News Bureau | University of Illinois

Spring Miller/Comm lectures explore variety of topics

Craig Chamberlain, News Editor
217-333-2894; cdchambe@illinois.edu

2/17/2004

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Civil rights leader Julian Bond, National Public Radio commentator Andrei Codrescu and composer Don Davis, who wrote scores for "The Matrix" movies, will all be among the speakers this spring in the Center for Advanced Study/MillerComm lecture series at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Among the topics in other lectures: the Harlem Renaissance; Western and Asian thought; Iranian politics and U.S. foreign policy; the unpredictability of science and its consequences; women’s rights in Nigeria; and the university in the 21st century.

The series, begun in 1973 and supported with funds from the George A. Miller Endowment and several co-sponsoring campus units, provides a forum for discourse on topics spanning the university’s many disciplines. The talks are free and open to the public.

The series opens Monday (Feb. 23) with the lecture "The Remains of the Name: The Origins of the Harlem Renaissance in the Discourse of Egyptology, 1922-1925," presented by Robert A. Hill, a professor of history at the University of California at Los Angeles. Hill will discuss the intellectual origins of the Harlem Renaissance going back to Marcus Garvey and including the impact of the "Egyptian revival" of the 1920s. His talk, the seventh annual W.E.B. DuBois Lecture, begins at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana.

Subsequent lectures:

• Feb. 25, "Cross-Currents Between Film and Concert Music," by Don Davis, a Los Angeles composer and conductor. Davis will use his scores for the three "Matrix" movies to examine stylistic considerations in film music compared with trends in symphonic, opera and chamber music composition. His lecture begins at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of the Music Building, 1114 W. Nevada St., Urbana.

• Feb. 27, "Far Afield: Experiencing Landscape," by Lucy Lippard, an independent writer and activist. Lippard will use her recent books, among them "On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art and Place," to explore cultural and personal dimensions of the landscape experience in contemporary society. Her talk begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Plym Auditorium, Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 Lorado Taft Drive, Champaign.

• March 3, "The Impact of Race on Theater and Culture," by Woodie King Jr., founder and producing director, New Federal Theatre, New York City, considered a leading theater for minority drama. King will discuss the politics of art and historic intersections of race and theater, such as the play "A Raisin in the Sun." His lecture begins at 5 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center.

• March 8, "Reinventing the Wheel: Original Capitalism in Dracula Land," by Andrei Codrescu, MacCurdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University and a commentator for National Public Radio. Codrescu will talk about communism, post-communism and Europe, with the experiences of his native Romania at the heart of the story. His talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Smith Memorial Hall, 805 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana.

• March 12, "Solitary Sex and the Question of Gender," by Thomas Laqueur, a professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley. Laqueur will discuss the emergence of masturbation in the practice of sexuality in recent centuries and how it brought women to the center of debates about the ethics of the self. His lecture begins at
4 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center.

• March 16, "The Unpredictability of Science and Its Consequences," by Sir John Meurig Thomas, professor of solid state chemistry at the University of Cambridge. Known for his efforts to popularize science, Thomas will demonstrate through examples how scientists are no better than the general public in foreseeing the scientific and technological future. His talk begins at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center.

• March 17, "There’s a Spirit That Transcends the Border: Faith, Ritual and Postnational Protest at the U.S.-Mexico Border," by Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, director of the War Crimes Studies Center, University of California at Berkeley. Hondagneu-Sotelo will examine the ritual and meanings of the Posada Sin Fronteras, a religious and political event that calls attention to the death toll at the U.S.-Mexico border caused by U.S. border enforcement policies. Her lecture begins at 4 p.m. on the third floor of Levis Faculty Center.

• April 2, "The Broken Promise of Brown," by Julian Bond, a professor of history at the University of Virginia and chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Bond, a major participant in the civil rights movement, will discuss the promise that resulted from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 desegregation decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education – then explain how and why that promise was broken and why it matters. His talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Smith Memorial Hall.

• April 7, "A Unified Theory for Post-Suburban Planning," by Andres Duany, co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism. New Urbanism is a community planning movement that encourages compact, transit-oriented, pedestrian friendly, sustainable neighborhoods. Duany will discuss his proposals to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment by combining neighborhood design with environmental concerns. His talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in the atrium of Temple Hoyne Buell Hall.

• April 8, "Iranian Politics and U.S. Foreign Policy," by Ervand Abrahamian, Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College. Abrahamian will discuss political developments in Iran and their implications for the country’s relations with the United States. His lecture begins at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center.

• April 16, "The University and Its Publics: Global Perspectives for the 21st Century," by Michael Burawoy, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley. Burawoy will examine how privatization and corporatization threaten the university and how the social sciences and humanities can respond. His talk begins at
4 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center.

• April 21, "Geography of Thought," by Richard Nisbett, Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished University Professor and co-director of the Culture and Cognition Program at the University of Michigan. Nisbett will discuss the differences between Western thought, which is analytical and often focused on categories and rules, and Asian thought, which is holistic and often focused on relationships and similarities. His lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Knight Auditorium at the Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana.

• April 26, "Video Game Subjects: Children and the Making of the Video Game," by Valerie Walkderine, professor of psychology at Cardiff University in Wales. Walkerdine examines the importance of feminine subjectivity for neoliberalism by exploring, through a series of case studies of young women, the way neoliberalism invites us to constantly remake and reinvent ourselves through practices of consumption. Her lecture begins at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center.

• April 29, "This Woman Has Been Sentenced to Death by Stoning," by Ayesha Imam, founding director of BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights in Nigeria. Imam will speak on how the media have covered cases of "zina" (illicit sexual intercourse) in Nigeria since the passage of the Sharia Penal Codes. Her talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in Room 405 of the Levis Faculty Center.

• May 5, "Carrie Mae Weems: A Reflection on My Work," by Carrie Mae Weems, an artist associated with the PPOW Gallery in New York City. Weems is best known for her meditations on race and the African-American experience, through her photographs and installations. Her lecture begins at 4 p.m. in the 20th Century Gallery at the Krannert Art Museum, 500 W. Peabody Drive, Champaign.