Hall Center lectures to feature legal scholars, noted authors
The Hall Center for the Humanities has announced the speakers for the 2008-09 Humanities Lecture Series. The series is partially supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and each lecture is free, open to the public and begins at 7:30 p.m. on the date indicated below. Several speakers will also take part in a public colloquium on the morning following their evening lectures.
Susan Estrich, one of the nation's leading legal scholars, is the Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Southern California. Known for her quick wit and humor as a commentator on Fox News Channel, Estrich was one of the first women to run a national presidential campaign, the first female president of the Harvard Law Review and the youngest woman to be tenured at Harvard Law School. She will speak Sept. 23 at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
Michael Chabon, celebrated author of "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "Wonder Boys," will speak Oct. 27 at the Kansas Union ballroom. In 2000, he published what the New York Review of Books called his magnum opus, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay." The novel went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001. His novel "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" was published in 2007 to enthusiastic reviews. His lecture is supported by the Sosland Foundation of Kansas City.
Jeannette Walls is the award-winning author of the powerful memoir, "The Glass Castle." The book details her life growing up in extreme poverty and describes the harsh obstacles she faced in overcoming her past. Walls' memoir has been a New York Times bestseller for more than 75 weeks, has sold more than 1.5 million copies and is currently being made into a movie by Paramount. Walls will speak Nov. 18 at Woodruff Auditorium.
Anthony Corbeill, professor of classics at KU, will speak Feb. 5 at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Corbeill has published two books: "Controlling Laughter: Political Humor in the Late Roman Republic" and "Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome." He has also published on ancient sexuality, education and Latin poetry. His current book-length project is titled "The Boundaries of Sex and Gender in Ancient Rome." He has held the American Philological Association fellowship to the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae in Munich, Germany and a post-doctoral fellowship at the American Academy in Rome (1994-95). His lecture is supported by the Friends of the Hall Center.
James McBride, who will speak on Feb. 24 at Woodruff Auditorium, is an award-winning writer, composer, and saxophonist. His landmark memoir, "The Color of Water," is an American classic: a New York Times bestseller for two years, the book is the moving account of his mother, a white Jewish woman from Poland who raised 12 black children in New York City and sent each to college. His second book, "Miracle at St. Anna," the story of a black American soldier who befriends an Italian boy during World War II, is being made into a motion picture by Spike Lee. His speaking engagement is the Frances and Floyd Horowitz Lecture, devoted to issues related to multicultural society.
Dipesh Chakrabarty is the Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. A leading scholar of subaltern studies, his books include "Rethinking Working-Class History: Bengal 1890-1940" and "Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference." He will speak April 20 at Woodruff Auditorium.
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