CARLOS REYES
Performed as part of Opening Day Celebration

Carlos Reyes -- recording artist, producer, engineer, harpist and violinist -- has been breaking musical barriers since his first public performance at the age of five. He made his debut on harp with the Oakland Symphony and his debut on the violin with the Oakland Youth Symphony at just fourteen years of age. His charismatic personality and outstanding musical talents are a potent combination with which he performs an extensive and entertaining repertoire.  www.carlosreyesmusic.com

PAUL LOEB
Presentation: Soul of a Citizen

Paul Loeb is an associated scholar at Seattle?s Center for Ethical Leadership. His most recent books are The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen?s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear and Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time.

In his books and widespread lectures, Loeb gets beyond prevailing media stereotypes to understand the struggle of students to find their place in a confusing world. He looks at how citizens can gain the moral, political, and intellectual tools to take responsibility for the future. He will urge students not only to vote, but to become active citizens.

"Paul Loeb brings hope for a better world in a time when we so urgently need it."
-- Millard Fuller, founder, Habitat for Humanity

BOB MILNE

Bob Milne is known as the top ragtime/boogie-woogie pianist around today and he's one of the finest musicians of all time. Bob enjoys a successful career as a concert pianist, entertaining audiences in concert halls, opera houses and arena stages from coast to coast. He enthusiastically shares his knowledge about piano playing and music in general with his listeners. Bob is the author of "The Journeyman Piano Player," a collection of humorous anecdotes taken from his early years as a working musician. The book has become highly regarded by working professionals and amateurs alike, and has been suggested as required reading for anyone entertaining the notion of pursuing a career in music. www.bobmilne.com

ARLO GUTHRIE
Performed as part of Family Day / Investiture Celebration

Arlo Guthrie's career exploded in 1967 with the release of "Alice's Restaurant", whose title song premiered at the Newport Folk Festival helped foster a new commitment among the '60s generation to social consciousness and activism. He was born with a guitar in one hand and a harmonica in the other, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York in 1947. He is the eldest son of America's most beloved singer/writer/philosopher Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, a professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founder of The Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease.

He grew up surrounded by dancers and musicians: Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Fred Hellerman and Lee Hays (The Weavers), Leadbelly, Cisco Houston, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, all of whom were significant influences on Arlo's musical career. Guthrie gave his first public performance at age 13 and quickly became involved in the music that was shaping the world during the 1960s.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

One of the best-known intellectuals writing in the U.S. today, Christopher Hitchens has been a no-holds-barred TV commentator and columnist for The Nation, Vanity Fair, Slate, and other leading periodicals.

He was born in Portsmouth, England and educated at the Leys School, Cambridge, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. From 1971-1981, he worked in Britain as book reviewer for the Times; social science editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement; assistant editor and staff writer for the New Statesman; researcher/reporter for London Weekend Television; and chief foreign correspondent for the Daily Expresss. In 1981, he emigrated to the United States.

From 1982-2002, he wrote a column called the "Minority Report" for the Nation. Since 1992, he has been columnist and contributing editor at Vanity Fair and, at different times, Washington editor and columnist for Harpers magazine, American columnist and correspondent for the Spectator (London), the New Statesman (London), the Times Literary Supplement (London), Sunday Today (London), and the Sunday Correspondent (London). As foreign correspondent and travel writer, he has written from more than sixty countries on all five continents. www.hitchensweb.com

FREDERICK GOODING &
KHALID PATTERSON
Presentation: You Mean, There's Race In My Movie?

This dynamic and intellectually stirring presentation by the Minority Reporter critically analyzes the issue of race in mainstream movies. It shows how virtually all non-White characters in mainstream movies fit within six common recurring character patterns, reinforcing the marginalization of minorities in Hollywood. Armed with this critical framework, it equips audiences to analyze contemporary mainstream movies on an ongoing basis. This is the report that Hollywood doesn't want you to see. You will never see movies the same way again...

