As the November 2008 presidential and congressional elections loom, the annual MLA Saturday Seminar series, sponsored by the Master of Liberal Arts program and University College, will fittingly focus on elections and politics.
“The topic is obvious in this year,” said Robert E. Wiltenburg, Ph.D., dean of University College, “but we thought that people would also be glad to have some wide-ranging, nonpolemical occasions for considering matters of great public interest.”
During the series, WUSTL experts from American culture studies, history, law and political science will examine the many dimensions of political and electoral choice — presidential and congressional, and past and present — in American democracy.
The lectures begin Saturday, Feb. 2, and are offered every Saturday in February. They are free and open to the public, and no registration is required.
Presentations will be from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Goldfarb Auditorium in McDonnell Hall and are as follows:
• Feb. 2: Wayne Fields, Ph.D., the Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Professor of English and director of the American Culture Studies Program, both in Arts & Sciences, will present “Faith, Hope and Fear: The American Presidency in the 21st Century.”
• Feb. 9: Margaret Garb, Ph.D., assistant professor of history and of African and African American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will speak on “Race, Politics and the American Voter.”
• Feb. 16: Steven S. Smith, Ph.D., the Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences and director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy, both in Arts & Sciences, will discuss “Congress After the 2008 Elections.”
• Feb. 23: Susan Frelich Appleton, J.D., the Lemma Barkeloo & Phoebe Couzins Professor of Law, will present “The Politics of Reproductive Rights and Motherhood.”
For more information, visit ucollege.wustl.edu/programs or call 935-6700.