Schedule 2008-2009
FALL TERM
Dr. Terrence Roberts
Dr. Peter Sanders
Mr. James Kunstler
Mr. Wendell Berry
Dr. Terrence Roberts
August 28, 2008
After last year's visit by Minnijean Brown Trickey, also an Institute guest, the faculty decided to require that all entering students read Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Potella Beals. This book recounts the experiences during the 1957-58 of the Little Rock Nine as they entered Central High School. The featured guest for the first convocation of the year was one of those young people. Dr. Terrence Roberts spoke on "Lessons from Little Rock."
Dr. Roberts, who went on to finish high school and college in California and complete a Ph.D. at Southern Illinois University, recently retired from college teaching and private consulting. While at Augustana, he not only spoke at convocation, but also met with students over lunch and in classes. The Institute dinner was hosted at the Dahl House by President and Mrs. Bahls. Twenty-five students attended. His message to students was one of nonviolence and forgiveness. He shared many of his memories of that fateful school year but also challenged students to keep confronting issues of prejudice and race.
Dr. Roberts was interviewed on WVIK. His visit was also covered by the Rock Island Argus and QC Online.
Mr. Peter Sanders
September 22-23, 2008
From 1976 to 1983, the Argentine government systematically kidnapped and killed thousands of men, women and children that it considered dangerous to the regime. Peter Sanders' film, "The Disappeared" documents this era through the story of one young man whose parents were victims. The film has received numerous awards including the 2007 Special Prize Best Documentary at the Documentary and Fiction Film Festival of Hollywood and the 2007 Official Selection at the Montreal World Film Festival.
On Tuesday, September 23, 2008, the film "The Disappeared" was shown followed by a discussion and reception with the filmmaker, Peter Sanders. He also spoke with students in several classes prior to the screening, and had dinner with students and faculty from the Departments of History and Latin American Studies.
Sanders completed his master's degree at New York University. Sanders was an actor and newscaster before entering the broadcast journalism program at NYU. As a boy, he lived with his family in Argentina and was a friend of the young main featured in the film.
Mr. James Kunstler
September 24-25, 2008
Writer and social critic James Kunstler was on campus for two days in late September. His visit was requested by students after some of them met him last year at an Institute sponsored field trip. While on campus he presented the Thursday convocation, visited two classes, and was the featured guest at an Institute dinner.
James Howard Kunstler says he wrote The Geography of Nowhere, "Because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work." Home From Nowhere was a continuation of that discussion with an emphasis on the remedies. A portion of it appeared as the cover story in the September 1996 Atlantic Monthly.
His next book in the series, The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition, published by Simon & Schuster / Free Press, is a look a wide-ranging look at cities here and abroad, an inquiry into what makes them great (or miserable), and in particular what America is going to do with its mutilated cities.
His latest book, The Long Emergency, published by the Atlantic Monthly Press in 2005, is about the challenges posed by the coming permanent global oil crisis, climate change, and other "converging catastrophes of the 21st Century." The Atlantic Monthly Press also published his novel, Maggie Darling, in 2004. Mr. Kunstler is also the author of eight other novels including The Halloween Ball, An Embarrassment of Riches. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times Sunday Magazine and Op-Ed page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues. Kunstler graduated from the State University of New York, Brockport campus, worked as a reporter and feature writer for a number of newspapers, and finally as a staff writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. In 1975, he dropped out to write books on a full-time basis. He has no formal training in architecture or the related design fields. He has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, RPI, the University of Virginia and many other colleges, and he has appeared before many professional organizations such as the AIA , the APA., and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Kunstler's visit was well covered by local media. His visit was featured in a local magazine, The Radish prior to his arrival and in the Dispatch and the Rock Island Argus during his visit. While on campus he was interviewed by students on the Observer staff. His convocation address was highlighted on the college website. He was also interviewed by WVIK, Augustana public radio, and WQAD, the ABC affiliate in the Quad Cities.