ANGELA KEISER / RACHEL BURCIN
Presentation: 'Emptying the Pockets Of Forgetfulness'

In the late 1980s, American pundits warned of the historical amnesia and historical illiteracy suffocating our nation. Lynne Cheney, then chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, issued a pamphlet called American Memory, which began with the declaration: "A refusal to remember . . . is a primary characteristic of our nation."1

What happens when a society develops too many :pockets of forgetfulness" in re-counting its history? What can educational systems do to capture a fuller, more accurate, more inclusive truth of the origins of its national community and its unacknowledged contributors?

Rachel Burcin  and Angela Keiser lead a discussion of the UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project: Breaking The Silence [TST Project], an innovative global curriculum initiative in Africa, Europe and the Americas aimed at repositioning an understanding of the magnitude and New World impact of the transatlantic slave trade.

Take a closer look at how the TST Project underscores the importance of local history in creating as well as challenging how national and global histories are retold.

It might surprise you!

1. Lynne V. Cheney, American Memory: A Report on Humanities in the Nation's Public Schools (National Endowment for the Humanities, undated but published in September 1987)

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN

Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian, and NBC news analyst, is as knowledgeable about the White House as she is about the Red Sox.

She worked as an assistant to President Lyndon Johnson during his last year in the White House, and later assisted Johnson on the preparation of his memoirs. Her writings include Lyndon Johnson and The American Dream, The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (a bestseller that earned the Pulitzer Prize), Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir,  and Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. She was the winner of the Charles Frankel Prize given by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Sara Josepha Hale medal, and the first woman journalist to enter the Sox locker room. She has been a consultant and interviewed extensively for PBS documentaries on LBJ, the Kennedy family, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham and Mary Lincoln, and Ken Burns' "The History of Baseball." Currently Ms. Goodwin is an NBC News Analyst. She also has taught about the American presidency at Harvard University, where she earned her Ph.D.

A panel to react to Doris and review the just completed Presidential election will include:

• Bill Marimow, Pulitzer Prize winning editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and former president of National Public Radio.
• Emily Rooney, host and executive editor of Greater Boston, WGBH?s local issues and public affairs program.
• Terry McAuliffe, former Chair of Democratic National Committee and National Chair for Hillary Clinton for President.
• Rick Kaplan, producer of the CBS Evening News and winner of 47 Emmy awards, former president of CNN and MSNBC.

www.doriskearnsgoodwin.com

NOAH GRIFFIN
When: Monday, November 17, 2008
Where: Wilson Hall Auditorium C
Time: 7pm - 8:30pm

Beginning with the San Francisco Chorus at the age of 7, Noah has shared the stage with Paul Robeson, Leontyne Price and Nat Cole.  As his solo career advanced, he sang with Duke Ellington, and has appeared in New York, Boston, London, Rome and Paris.  Most recently he starred in A Tribute to Nat Cole. He has delighted audiences with his marvelous voice.  While attending Harvard Law, Noah continued his singing career at venues around Boston.  In addition to his singing career, Noah was a talk show host, a television personality, and wrote a syndicated column for the Hearst Examiner. www.noahgriffin.com

ANNA DEAVERE SMITH
When: Sunday, November 30, 2008
Where: Dever Auditorium
Time: 7:30pm

Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, playwright, and author. It has been said that she created a new form of theater. When granted the prestigious MacArthur Award, her work was described as "a blend of theatrical art, social commentary, journalism, and intimate reverie."

She has performed in film and television as well as on stage. She is probably most recognizable in popular culture as Nancy McNally, the National Security Advisor on NBC's former hit, The West Wing.

However, it is Ms. Smith’s work in the theater that has been her intellectual focus. Looking at controversial events from multiple points of view, Ms. Smith's theater combines the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through her performance. The New York Times in reviewing her Broadway show Twilight: Los Angeles, about the 1992 Los Angeles riots, said of her performance, "[she is] the ultimate impressionist: she does people's souls."   Jack Kroll of Newsweek proclaimed the work "an American Masterpiece."  She does hundreds of interviews while creating a play.   Using verbatim excerpts of the interviews, she has performed up to as many as 46 people in the course of an evening.

