Sept. 9, 2009
David Rusk, Urban Policy Expert
Opening Convocation of the 165th Academic Year
Weaver Chapel, 11 a.m.
A former federal official, New Mexico legislator and Albuquerque mayor David Rusk has been called the “hottest urban expert in the nation today” by the Baltimore Sun. His recent book, Inside Game/Outside Game, was a groundbreaking work that has become a staple for the world of government officials.
Oct. 1, 2009
Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian
The Fred R. Leventhal Family Endowed Lecture
Pam Evans Smith Arena, 7:30 p.m.
Author of the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson began his
humanitarian efforts after climbing the world’s second largest mountain, K2, located in Pakistan’s Karakoram
Range. Moved by the intense impoverishment of Pakistani youth, Mortenson now dedicates his life to promoting education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. To date he has established 78 schools that are educating 28,000 children, including 18,000 girls.
Oct. 25, 2009
The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, Synod Bishop”
Festival Choral Eucharist for Reformation
Weaver Chapel, 7:30 p.m.
The Festival Choral Eucharist for Reformation gives thanks in worship, song and the preached word for the
influences of the Reformation in the Church universal. The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, Bishop of the Northeastern
Ohio Synod, will serve as guest preacher. The service also includes music by university music ensembles.
Oct. 26, 2009
Deanna Thompson, Theologian
The Kenneth H. Sauer Luther Symposium
Bayley Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
Deanna Thompson is associate professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Hamline University in
St. Paul, Minn. Author of Crossing the Divide: Luther, Feminism, and the Cross (2004), as well as numerous
articles and reviews, Thompson speaks on a wide variety of contemporary theological topics, from Luther to feminist thought to the critique of global empire. Thompson received her B.A. from St. Olaf College, her
M.A.R. from Yale University Divinity School and her
Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.
Nov. 10, 2009
Joseph O’Neill, Author
Literary Reading and Lecture
Bayley Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. (English Dept. Colloquium, 4 p.m., Ness Auditorium)
Joseph O’Neill is the Irish literary talent who penned Netherland, which was described by The New York Times "Book Review" as “the wittiest, angriest, most exacting and most desolate work of fiction we’ve had
about life in New York and London after the World Trade Center fell.” The novel was included in The
list of 10 Best Books of 2008 and earned the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award. O’Neill’s writing ranges from non-fiction to journalism and has earned him nominations for the Man Booker Prize and the Warwick Prize.
Dec. 11, 2009
Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas
Weaver Chapel, 7:30 p.m.
Beginning with the Service of Light for Evening Prayer, in which the chapel is enveloped in darkness and gradually illuminated by candles, and concluding with a candlelit singing of “Silent Night,” this service of nine
lessons and carols offers a time of reflection as the Advent season unfolds. Music will be provided by Wittenberg’s premiere ensembles of more than 100 musicians.
Jan. 18, 2010
Elizabeth Alexander, Poet
The Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation
Weaver Chapel, 11 a.m. (Q & A, 1:30 p.m., Shouvlin 105)
Professor Elizabeth Alexander is chair of the Department of African American Studies at Yale University. A writer of plays, essays and most notably poetry, her voice is one of the most exciting currently speaking for contemporary literature. On Jan. 20, 2008, millions of people around the world listened while she read her poem “Praise Song for the Day” to those assembled for the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The daughter of a civil rights adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson, Alexander is the first recipient of the Alphonse Fletcher Sr. Fellowship.
Feb. 4, 2010
Keith Devlin, Mathematician
The IBM Endowed Lecture in the Sciences
Bayley Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. (Math, Science, and Computer Science Students and Faculty Session, 3:50 p.m., BayleyAuditorium )
Keith Devlin is a co-founder and executive director of Stanford University’s H-STAR institute, a consulting
professor in the Department of Mathematics, a co-founder of the Stanford Media X research network, a senior researcher at CSLI and a World Economic Forum Fellow. His research interests include the use of different media to teach and communicate mathematics, theory of information, model of reasoning, application for mathematical techniques in the study of communication and mathematical cognition. Recipient of the Pythagoras Prize, The Peano Prize and the Carl Sagan Award, Devlin is “the math guy” on National Public Radio.
Feb. 16, 2010
The Acting Company
Theatre
Clark State Performing Arts Center, Kuss Auditorium 7:30 p.m. (Master Class, 2:10 p.m., Chakeres Theatre)
With performances in more than 50 cities each year, the Acting Company provides a diverse repertoire and offers numerous master classes and workshops to young theatre artists. Since its founding in 1972, the Acting Company has played a dominant role in American theatre and has been honored with an Obie Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, Citibank’s Excellence in Education Award, two Audelco Awards, and a TONY Honor for Excellence in Theatre. The company will present Shakespeare’s classic Romeo
and Juliet and master classes for theatre students while at Wittenberg.
March 2, 2010
Chanticleer
Music
Weaver Chapel, 7:30 p.m. (Master Class, 2:10 p.m., 300 Krieg)
An international music phenomenon, Chanticleer is a critically acclaimed, Grammy-winning a cappella
ensemble that melds 12 male voices into melodious perfection. With a wide gamut of musical styles, ranging
from Renaissance to Jazz, Chanticleer has earned the status of “the world’s reigning, male chorus” (New Yorker) and was named the 2008 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America.
March 18, 2010
William Chester Jordan, Medieval Studies Expert
The William A. Kinnison Endowed Lecture
Bayley Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
William Chester Jordan currently serves as director of the Medieval Studies Program at Princeton University.
His best known work, Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership, is the most comprehensive secondary source account of the seventh crusade. Jordan has had a broad and varied career in medieval studies including scholarship not only on the crusades but also on English constitutional history, gender, economics and disease. His most recent research is on church-state relations in the 13th- and 14th-centuries. He is a recipient of the Charles Homer Haskins medal from the Medieval Academy of America.
Visual Artist Residency Week of April 5, 2010
Robert Kipniss, Artist
April 8, Gallery Talk
Kissell Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
Wittenberg alumnus Robert Kipniss is one of America’s distinguished artists. His paintings and prints have
been exhibited throughout the world and are held in the collections of the: Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Cleveland Museum of Art, Detroit Art Institute, Art Institute of Chicago, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, New York Public Library, Whitney Museum of American
Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and the New Orleans Museum of Art. In 1979 when Kipniss returned to Wittenberg to receive an honorary doctorate, he realized he was
“riding through the landscapes of his own paintings… that many of his paintings were the unconscious echoes
of his college days.”
Special thanks to this year’s sponsors:
Gil Belles ’62, The Ruth B. and Thomas F. Mackey Charitable Trust, The Thomas
Art Endowment Fund and The Wittenberg Guild.