New humanities faculty lectures series launched

The Center for the Humanities and the Institute for Research in the Humanities launched Focus on the Humanities, a new lecture series designed to make accessible the work of eminent UW–Madison humanists to a broader audience on campus and in the community. The project is the first of several planned collaborative efforts between UW–Madison’s two most visible advocates for the humanities.

The new series will debut at the Elvehjem (L150) on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 5 p.m. with “The Logic of the Design Argument,” a lecture by Professor of Philosophy Elliott Sober. Sober, a William F. Vilas Research Professor and current president of the Philosophy of Science Association, will review his recent work on the philosophical and logical nature of the theory of intelligent design and its longstanding challenge to the theory of evolution.

The range of speakers selected for the rest of the first season is emblematic of the interdisciplinary aims of the project. Anthropologist Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney (Oct. 20) will discuss the symbolism of the cherry blossom in Japanese society and its fascinating presence in Japanese military culture. Literary scholar Lynn Keller (Nov. 17) will examine recent women poets who unsettle conventions, graft uncommon forms of language, and push the boundaries of intelligibility. Film historian David Bordwell (Feb. 2) will explore the role of film studies in the context of the academic humanities. Historian of science Michael Shank (March 6) will close the year with a lecture titled “Preparing Copernicus: Regiomontanus’ 15th-Century Critique of Astronomy.”

All events take place at 5 p.m. in L150 Elvehjem Museum of Art.

Focus on the Humanities will present the work of distinguished members of the faculty, and provides an opportunity for fellows of the Institute for Research in the Humanities to give a valedictory lecture as their residencies at the institute come to an end.

“The UW brings many eminent speakers from elsewhere to campus, but we have not done enough to ensure that people on campus and in Madison know what is being done by our colleagues and neighbors,” says center director Susanne Wofford.

Professor of history David Sorkin directs the Institute for Research in the Humanities and first conceived the series. He also stressed the need to build a visible community among scholars and thinkers from different departments. “We want the public to recognize the value of research in the humanities, and to provide leadership and direction to the humanities on campus,” Sorkin says. “We also want to help faculty and students learn more about the work of scholars in different departments. We hope the lecture series will reach both of these groups.”

The two organizations also hope that the series will contribute to the ongoing project of cultural change on campus. “We have observed that people don’t often go to lectures or events outside of their own departments, and that the intellectual life of the campus is often too narrowly focused,” Wofford says. “The institute and the center are both committed to trying to change this aspect of university life.”

In addition to this series, Sorkin and Wofford have recently begun several projects designed to strengthen ties across departmental boundaries and to make the work of the humanities more publicly visible. Both Sorkin and Wofford want to make sure that the humanities are integrally involved in the re-envisioning that the university must undertake as it examines its public role in the new century.

A full series schedule is available at the center’s newly redesigned Web site.