She is currently developing a new play in the On The Road series called Let Me Down Easy.  Its subject is the resilience and vulnerability of the human body.   This play was inspired by work she did at the Yale School of Medicine where she was Visiting Professor. While at Yale, she created a performance for medical grand rounds, called Rounding It Out (2000).

She has been featured in several films, among them, The American President, where she played the Press Secretary to Michael Douglas's President.  She was featured in Robert Benton's film, The Human Stain. She appeared in Dave and Rent.  She was a regular on the CBS series Presidio Med, and had a recurring role on The Practice. She co-starred in HBO's 2007 film Life Support, which starred Queen Latifah. She has just completed work on Rachel Getting Married, a new film by Jonathan Demme, starring Anne Hathaway.

Her latest book is Letters to a Young Artist (Vintage Random House). Her book, Talk to Me: Listening Between the Lines, is based on her observations of time she spent in Washington, D.C. To prepare for that book, she followed both President Clinton and Bob Dole on their 1996 campaign trails. Other books include publications of her plays, Fires in the Mirror, Twilight, House Arrest, and Piano.  Her articles and writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The New Yorker, O Magazine, O HOME, ELLE, THE ATLANTIC,  A Public Space, Essence, Fortune, and The Drama Review.

She recently taught, at the invitation of Oprah Winfrey, at Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy For Girls in South Africa.

DR. RUTH WESTHEIMER
When: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Where: Woodward Center
Time: 7-9pm

Dr. Ruth Westheimer is a psychosexual therapist who helped to pioneer the field of media psychology with her radio program, Sexually Speaking. Currently Dr. Ruth is an Adjunct Professor at N.Y.U. and an Associate Fellow of Calhoun College at Yale University, where she taught a course on the American family in the Fall of 2005, and a Fellow of Butler College at Princeton University, where she frequently teaches a course on the nature of the Jewish family. She is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and in addition to having her own private practice, she frequently lectures at universities across the country and has twice been named "College Lecturer of the Year." www.drruth.com

BENJAMIN S. CARSON, SR., M.D.
When:Monday, January 26, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm Public Reception in Scanlon Banquet Hall / 7:30 pm Program in Dever Auditorium

Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., had a childhood dream of becoming a physician.  Growing up in a single parent home with dire poverty, poor grades, a horrible temper and low self-esteem appeared to preclude the realization of that dream until his mother, with only a third-grade education, challenged her sons to strive for excellence. Young Ben persevered and today is a full professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and he has directed pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center for nearly a quarter of a century. 

Some career highlights include the first separation of craniopagus (conjoined) twins joined at the back of the head in 1987, the first completely successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins in 1997 in South Africa and the first successful placement of an intrauterine shunt for a hydrocephalic twin. Although he has been involved in many newsworthy operations, he feels that every case is noteworthy - deserving of maximum attention.  He is interested in all aspects of pediatric neurosurgery and has a special interest in trigeminal neuralgia (severe facial pain) in adults.

In 2001, Dr. Carson was named by CNN and TIME Magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists.  That same year, he was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on the occasion of its 200th anniversary.  He is also the recipient of the 2006 Spingarn Medal which is the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP.  In February, 2008, Dr. Carson was presented with the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal by President Bush at the White House.  In June, 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the President, which is the highest civilian honor in the land.  He has literally received hundreds of other awards during his distinguished career.

He is president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments.  The Fund is currently operating in 27 states and the District of Columbia, having awarded more than $3.4 million dollars to more than 3400 scholars.  He also co-founded Angels of the OR, which provides grants to assist families with non-covered medical care expenses involving both adult and pediatric neurosurgery.  Both programs are in national expansion mode.

His first three books, Gifted Hands, THINK BIG, and The Big Picture provide inspiration and insight for leading a successful life.  His fourth book, Take The Risk:  Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live With Acceptable Risk, was released in early 2008.  Dr. Carson has been married for over 30 years to his wife, Candy, and is the father of three sons. And yes, his mother, Sonya Carson, who made all this possible, is alive and well.

