UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences to Host Interdisciplinary Lecture Series

UC’s McMicken College of Arts and Sciences is hosting a lecture series that will give the campus community and the general public the opportunity to listen to nationally known guest speakers and UC scholars regarding their views on issues facing humanity.

Lecture speakers will cover a broad variety of topics, including the plight of our nation’s youth, Greek poetry, the effect of greenhouse gases, military spending and building interest in the STEM disciplines among minorities. The series, titled “Transforming the World, Advancing Humanity,” will feature six speakers – including TED speaker and University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) President Freeman A. Hrabowski, who was named one of the America’s top leaders by U.S. News and World Report.

The series kicks off with a talk from Henry A. Giroux on Oct. 3. Named one of the top 50 educational thinkers of the modern age by academic publisher Routledge, Giroux is a pioneer in public pedagogy, culture studies, higher education and critical theory. He has published more than 50 books and over 300 academic articles, and is published widely throughout education and cultural studies literature.

Giroux will discuss how the age of consumerism is hurting poor minority youth, and the role educators can play in challenging this situation while extending the promise of democracy.

“We’re extremely thrilled to kick off the lecture series with a speaker of Henry’s caliber,” said Arts and Sciences Dean Ronald L. Jackson II. “We hope that these lectures will encourage people to think outside of the box when it comes to learning about issues that affect humanity as a whole. We also are extremely proud of the wide range of UC’s scholars who will speak during the series.”

Here are more details on the speakers and topics they will cover:

• Henry A. Giroux, Thursday, Oct. 3, 5:30 p.m.; Room 220 TUC Cinema. Henry Giroux holds the Global TV Network Chair Professorship at McMaster University in the English and Cultural Studies Department, and a distinguished visiting professorship at Ryerson University. He will discuss the rise of market fundamentalism and its impact on youth.
• Amy Townsend-Small, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 3 p.m.; Room 220 TUC Cinema. Amy Townsend-Small has a B.A. in environmental science and English literature from Skidmore College, and a Ph.D. in marine science from the University of Texas at Austin. She is an assistant professor of biogeochemistry at UC. Her talk is titled: Are methane emissions on the rise? Climatic and anthropogenic feedbacks.
• Kathryn Gutzwiller, Thursday, Dec. 5, 3 p.m.; Taft Research Center, Edwards One, 45 Corry Blvd. Kathryn Gutzwiller has taught classics at UC since 1979. A specialist in the Greek poetry of the Hellenistic age, she has published five books, including the award-winning Poetic Garlands:  Hellenistic Epigrams in Context. She will be discussing continuity and change in the study of Greek poetry.
• Freeman A. Hrabowski III, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014, noon; Room 220 TUC Cinema. Freeman A. Hrabowski III has served as president of UMBC since 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the recent report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. He also was recently named by President Barack Obama to chair the newly created President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. His talk is titled: Institutional Culture Change: Academic Innovation and Inclusive Excellence.
• Steve Carlton-Ford, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014, 3 p.m.; Room 220 TUC Cinema. Steve Carlton-Ford received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) and held a post-doctorate position in developmental psychology at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development. Currently he is professor and head of the UC Department of Sociology. His talk is titled: Military & Society: A Cross-National Perspective.
• Tony Chemero, Tuesday, March 11, 2014, 3 p.m.; Room 220 TUC Cinema. Tony Chemero earned his Ph.D. in philosophy and cognitive science from Indiana University in 1999. After that, he taught at Franklin & Marshall College, where he was professor of psychology. In 2012, he became professor of philosophy and psychology at the University of Cincinnati. Tony's research is both philosophical and empirical. It is focused on questions related to dynamical modeling, mental representation, ecological psychology, artificial life and complex systems. His talk is titled: The Human-Environment System.

All events in the series are free and open to the public. For more information, visit

www.artsci.uc.edu

.