The Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns

The Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns is an educational forum for Wesleyan alumni, parents, and friends that provides an opportunity to explore issues of global concern in a small seminar environment. Endowed by James Shasha ’50, the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge and perspectives on significant issues.

Past Seminars

Food: Power and Identity (Shasha 2008)

Few topics call forth more interest, concern, passion, joy, and outrage than the food we eat. Food may make us healthy or unhealthy. Food is an inspiration for artists, a delight for the connoisseur, a weapon in war-torn areas, and an immense worldwide business. The critical need for a safe food supply has spawned controversial science and political furor. Above all, food reflects our deepest cultural and personal identity.

Triumph of the Sports Culture (Shasha 2006)

From stadiums to television contracts to branded sneakers, sports account for countless billions of dollars in economic activity. Parents spend their free time nurturing children’s athletic progress, while top athletes command celebrity attention and staggering salaries. We are delighted to have as our keynote speaker Frank Deford, contributing senior writer at Sports Illustrated, a commentator for National Public Radio, and a regular correspondent for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Accessing Creativity (Shasha 2005)

From the earliest cave paintings to the Hubble Space Telescope, people have sought to express their innermost thoughts and transform their environments in ways that enlarge our understanding of ourselves and the universe. Individual creativity is the driving engine of our economy and our culture, but exactly what is it and how do we summon it? We are privileged to have as our keynote speaker Howard Gardner P ’91, P ’98, Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard University.

Saving Our Planet (Shasha 2004)

Policy makers have enormous responsibility to make sound judgments based on solid scientific and cultural information. Yet scientific results from environmental studies are rarely definitive. How then should policy makers proceed in the face of built-in error as well as ambiguity of significance? The Shasha Seminar will examine the role that uncertainty plays in reaching environmental policy and management decisions.

Ethical Choices in an Interconnected World (Shasha 2003)

In an increasingly interconnected world, challenges such as managing the environment, maintaining economic stability, protecting human health, and defending social justice must be tackled at a global level. How can our ethical thinking and political action keep pace with these challenges when different societies and cultural/religious traditions often disagree about what, if any, ethical principles are truly universal?

Cultural Roots of Global Conflict (Shasha 2002)

This seminar will explore the deep causes of conflicts around the world and assess U.S. perceptions of and reactions to these situations. We will go beyond the debate over the “war on terrorism,” looking at the range of conflicts around the world that are an enduring source of violence and suffering, questioning our assumptions, and reflecting on what should be done.