde, Educational Foundations Dept.)
  • Apr. 13: Promoting Peace by Building Schools: The Story of Three Cups of Tea (Marilyn Durham, Languages & Literatures Dept.)
  • Apr. 20: Asian Americans: The Fastest Growing Minority Population in the U.S. (Larry Neuman, Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice Dept.)

Lectures are open to the public and free. All take place on Mondays at 3 p.m. at Fairhaven Retirement Community’s Fellowship Hall (435 West Starin Road, Whitewater, WI). If you can’t attend, podcasts of the lectures will be posted at the series web site.

If you are interested in learning more on the topics of these lectures, the University Library should be able to help you! Searching the Library Catalog would find titles such as High Gothic: the classic cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, Amiens (3rd-floor Main Collection, NA5543 .J3613 1984); Listening in everyday life: a personal and professional approach (3rd-floor Main Collection, P95.46 .L57 1997), and The advertised mind: ground-breaking insights into how our brains respond to advertising (3rd-floor Main Collection, HF5822 .D8 2005). The Library’s article databases could be searched to find newspaper, journal, and magazine articles too.

Please ask a librarian for assistance in finding materials.