Events Calendar

Join us for University for a Day! 

Brennan Hall, Room 228 Pearn Auditorium

8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Registration and Morning Coffee: 8:45 to 9:15 AM, Pearn Lobby
Lunch and Reception in Brennan Hall, Rose Room 509

$25/person

FREE to Schemel Forum Members & University of Scranton Faculty, Staff & Students

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LECTURE 1: 9:30 to 10:45 AM

From Democracy to Oligarchy?  Self Love and the Future of America
Matthew Meyer, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Scranton

Drawing on the insights of Plato and Aristotle, this talk explores the potential role that a nefarious form of self-love plays in resistance to redistributive tax policies and the emergence of what some have called "American oligarchy."

LECTURE 2: 11 AM to 12:15 PM

The Rise of Constitutional Veneration
Aziz Rana, Associate Professor of Law, Cornell Law School

Today the US Constitution enjoys widespread support across the political spectrum.   But this was not always the case.  In this lecture, Rana will explore how the Constitution became a site of symbolic and political agreement over the course of the twentieth century and how this process was tied crucially to the emergence of the US as a global power.  He will also discuss the effect of the modern rise of constitutional veneration on popular politics, particularly by placing limits on reform agendas.

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LECTURE 3: 1:45 to 3 PM

Novel Perspectives on Our New World
Stephen Whittaker, Associate Professor of English, University of Scranton       

In his most recent post- 9/11 novels, Let the Great World Spin and TransAtlantic, the internationally acclaimed writer Colum McCann braids narrative voices and re-weaves the idea of America, past and present.   McCann’s powerful insight into the reciprocal motions of Irish and American experience affords a vibrant vision of the United States today as a trans-national entity.

*No prior familiarity with McCann’s work is necessary.  McCann will be at the University of Scranton on October 18th to receive the Friends of the Library’s Distinguished Author Award.

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LECTURE 4: 3:15 to 4:45 PM

A Quest for Truth in Twitter Time
Kevin Klose, President Emeritus of National Public Radio,  Dean of the College of Journalism, University of Maryland          

We live in an ocean of fractional “fact.”  Twitter-Time is here to stay. As citizens of a country where truth bows to no master, we must read, watch, witness and bear witness with ever-questing minds"seeking always for “fact” "something that actually exists or happened and challenging those who obstruct our quest. That’s what we owe ourselves and others in this time of twisted “truth-telling.” The lecture will address the challenges we face in the new media era.

Kevin Klose is president emeritus of National Public Radio and past president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He most recently served as dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.  A former news correspondent, he is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books and is currently working on a novel.