RALPH NADER
Consumer Advocate - Presidential Candidate
When: Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Where: Woodward Center
Time: 6:00 pm Reception / 7:00 pm Program

Honored by Time magazine as “One of the 100 Most Influential Americans of the Twentieth Century,” and recently as “One of the 100 Most Influential Figures in American History,” by The Atlantic, consumer advocate and presidential candidate for the Green Party, Ralph Nader, has devoted his life to giving ordinary people the tools they need to defend themselves against corporate negligence and government indifference.

With a tireless, selfless dedication, he continues to expose and remedy the dangers that threaten a free and safe society. Nader was featured recently as the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary, “An Unreasonable Man.”  He has also written his introspective book, The Seventeen Traditions about the earliest days of his own life, where he revisits seventeen key traditions he absorbed from his parents, his siblings, and the people in his community, and draws from them inspiring lessons for today's society.

Nader’s foray into public life began in 1965 when he took on the Goliath of the auto industry with his book, Unsafe at Any Speed, a shocking exposé of the disregard carmakers held for the safety of their customers. The Senate hearing into Nader’s accusations and the resulting life-saving motor vehicle safety laws catapulted Nader into the public sphere.

Believing that Republicans and Democrats are so ideologically close he calls them “tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.” Nader organized the Green Party’s first presidential campaign in 1996 to challenge the “duopoly” of the two-party system. He received 700,000 votes on a limited campaign budget of $5000 and he ran again in 2000, receiving 2.8 million votes. His goal is to build the foundation of a third political party and a robust progressive political movement that rally around issues rather than empty slogans and figureheads.

KATRINA BROWNE
Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North
When: Monday, February 9, 2009
Where: Scanlon Banquet Hall
Time: 7pm

In “Traces of the Trade,” Producer/Director Katrina Browne tells the story of her forefathers, the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. Given the myth that the South is solely responsible for slavery, viewers will be surprised to learn that Browne’s ancestors were Northerners. The film follows Browne and nine fellow family members on a remarkable journey which brings them face-to-face with the history and legacy of New England’s hidden enterprise.

Katrina Browne is the seventh generation descendant of Mark Anthony DeWolf, the family’s first slave trader. Before launching this film and family process in 1999, Ms. Browne served as Outreach Planning Coordinator for the film adaptation of Anna Deavere Smith’s critically acclaimed play about the LA riots, Twilight: Los Angeles. She consulted with race relations and media experts to plan a national outreach campaign to use the PBS broadcast and video distribution as the basis for community dialogue on race, ethnicity and equity. She came to that work and filmmaking from writing a Masters thesis comparing the role that Greek tragedies played in civic life in ancient Greece to the untapped potential of film to catalyze civic dialogue today. She wrote this thesis while earning a Masters in Theology at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked as a senior staff person at Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program now operating in 15 cities that she co-founded in 1991 in Washington, DC to recruit more young people and people of color into nonprofit careers. She held responsibilities in national start-up, site program development, evaluation and fundraising. She has a B.A. from Princeton University, where she studied cultural anthropology with a focus on oral history, and wrote a senior thesis on France’s role in the Holocaust.

FRED SHAPIRO
White Collar Crime Jeopardy
When: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Where: Scanlon Banquet Hall
Time: 7:00 pm

“Fred's informative and interactive presentation of 'White-Collar Crime Jeopardy' at the FBI Financial Institution Fraud Conference showed how easy it really is for a respected and seemingly 'good' person to become involved in illegal activities when they lose sight of their moral compass.  Yet it also tells the remarkable story of how that same person can turn it all around, and live to tell about it. After hearing these types of presentations for over 20 years, I can tell you that Fred's presentation leaves attendees with a vast amount of understanding regarding fraud prevention. Shapiro's presentation is one of the best that I have seen, and I would recommend him to any organization which deals with matters of ethics, fraud prevention or white collar crime." -Brian Cosgriff, Special Agent, FBI

Fred Shapiro utilizes his 30 years of experience as an attorney, accountant, professor, inmate and undercover operative to powerfully convey the catastrophic personal and professional consequences of committing a white collar crime.  He started his career as a tax accountant for Coopers & Lybrand, CPA's, and would eventually form his own law firm two years later.

