the graduate school
Winter 2015 Graduate School Public Lectures
Exploring an array of topics and themes, the 2015 Winter Graduate School Public Lectures reimagine the way we tell stories and create art, as well as how we define our communities and our place in the universe. From city planning to literature, extraterrestrial intelligence to dance, these lectures examine the issues of our day with an eye toward redefining our future.
Did you miss out on this fall quarter’s lectures? Check out exclusive in-depth conversations between Olympia Snowe, Dolores Huerta, Marc Rotenberg, Michael Levitt and “At Length” host Steve Scher. Listen Now.
Chocolate cities and vanilla suburbs: Race, space and American culture after World War II
Eric Avila, professor of history, Chicano studies and urban planning, UCLA
Departing from the Cold War narratives taken for granted in depictions of the United States after World War II, Eric Avila explores new interpretations of urban postwar life, where highway construction, suburbanization, deindustrialization, slum clearance and white flight redefined the American city as one fraught with disparities of race, class and gender.
Tues. January 27, 2015
From event to node: How ‘future narratives’ impact the way we imagine and shape the future
Christoph Bode, full professor and chair of modern English literature at LMU Munich
The art of storytelling has long relied on narrative as little more than the description of a straight line. But in recent history, multilinear future narratives — stories that unfold through a range of flexible potentialities and multiple continuations — have emerged as a powerful means to shape narratives in print, film, video games, scientific prediction models and more. In this lecture, Christoph Bode’s unified theory of future narratives illuminates the poetics and possibilities inherent to this burgeoning approach to storytelling, and identifies its historical evolution and context in our culture’s arts and media.
SETI: Past, present and future — finding aliens and finding ourselves
Jill Cornell Tarter, Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) at the SETI Institute
As science and human imagination begin to fully realize the breadth and scope of our universe, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence becomes not a question of “if,” but of “when.” In this lecture, Dr. Cornell Tarter speaks to the importance of investing in long-term endeavors in a world of short-sighted thinking and how looking beyond our atmosphere can help better sustain life here on earth.
Tues. March 3, 2015
Mark Morris: Dancing beyond boundaries
Mark Morris, founder, Mark Morris Dance Center
As a dancer, choreographer, opera director and conductor, Mark Morris is a prolific creative mind whose work transcends mediums. In this conversation with Gigi Yellen-Kohn of Northwest Public Radio, Morris speaks to the vital role of music in his work and discusses his innovative collaborations both present and future, ranging from music to fashion to the visual arts.
Wed. March 4, 2015
UWAA and UWRA members receive advance registration for the series! Not a member? Join today!