Wendell Berry
October 6-7, 2008
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Nationally acclaimed writer, Wendell Berry was special campus guest in early October. In a career that has spanned over 50 years, Mr. Berry has written over forty books of essays and poetry, and nine novels. He has received awards and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Lannen Foundations, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Mr. Berry's writing is characterized by his emphasis on traditional values, strong communities, and the connection between place and human experience. Sometimes called the "prophet of rural America," he still lives on the farm that has been in his family since the 1800s.
While on campus, Mr. Berry met with students in classes, presented a public reading in Centennial Hall, and was featured at a dinner attended by students, faculty, and local community members.
Mr. Steve Gunderson
October 9-10, 2008
Mr. Bob Levey
October 12-17, 2009
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Bob Levey served on the staff of the Washington Post for 36 years. For 23 of those years he authored an award winning daily column called “Bob Levey's Washington.” He also has had an extensive radio and television career. In 1999 he was named Washingtonian of the Year for his service to the community. Currently, he holds the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Managerial Journalism at the University of Memphsis. As a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he was at Augustana for an entire week, visiting with classes and student groups. He was a guest speaker in eight classes, and met with the faculty in Communication Studies to offer advice on a new Multimedia Journalism major. One evening he had dinner with the staff of the Observer, and another he dined with students in the Politics Club. Mr. Levey was also a featured guest at a discussion of media ethics that was hosted President and Mrs. Bahls at the Dahl House.
As a featured convocation speaker just weeks before the 2008 election, his presentation was very timely. Certainly the media has played a significant role in shaping these elections and Mr. Levey's presentation "Campaign Coverage 2008: Not the Media's Finest Hour" helped us think through this important issue.
Pauline Johnson, George and Sue Blanchard, and Beverly Felton The Institute for Leadership and Service and the Humanities Fund made possible the visit of four members of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. The visitors were Pauline Johnson, George and Sue Blanchard, and their daughter, Beverly Felton. They were on campus from Wednesday, October 15th through Friday, October 17th. George Blanchard is the Language Project Coordinator for the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. He and his wife Sue are elders as well as active participants in Shawnee ceremonial life. Sue is responsible for educating young Shawnee women in the “do’s and dont’s” of Shawnee womanhood, while George, as one of approximately 60 fluent speakers, names babies, conducts funerals, death feasts, and recites the essential Shawnee language prayers during the Spring and Fall Bread Dances. WINTER TERM
October 15-17, 2008
Both George and Sue hosted Augustana students during the American Indian field schools between 2004 and 2007. They have visited the Augustana campus in previous years as well. During those visits, George and Sue have given public talks and visited classes other than my own. In short, they love Augustana and look forward to their time on campus. During this particular visit, they met with five different classes. George also worked with Dr. Steve Warren of the Augustana History Department on translating speeches on various ritual events by Joe Billy, a Shawnee tribesperson from the 1930s.
Barbara Gottschalk Fifteen years ago, Barbara Gottschalk helped found Seeds of Peace with John and Janet Wallach. In its first year, 46 teenagers from Israeli, Palestine, and Egypt journeyed to camp in Maine for an intensive three week workshop on conflict resolution. Today more than 4,000 young people are a part of this program that has expanded beyond the Middle East to also include young people from South Asia, Cyprus and the Balkans. Using dialogue sessions, religious services and culture nights, students learn about each other and begin to develop a respect for diverse perspectives. Typical camp activities and special group challenges encourage the campers to strengthen their relationships with each other. The Seeds of Peace program has now developed a variety of regional programs in the Middle East and South Asia to continue its work. Educator workshops, dialogue sessions, community service projects and conflict management workshops promote peace and a "circle of concern" in those areas. Barbara Gottschalk received her B.A. degree from Earlham College and a MSW from the University of Chicago. She holds an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Franklin Pierce University. She was a clinical and school social worker for 30 years before helping found Seeds of Peace. Ms.Gottschalk was at Augustana through a weeklong residency through the Woodrow Wilson Fellows Program. During her stay, she visited eight classes, had dinners with students in the International Student Union and the Social Justice Coalition, discussed the movie “Seeds” with interested students and faculty, and presented the convocation on December 3. She also met with President Bahls and Dean Abernathy. As a result of this meeting, Augustana will offer a full tuition scholarship to an international student who is a graduate of “Seeds of Peace.”
November 30-December 4, 2008
