CONTACT: Janell Johnson, (517) 774-3197; [email protected]
CMU TO HOST SIX INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN SPEAKERS FOR YEARLONG 'HUMANITIES AT THE MILLENNIUM' SERIES
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Six internationally recognized humanities scholars will share their expertise with Central Michigan University audiences during a yearlong speaker series.
"Humanities at the Millennium: Transforming Conversations" will feature experts in the fields of literature, religion, history and philosophy discussing the role of the humanities in the university as well as how those disciplines might most fruitfully interact with American culture as a whole.
"The overall goal of the series is to generate conversations about how the academic disciplines of the humanities can become more responsive to cultural experiences both within and beyond the university," said Mark Freed, an English department faculty member. "The fact that we're heading into a new millennium makes this an appropriate time to rethink how the humanities have been taught in the past and to examine what the future may hold for these disciplines in the next century.
"We're very fortunate to have such distinguished scholars participating with the CMU community in the reinvention of the humanities," he said. "All of them are well known as representatives of innovative work within the humanities such as postmodernism, cultural studies, feminism and the increasing role that technology is playing in academic life."
The programs begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Bovee University Center Rotunda Room and are free and open to the public. Receptions will follow each presentation.
Michael Berube, director of the Humanities Research Center and professor of English at the University of Illinois, opened the series Sept. 28 with "Are the Postmodern Humanities Good to Think With?"
Berube, a public advocate of the humanities who is known for his work on postmodernism, is the author of numerous articles and books, including "Public Access: Literary Theory and American Cultural Politics," "Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life," "The Employment of English: Theory, Jobs, and the Future of Literary Studies" and "Life as We Know It: A Father, A Family and an Exceptional Child."
Other speakers in the series include:
-- Evan Watkins, professor of English at Pennsylvania State University, who will discuss "Do You Believe in Magic: Democracy and the Reform of Vocational Education" on Oct. 26;
-- Tricia Rose, professor of Africana Studies and history at New York University, who will talk about "Black Cultural Testimony and the Politics of Recognition" on Nov. 10;
-- Mark Taylor, professor of humanities and religion at Williams College in Massachusetts, who will discuss "How Not to Be Useless? Humanities at the Millennium" on Jan. 25;
-- Elizabeth Grosz, professor of comparative literature at State University of New York-Buffalo, who will talk about "Feminist Futures: The Time of Thought" on Feb. 24; and
-- Mark Poster, professor of history at the University of California-Irvine, who will discuss "Humanities and Authorship in the Age of Electronic Reproduction" on March 28.
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