Fall 2009 Series
Come back to campus! You are invited to experience an intimate discussion with Notre Dame’s most engaging faculty speakers on some of the most pressing and fascinating issues of our times.
Each lecture and Q&A is presented in the Snite Museum’s Annenberg Auditorium at 12 noon on “home game” Saturdays, with one exception: the lecture before the October 31 game versus Washington State University will be in San Antonio. This lecture starts at 10 a.m. at the Marriott Rivercenter. No tickets required for any of the lectures.
For more information about all events during “Game Days” this fall, go to http://gameday.nd.edu/
9.5.09 (vs. University of Nevada)
“Memorial Mania: Public Art and Public Feelings in America Today”
Erika Doss, Professor and Chair, Department of American Studies
Why do we make memorials in America today, and why do we make so many of them? Just in the past few decades, thousands of new memorials, from permanent war memorials to temporary roadside memorials, have materialized in the American landscape. This talk focuses on contemporary American interests in memory, history, and public feelings, and the urgent desire to express them in public art and commemoration.
Note: This video is in WMV format. Mac users should download Flip4Mac in order to play it.
9.19.09 (vs. Michigan State University)
“International Security Studies: What the Eggheads Can Teach the Generals”
Michael Desch, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science
In an April 2008 speech to the Association of American Universities, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates argued that “we must again embrace eggheads and ideas.” The challenge for us is to determine when and how academic social scientists can best contribute to national security policy in the future.
Note: This video is in WMV format. Mac users should download Flip4Mac in order to play it.
10.3.09 (vs. University of Washington)
“Images That Matter: The U.S. as Seen through Latin American Eyes”
Thomas F. Anderson, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
This talk will examine a wide range of opinions that Latin Americans have formed of the United States over the past two centuries through readings of texts that hail from many countries (Argentina, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Uruguay) and various areas of study (literature, politics, history, economics, etc.). Though the views of the authors and the images that they paint of the United States are diverse, many of them are strikingly similar in their revelation of the negative sentiments of Latin Americans who feel violated by what they see as the United States’ imperialistic ambitions in the region.
10.17.09 (vs. University of Southern California)
“Shakespeare in the 21st Century”
Peter D. Holland, McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies, Department of Film, Television, and Theatre
Scott Jackson, Executive Director, Shakespeare at Notre Dame
There was a time when Shakespeare was the preserve of an elite culture. Not any more. Shakespeare is now to be found everywhere: Shakespeare for children, Shakespeare in the community, Shakespeare in movies and on the web. Shakespeare is the ultimate global product, to be found almost everywhere across the planet. This session will explore some of the ways Shakespeare’s works are being performed in the 21st century, especially on the web and here at Notre Dame.
10.24.09 (vs. Boston College)
“The French Revolution, or How to Keep Your Head in Turbulent Times”
Julia V. Douthwaite, Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
This lecture will combine reflections on Douthwaite’s decade of experience (1999-2009) as a University administrator and manager at Notre Dame, with amusing anecdotes of famous faux-pas of the French Revolution, to provide advice to busy professionals on how not to lose one’s head in stressful situations. Topics include: The Fiscal Fiascos of Marie-Antoinette, Appearances Are All, and That Rascal Robespierre.
10.31.09 (vs. Washington State University)
game and lecture are in San Antonio; lecture starts at 10 a.m. at Marriott Rivercenter
“Latinos and the Remapping of American Catholicism”
Virgilio P. Elizondo, Notre Dame Professor of Pastoral and Hispanic Theology, Department of Theology
Daniel G. Groody, CSC, Assistant Professor, Department of Theology
Timothy M. Matovina, Professor, Department of Theology
Latinos bring new life as well as new challenges to Catholic parishes and dioceses. This presentation will examine the growing Hispanic presence, especially how to enhance the vitality of Catholic faith in the United States through a renewed understanding of the history, faith traditions, and immigrant foundations of U.S. Catholicism.
11.7.09 (vs. United States Naval Academy)
“Going Global: Medical Ethics in the Age of AIDS”
Maura Ryan, John Cardinal O’Hara Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Department of Theology
Since it was first recognized in 1981, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has contributed to the deaths of more than 25 million people. Of those infected with HIV/AIDS in 2007, 68 percent lived in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this lecture, Ryan explores what AIDS has taught us about health and illness, poverty and vulnerability, hope and solidarity.
11.21.09 (vs. University of Connecticut)
“Understanding the Cultural, Religious, and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults (18-23 Year Olds)”
Christian Smith, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology
What happens to the religious and spiritual lives of Catholic youth when they transition from the high school to the college-age years? What does young adult culture look like today? Smith will review major findings from his National Study of Youth and Religion pertaining to Catholic 18-23 year-olds.