Taking its cue from the most significant political event – the Presidential Debate — to occur at the university this fall, the Washington University Assembly Series will feature several speakers with a politically related or election-oriented focus.
Starting off the season, however, is a speaker from the business world. Bethany McLean, the Fortune magazine reporter who was the first to question how the energy giant, Enron, made its money, will give a talk based on her book, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron at 11 a.m. on Wed., Sept. 8 in Graham Chapel.
Unless specifically stated, Assembly Series lectures are held at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays in Graham Chapel. McLean’s lecture, as are all Assembly Series lectures, is free and open to the public, although a few may be restricted to the general public, subject to overcrowding concerns. Check the Assembly Series Web site, www.assemblyseries.wustl.edu, for information regarding each lecture.
McLean, now a senior writer for Fortune, joined the financial magazine’s reporting staff in 1995. In that capacity she covers a wide range of companies and industries and also contributes to the “Street Life” column for Fortune’s online publication, fortune.com.
Her story, “Is Enron Overpriced?” was published in the March 2001 issue of Fortune. Two years later, McLean’s book, co-written with colleague Peter Elkind, was published. The Smartest Guys in the Room chronicles the scandal and is considered by many as the definitive account of the Enron debacle. Prior to becoming a writer, McLean worked in investment banking.
Seymour Hersh, who was scheduled to appear on Sept. 15, has cancelled. Please check the Web site for information on that lecture date.
The first of a two-part discussion on the USA Patriot Act will be given by Viet Dinh on Sept. 22 in Room 310 of Anheuser-Busch Hall. A Georgetown University law professor, Dinh spent two years as U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy under John Ashcroft, and helped draft the controversial legal document. His talk is titled “Liberty and the Rule of Law after September 11th.”
On Sept. 29 Dinh’s colleague at Georgetown University law school and outspoken critic of the USA Patriot Act, David Cole, will discuss “John Ashcroft’s Paradigm of Prevention and the Future of Civil Liberties.” Cole’s talk will also take place in Room 310 of Anheuser-Busch Hall.
On Thurs., Sept. 23, the Assembly Series will host an event featuring two of the university’s most distinguished faculty members. Philip Stahl and Jonathan Turner, recipients of this year’s Chancellor’s Faculty Achievement Awards, will discuss their work at 4:30 p.m. in Whitaker Hall Auditorium.
Turner, Ph.D., the Henry Edwin Sever Professor of Engineering in the department of computer science and engineering, school of engineering and applied science, has received the university’s Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award. Recognized for his accomplishments in computer networks and telecommunications, Turner’s research interests include the design and analysis of high performance routers and switching systems, extensible communication networks and analysis of algorithms.
Stahl, Ph.D., the Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Professor and head of the department of cell biology and physiology in the school of medicine, is the recipient of the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award. Stahl has been recognized as a creative and prolific scientist. His research investigations concern the mechanisms involved in endocytosis, the process through which cells absorb external substances such a proteins, in an effort to detect how growth signals are internalized into cells.
One of the most influential and articulate voices of American conservative political thought, William Kristol, will address the question, “What’s at Stake in the 2004 Election” at 11 a.m. Thurs., Oct. 7. (Note: Due to the proximity of this event with the Presidential Debate, access may be limited.)
Kristol is a prominent television commentator and since 1995 he has been editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard. In addition, he has had many leadership roles in the Republican Party.
On Oct. 13, the Assembly Series will welcome back Susan Faludi, the writer of two groundbreaking books that analyze the forces and impact of changing societal roles. When published in 1991, Backlash: The Undeclared War against American Women, was an immediate bestseller. Her second book, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Male, was published eight years later.
The prominent University of Chicago scholar, Robert Richards, will give a talk at 4 p.m. on Thurs., Oct. 21 in Rebstock Hall Room 215. He is a professor of history, philosophy and psychology and an expert on Darwin and evolutionary theory. His work focuses on how Romantic concepts of the self, and aesthetic and moral considerations, altered scientific representations of nature. The title of his lecture is “Did Ernst Haeckel Commit Fraud in Defending Darwin’s Theory?”
A multi-media journalist who has worked in print, television and most recently, online (PopandPolitics.com), Farai Chideya’s main goal is to reach the politically disenfranchised in America, especially minority youth. Her talk, “Trust: Reaching the Million Missing Voters,” will be held on Oct. 27. Chideya has been a writer and has covered political news for ABC, Oxygen, CNN, MTV, and Newsweek magazine. She also has authored two books.
Gerald Torres, the University of Texas law professor best known for co-authoring, with Lani Guinier, the acclaimed book, The Miner’s Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy, will talk about his work as a leader in the civil rights and environmental justice movements. His talk, “Knowledge, Power and Democracy: Insights from the Civil Rights and Environmental Movements,” will be held on Thurs., Oct. 28 in Graham Chapel.
A panel of Washington University faculty will give their thoughts on the results of the 2004 presidential election on Nov. 3. Panelists and the moderator will be announced at a later date.
The annual Holocaust Lecture will feature writer, poet and Colgate University professor, Peter Balakian. An Armenian-American, he has devoted two of his books to examining the tragedy of the Armenian genocide, first with a memoir, The Black Dog of Fate, and most recently with The Burning Tigress: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response, which received a New York Times Book Review “Notable Book” citation. His talk will be held at 4 p.m. on Thurs., Nov. 4.
The final lecture will be delivered by Chinese novelist Anchee Min on Nov. 10. Min’s life story, detailed in her autobiography, Red Azalea, reflects the uncertainty, hardship and fear that many Chinese citizens endured under Communist rule. After immigrating to America in the 1980s, she learned English and has subsequently published several novels.
For more information on Assembly Series lectures, call 935-4620 or go online to www.assemblyseries.wustl.edu.