Fred earned his MBA and JD at Temple University in Philadelphia and served as Director of the Temple University Accounting and Tax Institute.  He has lectured on the subjects of accounting, real estate and taxation, while a member of the faculty of Temple University's School of Business Administration. Fred Shapiro is also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. All those credentials, however, did not stop Fred Shapiro from succumbing to extreme financial pressure, gambling, in addition to other "demons" and leading a secret life as a criminal. Inevitably, this once well respected member of the legal, financial, accounting and business communities, committed the largest mortgage, real estate and title insurance fraud in the history of the City of Philadelphia. After spending over twenty-four months in Federal prison, Fred Shapiro finally changed his life by doing what he loves: Teaching everyone how to stay off that slippery slope, and stop fraud before it happens.  

Today Fred is a Sr. Counselor at a correctional, educational and treatment organization and a keynote speaker and guest lecturer at various forums including law schools, business schools, accounting firms, law firms, title insurance companies, fortune 500 corporations and professional societies.   Fred's current schedule includes Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, Altria Corporate Services, Delaware Society of CPAs, Greater Houston Business Ethics Roundtable, Temple University's James E. Beasley School of Law, Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Pepperdine University School of Law, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, CenterPoint Energy, Widener University School of Law, The Ethics & Compliance Officer Association Annual Business Ethics & Compliance Conference, University of Connecticut School of Business, Beard Miller Company CPAs, The FBI Financial Institution Fraud Conference, The Institute of Internal Auditors Fraud Forum & The Georgia Society of CPAs.

DEBBIE REESE
American Indians in Children’s Literature
When: Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Where: Scanlon Banquet Hall
Time: 6 pm

Debbie Reese is tribally enrolled at Nambe Pueblo in northern New Mexico. She is from the Upper Village (Yates family). She will talk about ‘American Indians in Children’s Literature’ offering critical perspectives and discussion of American Indians in children’s books, the school curriculum, popular culture and society-at-large.
Debbie has taught at two schools for American Indians: Riverside Indian School in Anadarko and Santa Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is currently teaching at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the American Indian Studies program where she has taught Social Studies Methods (Elementary and Early Childhood), Politics of Children's Literature, Introduction to American Indian Studies, and History of American Indian Education.

DR. RICHARD HANDLER
When: Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Where: 333 Western Avenue, Garden Level Conference Room
Time: 4:30 pm

Dr. Richard Handler will speak on the anthropology of American Academic Administration. Handler is a cultural anthropologist who studies modern western societies. His initial fieldwork was in Quebec (1976-1984) where he studied the Québécois nationalist movement. This has led to an enduring interest in nationalism, ethnicity and the politics of culture. Upon coming to Virginia in 1986, he pursued the latter topic by looking at history museums. Beginning in 1990, he worked with Eric Gable (Ph.D. Virginia 1990) and Anna Lawson (Ph.D. Virginia 1995) on an ethnographic study of Colonial Williamsburg, an outdoor museum and a mid-sized nonprofit corporation. In addition to examining the invention of history and tradition, his study focuses on corporate culture, class, race and gender.

IMAGinING TOBIA
Professor Salem Mekuria, Tryptyich Video Installation, New England Premier 
Ethiopia Whispers
Sofia Kifle

Show runs: February 3 - March 7
Artist reception:  February 12, 5:30 - 8:00
Professor Salem Mekuria will speak February 12 at 6:00 at the WSC Downtown Art Gallery 105 Elm Street Westfield, MA
Daniel Tesfalidet will give the Gallery Talk February 5 at 1:00 at the WSC Downtown Art Gallery

Gallery Reception featuring Ethiopian music of Debo Trio, refreshments
Thursday, February 12, 2009 5:30 – 8:00 pm
Westfield State College Downtown Art Gallery,
Rinnova Building, 105 Elm Street, Westfield

