Muhlenberg College Center For Ethics Hosts Series, Freedom Matters
The Muhlenberg College Center for Ethics will sponsor Freedom Matters, a series of programs that examines how freedom has been defined in different historical moments and viewed by different segments of society.Friday, August 18, 2006 01:59 PM
Each year, the Center for Ethics sponsors an intensive series designed to encourage discussion and reflection on a timely, pertinent topic. Center for Ethics programs are free and open to all members of the Muhlenberg campus and the local community. For more information on the series, visit www.muhlenberg.edu/cultural/ethics.
Fall programs sponsored by the Center for Ethics will include:
Panel Discussion:
What Does Freedom Mean?
Tues., 9/5 • 7 p.m. • Seegers Union, Great Room
Muhlenberg faculty and administrators will discuss the concept of freedom from various perspectives. This will set the stage for the rest of the series. Panelists are: Chris Borick, Political Science; Peter Bredlau, Chaplain; Patrice DiQuinzio, Philosophy; Art Raymond, Economics; Jeff Rudski, Psychology; and Beth Schachter, Theatre.
Talk by Manning Marable:
Perceptions of Freedom
Tues., 9/12 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
Professor of Public Affairs, Political Science, History and African-American Studies at Columbia University, Manning Marable will address how freedom is viewed and defined by different segments of society, with particular attention on the African-American community.
Talk by Eric Foner:
The Story of American Freedom, 1776-2006
Thurs., 9/21 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, will discuss how freedom has been a universal aspiration and highly contested ideal throughout American history. He will demonstrate how definitions of freedom have changed in response to events at home and abroad.
Talk by Rabbi David Saperstein
Wed., 9/27 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
Rabbi and Attorney David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, represents the national Reform Jewish Movement to Congress. In his talk, he will address some of the most pressing questions relating to religious freedom in today’s legal and political scene.
Talk by Manuel Rodriquez Orellana
Wed., 10/11 • 7 p.m. • Recital Hall, Center for the Arts
Orellana, of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), will talk about his work to achieve Puerto Rico’s national freedom from U.S. control and laying the foundation for a sound, responsible transition from their present day colonial government to full-fledged independence.
Art Exhibit curated by R.L. Tillman: Four Freedoms
10/13—1/9 , Closing reception 11/9 , 6—7:30 p.m.• Martin Art Gallery, Center for the Arts
Guest curator R.L. Tillman will exhibit artworks that address “the four freedoms” expounded in President Roosevelt’s State of the Union Address in 1941: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. An exhibition catalogue will serve as a resource for further discussion and debate.
Talk by Mark Crispin Miller
Thurs., 10/19 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Culture and Communication at New York University, will address the potential threat to the free exchange of information and ideas by the consolidation of media ownership. He will question, too, whether the internet is more democratic.
Talk by Kembrew McLeod:
Doh!®: How Intellectual Property Law Limits Free Speech and Why It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way
Wed., 10/25 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
Kembrew McLeod, Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, has devoted his career to showing how the law structures communication, sometimes limiting free expression in a hyper-commercial age. He’ll argue that by choosing our media-culled words wisely, we can convey a wide range of meanings and emotions, sometimes with only one monosyllabic utterance, like Homer’s famous exclamation, “Doh!”—from The Simpsons.
Panel discussion prior to the evening performance of the musical Urinetown
Wed., 11/1 • 6 p.m. • Recital Hall, Center for the Arts
This panel will discuss themes of freedom in the Muhlenberg Theatre Association's production of Urinetown: The Musical, a Tony Award winning political satire that imagines a drought-ridden future in which private toilets are outlawed and a pocket-lining corporation runs all public facilities.
Premiere Ensemble Student Performance:
The Weight of Feathers
Tues. – Thurs., 11/7—9 • 8 p.m. • Martin Art Gallery, Center for the Arts
The Weight of Feathers is an original performance piece created by students in collaboration with Melissa Thompson and Julia Hinderlie of the Sacred Heart Archive. It will explore issues of memory, freedom, and constraint though the use of movement, sound, and found text, resulting in a performance experiment in which memories are collected, dissected, celebrated, or laid to rest.
Performance by Melissa Thompson:
The Key Said Run and the Door Said Fly
Fri.—Sat. 11/10—11• 8 p.m. • Recital Hall,
Center for the Arts
Devised by performance artist Melissa Thompson and the Sacred Heart Archive, a multi-disciplinary arts project, The Key Said Run and the Door Said Fly reinvents the folk tale of Mr. Fox using physical performance, traditional songs, and found objects. Specifically, it investigates issues of sexual violence, and the body's capacity to remember as a way to explore the relationship between freedom and fear.
Talk by Judge Stewart Dalzell:
Reconciling Conflicting Freedoms
Tues., 11/14 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
The Honorable Stewart Dalzell is judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He will talk about his work on numerous cases regarding freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
Campus Forum:
Freedoms and Responsibilities
Tues., 11/28 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
In this forum, Muhlenberg students and administrators work jointly to determine appropriate boundaries for student responsibility and the freedom that then warrants. The panel will be structured around a selection of mini case studies involving freedom versus responsibility on campus that will be shared with the audience and provide topics for discussion.
Panel Discussion on Scientific Freedom
Tues., 12/5 • 7 p.m. • Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
Two scientists with present and former connections to the FDA will talk about the impact government controls and corporate interests have on scientific inquiry. More details TBA.
