Great Conversations Lecture Series – Big Visions

Our popular Great Conversations series continues with a new theme! This autumn and winter, we invite some of the University’s most exciting, creative minds to share their visions of the future of our city and of the world. Our discussions will consider such topics as the changing shape of education, how to build a sustainable future, and the evolution of the economic system. On select Thursdays, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, the Graham School will provide food, drink, and the best talk in town. We hope that you will join us for the conversation!

UPDATES:
Sir Peter Crane, our first knighted Great Conversationalist, has had to change his date from Dec. 10 to Jan. 7. This will give us an unusually action-packed January, with Sir Peter followed by Martha Nussbaum one week later. But as a consolation gift, we will bring you an additional, complimentary Great Conversation. It will be someone up to the very best standards of our series! So, you get six Great Conversations instead of five. Please e-mail rschultz@uchicago.edu with any questions or concerns.

The Value of a Liberal Education and Its Role in Lifelong Learning
October 8
Our series kicks off with a presentation by and conversation with Cary Nathenson, the Associate Dean of the Graham School of General Studies in charge of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences. This conversation will explore the value of liberal education in lifelong learning as well as its connection to and value in continued professional preparation. Dean Nathenson, co-founder of The Public Square, will address the new directions that continuing education is taking, both at the Graham School and generally.

Sustainable Organizations – Building a Framework
November 12
Our series will continue with a presentation by Ilsa Flanagan, the Director of Sustainability at the University of Chicago, who will share her experience and expertise on how institutions can transform to sustainable practices at the system-wide level.

To Be Determined
December 10
(Sir Peter Crane’s talk has moved to January 7; see above for available information)

The Future of Gardens
January 7
The third lecture in our five lecture series will feature Sir Peter Crane, formerly the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences and the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. Our eminent guest will be offering you glimpses of the future of one of the most deeply meaningful human activities, one increasingly recognized as a crucial component in environmental education.

What Capabilities Do We Have?
January 14
For our fourth talk, one of our most popular Great Conversationalists ever returns to discuss her pathbreaking work on the future of education and economic development. Martha Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, and the Director of the Center for Law, Philosophy, and Human Values at the University of Chicago Law School, will explain how the “capabilities approach” offers a crucial new vision for our economic future.

Education in the Future – Hopes and Fears
February 11
The fifth and final lecture of the 2009-10 season will feature one of the most influential educational administrators and visionaries in Chicago, Timothy Knowles, the Lewis Sebring Director of the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago, speaking on the crucial subject of how educational reform can and should be envisioned.