Dr. Salem Mekuria, IMAGinING TOBIA, Video Installation and Presentation

Salem writes, “I offer IMAGinING TOBIA as a mirror on which to reflect issues confronting the nation, and as a space in which to meditate on the disjunction between our 'real' and imagined knowledge of Ethiopia and its multi-faceted history. As an Ethiopian-American I examine my own gaze on my native land as I take in impressions of the variety and diversity of the landscape and its people. In this way, TOBIA (a vernacular pronunciation for Ethiopia) represents a travelogue recorded by a hybridized explorer's camera, then layered and juxtaposed in infinite ways to create a multitude of meanings and associations. The triptych is a reference to Ethiopia’s traditional religious art.  Salem Mekuria, originally from Ethiopia, is now a Professor of Art at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She has worked with NOVA/Public Television and with numerous film productions focusing on issues of African women and development. Salem is the recipient of numerous awards, production grants, and fellowships. Her films have been broadcast internationally and have screened at venues around the world.

Sofia Kifle, Ethiopia Whispers

Drawing from her life growing up in Ethopia through simple colorful patterns and symbols Sofia Kifle's paintings express the movements, journeys, and crossroads of her life experiences.

"My paintings incorporate the fusion of experiences, observation, influences and contemplation spanning my entire life. Growing up in my native Ethiopia, my childhood imagination was always moved by the ragged lines, the warm colors, the expressive eyes, and the stories told by ancient religious paintings in the churches. I am a gypsy who tries to tell eyeful stories by means of color, brush strokes, movements, shapes and characters. These stories visualize and portray my story, the stories of the Africans, the stories of the Americans and the stories of the world."

Ethiopian Musicians of Debo Trio

Ethiopian Musicians of Debo Trio

Debo Trio is comprised of three members of the Boston-based group, Debo Band, an eight-piece Ethio-groove project.  The trio performs chamber-like renditions of the funk and dance music for which Debo Band is known, while focusing on the more traditional elements of Ethiopian music, including the music of the *azmari*.

GARY MULE DEER
When: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Where: Woodward Center
Time: 6:00 pm Reception / 7:00 pm Program

Gary Mule Deer, whose unique comedy and music have set him apart as one-of-a-kind, has performed on every major concert stage in the country.  He has made over 350 television appearances, including many on both the Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman.  He was one of six comedians, along with Jay Leno, to star on the very first HBO Comedy special, was the co-host of Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert for four years on NBC and a regular on Make Me Laugh.  He is currently featured on the DVDs “Jeff Foxworthy’s Comedy Classics” and “The World’s Greatest Stand-up Comedy Collection” hosted by Norm Crosby. 

Bob Goen of Entertainment Tonight has said of Gary Mule Deer, “This guy has got to be the funniest man on the planet.”  An equally great singer and musician, he has been singing the music of Johnny Cash in his show for four decades.  Gary has a music CD, “Six Days On The Road,” with his Duck and Cover Band and some of Nashville’s greatest musicians, including guitar great Steve Wariner and bluegrass legend Dan Tyminski.  He also has a “Gary Mule Deer Live” CD of his comedy and music.  Gary is currently one of the most played comedians on the Clean Comedy Channels of both Sirius and XM Satellite Radio.

Will Ferrell was asked by Dan Patrick at ESPN Magazine, “It’s the seventh game, ninth inning of the World Series of Comedy.  You have to pick a comedian to put on the mound.”  Will’s answer was Gary Mule Deer.

JARED DIAMOND
When: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Where: Woodward Center
Time: 6:00 pm Reception / 7:00 pm Program

Jared Diamond -- author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse -- is the epitome of the celebrity scientist. His lectures routinely draw thousands of rapt listeners who walk away with a deeper and more nuanced view of the development of human civilization and the continued gulf between rich and poor in the global community.

Diamond's lectures tackle the giant questions: why do some societies thrive and prosper, while others shrivel and die; how can humanity maximize the opportunity for human happiness, while saving the planet from ecological ruin and collapse; are there lessons we can learn from other great civilizations who have grown to world dominance? The huge crowds that attend his talks are testament to his reputation as a great speaker -- to his ability to spellbind an audience with insights into the most important issues we face.

