Speaker Series to Focus on Cultural Issues and Conflicts in Society
News Release - August 22, 2007
Public's contact for publication:
Professor Roberta Rosenberg
Department of English
rrosenb@cnu.edu
(757) 594-7149
Media Contact:
Emily L. Lucier
emily.lucier@cnu.edu
(757) 594-8428
(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) -
Christopher Newport University has announced the fall schedule of the 2007-2008 Dean William Parks Colloquium, “Individual Conscience and the Collective Good, the Future of the 21 st Century”. This Colloquium will explore what author Doris Lessing describes as the major struggle of the modern world: “the conflict between the individual conscience and the collective good.” Although the public media often sensationalizes this conflict as a “culture war,” the goal of this series will be to have a balanced, academic discussion about issues of importance to the future in the 21 st century. In addition to the speakers, this year the Dean Parks series, in cooperation with Multicultural Affairs, will screen several award-winning films from the PBS' documentary series POV (Point of View) on this theme.
Through scholarly talks, documentary films and literary readings described below, participants will explore how traditional and modern cultures deal with important issues like religion, the environment, scientific theory, gender and leadership, politics, immigration and business. The speakers and films will encourage individuals to think about how to formulate a moral conscience, how societies define justice and, most importantly, what happens when that individual conscience comes into conflict with larger notions of a “collective good.”
The professors, filmmakers, poets, and scientists who comprise the 2007-2008 series will ask audiences to think about the hard issues and conflicts in our society and imagine how they may be able to solve them in the future. Lectures and film screenings will all take place in the Ferguson Center for the Arts at 7:00 p.m. All workshops will take place in the Madison Room of the David Student Center at 3:30 p.m. All are free of charge and open to the public.
Fall Semester 2007
September 18: Professor James Hunter on “Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. Making Sense of the Battles Over the Family, Art, Education, Law and Politics." Lecture at 7pm in the Ferguson Music and Theatre Hall. Workshop at 3:30 p.m. in Madison Hall of the David Student Center.
Workshop leader: Professor John Camobrecco
September 20: Screening of the POV documentary film, “Arctic Son” described as “the clash of tradition and modernity puts a Native father and son at odds in the remote village of Old Crow , 80 miles above the Arctic Circle.” Screening at
7 p.m. in the Ferguson Music and Theatre Hall.
Discussion leader: Professor Roberta Rosenberg
October 30: Screening of POV documentary film, “Made in L.A.” a portrait of three Latina garment workers who represent the “other California where immigrant laborers work 14-hour days earning as little as $3 an hour.” Screening at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Music and Theatre Hall.
Discussion leader: Professor Elaine Miller
November 7: Poet, novelist and essayist Marge Piercy, "Exploring a Female Judaism: Reshaping a Culture and Religion that will enable and enrich the lives of mothers and daughters." (Co-sponsored by the Sue Ann and Bill Bangel Endowed Lecture Series on American Judaism and the Honors Program). Lecture at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Music and Theatre Hall.
November 8: Workshop with Marge Piercy at 1:00 p.m. in Madison Hall of the
David Student Center.
Workshop leader: Professor Jay Paul
November 14: Screening of POV documentary film, “The Education of Shelby Knox” is a coming of age story about a teenage girl who joins a sex education campaign in her Lubbock, Texas home and “confronts her parents and her faith as she begins to understand how deeply personal beliefs can inform political action.” Screening at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Music and Theatre Hall.
Discussion leader: Kip Redick.
This program is co-sponsored by a number of CNU organizations; the Bangel Lecture in Judaism, the Luter School of Business, CNU Library, the Honors Program, Leadership and American Studies, and Multicultural Affairs. All POV documentaries are a collaboration with P.O.V., the acclaimed independent non-fiction film series on PBS www.pbs.org/pov.
For more information, please contact Professor Roberta Rosenberg, Chair of the Dean Parks Committee
(rrosenb@cnu.edu), or see the CNU website at http://provost.cnu.edu/colloquium.
Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Luter School of Business and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.