University of Dayton

2011-12 UD Speaker Series

Building Movements for Social Justice

The University of Dayton Speaker Series launches its inaugural season this fall, with a roster of diverse and distinguished scholars, activists, and artists dedicated to a common theme: Building Movements for Social Justice.  The series is a joint effort with the Diversity Lecture Series.

VANDANA SHIVA

“The Future of Food”
Monday, September 12, 2011
Kennedy Union Ballroom
7:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
*Open parking in B, C, P lots beginning at 7 p.m.  Stop at the visitor center for a parking pass before 7 p.m.

Trained as a physicist and a philosopher, Dr. Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned expert and activist on issues of agriculture and food. She has published more than a half-dozen books on issues of gender, peace, ecology, sustainable development, water, genetic engineering, and bio-piracy. An advocate for third-world women and traditional farming practices, Dr. Shiva has worked with grassroots organizations around the world to make important changes in ecological policy and practice. She has been honored with numerous international peace, justice, and environmental awards, and in 2003, she was identified as an environmental “hero” by Time Magazine. Shiva is Director of the Research Foundation on Science, Technology, and Ecology, which she founded in India in 1997.

OTTMAR EDENHOFER

“To Whom Does the Atmosphere Belong?  Linking Climate and Development Policy”
*EVENT CANCELED*
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Kennedy Union Ballroom
8:00 p.m.

Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer is deputy director and chief economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Professor of the Economics of Climate Change at the Berlin Institute of Technology. Since 2008 he has served as joint-chair of Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore.

Dr. Edenhofer’s presentation is co-sponsored by the University of Dayton’s SEE (Sustainability, Energy, and Environment) Initiative and by the College of Arts and Sciences.

EBONY UTLEY

"Social Movement Strategies and the Hip Hop Generation"
The Annual Martin Luther King Address
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Kennedy Union Ballroom
7:30 p.m.

Dr. Ebony Utley is an important voice on issues of popular culture, race, gender and romance. Dr. Utley is author or editor of two forthcoming books, Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta’s God and Power and Pleasure in Popular Culture, and she co-edited Hip-Hop’s Languages of Love (2009). A former Javitz Fellow at Northwestern University, she now teaches in Communication Studies at California State University Long Beach.

Download the study guide (PDF file) >>

DAVID SUZUKI

"The Challenge of the 21st Century: Setting the Real Bottom Line"
Co-sponsored Stander Symposium Address
Monday, April 16, 2012
Kennedy Union Ballroom
7:30 p.m.

David Suzuki, co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist, and broadcaster. He is renowned for his radio and television programs that explain the complexities of the natural sciences in a compelling, easily understood way. Dr. Suzuki is a geneticist. He graduated from Amherst College (Massachusetts) in 1958 with an Honors BA in Biology, followed by a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. He has won numerous academic awards and holds 25 honorary degrees in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada and is a Companion of the Order of Canada. Dr. Suzuki has written 52 books, including 19 for children. His 1976 textbook An Introduction to Genetic Analysis(with A.J.F. Griffiths), remains the most widely used genetics text book in the U.S.and has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Greek, Indonesian, Arabic, French and German. Dr. Suzuki is also recognized as a world leader in sustainable ecology. He is the recipient of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for Science, the United Nations Environment Program Medal, UNEPs Global 500 and in 2009 won the Right Livelihood Award that is considered the Alternative Nobel Prize.

Learn more about the Stander Symposium at http://stander.udayton.edu >>

UDSS Mission Statement

The University of Dayton Speaker Series serves as a catalyst for purposeful and critical discussion of contemporary issues through dynamic public presentations and related programming.  Working with campus and community partners, the UDSS sponsors presenters who:

• have achieved substantial national or international recognition for expertise in their fields of inquiry or artistic expression;
• represent, as a series, a diversity of intellectual, cultural, political, and religious perspectives;
• and engage directly with students, faculty, and staff in ways that support learning and living in community.

Recommending Speakers

Members of the UD community:

#1 - UDSS Speaker Suggestion Form (to recommend potential speakers for the UDSS program) >>

#2 - UDSS Notification and/or Request for Co-Sponsorship Form (to notify the UDSS of existing plans to bring a major speaker to campus) >>

Speakers Bureau / Agency Representatives:

Professional representatives should contact Sheila Hassell Hughes to request information on annual themes for the UD Speaker Series. Once the theme has been identified for a given year, the committee will welcome submissions of recommended speakers who clearly fit all three criteria identified in the UDSS mission statement and who correspond to the annual theme. Such recommendations should be submitted by e-mail or post to the address below.  Dr. Hughes or another committee member will respond if and when the committee decide to pursue one of the recommendations.

