It’s Here!

The fall season of arts and ideas on the arboretum campus of Elmhurst College. This fall we’re taking a close look at (among other things) the social costs and benefits of modern science and technology. All cultural events are open to the public. Tickets for lectures are $10, and are available at the door or online. Questions? Call (630) 617-3390.

The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy

Judge Richard A. Posner

Richard Posner is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, and the author of nearly 40 books on an astonishing array of topics, including economics, jurisprudence, aging, terrorism and sex. He turns what The New York Times calls “his indefatigable intellect” to the ongoing economic crisis and the efforts of the “cumbersome, clotted, competence-challenged” American system of government to respond to it.

Thursday, September 6, 7:00 p.m.
Sponsored in part by BMO Harris Bank
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel

Giving Women the Access Code

Maria Klawe

A mathematician and computer scientist, Maria Klawe became president of Harvey Mudd College in 2006. She was dismayed to find that the percentage of the female computer science graduates at her college had collapsed into the single digits. She turned that around, dramatically—in 2012, about 40 percent of Harvey Mudd’s computer science degrees went to women. Her story sheds light of a field that remains stubbornly male-dominated throughout the United States.

Thursday, September 13, 7:00 p.m.
Frick Center, Founders Lounge

The Economics of Sports and of the Real World

Jerry Reinsdorf

The majority owner of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf has shaped the modern era of two professional sports. As a leader of Major League Baseball at the national level, he has developed policy on labor relations, equal employment opportunities and the new media. Few Americans are better acquainted with the economic realities of his high-profile industry.

Thursday, September 20, 7:00 p.m.
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was a poor farmer, the mother of five, and 31 years old when she died of cancer in Baltimore on October 4, 1951. Before she was buried, in a plot without a tombstone, researchers at Johns Hopkins harvested some of her cancer cells. For half a century, biotechnology companies used the cells to develop (and profit from) countless medical breakthroughs. Neither Mrs. Lacks nor the family she left behind was asked about allowing her tissue to be used for research. Rebecca Skloot’s best-selling book on the Lacks saga is a family drama and medical mystery wrapped into one.

Sunday, September 23, 7:00 p.m.
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel

Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

Roy F. Baumeister

What is willpower, and does anybody really have it? Through groundbreaking experiments, the social psychologist Roy Baumeister discovered that the will, like a muscle, actually can be toned and strengthened by purposeful “exercise.” The Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker calls Baumeister’s book Willpower “immensely rewarding, filled with wise advice and insightful reflections on the human condition.”

Thursday, September 27, 7:00 p.m.
Frick Center, Founders Lounge

From Cloning to Cell Therapy: A Life in Science

Lydia Villa-Komaroff

An internationally recognized molecular biologist and former vice president for research at Northwestern University, Dr. Villa-Komaroff was only the third Mexican-American woman to earn a science doctorate in the United States. A key member of the research team that demonstrated that bacterial cells can produce insulin, she was one six scientists profiled in the PBS series Discovering Women.

Wednesday, October 3, 4:00 p.m.
Frick Center, Founders Lounge

Justice and Compassion in an Age of Demonization

Bishop V. Gene Robinson

Gene Robinson is the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire. Ordained in 1973, he made history three decades later when he became the first openly gay person to be consecrated a bishop in the worldwide Anglican communion. Robinson has led retreat programs, coordinated youth ministries, started mentoring programs for clergy, and worked with AIDS patients in the United States, Uganda and South Africa. His appearance is presented in cooperation with The Church of Our Saviour, celebrating its 150th anniversary in Elmhurst.

Thursday, October 4, 7:00 p.m.
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel

The Science of Sexual Orientation

Simon LeVay

The neuroscientist Simon LeVay trained at Cambridge University and served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In 1991, he reported on a difference in the brain structures of gay and straight men. He provides an update on the brain science and considers whether the science of sexuality is relevant to the societal status of sexual minorities.

Tuesday, October 9, 4:00 p.m.
Frick Center, Founders Lounge

Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics

Ross Douthat

A Catholic conservative and the youngest opinion columnist in the history of The New York Times, Ross Douthat’s is the author of Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, a compelling critique of contemporary Christianity. In the face of self-centered spirituality (on the left) and wealth-obsessed evangelicalism (on the right), he advocates a return to authentic tradition and a sense of genuine community.

The Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Guestship
Thursday, October 11, 7:00 p.m.
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel

Apocalypse Now: Revelation So No One Is “Left Behind”

Barbara R. Rossing

The Reverend Barbara Rossing is professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. A frequent lecturer in major ecumenical venues, she previously served as chaplain to Harvard Divinity School. Her book, The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation, is a trenchant critique of fundamentalist “Left Behind” theology. Dr. Rossing has discussed the “Left Behind” phenomenon in both scholarly and popular settings, including 60 Minutes.

Thursday, October 18, 7:00 p.m.
Frick Center, Founders Lounge

Bioethics, Justice and the Common Good

Lisa Sowle Cahill

Lisa Sowle Cahill has taught theology at Boston College since 1976. Her research interests include bioethics, the study of the profound philosophical implications of biological and medical procedures, treatments and technologies. An expert in the history of Christian ethics, she earned her doctorate at the University of Chicago and is a past president of the Catholic Theology Society of America.

Wednesday, November 14, 7:30 p.m.
Frick Center, Founders Lounge