Lecture series embraces sharing of ideas

It happens on campus every day — people getting together, in groups large and small, to share ideas and perspectives on issues that matter. And every year, the student-run Distinguished Lecture Series Committee of the Wisconsin Union Directorate adds to the vibrancy of ideas by bringing some of the nation’s best minds and voices to campus for free, public presentations.

The topics covered by the speakers are wide-ranging: politics, the environment, popular culture, science, economics, health, race, gender — all part of our tradition of sifting and winnowing.

Past speakers have included the Rev. Al Sharpton, journalist Laurie Garrett, Sister Helen Prejean, author Sarah Vowell, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and many others.

Speakers are nominated for consideration by campus and the committee takes it from there, from setting the final program, booking the speakers and promoting the lecture, to picking up the speaker at the airport and running the lecture. So not only do the presentations add to the scope of student learning, the process of making them happen is also an education.

The committee’s first DLS speaker this semester is Chuck Klosterman, author of “Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs.” Klosterman skewers American popular culture, and in so doing, tells us a lot about ourselves. Here’s a taste: Two chapter titles in his book are “What Happens When People Stop Being Polite” and “The Awe-inspiring Beauty of Tom Cruise’s Shattered Troll-like Face.” Klosterman will be on campus Monday, Feb. 18.

All DLS lectures are held in the Union Theater, usually starting at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. There is no admission fee, but tickets are required. They may be picked up at the Union Theater Box Office. Tickets are reserved for students, faculty, staff and Union members with a valid UW–Madison or Wisconsin Union ID one week before each lecture. Any remaining tickets are then made available to the general public. All tickets are valid until 7:20 p.m. the evening of the lecture; at 7:20 p.m. empty seats are available for those without tickets.

The spring 2008 Distinguished Lecture Series schedule includes:

Chuck Klosterman, Monday, Feb. 18

David Walker, Wednesday, Feb. 27: Walker is the current comptroller general of the United States, and as such heads the U.S. Government Accountability Office. He says the greatest threat to the United States is not terrorism, but our fiscal irresponsibility and growing deficits. Walker has been lecturing on a fiscal wake-up tour.

Richard Dawkins, Tuesday, March 11: An evolutionary biologist, Dawkins will discuss his book “The God Delusion.” He has been making waves in science and society since his book “The Selfish Gene” was published in 1976. Dawkins currently occupies the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

Reza Aslan and Gideon Yago, Tuesday, March 25: Aslan is an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, as well as author of “No God But God.” Yago is a former MTV news correspondent and award-winning journalist. They will discuss Middle East politics, religion and society.

Andrew Sullivan, Tuesday, April 8: Sullivan is an author and political commentator who defies pigeonholing. He has libertarian and conservative opinions and attitudes, but is also HIV-positive, gay and a practicing Roman Catholic. A pioneer in blog journalism, he is currently a blogger for the Atlantic Monthly.