CONTACT: Charlene Skidmore, 515-271-2999, charlene.skidmore@drake.edu; Tory Olson, 515-271-1834, tory.olson@drake.edu.
Drake University’s new Engaged Citizen Experience program will continue on Tuesday, Feb. 12, with two talks by professor William Cronon of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Both events, which are free and open to the public, will be held in Bulldog Theatre in Olmsted Center, 2875 University Ave.
Cronon, the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas research professor of history, geography and environmental studies, will present:
• “Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West,” at 12:30 p.m. Cronon will offer a vividly illustrated overview of his classic work of Midwestern history, exploring the ways in which the growth of Chicago in the second half of the 20th century was intimately tied to the changing environments of places like Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and points further west.
• “Only Connect: What Does It Mean to Be a Liberally Educated Person?” at 4 p.m. Cronon will reflect on the core values of a college education by trying to identify the qualities that a liberally educated person should strive to embody, including an open mind, a generous heart and an engaged life.
Cronon is the author of the prize-winning “Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West and Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England.” He also is the editor of “Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature.”
His current projects include completing a book titled “Saving Nature in Time: The Past and the Future of Environmentalism,” based on the Wiles Lectures at Queen’s University in Belfast, on contributions environmental history can make to contemporary environmental politics. He also is working on “Life on the American Land: A Commonplace Book,” an anthology of first-person accounts of past landscapes of the United States and the lives people have lived on them.
The theme for the Engaged Citizen Experience series is “Voices of Democracy: Dissent and Dialogue.” The Engaged Citizen Experience is a part of the Drake Curriculum, which aims to ensure students will learn to participate effectively in democratic processes through coursework and classroom and community activities. Students are required to earn a number of credits to fulfill the Engaged Citizen Experience.
Other Engaged Citizen Experience events include:
• Feb. 13– Volunteer Fair, 11:30 a.m., Olmsted Center, 2875 University Ave.
• Feb. 16 – Adams Leadership Academy Spring Leadership Conference.
• Feb. 21-23 – “The Vagina Monologues,” 7 p.m., Bulldog Theater, Olmsted Center. Carnival starts at 6 p.m.
• Feb. 25 – Undergraduate Mock Trial team hosts public trial, 7-10 p.m., Neal and Bea Smith Law Center
• March 5 – “Patriotism, Dissent, and Democratic Citizenship” by Austin Sarat of Amherst College, 4 p.m., Sheslow Auditorium, Old Main, 2507 University Ave.
• March 8 – Center for Global Citizenship lecture, “The Collapse of Global Public Health” by Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations, 1 p.m., Sheslow Auditorium, Old Main.
• March 10 – The Pomerantz Lecture, “Law and Democracy: Trying Nazi Crimes in German Courts, 1945-1950” by Devin Pendas of Boston College, 7 p.m., Sheslow Auditorium, Old Main.
• March 25 – Hawley Foundation Lecture, “The Satiric Eye: How Pictures that Make People Crazy are Really Good for Them” by Steve Brodner of the New York City School of Visual Arts, 7 p.m., Bulldog Theater, Olmsted Center.
• March 26 – “The South African Constitution: The Recognition of Social and Economic Rights” by Justice Richard Goldstone of Fordham University School of Law, 4 p.m., room 213 of Cartwright Hall, 2621 Carpenter Ave.
• March 27 – Writers and Critics Series, “Revenge as a Faith-Based Narrative: Or, What’s that Snake Doing Under Mel Gibson’s Kilt?” by Alan Nadel of the University of Kentucky, 7:30 p.m., Cowles Library Reading Room, 2725 University Ave.
• April 5 – Constitutional Law Symposium, “The Forgotten Constitutional Amendments,” 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., room 213 of Cartwright Hall.
• April 9 – Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture, “Seven Revolutions” by futurist Erik Peterson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, 7:30 p.m., Drake Knapp Center, 2525 Forest Ave.
• April 17 – Engaged Citizen Experience Symposium, 5:30 p.m., Parents Hall in Olmsted Center. Keynote address by Heinz Award winner and former MacArthur Fellow Ernesto Cortes.
• April 30 – Des Moines National Poetry Festival 2008 Poet Li-Young Lee, 8 p.m., Sheslow Auditorium.
For more information, contact Charlene Skidmore at 515-271-2999 or charlene.skidmore@drake.edu.