Tuesday Lecture Series
Spring 2010
12:15-1:15 pm Room 6/ Lecture Hall
Temple Baptist Church: 3850 Nebraska Ave. NW
Special thanks to coordinators Barbara Rollinson,
Mickey Klein, Hope Bogorad & Tina Fried Heller
March 2 Howard Jacobson
British Novelist
Howard Jacobson, the prize-winning English novelist, will be talking about growing up Jewish in England -- especially Manchester -- and about "Why Jewish People Play Table Tennis." One critic describes him as “ a very literary man, a very funny, very literary man..." His comic vision joins an easy manner, deep learning, and an impressive list of novels published to great acclaim since 1983. Much more than an ethnic writer, Jacobson draws a bead on sex, comedy, jealousy, and other universal human frailties. In addition to his novels, he has created TV series and travel books. Susan Willens will introduce him.
March 9 David Stewart
Almost a Second Civil War: The 1868 Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson
The explosive impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson was rooted in the social and political revolutions that rocked the South in connection with the end of slavery and the Civil War. Ascending to the presidency after Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson, a Tennessee Democrat, not only failed to heal the nation’s wounds but rather rubbed them raw, ignoring widespread violence against the freed slaves and encouraging former rebels to resume political control of the Southern states. Inept lawyering by Johnson’s prosecutors, combined with political deals, saved Johnson from impeachment by a single vote. David Stewart’s most recent book, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson, developed from his fascination with impeachment. His first book, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, grew out of a brief he wrote in a Supreme Court case. He has been a trial lawyer for more than 25 years.
March 16: Matthew Kelly
An Introduction to Federal Indian Law
America’s 564 federally recognized Indian tribes, distinct political sovereigns, remain subject to a complex body of federal law that is all but invisible to non-Indians. With roots reaching back to the Renaissance, federal Indian law continues to define the limits of tribal self-determination. In doing so, however, it also calls into question the historical role of the US as a standard-bearer of democracy. This lecture provides a brief introduction to the history and substance of this area of American law and the ideological challenges it poses for a liberal democratic society. Matthew J. Kelly has worked as a consultant and attorney to tribal governments for almost 10 years. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he also trained as an anthropologist at the University of Chicago, and has written extensively about the relationship of law and historiography in the representation of American Indians.
March 23 TOWN MEETING: please join us.
March 30: Dean Peter Starr
Why Are We So Paranoid?
Is Barack Obama’s birth certificate a fake? Did the US government bring down the World Trade Center in a controlled demolition? Who did kill JFK? In this talk, Peter Starr will examine America’s long-standing love of conspiracy theories, with special attention to the particular nature of those theories today. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at American University since July 2009, Dr. Starr is also the author ofthe web-based multimedia book, We the Paranoid (viewable at http://iml.usc.edu/dev/starr/demo/). Before coming to AU, Starr was a professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California, where—except during a fellowship year at Harvard University—he had taught since 1985.
April 6: Dean William LeoGrande
Cuba After Fidel: A New Chapter in US-Cuban Relations?
Relations between the United States and Cuba have been acrimonious ever since Fidel Castro came to power more than half a century ago. Despite multifaceted US efforts to overthrow Castro, from invasion at the Bay of Pigs to assassination attempts, Castro outlasted ten US presidents. Barack Obama has promised a new policy of engagement toward Cuba, and Fidel Castro has retired, turning the reins of power over to his brother Raul. Can the new leaders in Washington and Havana overcome the legacy of 50 years of hostility? Is this the moment when US-Cuba relations will finally thaw? William M. LeoGrande is Dean of the School of Public Affairs and Professor of Government at American University where he has served on the faculty since 1978.
April 13: Michael Goodman & Robbie Hood
Satellites, Aircraft and the Study of the Earth
The speakers will provide an overview of the use of NASA and NOAA satellites and aircraft for observations of the Earth. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration along with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration deploy satellites and instrumented science aircraft to observe, characterize, and understand the Earth’s natural processes and disasters. The study of earthquakes, hurricanes, wildland fires, and arctic sea ice are examples of how both spaceborne and airborne platforms are used to better understand, and ultimately predict changes to, our environment. Michael Goodman (our own Seymour Goodman’s son) is NASA’s Earth Science Natural Disasters program director and Robbie Hood is NOAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems program director. Mr. Goodman and Ms. Hood have been married for 25 years and have conducted numerous aircraft and satellite field experiments from Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, to Cold Bay, Alberta.
April 20: Richard Soffer
Collecting Ornithological Books; A Personal Odyssey
Dr. Richard Soffer has been a bird-watcher all his life. For many years he has been a serious collector of rare and important ornithological books. He has donated his collection of almost 1,500 titles, dating from 1544 to the present, to his alma mater, Amherst College. The lecture will focus on the history of ornithological illustration, and examples from his books will be shown in a visual presentation. Dr. Soffer is a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Medical School. He devoted his career to research in enzymology and retired from Cornell University Medical College in 1994 as Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine. As a second career, he became a consultant in the formation of one of the world's more important private collections of ornithological books.
April 27: Susan Goodman
The Australian Captive : A Sailor's Story of Shipwreck, Captivity and Cannibalism
In an illustrated lecture, Susan Goodman will discuss William Jackman's book, his shipwreck off the coast of Australia in 1837, and what he calls his "year-and-a-half of forced residence" with an aboriginal tribe. The book tells how Jackman learned to make weapons and tools for hunting and warfare, his reluctant marriage to a young woman, his protection by the tribal chief, and his eventual escape. Today Jackman's book is regarded by some historians as one of the earliest descriptions of Australian aboriginal culture by a European. Susan Goodman worked as a news reporter and editor for WAMU-88.5 FM, the local NPR affiliate in Washington, as well as a feature reporter for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She spends most of her time now researching family history, including the life of William Jackman, her great great-grandfather.
May 4: Kenneth W. Harris
The Future of Sports—Top Down, Bottom Up or Both
The Top Down sports culture is the multi-billion dollar global enterprise most people encounter frequently via mass media and occasionally in person at a stadium or arena. Elite athletes are the core of this enterprise. The Bottom Up sports and fitness culture is the one in which ordinary people participate actively in friendly competition, or for fitness or fun. The lecture will consider whether the two cultures will continue to exist side-by-side or whether one will become clearly ascendant. Ken Harris is a futurist consultant specializing in the future of sports and fitness and emerging technologies. He heads a futurist consultancy, The Consilience Group, LLC, and spent 35 years in federal government service, including 23 with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Lectures will be cancelled if the DC or Montgomery County Schools are delayed or cancelled.
OLLI does not endorse any of the viewpoints expressed by the speakers in its series.