Below are the list of possible keynote speakers nominated by University Scholars for the USP’s 2010 spring symposium on “Legacies.” Take some time to review the nominees, make comments, or suggest others. The grad mentors will be sending out a survey to determine top preferences.
* WENDELL BERRY (Charles Walters)
Wendell Berry is a poet, novelist, essayist and farmer from Kentucky whose early advocacy of economic reforms in agribusiness deeply influenced contemporary writers such as Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Pollan wrote the introduction to Berry’s collection of essays and short stories, “Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food” which addresses the environmental, economic, and cultural destruction of farming communities by big agribusiness.
(above link from from a recent speech by Berry provides good idea of what he talks about)
*BILL CHAMEIDES (Haiku by Irene Liu)
Food, water, oil, school:
Recipe for power in the
World we leave our kids?
Bill Chameides is the Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment whose work focuses on “global and local environmental change, causes, and impacts and paths towards sustainable development.” He has served as chief scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech, and is currently vice chair of the
Committee on America’s Climate Choices.
*Steven Churchill (Haiku by Irene Liu)
Footprints on the earth
Throw light on man’s past and ask
How our world shapes us.
Steven Churchill is Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke. His research and teaching examine the morphological and behavioral adaptations that ancient and modern humans have made, from subsistence strategies of hunting and weaponry technologies to community ecology.
http://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/people?subpage=profile&Gurl=/aas/BAA&Uil=churchy
* CHARLIE CLOTFELTER (Elise Leduc)
Charlie Clotfelter is the director for the Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism. As both fields seek to establish lasting pro-social legacies, Clotfelter would be ideal to discuss legacies for our symposium.
* CATHY DAVIDSON (Hassaan Memon)
* DOUGLAS ERWIN (
can’t remember who nominated)Douglas Erwin is a Senior Scientist and Curator of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian. His research deals with the history of life and evolution both ecologically and developmentally. His knowledge and in depth research on evolutionary innovations, radiations, and extinctions would guide our symposium into the realm of a truly important legacy: Earth and life itself.
http://www.si.edu/ofg/staffhp/erwind.htm
http://www.santafe.edu/profiles/?pid=68
* BARBARA HERRNSTEIN SMITH (Hassaan Memon)
Barbara Herrnstein Smith is an interdisciplinary powerhouse. Well known in literary circles, Herrnstein Smith was initially trained in biology and experimental psychology. She is currently interested in issues at the borders of science and the humanities and so would provide an interesting perspective for the conference.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/science-and-religion-lives-and-rocks/
I’m all about some Wendell Berry, but I was also most familiar with his work before I visited the other pages…good list! I think Thomas Friedman would be appropriate and awesome as well. Charlie Clotfelter seems like the appropriate choice if we’re leaning towards Legacies in the educational/university sense.
So, Wendell Berry.
Thanks to everyone who suggested these speakers. It’s been fun reading through their profiles, blogs, and articles. I’d be happy with any one of them, but my top choices are: Wendell Berry, Bill Chameides, Thomas Friedman, and Barbara Herrnstein Smith. Berry and Chameides would be perfect if we want our symposium to have an environment/sustainability thrust to it (though I worry Chameides might be a bit too specialized/technical for an interdisciplinary audience). Friedman seems like he could speak meaningfully to a broad audience about a range of issues (but with an emphasis on politics). Smith may be the best choice as her work crosses all sorts of boundaries: literary criticism, the intersections of religion and science, the institution of the university, etc.