Professor of Philosophy & William F. Vilas Professor, UW-Madison
The Logic of the Design Argument
September 8, 2004 @ 5:00 pm
Chazen Museum of Art, Room L160
This event is one of the Focus on the Humanities events.
The argument for intelligent design claims that the existence of God can be inferred from the fact that organisms are well adapted to their environments. While it is often considered a reaction to evolution, intelligent design was influential even before the release of The Origin of Species in 1859. In the first lecture of the new Focus series, Elliott Sober examines the strongest version of the intelligent design argument, and then explain that argument's fatal flaw.
Elliott Sober has taught at University of Wisconsin Madison since 1974, and currently holds the posts of Hans Reichenbach Professor of Philosophy and William F. Vilas Research Professor. His books include From a Biological Point of View: Essays in Evolutionary Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1994), and Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior (Harvard University Press, 1998). He is currently president of the Philosophy of Science Association and is a past president of the American Philosophical Association.
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
William F. Vilas Professor of Anthropology, UW-Madison
The Crooked Timber of Cherry: The Militarization of Aesthetics
October 20, 2004 @ 5:00 pm
Chazen Museum of Art, Room L160
This event is one of the Focus on the Humanities events.
During World War II, the emperor told his soldiers that their destiny was to “fall like beautiful cherry petals” for their homeland. In Japanese cultural and social practice, the cherry blossom plays many roles: signifying rebirth and sexuality, it has also been militarized by Japanese leaders, who turned it into a ‘master trope’ for sacrifice in war. Through slides and the diaries of Kamikaze pilots, Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney explores this under-examined aspect of Japanese culture, placing it into the broader comparative context of the aesthetics of fascism.
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney has served as Professor of Anthropology at the UW-Madison since 1967, and has been a William F. Vilas Research Professor since 1988. Her books include Nejimagerareta Sakura: Biishiki to Gunkokushugi [The Crooked Timber of Cherry: Aesthetics and Militarization] (Iwanami Shoten, 2003); Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History (University of Chicago Press, 2002); and Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time (Princeton University Press, 1993).
Lynn Keller
Martha Renk Meier Bascom Professor of Poetry, UW-Madison
Uncommon Languages: Invention and Innovation in Contemporary American Poetry by Women
November 17, 2004 @ 5:00 pm
Chazen Museum of Art, Room L160
This event is one of the Focus on the Humanities events.
In the1980s, American poetry was Balkanized, and experimentalism was closely identified with the divisive movement known as “Language Writing.” Today, territorial borders are far less clear, the scene is more complicated, and poetic invention takes a variety of forms. Focusing on women writers who have felt impelled to unsettle conventions, graft uncommon forms of language, or push the boundaries of intelligibility, Lynne Keller will consider the meaning of innovation in poetry today. What, if anything, is “new” in American poetry at the opening of the 21st-century, and how, if at all, is current innovation inflected by gender?
Lynn Keller is the author of Re-making it New: Contemporary American Poetry and the Modernist Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 1987); Forms of Expansion: Recent Long Poems by Women (University of Chicago Press, 1997), and numerous articles on recent work by poets in the United States. She co-edited with Cristanne Miller the essay collection Feminist Measures: Soundings in Poetry and Theory (University of Michigan Press, 1994), and is currently coediting Contemporary North American Poetry for the UW Press. She has been a member of the UW-Madison faculty since 1981, the year she earned her PhD from the University of Chicago.
David Bordwell
Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies (Emeritus), UW-Madison
Small Worlds and Network Narratives: New Models of Hollywood Storytelling
February 2, 2005 @ 5:00 pm
Banquet Room, University Club
This event is one of the Focus on the Humanities events.
Internationally recognized film scholar David Bordwell turns to the theme of film and its relationship to academia, while weaving in reflections on the ways in which empirical inquiry remains critical in a theory-driven world. Where does the study of film “fit” into the traditions of academic research? What aspects of film studies challenge the traditions of the academy?
David Bordwell taught at the University of Wisconsin for over 30 years until his recent retirement. With a broad theoretical and historical grasp of film, Bordwell is best known for his book, Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment (Harvard University Press, 2000), which responded to the popularity in the west of Hong Kong action cinema. In addition to a continually growing list of articles and reviews, Bordwell’s books also include On the History of Film Style (Harvard University Press, 1997), and Film History: An Introduction (McGraw-Hill, 1994). His books have been translated into several languages and are used as textbooks on campuses throughout the world. He maintains a content-rich website, David Bordwell’s Website on Cinema at www.davidbordwell.net
Michael Shank
Professor, History of Science and Integrated Liberal Studies, UW-Madison
Preparing Copernicus: Regiomontanus' 15th-Century Critique of Astronomy
March 9, 2005 @ 5:00 pm
Chazen Museum of Art, Room L160
This event is one of the Focus on the Humanities events.
In our usual image of the Italian pioneer of astronomy, Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543), his groundbreaking notion of a sun-centered universe pops onto the scene like of a bolt out of the blue against a static medieval background. Recent work on the history of fifteenth-century astronomy is showing that Copernicus owed much more to his predecessors than we suspected, especially to Johannes Regiomontanus (1436-1476). In this lecture, Shank draws on an unstudied St. Petersburg manuscript to emphasize the growing role of this University of Vienna astronomer in "setting up" Copernicus and understanding his outlook.
Michael Shank is a historian of the physical sciences before 1700, with a focus on late medieval natural philosophy and astronomy, and particularly the work of Johannes Regiomontanus (1436-1476). His related interests include science and the medieval university and science and early printing, and his publications include The Scientific Enterprise in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Readings from Isis (University of Chicago Press, 2000).