Currently a professor of Geography at UCLA, Diamond is also the author of two other bestselling books, The Third Chimpanzee and Why Is Sex Fun?  He has received some of the world’s most prestigious awards, including a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, the Conservation medals of the Zoological Society of San Diego and the National Medal of Science, America’s highest civilian award in science.

HERSHMAN R. JOHN
When: Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Where: Scanlon Banquet Hall
Time: 6 pm

Hershman John is both a poet and a short fiction writer. He will read from his 2007 poetry collection, ‘I Swallow Turquoise for Courage’ published by The University of Arizona Press. John says of his poetry, “My writing reflects who I am and where I come from. I am Navajo, and I am from Sand Springs, Arizona. My clans are of the Deer Spring People (my Mother’s clan) and the Bitter Water People (my Father’s clan). Other stories and poems come from my travels and from my friends and family who tell some of the greatest tales.”

He received his BA in English and MFA in Creative Writing, both from Arizona State University. As a full time faculty member at Phoenix College, Arizona, he teaches composition, poetry and American Indian Studies courses.

His works have been widely published by anthologies and literary journals: Arizona Highways, Flyway-A Literary Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Journal of Navajo Education, Puerto del Sol, Wicazo Sa Review, O Taste and See: Food Poems, Family Matters: Poems of our Families.

LARRY LANSBURGH
When: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Where: 333 Garden Level Conference Room
Time: 6:00 pm Reception / 7:00 pm Program

Academy Award Nominated and Emmy Winning documentary filmmaker Larry Lansburgh has produced and directed films about varied subjects including aviation, a desert museum and the inspiring lives of young adults with mental retardation. Some of these films have received recognition such as an Academy Award Nomination and an Emmy.

However, when he went to southeast Ecuador to make a documentary called “Dream People of the Amazon” his view of the world changed.

It changed when he realized that he was in a part of the rain forest that has not changed in a thousand years. It changed when he sat in a thatched roof house in the jungle sipping manioc beer with Achuar friends who patiently explained to him that they could understand the language of plants, and that their dream was to protect their forest. It changed when he was on his knees on the moist forest floor watching a procession of leaf-cutter ants returning to their nest, each ant with part of a leaf held above it like a huge green sail. It changed when he filmed an indigenous protest march through the streets of Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Marching shoulder to shoulder were leaders of the Shuar and Achuar people—former blood enemies. One Shuar leader began to shout, “¡El pueblo Shuar/Achuar unido jamás será vencido!” (Together, the Shuar and Achuar people will never be defeated!)

His view of the world changed when he realized that the Achuar—and many indigenous people all over the world—know something that we in the “developed” world do not. They know how to exist sustainably on the planet that we all call home.

Several years ago, he began to stand up in front of groups and speak of these things. He showed parts of “Dream People of the Amazon” and answered questions. He spoke with people informally after his presentations. He found that what he was saying resonated with people because it wasn’t doom and gloom.  He doesn’t talk about the same old sad story of poor indigenous people losing their old ways to the modern world.

Larry brings his audiences an inspiring message from an extraordinary group of indigenous people still living a traditional life in the greatest rain forest on earth—and at the same time using ingenious strategies to deal with the pressures and threats of the modern world.

Larry's presentation includes selected scenes from his documentary film "Dream People of the Amazon."

DEBBY APPLEGATE
When: Thursday, April 16, 2009
Where: Scanlon Banquet Hall
Time: 6:00 pm Reception / 7:00 pm Program

Debby Applegate has spent 20 years researching and writing about Henry Ward Beecher. She first discovered Beecher as an undergraduate in the college archives at Amherst College, where she graduated summa cum laude in 1989. She continued her work on Beecher while a Sterling Fellow in American Studies at Yale, where she earned her Ph.D. in 1998. Her research for the book spanned the American Revolution to the Gilded Age, and took her to scores of historical archives and scholarly libraries across the country, from country athenaeums to ivy covered towers to the damp basements of elderly great-grandchildren.

Her writing has won her numerous prizes and fellowships, has appeared in publications from the Journal of American History to The New York Times and she has taught at Yale and Wesleyan Universities. A sample of her syllabi can be found in the American Studies Syllabus Library online.

She has just been named a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle award for “The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher.”