Critical Questions Lecture Series
The Critical Questions lecture series brings prominent scholars in literature, rhetoric, and film to OSU. In addition to delivering a public talk, the speakers meet with graduate students to discuss such topics as: the genesis of their work; the state of the field as they see it; and the cultural relevance of scholarship in the humanities. Past speakers have included Miles Orvell, winner of the Bode-Pearson prize for lifetime achievement in American Studies; Holly Crocker, author of Chaucer's Visions of Manhood; and Cindy Weinstein, Professor of English and Executive Officer in the Humanities at Caltech.
Upcoming Events in 2011-12:
February 2, 2012: Carl Djerassi, "Science-in-Theatre on the Page and on the Stage," LaSells Stewart Center, 7:30 pm.
Carl Djerassi, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Stanford University, is a scientist, fiction writer, playwright, and cultural critic. One of the inventors of the oral contraceptive, he has ruminated on the sociocultural effects of that discovery in such works as The Politics of Contraception and This Man's Pill: Reflections on the 50th Birthday of the Pill. A literary innovator in fields he calls "science-in-fiction" and "science-in-theater," he is the author of more than a dozen creative works in those genres. Among other awards, he holds the National Medal of Science; the Priestley Medal; the National Medal of Technology (for his development of environmentally safe insecticides); and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art. In addition to commentary on the relations of science and art, his lecture will feature a dramatically staged excerpt from his recent play Phallacy.
May 3rd, 2012: Elizabeth Weiser, "Who We Are: Global Museums and National Identities," Memorial Union Journey Room, 4:00 pm.
Elizabeth Weiser is Associate Professor of English at the Ohio State University, Newark. Her publications include Burke, War, Words: Rhetoricizing Dramatism and Engaging Audience: Writing in an Age of New Literacies. For her current research project, Professor Weiser has conducted field work at museums in six continents. Her research on global museums and national identity crosses the fields of rhetoric, literature, public memory, history, political science, and museum studies.
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