Past Speakers

Past Diversity Lecture Series Events

2010-2011
Roxana Saberi -- Courage Under Fire: Matters of Conscience and Faith in Iran
Geoffrey Canada -- Waiting for Superman: The Crisis Facing Youth - What Adults and Communities Can Do to Save Our Children****
Kareen Abdul-Jabbar -- An Evening with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: On the Shoulders of Giants

2008-09
Soledad O'Brien
Gideon Yago and Reza Aslan
Bishop Vashti McKenzie****
Sweet Honey In The Rock

2006-07
Azar Nafisi
Joseph Shapiro
Johnnetta B. Cole****
Paul Rusesabagina

2005-06
Dr. Troy Duster
Bebe Moore Campbell
Clarence Page****
Nikki Giovanni
Winona LaDuke
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

2004-05
Brian McNaught
Ambassador Andrew Young
Coretta Scott King
Dr. Roger Daniels

Past Distinguished Speaker Series Events

2009-2010
Jonathan Kozol -- The Shame of the Nation

2008-09
Barbara Ehrenreich -- Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America

2007-08
David Bornstein -- Author And Agent of Positive Change
Gail Dines -- Sex(ism), Love, and Identity in a Pornographic Culture
Fotis Kafatos -- From Crete to Africa: A Life In Science
Rajiv Chandrasekaran -- Iraq's Elusive Peace: A Reporter's View from Inside the Green Zone

2006-07
Bill McKibben ... Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age
Frosty WooldridgeMarci Hamilton -- God, Politics, and Power
Leonard Pitts Jr. -- The Home of the Brave
Asra Nomani -- Standing Alone: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam

2005-06
Hilfiker -- Urban Injustice
Arizmendi Arau -- A Day Without a Mexican
Tabin -- Why Your Heart is on the Left and not on the Right
Garrett -- Pandemic Security
LaDuke -- Recovering the Sacred: Religion, Faith, and the Land from a Native Woman's Perspective

2004-05
Eric Schlosser -- Fast Food Nation
Reverend Dr. Joseph C. Hough, Jr. -- Economic Disparity: A Challenge to the Abrahamic Faiths
E.O. Wilson, Ph.D. -- The Future of Life
Anne Garrels -- The War in Iraq as Witnessed and Reported by NPR Senior Correspondent Anne Garrels.

2003-04
Dr. David Courtwright -- The Worm Gets the Early Bird: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Risky Status Sphere of Exhibition Flying
Nadine Strossen -- Current Challenges to Civil Liberties
Manning Marable -- Durban to Dayton: Community Summit on Eliminating Racism
Dr. Art Levine -- Educational Reform and the University:  How Should the University Community be Involved in K-12 Reform?
Marge Piercy -- Female, Left, Rooted in Nature and Proud: The Poetry of Marge Piercy
Michael Himes and Patrick Byrne -- Finding God in All Things: Teaching and Researching in a Catholic University

2002-03
Andre Dubus, III -- Writing Into the Unknown**
James Fallows -- War with Iraq: Why, How, and What it Means to You***
Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB -- Heart of Flesh
Dr. William Schulz -- I Never Want to Speak English Again: Human Rights in a Post-9/11 World
Dr. Molefi Asante -- Africana Studies: Past, Present, and Future Prospects
Dr. Gene Corley -- World Trade Center Attack: Why the Towers FellErnest Gaines -- Readings from A Lesson Before Dying

2001-02
Kathleen Norris -- Dakota and Beyond: What’s the Use of Memoir?**
Thomas Friedman -- Lexus and the Olive Tree Co-sponsored with Dayton Council on World Affairs
Edwin Moses -- An Evening with Edwin Moses***
Phil Donahue -- An Evening with Phil Donahue*
Kerry Kennedy Cuomo -- Women’s Rights: A Global Perspective
Elliott Aronson -- Could Columbine Have Been Avoided … You Bet Your Life

2000-01
Reverend Peter Gomes -- Transformed and Transforming Texts: The Bible and its Interpretation
Robert Mark -- Light, Wind, and Structure: The Technology of High Gothic Cathedrals
Parker Palmer -- The Recovery of Community in Higher Education: On Knowing, Teaching, and Learning
Adam Hochschild -- The Real Heart of Darkness: King Leopold’s Congo
Michael Berube -- Disability and the ‘Difference’ it Makes***
Stephanie Coontz -- Families in a New Millennium: Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Going?
Bruce Harris -- Innocence Lost: The Plight of Central America’s Street Children

+         Contribution to program ($5,000) from President Gerald Ford

*         Writers’ Workshop Keynote

**       Scholars Author

***     University Scholars Address

****   Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Address