Humanities Lecture Series

Alain de Botton

Author and Philosopher  

"Religion for Atheists" 

Wednesday, March 14, 7:30  p.m.                  

The Commons, Spooner Hall

Additional Event: Living Architecture: A Conversation with Alain de Botton 

  Thursday, March 15, 10:00 a.m.

  Hall Center Conference Hall 

Acclaimed author and "philosopher of everyday living," Alain de Botton has published on literature, art, philosophy, architecture, film, and more, yet his work always returns to the question of how one might use these elements of high culture as consolation, or as therapy. De Botton has been praised and condemned for this practical approach to utilizing the arts. But as interviewer Katy Guest of The Independent puts it, "his mission is to wrestle back those consolations from 'the huge gatekeeper' . . . that is academia." In his presentation "Religion for Atheists," de Botton will use his witty, controversial approach to culture to propose a secular route to the deep fulfillment that many seek in organized religion. De Botton, a Swiss writer living in England, is the author of ten books, including How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), The Architecture of Happiness (2006), and The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009). He is the founder of Living Architecture, an innovative non-profit organization whose goal is to build interesting and affordable vacation housing in the UK.  

2011 Celebration of Books

Published by Humanities, Social Science, and Arts Faculty   

Thu, March 8, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Hall Center Conference Hall 

*Sponsored by the Friends of the Hall Center       

 The Hall Center is pleased to host a celebration of faculty authors who published books in 2011. The event will consist of a reception, a display of books, and a brief program featuring faculty authors who will talk about their recent books and take questions from the audience. Please join us to learn about the engaging work of our humanities and social science faculty. This event is open to the public, but RSVP is required by March 1 to hallcenter@ku.edu. 

The following faculty members will deliver a brief presentation on their publications:

• Tanya Golash-Boza, Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions and Deportations in Post-9/11 America
• John C. Tibbetts, The Gothic Imagination: Conversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media
• Tom Tuozzo, Plato's Charmides: Positive Elenchus in a 'Socratic' Dialogue 

Jerome Silbergeld

P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History, Princeton University

"Musical Text and Textual Music in Chinese Cinema" 

Fri, March 9, 5:00 p.m.

Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union
 *Co-sponsored by the Humanities & Western Civilization Program, CLAS, the Departments of Economics, History of Art, Philosophy, and Political Science, and the Hall Center 

The work of Jerome Silbergeld, distinguished professor of Chinese Art History and Director of the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University, embodies interdisciplinary scholarship at its best. Author of fifteen books and catalogs and over thirty articles, Professor Silbergeld's scholarship spans a variety of fields, from East Asian art, cinema, music, and politics across the centuries to their contemporary manifestations and exchanges with their western counterparts. In his keynote address to the Mid-American Humanities Conference in Interdisciplinary Studies, Professor Silbergeld will explore the significance of the music and lyrics of Chinese cinema, the theoretical roots of which go back to 9th century bce. Through film clips and images, his talk will investigate the interesting ways in which image, lyric and melody have been made to interact by some of today's most creative Chinese filmmakers.

The Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad Women's Leadership Lecture

Sarah Weddington

"Some Leaders Are Born Women!" 

Tue, March 27, 7:30 p.m.

Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
 *Reception to follow   

 Sarah Weddington is an attorney, lecturer, and public leader most famous for her role as one of Jane Roe's defense attorneys in Roe v. Wade, the controversial 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding abortion rights. Arguing the case at 26, Weddington holds the record as being the youngest attorney to have won a Supreme Court case. She is well-known for her ongoing work--as an attorney, legislator, Presidential advisory, and professor--on issues affecting women. This lecture will look at the historical factors that have contributed to a lack of women in top leadership positions, and at what women have to offer today.