|
|
Once again, the most regular and quite possibly the best lecture series at Wesleyan will be the Center for the Humanities series. The lectures will be given by scholars from a broad range of discipline on this semester’s theme, Cultural History and Cultural Studies. As I wrote last semester, the things I’ve heard at the Center for the Humanities have informed and improved my work in most of the classes I’ve taken at Wesleyan, have helped me consider what disciplines I might want to pursue as a graduate student, and occasionally make excellent stories. For instance, in her lecture last fall (entitled "Embodying Family Values: Queer Nation? Christian Nation?"), research fellow Janet Jakobsen told of calling the headquarters of the Christian Coalition and asking for biblical support for their positions. They had none to offer, but assured her that they were, indeed, Christian: "It’s in our name." It’s simply amazing the things you’ll pick up if you attend. (Don’t even get me started on the New Zealand rugby team.)Point being, you should attend.
-Laura Clawson
| Note: All lectures are on Mondays at 8:PM in the Russell House. They are followed by colloquia (discussion sessions with speaker and others) at the Center for the Humanities (Pearl Street) at 10:30 AM on Tuesday. |
| September 29 | Joseph Rouse, Faculty Fellow. | Understanding Scientific Practices: Cultural Studies of Science as a Philosophical Project |
| October 6 | Mary Margaret Steedly (Anthropology, Harvard University) | Modernity and the Memory Artist: the Work of Imagination in Highland Sumatra (1947-1995) |
| October 13 | Michael Denning (American Studies, Yale University). | Back to Work: Toward a Labor Theory of Culture |
| October 20 | Margaret Hunt, Research Fellow (History, Amherst College). | Women Suing in the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England |
| November 3 | Cameron McFarlane, Research Fellow. | "The blank of what he was": Masculine Currency on the Restoration Stage |
| November 10 | Henry Yu, Research Fellow. | Exoticism, American Orientalism, and the Commodification of Authentic Culture. |
| November 17 | David Shumway, Research Fellow. | Reshaping the Cultural Field: Mass Media and the Decline of Literature |
| November 24 | Martha Crenshaw, Faculty Fellow. | Conceptions of National Security: India and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka |
| December 1 | Joan Shelley Rubin (History, University of Rochester). | Sites, Practices, Values: Exploring Poetry Reading in American Culture |
| December 8 | Martha Finnemore (Political Science, George Washington University). | Changing Patterns of Humanitarian Intervention |